Search

My action research investigation into place-conscious writing practices invited experienced Non-Aboriginal teachers from the Northwest Territories to think through writing practices that might engage Northern students, many of whom are Indigenous. In this paper, I will focus on what the teachers had to say about the influences of aspects of Indigenous oral traditions on their writing pedagogies. I will consider the possibility that multiliteracies might provide a more dynamic conception of literacy that invites student engagement through multimodal connections and opens up spaces for Indigenous ways of knowing and being in approaches to teaching writing.

In this paper, the authors investigate the enduring power of voice as a concept in writing pedagogy. They argue that one can benefit from considering Elbow's assertion that both text and voice be considered as important aspects of written discourse. In particular, voice is a powerful metaphor for the material, social and historical nature of language. Drawing on current psycho-neurological literature as it is used in literary studies, the authors suggest that voice can also act as a metaphor for consciousness. Using findings from a study that used writing practices designed with a focus on consciousness, the authors offer examples that illustrate the potential in recognizing the relations among voice, text and consciousness.

A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experience of teaching art and English Language Arts in the isolated, northern community of Big River in Northwest Territories.