Jessica Pandya | California State University, Dominguez Hills (original) (raw)

Jessica Pandya

Jessica Zacher Pandya is Dean of the College of Education and Professor of Liberal Studies at California State University, Dominguez Hills. She served at CSU Long Beach as Academic Senate chair (2019-21), where she also taught courses for undergraduates enrolled in the Integrated Teacher Education Program (ITEP) on literacy and cultural diversity. At CSULB she was also the Department Chair in Liberal Studies (2014-20)

Zacher Pandya, a former San Francisco kindergarten teacher, was trained as a researcher of language, literacy, and culture at UC Berkeley. Her early work focused on children's identity work in diverse urban classrooms. More recently she has investigated the ways English learners make meaning in multiple modes as they create digital videos on iPads.

Zacher Pandya has published in journals such as Research in the Teaching of English, Language Arts, Teachers College Record, Review of Research in Education, and Written Communication. Her first book, Overtested: How High-Stakes Accountability Fails English Language Learners (Teachers College Press) was published in August 2011. In a book that represents her turn towards digital literacies, she and co-editor JuliAnna Ávila published Critical Digital Literacies as Social Praxis: Intersections and challenges in Peter Lang’s New Literacies and Digital Epistemologies Series in November 2012. The book won the Literacy Research Association Edward Fry Book Award in 2014. Pandya & Ávila then coedited Moving Critical Literacies Forward (Routledge, 2014). Her latest collaborative work is the 50+ author coedited Handbook of Critical Literacies (Routledge, 2021).

Zacher Pandya was named a Foundation for Child Development New American Children Young Scholar in 2012 (2012-15) to examine the ways English learners compose on iPads. She is currently a Partner Investigator in the ARC-Funded Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia.
Phone: 310-243-3178
Address: Long Beach, California, United States

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Papers by Jessica Pandya

Research paper thumbnail of Critical literacies in a digital age: current and future issues

Pedagogies: An International Journal

Research paper thumbnail of What More Can We Do? A Scalar Approach to Examining Critical Digital Literacies in Teacher Education

Research paper thumbnail of Reconceptualizing the teaching and learning of digital writing

Research paper thumbnail of Conceptualizing and recontextualizing child and teacher multiliteracy goals in digital video production

Multiliteracies and Early Years Innovation

Research paper thumbnail of Bakhtin and the carnival: humour in school children’s film making

Language and Education

While humour and laughter create conditions that are conducive for learning, different forms of c... more While humour and laughter create conditions that are conducive for learning, different forms of children’s humour have been given little attention in research on digital media, literacy learning, and multimodal design. Applying a Bakhtinian lens, we analyse carnivalesque videos created by elementary students as part of the formal curriculum. We argue that they functioned as playful, spoofing counter narratives within the serious context of schooling

Research paper thumbnail of Inequitable variations: a review of research in technology, literacy studies and special education

Literacy, 2016

This essay presents the results of a review of research published in the last 10 years on the use... more This essay presents the results of a review of research published in the last 10 years on the uses of what we term 'productive' digital technologies in special education contexts. There is little overlap between research on productive technologies such as digital storytelling in mainstream contexts and research on technology use to support literacy learning in special education classrooms. Analysis centred on theoretical frameworks , research methods, educational contexts and technologies used with children and youth labelled with special needs. The initial sample of refereed journal articles (n = 1,132) was reduced to 14 studies for review. Results suggest large variations in the knowledge base about why, how, when and to what effects productive technologies might be used with children labelled with special needs. The essay presents further areas for theorising and research in the juncture of these separate fields to address the inequitable variations and social justice issues engendered by current research and practice.

Research paper thumbnail of Zacher Pandya, J. (2012). Unpacking Pandora’s Box: Issues in the assessment of English language learners’ literacy skill development in multimodal classrooms. Invited Commentary. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 56(3), 181-85

Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of This Issue

Theory Into Practice, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of This Issue

Theory Into Practice, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Transnational Children Orchestrating Competing Voices in Multimodal, Digital Autobiographies

Teachers College Record

ABSTRACT

Research paper thumbnail of Transnational Children Orchestrating Competing Voices in Multimodal, Digital Autobiographies

Teachers College Record

ABSTRACT

Research paper thumbnail of Ethical Literacy Education

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Theorizing the addressive audience in children's digital video production.

Written Communication, 2019

In this article, we examine how children ages 8 to 10 characterized the audiences of digital vide... more In this article, we examine how children ages 8 to 10 characterized the
audiences of digital videos they made in school. Children’s perceptions of
their viewers reflected, and in many cases complicated, current theorizing
about the vast potential audiences of digital texts. Our analysis of videos
and interview data surfaces several findings pertaining to how children
characterized their audiences. Children discussed their desire to inform
viewers, their deliberate choices about language use vis-à-vis their viewers,
ways they predicted and steered audience emotions, and the affective
dimensions of sharing one’s video with different audiences. These findings
suggest that educators and researchers ought to foreground issues of
addressivity when theorizing the question of audience for children’s
digital products. They also raise questions concerning authentic audience in an age of increasing concern about children’s safety and security in online worlds.

Research paper thumbnail of Bakhtin and the carnival: humour in school children's film making

Language & Education, 2019

While humour and laughter create conditions that are conducive for learning, different forms of ... more While humour and laughter create conditions that are conducive for learning, different forms of children’s humour have been given little attention in research on digital media, literacy learning, and multimodal design. Applying a Bakhtinian lens, we analyse carnivalesque videos created by elementary students as part of the formal curriculum. We argue that they functioned as playful, spoofing counter narratives within the serious context of schooling

Research paper thumbnail of Digital literacies through an intersectional lens: the case of Javier Article information: For Authors

English Teaching: Practice & Critique , 2018

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emeral... more If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.

Research paper thumbnail of Understanding identity and positioning for responsive critical literacies

Language & Education, 2018

This article revisits questions on the utility of identity in literacy studies. Following a revie... more This article revisits questions on the utility of identity in literacy studies. Following a review of the range of conceptions of identity and framings of its uses, we argue that identity-as-position is needed as a pragmatic tool in the field of literacy studies, and grounds responsive critical literacy practices. Drawing on a narrative analysis case study, we develop propositions that show how literacies research and education might support learners’ desired identity enactments. Specifically, we describe three frames for theories of identity enactment, reviewing opportunities for knowledge-building within each frame. We reflect on the contributions of these studies and the possibilities of research through these frames in light of a narrative shared by Diego, a twenty year-old seeker of a High School Equivalency degree in New York City. Finally, we offer propositions for researchers in literacy studies to follow (or argue against) as they build knowledge on participants’ positions and desires. We advocate for the utility of understanding identity-as-position to address issues of equity through the possibility of responsive critical literacy practices and desire-centered research methodologies.

Research paper thumbnail of In the weeds: Critical literacy conversations with Allan Luke

Curriculum Inquiry , 2019

In this essay, I discuss Allan Luke’s influence on my own critical digital literacy research, beg... more In this essay, I discuss Allan Luke’s influence on my own critical digital literacy research, beginning with the influence of his monograph “The Social Construction of Literacy in the Primary School” (1994/2018b) and continuing to the present day. I address some of his most admirable qualities: his way of talking about theory and practice with teachers; his efforts to bring critical literacy into the Australian national curriculum; his influence on scholarship in the US, but especially around the world; and his contributions as an editor who expanded what counts as education research and normative definitions of literacy outside mainstream ideals.

Research paper thumbnail of Issues of Validity, Subjectivity, and Reflexivity in Multimodal Literacy Research and Analysis

Journal of Language and Literacy Education, 2019

In this article we highlight analyses conducted in two qualitative literacy studies to discuss va... more In this article we highlight analyses conducted in two qualitative literacy studies to discuss various implications of a blended, or hybrid, approach to multimodal analysis. By investigating several prominent frameworks commonly used together for the purpose of analyzing multimodal data, and describing our own experiences blending these frameworks, we determine that a hybrid approach is not necessarily ineffective at producing data interpretations, but that it is insufficiently reflexive of the role researcher positionality plays in multimodal analysis. We conclude the article by offering recommendations for supplementing hybrid analytical approaches through data co-construction and increased attention to researcher positionality.

Research paper thumbnail of Pandya, J. & Golden, N.A. (2018). Fostering impossible possibles through critical media  literacies. In Mills, K. A., Stornaiuolo, A., Smith, A. & Pandya, J. (Eds.). Handbook of Writing, Literacies and Education in Digital Cultures. New York, NY: Routledge.

Pandya, J. & Golden, N.A. (2018). Fostering impossible possibles through critical media literacies. In Mills, K. A., Stornaiuolo, A., Smith, A. & Pandya, J. (Eds.). Handbook of Writing, Literacies and Education in Digital Cultures. New York, NY: Routledge.

Research paper thumbnail of Pandya CV March 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Critical literacies in a digital age: current and future issues

Pedagogies: An International Journal

Research paper thumbnail of What More Can We Do? A Scalar Approach to Examining Critical Digital Literacies in Teacher Education

Research paper thumbnail of Reconceptualizing the teaching and learning of digital writing

Research paper thumbnail of Conceptualizing and recontextualizing child and teacher multiliteracy goals in digital video production

Multiliteracies and Early Years Innovation

Research paper thumbnail of Bakhtin and the carnival: humour in school children’s film making

Language and Education

While humour and laughter create conditions that are conducive for learning, different forms of c... more While humour and laughter create conditions that are conducive for learning, different forms of children’s humour have been given little attention in research on digital media, literacy learning, and multimodal design. Applying a Bakhtinian lens, we analyse carnivalesque videos created by elementary students as part of the formal curriculum. We argue that they functioned as playful, spoofing counter narratives within the serious context of schooling

Research paper thumbnail of Inequitable variations: a review of research in technology, literacy studies and special education

Literacy, 2016

This essay presents the results of a review of research published in the last 10 years on the use... more This essay presents the results of a review of research published in the last 10 years on the uses of what we term 'productive' digital technologies in special education contexts. There is little overlap between research on productive technologies such as digital storytelling in mainstream contexts and research on technology use to support literacy learning in special education classrooms. Analysis centred on theoretical frameworks , research methods, educational contexts and technologies used with children and youth labelled with special needs. The initial sample of refereed journal articles (n = 1,132) was reduced to 14 studies for review. Results suggest large variations in the knowledge base about why, how, when and to what effects productive technologies might be used with children labelled with special needs. The essay presents further areas for theorising and research in the juncture of these separate fields to address the inequitable variations and social justice issues engendered by current research and practice.

Research paper thumbnail of Zacher Pandya, J. (2012). Unpacking Pandora’s Box: Issues in the assessment of English language learners’ literacy skill development in multimodal classrooms. Invited Commentary. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 56(3), 181-85

Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of This Issue

Theory Into Practice, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of This Issue

Theory Into Practice, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Transnational Children Orchestrating Competing Voices in Multimodal, Digital Autobiographies

Teachers College Record

ABSTRACT

Research paper thumbnail of Transnational Children Orchestrating Competing Voices in Multimodal, Digital Autobiographies

Teachers College Record

ABSTRACT

Research paper thumbnail of Ethical Literacy Education

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Theorizing the addressive audience in children's digital video production.

Written Communication, 2019

In this article, we examine how children ages 8 to 10 characterized the audiences of digital vide... more In this article, we examine how children ages 8 to 10 characterized the
audiences of digital videos they made in school. Children’s perceptions of
their viewers reflected, and in many cases complicated, current theorizing
about the vast potential audiences of digital texts. Our analysis of videos
and interview data surfaces several findings pertaining to how children
characterized their audiences. Children discussed their desire to inform
viewers, their deliberate choices about language use vis-à-vis their viewers,
ways they predicted and steered audience emotions, and the affective
dimensions of sharing one’s video with different audiences. These findings
suggest that educators and researchers ought to foreground issues of
addressivity when theorizing the question of audience for children’s
digital products. They also raise questions concerning authentic audience in an age of increasing concern about children’s safety and security in online worlds.

Research paper thumbnail of Bakhtin and the carnival: humour in school children's film making

Language & Education, 2019

While humour and laughter create conditions that are conducive for learning, different forms of ... more While humour and laughter create conditions that are conducive for learning, different forms of children’s humour have been given little attention in research on digital media, literacy learning, and multimodal design. Applying a Bakhtinian lens, we analyse carnivalesque videos created by elementary students as part of the formal curriculum. We argue that they functioned as playful, spoofing counter narratives within the serious context of schooling

Research paper thumbnail of Digital literacies through an intersectional lens: the case of Javier Article information: For Authors

English Teaching: Practice & Critique , 2018

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emeral... more If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.

Research paper thumbnail of Understanding identity and positioning for responsive critical literacies

Language & Education, 2018

This article revisits questions on the utility of identity in literacy studies. Following a revie... more This article revisits questions on the utility of identity in literacy studies. Following a review of the range of conceptions of identity and framings of its uses, we argue that identity-as-position is needed as a pragmatic tool in the field of literacy studies, and grounds responsive critical literacy practices. Drawing on a narrative analysis case study, we develop propositions that show how literacies research and education might support learners’ desired identity enactments. Specifically, we describe three frames for theories of identity enactment, reviewing opportunities for knowledge-building within each frame. We reflect on the contributions of these studies and the possibilities of research through these frames in light of a narrative shared by Diego, a twenty year-old seeker of a High School Equivalency degree in New York City. Finally, we offer propositions for researchers in literacy studies to follow (or argue against) as they build knowledge on participants’ positions and desires. We advocate for the utility of understanding identity-as-position to address issues of equity through the possibility of responsive critical literacy practices and desire-centered research methodologies.

Research paper thumbnail of In the weeds: Critical literacy conversations with Allan Luke

Curriculum Inquiry , 2019

In this essay, I discuss Allan Luke’s influence on my own critical digital literacy research, beg... more In this essay, I discuss Allan Luke’s influence on my own critical digital literacy research, beginning with the influence of his monograph “The Social Construction of Literacy in the Primary School” (1994/2018b) and continuing to the present day. I address some of his most admirable qualities: his way of talking about theory and practice with teachers; his efforts to bring critical literacy into the Australian national curriculum; his influence on scholarship in the US, but especially around the world; and his contributions as an editor who expanded what counts as education research and normative definitions of literacy outside mainstream ideals.

Research paper thumbnail of Issues of Validity, Subjectivity, and Reflexivity in Multimodal Literacy Research and Analysis

Journal of Language and Literacy Education, 2019

In this article we highlight analyses conducted in two qualitative literacy studies to discuss va... more In this article we highlight analyses conducted in two qualitative literacy studies to discuss various implications of a blended, or hybrid, approach to multimodal analysis. By investigating several prominent frameworks commonly used together for the purpose of analyzing multimodal data, and describing our own experiences blending these frameworks, we determine that a hybrid approach is not necessarily ineffective at producing data interpretations, but that it is insufficiently reflexive of the role researcher positionality plays in multimodal analysis. We conclude the article by offering recommendations for supplementing hybrid analytical approaches through data co-construction and increased attention to researcher positionality.

Research paper thumbnail of Pandya, J. & Golden, N.A. (2018). Fostering impossible possibles through critical media  literacies. In Mills, K. A., Stornaiuolo, A., Smith, A. & Pandya, J. (Eds.). Handbook of Writing, Literacies and Education in Digital Cultures. New York, NY: Routledge.

Pandya, J. & Golden, N.A. (2018). Fostering impossible possibles through critical media literacies. In Mills, K. A., Stornaiuolo, A., Smith, A. & Pandya, J. (Eds.). Handbook of Writing, Literacies and Education in Digital Cultures. New York, NY: Routledge.

Research paper thumbnail of Pandya CV March 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Exploring Critical Digital Literacy Practices: Everyday Video in a Dual Language Context

In this exploration of the everyday digital videomaking practices of students in a dual language,... more In this exploration of the everyday digital videomaking practices of students in a dual language, under-resourced school, Pandya examines the ways children interrogate their worlds, the kinds of identities they craft, and the language and literacy learning practices that emerge from digital video production. Using Bakhtinian and Bourdieusian lenses, the focus is particularly on vulnerable populations— including English language learners, immigrants, and children with special needs—who are often left out of innovative in- and out-of-school digital media projects, aiming to show the affordances for transformative social justice of videomaking as part of the ongoing regular curriculum. Two themes cut across the book: the ways children use and reuse language in the service of creating agentive identities and powerful texts, and analysis of children’s and adults’ social and cultural capital within the nested contexts of the classroom, school, district, and state, encompassing (but not limited to) arguments about bilingual education and dual-language programs, charter schools, English learner and immigration policies and special education policies in the U.S. The mix of pedagogical, methodological, contextual, social and political concerns woven throughout, and the real-world context, make this book practical and informative at a number of levels, as well as adding significantly to theorization in this field.

Research paper thumbnail of Handbook of Writing, Literacies, and Education in Digital Cultures

At the forefront of current digital literacy studies in education, this handbook uniquely systema... more At the forefront of current digital literacy studies in education, this handbook uniquely systematizes emerging interdisciplinary themes, new knowledge, and insightful theoretical contributions to the field. Written by well-known scholars from around the world, it closely attends to the digitalization of writing and literacies that is transforming daily life and education. The chapter topics—identified through academic conference networks, rigorous analysis, and database searches of trending themes—are organized thematically in five sections:
Digital Futures
Digital Diversity
Digital Lives
Digital Spaces
Digital Ethics
This is an essential guide to digital writing and literacies research, with transformational ideas for educational and professional practice. It will enable new and established researchers to position their studies within highly relevant directions in the field and to generate new themes of inquiry.

Research paper thumbnail of Wyse, D., Hayward, L. & Zacher Pandya, J. (Eds.) (2016).  The SAGE Handbook of Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Assessment. London, UK: Sage.

Research paper thumbnail of Zacher Pandya, J. & Ávila, J. (Eds.) (2014). Moving Critical Literacies Forward: A New Look at Praxis Across Contexts. New York, NY: Routledge.

Research paper thumbnail of Ávila, J. & Zacher Pandya, J. (Eds.) (2012). Critical Digital Literacies as Social Praxis: Intersections and Challenges. New York, NY: Peter Lang. In the New Literacies and Digital Epistemologies Series (M. Knobel & C. Lankshear, Eds.).

Research paper thumbnail of Zacher Pandya, J. (2011). Overtested: How High-Stakes Accountability Fails English Language Learners. Teachers College Press.