Global Meaning Making: Volume 39

This chapter explains how the idea of this book occurred, and introduces readers to Tierney's multidimensional framework for global meaning making. It describes the organization and structure of the book and the contents of each chapter and calls on readers to transform international language and literacy research through global meaning making.

Recently, international initiatives have targeted the South American Amazon with the hope of improving education outcomes there. The effort may be well intended. However, implementing and evaluating literacy projects in this vast and resource-rich jungle, characterized by abundant linguistic and cultural variety since pre-colonial times, inevitably results in a clash of worldviews. This chapter presents the results of a critical interpretive review of research and policy documents related to literacy development efforts in South America, with special attention to the most excluded Amazonian regions in Peru. I used the theoretical construct of research paradigms (Sipe & Constable, 1996), to identify interconnected assumptions and worldviews (Jones, Torres, & Arminio, 2006) in research and policy agendas promoting international literacy. My analysis revealed the existence of three main assumptions behind international collaboration efforts in literacy and how they are problematic for the South American Amazon. Findings reveal how the research framework toward literacy, the visions regarding the contribution of national assessments to educational quality, and the conceptualizations of the relationship between education and development, emerging from international discourses, may encounter alternative ideas that are equally valid in the South American Amazon. The conclusions have important implications for global meaning making regarding literacy development, and specifically for the design, implementation, and evaluation of international literacy-based projects in countries where Spanish is the dominant language.

A collaborative autoethnography (CAE) conducted by six Belizean educators in a US-based PhD program in Language, Literacy, and Culture Education and one of their faculty members is presented in a creative, dialogic format in this chapter. The group of educators embarked on this reflective self-study to explore how their programmatic language and literacy education knowledge was taken up, remixed, rejected, indigenized, or transformed into local Belizean pedagogies and curricula. Using CAE methods of narrative data generation and dialogic analysis and reflection, the educator-researchers examined the degree to which their program met the expectations of Tierney's (2018) global meaning making endeavor. They found that being vulnerable learners and building their own disciplinary confidence and competence enabled them to take up the new ideas they were encountering, and that new learning led to transformative shifts in their pedagogical philosophies that included culturally relevant and proactive pedagogies. They also innovated and remixed pedagogies in their teaching contexts while wobbling with how to create sustainable changes. This work indicates that Western, US-based universities and programs can, with intentional macro- and micro-curriculum design and ongoing critical reflection, facilitate cross-cultural, international language and literacy programs that enact decolonizing and emancipatory curricula and practices.

The New Zealand Teaching Council recently published Tapasā, a touchstone document to support non-Pasifika teachers in considering how their practices might be more culturally sustaining for Pasifika students, signaling continued national recognition of the need for teachers to inquire into their teaching practices as culturally informed and situated. In this chapter, we see this call as an invitation to look critically at the content of our initial teacher education literacy classes, and also to look critically at the methods of instruction and assessment. In our framing and analysis, we draw on several aspects of Tierney's (2018) framework for global meaning making, including “interrupting existing frames.” Despite Aotearoa New Zealand's official foundation in biculturalism, Indigenous ways of knowing have been historically marginalized in official schooling spaces, so there is a continuing need for rigorous interrogation of curriculum and practices that continue to privilege settler colonial perspectives and values. Using diffractive text analysis and talanoa vā, we explore the processes and first wave of insights to arise through a collaborative effort to decolonize some aspects of literacy teacher education curriculum.

Certainly, most academic-disciplinary literacy initiatives in the Ibero-American context have arisen with the purpose of achieving social justice, especially in a territory that has suffered from inequity and whose deepening has increased with the current health emergency situation. However, despite well-intentioned initiatives, these programs, in general, have followed Anglo-Saxon models far removed from Ibero-American needs and reality. Therefore, in their implementation, they have dichotomies that ultimately weaken their sustainability over time and their results in their level of real inclusion, some of these – considering the approaches of Tierney (2018) and others – are: assimilation/accommodation, elitism/inclusion, institutional reform/educational innovation, research/action, remediation/re-mediation, standardization/contextualization, performance/learning, submission/emancipation, monologism/dialogism and homogeneity/diversity. In this way, based on a qualitative and reflective analysis on the experiences of three academic literacy programs in three universities in Argentina, Chile, and Spain, we will make these tensions explicit, and we will reveal practices that are truly contextualized to the communities where they are inserted, such as their eclectic, collaborative, dialogic, and remediated nature, which allows them to be constantly codesigned by the participation of students, professors, and tutors and whose research is promoted through action. In this sense, these countries can be related by sharing the language, a recent tradition of academic literacy and high school dropout rates. Finally, knowing both the strengths and the contradictions they still hold will contribute to continuing the process of contextualizing to the communities and, thus, establishing them as emancipatory pedagogies from the South to the South.

This chapter reviews successful pedagogical interventions in teaching literacy in languages of teaching and learning in the upper primary grades in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and explores how researchers and teachers decolonized classroom spaces to ensure student achievement of learning outcomes. Themes emerging from the analysis of data are biliteracy interventions, interventions in official and national languages, teacher professional development, and ecological interventions. Results of the review indicate that researchers decolonized classroom spaces by using student linguistic repertoires, evidence-based pedagogical strategies student cultural capital and engaging families and communities. The review also reveals that more research needs to be conducted on teaching and learning in upper primary grades. The linguistic diversity of LMICs provides rich contexts for more research in bilingual education and L2 acquisition which could be useful worldwide as stakeholders in the education process explore the best ways to improve learning outcomes in schools.

In this chapter, we use intentional noticing to deconstruct and reconstruct assumptions within an exploratory case study that involved a university and a school in Aotearoa New Zealand and how this contributes to global understandings around the influence of power on notions of Indigenous languages in schools. The current chapter originates from an exploratory case study that examined the efficacy of a phonological awareness and vocabulary program for children within their early years of schooling, aimed at developing emergent literacy skills in te reo Māori (the language of Indigenous Māori peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand). Reconstructing understandings was challenged by several factors, including assumptions around the content and implementation of the program and challenges that emerged from within the research team and that influenced the engagement of teachers and children within the program. We explore how teachers and children interrupted existing models of teaching and learning that have previously been used as a tool for assimilation, to foster the development of te reo Māori and emergent literacy skills. We conclude that it is crucial for researchers to be conscious of their assumptions within the research process to decolonize practices and to develop cultural understandings of ways of being. This means that relationships with Indigenous peoples is fundamental within cross-cultural research.

The teaching of reading in English is fraught with challenges that influence teachers' practices in Papua New Guinea (PNG). There are a plethora of linguistic issues regarding teaching in both the vernacular languages and English. Postcolonial education in PNG has continued to promote English as the medium of instruction while also promoting the use of vernacular and mother tongue. The outcomes-based education reform in the Language and Literacy Policy (1993–2014) supported the use of vernacular languages in the elementary years with the gradual bridging to English in Grade 3. In 2015, the Language and Literacy policy changed to standards-based education. One major shift was from the use of vernacular languages to English as a medium of instruction at all levels of formal education.

In this chapter, we use Tierney's concept of decolonizing spaces to investigate teachers' perspectives on implementing the English standards-based curriculum and the role the vernacular, mother tongue, and translanguaging plays in the classroom as Year 4 teachers grapple with the teaching of reading. It will problematize the colonization of English, the place of translanguaging, and the benefits and challenges for teachers when the classroom teacher most likely is not a native speaker of the children's dialect or English.

To deconstruct colonizing ideologies and expand our understanding of global meaning making (Tierney, 2018) in this chapter, we describe a qualitative study that explored how a cohort of teacher candidates (TCs) from a large Southwestern university in the United States made sense of a community mapping project as part of their international service-learning program in rural South Africa. The TCs observed, collected, and reflected on various literacy activities and artifacts. Findings suggest that the TCs grappled with colonizing perspectives and practices specifically related to language, literacy, and cultural hegemony. They identified and struggled with the power and privilege they noticed bolstering Western literacies and the English language in the local community to the extent that it overshadowed local languages and local cultural norms. They questioned the historically situated use of certain spellings in local texts and how such spellings are connected to Apartheid policies still influencing this rural community. By engaging in the community mapping project, the TCs also recognized that literacy is socially informed and is more than just reading and writing but employs a range of semiotic tools such as images, movement, and music. The transformative process of participating in the community mapping project helped TCs develop a deeper understanding of the relationships between community and school literacies and grapple with the broader impact of Western epistemologies in the Global South.

This chapter examines the perspectives of culturally responsive teachers of immigrant and refugee youth in a high performing school in the Baden-Württemberg region of Germany. Academic success in the region has been traditionally designated for ethnic Germans and nonnatives who suppress their culture and assimilate into normative German culture. Assimilating to normative German culture through the lens of global meaning making is a preordained social order that perpetuates exclusion for immigrants in society and school. The consequences of failed intercultural education in Europe have prompted increased demands to consider diversity in teacher training and to provide more equitable opportunities for immigrants. Gymnasium Baden welcomed a few Syrian refugees where immigrant youth represented one 10th of the population during the 2015–2016 academic year. In a broader context of limited access and opportunity to higher education among immigrant and refugee youth, this chapter examines teachers who interrupted existing frames and maintained high expectations and mindfulness for their students. The perspectives and voices of teachers who employ culturally responsive practices were documented through interviews and examined through the lens of Tierney's (2018) dimensions of global meaning making, more specifically the models of interrupting existing frames, critical literacies, and being mindful. Participants' perspectives interrupted existing frames and were documented against the grain of a conservative region that has experienced dilemmas of integrating immigrants and refugees into school and society. An examination of interview transcripts revealed teachers who maintained high expectations through an asset orientation and were overwhelmingly supportive and responsive to longtime immigrant and newcomer refugee youth.

As an interruption to existing nationalistic and neoliberal frames, teachers are beginning to embrace cosmopolitanism to ground literacy instruction. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the possibilities and tensions of using a cosmopolitan approach to literacy instruction. This chapter presents a qualitative study of interviews with 24 educators from the United States, Belize, and China to examine curricular and instructional choices educators report using to promote students' global meaning-making and cosmopolitan worldviews. Findings include three themes: situated relevance, glocal connections, and intercultural collaboration. Participants reported that creating a welcoming environment and promoting equality in the local classroom is foundational to teaching students at the local or global level. Teaching global literacies included teaching about similarities and differences locally and internationally and making local–global connections on issues of importance to the students. Also, participants reported that for students to engage in global meaning-making, they needed to dialogue and collaborate with people from different countries. While the findings present possibilities, the discussion approaches the data through the lens of potential challenges. Some participants reported first helping students move beyond ethnocentric thinking and stereotypes through reflexive exercises so that students could constructively interact with peers cross-culturally. However, not all participants taught reflexivity or with a critical lens. This study may bring awareness to educators as to curricular choices and instructional processes that hold promise for promoting students' global meaning-making.

Within the context of forced migration, literacy can facilitate liberation and participation, though literacy often serves instead to exclude. Given the ongoing global refugee crisis, literacy researchers must work toward understanding how literacy shapes the livelihoods of those impacted by forced migration. The purpose of this study was to interrogate the ways in which certain literacies were valued or disregarded in the pursuit of a college degree and to uncover the ways that refugee-background students navigated these limitations. Using a multiple case study, this research explored the experiences of six students from refugee backgrounds as they navigated the literacy expectations of the college program. This chapter highlights two themes – our way versus their way and playing the game – that highlight the ways that participants pushed against the literacy constraints that they perceived in the program.

The purpose of this study was to examine major issues and perspectives emanating from teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and proffer ways to reimagine P-12 (Pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade) education to achieve equity. The research question was “What major issues/challenges arose from COVID-19 pandemic teaching, and in what ways if any can these be ameliorated?” Tierney's concept of global meaning making provided a framework for the study in addition to critical digital pedagogy. Data for the study were collected from eight P-12 teachers drawn from both urban and rural school districts in the United States. Data sources were two questionnaires administered to teachers at the beginning and end of the study as well as teachers' reflective entries. Data analysis was done using thematic analysis. The major findings indicate that poverty and digital divide were the biggest challenges that impacted teaching and learning among the urban and rural students. Another major issue was teacher and student technology proficiency. In addition, there was a low level of student engagement which was caused by family dynamics, lack of accountability, and lack of self-regulation skills. Social emotional learning received great attention because students faced anxiety and stress. Findings from this study suggest the need to create equitable learning opportunities through equitable distribution of resources to disadvantaged students. Second, there is need to train teachers and students to effectively use digital tools for teaching and learning. We need to emphasize caring relationships and reconceptualize learning spaces.

This qualitative descriptive study seeks to understand how the reading motivation of three Chinese students from different reading achievement groups evolved as they moved from the fourth to the sixth grade. This study is informed both by Tierney's framework of global meaning making and Chinese relational epistemology. We recruited these students from a representative K-9 public school located in a metropolitan city in China and conducted two semistructured interviews, the first in fourth grade with a follow-up in sixth grade, during which we asked the same three students to share their stories about their reading experiences and what motivated them to read. Using the constant comparison method and thematic analysis, we analyzed the data and identified critical themes related to the factors that shaped the students' attitudes and motivation toward reading and literacy. This study uncovers several unique patterns of motivation development among Chinese early adolescent students in different achievement groups. Our findings also resulted in a new relational model of reading motivation development within the Chinese sociocultural context.

This chapter provides some final thoughts on global meaning making as exemplified by the authors in the book who interrogated literacy research, policies, and pedagogical pursuits applying the tenets of global meaning making with the ultimate goal of transforming how we engage in global language and literacy endeavors. We consider their work associated with the three dimensions of interrupting existing practices and policies, decolonizing spaces for learning and indigenizing curriculum and pedagogy. In addition, we raise questions that require further investigation related to global meaning making that is emancipatory and promotes the cultural capital of the locals.