Mission
Given the intricacies of literacy learning across diverse contexts, we define the term literacy broadly with the goal of responding to the question: How do students become literate in the 21st century? Multiliteracies is an approach to teaching and learning characterized by two key aspects– linguistic diversity and multimodal forms of linguistic expressions and representation. These components are necessary to the broader definition of literacy and consider the social and collaborative nature of literacy.
At the core of our projects is inclusivity. Each project brings together community members—elementary students, local teachers, graduate students, faculty, and community partners—to co-produce literacy-related knowledge and practice that addresses and responds to inclusion, tolerance, and empathy. Our projects also take a human rights approach to teaching, learning, and research; it is well-documented that literacy is a human rights issue—all individuals have the right to become literate. A focus of our CERC is on working with partners to find ways to make literacy more accessible to all learners. Through our projects, we aim to both expand on the availability of existing effective programming to allow more learners to benefit from direct and systematic instruction in literacy, to identify ways that we can support teachers to meet the multiliteracy needs of all learners, and to disseminate the work of the CERC and its partner organizations and communities widely and in diverse formats.
Partners & Projects
Our existing collaborations include work with not-for-profit organizations, school boards, literacy organizations, research and practice networks, and community organizations. The following organizations are existing research collaborators with members of the Early Years and Multiliteracies CERC as well as organizations that are currently connected to our group through outreach and volunteer work.
- Limestone District School Board: The LDSB is an existing collaborator with our research group. Aligning with the LDSB’s core vision statement of fostering engaging and innovative learning where everyone achieves success and wellbeing, our projects with LDSB focus on supporting students in their growth in literacy and reading.
- The Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation is a national charity dedicated exclusively to supporting growth in children’s early literacy. Through three of the Foundation’s programs, Early Words, Lost and Found, and Read on Canada! key professionals, resources, and families are connected to ensure all children are supported in their language and early literacy development.
- Kids Brain Health Network is a national network of researchers and health professionals dedicated to helping children with neurodevelopment disabilities and their families. Their main goals are to fund collaborative research, train the next generation of developmental neuroscientists, and mobilize findings for impact.
- 1 Million Teachers is an international organization whose main goal is to provide professional development to empower teachers to deliver effective and research-based instruction to their students. With a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa where there is a chronic and growing shortage of qualified teachers, 1 Million Teachers supports the targeted professional learning of educational change agents on the ground in various countries.
- iACT, Little Ripples: Partnering to support and scale up assessment efforts of refugee-led early childhood education programs in emergencies, this collaborative study is being done in partnership with iACT, an international organization that provides humanitarian action to support and empower those affected by mass atrocities and is currently experiencing challenges assessing their early childhood education programs.
Members
Pamela Beach (co-lead); Kristy Timmons (co-lead); Ian Matheson; Holly Ogden; Jane Chin; and Ben Bolden
Connect with us!
Email Pamela Beach.