Readings

10.7.2011

Reading 1.4 David Homer – Circling around 'Cultural Heritage' and the English curriculum in 2007. Notes from:

• 6 statements interrelated
• elaborations can be fitted under alternative headings e.g. 1 & 2; 5 & 6
• the statements can be read as a description of what is done in English, what it is...
• Homer looks at the 'cultural work of English' and unpacks 'culture' referring to Raymond Williams (Keywords, 1976, p87) 3 major clusters of meaning (p.18):

1. a general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development – view emphasizes evolution, dynamism, social interaction as the processes which shape cultures.
2. a particular way of life whether of a people, a period, a group or humanity in general
3. describes the works and practices of intellectual and especially artistic activity

Homer notes however that references to culture has since become even more widespread since then (ie 1976) e.g. 'culture' can also be applied to professions, football teams, groups from particular ethnic origins, schools, the armed services etc.

Homer then looks at 'heritage' and how when linked to culture refers to items....that 'we' have inherited, and value because of their significance within Australia's intellectual, and consequently material development

Thus reading Statements 1 & 2 together – Homer sees that those parts of the Australian cultural heritage that English is concerned with then are values, beliefs, practices, artifacts, institutions which are realized in literary, linguistic or other modes of communication.

• 'communicative competence' American ethnographer of communication, Dell Hymes....”how to use [your] language appropriately in the society in which [you]live. [You] have to know when to speak and when not to, which greeting formula to use in which situation which style to use in which situation. (Trudgill, 1992, p17) p.21 article/p40 wkbk

ie. it is “about writing, reading, speaking, and hearing your culture, participating in and contributing to it. English teaching is about systematically facilitating this learning. It is a lot. And it is ideological.”

yet the 'events' and narratives of Australia's history (geological, biological, indigenous, colonial, post-colonial) are only part of its cultural heritage......But even the 'enduring values acknowledged today have mutated with the culture as a whole. 'Democracy' in 2007 is not that of 1901 or the 1850s.

• Dark Mass by Michael Hyde – short story – notes for unit of study – teaching and learning activities are easily recognized by English teachers – features of English long before the statement and Profile made their appearance – indeed even in the early 20^th century
• conversation...may be role of teacher to draw attention to what is tacit knowledge eg speech registrars between children & parents; children & other adults; Setting e.g. beach...is one of the most used motifs in the products of the Australian cultural heritage etc
• a lot of this stuff is not only learned in English classrooms, or even only in school. In fact the cutting edge of change in cultural processes, in language, style, modes of communication is something that English follows, as it picks up what is happening 'out there' p.22/41
• “...as Mark Howie notes' English teachers enact, on a day to day basis in their working lives, the humanistic impulse of the Western tradition' Doecke et al 2007 p.32.So while English teachers work with the culture as it is, and the heritage that derives from (is continuous with) the Australian version of the Western cultural heritage, they are derided by the very individuals and organisations that exploit and advance the forms of communication that are those of the future” (e.g. newspapers, politicians).Postmodernist forms of discourse are not owned by English, but by its opponents. There is a sense in which the (global) culture is leaving English behind.”

5.5.2011

Fennell, B. Workbook
Text  types based on purposes of discipline of English
Not to be used in formulaic way – are a guide to make what is expected of students explicit
Base on interest and emotional engagement in tasks – embedded within meaningful social interactions in the classroom. Give students choice to negotiate their interests.

Reading 2.2  Feez., & Joyce, H. (1998). Writing skills: Narrative and non-fiction text types (pp. 24-29; 32-33; 36-37; 39-45; 61-62; 95-96; 107-109; 119-123; 1
30-133; 137-141). Sydney: Phoenix Educational.

Narrative
Design of narrative and functions of each stage
Act as form of entertainment and way of exploring issues in our society; often tell messages, narratives have powerful effect on way we understand the world and on how we behave.
5 stages

1. Orientation – introduces characters, tells reader something about them;  tells when, where, who, what and why; gives hint about problems characters will encounter
2. Complication – where reader discovers problem, and something happens that characters do not expect
3. Evaluation – usually attached to complication or woven into it; where storyteller comments on events and in this way gives significance to them; makes reader care about what happens to characters; slows action down and creates suspense which makes reader want to find out what happens next
4. Resolution – problem solved
5. Coda – rounds off story with short comment e.g fairy tales – and they lived happily ever after; may not be included – may leave reader to work out the coda themselves.

Grammatical analysis of narrative

• Describe actions of characters – use action verbs in the past tense – usually occur in complication & resolution stages of narrative as this is where all action takes place.
• Use simple past tense for events completed in past e.g. fight – fought;  go – went; open – opened
• Past perfect tense or past in the past – for events completed before the main events -  had + past tense form of main verb – eg. Play – had played
• Past continuous tense or present in the past – tells about events which happened at the same time in the past – was/were + (verb + ing ending)

Classroom activities

• Identify stages of a narrative and identify which paragraphs in the model text belong to each stage.
• Reread orientation and  find information about when, where, who, why; about the characters, the sentence which shows that some conflict will occur; list complications from a favourite action film that hero has to deal with
• Reread resolution stage – how is complication resolved; sequencing of jumbled events from the narrative in correct order
• Write the coda from the narrative; can you think of another coda the author could have written instead
• Action events in complication stage (activity 2.3)
• Evaluation stage – write your interpretation of the storytellers attitude to events in the complication stage; find words and groups of words which reveal what the writer wants the reader to think about the characters – what is the overall attitude (see activity 2.5); come up with different words to describe the characters re physical qualities, personal qualities, thoughts & feelings, actions, overall action; with different attitudes would the message change? How? Now rewrite the story using the new words and groups of words; Discuss the two versions with teacher, class (small group work)
• Compare concepts from ......with other films or books which focus on things in column 1 eg. Love, courage, violence, supernatural, conflict
• Page 90 workbook – steps to writing a narrative
• Page 91 workbook -  narrative editing checklist

Response genres
Personal response – to respond in a personal way to a work of literature or art; 3 stages

1. Orientation – tells reader what you are responding to, prepares reader for what you are going to say
2. Text description –
3. Comment – your personal reaction to text

Grammatical analysis: written in first person – I, me, my; name parts of text e.g. text,  prelude, author, sentence, novel, character, ending.  Use words that show your reaction & make the reader agree with your reaction e.g. well-written, effective, liked, afraid; Include words that show how you think and feel about the text.

Review – to assess the value of a work of literature or art – to try and make reader agree with the reviewer.; 3 stages:

1. Context – the social situation in which characters and actions are placed, gives brief summary of the text (a synopsis)
2. Text description – introduces main characters and describes significant incidents; how characters interact with one another
3. Judgement -  reviewer makes a judgments and gives recommendation

Grammatical analysis:  written in universal present tense ie. Is

• linking verbs (being and having verbs) - in context when introducing the text, in the description stage when introducing characters; in the judgment stage. By using being verbs we can give characters qualities e.g. Jennifer’s mother is a tough, no -nonsense person...
• Nouns – need to be able to name parts of the text and other things connected with writing e.g. text, prelude, author, novel, character, ending etc
• Evaluation words – words which will make reader agree with your reaction to the text and which clearly show your assessment eg effective, slow-moving story etc

Interpretation – to interpret the messages in a work of literature or art

Critical response – to analyze and evaluate the messages in a work of literature or art

Biographies
Purpose – to write about what happened in the past focusing on one person’s life
Features – A biographer:

Chooses a person they believe has played a significant role in history

Selects events from the person’s life which they believe illustrate the significance of that person’s life

Writes story of the person’s life

Evaluates that person, their life and their place in history.

Grammatical analysis:

• always written in past tense;
• the third person e.g. he, him, she, her

Procedures
Purpose – to show how to carry out an experiment or procure
Features – 3 stages:

1. Aim – states purpose and predicts likely conclusion
2. Materials – list of apparatus or equipment need
3. Steps – actions, listed in order necessary to complete experiment or procedure. Each step written on separate line, and each step written as command

Grammatical analysis:

• action verb comes at beginning of sentence,
• or with time marker e.g. First, or begins with word, phrase
• or clause which tells when  or how to do the step e.g. when the spot is dry, With the watch...

Explanations
Purpose – sequence explanations – to sequence the phases of a process; to show how and why the phases occur in that order

1. Phenomenon identification – identifies what is being explained
2. Explanation sequence – describes chain of related events
   1. Action verbs in present tense (ie. Universal present tense = things which always happen)
   2. before you write sequence explanation – begin by drawing flow diagram to sequence events and bundle them into phases

Explanation of reasons or consequences – to explain reasons or consequences relating to an outcome or event

Grammatical analysis: will use some or all:

• Linking devices for sequencing

Conjunctions eg then, next

Dependent time clauses beginning with conjunctions eg. When, as while

Time phrases eg at this point, in the winter, during the day

Phase verbs eg starts to, continues to, stops

Noun groups of sequence eg this stage, the next step, the first

• Linking devices for showing cause and effect

Conjunctions eg so, therefore, consequently, in order to, thus, since

Dependent clauses with the linking word because

Cause phrases beginning with because of and due to

Cause verbs eg results in, causes, makes happen, leads to, creates, arises from

Cause noun eg result, consequence, cause, factor, effect

Change of state verbs eg becomes, turns into

• Devices for pinpointing location

Phrases of place eg at the top, in the space, on the land, along the edge

• Devices for being accurate and technical

Complex noun groups with qualifiers for accuracy eg the water on the surface of the ocean, water vapour which meets cold air

Technical verbs and packaging nouns for compressing meaning into one technical word eg evaporation

Complete activity 6.1 p.109

Verbs – warm up, circulate, turned into, rises

what tense are they in – universal present tense

list linking words – When, as, is

write down a time clause – when air warms up , a phrase of place – above large bodies of water

a complex noun group - the water on the surface of the ocean

Reports
Descriptive report – to identify a set of features of some object or phenomenon and describe each of these features in turn

Taxonomic report – to describe the parts of a group or a system

Purposes and features

2 stages:

1. general statement – introduces topic, gives some general identifying information; shows what aspects of thing will be described
2. description – information about topic grouped into sections ordered from most important to least important; from general to most specific and detailed.

Grammatical anaylsis: once you have used one kind of general noun eg. The, a or plural, then you keep using the same throughout the whole report.

If referring to how the way things are at all times e.g. the platypus...then use the universal timeless present tense – verbs in present tense -

Researching & organising information for reports – use mind maps, graphic organisers – dividing information into categories and sub-categories

How taxonomies might be used to organise all essays to show what we have learnt and understood (re technical or scientific information) or if you want to learn more about a subject . A taxonomy is a system organises information into a whole framework of categories – uses technical terms eg abdomen, fungus, arachnid, feline, H2O...

2 types:

1. grouping things as parts and wholes e.g. Dewey decimal system
2. grouping things according to type or class eg. Classification of animal kingdom

stages of taxonomic report – similar to stages of descriptive reports –

general description which names general class or unit being described (mammal); predicts the types of parts to be described and introduces technical terms; often includes definition

description where each type or part is described in turn.

Persuasive writing

all persuasive texts include arguments – to support a point of view; for and against both sides of an issue or debate; to challenge a point of view. The language we use to persuade people is called rhetoric.

Purposes and features -

Exposition – to argue for a particular point of view

3 stages

1. a thesis – introduces issue and writers point of view
2. a series of arguments which support the thesis – contain any factual information, evidence, description or explanation which supports thesis
3. a restatement of the thesis – stronger and more direct statement

discussion – to discuss both sides of an argument

4 stages

1. an issue – introduces issue and summarises debate
2. arguments for one side
3. arguments for other side
4. recommendation or judgment – which is presented as most logical conclusion

challenge – to challenge another persons point of view
3 stages

1. a position challenged – introduces point of view the writer wants to argue against
2. arguments against
3. anti-thesis which is presented as logical conclusion

e.g. challenges often used when people write letters to editor of newspaper.

Reading 2.-1 Macken-Horarik, M. (1998). Exploring the requirements of critical school literacy. In F. Christie & R.Misson (Eds.), Literacy and schooling (pp. 74-103). London: Routledge.

Macken-Horarik acknowledges how  ‘critical literacy’  has come to be seen as encompassing all other, more elementary types of literacies.  The viewpoint of critical literacy has always been ‘about ideologies, identifies and values’ as well as the necessity for ‘rudimentary control of the linguistic and semiotic codes of written text ‘ (51)(Luke, 992: 10). However, the author poses “Just what does a critical approach to texts and textual practices entail?” (50).  Critical literacy must also consider  the challenge of developing those linguistic skills necessary for students to read the text in order to  gain a critical understanding of the relationships and conceptual meanings to be found within it.

‘The linguistic skills’ or ‘proficiencies’ the author considers ‘necessary to a critical literacy within schooling’ are:

Students need to –

1.       Gain access to a range of contextualisation practices in their reading and writing

2.       Develop meta-level awareness of texts  & the practices that provide the concrete evidence

3.       Acquire both of the above within visible pedagogies marked by explicitness.

 ‘intertexts’ =  are all the other texts that we use to make sense of a particular text – such as our own personal experiences, as well as the experiences and prior knowledge of different kinds of texts that we then  bring to bear in relation to the text in question.

 ‘intextuality’= relations between texts – both those which texts implicitly take for granted or explicitly allude to, and those which readers bring to their reading of them (52). It has both an interpretretive (readerly) and a productive (writerly) dimension.

‘Intertexts’ and’ intertextuality’ are therefore intertwined and important to students’ development as the latter ‘may or may not mesh with that valued in school learning’ (52).   Student’s prior knowledge and experience (personally and contextually) may therefore influence the interpretation of a text. It is even more important as school years go by as the language of academic learning becomes increasingly technical, abstract and linguistically metaphorical.  Student’s experience of ‘intertexts’ need to be consolidated or refined over time so that they can be aware of which ‘intertexts’ are in play in a specific context, and mediating on that particular significance.

The author states that: ‘Of course not all interpretative strategies (and hence intertexts) are equally valued by examiners” because examinees bring to bear their own particular context and own  ‘intertextuality’ to answering examination tasks or questions. These could be in complete opposition to the ‘intertextuality’ of the examiner who do not look beyond a specific ‘intertext’. This will influence their own marking and therefore a student’s success in the examination.

Reading 1.10 Green, B., & McKenzie, N. (2007). Literacy, adolescence and schooling; or a challenge in the middle years. In Middle years schooling: Reframing adolescence (chap.10, pp.187-205). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia.

1.       The categories of ‘adult literacy’ and ‘child literacy’ are well established.  Child literacy has traditionally been  defined as the formal literacy work of schooling – of the formal teaching and learning of literacy  of learning to read and write.  Learning the ‘basics’ in the early years of schooling, so that students may use this literacy to learn in the later years of secondary schooling.  Adult literacy is defined as corresponding to adult, community and workplace education. They both are organised around the categories of  childhood and adulthood referring to stages of personhood which are noted in the article as being ‘drawn somewhat arbitrarily, and culturally specific – even to some extend ethnocentric’ (128).

So ‘child literacy’ is a stage where the individual is developing, and heavily dependent upon  the context of the ‘school’  to learn compared to the autonomous and self directed learning of the adult in the ‘workplace’.

However, there is a strong argument for adding a third literacy, that of ‘adolescent literacy’  that addresses the developmental learning needs of those students between childhood and adulthood, which are distinct from the early schooling years.  As a result, this group of students are seen as having allegedly ‘missed out in terms of both policy and pedagogy’ (125).   The adolescent, as like the other two categories, ‘mark[s] out [their own]  distinctive’ space. Young people in this category identify with and assemble in their own places, in and out of school, with their own interests, association and their own distinctive cultures ( (128).

2.       Barton and Hamilton (2000, 10) argue the need to pluralise the term ‘literacy’ and instead talk of ‘literacies’. Theoretical views underpinning such a shift look at the move from a print culture to ‘digital-electronics’ as a ‘dominant shaping principle of contemporary social existence’ (126).  There are many literacies to signify the emergent range of new technologies of information, communication and image. As the authors comment “Literacy itself is changing” (126). This plurality is a result of the ‘dramatically changed and changing semiotic landscape’ (Kress 2003). The concept of literacy cannot be seen only within its traditional confines of ‘decoding and encoding of written and printed texts’ – as an individual and autonomous attribute. It has moved beyond that  to a ‘concerted emphasis on understanding literacy as a form of situated social practice’ ( the New Literacy Studies 127). Literacy , as the authors note, is not longer confined to a set of properties residing in individuals, but extends to which exists in the relations between people, with groups and communities.  As the authors state “What counts as literacy, for whom, and to what ends become important questions to ask” (127).

3.       Barton and Hamilton (2000, 10) identify two possible new literacies as ‘workplace literacy’ and ‘academic literacy’. In my personal experience some of the distinctive characteristics of the former is the ability to communicate and use information in multiple ways including electronic means, such as email; being skilful, knowledgeable and recognisant of visual, spoken, written practices of the workplace.

‘Academic literacy’ on the other hand is being able to use formal written language for purposes of research, publication etc. This academic literacy could be used both in the context of the school or workplace.

The National Council of Teachers of English adopted the following definition of 21^st century literacy (2008):

Literacy has always been a collection of cultural and communicative practices shared among members of particular groups. As society and technology change, so does literacy. Because technology has increased the intensity and complexity of literate environments, the twenty-first century demands that a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies, many literacies. These literacies—from reading online newspapers to participating in virtual classrooms—are multiple, dynamic, and malleable. As in the past, they are inextricably linked with particular histories, life possibilities and social trajectories of individuals and groups. http://www.ncte.org/governance/literacies

Hence we  have a range of literacies or multiple literacies which are all social practices that are seen as essential knowledge, skills and understanding  for us to being literate in the 21^st century and able to participate fully in the different domains of daily life.   Similarly, the authors quote Gee (2000) regarding how “Literacy is multifaceted and involves a number of cognitive and language processes, framed within the contexts of society, culture and social interaction.” (130)

The Metiri Group (Metiri Group, 2003) have developed NCREL's enGauge (2003) identify the following literacies (below) as essential to being literate in the 21^st century: http://www.metiri.com/features.html

Interestingly the group subsume these multiple literacies under the banner of ‘Digital-Age Literacies’.

Basic Literacy - Basic Literacy is language proficiency (in English) and numeracy at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job and in society to achieve one’s goals, and develop one’s knowledge and potential in the Digital Age

Scientific Literacy - Scientific literacy is knowledge and understanding of the scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision-making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity

Economic Literacy -  Economic Literacy is the ability to identify economic problems, alternatives, costs, and benefits; analyze the incentives at work in economic situations; examine the consequences of changes in economic conditions and public policies; collect and organize economic evidence; and weigh costs against benefits

Technological Literacy - Technological Literacy is knowledge about what technology is, how it works, what purposes it can serve, and how it can be used efficiently and effectively to achieve specific goals

Visual Literacy - Visual Literacy is the ability to interpret, use, appreciate, and create images and video using both conventional and 21^st century media in ways that advance thinking, decision-making, communication, and learning

Information Literacy - Information Literacy is the ability to evaluate information across a range of media; recognize when information is needed; locate, synthesize, and use information effectively; and accomplish these functions using technology, communication networks, and electronic resources.

There is also the emergent multimodal literacy which combines the different modes of viewing (image, screen, graphics, photography, film), speaking (oral, including sound, music) , writing, combining print and digital texts.

I  agree that Digital literacy is a legitimate literacy. However, it has moved beyond using the tool of the computer to also  encompass digital citizenship and the ability of students to :

1. Demonstrate creativity and innovation
2. Communicate and collaborate
3. Conduct research and use information
4. Think critically, solve problems, and make decisions
5. Use technology effectively and productively (International Society for Technology in Education, 2011)

Similary, the NCREL’s enGauge skills (above)  has digital literacy almost like an umbrella of other literacies, as to be digitally literate also means using being able to use and incorporate digital-electronic formats in the areas of these  other literacies.  The Australian Communications and Media Authority defines ‘Digital media literacy is often understood as the ability to access, understand and participate or create content using digital media.’ (The Australian Communications and Media Authority, 2009)

4.       Some factors that , over time, may cause statistical variation to the findings in longitudinal studies of skills such are literacy are the age of students continuing on to complete secondary schooling and further education, the increased number of students with English as an additional language ; change in those minimum acceptable standards for literacy over time;  major reviews in education.

Each of these factors might have changed since 1998 due to the major technocultural changes that have taken place in society and in education,   in school and workplace practices, and with the need to engage in digital-electronic modes and the emergent rise of a range of textual practices.

5.         The findings  from public standardised testing and assessment seem to provide little change in student achievement. They do not provide proof of a definitive improvement or decline in the standards of student literacy achievement.  There seems to be a perception that there is a drop in literacy, yet as “research suggests that literacy in current times is more complex than ever before, with adolescents effectively managing to operate successfully in a world of multiliteracies” ( 134). As the authors note “There is no generalised ‘crisis’ in other words” (134).

6.         Snow (2004, 10) states that the requirements for secondary school literacy are ‘more complex’ than those needed in the primary school. Snow argues that the skill requirements are more complex because they are ‘more embedded in subject matters, and more multiply determined’ and also that ‘adolescents are not as universally motivated to read better or as interested in school-based reading’ as compared to primary students. It would appear that research conducted in Australia would support these arguments (135). I would agree especially in relation to the subject areas which require different literacy practices (e.g. science, English, math)  which are very different from the transdisciplinary approach at the primary level.  I also feel that up until recently there has not been recognition of the needs of adolescent literacy.  Looking back to high school in the 1970s there was a strong focus on the  content and of a print-based literacy. The cultural heritage model was a dominant principle and the use of technology was just emerging. Certainly,  in school and out of school experiences were  not influenced by the ‘fast- paced information flow and its associated literacies and textualities that many teenagers now enjoy’ (130).

7.       Strategies that make a difference in the planning phase:

·         Responsive to student needs

·         Student centred

·         Explicit  about why  and how – clear and specific in the focus/beginning of the teaching phase

·         Classrooms display models of texts that are focus of learning

·         Classroom display of student texts

Strategies that make a difference in the teaching phase:

·         Differentiated literacy learning – allow for individual differences in students’ interests and achievements, and cultural and community literacy practices (136)

·         Scaffold learning in guided teaching situatins especially for those students whose first language is not English

·         Collaborative tasks requiring a team approach

·         Explicit teaching but with

·         Opportunities for students to demonstrated their engagement independently

·         Whole class discussions with students engaged in real dialogue  (not teacher talk)

·         Multimedia environment

·         Interschool-partnerships

Strategies that make a difference in the assessment phase:

·         Negotiated with students

·         Use blogs, and the digital-electronic environment to achieve an audience

·         Links with real-world literacy contexts and practices

·         Self and peer assessment

8.       Teachers and students need knowledge of the various

Objects

Tools –

Technologies

Sites [and] institutions

That coordinate our activities.

9.       An ‘authentic’ task is an activity that has a purpose, is meaningful, relevant  and challenging to the students. Preferably it will have a real-life audience, whether it be fellow students within the classroom, school or globally, or another audience in the community or workplace. Some examples that might be undertaken in order to develop adolescent literacy skills could be:

ü  Blogs for reflective learning; for reflections on books & readings

ü  Wikis for collaborative learning

ü  Podcasts (both oral and visual) for reflective learning or for transferring knowledge and information to a particular audience e.g. youtube, voicethread,

ü  Writing, spoken tasks such media audience e.g. school, community, online media formats

ü  Performance & role play for class/school audience

ü  Using tools such as mobile devices, and social networking tools such as twitter, face book

Sunday, 24 April 2011

21/4/2011
Reading 1.9 NSW Department of Education & Training Curriculum Support Directorate. (2005). English faculty discussion matrix. Curriculum Support, 10 (3), 4. Ryde: NSW Department of Education & Training Curriculum Support Directorate.
This document would be a good starting point for guiding faculty planning in reflecting upon their current practice. The matrix provides for a progression through 5 levels and 3 focus areas: Programming for teaching & learning; Assessing & Recording;  and Reporting to Parents.   The aim is for teachers within the English faculty to  move from Level 1 (very individualistic approach which while sharing ideas sees  teachers working alone in their planning, teaching and assessment) towards  reflecting on their practice as a faculty group.  The aim is to bring about practices that see:

• ongoing reflection and collaboration
• flexible, responsive - to change as faculty to meet changing opportunities, situations & needs
•  all teachers comply with whole school assessment policy
• use of data sources to  inform future planning
• student progress systematically monitored
• assessment is adjusted to improve student learning
• reporting valued by parents
• continuous reflection &  adapting to new directions
• teachers participate in professional forums (communities of practice).

The matrix is a document on  the importance continued reflection and collaboration of practices - of self renewal.   


12/04/2011

Reading 1.5 Green, B. (2006). English, literacy, rhetoric: Changing the project? English Education. 40 (1), 7-19.

·         Historical developments of subject English: the ways philosophical orientations to curriculum are related to cultural patterns of the time.

I think Green starts with a correct premise that in order to move forward you need to look back, and that history itself is more than just a single story. I also believe that  it follows that history is a matter of context and perspective. Green notes it is ‘always contested and contestable’ and “Thinking historically involves engaging with difference and dispersion”.

I like the quote by Morgan (1995, 110) that Green includes:

“One way of answering the question ‘What is English?’ is to ask ‘What was English?’ That is, in exploring how the past has left its marks in subtle or blatant ways upon the present, we often reveal what is taken for granted within a subject area”.

It is this area that is ‘taken for granted’ that perhaps is the area that needs to be the most contested.

Green traces the way philosophical orientations are related to cultural patterns of time. Hence  in the late 1890s we see the discourses of Nation and Empire embedded within English as a subject. Green continues how the nature of the print apparatus then shapes ‘Literature’ or the ‘literary’, in accordance with associated cultures and industries of the time. This ideology saw the continuation of school English and the literary paradigm which he notes continued up until the 1970s.

Green then jumps to the present and comments on ‘ a new semiotic cultural landscape’ which has seen a shift from the print to the digital-electronic apparatus. Literacy is also (re-)emerging as a curriculum dominant and the new paradigm.

“As Wayne Sawyer writes, ‘[t]hese days, it is difficult to find a definition of subject English that is not couched almost entirely in terms of literacy (Sawyer, 2005: 11)

Within the current cultural landscape we are seeing  that along with the influence of government – as Green comments, we have  greater regulation, rationalisation along with the ‘political imperative of accountability’ (Sawyer, 2002: 13).  We are in a time where we see the ‘growing power and influence of constrained, reductionist views of literacy, linked to standardised assessment regimes’.

And this is at a time when we have the emergence of critical literacy and multiliteracies which is transforming the educational landscape. As Green notes it is an exciting time and yet English is on a see-saw that has not quite found the balance, and perhaps swinging one direction and looking backward/down to ‘standardised regimes’.  Green suggests (and perhaps it is because of this dichotomy)  that “much classroom practice and teacher education remains conventional and functional in emphasis”.

Still perhaps we are now at that point in time to take action, and to contest the past, and to move toward the future to yet another ‘version of English[es]’,  to one that is empty of ‘political content and significance’.  Hence Green’s interest (and perhaps even passion) is “to help shape a radicalised, socially critical, productive agenda for English teaching, one for which difference is a resource.”

·         What Green means by English-as-rhetoric:

Green introduces as a central concept, the notion of rhetoric, as the new organising principle for English teaching. He sees rhetoric as bringing together all the different versions of ‘English’ including those of the past. The historically influential ‘Growth’ model alongside the socially critical awareness of language.

Green is impressed by Ian Hunter (1997) and his ‘searching critique[s] of English. Hunter isolates rhetoric, ethics and aesthetics as three aspects of English.  He sees the latter two as being the core dimensions around which English has traditionally been organised (ie. Green’s ‘English-as-literature’). Rhetoric  (or language-in-use) has been back grounded as a result. For Hunter, ‘a more thoroughgoing separation’ of the three is required, with focus instead on rhetoric.

However, for Green it is not so simple.  Rather, he sees the need to look at important questions: “What is it that English does in the school curriculum that is distinctive? Relatedly: what is it that English does that isn’t done already or elsewhere in the curriculum? What has it done previously in this regard? Is what it does changing? What should it do? Further: what are the subjects that it is, has been, and should be aligned with? Which areas is it not linked with, or even perhaps defined against?

His questions certainly are pertinent, no matter what time or cultural landscape we find ourselves in for the sole reason that we need to reflect these questions on a continual base or we fall in danger of continuing ‘what is taken for granted’ and not moving beyond to accommodate changes in society.  I also believe that education and more importantly learning and knowledge and understanding are not realised unless reflection is involved.   “It’s the guided reflection on the meaning of the activity, not the activity itself, that causes the learning.”(Wiggins, G &  McTighe, J., Understanding by Design, 2005, 243 ). If we are not reflecting on our subject field or our teaching practices, then are we moving forward?

·         Green’s idea of the English classroom as ‘textshops’:

Green argues for a ‘post-modernised notion of English-as-Rhetoric’, moving beyond a critical literacy to a more active English that involves ‘doing things with texts’ and especially with multimodal texts. The emphasis is on the classroom as a workshop, creating and constructing - “...learning how to do things, through experimentation, play, trial-and-error, etc” with texts of all kinds.  This ‘textshop’  brings together power, persuasion, pleasure, learning...ie. English-as-Rhetoric.

·         How does Green’s ideas shift the focus of English curriculum?

The focal shift  is to include and move beyond traditional emphasis of the cultural studies model, critical literacy pedagogy, with emphasis on close textual study  – a focus which is on response –compared to  a focus on a curriculum that has a place for ‘metaphorical thinking, creativity, playfulness, imagination’. Emphasis is on ‘production and practice, on participation and politics, and to a renewed sense of the importance of art’ – all of which sees  the digital convergence of technology, literacy and the arts, and ‘the shaping of new forms of subjectivity’.  Green acknowledges that the new senior English syllabus and the 7-10 English syllabus are both progressive compromises that are extending to include the focus on English-as-Rhetoric, which has most probably already meant controversial and exciting times for English classrooms.

Reading 1.4 Sawyer, W. (2005). English literacy: A more open marriage or a time for divorce? Literacy Learning in the Middle Years, 13 (1), 11-19

This article is very much a personal response to the state of English in the curriculum (and in society) at the time of writing. Sawyer reflects on the theoretical perspectives that currently influence the English curriculum, and discusses the debates and distinction that is being argued between ‘literacy’ and ‘English’. As he comments, “The relationship between ‘English’ and ‘literacy’ has been notoriously hard to define”. Sawyer also reflects how political concerns are as important to consider as curricular ones. Sawyer critical and cynical of government promises and actions – “Australians live in a land where a Federal government can simply write off electoral promises as ‘non-core’....” (Sawyer, 2005, 82). I must admit, I think he raises some interesting points and possible concerns :

· Assessment – secondary testing notorious for a ‘highly reductive approach to writing – based on a ‘genre’ pedagogy –whatever research suggests

· Positive that teachers outside of English have had to see themselves as teachers of literacy

· Urgent issue for English teachers is increasing trend among state governments in Australia to prioritise inter/transdisciplinary generic skills as the basis of schooling outcomes – seen as a reaction by the government against teacher shortages.

· “We need to ask ourselves in delineating ‘English’ from ‘literacy’ what it is that English deals with which no other area of the curriculum deals with.” Sawyer suggests a model like:

Study of language

Reflection on language

Makes students own language productions the objects of study both for its own sake and as a means of improving competence

Critique of lanaguage

Developing a critical literacy

Creation of language developing competent readers, writers, speakers, listeners and both viewers & creators of visual language

IN TEXTS OF

Literature, film, media, multimedia

The Imagination
The Personal

Personal uses of language

The Aesthetic

Notion of ‘poetic’ language as central to English; English concerned with rhetoric. Has been strong beginnings of return to a sense of the aesthetic and the imaginative in English.

IN
Print
Electronic
Oral
And
Visual
FORMS

· Which isolates exactly those things which make English as a subject so centrally important

o Central concern with language (analysis of language) for its own sake

o The equal valuing of the critical and aesthetic domains of language

o The valuing of imaginative and personal uses of language

· Suggests need for a project investigating the use of language in society of the language of the 21st century.

· Concludes by saying “We do need to confront those essential which both define the subject and carve out its peculiar territory”. I would like to see where English in the curriculum stands today, six years later. Are English teachers still confronted by these very same concerns? Is there a project being conducted either in Australia or internationally that is looking at the use of language in 21st century society.

10/04/2011 Reading 1.11 Michele Antsey (2003). In Bull & Antsey (Eds.), Examining classrooms as sites of literate practice and literacy learning (chap.7, pp. 103-21)

Bull, G., & Antsey, M. (2003). The literary lexicon (2^nd ed.). Sydney: Prentice Hall.

Changing views of literacy – from skill-based & psychological or largely cognitive definitions to social-critical definitions – literacy constructed as social practice.

Literacy as social practice  –

·         Literacy is practised different ways for different purposes (to get something done, for social interaction, communication of information & learning)

·          with different technologies – in domestic, community, workplace settings

·          part of an expected pattern of interaction

e.g.s of literate practice: driving a car (reading signs & symbols inside/outside the car); using mobile phone (using oral & written modes); classroom literacy

Literacy is not neutral –  p.146

·         each time a literate practice occurs those involved are constructed in a particular way and affect each other in some way

·         all texts (oral, written, electronic) carry particular values & ideologies

·         have potential to influence or impact on lives of others – can empower or disempower participants

·         even literate practices of schools are not neutral e.g. particular texts selected by teachers for use in school therefore valorised, seen as important – may contain particular values or ideologies...seen as appropriate or not open to question because they appear in a text in a site which is seen by society as important & influential ie. The school (Luke 1993).

Literacy constructs our world and we are constructed by it –  p.147

·         each time we engage in literate practice may include particular behaviours, texts (oral, written, electronic), dress & gesture

·         particular literacies & literate acts valued by particular parts of society – individuals or groups may be dominant or marginalised because of their knowledge of, ability to engage in literate practices in appropriate ways at appropriate times

e.g. knowing how to dress, behave for job interview cf football match

·         sometimes people seen as ignorant or illiterate because they do not show/know the expected literate practices

·         but may be highly literate in practices of their social or cultural group

·         sometimes students are seen as unable to learn simply because they do not know or understand how to use “the literacies of the classroom” – marginalises student

·         schools and classrooms =  social settings

Examining literate practices of classroom as pedagogy -

·         social (& literate) practices of classroom characterised by particular routines, texts, patterns of interaction

o   teachers organisational routines – teaching strategies (different patterns of oral interaction or discourse) – selected materials (structural elements of programme) – can aid or inhibit student literacy learning

o   teacher talk:  The exchange model Sinclair & Coulthard (1975) p. 148 – Initiation – response – feedback

o   two types of knowledge (James Heap 1982)

1.        propositional = knowing that

2.       Procedural =knowing how

Current definitions of literacy emphasise need for propositional knowledge about literacy and procedural – knowing how and when to use it.

Need to give students  information about both:

What they need to do – and the purpose of doing it -  and how to do it

Need to follow up with discussion about how they might have found the answer (metacognitive reflection)

p. 151 (references to Baker 1991 and Heap 1982)  “The classroom is not only a site for the transmission of social and academic knowledge, but also knowledge about the culture of the school and the predominant culture of the school and community. This can have the effect of disadvantaging, or excluding, students who are form a minority social or cultural group”

Important for teacher to have some understanding about discourses of the social and cultural groups in the school community & consider how they match or mismatch with those of the classroom e.g. p.152

1.       Is the lack of participation by some students because they don’t understand the content being taught or because they find the ‘rules of interaction’ (the discourse) difficult to follow or enter into?

2.       What patterns of discourse & interaction can i use to avoid this?

3.       Are some activities & exchanges of talk you engage in with students so ritualised that you see procedural display rather than real understanding?

4.       How might I check for real understanding?

Teachers can explain to students purpose of some of discourse patterns & literate practices of classroom.

Classroom discourse that inhibits literacy learning -

·         Question & answer exchange – getting caught up in “getting the correct answer” (“guess what’s in the teachers head”) from the students rather than “how do they arrive at this answer”

Managing function of classroom discourse and learning – p. 154 – Teachers reflecting on their teaching (use audiotape/transcript)

1.       What is the major focus of talk in the lesson?

2.       If the focus is on management, what was it that made this so (e.g. behaviour, lack of familiarity with the activity or strategy used)

3.       How can i manage and plan my lessons to reduce management talk?

4.       How can i provide more information about how to do the task and when it is useful?

5.       Can i engage students in a real-life example to assist in the learning and thus demonstrate its utility?

6.       Did i model cognitive as well as behavioural processes when I explained how to do the task?

Students need to be able to recognise  the phase structures of learning episodes/lessons – know how to behave within them – and identify when transition occurs from one phase to the next – phases should have logical sequence – learning purposes of phases & connections between them made clear to students.

(see table 7.3 p. 158) Sequence of phase structures :

·         Attention - beginning of lesson

·         Focus - i.e. learning purpose & relevance to real-life literacy practices

·         guided identification – implementation

o    identify – examples of new knowledge

o    guided practice – using new skills in different combinations

o   guided transfer  -  transfer/apply new skills/knowledge to real life situations/tasks

·         Review  of learning focus – at pertinent points between phases - & what has been learned so far

·         Presentation of text – Coda – Transition Out -  end of lesson

See p.160-161 for references.

Reflection Notes:

        I.            Characteristics of different pedagogies

Pedagogy of the school style

Organisation of activities -  can include particular behaviours, texts (oral, written, electronic), dress & gesture which are particularly valued by the school style to reinforce the values of its dominance as a social group within society.  This would ensure that certain students would thrive because they know the ‘discourse of the school’ and other students would be marginalised and disadvantaged, because they are not aware of the particular literacies & literate acts valued by the school.

 Kinds of (processes) verbs predominating -  management, ritualise, attend, organise, display

Pedagogy of  literacy lessons – these are the social & literate practices of the classroom...the teaching strategies and discourses, the programming and planning especially characterised by particular routines, texts, patterns of interaction dictated by the teacher.

Verbs/processes:  Initiate – manage, question, request  

 respond – reply, react, repeat, reinitiate, reconstruct, elaborate, project, state,

follow up – accept, praise, comment, repeat, correct, elaborate, paraphrase

Pedagogy of literacy learning style – Informing students of the learning purpose and its relevance to real-life literacy practices (utility) ; Process: learning how and when about literacy – the cognitive process of how to do the task

Verbs/processes:  focus, Identify, implement, practice, apply, review, reflect.

These are the different verbs important to what and how children learn.

      II.            Teacher can get stuck in a rut in relation to the discourses they use, and repeat the same practices that expect students to play the ‘guess what’s in the teacher’s head’ game, with the result that focus is on the ‘knowing what’ rather than the processes of ‘knowing how’.  There is the expectation that students will infer knowledge or discourses, which brings teachers back to the place of perpetuating the dominant social mores and values of the group ie. The school.

    III.            I have learned that it is essential for teachers to engage in reflection of their teaching strategies, including the different discourses that they use within the classroom. If you don’t then you could be perpetuating discourses that inhibits learning such as “guess what’s in the teacher’s head”. Reflection is the basis of understanding and learning, and if we do not engage in metacognitive thinking, then our student’s won’t either.

10/04/2011
9 April 2011

Reading 1.8  Sawyer, W. (1998). Board of Studies HSC review. Retrieved August 14, 2006, from http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/archives/forum_hscenglish98/engforurm_execsum.pdf

The review by Wayne Sawyer  is a speech delivered to a conference regarding the review of the HSC.  He takes us back to beginnings to reflect exactly what is a syllabus? And what view of “English” does it represent? He makes a pertinent comment that “there is a necessity for the Syllabus developers to discuss the theories on which the document is based in somewhat more depth....” and notes that the current 7-10 Syllabus and those for Years 11-12 have adhered to this necessity as “They are clearly statements of principle about the nature of the subject and each dwells in detail on its theoretical underpinnings”.

Sawyer notes the paradigms currently operating (competing?) in the NSW syllabus:

·         Personal growth model – growth of individual as USER of language – stress language development through active use. Importance of “creating”; pleasure and enjoyment in reading and listening – “A very big part of our problem in schools is till to get kids, even at the senior level, to even engage with texts, let alone to take the detached kind of stance that a critical literacy demands”

o   “Related issue in writing & speaking, where our job will remain encouraging many of our students event to find a voice, to articulate real or imagined thoughts or experiences”

Sawyer sees the PG model potentially extended by adding a deeper understanding of the political and ideological contexts in which personal language growth takes place.

·         Cultural heritage model – preparing students to intelligently read the central texts of their culture – problem is that this view sees High and Popular culture as mutually exclusive.  Sawyer sees a place for both and a need for flexibility in development of evaluative criteria – need to be able to justice to the positive aspects of a text with awareness of negative aspects and limitations. Perhaps we need to be discussing value over complexity ( Peel 1996) of texts.

·         Critical Literacy – empowerment over texts and over language – how readers are being positioned in particular extracts from texts.

Directions for HSC:

ü  Widen kinds of texts available for examinable study – bring film & other media into the “mainstream”

?         Group texts in imaginative ways to study rather than in own aesthetic isolation

ü  Status given to kids’ own writing and speaking, film-making, media creating etc. – but is this being achieved e.g. yes in internal assessment but not in examination.yb.

ü  Critical literacy as method of analysis – “analysing” in general  versus “critiques for underlying ideologies”?

ü  Engaging kids with texts – genuine credit given to wide reading – school based accreditation?

  Reading 1.6 :Sawyer, W. & McFarlane, D. (2000). Reviewing English in years 7-10. A report  for the Board  of Studies, NSW. Executive summary (online). Retrieved December, 2005, from http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/manuals/pdf_doc/english_710_review.pdf

Sawyer and McFarlane in Reviewing English in Years 7-10 (2000) considered literature from the period 1995-2000, and conclude with a summary of 33 recommendations prior to the implementation of the 2004 Syllabus. Their first recommendation was that no single model of English curriculum should predominate. This allows for a balanced theoretical approach. Earlier in the report they summarised the different theoretical perspectives/models that are influential to the NSW English Syllabus.

Predominantly, Sawyer and McFarlane recognise the dominance of the sociocultural approaches, such as critical literacy and the cultural studies model. However, as they recommend, models such as personal growth, rhetoric, multiliteracies still are essential elements of the Syllabus. By recommending emerging paradigms along with retaining the personal growth model this will/has ensured continuity and a stability with the new Syllabus.

The authors believe the rhetorical model will prove to be particularly significant in that it can incorporate many of the models of the study of English. By bringing together a range of theories, students will be helped to read and write flexibly. Context in teaching is critical, and students can be made aware of the different models which will impact the appropriateness of choices in relation to purpose, and implement accordingly. It follows that developing student's metacognitive and reflective skills is essential.

Saywer and McFarlane acknowledge the discrepancy that continues between English and literacy. They confirm that teaching basic literacy skills does need to be reinforced, alongside the multiliteracies, including visual literacy, technological and multimodal literacy.

Two important aspects within their report are the notions of “communities of practice” and “different ways of knowing” by bilingual and bidialectal students. Communities of practice within a school would see students (and teachers) interacting regularly, committed to learn and share competence and increase mastery in using and constructing texts in technological and multimodal practices in particular. The teacher becomes part of this community of learners.

Considering the diverse cultural and linguistic resources that our students bring to school, it is imperative that we not only recognise and respect the mother language of our students but also affirm through the provision of support (both of their mother tongue and English learning). Our students identity and language development is bound up with that language. Sawyer and McFarlane acknowledge how we need to incorporate ESL and Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander learner needs into pedagogical models of English teaching. Including within this , is the need to ensure that explicit language teaching methods play an important role in the acquisition of Standard English for these students.

The authors consider the importance of workplace connections, civics education, and gender issues. Boys literacy is also commented upon. Finally, they note the need for a range of assessment and the need to make criteria and standards explicit and known to students in order to develop their understanding of the processes of composing, responding and reflecting on their learning.

Reading 1.3 :Mills, K. (2005). Deconstruction binary oppositions in literacy, discourse and
          pedagogy. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 28 (1), 67-82. 

Blue non italic - significant points from text; Blue italics  - personal reflections
Critically discusses 3 fundamental binary opposition/perspectives:
skills based v whole language approaches
print-based v multiliteracies
cultural heritage v critical literacy
Implications for the classroom:
* literacy linked to agendas & power relations of institutions & communities - it is not neutral – curriculum and syllabus that we must follow – teacher awareness.

 *  provide opportunities for students to 1. acquire situated practice in the classroom and 2.  to transfer this knowledge  to genuine literacy situations outside the classroom (Putnam & Borko 2000) - 

* phonological information alone is not a sufficient resource for readers – what other ways can we help struggling readers? (see article in Gannon chapter 9 Reading, Reading response theory, Ken Watson)

* significance of reader's prior knowledge (PK)e as factor influencing success in deriving meaning from texts (Lankshear & Knobel 1997) – discussion of student’s own PK and experiences – small group discussion

* oral language acquisition  & formal literacy learning two distinct processes – but to allow development of our skill in language  & language use we need to provide experiences to develop experience in speaking, and the meta-language or form-focused instruction (high language of formal literacy)  within local teaching context & needs of our students

* written language is a social technology – students need to be explicitly understand this – how?  See next point....reflect & critique the * functions & uses of literacy vary greatly across literate cultures & historical epochs –

* different ways children learned to use language dependent on ways in which each community & their respective histories structured their families, their roles in the community, their distinct patterns of face-to-face interaction, & how concepts of childhood were played out to guide child socialisation (Heath, 1983; Snow & Chall, 1982)  - we must therefore *    acknowledge  & value diverse cultural & linguistic resources that children bring to the classrooms (Pallotta-Chiarolli, 1995), do we give students opportunity to discuss or reflect upon their respective histories? how do we find this out at secondary level...I imagine this is a very significant issue, but how do we acquire this background knowledge, or promote this type of validation by students of each other’s cultural strengths?  I envisage creating a sense of community & community of practice especially at the beginning of the school year.

* explicit teaching methods & language for those children not from dominant culture (Delpit 1988)

* Making of multimodal meaning – reader required to move alternately between various modes -  combination of linguistic, visual, auditory, gestural or spatial modes – experiences with computer & techno practices such as  digital story making and other digital forms. It will be interesting to see the upcoming teachers who have grown up with making sense of multimodal meaning, compared with teachers who are students alongside our students (and that includes me).

* Cultural globalisation includes changing relationships between languages & the growing importance of a few major international languages. 

At heart of multiliteracies is understanding that language is polymorphous ie. Has multiplicity of purposes & that repertoires of linguistic resources available to different cultures also varies

“The scale of human movement across nations has made multiculturalism and the multiple variations in  English an unprecedented global phenomenon” – Spanglish, Singlish (Singapore English); third culture kids.

Social context has become heterogeneous collections of racial, ethnic & cultural groups

The challenge for educators is to create places for community where divergent words of individual experience can thrive – acknowledge our students background & experiences -  third culture kids

*Computer-based technologies  - The nature of texts, language & literacy itself are undergoing crucial transformations – allowing text, image & sound to form hybrid literacies

new skills are required for competent reading & writing in multi-modal, digital contexts.

Need to incorporate many different forms of digital text types

Technological multiliteracies require a new meta-language for teaching the elements of hypertextual communication

Electronic environments challenge conventional notions of reading. The physical nonlinearity of electronic texts involves increasingly sophisticated navigational skills & search capabilities – are we teaching these skills explicitly?

Related resource: http://www.webuse.org/digital-natives-variation-in-internet-skills-and-uses-among-members-of-the-net-generation/

 Changes in the production, processing & transmission of the virtual text – electronic text is replicable, distributable, modifiable, programmable, linkable, searchable, collaborative & able to be stored & retrieved with ease. E.g. use  Wikipedia as an educational tool http://www.ericfox.com/wikipedia, which will help our students to be able to challenge, critique and evauate partial & distorted textual meaning (critical literacy skills)

Related Resources: See Horizon report 2011 http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/HR2011.pdf

* Multiplicity of Discourses needed to participate in the differing institutions & domains of society

“Discourse refers to socially accepted ways of using language, of thinking, and of acting that can be used to identify oneself as a member of a socially meaningful group” (Fairclough 1989)

In life, we shift from one Discourse to another as we present our various selves to others in recognisable ways.

Many schools teaching the decontextalised, rule-governed Discourse of the formal written text, defined by a narrow conception of literacy. “This is not adequately equipping students to master a variety of Discourses for the roles & identities that are already required of them in the twenty-first century” (Fairclough, 2000) – is this still largely the case though eleven years on from when this was published?

However, must not assume that students are competent in techno-literacy practices because of access in informal social contexts, while access to screen-based discourses in formal educational sites remains unconsidered (see notes above on computer technologies and electronic environments)

^* Cultural heritage model seeks reproduction of dominant cultural values of the past & compliance with the literacy tastes of the most powerful (Musprat, Lue & Freebody 1997)

Arbitrary market decisions play role in this selective tradition, often resulting in only successful authors being recognised – are our students being offered a wide range of international literature to read and explore – how are these being studiewithin the classroom? See chapter 10,  Critical literacy Wendy Morgan p.88); critique  book awards (international & national)

*Inter-textual establishment of a dominant literary tradition inequitable, since minority & indigenous communities also have stake in literacy practice in a multicultural society (Baker 1997) – balance of international literary texts – are we too focused only on Australian authors; are we exploring other literary traditions such as oral storytelling etc.(See article by .....

*Historically valued texts are not representative of ... variety of discourses and literacies that children require in society e.g. certain genres such as picture books, popular texts, romance and science fiction are often systematically obscured from the valued literature canon (Wyatt-Smith 2000)

*Ignoring the pervasiveness of popular culture leaves a significant number of gendered representations & stereotypes unopposed and unquestioned (Singh 1997)

*Silencing popular culture disenfranchises many minority ethnic groups, and negates valuable opportunities to capitalise on children’s interests (Arthur 2001)

*need to acknowledge ... criteria for judging the quality of literature reflects the dominant cultural interests and ideologies (see note above re book awards)

* Even the selection of picture books must be seen as a culturally and politically complex act.

*The choice of literature in schools is ideologically value laden and the criteria for judging the quality of school text are shifting in the context of society and culture (Macken-Horarik 1997) – are we still seeing this in the current English syllabus?

*School texts are best seen as key sites where cultural discourses, political ideologies and economic interests should be contested rather than unquestioningly transmitted (Baker 1997)

*Teachers need to reflect continuously on how critical literacy is constructed in their classroom, ensuring that they are not engaging in a form of political manipulation and suppression of multiple points of view (Baker 1997)

Conclusion: Richardson observed: ‘Each new wave of educational practice, designed to improve literacy education, has in turn been replaced by something else) 1991  - each pedagogy since 1950s has contributed new understandings of literacy

Taken in isolation, none of the pedagogies is sufficient for literacy in contemporary culture

Need to consider when and why various teaching techniques are preferable in relation to the site specific needs of our local teaching contexts, and the unique needs of our diverse students

Reading 1.2 - 26.2.2011

Kress, G. (2005). Communication now and in the future. In English 121.

            Retrieved from http://www.qca.org.uk/qca_5677.aspx

I liked the article by Kress, and his perspective on communication, especially when considered that this article was written 6 years ago. If anything, I think his perspective has been confirmed and is even more relevant today. "Communication is a social activity and as such is embedded in the wider social environment" is as true of when Jane Austen was writing, and throughout historical epochs,  as it is today. We have always had to consider our purpose, who we are  "writing" for - our audience - and the best means to 'get our message across'. I think this is even more significant today, when we cannot automatically assume that our audience comes from the same background as ourselves - our environments (whether physical or online) are now defined by a heterogeneous collection of racial, ethnic and cultural groups. Nor is our audience confined by narrow borders, including space and time.

We see the aspect of image being no longer merely decorative but there is now  "a new visuality". When we create presentations it is the image, with the text subordinate, or at least working together to communicate meaning. We need to ask ourselves when creating and communicating "What does writing do and what does image do, and how do they work together?" (Kress)

We are being demanded to read in different ways from the withdrawn and reflective mode of reading a written text (which is what I grew up with). We have the screen, the internet, digital media e.g ebooks (which as Kress notes, sees the mode and medium of the book changing), the use of smaller screens such as iphones, ipads and the use of online social networking tools such as twitter that is forcing us to simplify and change the format/syntax of text. And yet, we still need to ensure that what we convey will be understood.

These changes means that we also have to take into account compositional skills of design, that go beyond the traditional written page. When creating this blog, I needed to consider organisational and display design in addition to my written text. Though, I may still find, that perhaps I was best to use a wiki, rather than a blog tool?

When reading online, I am also adapting to reading and writing in different modes -  I usually have multiple tabs open, including online chats, that allow me to communicate immediately and in the first person with others around the world. Surprisingly, I do not listen to music while I work online, or on the computer, whereas my teenage children do (generational dispositions?).

When writing, my thoughts flow more smoothly when typing, and I have the screen in front of me, than writing using pen/paper. I can self correct immediately.

Kress remarked that digital media makes it "possible to change the text that I am reading, as I am reading it". Using social bookmarking tools as diigo allow us to share our opinions and thoughts, by adding notes, highlighting aspects of an online text. It brings the reader into the mode of authorship, and greater interaction between author and reader. 

Finally, online communication and the use of the image has allowed for greater speed and accessibility in communicating.