Honoring Students' Multimodal Home Places in English Classrooms

In my ongoing exploration of digital cultural rhetoric, I found Christina V. Cedillo's article "Diversity, Technology, and Composition: Honoring Students' Multimodal Home Places" particularly resonant. Cedillo's emphasis on the intersection of homegrown knowledge, digital tools, and the rhetorical power of multimodal composition sparked a multitude of connections to my teaching practices.

Cedillo's discussion of "homegrown knowledge" immediately reminded me of the Funds of Knowledge theory, which asserts that students' household and community knowledge are valuable resources for learning. This theory aligns with Cedillo's assertion that "a 'home place' is more than a physical space. It is a complex of personal ties, cultural and communal values, and linguistic conventions that make existence a life -- plus the established modalities and technologies needed to express and maintain those relations" (Cedillo, 3). My introduction to the Funds of Knowledge theory occurred during a graduate program at Indiana University - Bloomington in 2017. Despite challenges attending classes and completing coursework online while working overseas, learning about this theory was a pivotal moment in my teaching practice, as it highlighted the importance of recognizing and leveraging students' diverse knowledge systems within educational contexts.

However, during my studies at IU, I encountered a significant disconnect when one of my professors failed to acknowledge my unique context and multimodal home space. Despite my efforts to explain the challenges I faced as a student working abroad, the course materials and assignments predominantly favored a narrow, Western-centric perspective that did not accommodate my diverse background; nor did it allow space for the cultural context in which I was teaching. As a result, I left the program without even completing the initial course (I was told I would not pass the class). This experience underscored the critical importance of educators embracing the Funds of Knowledge approach to honor and integrate students' diverse experiences into their teaching practices. It also inspired my commitment to advocate for culturally responsive teaching methods that validate and empower all students' identities and backgrounds (I spoke more about these ideas in two previous blog posts: "Digital Cultural Rhetoric" and "Tell Me About Yourself").

Cedillo's article also brought to mind the limitations of standardized testing, which often fails to account for the diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds of students. For instance, ESL learners might struggle with assessments designed around the experiences and vocabulary of white suburban America. There are many articles and research out there that point out the inherent biases in standardized testing, as well as the dreaded No Child Left Behind Act. One article I was reminded of I often use to teach argumentation: “An Indian Father’s Plea,” where Robert Lake (Medicine Grizzlybear), an Indigenous father, expresses frustration with his son's teacher. He writes, "In your mind, the greatest knowledge is that which is in books. To us, it is the knowledge of the earth, the skies, the stars" (EdWeek). This letter poignantly illustrates the disparities in knowledge and values between mainstream education and Indigenous perspectives, reflecting again the value of acknowledging the multimodal home spaces and funds of knowledge of students. As Cedillo points out on page 6 of her article, “the concept of the multimodal home place privileges homegrown knowledges that instructors might disregard or work to undo as critical benchmarks.” By doing so, we can move away from one-size-fits-all assessments and towards more equitable measures of student learning.

Cedillo's focus on the "multimodal home place" encourages us to consider how homegrown multimodal practices frame students as both receivers and developers of content (Cedillo, 5). This perspective is crucial when examining the representation of minority groups in media. For example, analyzing the white/male gaze in film can reveal how certain narratives and representations are privileged over others. Incorporating these critical lenses into classroom discussions can help students recognize and challenge stereotypical portrayals. This is something I am feeling particularly hyper-aware of lately, as I am currently building a curriculum for a trimester course in Asian Literature. In her essay, “Minor Feelings,” Cathy Park Hong discusses at length the negative impacts of the “model minority myth” and how it works to erase the culture, language, and personhood of Asian-Americans: “When I hear the phrase ‘Asians are next in line to be white,’ I replace ‘white’ with ‘disappear.’ Asians are next in line to disappear. We are reputed to be so accomplished, and so law-abiding, we will disappear into this country’s amnesiac fog. We will not be the power but become absorbed by power, not share the power of whites but be stooges to a white ideology that exploited our ancestors” (Minor Feelings, 35). Understanding students' (multimodal) home places is the first step in dismantling these myths and allowing students to be truly seen, heard, and understood.

One way to do this is to bring additional technology and modes of expression into the classroom. However, as Cedillo points out, "students must learn to use [digital tools] to not only communicate effectively but also understand that technologies bring their own values and cultural capital to bear on writing contexts" (Cedillo, 1). This aligns closely with my approach to teaching Shakespeare. Shakespeare is notorious in the English classroom for being difficult. Native speakers and ESL learners alike struggle to overcome the language barrier, as well as the stark cultural and historical barrier between 1500s England and modern-day societies. In my unit, we don’t simply read Shakespeare and write an analytical essay. In this unit, students interpret scenes through various media, incorporating their cultural contexts and homegrown knowledge into their projects. This process allows them to engage critically with the material and make intentional design choices, mirroring the emphasis on process over product that Cedillo advocates for. It also allows us to have conversations about how the story is portrayed through media, and how that portrayal changes in various contexts. Students analyze film adaptations through different cultural lenses and then create their own interpretations, which they must annotate and reflect upon. This hands-on, project-based learning approach encourages students to draw on their own experiences and cultural backgrounds, fostering a deeper engagement with the text. Additionally, part of the Shakespeare unit involves analyzing films through critical lenses, such as the white/male gaze. Cedillo discusses how "students can also analyze how homegrown multimodal practices frame them as receivers against views of themselves as developers and users to imagine new opportunities for invention that enhance traditional and current praxes" (5). By introducing these perspectives, I aim to deepen students' understanding of how media can reflect and perpetuate societal biases. This critical engagement helps students become more aware of the rhetorical power of design and representation, echoing Cedillo’s arguments about the importance of rhetorical awareness in digital spaces.

Cedillo's article offers a rich framework for considering how digital and multimodal composition can honor students' home places and cultural backgrounds. By integrating these insights with theories like Funds of Knowledge and Culturally Responsive Teaching, and by addressing the limitations of standardized testing, we can create more inclusive and effective educational practices. My own experiences with project-based learning in the Shakespeare unit further illustrate the power of culturally responsive assessments, critical engagement with media, and creative, open-ended projects, to empower students to draw on their homegrown knowledge and experiences, making their educational journeys more relevant and enriching.

Ultimately, integrating the principles of culturally responsive teaching, decolonization, and project-based learning can help us create educational spaces that honor and celebrate the diverse multimodal home places of our students. By fostering this awareness and ensuring that students are equipped to critically engage with and contribute to the digital world, we can help them become more thoughtful, informed, and empowered individuals.

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Cedillo, Christina V. "Diversity, Technology, and Composition: Honoring Students' Multimodal Home Places." Computers and Composition, vol. 55, 2020, pp. 1-12.

Lake, Robert. "An Indian Father's Plea." Education Week, 1990. Retrieved from link.

Hong, Cathy Park. Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning, Penguin Random House, 2021.