Writing wrongs and imagining change: Educating for social consciousness through a multimedia literacy curriculum.
Item
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Title
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Writing wrongs and imagining change: Educating for social consciousness through a multimedia literacy curriculum.
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Identifier
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AAI3325428
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identifier
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3325428
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Creator
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Ammentorp, Louise S.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Colette Daiute
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Date
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2008
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Developmental | Education, Elementary | Education, Curriculum and Instruction
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Abstract
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This dissertation deploys and develops Vygotsky's concept of social consciousness to study a sixth grade art-based multimedia literacy curriculum designed to educate rather then test. The dissertation argues effective pedagogy must develop social consciousness, defined as a dynamic process involving a conscious awareness of the social-historical context, thinking abstractly about time and place, and beyond the immediate everyday conditions to understand one's own experience as embedded in a broader system of social relations and a sense of social responsibility for change.;The literacy curriculum begins with the study of historic social and political movements as documented in photography and poetry. Students take and develop photographs of their community and write narratives and poetry around the topic "Where I live." Through interviews with the teacher, classroom observations, and discourse analysis of student work, I found participation in this multimodal curriculum enabled students to examine and critically discuss their everyday experiences and challenges (i.e., gangs, violence, wild dogs) in coherence with the greater socio-historical context.;I demonstrate how mediational devices assisted the students' engagement with contradictory realities and discourses as they conceptualize the meaning of "Newark" (their city). I found the students' sense of self was social; inextricable from the city and the people of the community. Students linked personal success to the success of their community and the city. Metaphor, in particular, proved a powerful cross-modal (visual, textual, oral) mediational device utilized to create coherence as they organized their experience over time and place. Creating coherence and systemizing their experience is essential to the process of social consciousness. Through the multimodal activities of the project, students individually and collaboratively considered and connected "what is" with "what was" as they imagined "what could be.".;The analysis shows the breadth of pedagogical possibilities when teachers are supported by administrator to explore their passions and creativity rather than follow rigid test-based curriculum.;Education interested in social consciousness develops conceptual knowledge, abstract thinking, creativity and real life problem solving strategies. These skills, combined with commitment to social change and social responsibility, are necessary as we prepare students to face the challenges of the 21 st century.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
