Complicating Understandings of Students' Multiliterate Practices With Practitioner Inquiry

This article presents findings from a research project into multiliteracies pedagogy in Aotearoa New Zealand. In one phase of the multilayered project, participating teachers conducted an investigation of the in‐ and out‐of‐school literacy practices of one of their students using an ethnographic approach. In this article, the authors share themes that the teachers identified after reflecting on the practitioner inquiries to critically consider the question, How can practitioner inquiry into the multiliterate practices of one student complicate understandings of literacy? The rich, co‐constructed portraits of students' multiliterate practices challenged (mis)conceptions about the role of traditional literacies and the assumption that all students are digital natives, complicated understandings of literacy, illustrated the potential to deficit theorize nontraditional literacy practices, and illuminated implications for literacy pedagogy. The authors argue that when shared, practitioner inquiry is a powerful means to challenge assumptions and extend our understandings of literacy.