Literacy In The Arts

This book explores the many dialogues that exist between the arts and literacy. It shows how the arts are inherently multimodal and therefore interface regularly with literate practice in learning and teaching contexts. It asks the questions: What does literacy look like in the arts? And what does it mean to be arts literate? It explores what is important to know and do in the arts and also what literacies are engaged in, through the journey to becoming an artist. The arts for the purpose of this volume include five art forms: Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music and Visual Arts. The book provides a more productive exploration of the arts-literacy relationship. It acknowledges that both the arts and literacy are open-textured concepts and notes how they accommodate each other, learn about, and from each other and can potentially make education ‘better’. It is when the two stretch each other that we see an educationally productive dialogic relationship emerge.

The Handbook of Research on Teaching Literacy Through the Communicative and Visual Arts, a comprehensive overview of research on this topic, extends conceptualizations of literacy to include all of the communicative arts (reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing) and the visual arts of drama, dance, film, art, video, and computer technology.

Thirteen experts in the visual arts, literature, music, dance, and theater responded to the arguments of E. D. Hirsch's "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know", focusing particularily on his alarm at the serious slippage that has occurred in the background knowledge and information prerequisite for effective communication. These authorities addressed two questions: (1) What it means for people to be "literate" (that is, able to understand communications and have relevant experiences) in various art forms? (2) What sorts of context should such individuals bring to their encounters with works in these art forms and what would that imply for arts education? The contributing specialists are E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Harry S. Broudy, Jerrold Levinson, Patti P. Gillespie, Walter H. Clark, Jr., John Adkins Richardson, Francis Sparshott, Clifton Olds, Marcia Muelder Eaton, Ronald Berman, Lucian Krukowski, Michael J. Parsons, and David J. Elliot. (KM)

Accessible and hands-on yet grounded in research, this book addresses the "whats," "whys," and "how-tos" of integrating literacy instruction and the arts in grades K-8. Even teachers without any arts background will gain the skills they need to bring music, drama, visual arts, and dance into their classrooms. Provided are a wealth of specific resources and activities that other teachers have successfully used to build students' oral language, concepts of print, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and writing, while also promoting creativity and self-expression. Special features include reproducible worksheets and checklists for developing, evaluating, and implementing arts-related lesson plans.

The teaching of the arts and literacy in schools is often at odds with one another. The desire for schools to improve results on high-stakes testing can lead to a narrow view of literacy rather than one that acknowledges the unique and distinct literacies that exist in other curriculum areas including the arts. With methods of communication becoming increasingly complex, it will be more and more important for students to be able to utilise all semiotic modes. Developing Literacy and the Arts in Schools investigates this key issue in education and offers a solution to the negative relationship between the arts and literacy. Drawing on interview data and evidence from diverse classrooms, it explores the pedagogies of effective arts practitioners and teachers, and how they relate to theoretical frameworks, to unpack the key elements of effective practice related to literacy and the arts. A model of arts-literacies is provided to assist arts and literacy educators in developing a common language that acknowledges and values these distinct arts-literacies. Themes of multimodality, diversity, aesthetics and reflection in relation to the arts and literacy are foregrounded throughout. This book will be of great value to postgraduate students of Education specialising in arts and literacy, education academics, teacher educators, and classroom and preservice teachers.

Partnerships are now pervasive in global education and development, but are they creating equitable, cooperative, and positive relationships? Through case studies of prominent multistakeholder partnerships—including the Education Cannot Wait Fund and Global Partnership for Education—as well as a comprehensive analysis of the global education network, this book exposes clear power imbalances that persist in the international aid environment. The author reveals how actors and organizations from high-income countries continue to wield disproportionate influence, while the private sector holds a growing degree of authority in public policy circles. In light of such evidence, this book questions if partnerships truly ameliorate power asymmetries, or if they instead reproduce the precise inequities they are meant to eliminate. “This text offers a thoughtful look into both theoretical and practical issues surrounding arts integration as a viable strategy for increasing students’ achievement and access to higher education and career pathways. It is especially timely in the context of a widespread focus on equity and inclusion as teachers are facing more diversity in the classroom than ever before.” —Kristen Greer-Paglia, CEO, P.S. ARTS “This book, offering a rich buffet of art-based activities grounded in critical ideas about teaching and learning, includes topics as oral language development, visual thinking strategies, making meaning of narrative and informational texts, and expression through narrative and informational writing. An excellent guide to teachers aspiring to integrate the arts into their curriculum, it is both a delightful and useful read!” —Liora Bresler, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana

In tracing community, and how art and craft can be harnessed to express and manifest communities, this book raises fundamental questions and issues about the nature of literacy in everyday lives. Threaded throughout the contributions is an abiding belief in the expansive and flexible nature of literacy, which might one moment involve photography; in the next, drama; and in the next, invite song coupled with movement. Something happens to literacy when it is seen through multiple modalities of meaning and communication: it moves from a thing to a thought and a feeling. Pedagogically, the book offers readers a carousel of places and people to witness literacy with, from young children all the way to grandparents. This opens up a sense of geography and age, proving that literacy really does reside in the centre and corners of our lives. With nine chapters by scholars in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, all researching under the umbrella of the same research study, the collection provides a unique perspective on human and aesthetic communication and shows differences between social groups. This book was originally published as a special issue of Pedagogies: An International Journal.

"The intent of this handbook is to provide a comprehensive, forward-looking, research-based resource for teachers, teacher-educators, and researchers on the key, inter-connected components of effective literacy instruction. The book is designed so that it is a readily useable resource for pre-service and practicing teachers as well. Every chapter in sections I, II, III, and IV includes substantial suggestions for implementing research-based practices in the classroom and for engaging in professional learning to help teachers increase their effectiveness as literacy instructors. Every chapter in section IV also includes substantial suggestions for fostering collaboration among staff and, when applicable, parents within schools"--

This book highlights the unique and co-generative intersections of the arts and literacy that promote critical and socially engaged teaching and learning. Based on a year-long ethnography with two literacy teachers and their students in an arts-based public high school, this volume makes an argument for arts-based education as the cultivation of a critical aesthetic practice in the literacy classroom. Through rich example and analysis, it shows how, over time, this practice alters the in-school learning space in significant ways by making it more constructivist, more critical, and fundamentally more relational.

This book highlights the unique and co-generative intersections of the arts and literacy that promote critical and socially engaged teaching and learning. Based on a year-long ethnography with two literacy teachers and their students in an arts-based public high school, this volume makes an argument for arts-based education as the cultivation of a critical aesthetic practice in the literacy classroom. Through rich example and analysis, it shows how, over time, this practice alters the in-school learning space in significant ways by making it more constructivist, more critical, and fundamentally more relational.

Digital literacy has become the vital competency that students need to master before graduating. This book provides rich examples of how to integrate it in disciplinary courses. While many institutions are developing introductory courses to impart universal literacy (skills students need to know) and creative literacy (skills for creating new content), discipline-specific skills (skills needed to succeed within a specific discipline) are a vital extension to their learning and ability to apply digital literacy in different contexts. This book provides examples of how to integrate digital literacy across a wide variety of courses spanning many domains. Rather than a wholly new core institutional outcome, digital literacy adds to the development of critical thinking, communication, problem-solving, and teamwork skills by building students’ capacities to assess online information so they can ethically share, communicate, or repurpose it through the appropriate use of available digital technologies. In short, it provides the vital digital dimension to their learning and the literacy skills which will be in increasing demand in their future lives. Following introductory chapters providing context and a theoretical framework, the contributing authors from different disciplines share the digital competencies and skills needed within their fields, the strategies they use to teach them, and insights about the choices they made. What shines through the examples is that, regardless of the specificity of the disciplinary examples, they offer all readers a commonality of approach and a trove of ideas that can be adapted to other contexts. This book constitutes a practical introduction for faculty interested in including opportunities to apply digital literacy to discipline-specific content. The book will benefit faculty developers and instructional designers who work with disciplinary faculty to integrate digital literacy. The book underscores the importance of preparing students at the course level to create, and be assessed on, digital content as fields are modernizing and delivery formats of assignments are evolving. Domains covered include digital literacy in teacher education, writing, musicology, indigenous literary studies, communications, journalism, business information technology, strategic management, chemistry, biology, health sciences, optometry, school librarianship, and law. The book demonstrates a range of approaches that can used to teach digital literacy skills in the classroom, including: Progressing from digital literacy to digital fluency Increasing digital literacy by creating digital content Assessment of digital literacy Identifying ethical considerations with digital literacy Sharing digital content outside of the classroom Identifying misinformation in digital communications Digitizing instructional practices, like lab notes and essays Reframing digital literacy from assumption to opportunity Preparing students to teach digital literacy to others Collaborating with other departments on campus to support digital literacy instruction Incorporating media into digital literacy (digital media literacy) Using digital storytelling and infographics to teach content knowledge] Weaving digital literacy throughout the curriculum of a program, and with increasing depth

Exploring the ways undergraduate theatre programs can play a significant role in accomplishing the aims and learning outcomes of a contemporary liberal education, Kindelan argues that theatre's signature pedagogy helps all undergraduates become actively engaged in developing critical and value-focused skills.

This book extends traditional language arts content by offering multiple communicative channels for expressing, representing, and responding to ideas. The book equips teachers with ways to maximize children's creative potential and critical literacy through activities involving “the arts” (visual arts, music, dance, drama and film including video, TV and computer technology). The author provides thorough coverage of literacy products, process strategies, procedures, and resources not typically found in language arts texts. All of the literacy tasks presented, which fit into Howard Gardner's framework of multiple intelligences, recognize children's different abilities, talents, needs, learning styles, interests, and cultural background.

In The Power of Pictures book and companion DVD, Beth Olshansky introduces teachers to her innovative art-based approach to literacy instruction. Widely practiced in classrooms across the country, the model has been proven by research to improve literacy achievement with a wide range of learners, especially those who struggle with verbal skills. At the heart of her approach is the Artists/Writers Workshop. Through study of quality picture books and hands-on art experiences, students learn to visualize, “paint pictures with words,” and ultimately create their own extraordinary artistic and literary work. The book and DVD explain how any teacher can successfully use this process to enable all students, particularly low performers, to make dramatic gains in both reading and writing.

A Reason to Read is the culminating work of the ArtsLiteracy Project, an ambitious and wide-ranging collaborative that aims to promote literacy through rich and sustained instruction in the arts. At the heart of the book is the “Performance Cycle,” a flexible framework for curriculum and lesson planning that can be adapted to all content areas and age groups. Each of the book’s main chapters delineates and explores a particular component of the cycle. A practical, readable, and inspiring book, A Reason to Read will be of immeasurable help to school teachers, education leaders, and all who have a stake in promoting literacy and the arts in today’s schools.

In this book, Falk-Ross and the contributing authors offer their different perspectives on supporting English language learners through specific strategies for assessment and instruction. It presents specific issues and challenges, supportive research and up-to-date information, classroom implications and strategies, and case study applications.