This case study of multimodal pedagogies within an intergenerational (IG) art class addresses questions about the learning opportunities that were created therein and what the fixing of participants’ ideas within a semiotic chain said about their facility with communicative modes and media, interests, and identity options. Key findings include: when compared to the adults’ work, the children’s use of media was more elaborate, experimental, and less inhibited and their designs more complex; the content of the children’s communication was multifaceted, and future-looking while some of the adults’ were constrained by limited identity options related to their position in the life course; and the class’s multimodal pedagogies provided occasion for the exploration of modes and media with support for working through key communicational decisions.
AlbersP (2007) Finding the Artist Within: Creating and Reading Visual Texts in the English Language Arts Classroom. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
BearneE (2009) Multimodality, literacy and texts: Developing a discourse. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy9(2): 156–187.
4.
BrummelSW (1989) Developing an intergenerational program. Journal of Children in Contemporary Society 20(3–4): 119–133.
5.
CarleE (1998) Draw Me a Star. New York: Penguin.
6.
DonmoyerR (2001) Paradigm talk reconsidered. In: RichardsonV (ed.) Handbook of Research on Teaching, 4th edn.Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association, 174–197.
7.
DysonAHGenishiC (2005) On the Case: Approaches to Language and Literacy Research. New York: Teachers College Press.
8.
EdwardsCGandiniLFormanG (1998) The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach: Advanced Reflections, 2nd edn.Greenwich, CT: Ablex Publishing Corp.
9.
FraserSGestwickiC (2002) Authentic Childhood: Exploring Reggio Emilia in the Classroom. Albany, NY: Delmar Thomson.
10.
FriedmanB (1997) The integration of pro-active aging education into exciting educational curricula. In: BrabazonKDischR (eds) Intergenerational Approaches in Aging: Implications for Education, Policy and Practice. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press, 103–110.
11.
GillenJHallN (2003) The emergence of early childhood literacy. In: HallNLarsonJMarshJ (eds) Handbook of Early Childhood Literacy. London: SAGE, 3–12.
12.
GregoryEWilliamsA (2000) City Literacies: Learning to Read Across Generations and Cultures. London: Routledge.
13.
GregoryELongSVolkD (eds) (2004) Many Pathways to Literacy: Young Children Learning with Siblings, Grandparents, Peers, and Communities. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
14.
HandsfieldL (2006) Being and becoming American: Triangulating habitus, field, and literacy instruction in a multilingual classroom. Language & Literacy8(2), available at: http://www.langandlit.ualberta.ca/current.html, accessed 22 January 2009.
15.
HeydonR (2005) The de-pathologization of childhood, disability and aging in an intergeneration art class: Implications for educators. Journal of Early Childhood Research3(3): 243–268.
16.
HeydonR (2007) Making meaning together: Multimodal literacy learning opportunities in an intergenerational art program. Journal of Curriculum Studies39(1): 35–62.
17.
HeydonR.DalyB. ( May). What should I draw? I’ll draw you! Facilitating interaction and learning opportunities in intergenerational programs. Young Children, 63(3), 80–85.
18.
HeydonR (2009) We are here for just a brief time: Death, dying, and constructions of children in intergenerational learning programs. In: IannacciLWhittyP (eds) Early Childhood Curricula: Reconceptualist Perspectives. Toronto: Detselig Press.
19.
HeydonR (in press) Intergenerational learning from a curriculum studies perspective: New directions, new possibilities. In: HoweNProchnerL (eds) New Directions in Early Childhood Education and Care in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
20.
HeydonRDalyB (2008)
21.
HeydonRIannacciL (2008) Early Childhood Curricula and the De-pathologizing of Childhood. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
22.
HodgeRKressG (1993) Language as Ideology, 2nd edn.London; New York: Routledge.
23.
JarrottSE (2007) Programs that affect intergenerational solidarity. Proceedings of the United Nations Expert Group Meeting ‘Intergenerational Solidarity: Strengthening Economic and Social Ties’, available at: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/egm_unhq_oct_07_jarrott.pdf, accessed 29 September 2009.
24.
JarrottSEBrunoK (2007) Shared site intergenerational programs: A case study. Journal of Applied Gerontology26(3): 239–257.
25.
KressG (1997) Before Writing: Rethinking the Paths to Literacy. London and New York: Routledge.
26.
KressGJewittC (2003) Introduction. In: JewittCKressG (eds) Multimodal Literacy. New York: Peter Lang, 1–18.
27.
KressGvan LeeuwenT (1996) Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London and New York: Routledge.
28.
LarkinENewmanS (1997) Intergenerational studies: A multi-disciplinary field. In: BrabazonKDischR (eds) Intergenerational Approaches in Aging: Implications for Education, Policy and Practice. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press, 5–16.
29.
MalaguzziL (1998) History, ideas, and basic philosophy: An interview with Lella Gandini. In: EdwardsCGandiniLFormanG (eds) The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach: Advanced Reflections, 2nd edn.London: Ablex, 49–97.
30.
McCainM.MustardF. (1999). Reversing the real brain drain: Early Years Study, final report. Toronto, Ontario: Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
31.
MollL (1992) Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory into Practice31(2): 132–141.
32.
PahlK (1999) Transformations: Children’s Meaning Making in a Nursery. Oakhill, UK: Trentham Books.
33.
PahlK (2009) Interactions, intersections and improvisations: Studying the multimodal texts and classroom talk of six- to seven-year-olds. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy9(2): 188–210.
34.
PahlKRowsellJ (2005) Literacy and Education: Understanding the New Literacy Studies in the Classroom. London: SAGE.
35.
Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences (2003) Developing an Intergenerational Program in Your Early Childhood Care and Education Center: A Guidebook for Early Childhood Practitioners. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University.
36.
RowsellJPahlK (2007) Sedimented identities in texts: Instances of practice. Reading Research Quarterly42(3): 388–404.
37.
SimonR (1992) Teaching against the Grain: Texts for a Pedagogy of Possibility. Toronto: OISE Press.
38.
SteinP. (2003). The Olifantsvlei fresh stories project: Mulitmodality, creativity and fixing in the semiotic chain. In JewittC.KressG. (Eds.), Multimodal literacy (pp. 123–138). New York: Peter Lang.
39.
SteinP (2008) Multimodal Pedagogies in Diverse Classrooms: Representation, Rights and Resources. London and New York: Routledge.
40.
WohlwendKE (2009) Damsels in discourse: Girls consuming and producing identity texts through Disney princess play. Reading Research Quarterly44(1): 57–83.
