Productive Classroom Literacy Instruction

Productive Classroom Literacy Instruction is a research project designed to help both students and educators better understand what literacy means, and that it is more than just the ability to read and write. This project took three high school students in Missoula and had them photograph what they thought of as literacy over a two-week period, at home, in school, and in extracurricular activities or free time. Students were interviewed about why they chose these subjects for their photographs and what they think literacy means, what they think other people think literacy means, and what they wish their teachers knew about literacy. These findings were then synthesized with information from peer-reviewed articles in the field of literacy. The point of this photo story is to see literacy from the perspective of students, not just teachers who may be out of touch with new literacies. My hope is that this project will expand the definition of literacy in the field of education, and enable students to have better experiences with literacy that they feel fits in with their everyday lives. I think that the originality of the photo story method of research will help visually highlight the different types of literacy in today’s society. I believe this research project will benefit both educators and students in not only the field of literacy development, but all other fields of education