Learning to Teach Outside the Box: Exploring Newness in Literacies Pedagogies in a Pandemic

Authors

  • Dr. Lori McKee St. Francis Xavier University
  • Dr. Anne Murray-Orr St. Francis Xavier University
  • Dr. Evan Throop-Robinson St. Francis Xavier University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20360/langandlit29657

Keywords:

literacies pedagogies, lesson planning, preservice teacher education, pandemic, entanglements

Abstract

This article explores the innovative lesson planning assignments of preservice teacher, Marie, as part of an alternate teaching practicum during the pandemic closure of schools in Spring 2020. Marie viewed this shift in context as an opportunity to “think outside of the box”, to be creative and divert from a traditional lesson planning template. As we read the examples from Marie’s lesson plan assignments, we think with posthumanist theories of entanglement, intra-actions and the producing of newness in literacies pedagogies. We share data that show the entanglements of more-than-humans and humans within the innovative lesson plan format. In exploring Marie’s lesson plan redesigns and her reflections on them, we consider the ways these pedagogies were produced through the intra-actions of assignment criteria, provincial curricula, Marie’s knowledge of her students, families, available learning materials, and pandemic conditions. We consider how the implications of this lesson format contribute to newness in our ways of thinking and doing as teacher educators of literacies.

Author Biographies

Dr. Lori McKee, St. Francis Xavier University

Dr. Lori McKee is an Assistant Professor at St. Francis Xavier University where she teaches teacher education and graduate courses in elementary literacies and pedagogies. Previously, she was a Reading Recovery teacher and taught in the early elementary grades in Ontario. Her current research includes professional learning opportunities for teacher educators about how/why to address equity issues of academic reading in their classrooms, elementary preservice teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs in literacy instruction, and an exploration of preservice teachers’ experiences in lesson planning during an alternate practicum in the pandemic.

Dr. Anne Murray-Orr , St. Francis Xavier University

Dr. Anne Murray-Orr is a Professor of literacy and elementary pedagogies in the Faculty of Education at St. Francis Xavier University. Previously, she taught early elementary grades in Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia. Her current research areas include middle school teachers’ use of culturally relevant literacy practices, elementary preservice teachers’ experiences of an alternate practicum during the pandemic, and preservice teachers’ multiliterate identities.  

Dr. Evan Throop-Robinson , St. Francis Xavier University

Dr. Evan Throop Robinson is an Associate Professor at St. Francis Xavier University. He is a former elementary teacher, instructional leader, and instructor for teacher education with experience in schools and universities in BC, ON and NS. Evan continues to work in classrooms through research activities with children and support for preservice teachers. His research focuses on how students and teachers communicate mathematical thinking and understanding. He collaborates on the Moving Achievement Together Holistically (MATH) project to provide culturally relevant and sustaining learning experiences for children from historically excluded communities.  

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Published

2023-02-15

How to Cite

McKee, L., Murray-Orr, A., & Throop-Robinson, E. (2023). Learning to Teach Outside the Box: Exploring Newness in Literacies Pedagogies in a Pandemic. Language and Literacy, 25(1), 130–147. https://doi.org/10.20360/langandlit29657

Issue

Vol. 25 No. 1 (2023): Post-Pandemic Classroom Literacies

Section

Articles

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