Multimodal Community Journaling: Artifactual Literacies With African American and Latinx Girls in STEAM

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: Semiotics in Education: Signs, Meanings, and Multimodality SIG Poster Session

Abstract

This presentation describes how 10 African American and Latinx girls used “multimodal community journaling” (MCJ) as an artifactual literacy practice to make sense of their cultural selves, especially in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM). Drawing on the concept of artifactual literacies, we explore how the MCJ became a meaningful text influencing how girls of color think about themselves and careers in STEAM. The girls’ parents, female STEAM professionals of color, and the research team also co-authored the MCJ. This collaborative literacy practice illustrated how each stakeholder expressed meaning to value the girls’ cultures, identities, and agencies in a community setting, affirmed their interests, capacities, and opportunities in STEAM, and challenged prevailing negative racial/gender stereotypes around STEAM.

Authors

• Tisha Lewis Ellison, The University of Georgia

• Tairan Qiu, University of Georgia - Athens

• T. Bradley Robinson, Texas State University