Exploring A Pocket Guide to Writing through Cultural-Historical Activity Theory: Implications for Multicultural Education
Keywords:
critical pedagogy, cultural-historical activity theory, multicultural education, writing pedagogy
Abstract
Mainstream writing instruction risks marginalising non-dominant voices if not consciously adapted using critical multicultural frameworks. This study analyses Mary Lynn Rampolla's widely used A Pocket Guide to Writing in History through a Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) lens, taking notes on voice, power dynamics, and participation elements. The analysis uncovered alignments like the focus on active reading and argumentation. However, tensions emerged regarding the lack of collaborative learning and critical framing of academic conventions. Findings suggest that relying solely on mainstream writing advice risks student empowerment and critical consciousness deficiencies. Writing instructors should supplement individual skill-building with critical perspectives and participatory activities. While conventional guides provide useful starting points, realising the transformative goals of critical multicultural education requires balancing mainstream approaches with conscious efforts to incorporate collaboration, student voice, and critical framing. Further research should build on this study to strengthen writing pedagogy for diversity and equity. It could involve collaborative ethnographic studies in diverse classrooms to examine real-world applications, affordances and limitations. Additionally, studies comparing findings across guides using critical frameworks like CHAT, Critical Race Theory and Critical Discourse Analysis could offer a deeper analysis of patterns and equity implications.
References
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Prior, P. (2006). A Sociocultural Theory of Writing. Handbook of Writing Research, 54-66.
Rampolla, M.L. (2012). A Pocket Guide to Writing in History. Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Roth, W. M., & Lee, Y. J. (2007). “Vygotsky’s Neglected Legacy”: Cultural-Historical Activity Theory. Review of Educational Research, 77(2), 186-232.
Sleeter, C. E. (2001). Preparing Teachers for Culturally Diverse Schools: Research and the Overwhelming Presence of Whiteness. Journal of Teacher Education, 52(2), 94-106.
Sotiropoulou, E., Venetas, G.S., Giannakou, V., & Bercovits, A. (2022). Challenges and Perspectives of Multicultural Education for Young Children in the Context of Greek Nurseries: Educators' Views. International Journal of Education, 14(3), 2022
Tamang, Y.B. (2022). Multicultural Education: Concept, Emergence and Dimensions. Innovative Research Journal, 1(1), 2022
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press.
Zamurueva, N.A. (2019). Multicultural Education: Concept, Goals and Objectives. Education and Science without Limits: Fundamental and Applied Researches. Basic and Applied Research, (10), 256–257.
Au, W. (2009). Rethinking Multicultural Education: Teaching for Racial and Cultural Justice. Rethinking Schools. Accessed from: https://rethinkingschools.org/2014/03/11/rethinking-multicultural-education-teaching-for-racial-and-cultural-justice/
Ball, A. F., & Lardner, T. (2005). African American Literacies Unleashed: Vernacular English and the Composition Classroom. SIU Press.
Banks, J. A. (2015). Cultural Diversity and Education. Routledge.
Banks, J. A., Cookson, P., Gay, G., Hawley, W. D., Irvine, J. J., Nieto, S., Schofield, J. W., & Stephan, W. G. (2005). Education and Diversity. Social Education, 69(1), 36-41.
Brown, A. L., & Brown, K. D. (2010). Strange Fruit Indeed: Interrogating Contemporary Textbook Representations of Racial Violence toward African Americans. Teachers College Record, 112(1), 31-67.
Clyton, D. & Kundai, J. (2019). Exploring Challenges Confronted by Zimbabwean Primary Schools in Implementing Multicultural Education: The Case of Zaka District. OSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), 24(9), Series. 5 (September. 2019)
Cole, M. (1996). Cultural Psychology: A Once and Future Discipline. Harvard University Press.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2002). Educating a profession for equitable practice. Handbook of research on multicultural education, 2, 210-241.
Delpit, L. (1988). The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children. Harvard Educational Review, 58(3), 280-299.
Fox, H. (1990). Ethnic Bias in Student Evaluations of Teachers. Du Bois Review, 7(1), 163-175.
Freire, P., & Ramos, M. B. (2009). Chapter 2 from" Pedagogy of the Oppressed". Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Contexts, 2(2), 163-174.
Gay, G. (2018). Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice. Teachers College Press.
Grant, C. A., & Sleeter, C. (1987). An Analysis of Multicultural Education in the United States. Harvard Educational Review, 57(4), 421-443.
Gregory, A., Skiba, R. J., & Noguera, P. A. (2010). The Achievement Gap and the Discipline Gap: Two Sides of the Same Coin?. Educational Researcher, 39(1), 59-68.
Janks, H. (2014). Critical Literacy’s Ongoing Importance for Education. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 57(5), 349-356.
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465-491.
Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). From the Achievement Gap to the Education Debt: Understanding Achievement in US Schools. Educational Researcher, 35(7), 3-12.
Lee, Haiyoung, & Hee, S.S. (2020). Research Trends in Korean Language Education for Learners from Multicultural Families. International Symposium “Immigrant and Host Languages in Asia, Pacific and Europe: Facts behind Tidy Theoretical Constructs”
Leont'ev, A. N. (1981). Problems of the Development of the Mind. Progress Press.
Lucin, B. (2021). Importance of Incorporating Cosmopolitan and Multicultural Principles in Education in Canada. SN Social Sciences, 1, 1-11.
Makrufi, A.D., Tumin, T., & Hasan, Y.A. (2021). Multicultural Islamic Education Learning System. HUNAFA: Jurnal Studia Islamika, 18(2), 2021
Mazid, S., Futaqi, S., & Farikah, F. (2021). The Concept of “Freedom of Learning” in A Multicultural Education Perspective, Ta’dib, 24(1), 2021
Moll, L. C., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of Knowledge for Teaching: Using a Qualitative Approach to Connect Homes and Classrooms. Theory into Practice, 31(2), 132-141.
Muramoto, E.M., Karsten, A.M., Nagatani, L.D., & Nakajima, Y. (2018). Listening & Speaking, Reading & Writing: Improving Four English Language Skills through the Eclectic Approach of International Educators in Japan. Kyoai Gakuen University Journal 18, 389-400, 2018-03-31
New London Group. (1996). A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60-93.
Nurbatra, L.H., & Masyhud, M. (2022). Infusing Culturally Responsive Teaching in Higher Education: Insights for Multicultural Education in Indonesia. Journal of Innovation in Educational and Cultural Research.
Paris, D. (2012). Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy: A Needed Change in Stance, Terminology, and Practice. Educational Researcher, 41(3), 93-97.
Paris, D., & Alim, H. S. (Eds.). (2014). What are We Seeking to Sustain through Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy? A Loving Critique Forward. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), 85-100.
Pratama, R., Sumantri, S.H., Widodo, P., Damai, & Konflik, R. (2023). The Role of Teachers in Implementing Multicultural Education at Taruna Nusantara High School to Enhance Social Resilience. International Journal of Humanities Education and Social Sciences (IJHESS).
Prior, P. (2006). A Sociocultural Theory of Writing. Handbook of Writing Research, 54-66.
Rampolla, M.L. (2012). A Pocket Guide to Writing in History. Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Roth, W. M., & Lee, Y. J. (2007). “Vygotsky’s Neglected Legacy”: Cultural-Historical Activity Theory. Review of Educational Research, 77(2), 186-232.
Sleeter, C. E. (2001). Preparing Teachers for Culturally Diverse Schools: Research and the Overwhelming Presence of Whiteness. Journal of Teacher Education, 52(2), 94-106.
Sotiropoulou, E., Venetas, G.S., Giannakou, V., & Bercovits, A. (2022). Challenges and Perspectives of Multicultural Education for Young Children in the Context of Greek Nurseries: Educators' Views. International Journal of Education, 14(3), 2022
Tamang, Y.B. (2022). Multicultural Education: Concept, Emergence and Dimensions. Innovative Research Journal, 1(1), 2022
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press.
Zamurueva, N.A. (2019). Multicultural Education: Concept, Goals and Objectives. Education and Science without Limits: Fundamental and Applied Researches. Basic and Applied Research, (10), 256–257.
Published
2024-06-01
How to Cite
Rouabhia, R. (2024). Exploring A Pocket Guide to Writing through Cultural-Historical Activity Theory: Implications for Multicultural Education. Dinamika Ilmu, 24(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.21093/di.v24i1.7456
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