The Role of Video in a Literacy Collaboration to Re-Engage Struggling Students

Abstract

Purpose

To examine the ways in which video supported an interdisciplinary literacy intervention for struggling high school students in re-engaging youth in school and developing academic literacy.

Methodology/approach

This chapter draws on an ongoing qualitative case study of the two classrooms that comprise the high school literacy intervention, presenting strong inductive themes as to the central goals of the program and the role of video in facilitating those goals.

Findings

Video was a crucial resource in a type of “spiral curriculum” (Bruner, 1996) that explored a relevant and engaging year-long theme by moving students from informal reflection and discussion to formal academic writing.

Practical implications

Video can be a crucial resource for helping teachers rethink what texts and topics “count” in the literacy classroom. For students positioned as “at risk,” this move can help a literacy classroom to reframe students’ academic identities and find relevant contexts for developing academic literacy.

Citation

Johnson, C.W. and Scarbrough, B. (2015), "The Role of Video in a Literacy Collaboration to Re-Engage Struggling Students", Video Research in Disciplinary Literacies (Literacy Research, Practice and Evaluation, Vol. 6), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 79-94. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2048-045820150000006004