Multimodality pedagogies : a multiliteracies approach

This paper draws on outcomes of a case study which explored changes in teachers\u27 literacy pedagogies as a result of their participation in a purpose-driven teacher professional learning project. The teachers sought to develop classroom responses which were cognisant of multimodal shifts resulting from an increasingly digitised, networked communications environment. Recognising the powerful influence of the teacher on student outcomes, the study sought to investigate teacher learning as a means for influencing print-based literacy pedagogies to incorporate multimodality literacy practices. Four teachers engaged in participatory action research, researching their literacy pedagogies in light of the New London Group\u27s multiliteracies theory (1996; 2000). Schemas derived from multiliteracies theory acted as stimuli for expanding teachers\u27 multimodality pedagogies, consequently addressing disjunctures between multimodal and print-based literacies. Patterns in teachers\u27 pedagogical choices are illustrated through the analytical use of the \u27multimodal schema\u27.