Exploring Multiliteracies Pedagogies With Pre-Service Teachers

Abstract

This chapter provides a review of the research literature related to contemporary views of literacy, including the concept of multiliteracies that originated with the New London Group in the 1990s. The chapter aims to facilitate understanding of a pedagogy of multiliteracies from a Canadian perspective, both in terms of the current research agenda and the implementation of multiliteracies in practice, with a specific focus on the role of teacher education programs. Using a self-study methodology, the author shares her experiences as a teacher educator in British Columbia and proposes a pedagogical framework for pre-service teachers that aims to deepen their understanding of multiliteracies through situated practice, overt instruction, critical framing, and transformed practice. The chapter includes a discussion of digital resources that may enhance educators' ability to design literacy programs that are responsive to the rich cultural and linguistic identities of their students.