Cultivating Social Justice Through Explorations of Multimodal Pop Culture Texts

2021 ◽  
pp. 273-291
Author(s):  
Carolyn Stufft
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Pop Culture ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Middle Level ◽  
High School Curriculum ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Song Lyrics ◽  
Music Lyrics

Middle level and secondary students' understanding of social justice can be cultivated through educators' inclusion of multimodal texts in the curriculum. By engaging in critical literacy through ongoing analyses of music lyrics, poetry, and prose related to social justice, students can develop a deeper understanding of the presence/lack of social justice in previous historical eras as well as its role today. Educators can ensure that formal explorations of issues surrounding social justice, such as race and socioeconomic status, become part of the curriculum through the inclusion of relevant multimodal texts. This chapter presents a variety of multimodal pop culture texts—including novels and song lyrics—that can be included in a middle school or high school curriculum focused on social justice education.

Appraising information literacy skills of students in Singapore

2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-394
Author(s):  
Shaheen Majid ◽  
Schubert Foo ◽  
Yun Ke Chang
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Middle Level ◽  
School Librarians ◽  
Information Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Education Administrators

PurposeTo investigate information literacy (IL) skills of secondary students in Singapore after integration of these skills into school curriculum. The study also explored cyber wellness skills of the students.Design/methodology/approachA survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 14 secondary schools, located in different geographical zones of the country. A total of 3,306 secondary students participated in this survey. A scoring scheme was devised to assess IL skills of the students.FindingsThe students achieved an overall mean score of 52.6%, which is considered as a “middle” level of IL competency. The students obtained high mean scores for two IL skills: “defining information task and analysing information gaps” (60.5%) and cyber wellness (60.1%). Lowest scores were achieved for two IL skills: “selecting information sources” (47.4%) and “appraising the information process and product” (48.0%).Research limitations/implicationsThis study has not investigated IL knowledge of teachers, responsible for teaching IL components. Similarly, content analysis of school textbooks, integrating IL skills, could be useful.Practical implicationsIt appeared that integration of IL skills into school curriculum showed limited success in imparting these skills. This paper suggests measures for improving the integration of IL skills into school curriculum. Findings of this survey will be useful to curriculum planners, education administrators, instructors teaching IL skills and school librarians.Originality/valueThis study was unique as, in addition to standard IL skills, it also investigated cyber wellness skills. It was desirable as now social media have become a popular source for information seeking and sharing.

Writing For Social Action in Our Digital Age

2014 ◽  
pp. 282-297
Author(s):  
Ted Kesler
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Progressive Education ◽  
Classroom Teachers ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
School Settings ◽  
Multimodal Systems ◽  
The Social ◽  
Composing Process

In this chapter, the author first describe the literacy pedagogy that he implements each year with a cohort of pre-service graduate students across two semesters to develop their social justice awareness, based in progressive education and critical literacy principles. The author then describes the social action writing unit of study that arises from this work, emphasizing multimodal forms of expression and especially the use of digital technologies. The author next focuses on two students who represent the digital composing process and products for social justice that students have created. Using multimodal systems of analysis, the author shows how designing multimodal texts informs pre-service students’ understandings of social justice issues. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the convergence of multimodality and social action writing and implications for pre-service writing instruction and action research with classroom teachers in school settings.

AKADEMSKI VOKABULAR: DA LI SU STUDENTI (U)OPŠTE OBRAZOVANI? O POTREBI ZA UKLjUČIVANjEM AKADEMSKOG VOKABULARA U KURIKULUME ZA SRPSKI JEZIK U SREDNjOJ ŠKOLI I NA UNIVERZITETU

Lipar ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol XXI (73) ◽  
pp. 203-216
Author(s):  
Jovana Milovanović ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Academic Language ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
The Other ◽  
Academic Vocabulary ◽  
High School Curriculum ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Entrance Exams ◽  
University Level ◽  
Comparison Of The Results ◽  
The Given

This article discusses reception and production of academic vocabulary among native speakers of Serbian language. Academic vocabulary is one of the key elements of academic language competence, and a modest lexicon and underdeveloped academic language competence can cause problems in both comprehension and production. In this research, we used a vocabulary test consisting of 12 items taken from general culture entrance exams used at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. The participants are BA students of French language at the Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade, years 1-4. The participants were instructed to provide a synonym or a definition for each item, as well as a sentence containing the given word. The aim of this research is to highlight issues in comprehension of academic vocabulary and establish the influence of factors such as word etymology or university level on the success of the participants. We analysed the results and classified them in three categories: correct, incorrect and unanswered. The majority of participants successfully identified just half of the given words (in order of success: poliglota 95,76%, bestseler 92,37%, pacifista 66,10%, suveren 58,47%, prototip 57,63%, elokventan 56,78%). The success level for the other half of the items from the test was below 50% (in order of success: erudita 49,15%, hipokrizija 39,83%, nepotizam 22,03%, skrupulozan 18,64%, šprahfeler 10,17%, eksproprijacija 8,47%). The influence of etymology was analysed through a comparison of the results for six items of French/Latin origin with the results for the other six items which did not originate from Romance languages. This analysis shows that the participants had similar results in both groups of items, with three words from each group having above 50% of correct answers (suveren, elokventan, pacifista; poliglota, bestseler, prototip). Lastly, we examined success levels from year 1, year 2, year 3 and year 4 students and determined that the median of correct answers for each year does vary, but that there is no strong linear progression (median year 1=5, year 2=6, year 3=7, year 4=6). The results indicate a lack of knowledge of academic vocabulary and difficulties in identifying and manipulating this type of lexis. We believe it is necessary to integrate academic language skills, including academic vocabulary, in high school curriculum and introduce Serbian language as a subject at university level.

A Statewide Examination of Secondary Special Education for Students with Mild Disabilities: Implications for the High School Curriculum

1987 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew S. Halpern ◽  
Michael R. Benz
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Special Education ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Special Education Teachers ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
School Students ◽  
High School Curriculum ◽  
Mild Disabilities ◽  
Education Administrators

This article reports the partial findings of a statewide survey of high school special education programs for students with mild disabilities. The focus of this article is on the curriculum. Three sources of information were tapped for this study: (a) special education administrators, (b) high school special education teachers, and (c) parents of high school students with mild disabilities. The return rates were very high: 91%, 89%, and 45% of the three groups, respectively. Four basic topics concerning the curriculum were investigated: (a) its focus and content, (b) discrepancies between availability and utilization, (c) barriers to mainstreaming, and (d) conditions required for improvement. Both data and recommendations with respect to these topics are presented.

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