Critical Praxis, Design and Reflection Literacy: A Lesson in Multimodality

In this chapter, I explore a critical praxis grounded in social semiotics that is distinct from the traditions of critical literacy in a) its emphasis on the capacity to create and b) its explicit attention to the range of semiotic resources with which we communicate. Drawing on the concept of design put forward by The New London Group and on the concept of reflection literacy as described by Hasan, I put forward the tenets of such a praxis before illustrating the ideas using classroom data from a national SSHRC-funded study of multiliterate pedagogies. The examples powerfully demonstrate students’ capacity to engage with and remake sophisticated meanings not only to achieve sanctioned curricular goals, but also for purposes they have charted independently.