Making Meaning is a synthesis of theory, research, and practice that explicitly presents art as a meaning making process.
This book provokes readers to examine their current understandings of language, literacy and learning through the lens of the various arts-based perspectives offered in this volume; provides a starting point for constructing broader, multimodal views of what it might mean to “make meaning”; and underscores why understanding arts-based learning as a meaning-making process is especially critical to early childhood education in the face of narrowly-focused, test-driven curricular reforms. Each contributor integrates this theory and research with stories of how passionate teachers, teacher-educators, and pre-service teachers, along with administrators, artists, and professionals from a variety of fields have transcended disciplinary boundaries to engage the arts as a meaning-making process for young children and for themselves.
This book provokes readers to examine their current understandings of language, literacy and learning through the lens of the various arts-based perspectives offered in this volume; provides a starting point for constructing broader, multimodal views of what it might mean to “make meaning”; and underscores why understanding arts-based learning as a meaning-making process is especially critical to early childhood education in the face of narrowly-focused, test-driven curricular reforms. Each contributor integrates this theory and research with stories of how passionate teachers, teacher-educators, and pre-service teachers, along with administrators, artists, and professionals from a variety of fields have transcended disciplinary boundaries to engage the arts as a meaning-making process for young children and for themselves.
"As contributors to Narey's edited collection (2009) seem to imply, literacy is defined as a "person's ability to make/interpret meaningful signs in a particular representational modality (e.g., print, image, film, etc.)" (p. 2). Yet, as these authors (Narey, 2009) seem to imply, our schools and education systems remain verbocentric, even in early childhood, despite our predisposition for meaning making in multiple modalities in today's global world. Narey's book is foundational for teaching through multiple modalities. Readers can dive into any of the aforementioned texts to opportunities for opening up spaces that invite your students to critique, design, and engage in multi- modal experiences."
"As a professional resource for early childhood educators, Narey's book offers educational theory supporting multimodal teaching and educational settings. Readers will be stimulated by detailed descriptions of arts-infused curriculum and inspiring descriptions of technologyused to extend learning. It is a valuable reference for anyone interested in learning more about multimodal learning."
Excerped from:
Professional Book Reviews: Critique! Design! Engage! Opening New Spaces for Multimodal Experiences, Deidre Clary, Amy Johnson Lachuk, Andrew M. Corley, and Lucy Spence. Language Arts, Volume 89 - Number 2, November 2011.
Copyright 2011 by the National Council of Teachers of English. Used with permission.
"As a professional resource for early childhood educators, Narey's book offers educational theory supporting multimodal teaching and educational settings. Readers will be stimulated by detailed descriptions of arts-infused curriculum and inspiring descriptions of technologyused to extend learning. It is a valuable reference for anyone interested in learning more about multimodal learning."
Excerped from:
Professional Book Reviews: Critique! Design! Engage! Opening New Spaces for Multimodal Experiences, Deidre Clary, Amy Johnson Lachuk, Andrew M. Corley, and Lucy Spence. Language Arts, Volume 89 - Number 2, November 2011.
Copyright 2011 by the National Council of Teachers of English. Used with permission.