“New Ways of Knowing”: Collaborative Multimodal Response Assignments in Teacher Education

Abstract

Justice-oriented teacher educators continue to seek innovative teaching methods that support preservice teachers' learning and teaching about complex ideas in K-12 education. Collaborative multimodal response assignments represent one pedagogical tool positioned as deliberate resistance to dominant modes of expressing new knowledge, rejecting white supremacy culture in classrooms, and undergirding racially just educational practices. In this article, collaborative multimodal response projects assigned in undergraduate and graduate teacher preparation courses attempt to enact and encourage liberatory literacies and teaching practices. Following qualitative analysis of students' reflections and feedback on the project-making process, collaborative multimodal tasks offer preservice teachers literacy experiences that (1) impact them personally, (2) build community and connection, (3) mediate engagement with complex content, and (4) support preservice teachers' pedagogical practice as novice teachers.