Re-Newing the New in Literacy Studies

Street, Brian (2009) the future of 'social literacies' p21 - 37, Ch 1 in Baynham, Mike and Prinsloo, Mastin, The Future of Literacy Studies Palgrave MacMillan: Hampshire


'...a practice is a mediated action with a history.'
Schollon 2001:66


Practice is a property of human activity and practice is a property of non-human entities, institutions, texts. In this further sense we can talk about institutional practices, disciplinary practices, discursive practices [...] human beings are hailed, interpellated, subjected to these discourse or practices in the Althusserian sense [...] not just in terms of constraints but also in terms of affordances or opportunities. 
Baynham and Prinsloo (2009:7)


Social Literacies starts from the local - the meanings and uses participants bring to literacy practices in varied contexts. In exploring literacy practices of designated 'illiterate' communities asks about the practices that those communities have and how do these connect to those of programme providers. Exploration of the cultural & ideological assumptions behind 'autonomous' models of literacy. 


How people engage with text is rooted in conceptions of knowledge, identity & being. Always contested in terms of meaning & practices. How then do people 'take hold' of the new communicative practices being introduced to them.  Need to suspend own judgements of literacy & ask what it means to the people you are working with. 


Student academic writing - what can it tell us about discourse, identity & power. 


Literacy associated with HE


study skills: 'surface' features of text - grammar, syntax, spelling &c


socialisation:  more interested in 'genre' making the rules of the game explicit


& academic literacies: both of these


Also - definitions of literacy now need to take account of multi-modality. A mode may be linguistic, visual, kinaesthetic &c. Orchestration of shift between modes. 


The research proposal is aimed at making use of NLS theory in my own practice as a teacher educator. I here want to explore my own treatment of students contribution and engage with that question of 'how much is the grading of work based not on the value of their ideas but the extent to which they are articulated in conformance with academic conventions'.  This in my view is particularly true of students who speak English as an additional language. They have clearly read and are able to reference their reading but whose approach to weaving these other voices into their text appear at odds with my expectations. 


I suspect there is something here abut professional identity - learning for someone who is 'established' as a competent teacher is a challenge because it may in some way undermine their sense of themselves as competent. What they do is accepted if it confirms what they a;ready 'know' but rejected if it is felt to challenge or change. This is a dilemma since at the heart of learning is change. This may suggest a view of they have of learning as acquisitive, additive rather then as developmental and broadening: change. This matters because it implicates what & how they write / read. 


This is a broad brush and a tentative 'opening'. My interest is 3 fold: 


Literacy teachers as literate adults changing and developing their own literacy. This needs to be carefully explained: being challenged to read and write in ways that are unfamiliar to them and have to be learned. Not just in technical terms but broader terms of who I am and how I engage with this material and represent it as part of a my changed sense of who I am. 


Literacy teachers as to qualified professional: what influences and shapes my understanding of myself as a practitioner. How do these experiences of literacy - my lived experienced and the things I learn and write about contribute towards my professional development. Is this a qualification or a learning experience. How motivated am I - what motivates me and what does this motivation lead to. 


Literacy teacher as 'deliverer' of skills or facilitator of practices: (I need to check my wording & the model of teaching & literacy it implies). how do these different ideas about literacy shape practice. I am here resistant to seeing this as an extended evaluation. Though I do expect to learn. I am here not constructive a hierarchy and hope to continue to develop my own ideas in progress. I know I need to explore further Roxy Harris and the typology he presented at the RaPAL conference in July 2010 @ Greenwich. The answer to this question may be contained in the assignment learners offer. But it is one that explores their different and changing ideas of literacy to their practice as teachers. 


Methodology - naturally occurring data & interview. I am keen to situate myself in the field. And need to read 


I have the unexpected feeling that someone is making sense. That this process of articulating (for myself|) my thoughts about this subject  having this dispersed across time & space discussion with colleague - leading thinkers - is enabling me to shape and bring into being my own sense of self as an academic - a academic with direction. Not literacy itself - but literacy in this public / private space. A purposeful literacy that each time I engage with it says: my sense of what it means to be an academic. Rather then a research student. 


Clarke, Adele (2005) Situational Analysis: grounded theory after the postmodern turn. Sage: London


Theory is of value in empirical science only to the extent to which it connects fruitfully with the empirical world. Concepts are the only means of establishing such connection.  Blumer (1969:143)


p60. 

Translating Capital

At the moment I am thinking most about Bourdieu. What I like most about him is that he enables me to think critically about inequality and literacy. It also seems to satisfy my need for a theoretical framework. I also want to explore Actor Network Theory and Complexity Theory. 


I suspect I need to revisit my 6 year PhD by publication plan and draft a more detailed schedule. 


so - reading & response: 


Pahl, K  (2008) Tracing habitus in texts: Narratives of loss, disappointment and migration in homes, Ch 10 pg 189 in Albright & Luke


'...the complexity of the global but also the specificity of the local (Luke & Luke, 2000).'


I wonder here about the global = complex & the local = specific. 


Drawing on complexity theory, is it possible that the local can be understood as just as complex as the global, fractal - that size does not suggest diminishing degrees of complexity.


I am reminded of the need to be critical of the 'hypodermic' approach to literacy (Luke 1995) - the belief that  this or that approach is particularly empowering. An approach that falls into Graff's (1979) literacy myth - the belief that literacy has independent effects. One adopted by policy makers who equate it to economic prosperity.  When the determinants of the economy are contextually located in structural forces that are broader and more complex then those that literacy alone can resolve. 


The consequences and 'effects' of school-acquired literacy capital are always mediated and re-mediated by other structural, material and social relational forces within social fields outside the school - those very social and intellectual fields where literacy is locally used, reshaped and deployed (Luke 2008:349)


Literacy broadly as form of habitus / capital / disposition that may be translated into embodied capital (eg skills, disposition) and possibly enable an equitable conversion into material capital (cognitive artefacts) for later translation into institutional capital (credentials, diplomas, degrees). 


My question is the possibility of the equity based agenda for literacy education in broad terms or is this commitment that resonates only as a minority project. I weary here because this sounds bleak. I have a hunch that it is completely irrelevant. 


It may be that the contemporary echo of this commitment is 'student centred' pedagogy. Which would seem to be to be a useful mechanisms for ideas about literacy as social practice to emerge. 


Ok - I don't have a definite query. I think part of what feels like a bit of a block is that I may not want to interview these particular students. But - I may explore: 


Literacy as teacher & literacy as student - into a composite theory of literacy. What are its constituent parts and its major influences. Connected to habitus as evident in text and evident in teaching. So - their literacy practice as teachers. 


I need to read to explore a reasonable question. 

Bourdieu & Literacy Education

One of the points of education is to mask [through mystification & misrecogniton] the operation of selection by imposing discourses of meritocracy in a system in which one can not succeed without already mastering the tools of the system.  


Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977 cited in Heller p54 Chapter 4 in Albright & Luke (2010)

The trouble with this is that it reproduces and solidifies 'the system'. It is an expression of humility for those already there but a declaration that you may as well not bother for those who aren't. It suggest - in the presence of what only pretends to be a meritocracy - that you are welcome & able only if you are selected. Meanwhile you can only be selected if you are already 'one of us'. Even though those who are 'one of us' are able to occupy that space with humility and be there on the basis of a heritage that we did not choose but benefit from. And so - this makes me want to explore - women and desire. A longing and / for belonging that keeps itself hidden. That does not risk being 'put in its place' but engages in another version of underground work - to find a way through that does not rely on 'seletion' or at least removes the possibility of 'selection' based on criteria that she is unable to control. 


I am of course filled in writing this with habitus, field, capital, distinction & symbolic violence. The key tools of Bourdieu. Interested and intrigued. But insisting on locating a space that acknowledges both agency and structure. That does not blame but equally does not 'lock out'. 


Kramsch Chapter 3 in Albright & Luke (2010


In reading this - I gain an insight into this feeling of superiority. But not of how to dismantle it. Literacy as both liberator and social reproduction. Turns a paradox into a creative experience. Teach the genres of power - but also teach how to demystify those genres. Personal value is not limited to the grades they receive. This is the reflexive moment - play the game but critically reflect on the rules of the game.  Though to play he game requires a knowledge of the rules. The rules are known only by those 'in the know'. Others can pretend to be 'in the know' but remain open to exposure. 


These are of course examples of what I study sediments in text of habitus and social practice. An eternal self-referencing & self-generating loop. 


Sympraxy* as opposed to sympathy. Realistic identification as opposed to idealistic projection.  


I can find no other reference for this word. 

Trawling & Types of Reading

8,000 words later - at least 1,000 more then I can have and 4,000 more than what makes this a viable work. My blogging silence has involved words in other spaces. This is good. The truth is writing the paper now would involve a different set of ideas - one that centres on its relevance. But I will honour that 1st year self. There is enormous self-doubt. But this I can deal with through deciding what to do and doing it. I can also carry on 'as if'. So - its manageable. This is trawling. 


I now need to re & reread and neaten. My hair is combed. Tame. The wild profusion has been ordered. Now - what I need is to beautify. Or perhaps a less gendered concept. I need to focus my argument and contextualise it more clearly. I need to establish the link between my statements and evidence. I also need to signal what is original and specific. This work - needs to be published. Its symbolic. The trawling is the identifying what I can discard - may be to use at a later stage. And what I need to cherish. To rephrase and capture. 


The reading - I want to think through the types of reading I need to do. I note that sentence - 'fast food for the mind'. This is not what I want. I want wholesome sumptuous vegetarian meals, spicy and hot. Delicious reading that leaves me hungry and fulfilled. 


1)    reading that is geared to supporting, clarifying, shaping a specific piece of writing at any stage. Opening the area, closing a discussion, checking, refuting. That sort of thing. It is reading that has an end, an object in mind and is read with an audience and writing for an audience in mind. Reading for the sake of writing for an audience. 


2) reading that is geared to teaching. This may include preparation for a particular session or module. It may include reading around a subject. It may include at attempt to think about ways of developing the programme. Reading as paid work.  


3) reading that is based only on interest. Curiosity. This may become reading 1 at a later stage but does not start here and does not have this as an intention. This feels like its the most important part of reading. But is is the easiest to place to one side. But this is the type I mush engender. Curiosity. Cross fertilisation. Openness and genuine scholarship. Authentic reading. Reading to feed my curiosity: that leaves my hungry and fulfilled. 

One whole day 300 words

Done it. I have made that first dive into the icy cold water. Shock - the very physical kind at its coldness. A few laps - and I am beginning to remember that I will eventually feel warm. I think of 'my professor'.  And wonder what it will be like working with this new person. There are no rules or expectations here. But I've done it. Started and I have a sense of where I am going., A good idea of how to get there. And am armed with my usual mantra - it was so hard to get started, getting to this point, there is no way I will stop until this is perfect. I didn't go through all of that for nothing! 


Done it. 

Writing

I am poised to take the plunge. How do people like me experience writing. This feels like a completely new place to be writing from. An academic rather than a student. An unclear grading criteria. I am still working on finding an academic voice. I am also exhausted and conscious of the work I have to do.


Passion and Politics is a good one to read - it's there. So at some point I will need to read it.


My friend describes a process of diving deep into a pool of clear blue water from an enormous height. There is an extended period of preparation. A knowledge that you have done this several times before and actually - the water gets more familiar and more in need of discovery with each attempt.


I have a feeling of combing a mass of knotty hair. I know the end product will be beautiful - in how it looks and feels. I also know it will last. But at the start it is excruciating and painful. I also know that I can not go in with my hair like this. In fact I can't move with my hair like this. But somehow I have a feeling that perhaps, finally this time. I can't take it.


I am too easily distracted.


So, I have already started and have a plan for the rest of the evening.

Professionalization & futurology

To suggest that the professionalization of adult basic skills teaching is impossible is to engage in futurology.



It assumes that the outcome of and response to a complex process can be predicted. There are no templates upon which to base any predictions.



What is distinct about the process for adult basic skills teachers is that the process is policy driven rather than practitioner driven. And that on other instances where a professionalization process ha been policy driven it is most often associated with a loss of status or autonomy. The autonomy enjoyed by basic skills practitioners was a marginalised autonomy. The abiding image is of the portakabin in college car park, few knew and fewer cared what went on there. It was a useful 'dumping' ground for college no hopers. Practice developed in this space of relative freedom.



But this is not the autonomy enjoyed by those who experience the glare of publicity attendant to becoming a 'government priority' is a loss of status and imposition of control. There are then aspects of the professionalization of basic skills teaching that are welcome. Not least of all years of unprecedented public investment. But there are also costs.



What I can assert with confidence is that the professionalization of basic skills teaching may be possible, but it is also fraught with tensions, constraints and ambiguities.



These ambiguities amount to a rescripting, the abandonment of the hallmarks of basic skills practice, I next consider whether this professionalization process is desirable.

Conferences

I need to review and elaborate upon my 6 part plan. It needs to include a conference paper presentation – that may or may not be accepted. I need to pursue new ground while fitting in with what I am interested in. I like the idea of trainee teachers’ conceptions of literacy: specialist and non-specialist.

This is about defining the space a want to occupy. It is thrilling and scary. I need to identify the space I want to occupy. 

Professionalization & academic literacy

Assessing reflective writing - a case study

Literacy as a solipsistic creative act

Part of the need to be explicit about what it is I am doing with my 50 words a day and the insistence that it is a private communication in a public space is the potential solipsism of it all.

Writing for an audience – my academic supervisor and people who will judge and classify my work – is fine. Writing for a publisher – despite its pretentions is also fine. After all – I have worked hard and how else do I ensure I reach the number and kinds of people I want to engage in this ‘ongoing conversation over time’. But writing for the ‘self’ is at odds.

And so I create and imagine an audience. Perhaps my ideal reader here is myself. Or people like me. Academics who seek out a space in between, the ‘hybridised’ third spaces.

I am interested and want to write at some point – once I elaborate upon my 6 part plan – about metaphor. There is danger here. But writing about metaphors for literacy appeals to me:

·         paradise, nightmare of red herring

·         quantifiable or cognitive skills or process

·         solipsistic creative act – a moment of aesthetic or creative commission

·         silver bullet the pierces the heart of economic decline

·         as craft

·         as labour

·         as semiotic production and cultural practice with specific ideological and material consequences

‘Each definition is legitimated, enacted and realised in the field text production and exchange.’ (Luke, 2008) p 78

I have really enjoyed this essay and want to read more. In reading I feel I have eaten a luscious 3 course meal. One that has combined taste and texture in beautiful surroundings.

I want to read more. My understanding ranges and does not feel complete – but this is good. I need to struggle with text and if I am not struggling then I feel as if I am not learning. It’s boring to read text that o can skit through and get. This text demands to be revisited and read and savoured a few times. It leaves me feeling both fulfilled and hungry.

I like his positioning of himself in the text. I am reminded of question of can I use I in my text. I am sure that Cameron, Ivanic and others have had this discussion. My emotional reaction is I want to know I am engaged with a person – that this is a social exchange – the refusal to name and locate seems a refusal to be present to engage.  Luke positions himself and describes his text as an intergenerational ‘gift’ given and received in an economy of exchange. Heteroglossic. A taking in turns across time and space, a mediated riposte.

It is something to do with trust and with my primordial need to trust the writer. Or at least to know who he is. It is also an attempt to make it clear that we exist within the academy.  It is not solipsistic.

He is searching in this text for a literacy pedagogy that does not recreate docile bodies, but one that creates productive, transformative and agentic literate subjects.

A positive pedagogic model.

LUKE, A. 2008. Pedagogy as gift. In: LUKE, A. & ALBRIGHT, J. (eds.) Pierre Bourdieu and Literacy Education. London: Routedge, Taylor & Francis.