Abstract of

Reconceptualizing Literacy Through a Discourses Perspective by Analyzing Literacy Events Represented in Films About Schools

James Trier

A cohort of secondary English preservice teachers was engaged in a series of articles designed to bring about a shift in their initial autonomous views of literacy toward a more sociocultural “Discourses and literacies” perspective. Students wrote an essay in which they articulated their initial assumptions about what literacy was and what teachers of literacy do. They were then introduced to a sociocultural (multiliteracies) theory of literacy, as well as to the important concept of literacy events, by reading, writing about, and discussing selected academic articles and chapters. To deepen their explorations of Discourses, literacies, and literacy events, students then analyzed scenes from selected films, noting how they represented a variety of literacy events. Finally, students designed a variety of literature and composition lessons that revealed the Discourses perspective on literacy that they had been exploring.

Abstract from Trier, J. (2006, March). Reconceptualizing Literacy Through a Discourses Perspective by Analyzing Literacy Events Represented in Films About Schools. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49(6), 510–523. doi: 10.1598/JAAL.49.6.6