ABSTRACT
Multimodal learning is rooted in semiosis. Simply put, semiosis is the process of human meaning making through the use of signs, tools, and objects; and semiotics is a theory of meaning making that revolves, specifically, around the sign. This chapter primarily focuses on the theory of social semiotics and its implications for creativity in PK-12 teaching and learning. It considers the semiotic theory of Charles Sanders Peirce, a nineteenth-century, American pragmatist philosopher whose work is highly influential. Peirce developed his philosophical ideas about the sign in relation to the nature of being and mind, and in opposition to the dualism of Descartes and the empiricism of Locke. Descartes divided the world into mind and matter. In addition to the trichotomous view of the semiotic process, Peirce also conceived of three primary kinds of sign representations including the iconic, the indexical, and the symbolic.
