Week 2 - Reflection on "A pedegogy of multiliteracies - NLG"

The world is changing fast. What may seem relevant years ago might be obsolete now. The article discusses three aspects in which the changes are taking place.

This is evident in the NLG’s article where working lives now are no longer the same as compared to the Ford era. Workers then were comparable to an industrial production; mindless and repetitive unskilled work. In contrast, workers now are expected to fulfill an array of responsibilities. A worker has to be committed, responsible and also motivated. This results in the worker becoming “multiskilled” and well-rounded to meet the increasing demand of the job.

The article also mentions on the changing of public lives in which differences in a society are acknowledged. This mean to say that civic pluralism is getting recognized now. States should now recognized the variety of ethnic differences which should also include the languages used and not just promoting one culture and a standard language. The roles of schools, the place where ideology can be infused in easily, have changed too. Instead of imposing national standards, the language of the colonizer is assimilated to the people.

Due to the diversification of society, the personal aspect of life has changed too. People’s life who were once private are now publicized due to the exposure by mass media. The increased diversity has made boundaries in the lifeworlds blurred. Even the definition of community has been distorted. These has led to individuals having multilayered lifeworlds.

Having said that, what has these changes got to do with us, teachers? Teachers need to keep themselves abreast of the literacy pedagogy and affect them in their classroom. This could be achieved through the “Designs of meaning”, “Available Designs” and “Redesigned”.

This is important for teachers to understand as it helps in their teaching. For example, during my practicum, I had the opportunity to infuse the use of IT in my teaching. Students were asked to complete and submit a task online. I feel such activities allows different modes of delivery of information that not only provide information for the students but also engage and motivate them into learning.