Engaging the visual generation : some Queensland teachers come to terms with changing literacies

The concept of what it means to be ‘literate’ for today’s youth is one that presents a number of dilemmas for generalist primary teachers. On the one hand, teachers in Queensland are being asked to address broadening views of literacy because of the impact of new media. The new arts syllabus in Queensland (Years 1-10) (Queensland School Curriculum Council, 2001, p. 8), for example, defines literacy as “reading and writing, speaking and listening, viewing and shaping, often in combination in multimodal texts, within a range of contexts”. On the other hand, primary teachers must address more conservative agendas with renewed fears about falling standards in traditional literacies, such as reading and writing, and a perceived literacy ‘crisis’.The aim of this paper, therefore, is to examine the significance that primary teachers attach to new literacies in view of these competing agendas. In particular, it examines their responses to the inclusion of ‘media’ as one of the five arts strands of the new arts syllabus (Queensland School Curriculum Council, 2001). In order to make this analysis I draw on the work of Gunther Kress and his concept of ‘multimodality’. This conceptual framework allows a closer examination of the cultural and social values attached to communication practices and their associated literacies.