Abstract Making Meaning, Out of Meaning Making by Alda M. Blakeney This study examines the ways in which three elementary teachers appropriated and implemented a defined literacy curriculum in their classrooms. The overarching question guiding the study is, “What are the social and cultural patterns of meaning making in the literacy practices of three elementary teachers?” The study is framed by sociocultural perspectives of learning (Bourdieu, 1986; Gee, n.d; Vygotsky, 1978). Literacy practices involve the cultural, social, political, and historical ways of interacting and making sense of the world. Therefore, to study literacy practices of three elementary teachers means to study the social and cultural contexts in which they occur. Field notes, interviews, and teacher-produced artifacts were analyzed using emergent coding schemes (Spradley, 1979; LeCompte and Schensul, 1999). Findings from the study revealed that the literacy practices of these three teachers were standards driven, emphasizing a foundational approach to literacy development. Additionally, the teachers focused on transforming Spanish speakers into English readers. These findings suggest that the social and cultural patterns of meaning making between and among teachers and learners are not equally represented in the curriculum. Moreover, the teachers did not disrupt commonly held beliefs and practices about literacy, thereby maintaining the status quo. Implications for this study including equipping teachers, both pre-service and in-service with knowledge of critical theory and literacy, with a goal of increased engagement in literacy practices and a democratized production of knowledge.

Studies indicate that Latina/o immigrant youth engage in a wide range of sophisticated literacy practices outside of school that are often transnational, crossing various linguistic, cultural, and social spaces. Technology has further afforded immigrant youth the opportunity to develop transnational capabilities which are rare in the mainstream population, yet needed in the 21st century of global connectedness. However, Latino immigrant youth drop out of school at disproportional rates, suggesting that their literacy practices are not recognized or valued by the educational system. Using a New Literacy Studies perspective that recognizes multiple literacies that are meaningful within their sociocultural traditions, this collective case study investigated the range, form, and purpose of the out-of-school literacies of four Latina/o adolescent English Learners who are new arrivals. The qualitative methodology employed constructivist interviews, digital and actual artifacts, and observations. Findings demonstrated that the most prevalent out-of-school literacies the participants practice take place on the social networking site of Facebook, in their workplaces, and through the entertainment media sources of music and television. A cross-case analysis suggests that the literacy practices in these spaces have unique and purposeful roles for the individuals that allow them to connect to their home countries and maintain their Latina/o identities. Additionally, the participants use their out-of-school literacy practices to acquire English, support themselves, and establish a place to succeed. The five aforementioned spaces that their Facebook, workplace, and entertainment literacy practices fill are virtually absent from their in-school literacies. This study suggests literacy pedagogy and research must not continue to impose a narrow monolingual, monocultural, monoliterate, and monomodal view of Latina/o immigrant students which essentially divests them of their greatest resources. Their literacy practices demonstrate that they are transnational, transcultural, emergent bilinguals who competently engage in multimodal means of communication across multiple linguistic, cultural, social, and geographic borders. Educators must reconceptualize school-based literacy to account for the ways immigrant youth make meaning outside of school to provide them a more equitable education that will nurture their transnational skills needed in modern society.

Bildskapande är ett viktigt inslag i förskolan och ingår i förskolans läroplan, vi vill därför se hur förskollärarna ute på förskolorna jobbar och tänker kring ämnet. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur förskollärarna resonerar kring ämnet bild i förskolan ur ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Studien bygger på fem semistrukturerade intervjuer med förskollärare i olika åldrar och datan analyserades och kategoriserades utifrån Vygotskijs sociokulturella perspektiv. Studiens resultat visar att alla respondenterna är eniga om att bildskapandet sker i samspel med andra och att barnen lär sig i samspel med andra samt att det är gynnsamt för barnens utveckling. Respondenterna arbetar dagligen med både fritt och planerat bildskapande i verksamheten utifrån läroplanens mål. Enligt respondenterna anses det vara viktigt att skapa intresse för bildskapande och ha material tillgängligt för barnen.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka uppfattningar yrkesverksamma inomförskolan har om bildskapande som pedagogiskt verktyg, samt om de anser attbildskapande främjar barns utveckling. Studien genomfördes på grund av att tidigareforskning inom området kan ses som bristfällig. Genom kvalitativa intervjuer med sexyrkesverksamma personer, med fyra olika yrkesinriktningar, samlades data in för attsedan analyseras utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Materialet transkriberades för attsedan analyseras och kategoriseras med utgångspunkt i Vygotskijs teori om att lärandeär socialt. Studiens resultat visar på en gemensam uppfattning, bland respondenterna,om att bildskapande är gynnsamt för barns utveckling. Resultatet visar således på attbildskapande kan gynna både ett kollektivt lärande och ett individuellt lärande. Vidarevisar resultatet även på begränsningar och risker som kan förekomma kringbildskapande. Detta är något som indikerade att bildskapande, enligt respondenterna,inte enbart kan ses som positivt för barns utveckling utan kräver ett medvetetanvändande för att vara gynnsamt för barns individuella utveckling.