Multiliteracies in ELA Classrooms

Kress argues that the education system today is embedded in a time and place that no longer exists- that it was cemented in a time of stability.  He now refers to “a different kind of social subject” (138) to which the educational system doesn’t match.  He writes that “the social subject educated […] for an era of social and economic instability is deeply different to the social subject of the preceding era: a citizen/worker/professional who was educated toward the stabilities of well-defined citizenship or equally stable subjectivities as a participant in stable economies” (139).  He also claims that “the social mores, cultural values, forms of the economy and the social organizations of 1955 had more affinity with those of 1855 than they have with those of 1995” (133).  This gave me pause.  The Industrial Revolution, two world wars and massive migration to North America seems rather significant to me.  What can compare to these events between 1955 and 1995?  Vietnam, Korea, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the break-up of Yugoslavia?  These are all significant events, but certainly not as influential as the events previously mentioned between 1855 & 1955.  My sense is, and given the context of this course, that it is the advent of the computer and the digital world that helps Kress to make this claim.  I agree that since 1955 the world has changes significantly.  In an academic context we could understand this as the shift from Modernism to Post-Modernism

The concept of Modernism has its roots in the Industrial Revolution and crystallized during the First World War.  Post-Modernism cannot be understood without the foundation of Modernism, but is characterized by a rejection of the tenets of Modernism.  It is a disambiguation of what we thought we knew, and what we think we can come to know.

Multiple (digital) literacies are characterized as a shift away from traditional literary texts, ways of knowing and achieving meaning, but we can’t understand these new literacies without traditional based language and literary forms.  Multiple literacies embrace a new space-time continuum and reflect a post-modern socio-cultural conundrum.  Kress notes the market based economy has transcended a state based allegiance (141), though I’m not convinced the two are that separate.  Digital literacies are embedded in a place that is always open, and are upheld by (if not initiated by) business interests and much of it seems to be a deviation from what is meaningful.  Digital literacies are characterized in a post-modern era as a cacophony of voices and formats which may actually serve a purpose of consumption rather than idea-making.  Much is said and suggested of what the English classroom is for in our post-modern times, and how canonical literature serves an ideal of a world gone by.  During my university English classes I always appreciated the simple delivery, the loose adherence to time (course schedule, due dates), the often simple class syllabi which didn’t have any charts, shading, text boxes and the like, and a rejection of the use of power-point or Prezi.  Everything was scaled down to its core idea, without the need to be delivered with fancy dressing or false advertising.  It was a space for confronting complex ideas and theories in as simply a way as possible.  In our multi-modal reality, I think this simple approach is more important than ever.

Are there opportunities in the post-modern high school English class to embrace the concept of multi-literacies?  Absolutely.  Without question there are some very valid avenues for non-traditional learning, expression and communication, but to me the English teacher ought to attempt to slow the pace down a bit, and nurture the old-fashioned and out of style introvert.  Multiple literacies reflect a world that is changing at a rapid pace, but change has always occurred.  What is unique to our time is the rapidity of the change.  In fact change in this time might be more mediated illusion driven by corporate/state interests, rather than a result of personal agency.  What is true is that we are living our lives at a pace that is snowballing out of control, leading us to unprecedented states of anxiety, depression and general unhappiness and dissatisfaction.  We need to slow down and enjoy the moment.  What better way than to relax in your favourite rocking chair with a good book, canonical or otherwise?

-Adam