"To Invent What You Desire": Material Improvisation and Collaborative Design

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 27
  In Roundtable Session: Remaking the Word to Rewrite the World: A Convergence of Diverse Practitioners and Literacy Practices

Abstract

Objectives
This paper explores student creative responses to a shared novel, particularly the links between open-ended invitations and processes of gathering and using materials in the classroom. The paper looks closely at two group projects made in response to the novel Fahrenheit 451, paying particular attention to the initial requests for materials made by students, the processes of acquiring those materials by teacher-researchers, and the impact of the materials on the final project design.

Theoretical framework
Critical literacy scholars have emphasized the importance of designing and redesigning texts (NLG 1996, Janks 2010) as a way to challenge structures of power, and to build a more inclusive and equitable world. Scholars such as Broderick (2014) have also emphasized the importance of collaborative design processes, particularly in multimodal work (Siegel 2006). Adopting an “inquiry stance” (Cochran-Smith & Lytle 2009) on practice invites teachers to pay systematic attention to the choices they make in classrooms, and reflect on the impact of those choices. These frameworks will be used in this paper to analyze the collaborations between teacher-researchers, students, and community members as they collectively gather materials for creative responses, drawing on the shared language and framework of Adrienne Rich's (2003) poem “To Invent What You Desire.”

Methods and data sources
The creative responses to Fahrenheit 451 happened in two 3-hour classroom sessions, and three additional 1-hour sessions. Field notes, photos, and videos were used to document the process, as well as follow-up interviews. Additionally, the final projects were presented at AERA 2019, which was videotaped.

Results
One student group requested a tree stump, lengths of wire, and blue glass for their project (see Figure 1), while another group requested fabric for book binding and a fire pit where they could burn their homemade book. These requests required teacher-researchers to visit several hardware and art supply stores gathering resources, as well as reaching out to neighbours and colleagues, in order to satisfy student desires. Several students spoke about the impact of these resources on their ability to dream and create, about their critical engagement with the text through their collective work, and about the significance of the willingness of teacher-researchers to accommodate their requests. Field notes and student interviews also reveal the improvisational nature of material collection, the connection between uncertainty and critical engagement, and the importance of supporting multiple divergent responses when students are invited to pursue their desires.

Scholarly significance
This project highlights the importance of collaboration between students, teacher-researchers, and community members in order to make space for a wide range of student responses. It also suggests that uncertainty, risk, multiplicity, and improvisation are central aspects of inquiry processes within a multimodal “design” framework. When this kind of wide-range collaboration occurs, critical engagement and literacy practices are enriched and expanded.

Authors

• Ben Gallagher, University of Toronto

• Rob Simon, University of Toronto