Deleuze, habit and the literate body

![CDATA[Within education habit seems a much maligned concept. Erased from syllabus documents in the 1970s, it has been replaced by a psychological focus on values and attitudes. It is generally equated with rote learning and memorisation, pedagogic techniques that may aid the recall of facts but are seen to have little value in the development of critical thought and creative expression. To Deleuze, however, habit involves much more that simple iteration. The acquisition of habits results in contraction of the efficient processing of different functions which in turn allow different through repetition; a space with both critical and creative potential. This chapter explores the enabling potential of habit in learning to write. It broadens the notion of Multiple Literacies Theory to incorporate bodily literacy; the ways in which a literate body must habituate a range of skills to not only ensure the efficient production of text but its creative manipulation, and so the possibility of lines of flight. Drawing on the theoretical insights of Deleuze, together with those of Dewey and Merleau-Ponty, it examines current approaches to teaching writing within an Australian context. In particular, it draws on studies of classroom practice and how the failure to teach ‘good habits’ of handwriting has led to the production of an embodied inequality affecting students’ literacy performance and overall engagement in learning.]]