3.22 Literacy narrative research and reviewing for the midterm

Brandt. Melissa provided an overview and facilitated discussion of Brandt.  She focused on Lopez and Branch, pointing out how the different positionings of family identity, family support, local resources, and choice/interest  (technology interests v bilingual education) positioned them quite differently in terms of "the same" school sponsors  

Brandt's overall focus was to explore some of the dynamics of sponsorship - how it works in context - and to reveal that sponsorship is not always straightforward or "the same" = both because of individual identity factors and social/economic positioning (stratification); because more than one person is sponsored by individual sponsors and competition among those who are sponsored can affect what benefits they recoup (competition); and because individuals use/re-purpose matierials/skills/opportunities in light of their own lives rather than reproducing the intentions of the sponsor (re-appropriation).

Laura  provided an overview of Hawisher & Self, Pearson & Moraski's co-authored piece on relationships between emerging digital communication technologies and literacies.  Main points/ important terms:

• cultural ecology 
• macro, medial, and micro environments that shape and are shaped by the literacy practices of the individuals who live within themgateways -for some literacies, school will not be the only or even the most important gatewayliteracies have lifespansagency - is shaped by macro, medial and micros circumstancesliteracy circulates both up and down through generations
• gateway
• access

5 findnings drawn from analysis of these two narratives (lifted from Laura's reaction paper)

1. Literacies have lifespans

2. As technology continues to develop, people may have increased opportunities for shaping their sense of agency, sometimes by transcending previously-binding socioeconomic factors

3. “Gateways” (schools, workplaces, homes and communities) present important points of entry for digital literacy development.

4.  Access to the technologies which support digital literacy is much more complex than the mere physical opportunity to interact with computers

5.  Literacies are passed not only from parent/grandparents/teachers/older siblings down, but that increasingly young people are passing on these literacies “up” to parents/grandparents/teachers/older siblings

Christina then gave us an overview of the DALN by way of E.Lewis Ulman's essay on the DALN's creation.  We spent the most time on the discussion of the project's relationship to its subjects and "research" - and the resulting problems this (emerging- new) relationship presented to the IRB.  As pointed out in class discussion, oral history has always had a problematic relationship to the "ethics" associated with scientific research. In the end, we noted that it is not surprising that the DALN presented so many problems for IRB concerns, hosting/access, and use; digital technology has presented is a new form for the distribution of personal stories, and that newness presents opportunities - as well as (as Matt put it) = "oh, I didn't think of that" moments which will need to be addressed.

Midterm:

We spent the remainder of class reviewing the assigned readings (up to but not including the assignments on oral history) in light of the midterm.  The purpose of the midterm is to provide you with an opportunity to critically analyze research essays in a way similary to what you will need to do in the literature review for your thesis.  I the literature review for your thesis you will identify research that works well (and characterize its ideological assumptions and the kind of knowledge it will produce + why that knowledge is vaulable) - and point out how you will use that research as a model for your project.  And you will identify research that needs to be extended or added to (that works less well) or which contributes important findings but which could be improved or developed.   

In your midterm, work on creating similar dicussions, the point in dicussing a piece that has shortcomings is not so much to nail it or find fault with it - but to identify how it could be taken further or what modifications could be made to it so that it contributes more detailed or more theoretically significant knowledge.  

For next week:

Read: review the research proposal chapter at the end of Mertens.

Write: midterm

I will return the writing due this week to characterize your proposal and discuss methods you might use (and what you might discover from each method), probably right before class next week.  We will spend class talking through the purpose and form for a research proposal, and get you started on drafting this assignment.

See you next week!