This qualitative study explored the experiences and insights of four alumnae from a girls’ after-school writing program and the program’s transformative impact on development of their literacy, their voice, and their confidence. The writing program, InkGirls (a pseudonym), was for girls of color ages 13 to 18 who lived in metropolitan Los Angeles. Participants attended high-density public schools located in low-income neighborhoods. Curriculum and instructional practices in such public schools have been critiqued as substandard, rote, and lacking opportunities for critical thinking and student voice (Darder, 2015). Gender bias in the classroom, and the lack of representation of women of color in instructional materials also have been legitimate concerns in U.S. public schooling (Sadker, Sadker, & Zittleman, 2009). Using a theoretical framework of critical pedagogy (Freire, 2000) and critical feminist pedagogy (Weiler, 1988), this qualitative study investigated practices of critical literacy (Christensen, 2009) in the writing program that promoted development of literacy and voice and elevated the critical consciousness and social agency of the participants. The program’s elements of critical literacy included studying relatable texts, reading from critical perspectives, writing personal narratives, and completing social action projects in public readings for a live audience. The findings from the program’s curriculum and public readings, and the perceptions of the former participants pointed to critical literacy as an effective approach to literacy instruction and development of voice and agency.

This literature review asks the following:  How is writing instruction realized in L1-classrooms (in the Swedish upper secondary school or its equivalent globally), considering standardized testing as a background factor? Standardized testing has become established in Sweden as one way to audit the school system and evaluate knowledge levels for the sake of guaranteeing an equitable education. However, standardized testing may influence the way in which classroom instruction is realized by teachers, as observed by Popham (2001). The literature review utilizes a qualitative conventional content analysis in order to produce a result of ten studies relevant to our research question. They are then thematized, presented, and later discussed using Popham’s (2001) item-teaching and curriculum-teaching, Biesta’s (2010) reasoning around how measurability impacts the perceived value of different types of education and Janks’ (2010) synthesis model. We found that writing instruction in classrooms subjected to standardized testing often showed a narrowed curriculum and formulaic writing. This particularly impacted classrooms consisting of diverse learners. We noted that teachers faced a complex task when instructing in these classrooms. They generally drifted towards either item-teaching or curriculum-teaching. We also found that the writing skills and knowledge that were highly valued in the classroom corresponded to skills measured by the tests. Finally, using Janks’ (2010) synthesis model we found that both access without design and diversity without access were present in our chosen studies. This implies that standardized testing maintains existing (and excluding) power relations between the dominant and the non-dominant groups. Our discussion is then related to the Swedish national curriculum, pointing to potential self-refuting goals formulated in the syllabus for the subject Swedish. We suggest that studies should be performed in a Swedish context in order to highlight any potential consequences of standardized testing for writing instruction in Swedish classrooms.

This study explores theoretical and pedagogical implications of space, language, and power in renegotiating identity for immigrant English Language Learners (ELLs) in secondary schools in the United States. The primary research question explored in the study is: How does spoken and written language and discourse shape the production of third spaces for renegotiating immigrant student identity in the ELL writing classroom? I adopt an epistemological lens of space from a postmodern geographic perspective that contends that space is socially produced and is co-constituted by material, abstract and lived spaces. The theoretical framework draws on constructs of social space, space-time, and the chronotope propose reconsideration of third spaces for immigrant ELLs. The context of the study is an intermediate ELL writing classroom designed around immigrant students developing academic and critical literacy grounded in their lived spaces of immigration. The methodology employed combines ethnography of the classroom space with critical discourse analysis of critical spatial events that are analyzed as moments of spatial production. Ethnographic narrative of the classroom space, governed by guiding concepts of critical literacy and shared behavioral norms, centers on the focal immigration unit in which student immigration narratives provide overarching chronotopes of immigrant student identities. Analysis of classroom spatial production highlights tensions in social space that are mediated by language, discourse and communication surrounding immigrant identities. Transcript analysis of critical spatial events traces intersecting space-times at global, local and micro-local scales of classroom discourse. Findings from ethnographic case study of one immigrant Latino male, who aspires to become a hip hop DJ, illustrate how hip hop discourses frame the chronotope of immigration and represent a shared third space between the teacher and focal student. This study contributes new ideas in theory and research methods by operationalizing third spaces for immigrant ELL student. Implications also follow for curriculum and instruction rooted in lived spaces of experience and for critical reflective practice for educators.

Ekokritik är en relevant del av litteraturvetenskap idag, med grund i ungdomars upplevda maktlöshet inför klimatnödläget. Studiens syfte är därmed att undersöka den didaktiska potentialen av en ekokritisk läsning av Susanna Alakoskis roman Bomullsängeln (2019). Studien undersöker verkets potential att med en ekokritisk läsning utveckla elevers critical literacy. Dels genomförs en ekokritisk analys av Bomullsängeln (2019) med fokus på hur relationen mellan natur och kultur skildras i verket. Den ekokritiska analysen utgår från begreppen antropocentrism och ekocentrism. Dels utförs en didaktisk läsakt med grund i begreppen makt och tillgång inom critical literacy. I analysen presenteras både explicita och implicita ideologier om kultur och natur som kan utläsas i verket. Resultatet visar att Bomullsängeln (2019) genom en ekokritisk läsning kan besitta potential att utveckla elevers critical literacy, eftersom läsningen kan uppmärksamma individens makt och tillgång, vilka är verktyg för handlingskraft.

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<p dir="ltr"><a href="" target="_blank">ABSTRACT</a></p><p dir="ltr">This dissertation delves into postmodern wordless picture books, employing a multimodal content analysis across twenty-eight titles. It stands on a theoretical framework amalgamating concepts from multimodality grounded in social semiotics, critical literacy, and postmodernism. Among the corpus, three titles— <i>Alien Nation</i> (Bassi, 2021), and <i>The Rabbits</i> (Tan, 1998) and <i>The Other Side</i><i> </i>(Bányai, 2005)— emerge as principal subjects of analysis, with the remaining twenty-five titles providing contextual support. Guiding this journey is Barthes' (1977) tripartite model of visual textual meaning at the literal, symbolic, and personal levels, illuminating the intricate layers of the analyzed picture books.</p><p dir="ltr">The analysis unveils distinguishing features of these books: 1) Disruption of boundaries of story worlds and reality; 2) Disruption of space and/or time; 3) Multiple levels of intertextuality; 4) Visual incongruity, visual metaphor and 5) Personal Narratives. Such characteristics are found to challenge narrative conventions, blur reality-fiction distinctions, and implore readers to cultivate personal narratives and critical interpretations.</p><p dir="ltr">However, the research's significance extends beyond feature identification. It births a postmodern literacy pedagogy that encompasses visual, critical, and postmodern dimensions. This pedagogy advocates for embedding postmodern wordless picture books in pre-service teacher curricula. The aim surpasses genre acquaintance, aspiring for a profound grasp of the books' visual nuances and ideological layers. As these visual dynamics play a pivotal role in shaping a reader's experience, they bolster critical reading and foster personal and emotive connections to narratives. By engaging with such books, pre-service teachers gain multifaceted insights into intricate social and historical issues. They're empowered to question prevailing narratives, embrace diverse perspectives, and champion social justice and educational equity. Viewed through this prism, postmodern wordless picture books serve as powerful tools, guiding future educators to see the world from diverse perspectives, navigate uncertainties, foster empathy, and empower varied voices, ultimately becoming advocates for change and inclusion.</p>

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Marjorie R. Hancock / The purpose of this study was to explore participants' (teachers, students, administrators, and parents) experiences and perceptions regarding the perceived impact a rural high school's one-to-one laptop initiative had on content area literacy, new literacy's, and critical literacy. Through a case study, data were collected through multiple sources and viewpoints to obtain an in-depth perspective of how this rural high school's one-to-one laptop initiative had perceivably impacted teacher's instruction to enhance student learning. Data were collected and analyzed through a blending of direct interpretation and categorical analysis, presenting the following findings. The one-to-one laptop initiative's technology was utilized: (a) by student participants for academic purposes, personal efficiency, and recreational purposes, (b) by teacher participants for educational purposes, and (c) within content area instruction. Resulting from the access to laptop technology, this study documented the purposes of finding information for assignments, facilitating "just in time" learning, and stimulating schema about curricular content. Content area literacy instruction was perceivably effected because of the multiple textual formats the technology provided, and instructional occurrences were documented as developing vocabulary and fostering either content comprehension or reading comprehension. The new literacy's and how they were implemented within the mathematics, language arts, science, and social studies classrooms were discussed. The role of critical literacy was presented in relation to students' sense of agency, and the power dynamic within various content area classes. The majority of participants were documented having a positive perception regarding the one-to-one laptop initiative. Although integration of technology was occurring, there were opportunities lacking that could further develop teachers' instruction to enhance student learning. When considering professional development within schools implementing a one-to-one technology initiative, administrative teams should: (a) consider what will be requisite versus elective technology integration tasks, and (b) ensure professional support is provided to teachers regarding integrating technology within their pedagogical practices. Additionally, teachers should instructionally integrate the technology tools and literacy's that students currently employ. Pedagogically, this study implies that teachers must expand their comfort zones regarding content area literacy, new literacy's, and critical literacy.

Critical pedagogy asserts that in education there is regressive politics of knowledge that is inculcated as “infallible” information to passive students through all kinds of texts that conceal the power, inequality and injustice in human relationships. Education has thus degenerated into becoming techinicist and consequently oppressive. Techinicist education aims at maintaining the status quo. The creators of texts that are used in oppressive education systems and society in general focus on the question, “How do we best get knowledge that serves our interests into the heads of our young people?” Thus critical literacy which encourages consumers of texts to read, reflect and react is now indispensable to learners who nowadays are exposed to various texts with hidden agendas. This research focused on perceptions of critical literacy of teacher education students in Masvingo province in Zimbabwe. The research participants were third year diploma students in their final residential phase of teacher education. The mixed methodology was employed bearing in mind its principal role that it provides strengths that offset the weaknesses of both quantitative and qualitative research. The research instruments used were the questionnaire and the interview guide. The questionnaire was administered to convenience samples of one hundred teacher education students per each of the three institutions studied and the interview guide was used to generate data from ten participants per college. The research findings reveal that there are some socio-cultural and political influences on perceptions of critical literacy of the teacher education students. In this thesis it is recommended that the teacher education curriculum in Zimbabwe should have a formal programme for the promotion of critical literacy in teacher education students. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)