Truth Interrupted: Leveraging Digital Media for Culturally Sustaining Education

This inquiry into the digital discussion forums tied to two English classes in an urban public high school examines the potential of new media to honor the multicultural composition of classrooms and support teachers to design culturally sustaining pedagogies. Given the increasing significance of digital media as well as the growing diversity of our classrooms, it is critical that educational researchers, practitioners, and policymakers think about the ways in which new media could support multicultural teaching and learning. This work draws on socio-cultural constructions of literacy, resource pedagogies, and critical literacy frameworks. The author uses case study methodologies to understand how digital media, specifically networked technologies, support secondary level students as they wrestle with complex issues related to race, language, and culture. This article offers three central ideas that emerged from an analysis of student participants’ interactions across the networked spaces that were linked to the intellectual work of their English classes. This work has implications for educators at all levels who are committed to addressing issues related to race, language, class, and other identities that are salient in all classrooms. The author puts forth a pedagogical approach for sustaining multiculturalism in the context of rigorous academic work. This approach intentionally draws on digital media to cultivate culturally responsive education.