Final Reflection

An Increased Sense of Conflict

Upon reflecting on my experiences in 506 and various classroom settings, I have only felt the divide increase between what I have learned and what is practiced in schools today. As technology expands our possible audience (the entire world) and avenues for meaningful discourse (multimodal, global classrooms), I have realized the power the study of English has to reflect, analyze, and evaluate the state of the world as a whole (including ethics and politics). Though these realizations have changed what I believe the study of English has the power to accomplish, I have not seen these opportunities being explored in the classrooms I have observed and substituted in.

The mere presence of the discourse included in the three articles from CITE is encouraging, yet the discussion still feels like it is only being held by a chosen few and is still in the process of being disseminated among the common populous of educators (both student and teacher educators). The simple fact that 506 is the only class where technology is incorporated in our education reflects the fact that this mode of instruction is not fully accepted and endorsed by the educational world as a whole. Why are teacher education programs shying away from this essential component of teacher education? Similarly, why aren’t in-service teachers required to attend professional development conferences that endorse technology use to develop and enhance (multimodal) literacy skills?

When will we stop merely discussing the value technology has to offer education, and actually live what we have been theorizing? This brings me to the recent developments on Chris’ blog. Though I question the timing and mode of raising the essential issue that Chris posited in his letter to his colleagues, the defensive response that they (supposedly his colleagues) took exemplifies the discomfort that many in-service teachers feel about the ‘new breed’ of educators that are about to enter or have recently entered the field. Instead of embracing the new appearance of effective pedagogy, many are taken aback that current methods are in question. As history suggests and as we are experiencing, change is never comfortable or easy.

This brings me back full-circle, and supports my feeling that I have only become more apprehensive about entering the field, since completing this course. I am worried that I will have difficultly maneuvering the treacherous terrain between maintaining the status quo as a “survival strategy” and remaining true to my vision of what English can be, do, and offer to every student (Kelly 64).

An appropriate aside; even Microsoft Word does not acknowledge that there may be several different types of literacy (it insists that ‘literacies’ is a typo)! The acceptance of multiple forms of literacy, which has only increased with the prevalence of technology in our society, has not reached many areas of popular culture.