MULTILITERACIES WORKSHOP: redesigning practices with early-years teachers from rural schools
continuing teacher education; multiliteracies workshop; rural school; early years of elementary education.
The growing use of digital media in society demands changes in teaching practices, particularly in the forms of interaction mediated by multiliteracies. These changes require careful consideration of the linguistic and cultural multiplicity inherent in contemporary language practices, including those emerging from teaching in digital environments. In response to this scenario, we developed a literacy project as a continuing teacher education experience aimed at redesigning the pedagogical practices of early-years elementary teachers working in rural schools in Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte. From the abundance of data generated throughout this project, the corpus of this thesis consists of a selection composed of four multiliteracies workshops. The general objective is to investigate the design processes developed by teachers from rural schools in the Jucuri Hub during multiliteracies workshops. Specifically, the study aims to: (i) map the multiliteracy practices of the participating teachers; (ii) identify the elements that characterize the available designs in their practices; and (iii) analyze the effects of expanding these practices on the redesigns achieved. The theoretical framework integrates the dialogic conception of language proposed by the Bakhtinian Circle, the sociocultural perspective of Literacy Studies, the Pedagogy of Multiliteracies, and principles of Critical Education. Methodologically, the study adopts action research with an ethnographic orientation, situated in the transdisciplinary field of Applied Linguistics and grounded in a qualitative, interpretivist approach. Data were generated through questionnaires, field notes, photography, and audiovisual recordings. Three analytical categories emerged: (i) identification of available design; (ii) the redesign process; and (iii) transformation of teaching practices. The findings reveal that redesigning language practices in continuing education contexts leads to transformations in reading, writing, and oral practices, particularly in interactions mediated by digital media. These transformations support the teaching–learning process by emphasizing the social uses of contemporary language through a network of activities and discursive genres that emerge from the literacy project.