The Multiliteracies Classroom

I have been doing a lot of reading over the past year about multiliteracies, and how we might harness the rich pedagogies multiliteracies affords learning to ensure that students who come to literacy in different ways have every opportunity to not only engage but also expand upon their repertoire of skills.

For years we have read and talked about Lev Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development. Essentially, the idea is that teachers (or more capable ‘others’) need to engage with learners at just the right level: too easy, and students become bored and disengage; too difficult and students become frustrated and give up. Finding that ‘zone’ where we are challenging students without overwhelming them requires teachers to be ‘students’ of their learners. This need to understand who our students are and how their background knowledge and experience can come into play in their learning is critical and has been written about by many scholars over the years (see for instance, Luis Moll et. al and their work on ‘funds of knowledge’).

Recently I read Kathy Mill’s (2011) book, The Multiliteracies Classroom. In it, she describes what she has termed ‘proximal practice’:

in which situated learning is combined with timely instruction and guidance. When situated practice is tied to overt instruction, provided by peers, other experts, artefacts or technologies, there is scaffolding that leads to learning.
Proximal practice requires that instructions and situated practice be enacted concurrently in a seamless way, rather than as separate components of learning. Access to multiliteracies requires the amalgamation of acquisition and learning, of situated practice and overt instruction, rather than teacher-centred transmission or situated practice in their isolated forms. Again, it should be emphasized that situated practice and overt instruction can be related in complex ways, rather than enacted in a rigid sequence (New London Group, 2000)
Vygotsky’s (1962, 1978) notion of scaffolding, upon which the multitliteracies pedagogy draws, is important here. Vygotsky indicated that the most effective learning is demonstrated when practice and instruction occur concurrently, with a reduced level of scaffolding as independent learning is atttained… (p. 28)

In a recent Globe and Mail article, the claim “York teachers find key to success” is made. Now we know that everyone is always seeking the ‘silver bullet’, the ‘golden ticket’ or the ‘key to success’ as some elusive monolythic quick fix to complex problems. What is interesting about this article is the simplicity of their ‘findings’: “The key to York’s success? Paying close attention to each student, especially those who are struggling.”

A great way for teachers to pay close attention to each student, is to engage in the participatory culture of learning with their students. One of the things that fascinates me so much as a long time classroom teacher is the richness of what we can learn from our students when we get out of their way…. So much attention over the last decade has focused on ‘quality control’, ushering in practices of ‘training’ and ‘data collection’ that have led to what my colleague Luigi Iannacci refers to as ‘impoverished pedagogies’. If we want to create engaging spaces for our students, we must stimulate the creative intellectual spirits of our teachers. Learning about multiliteracies classrooms does that for me. It leads me to participate in PLNs that have enriched my world, to learn about the fascinating possibilities that so many creative teachers are creating with and for their students. It gives me great hope for an education for our children that will grow their imagination rather than ensure their compliance. To all who teach our children well, I thank you for your ‘proximal practice’!