Insights Into the Remembered Educational Experiences of Male Caribbean Immigrants to Canada: Literacy and Identity in the Canadian Classroom

Abstract Past research has addressed the issue of male underachievement in literacy as an issue of global concern. This qualitative study focused on one subgroup of males which the literature highlighted as most at risk of educational underachievement in the Canadian educational landscape: male Caribbean immigrants to Canada. The research questions that framed the study sought to gain insight into the educational experiences of this group of learners so that ways through which their literacy achievement as measured by academic performance and classroom engagement could be projected. New literacy studies view literacy as socioculturally bound in social, institutional, and cultural relationships (Gee 1996). Literacy can therefore be thought of as an extension of self that Lankshear and Knobel (2006) assert is always connected to social identities. Central to the research questions as a result of this perspective was the discovery of the ideologies of reading held by the participants and their connections to literacy practice. Supplementary questions delved into socially valued literacy practices and ways in which learners saw themselves as Black males reflected in the Canadian educational framework. In this qualitative study with an interview design, data were collected through individual semistructured interviews with the 4 participants and through a focus group session with all the participants. The findings depicted that identity, interests, and ideologies of reading all influenced the literacy practices and engagement of Caribbean males. The findings documented are valuable as they provide a fresh perspective surrounding the educational experiences of the male Caribbean learner and can present insights which can lead to enhanced academic engagement and improved student achievement for this group of learners.

Exploring the Design Process and Components of an Elementary Literacy Guide in an Ontario School Board Initiative

The skill to identify and use best practices in literacy to promote achievement for students of all abilities cannot be underestimated by elementary educators. This qualitative case study investigates 1 year of a literacy initiative for primary and junior educators organized by a southern Ontario school board. The goals of the initiative were to design a literacy guide for teachers while building teacher capacity with literacy practices. Data were culled and analyzed from an examination of the guide, the meetings’ field notes and artifacts, as well as interviews with the educators at the end of the year. Several themes from the results emerged. The educators perceived the design process as unclear but the collaborative components were deemed valuable. The guide’s incompletion led to mixed reactions from the educators about the guide and its structure. Overall, the first year of the 3-year initiative acted as a catalyst for professional learning on literacy. The findings of this study accentuated the value of training educators to use empirical research to support their practices and professional knowledge. Also, the significance of promoting strong leadership with a comprehensive layout consisting of coherent tangible goals for professional development is highlighted.

Implicit learning and imperceptible influence: Syncretic literacy of multilingual Chinese children.

This article reports on an ethnographic study involving the literacy practices of two multilingual Chinese children from two similar yet different cultural and linguistic contexts: Montreal and Singapore. Using syncretism as a theoretical tool, this inquiry examines how family environment and support facilitate children’s process of becoming literate in multiple languages. Informed by sociocultural theory, the inquiry looks in particular at the role of grandparents in the syncretic literacy practices of children. Through comparative analysis, the study reveals similarities and differences that, when considered together, contribute to our understanding of multilingual children’s creative forms of learning with regard to their rich literacy resources in multiple languages, the imperceptible influences of mediators, various learning styles and syncretic literacy practices.

Understanding digital literacies: a practical introduction

Understanding Digital Literacies provides an accessible and timely introduction to new media literacies. It supplies readers with the theoretical and analytical tools with which to explore the linguistic and social impact of a host of new digital literacy practices. Each chapter in the volume covers a different topic, presenting an overview of the major concepts, issues, problems and debates surrounding the topic, while also encouraging students to reflect on and critically evaluate their own language and communication practices. Features include: coverage of a diverse range of digital media texts, tools and practices including blogging, hypertextual organisation, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, websites and games an extensive range of examples and case studies to illustrate each topic, such as how blogs have affected our thinking about communication, how the creation and sharing of digital images and video can bring about shifts in social roles, and how the design of multiplayer online games for children can promote different ideologies a variety of discussion questions and mini-ethnographic research projects involving exploration of various patterns of media production and communication between peers, for example in the context of Wikinomics and peer production, social networking and civic participation, and digital literacies at work end of chapter suggestions for further reading and links to key web and video resources a companion website providing supplementary material for each chapter, including summaries of key issues, additional web-based exercises, and links to further resources such as useful websites, articles, videos and blogs.

Formação de professores de assentamentos rurais do Rio Grande do Norte: representações, memórias e práticas de letramento

This work has as study object the representations that teachers have about literacy, and schooling, as well as their memories and their reading and writing practices in the formation process of teachers in rural areas of the State of Rio Grande do Norte. We focused our discussion in literacy practices constructed on language workshops, assumed as necessary for the teacher formation, the existence of a pedagogical context that allows developing the appropriate teaching action. These workshops aimed at creating a space of constant reflection and action. The corpus is composed of letters written by teachers in formation workshops and interviews emphasizing questions of literacy, schooling, memories and reading and writing practices. These teachers make use of literacy practices related to the plots which they belong to. This research is informed mainly by studies that discuss the Literacy (Street, 1984, 1995; Barton, 1998; Freire, 1978, 1980, 1990, 1996), focusing its political character and of inclusion to the literate world, the Social Representations (Moscovici, 1978) and the studies on genre as a discoursive practice (Fairclough, 2001). Methodologically, this research is of critical ethnographic nature (Cameron, 1992). The letters are disclosed as identity practices - pictures of life histories of the teachers. The analyses of the interviews, in turn, show the literacy multifaceted character, evidencing innumerable views on the phenomenon

Projetos de letramento na educação de jovens e adultos: o ensino da escrita em uma perspectiva emancipatória

This ethnographical research-action is included in the Applied Linguistics area and its study object is related to literacy projects (KLEIMAN, 2000), since they bring a new sense to the literacy practices in school and emphasizes the agentive writing character and the role of the discursive genres in the formation of literacy agents who aim at the action and the social change. Considering the emancipatory potential that these didactic organizations have in the civic literacy of those who live in social risk and vulnerability situations our aim in this investigation is: to reflect about the role of the redefinition of the literacy school practices and investigate how the action of teachers and students as literacy agents occur. The specific aims are: to promote literacy events which encourage the writing practice for the action and social change; to comprehend how the identity construction of the literacy student-agent occurs by the reflection of its agency process in the literacy projects; to identify teaching strategies and procedures which enable the development of emancipatory language practices; to investigate the axiological values constructed by the learners in and about the writing work in literacy projects. Our discussion is based on the language conception supported by Bakhtin (BAKHTIN/VOLOSHINOV, 2000; BAKHTIN, 1990, 2003); in literacy studies (KLEIMAN, 1995; BAYNHAM, 1995; BARTON; HAMILTON; IVANIC, 2000, LAZERE, 2005); on critical studies which defend the idea that the texts are ideological instruments able to give power to the individuals (MCLAREN, 1988, 1991, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001; FREIRE, 1971, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1992, 1996, 2001a, 2001b, 2009; GIROUX, 1983, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1997, 1999, 2003; APPLE, 1989); on the social genre approach inspired by the New Rhetoric (BAZERMAN, 2005, 2006, 2007; MILLER, 1984, 2009). The data were generated between 2006 and 2010 in the Youth and Adult Education (YAE), in public schools in Natal-RN. The research permitted us to deduce, firstly, that the redefinition of the work with discursive genres provide the learner to read and write to act discursively in the social world, earning, thus, empowerment, autonomy and emancipation; secondly, that involving the students in literacy projects goes beyond didactic competence related to specificities and content domain. It is necessary that the teacher is certain about to whom, what, why and how to teach and that he/she gets a reflexive posture, becoming a learner as well; thirdly, that through the literacy practices which were developed, the collaborators of the research have constructed a more conscious and a more critical view in relation to the language and to the world where they live through the social-political writing and they have improved as interventive and politicized citizens

Movimentos na escrita inicial de crianças: um estudo longitudinal de hipersegmentações

Pós-graduação em Estudos Linguísticos - IBILCE

O projeto de formação continuada de alfabetizadores do programa São Luís te quero lendo e escrevendo: pressupostos teóricos, práticas pedagógicas e contradições

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Portas entreabertas: em busca de uma educação sensível a partir das imagens, espaços e narrativas com teatro-educação

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Práticas de alfabetização de professoras alfabetizadoras iniciante e experiente no 1º ano do Ensino Fundamental

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Adapting health-risk communication to the specific cultural contexts of diverse populations : an assessment of malaria-treatment programs in Liberia

Drawing on theories of technical communication, rhetoric, literacy, language and culture, and medical anthropology, this dissertation explores how local culture and traditions can be incorporated into health-risk-communication-program design and implementation, including the design and dissemination of health-risk messages. In a modern world with increasing global economic partnerships, mounting health and environmental risks, and cross-cultural collaborations, those who interact with people of different cultures have “a moral obligation to take those cultures seriously, including their social organization and values” (Hahn and Inhorn 10). Paradoxically, at the same time as we must carefully adapt health, safety, and environmental-risk messages to diverse cultures and populations, we must also recognize the increasing extent to which we are all becoming part of one, vast, interrelated global village. This, too, has a significant impact on the ways in which healthcare plans should be designed, communicated, and implemented. Because communicating across diverse cultures requires a system for “bridging the gap between individual differences and negotiating individual realities” (Kim and Gudykunst 50), both administrators and beneficiaries of malaria-treatment-and-control programs (MTCPs) in Liberia were targeted to participate in this study. A total of 105 people participated in this study: 21 MTCP administrators (including designers and implementers) completed survey questionnaires on program design, implementation, and outcomes; and 84 MTCP beneficiaries (e.g., traditional leaders and young adults) were interviewed about their knowledge of malaria and methods for communicating health risks in their tribe or culture. All participants showed a tremendous sense of courage, commitment, resilience, and pragmatism, especially in light of the fact that many of them live and work under dire socioeconomic conditions (e.g., no electricity and poor communication networks). Although many MTCP beneficiaries interviewed for this study had bed nets in their homes, a majority (46.34 percent) used a combination of traditional herbal medicine and Western medicine to treat malaria. MTCP administrators who participated in this study rated the impacts of their programs on reducing malaria in Liberia as moderately successful (61.90 percent) or greatly successful (38.10 percent), and they offered a variety of insights on what they might do differently in the future to incorporate local culture and traditions into program design and implementation. Participating MTCP administrators and beneficiaries differed in their understanding of what “cultural incorporation” meant, but they agreed that using local indigenous languages to communicate health-risk messages was essential for effective health-risk communication. They also suggested that understanding the literacy practices and linguistic cultures of the local people is essential to communicating health risks across diverse cultures and populations.

ENVISIONING QUEER THROUGH DIGITAL MEDIA: DEVELOPING A COMMUNITY-BASED WORKSHOP IN MEDIA ANALYSIS FOR LGBTQIA+ YOUTH

This project consists of a proposed curriculum for a semester-long, community-based workshop for LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual or ally, "+" indicating other identifications that deviate from heterosexual) youth ages 16-18. The workshop focuses on an exploration of LGBTQIA+ identity and community through discussion and collaborative rhetorical analysis of visual and social media. Informed by queer theory and history, studies on youth work, and visual media studies and incorporating rhetorical criticism as well as liberatory pedagogy and community literacy practices, the participation-based design of the workshop seeks to involve participants in selection of media texts, active analytical viewership, and multimodal response. The workshop is designed to engage participants in reflection on questions of individual and collective responsibility and agency as members and allies of various communities. The goal of the workshop is to strengthen participants' abilities to analyze the complex ways in which television, film, and social media influence their own and others’ perceptions of issues surrounding queer identities. As part of the reflective process, participants are challenged to consider how they can in turn actively and collaboratively respond to and potentially help to shape these perceptions. My project report details the theoretical framework, pedagogical rationale, methods of text selection and critical analysis, and guidelines for conduct that inform and structure the workshop.

Chipping Away at the Monolith: Dispelling the Myth of Father Noninvolvement in Children's Early Literacy Development

Current research stresses the importance of parent involvement in their children 's academic development. Parents reading and writing with their young children is shown to prepare them for the benefits of for ma I education. Studies completed on parent participation in early literacy activities have tended to look at mothers ' role. Few researchers have investigated the contributions fathers have made. The results of a study completed on father-child early literacy practices are presented. Fathers reported engaging in reading and writing activities with their children for three reasons: To prepare their children for school, to bond with their children, and to assist their children in language skill development. Recommendations are provided on how to encourage fathers to participate in early literacy practices

SEMEANDO A CIDADANIA: um estudo sobre a formação e a atuação de educadoras sociais em prol do letramento

Esta dissertação de Mestrado tem como objetivo desvelar a prática pedagógica de educadoras leigas atuantes na educação não-formal e a práxis educacional que elas desempenham em prol da alfabetização letrada. Ao abordarmos os três temas que regem este estudo educação não-formal, formação de educadoras leigas e alfabetização letrada versamos sobre os resultados obtidos em espaços de educação não-formais, estabelecendo um contraponto: até quando o não-formal pode ser considerado um espaço de educação aquém da escola? Foi realizada uma pesquisa empírica no Projeto Sementinha da cidade de Santo André/ SP, através da observação da práxis educativa de sete educadoras, de entrevistas, coma exsecretária de Educação que implantou o Projeto na cidade; com os Coordenadores Gerais do Projeto Sementinha; com quatro das sete educadoras e ainda, um levantamento bibliográfico sobre o surgimento do Projeto na cidade de Curvelo; MG. Até o momento, as análises realizadas apontaram para o desenvolvimento de práticas de letramento em diferentes momentos da atuação das educadoras e na formação cidadã e moral das crianças assistidas pelo Projeto na comunidade observada para a efetivação deste trabalho de pesquisa.(AU)

SEMEANDO A CIDADANIA: um estudo sobre a formação e a atuação de educadoras sociais em prol do letramento

Esta dissertação de Mestrado tem como objetivo desvelar a prática pedagógica de educadoras leigas atuantes na educação não-formal e a práxis educacional que elas desempenham em prol da alfabetização letrada. Ao abordarmos os três temas que regem este estudo educação não-formal, formação de educadoras leigas e alfabetização letrada versamos sobre os resultados obtidos em espaços de educação não-formais, estabelecendo um contraponto: até quando o não-formal pode ser considerado um espaço de educação aquém da escola? Foi realizada uma pesquisa empírica no Projeto Sementinha da cidade de Santo André/ SP, através da observação da práxis educativa de sete educadoras, de entrevistas, coma exsecretária de Educação que implantou o Projeto na cidade; com os Coordenadores Gerais do Projeto Sementinha; com quatro das sete educadoras e ainda, um levantamento bibliográfico sobre o surgimento do Projeto na cidade de Curvelo; MG. Até o momento, as análises realizadas apontaram para o desenvolvimento de práticas de letramento em diferentes momentos da atuação das educadoras e na formação cidadã e moral das crianças assistidas pelo Projeto na comunidade observada para a efetivação deste trabalho de pesquisa.(AU)