Restorying Literate Identity: Multimodal Inquiry and Transformation in a Community-Based Literacy Partnership

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 7:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Community as a Transformative Site of Sharing Literacies, Knowledge, and Stories

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of Lane, a bilingual youth participant in a semester-long community-based literacy partnership. Using an inquiry-based researcher workshop model, Lane engaged with a curated multimodal text set to explore graffiti, culminating in a public presentation of his learning. Through frameworks of literate identity, care, and multimodality, this study illustrates how interest-driven literacy experiences can empower youth to restory their literate identities, shifting from disengagement to agency and self-authorship. Findings offer insights into how multimodal, inquiry-based, and relational approaches disrupt deficit discourses and support transformative literacy engagement.

Author

• Maggie Bryant, Baylor University