Abstract
Recently, researchers have begun to investigate the ways contemporary childhoods are being shaped by a range of multimodal communicative practices (Kress, Literacy in the new media age, Routledge, New York, 2003; Lankshear and Knobel, New literacies: Changing knowledge and classroom learning, Open University Press, Milton Keynes, 2003). This is particularly relevant as the changing communication systems of the 21st century are influencing the ways children make meaning in their worlds. In this article, we discuss two case studies that occurred in two different urban Canadian contexts where we sought to privilege the voices, lives, and meaning making experiences of two young boys by involving them as active participants in research. Drawing on sociocultural and multimodal theories of learning, the purpose of this research was to investigate the complexity of the everyday communicative practices utilized by young Canadian children in and out-of-school, in an attempt to inform the future direction of literacy curricula for children. Although many researchers advocate for children’s “voices” to be taken into account in educational research, few report the evidence of engaging children in the research process. In the two cases, the data collection methods provided opportunities for children to express themselves, and revealed the meaning making practices that they valued. The findings also showed how the practices valued and promoted in the focal children’s classrooms generally reflected traditional and narrow modes of communication, specifically, printbased and teacher-directed practices.
Résumé
Récemment, les chercheurs ont commencé à explorer les façons dont l’enfance contemporaine est influencée par une variété de pratiques multimodales de communication (Kress 2003 ; Lankshear et Knobel, 2003). Ceci est particulièrement pertinent au moment où les systèmes de communication du vingt et unième siècle changent et influencent la façon dont les enfants donnent du sens à leur monde. Dans cet article, nous discutons de deux études de cas menées dans deux milieux urbains canadiens différents où nous avons tenté de privilégier la voix, la vie et le processus de création de sens de deux jeunes garçons, en les impliquant comme participants actifs à la recherche. S’appuyant sur les théories socioculturelles et multimodales de l’apprentissage, le but de cette recherche était d’explorer la complexité des pratiques de communication quotidiennes utilisées par les jeunes enfants canadiens à l’école et à l’extérieur, afin de tenter de documenter l’orientation future des programmes d’alphabétisation des enfants. Même si beaucoup de chercheurs préconisent que la “voix” des enfants soit prise en compte dans la recherche en éducation, peu démontrent l’implication des enfants dans le processus de recherche. Dans les deux cas, les méthodes de cueillette des données ont donné aux enfants des occasions de s’exprimer et ont révélé les pratiques de création de sens qu’ils valorisaient. Les résultats montrent aussi comment les pratiques valorisées et promues dans les classes des enfants visés correspondent à des modes de communication traditionnels et étroits, spécifiquement, des pratiques basées sur des textes écrits et dirigées par les enseignants.
Reseña
Recientemente se ha comenzado a investigar en relación a las formas en que la infancia contemporánea está siendo moldeada por una amplia gama de prácticas comunicativas multimodales (Kress 2003; Lankshear and Knobel 2003). Este fenómeno es de gran importancia dado que los cambiantes sistemas comunicativos del siglo veintiuno influencian profundamente la manera en que los niños interpretan su mundo. En el presente artículo, analizamos dos casos en dos contextos urbanos Canadienses diferentes, en los cuales hemos intentado privilegiar las voces, vidas e interpretaciones de las experiencias de dos niños a través de su participación activa en el proceso de investigación. Nuestro trabajo se basa en teorías socioculturales y multimodales de aprendizaje, con el propósito de estudiar la complejidad de las prácticas comunicativas cotidianas utilizadas por niños Canadienses, tanto fuera como dentro del ámbito escolar. Nuestro principal objetivo es contribuir información para la futura dirección del proceso curricular de alfabetización infantil. A pesar de que muchos investigadores insisten en que las voces de los niños deben ser incluidas, pocos han mostrado, hasta el momento, la manera en que han hecho partícipes a los niños en el proceso de investigación. En los dos casos, los métodos de recolección de datos brindaron a los niños la oportunidad de expresarse, revelando los procesos de interpretación valorados por ellos mismos. Los resultados también evidenciaron que las prácticas valoradas y promovidas en las clases de estos niños, generalmente, reflejan modos de comunicación tradicionales y reducidos, específicamente, modos basados en materiales impresos y en una enseñanza centrada en el docente.
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Notes
In this research, the actual name of Devin is used. At the onset of the study, the family decided to include their given names and Devin’s given name because they wanted to share their “stories.” All other names in this article are pseudonyms.
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McTavish, M., Streelasky, J. & Coles, L. Listening to Children’s Voices: Children as Participants in Research. IJEC 44, 249–267 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-012-0068-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-012-0068-8