The Literacy Acquisition for Pre-Primary Students (LAPS) an initiative of Waardi Limited was tria... more The Literacy Acquisition for Pre-Primary Students (LAPS) an initiative of Waardi Limited was trialled in 2014, and subsequently implemented in a number of West Kimberley schools in 2015 and 2016. The program is jointly funded by Waardi Limited and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy funding program. This program aims to redress the low levels of literacy achievement of Kimberley students in the early years through a holistic classroom approach involving processes of prevention and early intervention (Pianta, 1990). The educational disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students’ learning outcomes continue to challenge Australian federal and state governments. Responding to the slow progress being made in overcoming Indigenous disadvantage the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in 2008 as part of the ‘Closing the Gap’ strategy, set the ambitious target of halving the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students’ reading, writing, and numeracy achievement outcomes by the year 2018. Despite these intentions there was little change in the proportion of Indigenous students achieving national minimum standards for reading and writing and numeracy from 2008 to 2013 (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2015). Results for 2016 remain “below the required trajectory points, meaning that progress will need to accelerate for this target to be met” (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2017, p.38).
... Author contact information Janet Anne Scull The Melbourne Graduate School of Education The Un... more ... Author contact information Janet Anne Scull The Melbourne Graduate School of Education The University of Melbourne Victoria, 3010 Email: j.scull@unimelb.edu.au ... relatability (Bassey, 1981) of patterns found in the strategies of teachers participating in this ...
The importance of teacher-child dialogue in facilitating young children's language learning i... more The importance of teacher-child dialogue in facilitating young children's language learning is well established in the research literature, with significant outcomes accrued from rich language use in the classroom (Shiel, Cregan, McGough and Archer, 2012). This study focuses on the opportunities teachers provide to engage children in talk during small group teaching sessions and considers teacher-child talk patterns, within and across preschool and school settings. The intention was to examine teacher talk behaviours that facilitate children's language use and explore how teachers support children's oral language development as they move from preschool to school. Teachers from a preschool and school setting serving children from a low socioeconomic region of outer western Melbourne in Victoria, Australia were invited to plan, implement, and record teaching interactions with small groups of children that specifically built on their oral language skills. This paper reports on the fine-grained analysis of the teacher-child talk patterns in two specific ways: (1) teachers' talk behaviours, to review the discourse patterns used to foster young children's language learning; and (2) the children's responses, to ascertain the dialogic interplay that created opportunities for children's talk and learning. The findings indicate that during talk where teachers were supporting children's oral language, the teachers' preference for closed questions that were directed toward the immediate stimuli resulted in limited responses from the children. This particular teacher-child talk pattern was dominant in both preschool and school settings. While the common teacher talk behaviours across both settings support the continuity of children's learning, as they transition from preschool to school, there was little evidence of interactions that engaged children in rich dialogue to extend their oral language competencies. These results suggest that expanding teachers' repertoire of talk practices to involve children in a wide range of oral language experiences that draw on children's understandings and are associated with building knowledge, provides a foundation for engagement in children's language use and learning.
Thesis (M.Ed.)--Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, 1998Change is now synonymous with ... more Thesis (M.Ed.)--Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, 1998Change is now synonymous with education. Curriculum and school organisational reform currently infiltrate every aspect of school life, with teachers in many instances expected to take on myriad initiatives and school improvement proposals. This study, of curriculum change and implementation, was designed to gain insight into effective change processes and the learning opportunities provided to support teachers as significant curriculum reforms were introduced. The Early Literacy Research Project (ELRP) was used as vehicle for this study. Schools participating in the ELRP were to implement a comprehensive approach to literacy teaching and learning for students in the early years of schooling with the design of the project providing significant support for teaching teams as changes were introduced. A selective and focussed review of literature relating to the process of change in schools has been completed. This is discussed in relation to Matthew Mile's Triple I Model which outlines stages and factors in the change process. Particular emphasis has been given to literature which links teacher learning to the process of change, focussing on teacher collaboration and collective, work-embedded learning. The aim of the study was to monitor the process of change in ELRP schools and to identify the factors which supported teachers as they endeavoured to make significant and sustainable changes to their teaching programs. The study was seen as an opportunity to consider the relevance of the Triple I Model as a means of interpreting change in schools. A case study approach to the research task, using observations, interviews, document analysis and questionnaires, facilitated the monitoring of the process of curriculum implementation in ELRP schools. Throughout the study the intention was to record the 'teacher voice' during the change process to ensure the validity and authenticity of insights gained throughout this dissertation. The results indicated that change is far from a linear process. Stages and factors within the change process were seen to overlap and occur simultaneously as changes were implemented. The study highlighted the importance of specific change factors and in particular those which related to teacher learning and collaboration. It emphasised the key role personnel responsible for change can play when this role is well resourced and linked to the provision of work-based professional development. The study also promoted discussion in relation to placement of a number of factors within the change model. This led to the development of an adaptation of the Triple I Model. It is suggested that this revised model provides a conceptual frame which may be used to assist schools in planning, monitoring and explaining authentic school reform projects. i
The development of oral language and specifically increased control over literate discourse is cr... more The development of oral language and specifically increased control over literate discourse is critical to students' ability to create and comprehend texts in the early years of schooling and beyond. For students with home languages that differ from the forms of language used in school, the development of oral language through carefully designed teacher-student interactions has particular importance in assisting students to access literacy skills and to display the knowledge required for learning in educational settings. This paper reports a study of two teachers providing an early literacy intervention to two Indigenous students and the techniques used in conversational interactions to scaffold oral language and to compose texts for writing. The conversations are closely analysed to reveal patterns in teacher talk that support students' appropriation of literate discourse. The findings indicate that careful attention to students' utterances and the contingent scaffoldin...
It is a widely held view that learning to read and write in the school setting will be easier for... more It is a widely held view that learning to read and write in the school setting will be easier for children who have experienced rich home and preschool literacy practices, which introduce them to the world of print and messages in texts (Clay, 1991; Purcell-Gates, 1996). More recently, the significance of the early years and preschool contexts as sites for learning, where children can develop understandings of the purposes and functions of literacy, has been reinforced by national and state government initiatives (DEEWR, 2009; State of Victoria, 2008).
There is growing recognition that literacy learning takes place in the years prior to formal scho... more There is growing recognition that literacy learning takes place in the years prior to formal schooling and that young children develop literacy-like behaviours through exposure to interactions in shared contexts in which literacy is a component. Despite this, there are few assessments that measure the very early literacy skills that children develop before 36 months of age. This article reports on the design and validation of a new instrument – the Early Literacy Engagement Assessment (ELEA). This tool was developed to provide insights into the impact of Conversational Reading, a key pedagogical strategy implemented at Families as First Teachers playgroups, on young children’s early receptive and expressive vocabulary and literacy skills. The instrument was trialled with 104 children living in locations across Melbourne, Victoria, and 39 Aboriginal children living in remote communities in the Northern Territory. The trial process was undertaken in two phases: (1) a technical assessm...
The Literacy Acquisition for Pre-Primary Students (LAPS) an initiative of Waardi Limited was tria... more The Literacy Acquisition for Pre-Primary Students (LAPS) an initiative of Waardi Limited was trialled in 2014, and subsequently implemented in a number of West Kimberley schools in 2015 and 2016. The program is jointly funded by Waardi Limited and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy funding program. This program aims to redress the low levels of literacy achievement of Kimberley students in the early years through a holistic classroom approach involving processes of prevention and early intervention (Pianta, 1990). The educational disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students’ learning outcomes continue to challenge Australian federal and state governments. Responding to the slow progress being made in overcoming Indigenous disadvantage the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in 2008 as part of the ‘Closing the Gap’ strategy, set the ambitious target of halving the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students’ reading, writing, and numeracy achievement outcomes by the year 2018. Despite these intentions there was little change in the proportion of Indigenous students achieving national minimum standards for reading and writing and numeracy from 2008 to 2013 (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2015). Results for 2016 remain “below the required trajectory points, meaning that progress will need to accelerate for this target to be met” (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2017, p.38).
... Author contact information Janet Anne Scull The Melbourne Graduate School of Education The Un... more ... Author contact information Janet Anne Scull The Melbourne Graduate School of Education The University of Melbourne Victoria, 3010 Email: j.scull@unimelb.edu.au ... relatability (Bassey, 1981) of patterns found in the strategies of teachers participating in this ...
The importance of teacher-child dialogue in facilitating young children's language learning i... more The importance of teacher-child dialogue in facilitating young children's language learning is well established in the research literature, with significant outcomes accrued from rich language use in the classroom (Shiel, Cregan, McGough and Archer, 2012). This study focuses on the opportunities teachers provide to engage children in talk during small group teaching sessions and considers teacher-child talk patterns, within and across preschool and school settings. The intention was to examine teacher talk behaviours that facilitate children's language use and explore how teachers support children's oral language development as they move from preschool to school. Teachers from a preschool and school setting serving children from a low socioeconomic region of outer western Melbourne in Victoria, Australia were invited to plan, implement, and record teaching interactions with small groups of children that specifically built on their oral language skills. This paper reports on the fine-grained analysis of the teacher-child talk patterns in two specific ways: (1) teachers' talk behaviours, to review the discourse patterns used to foster young children's language learning; and (2) the children's responses, to ascertain the dialogic interplay that created opportunities for children's talk and learning. The findings indicate that during talk where teachers were supporting children's oral language, the teachers' preference for closed questions that were directed toward the immediate stimuli resulted in limited responses from the children. This particular teacher-child talk pattern was dominant in both preschool and school settings. While the common teacher talk behaviours across both settings support the continuity of children's learning, as they transition from preschool to school, there was little evidence of interactions that engaged children in rich dialogue to extend their oral language competencies. These results suggest that expanding teachers' repertoire of talk practices to involve children in a wide range of oral language experiences that draw on children's understandings and are associated with building knowledge, provides a foundation for engagement in children's language use and learning.
Thesis (M.Ed.)--Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, 1998Change is now synonymous with ... more Thesis (M.Ed.)--Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, 1998Change is now synonymous with education. Curriculum and school organisational reform currently infiltrate every aspect of school life, with teachers in many instances expected to take on myriad initiatives and school improvement proposals. This study, of curriculum change and implementation, was designed to gain insight into effective change processes and the learning opportunities provided to support teachers as significant curriculum reforms were introduced. The Early Literacy Research Project (ELRP) was used as vehicle for this study. Schools participating in the ELRP were to implement a comprehensive approach to literacy teaching and learning for students in the early years of schooling with the design of the project providing significant support for teaching teams as changes were introduced. A selective and focussed review of literature relating to the process of change in schools has been completed. This is discussed in relation to Matthew Mile's Triple I Model which outlines stages and factors in the change process. Particular emphasis has been given to literature which links teacher learning to the process of change, focussing on teacher collaboration and collective, work-embedded learning. The aim of the study was to monitor the process of change in ELRP schools and to identify the factors which supported teachers as they endeavoured to make significant and sustainable changes to their teaching programs. The study was seen as an opportunity to consider the relevance of the Triple I Model as a means of interpreting change in schools. A case study approach to the research task, using observations, interviews, document analysis and questionnaires, facilitated the monitoring of the process of curriculum implementation in ELRP schools. Throughout the study the intention was to record the 'teacher voice' during the change process to ensure the validity and authenticity of insights gained throughout this dissertation. The results indicated that change is far from a linear process. Stages and factors within the change process were seen to overlap and occur simultaneously as changes were implemented. The study highlighted the importance of specific change factors and in particular those which related to teacher learning and collaboration. It emphasised the key role personnel responsible for change can play when this role is well resourced and linked to the provision of work-based professional development. The study also promoted discussion in relation to placement of a number of factors within the change model. This led to the development of an adaptation of the Triple I Model. It is suggested that this revised model provides a conceptual frame which may be used to assist schools in planning, monitoring and explaining authentic school reform projects. i
The development of oral language and specifically increased control over literate discourse is cr... more The development of oral language and specifically increased control over literate discourse is critical to students' ability to create and comprehend texts in the early years of schooling and beyond. For students with home languages that differ from the forms of language used in school, the development of oral language through carefully designed teacher-student interactions has particular importance in assisting students to access literacy skills and to display the knowledge required for learning in educational settings. This paper reports a study of two teachers providing an early literacy intervention to two Indigenous students and the techniques used in conversational interactions to scaffold oral language and to compose texts for writing. The conversations are closely analysed to reveal patterns in teacher talk that support students' appropriation of literate discourse. The findings indicate that careful attention to students' utterances and the contingent scaffoldin...
It is a widely held view that learning to read and write in the school setting will be easier for... more It is a widely held view that learning to read and write in the school setting will be easier for children who have experienced rich home and preschool literacy practices, which introduce them to the world of print and messages in texts (Clay, 1991; Purcell-Gates, 1996). More recently, the significance of the early years and preschool contexts as sites for learning, where children can develop understandings of the purposes and functions of literacy, has been reinforced by national and state government initiatives (DEEWR, 2009; State of Victoria, 2008).
There is growing recognition that literacy learning takes place in the years prior to formal scho... more There is growing recognition that literacy learning takes place in the years prior to formal schooling and that young children develop literacy-like behaviours through exposure to interactions in shared contexts in which literacy is a component. Despite this, there are few assessments that measure the very early literacy skills that children develop before 36 months of age. This article reports on the design and validation of a new instrument – the Early Literacy Engagement Assessment (ELEA). This tool was developed to provide insights into the impact of Conversational Reading, a key pedagogical strategy implemented at Families as First Teachers playgroups, on young children’s early receptive and expressive vocabulary and literacy skills. The instrument was trialled with 104 children living in locations across Melbourne, Victoria, and 39 Aboriginal children living in remote communities in the Northern Territory. The trial process was undertaken in two phases: (1) a technical assessm...
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