Beyond the Alienating Alphabetic Literacy: Multiliteracies in Indigenous Education in Mexico

TLDR

The article argues that many indigenous people in Mexico, deemed illiterate, are in fact literate through multimodal practices, and that a narrow view of literacy has alienated their grandparents and parents from schools, while outlining the current state of indigenous education. It proposes a pedagogy of multiliteracies tailored to Mexican indigenous groups. The authors apply the New London Group’s Multiliteracies Framework to analyze past and current educational designs, expanding the definition of text to recognize the literacies indigenous people have created. The study concludes by discussing pedagogical implications of adopting this multiliteracy approach. Published in Harvard Educational Review (1:60–92) under the title “A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures.”.

Abstract

This article proposes a pedagogy of multiliteracies for Mexican indigenous groups. Using the Multiliteracies Framework developed by the New London Group (Cazden, Cope, Cook, Fairclough, Gee, et al., 1996 Cazden, C., Cope, B., Cook, J., Fairclough, N., Gee, J.Kalantzis, M. 1996. A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 1: 60–92. [Google Scholar]), specifically the notions of multimodality and design, it is argued that many "illiterate" indigenous people are in fact "literate" and that an autonomous view of literacy has alienated indigenous grandparents and parents from schools. A brief history, including the current state of the education of indigenous groups in Mexico, is provided. Using the notions proposed by the New London Group, past and current designs are analyzed to broaden the notion of text and acknowledge the literacies that indigenous people have designed. Finally, this article concludes with a discussion of pedagogical implications.