The Flipside: Concerns about the “New Literacies” Paths Educators Might Take

Abstract

This article explores some of the ways in which educators are using the tools of new literacies without the mind-set. The author poses the possibility that this might be a result of increased pressure on teachers to differentiate for standardization. The author then presents ways in which new literacies, particularly those grounded in technology, can be used to transform education instead of dressing up drill and practice as new literacies.     

Middle School Science Teachers’ Confidence and Pedagogical Practice of New Literacies

Due to the rapid advancements of information and communication technologies (ICTs), educational researchers argue that multimodal and new literacies should become common practices in schools. As new ICTs emerge and evolve, students need the new literacies skills and practices to successfully participate fully in the civic life of a global community. Are teachers prepared to integrate ICTs in the classroom to develop students’ new literacies skills? The purpose of this study is to suggest a new literacies framework that guides ICTs integration and supports scientific inquiry, as well as investigate middle school teachers’ confidence to practice new literacies in science classrooms. The study adopted mixed-methodology design, surveyed 32 middle school science teachers’ ICTs and new literacies skills, and randomly observed 15 teachers’ new literacies practices in the classrooms. The results revealed that even though teachers have high confidence in using ICTs, the meaningful technology integration and new literacies practices were scarcely observed in their classroom practices.     

“New Jews” in an Old‐New Land: Images in American Jewish Textbooks Prior to 1948

During 1982 and 1983 a spate of studies and commissioned reports about education in America were published, examined and critiqued by both public and non-public sectors of the educational community in an effort to determine their potential impact on educational reform in the United States.     

Collaboration: That Awful “C” Word

Variables such as free will, experience, reflection, and self-beliefs have consistently emerged over the last two decades as factors affecting collaboration. The purpose of this article was to help confirm the evidence and, more important, to emphasize the power of self-reflection in successful collaboration. Dewey (1933) knew about the power of thinking, and willingly relinquished his claim on reflectivity in a way that others might consider its significance in educational change. The major premise of this article, in fact, is that reflection guides free will and the personality traits involved in collaboration—the purported change agent of the new century.In addition, the acculturation process is negotiated as a possible resolution to the social, political, cultural, and linguistic conflict embedded in collaboration. Toward that end, Bruffee's (1993) model of acculturation, which suggests a radical reordering of majority to minority perspectives, provides a possible resolution to the constituent empowerment delemma that continues to haunt both proponents and opponents of collaborative reform.     

Old Educational Ideas,New American Schools: Progressivism and the Rhetoric of Educational Revolution∗

Drawing on books and essays of prominent progressive educators, this essay seeks to identify key elements that should be included in a working definition of progressive education. Such a definition is crucial for determining the degree of influence progressive ideas have had on American schools. The essay looks at how these ideas appear to have influenced the designs of a number of highly visible "whole-school reform" programs in the United States, programs that are perhaps the leading educational reform effort in the United States today. The essay then assesses how effective these programs have been in boosting student achievement. The essay concludes by speculating that the oft-used rhetoric of educational revolution, which was employed by early progressive educators and by later whole-school reformers, is a serious obstacle to genuine improvement in educational policy and practice.     

Reading the Multimodal Ologies: New Literacy Challenges or Old Wine in New Bottles?

In this article, the Ologies series of books are interrogated with a focus on whether they present new challenges for the reader or merely require previously acquired skills. The multimodal texts are unusual in that they combine non-fiction with fantasy while including tactile elements such as flaps, pull-outs and items to stroke. Ways of approaching multimodal texts are discussed with reference to the work of Kress, van Leeuwen and Moss. Finally, reference is made to Mackey’s research on multimodal platforms, applying her terms ‘playing the text’, the notion of ‘performance’ and ‘engaging in the rules of the game’. The conclusion leaves the question posed in the title open and suggests further research into actual readers will reveal more.     

Evidence-Based Maternity Care: Can New Dogs Learn Old Tricks?

In this article, a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator describes her efforts to change the culture of birth in a community hospital in a small Midwestern town. Her experience highlights the challenges and the frustrations involved in creating change. The authors reflect on ways to enhance the success of change and advocacy strategies.     

“New Basic Education” and me

Initiated in September 1994, “New Basic Education” first underwent a five-year Exploratory Research phase from September 1994 to May 1999, which was followed by a second five-year Developmental Research phase from September 1999 to May 2004. Thus during the past ten years, “New Basic Education” has undergone a complete research process, including the presentation of the problem, the formation of results, and finally the dissemination, application, perfection, and development of its research. This study has preliminarily explored the transformation of schools, educational theories and educational research methods in China. The author hopes to respond actively to educational changes caused by our transforming society through her professional research. She presents in this paper the retrospective notes of her subjective state, such as her thought process, planning, actions and experiences while conducting and developing “New Basic Education” research. “New Basic Education” research originated from ten years of theoretical preparation (amassing basic educational theory, the methodology for educational research, and meta-research of educational disciplines), as well as from the author’s personal experiences conducting field research during the past three years and her profound reflections on the nature of the social transformations taking place in late 20^th century China. During the Exploratory Research phase, “New Basic Education” research—which consists of reconstructive research on educational theory and practice—regards the rebuilding of educational aims as its theoretical starting point. Additionally, “New Basic Education” research regards schools, which provide nine-year compulsory education as the entire unit of practical research. The research also focused on classroom education, teaching reform, and school management for the experimentation and reform of the schools. As for the core issue of methodology, the crux of the issue lies in how to deal with the relations between theoretical research and practical research and the relationship between theoretical researchers and practical researchers.     

Action,Freedom, and Education: Refugees and a “New Beginning”

In the mid-2000s, large numbers of refugees from North Africa and the Middle East sought to reach Europe to escape persecution, war, and famine. Images of children, women, and men in inhumane conditions attempting to reach the mainland began to circulate worldwide. This phenomenon culminated in 2015 with the worst immigration crisis in Europe since the end of World War II. In this study, Vasco d'Agnese draws on Hannah Arendt's work to demonstrate that refugees, in embarking on their often excruciating journeys, represent the paradigm of acting, natality, and a “new beginning,” features that, for Arendt, characterize the human experience. Starting from this premise, d'Agnese presents two refugee stories and attempts to foreground their intrinsically educational nature with two aims. The first is that engaging with these stories may help transform the traditional view of refugees as vulnerable, suffering, and needy, and instead promote a view that acknowledges refugees' actions, their agency, and that does justice to the strength, determination, and resiliency they demonstrate in taking the actions they do. The second aim is to show how the renewal of natality represented by such stories serves as a foundation for a different engagement with education. If, as Arendt argues, education is first and foremost about preserving natality, the renewal of natality seen in these refugee stories is one of the best educational examples we may find. In refugee stories, the natality of education is, in a profound sense, actualized.     

“This is America”: Examining Artifactual Literacies as Austere Love Across Contexts of Schools and Everyday Use

The Urban Review - In this paper, we consider how teachers and teacher educators may foreground relationships, experiences, pasts, and possibilities to more fully recognize and extend...     

科学学习“So Easy”

小时候,我最喜欢的书是《我的动物朋友》,我在书中认识了各种可爱的动物。休息日,爸爸妈妈经常带着我逛动物园、植物园。而家门口的“自然博物馆”更是我每天午后必逛的地方。去的次数多了,我竟然也能简单地认识和了解以前叫不出名的花花草草和一些小虫小鸟了。     

ANNOUNCEMENT: New “Research and Practice” Section in the Journal

Research in Higher Education -     

Easy Sneaker球鞋“叫兽”

作球鞋版面，最苦的莫过于到创作的瓶颈。每次看似华丽或者炫目的版面背后都有一次次你看不到的复杂和艰难。这次介绍的这些球鞋，每一双都有一个属于它自己的故事，感谢我们的Team，大家赶紧来选择你中意的球鞋吧。     

Easy Sneaker球鞋“叫兽”

本期Kicks来谈跑步,各位社员近日有否有发现,跑步一时盛起,这点从各大品牌推出的相关跑鞋便可见一斑,近期Freak为大家带来3大热门跑鞋,是兼具功能及靓型,绝对让你在跑步时都可做到拉风！     

“We Need a Song”: Sustaining Critical Youth Organizing Literacies Through World Humanities

This article intervenes in the long-standing conversations around which youth activism, literacies, and civic engagement take place. In an effort to expand the boundaries of activism to include the work of youth critical literacies within the classroom, this article highlights the work of four female high school students of color as they bring attention to human sex trafficking. Findings show that students are introduced to and given the space to engage in “critical youth organizing literacies” through their class project. Therefore, through similar projects, classrooms become sites where young people learn to select and critique texts in order to mobilize peers and community members.