Introduction | Sequence | Religion in Composition Classrooms | Sharing Others' Stories | Multiple Media | Multiple Cultures | Case Studies | Anonymous | Lauren Goldstein | Charissa Coleman Muhammad | Elizabeth Jones | Final Thoughts
This project finds roots in a robust theoretically informed pedagogical tradition of multimodal composing and critical consideration of digital literacies (George, Lutkewitte, McCorkle, Palmeri, Rhodes and Alexander book, Selfe et al. [textbook], Shipka, Wysocki et al. [textbook]]. This field has provided rich models for both theorizing and performing digital composing in pedagogical contexts (Delagrange, Ball et al.), as well as reflecting on and narrating experiences of digital literacy practices (Rhodes and Alexander Techne, Kairos invention, etc.)—values at the heart of the DALN’s creation [Selfe et al. STSTU]. In particular, the goals of this assignment align closely with Alexander, Ringer, and DePalma’s adaptive remediation framework, “a multidimensional approach that helps students transfer knowledge across media” (33). Although the four stages in this project do not necessarily map directly onto the four approaches of adaptive remediation, the critical moves Alexander et al. describe—charting, inventorying, coordinating, literacy linking —similarly motivate the described assignment sequence. The rhetorically reflective, semiotically attentive nature of an adaptive remediation pedagogical framework connects well to the kind of slowing-down, media-rich, materially situated critical reflection that this assignment sequence is designed to foster for addressing religious dimensions of literacy in composition classroom contexts.
I want to note as well that this theorized assignment is proposed for composing classrooms in general, not necessarily digital composing classrooms. Though digital technologies provide excellent resources for multimodal composing, compositions don’t necessarily have to be digital in order to consider the communicative affordances of a range of modes and media (Shipka). As Palmeri notes, composition pedagogy has always been multimodal, and the goals of this assignment sequence could be easily met with virtually any form of target remediation media, digital or otherwise. My hope is that while students and instructors alike will consider every available resource at their disposal, access to particular kinds of composing technologies will not be a determining factor for engaging narrated religious dimensions of literacy in all their material richness.