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Examining Opportunities to Learn Literacy: The Role of Critical Sociocultural Literacy Research
... This suggests that while practical research has matured and flourished, there may be a lack of theoretical exploration in certain areas. For instance, the absence of keywords like "decolonization" or "social justice" in this quadrant points to a missed opportunity to align SCT with critical pedagogy (Moje & Lewis, 2007) and translanguaging frameworks (García & Wei, 2014), which prioritize the dismantling of oppressive structures in education. To address these imbalances, future research must adopt an interdisciplinary lens, integrating SCT with critical theories that interrogate power dynamics while expanding methodological rigor in applied settings. ...
... This evolution reflects broader societal changes, including increased attention to diversity, inclusion, and the complexities of identity formation in multicultural contexts (Gee, 2000;Vygotsky, 1978). As such, future research should continue to explore the multifaceted nature of identity within SCT and draw on critical SCT scholars, such as Moje and Lewis (2007), who advocate for frameworks that explicitly link identity, power, and agency to pedagogical design, thereby addressing tensions between structural constraints and individual autonomy. ...
... These developments reflect a growing awareness of the need to address the affective and cognitive dimensions of learning, as well as the role of mediation in shaping learners' experiences. For instance, the focus on emotion regulation aligns with Swain's (2013) work on the interplay between emotion and cognition in language learning, while the emphasis on written corrective identities, the scarcity of explicit linkages to critical sociocultural frameworks-such as Moje and Lewis's (2007) call to interrogate power structures in literacy research-reveals opportunities for future studies to bridge SCT with critical pedagogy. Collectively, these clusters illustrate SCT's dual trajectory: consolidating its theoretical foundations while tentatively engaging with emergent, socially urgent themes. ...
The aim of the present study is to represent a full-fledged knowledge map of the pile of studies on Sociocultural Theory over the last 60 years using a data set gleaned from the Scopus database. Through a bibliometric analysis, an attempt was made to scrutinize the pile of articles published between 1962 and 2023 to elaborate on the kinds of research done implementing Sociocultural theory as their theoretical stance or framework, the research headings on different features of sociocultural theory, and oncoming research perspectives. Using the keywords “sociocultural theory/perspective/framework/lens/ approach/ analysis and socio-historical theory”, 4830 articles were retrieved. Some further filtering was employed to narrow down the results to the article and reviews in subject areas including “social science”, “art and humanities” and “psychology” and specifically “language teaching and education” published in English journals led to 3039 articles. After data cleaning and screening the content of the abstracts and documents, 2865 documents were remained for analysis. Through production, content and citation analysis, and interactive relationships (network analysis) employing a bibliometric tool, the most influential documents, authors, journals, institutes and countries were introduced in the relevant fields and network patterns. Moreover, the gaps and research implications were also specified. It was concluded that Sociocultural theory has been a desirable research issue in the last 60 years, and its increasing publication has been due to the collaboration of numerous authors, universities, and sources, and countries. Moreover, “sociocultural perspective”, “identity”, “teacher education” and “learning” were the most common topics in articles on SCT, and basic points, such as “young learners”, “written corrective feedback” and “emotion regulation” are among the emerging topics in the realm of SCT.
... 4). Gee (2010) calls this shared communication and understanding "big d Discourse," while Moje, Lewis, & Enciso (2007) define these groups as discourse communities. As people move through these communities (Moje et al., 2007), or ways of being (Gee, 2015), participation within literacies may affect their sense of identity (Gee, 2001;Holland & Skinner, 2008;Moje et al., 2007;Moje, Giroux, & Muehling, 2017). ...
... Gee (2010) calls this shared communication and understanding "big d Discourse," while Moje, Lewis, & Enciso (2007) define these groups as discourse communities. As people move through these communities (Moje et al., 2007), or ways of being (Gee, 2015), participation within literacies may affect their sense of identity (Gee, 2001;Holland & Skinner, 2008;Moje et al., 2007;Moje, Giroux, & Muehling, 2017). Gee (2001) defines four aspects within core identity: N=natural identity, which one is born with; I=institutional W hen Josephine (a pseudonym) was asked to focus on a social justice issue in her 10th-grade honors English course, she chose poverty. ...
... Gee (2010) calls this shared communication and understanding "big d Discourse," while Moje, Lewis, & Enciso (2007) define these groups as discourse communities. As people move through these communities (Moje et al., 2007), or ways of being (Gee, 2015), participation within literacies may affect their sense of identity (Gee, 2001;Holland & Skinner, 2008;Moje et al., 2007;Moje, Giroux, & Muehling, 2017). Gee (2001) defines four aspects within core identity: N=natural identity, which one is born with; I=institutional W hen Josephine (a pseudonym) was asked to focus on a social justice issue in her 10th-grade honors English course, she chose poverty. ...
... Referencing Lewis et al. (2007), Teemant and Hausman (2013) contend that CSCT allows for "issues of identity, power relations, and personal agency [to] be addressed in the sociocultural and historical context of schooling" (p. 4), while CLP calls for an examination of issues of identity, power, and agency, and how these issues intersect with literacy and equity. ...
... 4), while CLP calls for an examination of issues of identity, power, and agency, and how these issues intersect with literacy and equity. It is within the context of school, which plays a part in reifying hegemonic ideologies, that teachers' educational beliefs and instructional practices shape the literacy, identity, and agency of their students (Lewis et al., 2007;Masuda, 2012;Perry, 2012;). As a result, it is necessary to examine the complexities of teachers' educational beliefs and pedagogical practices in context to get a more authentic and in-depth view of those beliefs and practices and to aid teachers in developing pedagogical practices that address the academic and critical literacies of African American adolescents (Talbot & Campbell, 2014). ...
... Critical Sociocultural Theory. Critical sociocultural theory (CSCT), a term coined by Lewis et al. (2007), incorporates critical theory and sociocultural theory by adopting an understanding of literacy as a social practice (drawn from sociocultural theory) framed by issues of identity, agency, and power (drawn from critical theory), and rooted in sociocultural factors such as race, class, and gender (drawn from both) (Lewis & Moje, 2003). In drawing on both theoretical traditions, critical sociocultural theory recognizes how sociocultural, historical, political, and economic factors influence access to literacy; questions the nature of schooling, teaching, and learning; and aims to empower those who have been disempowered by challenging the sociocultural, historical, political, and economic barriers to literacy and educational equity (Lewis & Moje, 2003). ...
The primary focus of my research was to describe the educational beliefs and instructional practices of Early College High School (ECHS) English language arts teachers; to describe the ways in which their beliefs and instructional practices did or did not align with critical literacy pedagogy; and to describe the ways in which their educational beliefs and instructional practices promoted the academic and critical literacies of African American secondary students. The key theoretical underpinnings of the study included critical sociocultural theory and critical literacy pedagogy. Based on this framework, I contend that teaching from a culturally responsive critical literacy pedagogical framework fosters the development of both the academic and critical literacies of African American secondary students. A case study method was utilized in which mini-cases of two Early College High School English language arts educators were explored. The case study was conducted within a non-traditional school setting, an Early College High School, which was focused on the college and career-readiness of underserved students. The data collection methods included interviews and observations, which were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding as part of thematic analysis. This study contributes to the research in that it illustrates the educational beliefs and instructional practices of secondary English language arts teachers in the context of the academic and critical literacies of African American secondary students within an Early College High School, a relationship that had not previously been explicitly or extensively explored.
... Exercising agency can result in significant impacts. For Moje and Lewis (2007), who argue that learning is situated within a discourse community, agency has the potential to transform the self, personal identity, and relationships with others. In fact, as learning creates identities, it therefore positions learners in a way that they can 'take up' agency to alter dominant discourses, making agency central to learning (Moje & Lewis, 2007). ...
... For Moje and Lewis (2007), who argue that learning is situated within a discourse community, agency has the potential to transform the self, personal identity, and relationships with others. In fact, as learning creates identities, it therefore positions learners in a way that they can 'take up' agency to alter dominant discourses, making agency central to learning (Moje & Lewis, 2007). ...
This scoping review examines the relationship between Generative AI (GenAI) and agency in education, analyzing the literature available through the lens of Critical Digital Pedagogy. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we collected 10 studies from academic databases focusing on both learner and teacher agency in GenAI-enabled environments. We conducted an AI-supported hybrid thematic analysis that revealed three key themes: Control in Digital Spaces, Variable Engagement and Access, and Changing Notions of Agency. The findings suggest that while GenAI may enhance learner agency through personalization and support, it also risks exacerbating educational inequalities and diminishing learner autonomy in certain contexts. This review highlights gaps in the current research on GenAI's impact on agency. These findings have implications for educational policy and practice, suggesting the need for frameworks that promote equitable access while preserving learner agency in GenAI-enhanced educational environments.
... Significant work on engineering and STEM identity has demonstrated the relationship between youths' identification with the representations, knowledge, and goals of engineering and their sense that engineering is a field within their reach [6], [7], [30]- [33]. Exploring how historically marginalized youth have experienced engineering [12], [34], understanding what makes engineering design work meaningful for youth [12], interrogating what they want to learn or how they see engineering spaces [13], [14], emerges as an important data source for developing equitable programming. This paper emerges from a larger qualitative and design-based study, which explored youths' experiences within a community engineering program and used this data to iterate the program. ...
... Instead of broadly asking if youth "have" learned engineering, I suggest that the field focuses on how, why, when, and if youth see themselves within engineering design work [38]. To support this effort, I leveraged sociocultural-historical theories of learning [13], alongside critical studies of design [39], [40], to emphasize the dynamic interconnection between learning and personal knowledge, commitments, and identities, as well as the relationship between individuals and disciplinary communities [38]. I take "engineering" to be a socially-constructed cultural context built on historical norms, practices, and social decisions that youth experience and make sense of [4], [41]. ...
... DST embodies Mills' (2015) concept of transmediation which requires the critical ability to transform and translate, rather than reproduce, knowledge across the constraints of various modes of communication especially digital platforms. DST is a medium through which an individual critically examines their identities, positionalities, and authority within society and enacts agency by giving voice to the identities and stories they wish the world to see (Freire, 2000;Hagood, 2002;Lambert and Hessler, 2018;Moje and Lewis, 2007). ...
... The youth in this study enacted agency and voice by choosing to take on certain identities while rejecting others. Critical literacy allowed them to remake and redefine their identities and their strengths and abilities as they pushed back on those that have been imposed on them (Moje and Lewis, 2007). Bella described overcoming her experiences with bullying and enacted agency by adopting a more positive sense of self. ...
This holistic single‐case study aimed to understand the impact of digital story telling (DST) on the identity expressions of Native American youth. The question that guided the study asks, ‘How do Native American adolescents in a rural, tribal‐run after‐school programme for Indigenous youth explore and express who they are through digital story telling?’ Five Indigenous youth enrolled in a tribal‐run after‐school programme participated in the study and completed a digital story telling project that contained multiple components and interviews. Data sources included funds of knowledge maps, shields, story scripts, storyboards, interview transcripts, and digital videos. Thematic analysis was the overarching method used to identify themes. The researchers also conducted constant comparison, content analysis, and/or intertextual transcription to analyse specific data types. Findings indicate the youth enjoyed the DST process, explored and solidified their personal identities, and discovered personal strength. The findings also suggest that DST enabled the youth to draw upon cultural knowledges, literacies, and personal experiences to establish their identities and make sense of the world around them. Furthermore, findings reveal the continued presence of racism in society and schools and the need to transform schools into sites that embrace and support Indigenous knowledges, languages, literacies, and identity development of Indigenous students.
... Learning through experience forms a cultural approach in interacting with various learning resources, both approaches to people, environments, materials, methods, media and backgrounds. (Brown, 2019;Moje and Lewis, 2020). The teacher as a facilitator provides opportunities for students to create what they want and will learn so that it becomes a theory of opportunities to form perceptions of how to learn and estimate the level of success and failure of learning and learning strategies for metacognition. ...
... Learning through experience needs to be designed in a planned manner so that students experience learning events as an experiential learning that realizes real learning and focuses on building the potential and profile of the 4Cs characteristics. (Calvin, 2012;Gură u et al., 2018;Brown, 2019;Dellermann et al., 2019;Fatwassani, Fitriati and Bharati, 2019;Moje and Lewis, 2020;Soń ta and Magala, 2020). ...
Learning through experience is a process that facilitates the ability to experience in observing, thinking, feeling, doing and experimenting for the formation of a 4Cs-based student competency profile (communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and problem solving) which is the basis for the needs of the 4.0 revolution era. The level of student learning readiness through experience is largely determined by the teacher's ability to implement pedagogic knowledge and pedagogical competency models. The purpose of this study was to examine the readiness of students' learning abilities through experiences that were formed through the contribution of the level of pedagogical knowledge abilities and pedagogic competence models from teachers. Quantitative research with data collection instruments using Likert scale questionnaires, data analysis techniques using smart PLS, the population is 220 teachers and 220 students of public and private elementary schools in the region which is in area II of the West Jakarta Municipal Education Sub-Department, DKI Jakarta Province. The sampling technique was done by purposive side. The results showed that: (1) there was a positive and significant contribution to the ability to implement pedagogic knowledge on the pedagogical competency model, (2) there was a positive and significant contribution to the ability to implement pedagogic knowledge on learning through experience, (3) there was a positive and significant contribution to the ability to implement the model. pedagogic competence on learning through experience, and (4) there is a dominant factor from each indicator as a construct forming variables that contribute to learning through experience.
... Es crucial el papel del docente para promover que los estudiantes participen en prácticas de literacidad, especialmente para lograr que haya aprendizajes como resultado de su participación (Ford y Forman, 2006;Moje y Lewis, 2007). Autores como Shanahan y Shanahan (2008); Navarro (2018); Carlino, Iglesia y Laxalt (2013), y Castro-Azuara y Sánchez-Camargo (2015) coinciden en la necesidad de que el docente guíe y acompañe al estudiante durante el proceso de escritura de las actividades solicitadas, pues será quien indique las características del texto de acuerdo con los requisitos propios de la disciplina académica y ayude a que el estudiante participe en prácticas efectivas de literacidad académica o disciplinar. ...
... No obstante, en este caso se sostiene que es una práctica con baja demanda cognitiva porque los estudiantes identificaron las ideas más relevantes para copiarlas en sus reportes, pero no hubo un análisis de la información, reflexión o esfuerzo por relacionar sus citas con otros elementos. Al realizar el copiado textual, los estudiantes cumplieron con entregar las tareas, pero no se posibilitó el grado de abstracción esperado en este nivel académico, además, la docente no evaluó el proceso ni orientó a los estudiantes sobre la calidad y pertinencia de sus escritos, aspecto que se considera fundamental para asegurar la participación efectiva en prácticas de literacidad académica, propiciar el proceso de enculturación del estudiante y lograr los aprendizajes (Ford y Forman, 2006;Moje y Lewis, 2007). ...
The purpose of this work is to analyze the process followed by students of a Communication Sciences undergraduate program to elaborate a qualitative research report, which is why both read and produced texts, as well as professor guidance received by the students, were characterized for this analysis. The method used was focused ethnography, and the data were collected through class observations, interviews with the professor, and a student focus group. It was found that the activities designed by the professor were suitable for prompting the participation of the students in academic and disciplinary literacy practices. However, due to some faults in the provided guidance and accompaniment, the above was not always achieved, and the students participated in less sophisticated, uncritical, and reproductive practices. As a conclusion, this work stresses the importance that teachers explicitly teach students to participate in academic and disciplinary practices, so that they acquire the knowledge related to their field of study.
... Beyond teaching children how to behave and control themselves in the classroom, these types of learning experiences also play a role in shaping children's ideas and beliefs about what school is, how learning works, what it means to be academically successful, and who they are as students and learners . In their theorizing of critical sociocultural literacy, Moje and Lewis (2007) situate the learner not only in a sociocultural context, but in "discourse communities" or groupings of people across time and space that "share ways of knowing, thinking, believing, acting, and communicating" (p. 16). ...
... " Finally, they discussed the need for Mr. Walsh to direct student behavior if students were unfocused or when they failed to make good decisions about who to work with. As Moje and Lewis (2007) might explain, children took up the discourses of being "ready to learn" and the behaviors that they came to understand as "good learning" and not only integrated them into their ideas about learning as a process, but also into their identities as good (or bad) learners. ...
As social-emotional learning (SEL) has become a more acknowledged and central part of early schooling in the last two decades, many schools and educators, particularly those in progressive spaces, have adopted SEL programs to supplement or substitute other systems of classroom management. While research demonstrates that children's social, emotional, and cultural practices and experiences are central to inclusive, humanizing, and culturally relevant learning, SEL programs are often implemented to more closely resemble behaviorist systems of classroom management. This article presents findings from a progressive first-grade classroom of Latinx children from immigrant families led by a white teacher. Examples from ethnographic observations of the classroom illustrate the ways that the teacher used an SEL program alongside a discourse of "readiness to learn" to manage and control children's behavior. These classroom experiences proved to be closely connected to the ideas about learning that children in Mr. Walsh's class shared in video-cued interviews, namely that students need to be calm, quiet, focused, and "ready" in order to learn. The article considers the ways that larger systems of whiteness, individualism, and control weaving through SEL programming and progressive schooling create, foster, and perpetuate discourses of control and "readiness" that ultimately prevent children from meaningfully contributing and engaging in the type of deep learning that results from focused, structured agency and relationships of mutual trust and respect.
... The significance of this study lies in its potential to highlight the crucial role of education and literacy in cultural preservation (Moje & Lewis, 2020;Zhou & Chuangprakhon, 2023). By examining how these practices influence the drum cultures in Chiang Mai and Xishuangbanna, this research can provide insights into practical strategies for sustaining traditional arts. ...
This comparative study investigates the drum musical instruments in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China, through the lens of education and literacy. The objective is to explore how educational practices and literacy efforts influence the preservation and transformation of these traditions amidst modernization and globalization. Fieldwork, interviews, participant observation, and document analysis were conducted in these culturally rich regions. Six key informants, selected based on their expertise and involvement in drum music culture, provided insights into traditional and modern educational practices. Data were analyzed thematically, focusing on historical and cultural contexts, educational practices, literacy efforts, and comparative analysis. The study finds that both regions effectively blend traditional apprenticeship models with contemporary educational practices, ensuring the transmission of drum music cultures. Government policies and community initiatives play crucial roles in supporting these efforts. The findings highlight the importance of integrating cultural heritage into formal and informal educational frameworks to maintain cultural continuity. This research contributes to broader discussions on cultural preservation and provides strategies for sustaining traditional arts through education and literacy. The study suggests that policy-making, curriculum development, and community engagement are pivotal in preserving and revitalizing intangible cultural heritage in the face of globalization.
... An important factor to consider in human-AI interaction is agency since GAI increasingly obscures the distinctions between Artificial intelligence and human intelligence . Agency in learning is the ability to take the initiative and direct one's own learning process (Moje & Lewis, 2007). Cukurova (2024) proposed a conceptual framework for AI interaction in education for human competence development (AIED-HCD), which focuses on human agency and control in human-AI hybrid intelligence systems. ...
The increasing use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) tools in education highlights the need to understand their influence on individuals' thinking processes and agency. This research explored 20 university students' interaction with GAI during programming. Participants completed surveys, recorded their screens during an hour-long programming session, and reflected on their GAI use. To analyse the data, we developed an AI-augmented thinking coding scheme with four dimensions: Question Formulation, Solution Development, Solution Analysis and Evaluation, and Solution Refinement. Participants were categorised into human-led and AI-led groups based on the time ratio of human-generating source code versus copying source code from GAI. T-tests indicated that the human-led group spent significantly more time on Solution Development and Solution Refinement than the AI-led group. Sequential pattern mining revealed distinct patterns of the two groups: the human-led group often refined GAI outputs, while the AI-led group frequently relied on direct answers from GAI. Correlation analyses found that positive attitudes towards AI, critical thinking, and programming self-efficacy positively correlated with Question Formulation; critical thinking was positively related to Solution Refinement; and programming self-efficacy was negatively associated with Solution Analysis and Evaluation. This study enhances understanding of the thinking process in GAI-supported programming.
... Erickson (2004) argues that these everyday language practices, especially those that take place in person, provide a more concrete and complex understanding of the "big D" discourses. In this study, we focus on the "little d" discourses of early childhood teachers and Latine immigrant parents to understand how they take up and challenge (Moje & Lewis, 2007) prominent "big D" Discourses of control of Latine children in the classroom. ...
... Listening within English education has been theorized in a myriad of ways. Early literacy development conceptualizes listening and oral literacy as a prerequisite to language learning, reading, and writing (Nash et al., 2022;Souto-Manning & Martell, 2016) and a developmental process deeply intertwined with social and cultural experiences (Moje & Lewis, 2020). For middle and high school curricularizing, listening is a prerequisite for teaching and learning (e.g., Gershon, , 2019Rohde, 2015;), yet within the compartmentalized, departmentalized, and siloed secondary spaces and ways of knowing, listening within English education is relegated to relatively few standards (Alford, 2020) and under-researched compared to other strands of literacy such as reading, viewing, speaking, and writing (Fraver, 2021). ...
Part 2 of the special issue on sound traumas
... Cultural literacy is the ability to understand, appreciate, and value the values, traditions, and cultural heritage that exist in society (Eaglestone, 2020;Mendez Cota & Lopez Cuenca, 2020;Moje & Lewis, 2020). It involves knowledge of the history, art, language, customs, and habits that make up the identity of a group or nation. ...
This study aims to analyze the use of Betawi ondel-ondel in elementary school textbooks as a means of cultural literacy for students. The methodology used is a literature study that includes a review of elementary school textbooks that contain material about Betawi culture and the use of ondel-ondel in an educational context. The results showed that the use of ondel-ondel in elementary school textbooks made a positive contribution to students' understanding and appreciation of Betawi culture. Students not only gained knowledge about ondel-ondel, but also developed important cultural literacy skills. The conclusion of this study is the importance of integrating local cultural elements in the primary education curriculum to enhance
students' understanding of their cultural heritage. The last recommendation from this study is the need for more research and development of teaching materials that utilize the potential of local culture as a means of learning in elementary schools.
... Scholars and educators have long known that access and material resources are necessary but not sufficient factors in successful post-secondary transitions (Engstrom & Tinto, 2008): the option to, say, attend college will not make a significant difference if a talented high school senior does not believe themselves to be college material. The way students are positioned, and the identity work marginalized students do as they work to be "read" in particular ways and achieve their desired outcomes (what one might think of as "[re]framing"), has significant effects on both opportunities to learn and possible pathways to enact knowledge in the service of expanded life and career opportunities (Golden, 2017;Harré and van Langenhove, 1999;Moje & Lewis, 2007). As scholars and educators, we often focus more on the potentially-negative impacts of undesirable positioning practices on student learning and outcomes than we do on learners' (re)framing efforts (Tuck, 2009). ...
In recent years, discourses about youth have been mired in narratives of learning loss and mental health crises. These cultural stories often pathologize youth, offering little in the way of generative pathways for educator practice to aid young people as they navigate the very real challenges in contemporary society. The experiences and reflections shared by a young man, Alberto, about the work he did with his peers and teacher demonstrates the power of community engagement, collaborative art, and responsive teaching to reframe the “problems” of education, offering new pathways to “do wellbeing” in learning spaces.
... The purpose of change management desired by MTsN 1 Probolinggo, on the one hand, is to seek to change students' reading behavior and culture, and on the other hand, to improve the ability of the organization's internal sector to understand the importance of literacy in madrasas. In the 21st century, students' literacy skills will answer the demands of students' reading skills, leading to the ability to understand information analytically, critically, and reflectively (Moje & Lewis, 2020). With change management carried out through the literacy movement in madrasas, it is hoped that it can develop students' potential for the better. ...
This study aims to understand the strengthening of madrasa literacy through managing change in the Tyagi model at MTs Negeri 1 Probolinggo. This research uses a qualitative approach with the type of case study, where the researcher uses interviews, observations, and documentation to obtain accurate and valid data. The data analysis uses an interactive analytical model from Miles and Huberman, including data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and concluding. The results showed that the strengthening of madrasa literacy through the management of changes in the Tyagi model at MTs Negeri 1 Probolinggo was carried out through; 1) The power of change, 2) Recognizing and identifying problems, 3) The problem-solving process, 4) Implementation of change, and 5) monitoring, evaluating and measuring change. This research has implications for the importance of literacy culture for madrasas in realizing their vision and mission, so they must be managed in a planned and systematic manner.
... Girls and women who operate as knowledgeable agents in digital spaces understand that intersectionality is formed across various dimensions of their lives, including race, gender, and class (Crenshaw, 1989;Lewis Ellison & Solomon, 2019). In this article, we examine how KAD provides ways to foster agency as a means of remaking and re-identifying oneself (Lewis Ellison & Solomon, 2018;Moje & Lewis, 2007). We also discuss the ways Black girls and women are empowered within digital and non-digital texts, and how KAD speaks to the importance that knowledge plays in empowering oppressed people. ...
In this article, we use the framework knowledgeable agents of the digital to understand the agentic experiences of one adolescent Black girl’s digital and STEAM literacy practices. After discriminatory acts deterred Star’s interest in exploring STEAM literacy practices in school, her involvement in a digital application workshop for Black girls and their fathers and a robotics club for Black girls reshaped her understanding of herself as a leader and innovator. Through qualitative data sources, including surveys, interviews, observations, photos, audio/video recordings, focus groups, vision boards, and digital app making, we explore her actions as a knowledge maker, creator, and producer. These roles (re)affirmed her interests in STEAM and her racialized and gendered identities as a Black girl. This study is important for rethinking collective educational efforts to disrupt systems that discourage and marginalize Black girls and women of varying identities in digital and STEAM literacies.
... Therefore, reading literacy is linked to math achievements. Studies about reading literacy can be found in many literatures [19]- [21]. The correlation between computer literacy level and mathematical literacy of selected students from various regions was determined, and the difference based on levels among schools were also identified [20]. ...
This article aims to measure the effects of reading literacy to mathematical comprehension of fifth grade elementary students both in Indonesia and Malaysia. This article used quasi-experiment with factorial design. Samples included 398 students that consisted of 173 elementary students in Indonesia and 216 elementary students in Malaysia. The data were taken by using three instruments: a test and three questionnaires. A test was used to assess the students' mathematical comprehension. Meanwhile, the questionnaires were used to measure their reading literacy and motivation to study mathematics. They have been validated by two experts and estimated the reliability coefficient by using the Cronbach Alpha formula. Experts judged the instruments were valid based on the content validity. The reliability coefficient of all of the instruments was more than 0.5 so they were reliable. A descriptive statistical analysis was used to describe the data, while the analysis variant was used to examine the different mathematical comprehension levels of the students based on reading literacy and the motivation to study mathematics. The result showed that there is a difference in mathematical comprehension levels between students that have a high reading literacy level and those with a lower level. Besides that, this study also shows that there is a distinction in mathematical comprehension levels between students which have a higher motivation to study mathematics with students that have less motivation. This study concluded that reading literacy and the motivation to study mathematics have an effect toward mathematical comprehension ability of elementary students.
... 260). Moje and Lewis (2007) identi ed agency as one of the key features of sociocultural contexts, suggesting that agency is "the strategic making and remaking of selves, identities, and histories as embedded in relations of power" (p. 18, italics added). Although agency can be an individual act, it is not created or enacted in isolation, but is grounded in interaction with cultural resources, tools, and participation in context. ...
This article discusses decolonial critical sociocultural approaches to human learning and invites readers to imagine their place in ongoing research and activism inspired by this approach. The article begins by discussing how academic psychology and education have historically centered a White middle-class stance and have not fully recognized and engaged scholarship by people of color. An objective of this article is to more fully account for the BIPOC perspectives in social constructivist perspectives on learning. Part 1 of the article traces the roots of a decolonial critical sociocultural approach in social constructivist, sociocultural, and critical approaches to learning. Part 2 of the article presents ways in which contemporary researchers, often in partnership with community members, expose inequities and press for change, informed by a critical sociocultural perspective. Four levers for change are presented including the following: building just and equitable learning ecologies, recognizing multiple resources and pathways to reach multiple goals, leading with relationships while acknowledging and dismantling systems of power, and undertaking infrastructure work in the pursuit of more just and equitable learning. The article discusses how focusing on these levers helps to achieve equity and justice in education and to support the pursuit of educational reform toward liberation, rather than toward reproducing and perpetuating historic systems of power, privilege, and oppression.
... Using affective theory as a lens, it is possible to recognize students' emotional experiences with texts that contribute to their understandings and configurations of identity (Dutro, 2001). As Moje & Lewis (2007) suggest, agency is that "strategic making and remaking of ourselves, identities, activities, relationships, cultural tools and resources, and histories as embedded within relations of power" (p. 18). ...
Given the need for multiple representations of historically underrepresented voices
in children’s literature, this research study explored critical depictions of agency of
Latinx youth within the Pura Belpré awarded texts from 1996 to 2021. The findings
report a critical multicultural analysis of depictions of age, sex, socio-economic status, ethnicities, and geographic regions of these awarded texts. Using a secondary
analysis of opportunities for agency, we examine how focal subjects (Vaughn et al.,
2021; Crisp, 2015) exert their agency in their respective contexts. Our aim in doing
so is to highlight the notion of agency in these texts of Latinx children and youth,
specifically understanding who exerts agency, how, and for what purposes. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
... Rather than relying on refutation texts to correct such misconceptions, teachers may be better served by discussing or specifying community-based norms related to epistemology, foundational values, and behavior during discussions (Chavez, 2021). Such a process may better ensure that students are not actively harmed by, for example, hateful dialogue in a literature classroom, while also allowing students the opportunity to continue building and changing their own conceptions (Moje & Lewis, 2007). This kind of democratic consensus-building around established norms is both more epistemologically sound from a sociocultural perspective, as well as more aligned with a democratic, asset-based approach to curriculum (Chavez, 2021;Saetra, 2021). ...
Refutation texts are resurfacing as a suggested antidote to misconceptions and “fake news.” In a previous critical review of the refutation text literature, we, the author team, suggested further interrogation of the assumptions these texts imply: that learners share the same common misunderstanding about a topic, and that there is one “truth” that should replace the misconception. Building from Hynd’s feminist critique of refutation texts, we present in this essay a consideration of how these authoritative and prescriptive texts fit into an educational landscape being transformed by foci on students’ autonomy and funds of knowledge. In this position paper, we present the argument that refutation texts and their associated research may conflict with critical literacy perspectives and culturally responsive pedagogies. We examine these three perspectives for how they may view learning and literacy, and conclude the essay by proffering suggestions for future research on refutation text manipulations and for considering how refutational texts might be incorporated in classroom settings that enact culturally responsive pedagogy and critical literacy perspectives.
... Evidence of power Applying Critical Discourse Analysis: How can students use CDA? CDA can be used as a media literacy instructional tool, as well as a literacy intervention; it can be explicitly taught to students to encourage them in making meaning of oppressive discourse, and to interrogate text and conversation as critical thinkers. Critical scholars argue that there is a call for educators to offer spaces to students to critically examine texts, media, and the world around them in order to deconstruct roles of power and its role in oppression (Moje & Lewis, 2007). Therefore, we encourage educators to use current events articles, history excerpts, close readings, songs, poetry, commercials, television shows and movies, and other literary work to guide students in exposing power structures. ...
In this conceptual article, we provide a guide for educators to use Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) in classrooms to: (1) critically examine their teaching and behavioral support practices, (2) guide future interactions with students and families, and (3) use with students to empower them to critically analyze texts, media, and society. We rely on the CDA frameworks provided by Rebecca Rogers (2011), James Paul Gee (1999), and Norman Fairclough (1989). CDA is a tool that can disrupt cycles of power and oppression in classrooms and schools; it gives us a way to make oppressive systems and the way they replicate visible, so we can intentionally interrogate and dismantle them rather than unintentionally reproduce them in educational spaces.
... Presupposed knowledges, activities, and practices within this dominant culture could be considered structures [22]- [24]. Agency can be "thought of as the strategic making and remaking of selves…" [25]. As such, youth can construct and exercise their agency amidst structures in a variety of ways. ...
The pursuit of literacy is a cornerstone of personal development, societal progress, and economic growth. However, literacy disparities persist across various regions, communities, and demographics, highlighting the need for equitable and inclusive literacy policies. This chapter proposal aims to contribute to the ongoing discourse by examining the perspectives of stakeholders, evaluating the effectiveness of existing policies, and proposing strategies for the integration of new or revised literacy policies that can lead to tangible improvements in educational systems.
This article focuses on Latina students who graduated from an Early College High School (ECHS) located in an industrial community of the greater Houston metropolitan area. ECHS models are partnerships between school districts and colleges that allow for students to earn their diploma and associate degree simultaneously. In this qualitative study, we explored the educational journeys of seven first-generation bilingual Latinas who graduated from an ECHS. Using Community Cultural Wealth as our theoretical lens, we identified the following themes: (1) Exemplifying resilience and agency in navigating institutional racism; (2) Leaning on familia to pursue higher education; (3) Choosing early college to lessen financial burden; and (4) Finding support and sense of belonging. Few studies about ECHS students have focused exclusively on Latinas and how their social and cultural contexts influence their educational decisions. This research has implications for how Latina students navigate ECHS contexts and other types of K-12 and higher education partnership programs.
This chapter focuses on international art-themed picturebooks as bridges for facilitating cross-cultural knowledge in literacy education (Cope & Kalantzis, 1997; Kuby & Vaughn, 2015; Stornaiuolo et al., 2017). By taking an arts-based multiliteracies approach, the author explores international art-themed picturebooks aimed at K-3 classroom practices (Dallacqua et al., 2022). Drawing on critical analysis (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 1996; Lewison et al., 2002) and notions of geographical contexts, identity representations, and cultural funds in children's literature (González et al., 2006), the author looks at representational illustrations through depictions of arts-based metaphors as tangible heritage artifacts. The purpose was to ask questions of literacy practice about whose culture has capital (Yosso, 2005), whose culture is represented (Bishop, 1990), and how it is actualized through children's literature. Scaffolded supports for engaging with and understanding international children's literature (Sipe, 2012) are provided and discussed within elementary school classroom contexts.
Community Based Literacies (CBL) connects faculty, undergraduates, and graduate students from the University of California, Santa Barbara, with school-age children from the central coast of California. This chapter presents an account of how our intergenerational university-community team pulled together during intersecting challenges of COVID, sociopolitical upheaval, and extreme environmental conditions to connect with and engage in meaningful experiences with our local community of youth and families. Our efforts involved major shifts from in-person to virtual explorations and collaborative projects (e.g., an anthology coauthored by youth) with an even greater emphasis on social activism and celebrating the experiential knowledge of youth that is often overlooked. Hence, this chapter offers readers a ‘spotlight tour’ of CBL programming during a tumultuous period. We share parallel tales of perseverance and transformation of three key CBL programs—LEAFY (Literacies for Environmental Awareness and Farming for Youth), Curie-osity Project, and CBL in the Schools (a partnership with Santa Barbara Unified School District) to show what possibilities abound when we give young students access to knowledge about key societal issues and a platform by which they can contribute to the transformations needed for a socially just and equitable society.
This chapter explores the use of children's literature as pedagogy for literacy learning in diverse and multilingual classrooms. The author employs a sociocultural and relational understanding of literacy and learning to establish a theoretical framework for an approach that focuses on meaning-making, doing, and learning through stories as both a personal journey and a sociocultural practice. The complex sociocultural relationships between learning, literacy, identity, experience, power, agency, knowledge, value, success, and failure at the heart of the learning process remain central throughout this chapter. The reader is encouraged to consider their own life stories, experiences, definitions, and understandings of learning and literacy and the impact these may have on the life stories, experiences, definitions, and understandings of learning and literacy of the students in their care.
The research aims to analyze the application of the job description of the boarding school management and its implications for work discipline at the Riyadhus Sholihin Orphan and Dhuafa Boarding School in Bandar Lampung. This research uses Dessler’s theory of job description indicators and a descriptive qualitative approach. Data collection was done by conducting interviews, observation, and documentation. Data analysis was carried out by reducing data, after which it was presented in the form of descriptions and verified by conclusion. The results of this study indicate the success of job descriptions and their implications for work discipline that can be seen through job identification, job summary, duties and responsibilities, authority, work standards, working conditions, and job specifications. Keywords: job description, work discipline, boarding school
This Element explores ways to promote critical literacy in teacher education. First, the authors define critical literacy in the context of teacher education through established theoretical frameworks and models of critical literacy pedagogy and share their collective findings on critical literacy research over the course of a decade. Building from these theoretical understandings of critical literacy, they outline ways to actualize critical literacy in teacher education as a transformative pedagogy coupled with resources and activities that support equitable teaching practices. Next, they illustrate how adaptive teaching supports critical literacy pedagogy and underscore autoethnography as a reflective tool to engage pre-service teachers in critical literacy practice. They model this approach with mentor text analyses using critical literacy as a lens to facilitate critically-oriented mindsets in teachers through visioning. They conclude with implications for classroom practice at the intersections of critical literacy and teacher preparation and provide directions for future research.
Student agency is an important construct for all students, especially those marginalized because of their linguistic, ethnic, racial, religious, or migratory identities. Refugee-background students may experience marginalization according to many and sometimes all of these factors; agency is thus critical to understanding their negotiation of schooling in general and literacy tasks in particular. While many studies have explored various dimensions of agency, we know little about how agency can be enacted and developed by minoritized students within instructional contexts. This qualitative case study addresses this gap by asking: How do two adolescent refugee-background students display evidence of agency when engaging in literacy tasks? What teacher practices contribute to facilitating or inhibiting student agency? Data sources include classroom observations, student work samples, and interviews with students and teachers. Data analysis was conducted using a combined inductive/deductive approach. Findings reveal three agentive practices through which students engaged in literacy tasks: agentive resistance leading to disaffection, agentive resistance of imposed identities, and interactive negotiated engagement. While the first practice led to disengagement, the latter two led to opportunities for students to agentively reshape dehumanizing narratives of multilingual refugee-background students. Teacher agency in curriculum planning and implementation was essential in guiding students to either engage in or resist literacy tasks. Since the forced displacement that refugee-background and some immigrant students experience is contrary to the concept of self-determination, we argue that engaging them in an agentive manner has the potential to help students reclaim that sense of agency within classrooms and challenge deficit perceptions.
Literacy learning is an ideological proposition, one that privileges certain forms of language and those who speak them above others. This qualitative study utilizes critical metaphor analysis () to examine the literacy ideologies at work in a secondary remedial reading class. By analyzing the speech of Mr. Baker, a seasoned remedial reading teacher, and his ninth-grade student Angelica, three dominant metaphors in the corpus are explored: READING CLASS IS A RACE, LEARNING TO READ is a journey, and STUDENTS ARE MACHINES. Findings suggest both the limitations of the metaphors employed by participants as well as the utility of critical metaphor analysis in uncovering the ideological underpinnings of school-based literacy practices.
Previous literature has documented that Immigrant students in public school settings often face severe learning difficulties, which relate closely to the cultural and linguistic challenges they encounter in schools and the struggles in their formation of positive learner identities and agency. These difficulties and challenges are also related to the issues in their growth as meaning makers due mainly to the significant lack of adequate resources and supports they have at various levels of educational systems across homes, schools, communities, and societies. The problem of literacy that immigrant students are facing in academic contexts cannot be ignored, as we clearly know that literacies are most fundamental building blocks for education and meaning-making tools for all students’ academic success and school engagement.
I, as a teacher researcher, conducted a case study with one middle school student with Korean-Chinese Immigrant background in the context of one-to-one after-school literacy instruction. The purpose of my study was to examine and describe the experiences and perceptions of the immigrant student engaged in relation to in-and out-of-school literacy learning and practices. The participant student was an adolescent boy who has lived in China and moved to Korea for 5 years, and was a 4th generation of Korean Diaspora. When we first started to work together, the student had difficulties in reading and writing in Korean as revealed in his school test scores and my observations of his classroom literacy practices. I designed literacy instruction that was specifically tailored for him, focusing on both functional and critical literacies, and implemented the instruction for two month. Throughout the total ten sessions of instruction, I collected and used the variety of data sources to make inferences about how the student was perceiving and identifying himself as a reader-writer in Korean, as well as the social, cultural, and ideological obstacles that he was facing in his current school and classrooms. These data sources include student activity sheets, student reflection diaries and class journals, multiple interviews with the participant, and observational surveys. The data were analyzed inductively to generate a series of themes that may tell not only the student’s literacy experiences and challenges but also how he was attempting to rethink what was meant by being a literate being through the literacy instruction. In this case study, I examined three research questions: (1) what insights I can get out of the study in relation to teaching functional literacy for immigrant students, (2) how critical literacy instruction can be implemented for such immigrant students who especially identify themselves to be unskilled meaning-makers with low self-efficacy and negative agency in the course of learning to read and write, and (3) what benefits can be offered for these students as literacy instruction was designed for promoting both functional and critical literacies.
Based on the insights gained from the current study, I claim the urgency that Korean-Chinese Immigrant students need to be supported to experience critical literacy learning while simultaneously having adequate assistances in their acquisition of functional literacy skills. In addition, I argue for a promising opportunity that well-designed critical literacy instruction can create not just for the cognitive development of immigrant students’ skills for reading and writing but also for their social emotional growth regarding the notions of student identity and agency. Furthermore, I emphasize that critical literacy instruction may help students rethink their roles and positions as a legitimate member of the society in which they live here and now, with a sense of belonging in social, cultural, and school classroom communities. Further insights and implications will be presented, based on my observations and inferences emerging in the current case study.
[Keywords] Literacy Instruction, Critical Literacy, Functional Literacy, Migrant Background Adolescents, Koran-Chinese Immigrant Students, Identity, Agency, Qualitative Research, Case Study
Teaching engineering students how to effectively communicate using the language, representations, and tools specific to their discipline is important to their development as practitioners in their respective fields. This article describes a literature review of learning activities intended to teach crystal structure and crystallography and explores the extent to which educators implement elements of disciplinary literacy. We categorized the purpose of the paper, what the students are asked to do, the representations used in the activities, and the learner roles that the activities support. We observe that a majority of the papers engage students in disciplinary practices and support many, but not all aspects of disciplinary literacy. Instructors use a variety of representations in presenting concepts and ask students to interact with the learning activities to recount information or interpret results. However, we find that the activities rarely ask students to synthesize new information or evaluate their information in any wider context. We suggest that instructors should aim to implement the entire range of learning roles, and employ more critical socio-cultural approaches when designing learning activities to make the sciences accessible to a more diverse population of learners.
The purpose of this study was to obtain data on the situation of learning experiences carried out by teachers in changing student learning behavior by involving students in assessment. The research method used is a qualitative survey method and uses a 5-choice questionnaire that was built and developed from the student assessment concept of David M. Johnson, with a population of primary school teachers in West Jakarta totaling 100 teachers. The research findings provide information that the structure of the learning experience carried out by the teacher to help student behavior learning outcomes through student assessments is in a condition that is not yet effective and a basic literacy assessment model needs to be developed.The conclusion of the study shows that the teacher's ability to condition student involvement in assessment as a learning experience for behavioral change is effective in aspects of academic learning and the focus of assessment.
With increasing numbers of international students on university campuses in the U.S., culturally and linguistically responsive (CLR) practices become more important than ever in helping students fit in a new environment and achieve their academic goals. However, not all universities and faculty are prepared or equipped with the knowledge to adopt CLR methods in classrooms across the disciplines. The purpose of this literature review is three-fold: (1) to examine the cultural and linguistic challenges that international students face in U.S. higher institutions; (2) to investigate faculty’s perspectives on international students and implementing CLR practices in their classroom teaching; and (3) to explore CLR strategies or recommendations that have been used successfully to alleviate the challenges. In assessing the current status of CLR in tertiary education, this article reviewed 21 research studies and found that both international students and faculty at U.S. institutions of higher education are facing challenges in terms of language, culture, classroom discussions, academic expectations, and interpersonal relationships. These findings hold implications for promoting the development of CLR practices among faculty and tertiary institutions to foster a diverse campus capable of truly accommodating and supporting students from multicultural backgrounds. Keywordsinternational students, culturally and linguistically responsive practices, challenges, faculty
Executive control represents an interaction between social context and the mental and physical actions of writers. This chapter addresses this interactive premise as it applies to executive control in writing by illustrating how this operates theoretically through the lens of the Writer(s)-within-Community model. This model proposes that the community in which writing takes place and the cognitive capabilities and resources of those who create it simultaneously and reciprocally influence writing. The multiple ways in which context and individual capabilities interact to shape and constrain the use of executive control in writing are examined.
El objetivo de este trabajo es describir el proceso seguido por un grupo de estudiantes de la Licenciatura en Ciencias de la Comunicación para elaborar un reporte de investigación cualitativa, por lo que se caracterizaron los textos leídos y producidos, y el acompañamiento docente que recibieron. El método fue la etnografía enfocada y los datos se recolectaron mediante observación de clases durante un semestre, entrevistas a la docente y un grupo focal con estudiantes. Se encontró que las actividades que la docente diseñaba para las clases eran adecuadas para propiciar la participación de los estudiantes en prácticas de literacidad académica y disciplinar, pero debido a ciertas faltas en el acompañamiento y guía que proporcionó, esto no siempre se logró y los estudiantes participaron en prácticas menos sofisticadas, acríticas y reproductivas. Como conclusión, se señala la importancia de que el docente enseñe explícitamente a los estudiantes a participar en prácticas académicas y disciplinares, a fin de que adquieran los conocimientos de su área de estudio.
The purpose of this study was to examine how to develop meaningful engineering experiences for youth that might counter decontextualized, building-centered, and often exclusionary approaches. I argue that engineering design with young people could be a very youth-centered space, addressing the concerns of young people through engineering design practice. However, youth are often not invited into real-world, flexible, front-end engineering design work. By inviting youth into these often-obscured practices, we might better imagine engineering design spaces that are meaningful to youth and cognizant of the ways the engineering field historically and currently excludes so many. This dissertation study explores the experiences and discussions of youth engaging in defining, exploring, and ideating design directions that matter to them. Drawing on critical sociocultural learning theories and critical science and technology studies (STS) of design, I examined seven focal youths’ engagement in and discussion of the particular ways engineering design practices were adapted in the context of a community engagement program, entitled Sensors in a Shoebox (henceforth, Sensors). This qualitative study was informed by design-based research methods that center participants’ experience as crucial data for informing design. Across three years of interview, observation, and video data, I asked: 1. In what ways do youth engage in the design practices of the Sensors program? 2. How do youth talk about their engineering design experiences? I analyzed the data using constant comparative analysis, moving between the specific data and major assertions. Seeking to contribute to the design of meaningful engineering experiences, I sought to learn from youth about who they are, their experiences, and center them as stakeholders in their learning. From my analysis of the data, I assert that design work in Sensors created opportunities for youth to engage in increasingly recognizable design practice and move design toward more liberatory directions. Focal youth drew upon their experiences and personal knowledges as important assets to engaging in skilled design work. In this, youth also engaged in moments of liberatory design possibility that moved design toward more just directions. Together, each youth saw moments of their design work as personally meaningful and imagined new meanings for design in their lives. As youth reflected on their experiences in the Sensors program, they discussed distinctions between the front-end design work and building-focused or technocentric activities. They shared these practices were meaningful to them in different ways. These discussions also revealed how youth experienced other engineering design spaces as heavily math and science-dependent and potentially raced, gendered, or classed. Taking youths’ engagement and discussions together, the findings imply a need to center youth as critical stakeholders in their engineering education. This reframe requires an expansion of “what counts” as engineering design work with youth. Creating opportunities for youth to engage in flexible, people-focused design work invited youths’ experiences, interests, and voices more explicitly into design practice and supported informed, liberatory participation in the designed world. For developing meaningful engineering learning environments, engaging youth in problem framing and exploration may create opportunities to build critical skills and see design work and the designed world as personally meaningful.
With most elementary dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs being implemented as strands within schools, tensions related to inequities, unequal distribution of resources, and academic quality and demographic differences often arise. Based on a longitudinal ethnographic study and two interview phases with DLBE and mainstream teachers, this study analyzes teachers’ perceptions and discourses regarding tensions related to the Spanish-English two-way bilingual education program at their urban elementary school. Findings from a thematic analysis approach pointed to teachers’ discourses of elitism and divisiveness in relation to the DLBE strand based on racial tensions and school inequities, including what we call intra-racial DLBE gentrification. These findings are based on how educators experienced tensions regarding this bilingual program related to (a) the composition of the student body in terms of perceived quality and quantity, (b) cognitive and academic benefits, (c) resources provided by a university partnership, and (d) parental involvement. Implications for administrators and teacher preparation programs toward equity and school integration with DLBE strands are discussed.
