Multimodal Literacies in the History Classroom

7/29/2019 Multimodal Literacies in the History Classroom

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Ben PisaniENG 506

Multimodal Learning in the History Classroom

Multimodality is a relatively new idea in education that explains multiple inputs of learning for

the classroom. The idea is to take many inputs, such as visual, auditory, or written and break them

down. By linking this to the history classroom, multimodality becomes a very important skill for

analyzing sources. This leads to better critical thinking skills, a skill that the classroom is in dire need

of.In Carey Jewitt's paper, Multimodality and Literacy in School Classrooms, Jewitt discusses

the impact of new social and material conditions on communication and education and refers to these

innovations as profound (Jewitt, 243). One such innovation is Facebook. Some of these may not be

directly tied to education, but they certainly have an impact on education. In an article for the New

York Times, Rebecca Ruiz writes about a college professor named Reynol Junico. He studied some

2,000 students and their Facebook time. In his study, he found that those that spent more time on

Facebook ended up having a lower GPA (Ruiz, 2011).Another area that Jewitt tackles is different cultural interpretations of symbols. In her article,

she discusses the Nike Swoosh symbol. In Romania and Haiti, it is being assimilated into their culture

differently, and is in some cases showing up on tombstones (Jewitt, 243). This has a similar effect on

the history classroom, which I will discuss later.Jewitt goes on to explain that in the globalized world, multiliteracies stretch on to beyond the

chains of language, both spoken and written, and greets a larger group of people (Jewitt, 245). In

history, we call this transnational history. The idea is that history from a particular region about a

particular event has more than one interpretation. Take the Vietnam War for example. When learning

about the war, it is generally taught from the American perspective as a part of American history.

Transnational history changes how this topic is taught. It becomes a topic inside global history as well


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as American history. The Vietnamese perspective is also acknowledged in teaching the subject. This

provides for a better analysis of the subject and a more complete look at the Vietnam War.Jewitt goes on to explain that multimodality has meanings that are made through language,

image, gesture, gaze, body posture, sound, writing, music, and speech (Jewitt, 246). As in Virginia

Woolf's essay, The Cinema, this is not always a good thing. Just as with Haiti and Romania from

before, the symbol may be misinterpreted, or misunderstood. In the history classroom, this is impacted

by historical films. In an article on teachinghistory.org, the idea is posited What do Students Learn

from Historical Feature Films? Peter Seixas, a historian at the University of British Columbia, uses

two films,Dances with Wolves starring Kevin Costner and The Searchers starring John Wayne to teach

about historical accuracy. The students decided thatDances with Wolves was more accurate, since it

was a more modern looking film. The reality of the situation was that neither film was particularly

accurate. Students and others that watch the film leave with a feeling that they have a better

understanding of what life was like in a given era by watching a movie, without considering how

inaccurate the information is ("What do students," 2011). I would like to enter in the filmBraveheart

for consideration, also. In this film, Mel Gibson stars as Scottish freedom fighter, William Wallace.

The film's first large battle, the Battle of Stirling Bridge is incorrect. The movie also paints King

Edward I in a very negative light. They make him out to be a brutal dictator that cares for nothing but

conquest. In reality, the man started heavy reform for a more constitutional government for the British.

Let's not even get started with the fact that they were wearing kilts a few hundred years before they

were widely used in Scotland. The point is, this movie was seen as relatively accurate, but is full of

inaccuracies.Not everything in the teaching history article was negative about his class that watchedDances

with Wolves and The Searchers. Seixas explains that in pulling apart both movies, they started to

develop some of those critical thinking skills. They looked at what they had learned from the time

period and used it to deconstruct both films constructively ("What do students," 2011).


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Now, back to Jewitt. She continues on to explain the pedagogy of multimodality. She explains

four different sequences. The first is situated practice. This sequence is based on the learners'

experiences in life. The second is overt instruction. This is teaching the student an analytical

vocabulary with which to better analyze academic sources. The next one is critical framing, which

helps the learner connect meanings to social contexts and purposes to interrogate the cultural and social

context of designs. Finally, she explains transformed practice. This is the way students relate and

recreate meanings across contexts (Jewitt, 248,249).

A problem Jewitt discusses later in her essay is that with curriculum knowledge. The problem

comes when there is a blurring of the lines between text, media, and contexts (Jewitt, 256). This

connects with my earlier idea of students and others leaving a movie about an historical event with the

idea that the movie was historically accurate. This helps the spread of misinformation.She also discusses the fact that learning structures are new. She specifically uses a science class

and learning about the cell. Previously, the cell had text and a picture to accompany it, but now 3D

models and video can be used in the classroom (Jewitt, 257).Another area she hits on that can be directly applied to the history classroom is authenticating

information (Jewitt, 259). Authenticating sources is very important in the topic of history. Paul S.

Piper, a librarian at Western Washington University wrote an essay entitled Better Read that Again:

Web Hoaxes and Misinformation. In his essay, Piper discusses the amount of information that is in

the internet can lead to rampant misinformation. He starts his essay out with a fictitious story of a kid

that is putting together an essay on Martin Luther King Jr. He finds a website with information about

affairs he had, ties with the Communist Party, and an FBI foray into his illegal activities (Piper,

2000) . Seeing this trove of information, this child thinks he is going to put together a thought

provoking report, when in reality, the website is full of information from a white power group. Now,

however far-fetched that this may seem to be, everyone has come across a website or two that has

seemed legitimate, but turned out to be full of false information.


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Now, how does this all apply to the history classroom? Do you need to ignore popular movies

that have historical inaccuracies? No. I believe you should tackle this head on. Using movies in the

classroom is a form of multimodal learning that will help engage your students. This is an opportunity

to kill two birds with one stone. Show some of these movies in class, but stop the movie every once in

a while and discuss the inaccuracies with your students. Explain to them why something may have

been chosen. Maybe the director wanted a better villain, so someone was portrayed differently. In

doing so, you can use a media form to engage your students and explain that not everything should be

taken at face value. Kathryn Helgesen Fuller has a great article entitled Lessons from the Screen:

Film and Video in the Classroom, which can also help. In her article, she gives several classifications

of films that can be used in classroom. She divides them up into Historical Interpretation, Media

analysis, and even video in cultural context. Not every film needs to be chosen for the plot. Fuller uses

Africa as a choice for cultural education. When they see the film, they have a visual to go along with

the lesson about the African trade in the trans-Saharan region (Fuller, 1999).Another form of media you can use in the classroom is music. This mode of learning can better

teach the student about a particular time in history. Harvey G. Cohen's article, Music in the History

Classroom explains that music can show a change in culture and thinking. Cohen also explains that it

breaks up the lectures in great ways. Cohen offers up different songs to use along with different

periods of time such as Down Home Rag to explain the Jim Crow era, or Joni Mitchell for Women's

History (Cohen, 2005). I would also like to add in music by The Who, Baba O'Riley, Pete Seeger's

Bring Them Home, and War Song by Neil Young and Graham Nash to teach about the Vietnam

War and the outcry against it felt in the United States.Using Jewitt's recommendations in her article, many different methods can be converted to use

in the history classroom. Jewitt explains that the students are changing their method of assimilating

knowledge, and when the teacher does not change along with the students, then the students do not

learn, or at the very least are bored in the classroom. In the history classroom, you have to make sure


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that the students are clear that there is a lot of misinformation out in the world. As long as the teacher

explains this along the way, there are many opportunities to engage the students. There are many ways

to use multimodal learning to engage the students in the classroom, just don't forget the students along

the way!


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Works CitedJewitt, C. (2008). Multimodality and literacy in school classrooms.Review of Research in Education,

32(241), 241-267. Retrieved from http://rre.aera.net

Ruiz, R. (2011, October 21).Facebook's impact on student grades. Retrieved from

http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/fbook-grades/?_r=0

What do students learn from historical feature films?. (2011, March 04). Retrieved from

http://teachinghistory.org/issues-and-research/research-brief/20297

Piper, P. (2000, September).Better read that again: Web hoaxes and misinformation. Retrieved from

http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/sep00/piper.htm

Cohen, H. (2005, December).Music in the history classroom. Retrieved from

http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/2005/0512/0512tea2.cfm

Fuller, K. (1999, April).Lessons from the screen: film and video in the classroom. Retrieved from

http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/1999/9904/9904FIL3.CFM

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Multimodal Literacies in the History Classroom