(De/re) territorializing writing/composition: becoming with playful objects through maker literacies

Abstract

Purpose Using a postqualitative inquiry approach, the purpose of this paper is to make sense of playful making events that took place at a community makerspace during an afterschool enrichment opportunity and to explore those events as ways we might deterritorialize traditional composition practices and pedagogies in the literacy classroom. Design/methodology/approach Thinking alongside theories (Jackson and Mazzei, 2012) of (de/re)territorialization, becoming (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987) and intimacy with objects (Bennett, 2010), the author argues that children are always, already engaged in writing practices through their everyday maker literacies. Findings By analyzing three different moments when young people were engaged in self-directed maker literacies, this paper illustrates how children’s playful compositions are writing practices and mimic many of the skills teachers seek out during more traditional writing instruction. The author also argues that literacy educators must deterritorialize their own practices to notice the ways children are engaged in these skills. Originality/value Written as a narrative, this paper adds to the ever-growing body of work that suggests seeing humans/nonhuman objects as being in co-relational partnerships offers us new ways to conceptualize literacy practice. Additionally, rather than call for a dismissal of traditional practices, the author encourages us to add to existing practices for a more robust and creative engagement with literacies.