The importance of home-school connections

As a student teacher, I have become increasingly aware of why it is essential to nurture family-school partnerships, or 'home-school connections'. As discussed in previous blogs, children bring with them to school different cultures, backgrounds and beliefs which all influence on their literacy learning. Each child brings with them different funds of knowledge and different 'lifeworlds' within their 'virtual schoolbag' (Thompson, 2002).  This week we explored the vital importance of understanding these different backgrounds and skills, and how it is important for teachers to create a learning environment which creates meaning and a sense of belonging for students (Louise, 2013). 

(http://www.namgis.bc.ca/Pages/Complete-List.aspx)

However, teachers may often have assumptions about children's funds of knowledge and view some students, such as the non English speaking, the disabled or poor as 'deficit' (Comber & Kamler, 2007). It is clear that teacher's must move outside of deficit discourses to move ahead. So how do home-school connections tie in with these assumptions? Well, by developing connections with student's home life, we obtain an insight into the student's life and what particular literacies they experience on a day to day basis. The different funds of knowledge are resources which teachers can tap into to learn how student's learn and to develop productive pedagogies which accommodate to different literacy learner abilities (Allen, 2009). Therefore this relationship ensures both parents and teachers can monitor children's development and progression through learning literacy. It is important that parents and teachers maintain this strong relationship to set their student's up for success in the classroom. 

Whilst on my student teacher practicum in prep, I have been observing these home-school connections. I discussed the topic with my teacher, and she explained to me that her way of communicating effectively with the parents and/or guardians of her students was mainly via text message.  This also astounded me as it related to the advancing technological communication of literacies in the 21st century. She also explained that the class had a whiteboard on the door to inform parents of any changed or dates to remember. The teacher was informed about every child's individual home life and their funds of knowledge. I also observed that after class every day she would discuss the behaviours of children with their parents, whether they were on task or off. It is clear that this strong relationship between parents and teachers is vital in ensuring the success of every student. 

(http://mrstophamscorner.blogspot.com.au/)

References:



Allen, J. (2009). Diverse families, welcoming schools: creating partnerships that support learning. In C. Compton-Lilly (Ed.), Breaking the silence: recognizing the social and cultural resources students bring to the classroom (pp. 125-140). Newark: International Reading Association.

Effective Strategies for Parent-Teacher Communication, [Youtube], (2012) Retreived from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWNUM-XGpnU

Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (2012). Literacies. Australia: Cambridge University Press.

Parent-teacher connections, [image] Retrieved from (http://www.namgis.bc.ca/Pages/Complete-List.aspx)

Parent-teacher connections, [image] Retrieved from http://mrstophamscorner.blogspot.com.au/

Phillips, L. (2013). Literacy in Primary and Middle years Contexts: Lecture. Multimedia Presentation University of Queensland, St Lucia

Thompson, P. (2002). Schooling the rustbelt kids: making the difference in changing times. Crows nest: Allen and Unwin.

Literacy learner differences!

Throughout my schooling I have always been taught that each individual learns in a different style. One person may learn best through visual means, whereas the person sitting next to them may learn the same concept with a more hands on learning technique.These differences can be recognised as a range of different skills (Phillips, 2013).  However, there are three main demographic dimensions of learner differences which impact upon literacies learning, these are material, corporeal and symbolic.

Lifeworlds reflect the type of learner a person has become as a result of the different influences they have experienced throughout their life. The key attributes to lifeworlds are narrative, persona, affinity and orientation (Kalantzis & Cope, 2012). It's the things you know, without having to think how you came to know them (Phillips, 2013). Sounds a little confusing, right? Well actually, it's very simplistic! Every individual has experienced different lifeworlds, such as the influence of their family, culture, language, friends/peers, political views, religion etc (the list goes on). These different lifeworlds shape our differences in learning literacies. My personal lifeworlds include being catholic, coming from a close and big family, friends, my interest in visual art, sport and also music such as piano. These all reflect my personal background and my literacy learning differences. As a preservice teacher, it is vital that I understand the backgrounds of different children within the classroom to ensure I am able to teach them literacy effectively.

It is evident also that the 21st century has an increase in diversity within the student population. The Queensland government argues that students bring with them to the classroom diverse languages, dialects and literacy skills. The combination of poverty with diversity creates some of the most significant challenges for literacy teaching (Queensland Government, 2008). Another excellent source argues that poor pedagogies and a focus on English literacy within classrooms have lead to a replacement of Aboriginal students' existing multiliterate capacities (Martin, 2008)

Therefore it is becoming increasingly important as future teachers to recognize the different styles each child within the classroom uses to learn literacy, and understand their lifeworlds and already existing literacy capacities.



References:

Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (2012). Literacies. Melbourne: Cambridge
University Press. Chapter 14: Literacies and learner differences pp.
374-400.

Martin, K. (2008). The intersection of Aboriginal knowledges,
Aboriginal literacies, and new learning pedagogy for Aboriginal
students. In Healy, A. (Ed.) Multiliteracies and diversity in education:
New pedagogies for expanding landscapes (pp. 58-81). South
Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.

Queensland Government of Australia, Department of Education and the Arts (2008) Literacy the key to learning, Retrieved from: https://learn.uq.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-346110-dt-content-rid-1459738_1/courses/EDUC1707S_6360_62707/Literacy%20Resources/New%20Literacy%20Strategy/literacy_framework%5B1%5D.pdf

The dawning of multiliteracies communication

As individual human beings, with individual thoughts and interpretations, it is quite blatantly obvious that we all 'see' the world in a unique way. However, during this week I have came to the realisation that literacy is also the process of using signs, or 'semosis'. Greater expanding my thoughts, it came to me. If my friend were to say to me the word 'hot', instantaniously I would picture the sun, fire, the colour red or orange. Unintentionally, I am blending signs of literacy such as oral and visual, am I not? We use visual, audio, oral, spatial, gestural, tactile and written literacy to communicate meaning, but this process of blurring different modes of meaning together can be defined as Synaesthesia, (Kalantzis & Cope, 2013). People often redesign meanings by taking available resources for meaning and using them as building blocks for designing new meanings, (Phillips, 2013).

(Vsauce, 2013)
This Youtube clip shows how differently individuals can interpreate meanings through their own representation (self making meaning for ourselves) and communication (a message from one person that prompts an interpretation by another, making meanings in our interactions with others).


Personally, I believe the literacy practices I engage with regularly and use to communicate in my own unique way is through visual art. Drawing for me, not necessarily people, places or things but quite often simple patterns create a great deal of meaning. I express through my art how I feel, and usually convey strong meaning, that usually only I can pick from the works. Studying Visual art throughout high school also gave me a greater insight on the meaning behind visual arts. I incorporate a great deal of symbolism into my work, which I research and plan out before designing, scratching through countless drafts.

Here are a few of my art works:

Ukulele drawn in 2012, my visual literacy expression of how I felt during the summer holidays and after graduating.

This drawing was during my art project on 'Social criticism', I decided to focus on refugees and the need to seek asylum.

A drawing I completed for my project on 'Identity' using a great deal of symbolism to express my visual literacy.



References:

Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (2012). Literacies. Melbourne:
Cambridge University Press. Chapter 7: Literacies as
multimodal designs for meaning pp.173-205.

Phillips,L. (2013) Lecture notes, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia

A changed direction of thought

As a stubborn schoolgirl, graduating in 2012, my thoughts on literacy were always quite basic. My personal opinion of literacy was simply how we read and write, a vital and fundamental tool to learn to prepare for your adult life and the big wide world. However, on embarking on my journey to studying literacy at University, I have already been opened up to a wider, more open minded way of thinking and defining literacy within the classroom context and everyday life in the 21st century.

It has come to my attention after experiencing the first lecture, that literacy is a much broader concept than I had originally thought. It is not only a single body of knowledge, but rather a varied set of social practices, advanced by the growing digital media of 2013. However, much to my surprise it’s clear that literacy can be seen all around us in everyday life, through multimedia, visual, auditory, oral, linguistic, spacial, gestural and tactile means, (Kalantzis & Cope, 2012).

(http://faculty.uoit.ca/hughes/Contexts/MultipleLiteracies.html)

So, as I sit here posting about my changed opinion of literacy, I become suddenly aware of all the different literacies I am experiencing presently. In the everyday life of Claudia Vince, there is a constant multitasking of work and life, whilst at the same time, almost always keeping in touch with people via text and Facebook and checking or posting in other social networking sights such as Instagram and Tumblr. Despite the fact that being born a female, it is almost destined that I succeed in the art of multitasking, it astounds me to realize that I am unconsciously using many different forms of literacy within my day to day activities.

"We read the world through images, symbols, colours, signs, body language and in the gaps and margins as well as through printed text." (Hughes, 2007)

The question is however, what does it truly mean to use these literacies in 2013?
Well readers, say goodbye to the old fashioned classroom practices of just plain reading and writing, this technologically advanced era is filled with the use of multimedia literacices. So that leaves us with a perplexing question, is being ‘illiterate’ a thing of the past? 

References: 

Hughes, J. (2007). Multiple literacies. Retrieved from Teaching language and literacy, K-6: Retrieved from: http://faculty.uoit.ca/hughes/Contexts/MultipleLiteracies.html

Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (2012). Literacies. Melbourne: 

Cambridge University Press. Chapter 1: Literacies on a human 

scale pp.21-40.

Mutlimodal literacies [image] Retrieved from: http://faculty.uoit.ca/hughes/Contexts/MultipleLiteracies.html