something about one door closing...

perhaps there is a reason for everything... so could someone tell me the reason for me losing my last entry b/c i hit the wrong key?!? and with it a list of questions that were still lingering for me after the last meeting of the course that shares the name of this blog.

i left thursday night feeling some sadness that sixteen weeks of collective inquiry, exploring, questions, and negotiation had come to a close; but i was also comforted that we had pushed up against and beyond conceptions of meanings of literacies in the lives of young people throughout this semester.

still, as it should be, i suppose, i am left with some questions (which i will try to recreate now from my fast-becoming-feeble memory...):

- in what ways did we peel back layers that often cushion the conversation about adolescent literacies? in what ways did our explorations remain on the surface?

- what did we learn about who adolescents are and the significance of literacies in their lives? and how does a notion of multimodality inform this journey?

- what should we add/remove from this experience to make it more meaningful? (damn! i wish i had asked this before we had adjourned for the semester...)

- how did our questions, experiences, and reflections extend the dialogue about literacies, technologies and youth currently ongoing "in the field"??

- how can/do we reconcile a belief about youth as literate with more traditional (deficit) notions of adolescents' literacy that circulate in academic and educational discourses?

- (how) will these questions and conversations live on?

and now, some words for thought:

youth?? education?? media?? representation(s)?? marginalized?? mainstream?? society?? online?? public?? purpose?? intent?? meaning?? reading?? technology/ies?? culture?? identities?? performance?? aesthetic?? teaching?? assessment?? justice??

justice?

justice.


and if that isn't enough: now what??

for me, i need to begin by doing something about this blog - the title doesn't seem to fit quite right. confining, perhaps... no matter - i will continue to use this space to muse and welcome any thoughts on whatever this blog turns out to be (and its contents therein).

it also seems that my initial inquiry related to blogging has evolved from a question of transparent pedagogy (which i don't think was really addressed in this space) to one of public inquiry... or, making (my) inquiry public, as it were... this is what it feels like i've used this space for. i'll have to revisit to see if that truly is the case. but for now it gives me some hope, in conjunction with the class reflections on the various paths of inquiry pursued, that perhaps we *can* support educators and researchers to take an inquiry stance that enhances, not hinders, their educational endeavors.

it might be time for bed now...