Literacies in Context

Campbell, R & Green, D. (Eds.)(2006). Literacies and learners: current perspectives. (3rd edn). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia.

As a future teacher of a fast-changing generation that searches restlessly for new interests, I believe that old and new must meet to keep the basic values of a balanced literacy. Focusing on prior knowledge, collaborating with colleagues, peers, families, and community, creating connections with our surrounding, and empowering students’ learning style throughout the process of gaining knowledge of reading and writing. Foremost, my personal philosophy of teaching literacy is based on constructivism and sociolinguistic, where hands on experience and guidance are priority in an informational world. To facilitate a child’s acquisition of literacy skills , as I plan for literacy instruction for my future classroom, I will take into consideration

“The more you read, the more things you know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” This is how Dr. Seuss thought of reading, and I think of it in much the same way. Literacy is everywhere and influences us every day, therefore, it plays a major part in each of our lives. I believe that reading is an interactive activity in which learning happens, or as Clay (2001) defines it, “…a message-getting, problem-solving activity” (p. 1). Reading is the process through which one reads information and from doing so, constructs meaning about the material. The more exposure and practice one has with reading, the more knowledge one gains. In this paper, I will begin by discussing my own personal educational philosophy, then continue by stating and explaining four of my beliefs about the reading process and the research that is found to support each of them before sharing the remaining questions I have about literacy. I am an existentialist, and a strong supporter of a balanced literacy approach. My beliefs about literacy come from these foundations and perspectives that I embrace. For students to be successful in their literacy development, I believe that identity acceptance in the classroom is crucial, instruction for all students must be differentiated, direct and explicit instruction is at times necessary, and vocabulary is a significant component in the ‘Big Five’ of children’s literacy development.

To understand printed language well enough to teach it explicitly requires disciplined study of its systems and forms, both spoken and written.

Literacy embraces reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Integrating all of these into a literacy program is key. Teachers must provide endless and ongoing opportunities for their student to read, write, listen, and speak.

Competence and confidence in literacy, including competence in the three major areas, reading, writing, speaking and listening, are essential for progress in all areas of the curriculum. To broaden and enhance children’s literacy skills, opportunities need to be given by providing them with a wide range of different contexts in which to use and practice there skills. With reference to the aims of the Primary Framework for Literacy ‘To support and

reading. The teacher could read from a text within the reading level, modelling the use of

1. This document teaches students how to read the words by showing a more recent perspective if

As an adult I aspire to go into literature education for the high school level, and technical communication is a skill I must understand. In the article, ‘Where’s Literature in the Common Core?” by Barbara Bartholomew, I will examine her use of technical communication. Specifically, I will examine Bartholomew’s understanding of her audience, purpose, and context.

Literature is at the heart of the Australia English Curriculum and is integral to the teaching of language and literacy. Discuss how the children’s literature can be used to develop an understanding of the components of the language?

Our view of literacy upon commencing this course, was that it is the ability to read and write. Our understanding of it however was partially true because, reading and writing are essential of any person’s literacy, but reading and

The data collected from the students’ assessment showed they had a high level of comprehension in using the essential literacy strategy which has been the focus of the learning segment. The assessment is directly related to what the students have been learning throughout the learning segment. The students d had multiple opportunities to practice the essential literacy strategy throughout the learning segment. The first section of the assessment which was the matching of the text features with their purposes was directly related to the learning task they had to perform in the lesson one relating to the learning target “I can match text features to their purposes.” The written response section was directly related to the related skill the students’

Literacy pedagogies have a developing and complex history in education, intertwined with social and cultural change and evolution. Each change has paved a new path for more significant approaches and strategies, which cater to diverse learners allowing them to create meaning and communicate more effectively. These literacy pedagogies brought out by the changes in education have both strengths and weaknesses. As such, educators need to explore and understand the four knowledge processes portrayed by Kalantzis, Cope, Chan and Dalley-Trim; didactic, authentic, functional, and critical literacy approach (2016), to be able to consider how they can influence teaching and learning so they are able to make informed decisions with regards to their students’ literacy learning. Teaching is becoming increasingly complex; this is particularly evident in the area of literacy. This paper will explore the four literacy pedagogies, their limitations and their strengths, and how they have impacted literacy learning within the Australian educational context.

Literacy is the cornerstone to all learning; it is imperative to future academic success. (Tracey and Morrow, 2012). Due to the significance of literacy instruction, there are a myriad of ways to teach literacy. Literacy is a complex subject, honing in on balancing reading, writing, speaking, and listening. As a result of the complexity of literacy instruction, we arrive at the age-old debate of what is the best literacy instruction. My philosophy of literacy instruction centralizes around the Whole Language Theory and Balanced Literacy; however, I also blend in additional theories/approaches to teach effective literacy.

Numerous nations have a concrete national school syllabus. However, some do not, such as the United States. Consequently, students enrolled in an English class, within the United States, read a miscellany of texts, which differentiate from school to school. Due to the fact that some nations have a stipulated national school curriculum, those nations enforce that all students read the same texts. This ultimately poses the question whether all students of high school English should be required to read definite texts or books. There should not be specific texts that all students of high school English must read, due to the fact it hinders cultural insight, and literary canon books are beginning to abate.