





































 

Georgia Journal of Literacy 
2023, Vol. 45(2), pp. 33–56 
https://doi.org/10.56887/galiteracy.129 
ISSN: 2833-7611 

Research Article 

 

 

 

CONTACT Dr. Christine Craddock, Assistant Professor, Department of Teaching and Leading, Augusta University, 
Augusta, GA; email ccraddock@augusta.edu.  

 

Multimodal Literacies in Elementary Teacher 
Education: Facilitating Culturally Relevant 
Pedagogy with Mathematics 
 
Christine Craddock 
Augusta University, Augusta, GA 

 

ABSTRACT 

This study presents qualitative action research conducted in elementary teacher 
education coursework. Teacher candidates were introduced to multimodal literacies 
in mathematics by representing and communicating content through multiple modes 
such as signs, symbols, images, text, gestures, manipulatives, music, videos, and 
more. Teacher candidates used multimodal literacies to implement and understand 
culturally relevant pedagogy in their assignments as students, in lesson plans, and 
in-field experience exercises during a semester course. Three focal participants are 
outlined to highlight similarities and differences across cases through the ways 
teacher candidates navigated coursework with multimodal literacies and 
mathematics while enacting culturally relevant pedagogy. Multiple assignments from 
each participant were collected and analyzed, culminating with a post-term semi-
structured interview. Findings illuminate intricate interactions within teacher 
candidates’ multiple identities through their cultural awareness with others and in 
disciplinary connections. Their learning and teaching development illustrates a 
dynamic interplay of literacy, multimodality, and mathematics with the 
implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy, ultimately suggesting the need for 
teacher educators to consider how these connections can be best facilitated. 

KEYWORDS 

multimodal 
literacies; 
disciplinary 
literacies; 
culturally relevant 
pedagogy; 
teacher 
education 

 

esearchers, educators, and students often differ in their perspectives toward effective 

mathematics instruction and elementary pedagogy. Frequently, descriptions of 

mathematics “best practices” vary, which can leave teacher candidates (TCs) and their own 

possible students confused, frustrated, and ill-prepared (Greenberg & Walsh, 2008; Lee & 

Ginsburg, 2009). This article reports on the investigation of elementary TCs as they navigated 

multiple identities in an elementary mathematics methods course. Participating TCs were future 

or current teachers undergoing the certification process, while also engaging as students of 

mathematics, literacy, and mathematics pedagogy. 

The research took place in multiple cycles and semesters of instruction for the same 

required course at a university in the Southeastern United States. The study was designed to 

explore teacher education with multimodal literacies (Kress, 2010) and culturally relevant 

pedagogy (CRP; Ladson-Billings, 1995) for undergraduate and Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) 

candidates as they participated in elementary mathematics coursework. As the TCs’ professor in 

the course, I sought to answer the following research question and sub-questions: 

▪ How do teacher candidates utilize multimodal literacies to represent, understand, and 

enact CRP in elementary mathematics?  

R 

https://doi.org/10.56887/galiteracy.129
mailto:ccraddock@augusta.edu


34 Georgia Journal of Literacy 45(2)  

 

o In what ways do teacher candidates’ experiences with multimodal literacies 

facilitate changes over time in their understanding of CRP in elementary 

mathematics?  

o What do teacher candidates’ choices when utilizing multimodal literacies reveal 

about their understanding of CRP in elementary mathematics? 

In exploring these questions, I aim to contribute to the developing literature surrounding CRP and 

mathematics instruction. Interestingly, though studies have intentionally investigated TCs and 

CRP, including some that specifically focus on mathematics teaching, very few explicitly also 

recognize their important intersections with literacy practices (Leonard et al., 2014). In turn, the 

findings of this study proffer the use of multiple literacies to further understand and frame these 

possibilities. 

 
Literature 

It is essential for elementary TCs to be effectively prepared in mathematics pedagogy as they 

develop in coursework. Significant attention has been given to mathematics anxiety common in 

TCs and how to help them grow in confidence and self-efficacy in teacher preparation programs 

(Isiksal et al., 2009; Tassell et al., 2020). To this end, related research has supported utilizing many 

facets of reflection throughout elementary TCs mathematics coursework and field placements 

(Saylor & Johnson, 2014; Wickstrom et al., 2018). These and other studies affirm the need to 

tactfully consider, value, and acknowledge the multiple identities of TCs while they learn 

conceptual elementary mathematics alongside elementary mathematics pedagogy (Lutovac, 2020; 

Lutovac & Kaasila, 2014).  

Further, research in elementary mathematics teacher education problematizes how teachers 

frequently instruct mathematics the same way they were taught (Blanco et al., 2013), and how 

mathematics instruction generally involves decontextualized and procedural methods lacking a 

sociocultural lens (Taylor, 2018). Relatedly, studies demonstrate that students and teachers can 

often resist notions of incorporating or validating culture in mathematics and dismiss possibilities 

for relevant associations and connections of culture with mathematics content. Nevertheless, 

disciplinary experts and proponents of CRP argue that CRP with mathematics topics and 

instruction is not only a possible consideration but a vital one (Brown, 2020; Dominguez et al., 

2014; Enyedy et al., 2011). Students of multiple ages can be provided opportunities to engage with 

mathematics concepts in agentic, engaging, and empowering ways that promote social justice, 

critical thinking, and problem-solving. However, implementing this instruction within certain 

paradigms requires an intentional, invested, and persistent shift in perspectives on pedagogy and 

mathematics, thus illuminating the complexities of effectively incorporating CRP into 

mathematics classrooms at various levels (Maloney & Matthews, 2020; Wiggan et al., 2020).  

Studies that consider the challenges of apprenticing TCs into CRP with their students and 

contexts frequently involve coursework that incorporates assignments with community 

engagement, reflective work, and critical conversations (Aguirre et al., 2012; Kelly, 2020; Turner 

& Drake, 2016). Moreover, they often use iterative implementations of a study design through 

multiple semesters where teacher educators (TEs) refine their courses and investigate TCs’ 

experiences (Leonard et al., 2014; Mark & Id-Deen, 2020). Since applying CRP to mathematics 

instruction can be seen by TCs as difficult or improbable, researchers in these areas illustrate the 

continuing call to facilitate and redirect possibly resistant perspectives of TCs toward embracing 



Craddock 35 

 

culturally relevant innovations and options in mathematics instruction (Averill et al., 2009; Brown 

et al., 2019). 

Accordingly, research suggests content literacy instruction and children’s literature as 

effective approaches for integrating CRP into elementary mathematics instruction and TC 

preparation (Hintz & Smith, 2013; Leonard et al., 2014; Sheppard, 2011). These combined 

considerations demonstrate a need for investigating ways elementary mathematics instruction and 

teacher education can reflect and incorporate multiple literacies with CRP. Specifically, research 

recommendations often allude to or utilize what are known as multimodal literacies without 

explicitly identifying or explaining their role in instruction.  

Stein (2008) describes multimodality as the combinations of different modes individuals 

use to represent and communicate meaning like speech, writing, image, gesture, and sound. Thus, 

mathematics instruction is inherently multimodal (Arzarello & Robutti, 2010; Daher, 2014; 

Freeman et al., 2016). Nonetheless, not all educators recognize the value and/or nature of 

multimodal literacies and how influential they may be in cultivating CRP in STEM subjects (Hsu 

et al., 2013; Taylor, 2018; Youngjoo & Jayoung, 2015). There is a significant dearth in research 

around multimodal literacies in higher education, specifically with teacher preparation (Cardoso, 

2017). Consequently, teacher education must evolve in its instructional pedagogies with 

multimodal literacies (Craddock, 2022; Serafini, 2015).  

Studying and blending views of multimodal literacies and CRP in mathematics requires a 

framework that joins disciplinary and social literacy perspectives. While the discipline of 

mathematics uses specific literacies germane to its content and context, its discourse also involves 

sociocultural perspectives (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2017). In other words, mathematics discourse 

and literacy practices are more than isolated multimodal representations; rather, they encompass 

individuals’ identities and social ways of “doing” mathematics in particular contexts (Gee, 2014). 

The multimodal register of mathematics cannot be separated from social and cultural ways it is 

communicated and represented. Finally, while disciplinary literacy is often emphasized in 

secondary and higher education fields, it is increasingly recognized as a valid, relevant 

consideration for elementary contexts, which merits more investigation and attention in application 

(Shanahan & Shanahan, 2014). 

 
Theoretical Framework 

Though CRP is a widely accepted framework in the educational field, this research’s combined 

perspective on multimodal literacies in mathematics as being both discipline-specific and social 

engenders a more focused lens grounded in sociocultural literacy perspectives and the three tenets 

of CRP including academic success, cultural competence, and critical consciousness (Ladson-

Billings, 1995). Through previous iterations of action research that took place in my own 

classroom, I developed a framework with key aspects to approach instruction and research when 

utilizing multimodal literacies in content areas known as ICARe: Identity engagement, Critical 

engagement, Authentic engagement, and Relevant engagement (Craddock, 2022). Accordingly, I 

detail and support with salient literature individual aspects of the framework. 

 
Identity Engagement 

McCarthey and Moje (2002) propose a reciprocal, influential relationship exists between identities 

and literacy practices, that student identity, literacy, and learning are intricately connected. 

Additionally, Gee’s (2014) previously cited theory on Discourses grounds identity as a social 

literacy construction that draws upon multiple modes. Discourses are identity kits including how 



36 Georgia Journal of Literacy 45(2)  

 

to dress, act, talk, and often write. Therefore, disciplinary literacies are examples of Discourses; 

educators must apprentice students into the practices of different disciplines to participate 

meaningfully. 

 

Critical Engagement 

Critical literacy practices, like constructing and critiquing arguments during instruction, are 

evident in multiple content areas, though they vary across disciplines. Individuals who engage in 

critical literacies can be empowered to problem-solve, challenge structures, and develop agency 

in learning (Freire & Macedo, 1987; Janks, 2013). Critical literacy engagement is often articulated 

through multimodal literacies since proving, justifying, and explaining can require multiple modes 

in different contents (Brown et al., 2019).  

While critical and social connections can be seen as more difficult to make in mathematics, 

especially at the elementary level, I encourage educators to adopt a dynamic, innovative lens for 

content applications of critical literacy engagement. That while pertinent practices involved in 

justification and explanation differ depending on content and age, developing creative connections 

is not only a plausible consideration in mathematics, but by very nature, a powerful one. For 

example, mathematical standards can naturally facilitate critical concepts of equity, fairness, 

sharing, and justice when educators are inspired to imagine and cultivate these possibilities through 

literacy practices.  

 
Authentic Engagement 

Authentic literacy practices are described as combining language, literacy, and learning to make 

instruction functional, accessible, and socially constructed through problem-posing and problem-

solving (Dominguez et al., 2014; Goodman & Goodman, 2011). This authenticity is also 

characterized by literacy experiences purposefully connected to students’ lives (Behizadeh, 2015; 

Wargo, 2020). Specifically, authentic disciplinary literacies include critiquing and sharing work 

with students and communicating to real audiences. In elementary mathematics, these practices 

innately engage multiple modes like pictures, signs, symbols, videos, manipulatives, tables, 

graphics, and food (to name a few).  

 
Relevant Engagement 

Individuals engage with content they identify as relevant to their lives, desiring connections 

between disciplinary literacies and typical, familiar practices (Wynter-Hoyte et al., 2019). Burns 

(2008) posits relevant literacy practices often involve multimodal text rather than print-only 

instruction, which can be irrelevant and disengaging. Consequently, multimodal literacies are one 

possible means of making relevant connections to the disciplinary literacies of elementary 

mathematics through games, art, music, crafts, tactile puzzles, emojis, comics, and storybooks. To 

clarify, I differentiate authentic engagement as “functional” and relevant engagement as 

“familiar.” Thus, authentic and relevant engagement are indicated separately in the framework; 

though, they are not necessarily mutually exclusive and can often evoke similar applications.  

The elements of ICARe emphasize how multimodal literacy practices can cohesively 

facilitate student engagement that would promote the academic success, cultural competence, and 

critical consciousness central to CRP in ways that often overlap and are not always distinct; Table 

1 aims to clarify potential connections in the frameworks. 

 



Craddock 37 

 

Table 1: Framework Correspondence 

ICARe components CRP domains 

Identity engagement 

(validates and incorporates individuals) 

Cultural competence 

Critical consciousness 

Critical/Civic Engagement 

(promotes possible critical/civic applications) 

Cultural competence 

Critical consciousness 

Authentic engagement 

(illuminates real purposes/audiences) 

Academic success 

Critical consciousness 

Relevant engagement 

(facilitates and relates familiar practices)  

Academic success 

Cultural competence 

 

I taught TCs about ICARe and multimodal literacies during coursework and discussed with them 

how I intentionally incorporated aspects of ICARe into our assignments. I likewise encouraged 

them to consider leveraging multimodal literacies in tasks and lesson plans for their own students 

to mirror these same goals. I follow with my approach to the study’s design through this 

instruction. 

 
Methodology 

I engaged in practitioner inquiry positioning myself, as teacher-researcher, and TCs enrolled in 

elementary mathematics methods as central to identifying and improving the problem of practice 

(Glesne, 2016; McCutcheon & Jung, 1990). This action research design of “inquiry as stance” 

emphasizes researcher reflexivity, critical inquiry, and multiple sources to ensure trustworthiness 

(Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009). 
 
Design 

I used purposive sampling of multiple participants as qualitative case studies to gain a natural, 

holistic perspective of social context in practice (Creswell, 2014; Glesne, 2016). Participants were 

recruited and consented to participate by my colleague at the institution in the beginning of each 

semester. TCs’ development and perceptions of CRP in elementary mathematics pedagogy were 

facilitated through instruction with, and their uses of, multimodal literacies including written 

reflections, lesson plans, online class forums, online Zoom sessions, creative writing assignments, 

children’s literature selections, games, tactile and virtual manipulatives, mathematics exercises 

and assessments, and presentations (such as PowerPoints, Prezis, storybooks, songs, or videos). 

Some of the most popular digital presentation modalities I suggested to TCs included Flipgrid and 

a site called Canva which allows the user to choose from many different graphics, templates, and 

images to make a variety of visual displays that can include music, comics, infographics, slides, 

and posters. Through consenting, TCs allowed their assignments to become a part of research and 

could opt into an opportunity for a focus group or individual interview after the semester ended. 
 
Participants 

From the courses, 27 participants’ work samples were collected and six TCs agreed to some form 

of interview opportunity. Because each participant illuminated different multimodal experiences 

and interpretations that are best understood through thorough description, this article will detail 

only three focal participants from the courses (pseudonyms provided). While one course was for 



38 Georgia Journal of Literacy 45(2)  

 

undergraduates and delivered face-to-face, the other was a fully online graduate course with 

asynchronous and synchronous components. Though the majority of the assignments for the 

courses were the same, I will distinguish which participants took certain courses because the study 

reveals a relationship between course delivery on TCs’ uses and interpretations of different 

modalities related to the research questions. 

Britney was an elementary education TC in her final block of coursework just before 

student teaching. She is a white female and a local mom who was born and raised near our 

university while taking full-time face-to-face coursework for her undergraduate degree. Jackie was 

a TC in our elementary MAT program completing her final semester of courses before student 

teaching. She also is a white, female mom who formerly had a career background in 

business/accounting (her undergraduate degree field). She was working part time assisting in a 

school near her home. Kyla was employed as a teacher and concurrently enrolled in our elementary 

MAT program to gain certification. She had a background in music and music education, teaching 

it at multiple levels including college music courses. Interestingly, she, too, is a female mom and 

was working full time as a first-grade teacher of record in a school near her home. More than once 

in class sessions she self-identified as a Pacific Islander and commented on this as a notable aspect 

of her identity. 

 
Data Sources 

Each of the three participants engaged with me after their terms in a semi-structured interview 

lasting approximately 30–60 minutes on Zoom to discuss coursework, key takeaways, and 

assignments. These interviews were transcribed for accuracy. To reinforce trustworthiness and 

validity, I conducted member checks with participants after drafting a final manuscript.  

Multiple assignments were collected from participants, but only 12 for each participant 

were included in analysis based on the assignments that had a paired match between courses. This 

included two formal lesson plans taught during field experience assignments accompanied by 

reflections. Additionally, participants completed pre-assessment and post-assessment reflection 

papers which detailed their feelings and perceptions toward mathematics as both teachers and 

students. Other noteworthy assignments included presentations of a culturally relevant “lesson 

seed” based around a children’s literature book of their choice and a reflection paper detailing 

disciplinary literacies observed during their field experience hours.  

Specifically, Britney also created a multimodal presentation on Canva in response to a 

place-based multimodal literacy “field trip” we took in our face-to-face class. This trip involved 

visiting a local, downtown art museum along with walking to and through a sculpture memorial 

garden celebrating southern American and Black history in our university’s city. Although Jackie 

and Kyla’s class did not go on this trip because online candidates enroll in our program from 

various locations, they completed a corresponding online module and discussion about empirical 

research articles involving children’s literature, multimodal literacies, and CRP in mathematics.  

Finally, video recordings of online instructional sessions were collected to capture the 

complex multimodal interactions which field notes and observations could not afford, especially 

given I was the researcher and instructor. These videos bolstered trustworthiness with the 

opportunity to revisit participants’ strategies and conversations while collaborating, manners and 

gestures in presenting, class dynamics and structure, and interactions among TCs during 

discussions when multimodal literacies were utilized.  

 
 



Craddock 39 

 

Data Analysis 

I analyzed data through a social semiotic multimodal framework according to social context 

(Kress, 2010). I incorporated multimodal analysis suggested by Kim and Kim (2016) who utilized 

Halliday and Hasan’s (1989) analysis of language according to field, tenor, and mode. Field 

describes the topic of the language involved, tenor describes relationships between participants in 

the language interaction, and mode describes the role of the language in context. With field, tenor, 

and mode as a frame, I coded class videos and TCs assignments. Through this approach, I analyzed 

participants’ gestures, images, videos, dialogue, and text throughout their work, class interactions, 

and discussions. I utilized CAQDAS software, NVivo, to directly code selected portions of each 

of the data sources including video recordings (Paulus et al., 2014). Codes were generated with an 

inductive approach using initial coding, leading to a second cycle of focused coding (Saldaña, 

2009). 
 
Figure 1: Hierarchy Chart of Codes to Suggest Emerging Themes 

 
 

True to the heart of the study and design, I utilized NVivo’s multimodal functions for cross-

case visual comparisons within participants to recognize growth, changes, and commonalities of 

codes between pre- and post-reflection assignments. I also used a similar hierarchy chart function, 

which takes qualitative text codes and displays them in a multimodal, mathematical model grouped 

by percentage, frequency, and subcategories. One example I used to ultimately indicate pervasive 

themes is depicted in Figure 1. Lastly, an analysis of language in social context through coding of  

field, tenor, and mode is illustrated by a specific example from one of Kyla’s multimodal video 

presentations. Figure 2 presents the coding stripes that correspond to the subsequent video slides 

and timestamps depicted below them. 

 

 



40 Georgia Journal of Literacy 45(2)  

 

Figure 2: Coding Stripes of Data Analysis for Kyla’s Video Presentation 

 
 

Findings 

The findings can be grouped by key themes present in the data analysis. Each clarifies ways in 

which TCs utilized multimodal literacies to make culturally relevant connections during 

coursework. These connections will be further clarified in sections that include intrapersonal and 

interpersonal connections along with interdisciplinary and intercultural connections. 

 
Negotiating Intrapersonal Connections 

Multimodal literacies are shown to be valuable resources for integrating student identity with 

learning in diverse contexts (Kelly, 2012; Taylor, 2018). This study confirms multimodal literacies 

were a vehicle to negotiate connections between TCs own mathematics learning experiences and 

CRP in mathematics instruction. The findings illuminate a multifaceted perspective of TCs 

identities as both students and teachers. Interestingly, even the ways they articulated their own 

identities as students and teachers were not singular.  

TCs were given options in responding to classroom exercises through multiple modes 

(though more frequently in the online course) which included video recordings using Flipgrid, 

multimodal presentations, and more traditionally written discussion forums and essays. Through 

these choices, participants utilized multimodal literacies to acknowledge multiple intrapersonal 

student identities and consider themselves as college students of mathematics and college students 



Craddock 41 

 

in an education program. They also contemplated their past student identities before college both 

in mathematics and more generally. Jackie articulated recognition of her own learning through her 

intentional multimodal choices in our coursework: 

The way my brain works is, my initial thought is kind of like a picture... So if that 

picture ended up being like a Circle Arrow Circle Arrow process (while gesturing 

with hands on video), then I would do a Canva. Or if my brain went to like, oh, 

here’s all my thoughts, then I would write a response. But one [time] I did a video 

because I couldn’t get my thoughts out fast enough. I did a video that helped me 

say everything I was trying to say in like word vomit kind of all of my thoughts. 

And so that . . . was my thought process of the way I saw my response in my head. 

It gave me opportunities to express in different ways.  

Jackie’s multimodal descriptions using modes of gestures, text, signs, symbols, and images 

involved multiple relationships, or tenor, reflecting her communication within herself and then me. 

These interactions are vividly represented through various fields of her mathematics responses, 

thoughts, and lesson planning (Figure 3).  
 
Figure 3: Examples of Jackie’s Multimodal Planning 

 
 

She would voluntarily (and excitedly) share these planning pieces alongside final products 

of a presentation, warm-ups, and exit tickets she turned in as evidence of her thinking and journey: 

And I learned about myself in kind of studying just on a personal expedition, that I 

notice things with a picture, and some people notice things audibly, and some 

people will notice things or think thoughts . . . like letters and sentences in words. 

But mine is pictorial.  

Jackie expresses freedom and comfort in these opportunities for relevant expression through 

multimodal literacies. This ownership to engage in CRP as a student through her own mathematics 

learning processes then became an essential component to integrate into her teacher identity and 

planning. 



42 Georgia Journal of Literacy 45(2)  

 

Participants’ intrapersonal teacher identities also included multiple parts reflecting as: TCs, 

acting teachers (during field experience or if currently employed), and contemplative future 

teachers. Kyla’s description of her uses of multimodal literacies indicates her considerations as a 

TC that eventually blended into her current teaching: 

It was really fun . . . And, we’re using them for my first-grade classroom. Those 

standards are perfect for a classroom, and they’re visual for the kids, and it was 

great to see that. But the multimodal [text] where you’re using all the images, I 

really started to migrate towards that [when] I have a lot of thoughts I want to share. 

And I felt the multimodal [text] got my emotions and my feelings about it . . . And 

so all my visuals I created were colorful, and I don’t know—they were bubbly. So 

I liked that opportunity. But it was very much a choice every time for me . . . I’ve 

always been artsy. I’ve always loved images and to create posters. I would take an 

idea of an opera and create an entire program and posters and advertisements, and 

I loved that . . . But I never thought about doing it in the academic side, especially 

with math. 

Kyla reveals her own interests in music and how multimodal literacies gave her the agency to make 

relevant connections in mathematics with a new lens. This self-reflection and awareness 

demonstrate an interaction of identity in cultivating a deeper understanding of multimodality and 

CRP as a TC, to eventually be applied to her instruction. 
 
Figure 4: Consecutive Slides from Britney’s Multimodal Field Trip Presentation 

 
 

For Britney, she made authentic and relevant connections to her identity through the art 

she enjoyed and through new knowledge of history in her local community (Figure 4). She used 

multiple modes of aesthetic slides, geometric shapes, images, and text, through tenor that included 

relationships between her, her past and future self, me, and her peers (since it was posted to a 

discussion forum). She described our class trip, depicting a multimodal learning experience for her 

as a growing, lifelong student about art and local history that could also influence her as a future 

teacher. 

Thus, the dynamic interplay between learning and planning with multimodal literacies was 

unique and necessary for TCs’ intrapersonal development, as they integrated prior mathematics 

experiences with new pedagogical ones, while simultaneously beginning to analyze how they 



Craddock 43 

 

might facilitate this process and CRP for their own students. Markedly, this interaction dually 

raises the question of TCs’ identities and their interpersonal relationships with their professor, their 

peers as classmates/colleagues, and their students. 
 
Navigating Interpersonal Connections 

Data indicate the clear role of a TE in facilitating classroom and coursework experiences to 

demonstrate possibilities with multimodal literacies and CRP in teaching elementary mathematics. 

For instance, both Jackie and Kyla noted how even though they were graduate students getting 

their first and second Master’s degrees, respectively, they had not been given chances to explore 

and understand applications of multimodality until our course. Notably, they had each already 

taken the two required conceptual elementary mathematics courses for their degrees. Jackie shared 

in her interview:  

Most of the time you don’t get options to be able to be creative with responses. You 

have to be tailored. The way I’ve always been in school is basically just reactive. I 

mean, you can’t be creative so much when you’re in school. At least when I was in 

school for my bachelor’s program, I felt, which I was in the finance/accounting 

world. So, most of it was just like, are you following the rules? Yes, or no? Because 

accounting is just black and white—for the most part, anyways. 

Here Jackie recognizes even in a degree and career background based in mathematics, the new 

opportunities I gave her to reason mathematically with multimodal literacies fostered creativity 

that empowered her to be proactive rather than reactive. Likewise, Kyla commented on how 

assignments I created facilitated this process for her: 

I think one of the reasons why it was difficult for me to do the multimodal [text] is 

I haven’t been given that opportunity, or even been given the opportunity to think 

that way . . . But I felt it actually combined . . . it helped me understand the concepts. 

It helped me remember everything, and it’s so effective. 

These revelations suggest if TCs often teach mathematics as they were taught, how they 

are taught mathematics pedagogy must also be modeled with similar regard in a way that honors 

identity and culture in authentic ways. Correspondingly, Jackie articulated how what I modeled 

through multimodal literacies and interpersonal relationships in our coursework would translate 

into her teaching identity and philosophy with future students: 

You kind of just slowly let us step up on the stairs with ‘Here’s how you can kind 

of allow multimodal[ity] to help you in your classroom, connect with the kids, and 

have the kids connect with the material.’ And at the same time, you’ve got this 

sincere—care—for lack a better term, for how the kids feel, and how they learn and 

how they interact in the classroom in their learning environment. So, I can see that 

you care as a teacher for your kids . . . and so I built kind of my teacher person on 

that. And so that’s the culturally responsive part I’m talking about, is to actually 

care about how they’re growing as a person in who they want to be, and not 

necessarily who the [State Math] standards want them to be. 

When I assigned mathematics exercises, reflections, or planning assignments, I let students 

know I provided multimodal options, open-ended interpretations, and flexibility as a pedagogical 

choice. I indicated to them my purpose in this was to supportively enable what we know in 



44 Georgia Journal of Literacy 45(2)  

 

mathematics as productive struggle—or discovery, problem-solving, and critical thinking. Kyla 

expressed similar adaptations she was already taking from instruction into her teaching practices 

with her students. She allowed them the agency through exploration, options, and choice in 

multimodal tools they used to explore concepts based on their individual identities and interests: 

And so, I think you expanded my idea of what I can use, and . . . not limiting my 

students and what they can do. And while I’ll admit your lack of telling me exactly 

what you wanted, and the vagueness . . . I knew it was purposeful, and I knew it 

was helpful . . . And I think my students, I’m hoping by the end of this year they’ll 

struggle less with that. Because I try to be vague with them, taking a page out of 

your book and letting them discover and create their own learning . . . I mean it’s 

first grade. So, they’re so imaginative. And I have, I call it a manipulative bar. And 

it’s like their candy [stores] and they just pick which manipulatives they want, and 

all of them love it. And they all do better than when I decide ‘Okay—we’re all 

doing cubes. We’re all doing counters. We’re all doing bears.’  

Specifically, Kyla recalled how through providing multimodal choices, one student was 

empowered to make culturally relevant connections:  

I had one [student] pick out books the other day as their manipulatives, and so while 

it wasn’t necessarily on the table, it worked. And he’s my perfectionist. He loves 

books, and he created how to do these addition and subtraction problems with 

pages. Something I would never have chosen. But he would find that page, and then 

click back or scroll back to the page that it was supposed to be on. It was an 

interesting thing I hadn’t thought of, but it works for him because everything for 

him is in a book that he can put pages on. 

Through this, Kyla shows true attention to interpersonal relationships and her students’ academic 

success by creating opportunities for mathematics to relate to their culture through multimodal 

representations.  

Britney articulated a comparable sentiment in her final reflection paper as she referenced a 

hands-on classroom experience where she made interpersonal connections with me, her peers, and 

her future students at the same time: 

As a student I struggled with math anxiety. Even now, I get frustrated and feel alone 

if I do not understand a concept as easily as my peers. I now know that I am not the 

only student who feels this way. I enjoyed the sharing activities we did in class. My 

favorite was when we held up the emoji signs to describe how we felt about 

mathematics. That activity helped ease my math anxiety. It made me realize I am 

not the only person who feels this way. I want to include this activity and many 

others in my future classroom to create a positive learning environment. 

Here Britney describes a task during class discussion when TCs were given multiple die-cut emojis 

and asked to display their feelings in response to presented tasks, quotes, and excerpts from our 

math exercises and readings. She felt this type of activity did, and would, acknowledge student 

culture and identity through relevant literacies. Using modes of text, emojis, speech, and gesture, 

through the tenor of professor to TC, we discussed fields of mathematics anxiety with problem-

solving and created an interpersonal community where individual voices were welcome, and 

mathematics discussion could be an open, safe space.  



Craddock 45 

 

In sum, TCs often referenced and utilized instruction and examples from class lectures, 

assignments, and activities that served as instances when they were explicitly taught or directed 

how multimodal literacies were facilitating CRP in their understandings of mathematics content 

and pedagogy. In making these connections, the TCs’ multiple identities were evolving in and 

through interpersonal relationships with their professor, their fellow TCs, and their considerations 

for students. 

 
Developing Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Connections 

TCs gained nuanced views for recognizing mathematics instruction, literacy instruction, and CRP 

as integrated, blended practices that inform, engage, and support one another as if in braided 

strands rather than mutually exclusive contents, lessons, or considerations. They learned that 

through multimodal literacies, mathematics instruction could be a space for connecting disciplines 

and cultures without being forced. The multimodal literacies provided opportunities for authentic, 

relevant engagement that facilitated meaning and connections in novel ways.  

 During face-to-face instruction, I endeavored to model interdisciplinary and intercultural 

connections in course sessions through multimodal formative assessments that included 

technology polls, manipulatives, drawings, sticky note responses, gallery walks, group stations, 

and a collaborative discussion strategy involving music and passing die-cut animals (to name 

some). We also watched multiple clips, one of which included a spoken word about cultural 

misconceptions. The modes of text, color, and image depict Britney’s whole class response to the 

spoken word as they thought about how to make cultural considerations in mathematics 

instruction. In the word cloud, the most common word submissions are calculated mathematically 

and displayed multimodally as the largest and most central (Figure 5). 

 
Figure 5: Word Cloud of TCs’ Reactions to Spoken Word Video in Class 

 
 

Britney’s class also thought about how to define culture in their own words and capture 

commonalities between each other’s definitions to articulate ways it could be incorporated into 

mathematics lessons. TCs used modes of colorful puzzle pieces to collaboratively arrange and then 

create a larger visual text display of their takeaways for our class to compare with one another 

(Figure 6). 

 

 



46 Georgia Journal of Literacy 45(2)  

 

 
Figure 6: Multimodal Definitions of “Culture” in Elementary Mathematics 

 
 

TCs also routinely discussed how these multimodal formative assessments could be 

adaptable to their own classrooms with mathematical concepts and problem-solving strategies. 

Through these activities and others, I intended to demonstrate how multimodal literacies 

cohesively facilitate mathematics instruction as a viable space for engaging with critical and civic 

concepts authentically and reciprocally.  

We also talked about incorporating multimodal children’s books to motivate, encourage, 

and promote literacy along with cultural and critical conversations through mathematical concepts. 

A specific example I provided in coursework highlighted the concept of division that can be taught 

and introduced through various stories or books about sharing and equality, alongside multimodal 

manipulatives (especially food or something desirable) to be distributed, divided, and shared in a 

classroom community. This instruction could then be related to current events or local history with 

videos, images, or multimodal websites that bring to light questions of fairness and equity through 

discussion or writing. TCs then made similar interdisciplinary and intercultural connections by 

incorporating children’s literature into lesson plans and presentations. As previously shown in 



Craddock 47 

 

slides from Figure 2, Kyla and her partner used combined modes of images, text, audio, and shapes 

while considering the tenor between themselves, me, their future students, and their peers when 

presenting. They chose a book on Jewish traditions to introduce multi-day lessons about geometry 

and holiday traditions, centered around values of generosity and kindness from the book: 

I always thought this when it came to teaching—all subjects can relate to each other. 

But math was the one that was harder for me to figure out, even though yes, I can 

say word problems. And in music, yes, obviously there is a huge connection to 

math. But to me multimodal[ity] expanded my ability to connect everything. And 

even in our last presentation, where we were taking a book that has not necessarily 

anything with math. We wanted to pick a book that I would just read and find 

different ways to add the mathematical concepts, and then have them use different 

modes of expressing this book and these terms, and these processes, and these 

standards that we’re trying to learn across different subjects.  

She described the reasoning behind their multimodal and cultural choices and related them to her 

prior learning and teaching in the the discipline of music: 

And I think multimodal[ity] is the key to all of them and it’s been interesting 

because my teaching has always focused around cultural relativism in music. I 

mean, how do you even get people to care about opera that listen to rap? You have 

to make some kind of connection, and if I had utilized a multimodal way of going 

back to images of ‘Draw what rap feels, draw what you think of with rap, draw 

images, or pull images, create a rap poster,’ I think multimodal[ity] could have 

expanded my teaching. 

In this, Kyla demonstrates her new recognition for the potential role multimodal literacies can play 

in facilitating interdisciplinary and intercultural connections. 
 
Figure 7: Slides from Jackie’s CRP “Lesson Seed” Presentation 

 
 

Jackie also planned a lesson centered around children’s literature. She engaged through the tenor 

of presenting to me and classmates using modes of images, text, audio, and symbols on shape 

attributes with a book from the Amy Wu series (Figure 7). She planned on using this to begin a 

discussion around embracing differences in others’ lifestyles. 



48 Georgia Journal of Literacy 45(2)  

 

This discussion would then relate to an activity where students could observe housing 

structures across the world and create their own geometric homes. In both cases, Kyla and Jackie 

aimed to use children’s literature and multimodal literacies as a foundation for connecting 

mathematics with a variety of disciplines such as art, history, and geography but also encouraged 

intercultural connections by cultivating space in mathematics to interrogate notions of giving, 

sacrificing, and honoring differences.  

 Not all connections were made through children’s literature. Some samples from Jackie’s 

lesson plans demonstrate how she planned to engage students with an interdisciplinary STEAM 

inspired playground problem using a Canva comic design, and multiple times she (and other TCs) 

utilized familiar foods or images to engage students in mathematical discourse and discovery 

related to teaching topics like counting by threes or understanding teen numbers (Figure 8). 

 
Figure 8: Example From Slides of Jackie’s Multiple Field Experience Lesson Plans 

 
 

These slides show consideration for the tenor of teacher to student through modes of images, text, 

and symbols and involve fields of mathematical concepts, problem-solving, and critical thinking. 

She aimed to appeal to her students’ cultures through relating intentional multimodal choices like 

relevant images, foods, and comics to elementary mathematics.  

 Additionally, Britney made interdisciplinary and intercultural connections on our historic 

community walk and trip to a local art museum that she expressed through the mode of text in her 

presentation slide: 

It is important for me as an educator to teach my students material that is culturally 

relevant. Art can be used to make connections to other subjects, such as history, 

science, math, and ELA. The art at the museum was relevant to our community and 

I learned new things through the experience. The experience demonstrated to me a 

way that I can help my own students make real world connections. I can plan 

activities and field trips that will provide students with their own experiences. 



Craddock 49 

 

She recognizes here that validating varied student interests in content areas through multimodal 

literacies can help them connect their daily lives and experiences. She equally notes the value in 

leveraging student assets through cultural connections to their local community and that one 

possible way this can be accomplished is through multiple literacies. Ultimately, learning about a 

specific community and/or culture through multimodal literacies, followed by lesson planning for 

direct field contexts, and subsequently teaching and applying these ideas in field experience were 

effective applications for this theoretical integration.  

After the semester when I interviewed participants, I drew a rough model—intentionally a 

bit bare and general (Figure 9). 

 
Figure 9: Multimodal Image Drawn to Represent Coursework Goals 

 
 

I used it to describe how I conceptualize multimodal literacies, “ML”, as a small vehicle carrying 

some of our main course takeaways back and forth between “Math” and “CRP”. I asked 

participants what they would change or add to the representation and Kyla responded:  

I like this. I honestly, I don’t think I would add anything to it . . . I think it’s just the 

connection we need for everything. So, when it comes to teaching . . . I think the 

image is perfect. I mean you could literally put CRP in the middle, and then put all 

of the subjects around and then draw to that. But then also draw them to each other, 

using the multimodal [vehicle] from math to literacy, literacy to music, to ELA— 

any of them—social studies. That’s what I was originally thinking when you drew 

it. It was a Venn Diagram with the ML in between. You could literally make a 

pretty little flower. 

Kyla’s theoretical view on these connections excited me as her professor in terms of what I hoped 

she might glean from coursework. Though, in candor, some of the practical applications for what 

I consider CRP throughout all TCs assignments could still best be described as developing. At 

times, their interdisciplinary and intercultural connections left a bit to be desired in terms of what 

I would term critical, civic, and authentic engagement and what Ladson-Billings (2014) would 

suggest are deeper implications of cultural competence and critical consciousness that move 

toward culturally sustaining practices. In light of this, I aim to pose suggestions toward this finding 

and others in the subsequent discussion. 

 



50 Georgia Journal of Literacy 45(2)  

 

Discussion 

Participants’ coursework, responses, and interactions with multimodal literacies demonstrate 

significant, new connections in their developing perspectives toward learning and teaching in 

elementary mathematics. The different connections negotiated through multimodal literacies 

created safe opportunities and choices for incorporating multiple identities, expressing feelings or 

interests, understanding various disciplines, validating others’ cultures, and simultaneously 

valuing personal ones. For many, these perspectives are not typically associated with elementary 

mathematics, as admitted by participants in their pre assessments and interviews. Multimodal 

literacies began to shift their perceptions of mathematics from black and white, yes and no, right 

and wrong, or cut and dry, to position it through CRP as a potential space for negotiation and 

connection. This connective framing included freedom, expression, ownership, agency, 

exploration, empowerment, and discovery. This indicates growth and change within TCs 

understandings of the true nature of representing and communicating mathematics through CRP. 

Despite this progress, the apparent lack of critical consciousness sometimes evident in TCs 

assignments is particularly noteworthy. Though presentations and discussions indicated expansion 

of TCs cultural competence, their integration of critical literacy and discussion into their lessons 

was still improving. As might be expected, TCs reflected varying levels of comfort in terms of 

cultural awareness and facilitating critical conversations. Some of the TCs takeaways became 

based around creative ways to promote academic success and mathematical engagement through 

multicultural, social, emotional, relevant literacy “supplements” or “injections” of sorts. By her 

own admission, Kyla wrote in a final online reading response “I find I have only scratched the 

surface of being culturally responsive and aware in my mathematical instruction.”   

However, these aspects of TCs identities should be acknowledged and addressed, not 

forcibly altered. I see their applications as promising in terms of supporting mathematical 

achievement or affinity, cultural competence, and disciplinary literacies even though I do not 

necessarily see them as full actualization of what is possible for CRP through multimodal literacies 

in mathematics. Incorporating critical consciousness into elementary mathematics pedagogy can 

be complex, but I corroborate Ladson-Billings’ (2014) assertion it cannot be overlooked. I take 

this as a personal responsibility and challenge to continually interrogate, incite, and cultivate 

through further iterations of study. 

Findings confirm the value in moving forward in additional research in multimodal 

literacies for teacher education across content areas, especially with a lens toward elementary TCs, 

since content literacy instruction often focuses on secondary teachers and candidates (Accurso, 

2020). The study affirms the call for integrating multimodal literacy instruction into teacher 

education programs (Fang, 2014), while illuminating disciplinary literacy instruction as not limited 

to secondary settings. The results also point to important questions for TEs and programs in terms 

of intersecting needs of content literacy and CRP. As it can be uncommon to find faculty with 

expertise in both literacy and specific contents like mathematics, various institutions have 

attempted collaborative relationships between departments for integrating content literacy with 

TEs, though the focus is primarily among secondary TCs, literacy education faculty, and 

disciplinary faculty (Draper et al., 2012). This study illuminates a need for similar emphases in 

elementary teacher preparation.  

For elementary TCs, if programs separate contents and coursework such as mathematics 

and literacy pedagogy, while TEs simultaneously uphold the value of integrating CRP and 

interdisciplinary approaches in elementary subjects, we could be creating an unintentional 

conundrum. Shifting this lens of distinct domains and courses in creative ways is worth 



Craddock 51 

 

considering. A proposition is raised, that shared needs of educating TCs on multimodal literacies 

and CRP in content areas necessitates fresh perspectives toward collaborative faculty efforts in 

teacher education. Further, it directs attention toward innovative possibilities in partnerships with 

schools, administrations, and other community stakeholders who may already be implementing 

interdisciplinary afterschool, enrichment, or intervention programs that focus on these 

combinations. In practice, these results have led me to newly collaborate with a historian from our 

local Black History Museum and my colleague, the Children’s Literature and Advanced Literacy 

professor. As first steps, we have been working together toward planning and taking extended, 

improved “field trips” together with our undergraduate TCs. 

 
Conclusion 

The study is limited by a few factors influenced by the research design. Though purposive 

sampling aimed to investigate diverse participants, the study was conducted in coursework at one 

university, limiting the sample. Including TCs of varied ethnicities, backgrounds, genders, 

mathematical and literacy abilities, and general perspectives toward both mathematics and 

teaching would benefit ongoing research in this area.  

Additionally, the study was conducted in a single type of course with me as the professor. 

Since the study and instruction were designed and facilitated by me, this provided detailed 

understanding of both the instruction and research methods, accompanied by considerable rapport 

with my participants; however, it also is limited in how it may apply to different educators and 

institutions. Admittedly, my lens as their white, female professor can also be restricted to inform 

some of these perspectives. Moreover, while my unique position as someone with degrees and 

teaching experience in mathematics, language, and literacy afforded specific strengths to the 

design and applications, my knowledge and role as a professor with this combined interest and 

training may be hard to recreate or simulate when extending to other contexts. 

Nonetheless, it is useful to consider both the difficulties and possibilities in how this can 

be further researched since similar studies may manifest differently in other contexts. I plan to 

continually collect data through future coursework and the newly formed cooperative partnership 

mentioned. I propose that with further research, applications of multimodal literacies and CRP in 

a learning community can move beyond a specific mathematics pedagogy course to provide 

students with opportunities to engage in meaning-making through ways that contribute to growth 

in literacy, learning, and multiple identities. 

Research continues to call for developing CRP in TCs (Leonard et al., 2014) and university 

faculty in their own praxis (Ellington et al., 2021). This study confirms the value of investing into 

collaborative development for TEs and TCs to explore interdisciplinary implementations of 

literacy and CRP. Specifically, it is pertinent for TEs and TCs to understand the nature and value 

of multimodal literacies in content areas. TEs are a vital component in considering the practical 

ways coursework assignments can be leveraged to effectively promote and cultivate the 

connections for TCs.  

Furthermore, understanding how TCs make sense of the relationship between mathematics, 

multimodal literacies, and cultural relevance will ultimately help them facilitate these connections 

in their own classrooms. If TCs can begin to understand their own multimodal and mathematical 

reasoning from the past into the present, it could lead to more meaningful integration of these same 

literacy practices into their instructional planning and assessment decisions. In turn, this would 

also influence mindful choices of modes they provide for their own students to use during 

instruction and assessment. Ultimately, more informed, thoughtful attention toward incorporating 



52 Georgia Journal of Literacy 45(2)  

 

and leveraging multimodal literacies in mathematics instruction can forge and validate relevant, 

accurate connections to students’ cultural lives and other content areas. By focusing on this 

potential with elementary teachers and students, we can actively cultivate and invest in their 

development of enduring, rich perspectives toward mathematics and literacy as lifelong learners.  

 
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Received: September 1, 2023 | Accepted: October 20, 2023 | Published: November 13, 2023 

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