As Mirra (2020) pointed out (in a very meta tweet), education must move away from “training youth to accept a dysfunctional civic life that is built upon + perpetuates INEQUITY” and move toward a view of digital citizenship where schools support “youth to use their LITERACIES to dream of and design LIBERATING CIVIC FUTURES!”
-- Buchholz & DeHart, 2020
In this response to this week’s text, I drew a particular connection between the work of the researchers, the students’ experiences, and one of the identified skills and competencies highlighted in NCTE’s “ Definition of Literacy in a Digital Age”: “Determine how and to what extent texts and tools amplify one’s own and others’ narratives as well as counter unproductive narratives;”
The collage below highlights and captures my thoughts in response to this week’s readings.
From Left to Right:
Group of Pictures in Row 1 “I Voted” & “Child with Books”
Critical Digital literacy practices highlighted in Garcia et al, 2015 and Price-Dennis, 2016 highlight the affordances of digital tools in nontraditional civic participation. It also highlights spaces and opportunities for students to express and further develop their identities in educational environments that traditionally may not have provided such a safe space.
Society often emphasizes voting as a primary means of civic participation, and often, momentum is centered around national presidential elections when the most effective and meaningful decisions and actions occur at the local and grassroots levels. The skills that the students gained as exemplified through the curriculum and case studies provide, models and opportunities for students to access and amplify their voices to stakeholders with whom they may not traditionally have access.
Picture “2: “Narratives” & Text Graphic Determine Narratives and Counternarratives”. In both studies, the students engaged with digital tools to reflect upon and counter-narratives that are “forced upon (and about) them” through traditional media. The description of the “determine narratives” skillset in the NCTE definition of digital literacy captures the work and experience of the students’: " Determine how and to what extent texts and tools amplify one’s own and
others’ narratives as well as counter unproductive narratives". It is important for learners to have multiple opportunities to engage in multimodal literacy practices as a means to communicate information that supports participating in a diverse and democratic society. Learners are navigating digital spaces during a time when narratives are being constructed for a variety of purposes. Learners need a heightened awareness about how texts and tools can be used to produce and circulate biased narratives aimed at justifying exclusionary practices and policies that disproportionately impact nondominant communities. Learners also need sustained opportunities to produce counter-narratives that expose and interrupt misguided texts that do not represent the fullness of their identities or life complexities. To engage in participatory literacy practices, learners need opportunities within the curriculum to author multimodal stories in order to examine power, equity, and identities and grow as digitally savvy and civic-minded citizens.
Do learners analyze narratives to address accuracy, power dynamics, equity, monolithic notions of race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexuality, or ability?
Do learners explore multimodal narratives to identify and better understand the cultural practices that inform the creation of these narratives?
Do learners have space in the curriculum to compose narratives across genre for a variety of audiences that center their life experiences and honor their cultural backgrounds?
Do learners create and disseminate narratives that leverage the affordances of digital tools?
Do learners share and critically analyze narratives they produce and consume in digital spaces?
Do learners use multiple digital tools and print-based literacies to design and create multimodal representations of stories that communicate asset-based ideas?
Do learners use multiple digital tools and print-based literacies to amplify the cultural wealth in their communities?
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