ABSTRACT
For decades, literacy educators and researchers have attempted to shift the balance around what kinds of communicative modes are privileged in schools and classrooms. The resilience of print-heavy forms of text in educational spaces has proved to be as strong as the dominance of the Western, White culture that sustains it. The differences between a “mode” and a “form” and a “genre” can be confusing, and when we include discussions around “media,” well—our brains can turn to mush. Shifting our pedagogical practice to include more opportunities for students to read, compose, and even perform texts that encompass a wide variety of modes is not so much an instructional choice but an ethical imperative.
