This research aimed to understand the coaching experiences in the Gauteng Primary Literacy and Mathematics Strategy of 4 Foundation Phase teachers in 1 state school in Gauteng. It is a qualitative case study in an educational setting. The participants included 3 teachers, the Head of Department of the Foundation Phase, the coach and the coach’s supervisor. Interviews and observations of teachers’ lessons and of feedback sessions were the primary research instruments. The data was analysed using a model proposed by Ehrich, Hansford & Tennent (2001). The research found that the personal attributes and performance of the coach are important features in a successful coaching relationship. It also found that coaching appears to be making a positive contribution to these teachers’ understanding and interpretation of curriculum documents, as well as adding to their content knowledge and methodology. The study suggests that a focus on enhancing teachers’ reflective capacity, especially in relation to their pedagogy, may be a beneficial addition to current coaching practice.

I en alltmer globaliserad och digitaliserad värld krävs ett kritiskt förhållningssätt till den information man möter, alltså ett critical literacy-perspektiv. Med läromedel som en central del av undervisningen är det av intresse att undersöka om läromedel främjar critical literacy. Därför är syftet med denna studie att undersöka och sammanställa om, och i så fall hur, läromedlen ABC-klubbens samt Livet i Bokstavslandets läsebok, arbetsbok och lärarhandledning för årskurs 3 gör det möjligt att arbeta med critical literacy. Med utgångspunkt i en kombination av kvalitativ och kvantitativ metod sammanställs materialet, de frågor och uppgifter som återfinns i läromedlen ABC-klubben och Livet i Bokstavslandet, i tre tabeller. Tabellerna är kategoriserade enligt Allan Luke och Peter Freebodys fyra praktiker, Sten-Olof Ullströms uppgiftskulturer samt huruvida uppgifterna utförs enskilt eller tillsammans med andra. Genom en jämförande analys undersöks dessa läromedel för att ta reda på om och i så fall hur critical literacy representeras. Frågor och uppgifter som stödjer ett kritiskt förhållningssätt finns i båda läromedel, det representeras däremot på skilda sätt. Ytterst få frågor och uppgifter uttrycks explicit vara av kritisk karaktär utan det är snarare upp till läraren att se den möjlighet det skapar. Det är alltså inte frågorna och uppgifterna ensamma som blir ett critical literacy-arbete utan de kan snarare bli det beroende på hur de sedan tillämpas i undervisningen. / In a globalized and digitalized world there is a greater demand for a critical approach towards the flow of information, ergo a critical literacy perspective. With teaching materials as a central part of education it is of interest to research if teaching materials foster critical literacy. Therefor it is the purpose of this study to examine and compile if and in that case how the teaching material ABC-klubben and Livet i Bokstavslandet textbook, workbook and teacher’s manual for grade 3 makes it possible to work with critical literacy. Based on a combination of a qualitative and quantitative method the material that is found in the teaching materials ABC-klubben and Livet i Bokstavslandet is compiled in three charts. The charts are categorized according to Allan Luke and Peter Freebodys four resources, Sten-Olof Ullström’s task cultures and whether the tasks are done alone or with others. Through a comparative analysis the teaching materials are examined to find out whether critical literacy is represented. Questions and tasks that support a critical approach is present in both teaching materials, although represented in different ways. Few questions and tasks are explicitly told to be of a critical character, it is rather up to the teacher to se the opportunity. It is not the questions and tasks alone that become critical literacy, but rather how they are applied in the teaching.

A large body of recent research calls for expanding what it means to teach literacy in the content areas. This includes movement away from conceiving of content literacy instruction as generic literacy strategies superimposed on content-area text. Instead, the focus is on the discursive literate practices of the disciplines, including ways of thinking, acting, and believing. This disciplinary literacy perspective addresses the literacy demands specific to disciplines such as history and views literacy as socially situated. Little research has been done to find out how teachers respond to expectations to incorporate literacy in their content area classrooms, and few opportunities exist for teachers to explore the literacy practices inherent in the disciplines, or to collaborate on how these might be taught. Thus, this practitioner research focuses on a teacher inquiry group formed to explore literacy in the middle and secondary social studies classroom. Consistent with practitioner research and an inquiry as stance perspective, the productive and generative potential of tension and conflicts was considered. The talk and activities of teachers were documented as they participated in the group to illuminate the discourses on which teachers drew when they talked about literacy, and to demonstrate how, in this context, teachers might collaboratively interrogate, transform, and generate knowledge around literacy in social studies. This study contributes to conversations about literacy instruction in subject areas specifically by attending to teachers’ perspectives. The talk was analyzed using a modified discourse analysis approach, framed by perspectives on language described by Gee and Bakhtin. Findings show that the typical discourse patterns of the inquiry group talk were shaped by curricular and institutional expectations that produced normalized notions of what counts as reading and texts in social studies classrooms. Disciplinary discourses were also evident. Additionally, the inquiry group talk was shaped by discourses of student ability that suggested links to racial, socio-economic, and developmental factors, as well as special education labeling. Moments of intensity that arose out of tensions or conflict resulted in the interrogation, transformation, and generation of knowledge around literacy in social studies; it broadened to include discipline-specific practices while continuing to encompass generic ones.

Graduate students require the same base knowledge of information literacy as undergraduates, but are less likely to receive in-class instruction. Rather than considering them as external, theoretical signposts or goals, this presentation will discuss the value of situating the ACRL Information Literacy Standards and Framework into the real-life graduate student experience. Explaining what it means to have membership in the academic community leads directly to a deeper understanding of scholarly dialogue, authority and peer review. This grounding leads to an understanding of ownership, copyright, and plagiarism. This high-level overview of the scholarly research process allows students to comprehend their own place in the process, and the function of various types of academic papers. The parts and styles of research papers are situated within the larger realm of scholarly publishing expectations and opportunities. Students are then able to apply these concepts to view themselves as academic creators, with all the rights, responsibilities, and expectations of working members of the academic community. After the presentation and discussion, attendees should be able to recognize the immediate increase in student engagement when the ACRL concepts are presented in real-life context and terms assess the benefits of demonstrating to students where they belong in the academic cycle draft a similar message to support the particular circumstances of their own students This presentation addresses personalizing information literacy for increased real-life relevance and retention; practical advice for teaching information literacy skills of immediate use to students; and providing students with clear context concerning issues such as copyright and plagiarism.

This is the story of a financial literacy endeavor that sputtered, surged, and then died. While it did not succeed at my institution, I share the story and the resources in the hope that its successes and failures might be of use to others. Although I had already been a professional librarian for seven years when I took my new position as Graduate Research and Instruction Librarian at East Tennessee State University near the beginning of fall semester 2014, I had never worked in public services. Fortunately, I had been a teacher, received professional training in pedagogy, and was comfortable with the instruction piece of my job. “Outreach” was a little more difficult. For my first effort, I chose something I believed would appeal to a wide diversity of students: money.

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No description available.

The aim of this research was to examine the perceptions of principals, literacy co-ordinators and teachers on the implementation of Children’s Literacy Success Strategy (CLaSS) as a literacy and professional development strategy and their insights for future literacy innovation. CLaSS is a whole-school and sector approach to literacy for the early years of schooling. Introduced in 1998 to Catholic primary schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, schools implementing CLaSS were supported by a professional development model throughout the implementation. CLaSS introduced to many schools a two-hour daily literacy block, data-driven instruction and the incorporation of professional learning teams within the professional development model. Eleven participants from two Catholic primary schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne formed a case study for this research. The participants’ perceptions were captured qualitatively and viewed interpretively based on a phenomenological approach. The research had significant findings. Participants endorsed the literacy strategy and the professional development model as an effective approach. In particular, the findings identified that the professional learning teams played a key role in developing and maintaining a culture of learning within the literacy team. This culture of learning assisted in improving learning outcomes for their students. While there was an endorsement of CLaSS, the findings also showed that there were some significant issues raised by participants. This included issues in professional development and student achievement in the areas of comprehension and writing. The findings indicated that professional understanding and student improvement in these areas were not as developed as those for decoding words in reading. Participants also indicated that assessment of student writing was limited by the absence of sector-wide assessment of different genres and, therefore, they were not confident in measuring student improvement in writing. The findings also identified some areas of difficulty within the professional development model, such as catering for individual learning styles and the addition of new team members to the literacy team. The findings indicated that for future literacy innovation, participants would prefer an approach that encompassed literacy and teacher development across the whole school. Based on the participants’ responses, the research also provided recommendations and suggestions for further research in literacy. The recommendations included examining ways in which oral language and new literacies could have more prominence in the literacy block and providing a sector approach to assessment and specific professional development on comprehension and writing. The recommendations also suggested further research could be conducted as to ascertain the extent to which teachers require further professional development in comprehension and writing, how oral language is developed in other schools, and whether leadership has been the significant factor in sustaining the success of the literacy strategy.

This study explores the learning, and specifically literacy learning, of intellectually disabled adolescent students. Factors that have influenced this learning throughout the adolescent's education are identified. Nineteen case studies of the literacy development of adolescent students with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities were developed through observations in their classrooms, and of related activities. The results of the study show that there were three main influences on literacy development for these students. These were the unique nature of the learner, home and family factors and the impact of school on the literacy learning of these students from their early learning and through their years of formal education. This research adds to the current research on the learning of adolescent students with intellectual disabilities by looking specifically at literacy development and using qualitative approaches to search within and beyond the classroom for issues which affect their learning.Practitioners in education and in the care of disabled children can use the study's findings to build a framework of knowledge to develop appropriate educational placements, programs and support for learning by drawing on significant aspects of the child's personal, social and educational development. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This study is positioned within existing debates about the meaning and role of academic literacy, how it shapes and then frames the academic and professional writing practices of business students. It explores relationships between literacy, individual writers and the academy. It goes beyond merely locating these relationships, pointing more to the need to understand how particular student and staff groups within the faculty describe academic writing practices, and in turn act upon these descriptions. Current formulations of academic literacy reflect a heavy emphasis by academic and professional communities on the commodity value of 'literacy skills'. This happens despite the fact that not much is known about the details and current culture of literacy practices in Australian universities, and how these are inflected by different disciplinary areas and cross-cultural factors. Given the divergent applications of literacy that exist across the business professions, there remains a distinct lack of consensus over the meaning of literacy in business higher education communities. Institutional responses reflect this lack of consensus, and are expressed as inflections around a perceived 'crisis' in tertiary literacy standards. Business and professional faculties, while simultaneously embracing the economic and policy imperative underlying mass education, are seen to remain scornful of the service obligation this brings. Implicit in current understandings of academic literacy are the taken for granted connections between basic literacy, reading and writing, schooling, education and employment. These connections underwrite the relations of institutional arrangements, everyday practices, policy construction, and the conditions for student evaluation in the faculty. This study begins from where literacy is located 'bodily', and provides in the first instance a content analysis which explicates and presents student discussions on various ways of thinking about, framing and reframing academic writing. The project then turns to contemporary literacy theory for an explanation of how a community discourse of 'academic literacy' is conceived, produced and in turn reproduced. Contemporary literacy theory has embraced three theoretical frameworks in its move away from a traditional uni-dimensional view of literacy, namely critical social theories, discourse and textual studies, and ethnographic research methodologies (Smith 1988). This trinity of frameworks is used in the second instance to examine a series of interviews with student writers. This data makes visible the means by which institutions value certain literacy practices over others, practices which support the naturalized world of writing required by the faculty and its professional communities. Dominant literacy practices are identified, and interpretive procedures from the field of Ethnomethodology are used to account for the ways in which discourses on academic writing both reflect and produce social and community realities. Theories of discourse are used to examine the social construction of student writing practices within this local faculty community by identifying the attributes and assumptions that are attached to different community members to account for aspects of writing practice. The key to understanding academic literacy practices is found in explication of the social processes and practices that organise the 'everyday' world of the business faculty. This project discloses how the subjective world of academic literacy is organised, and how this form of organisation is articulated 'to the social relations of the larger social and economic process' (Smith 1988:152). In the strict context of this study, this means being able to disclose for certain groups of student writers, how their situations and literacy practices are organised and determined by social processes outside the scope of their 'everyday' world. This process of discovery requires the researched to actively construct 'local' referents as categories and concepts which, when applied to a faculty context, can form an observable, local practice as a dialectic 'between what members do in tending the categories and concepts of (an) institutional ideology' on academic writing (Smith 1988:161). The interpretive practices students use to analyse literacy practices bring academic literacy into being. The outcomes of the study show that the relationships between literacy, the individual and the academy are currently explained and understood in terms of the connections that can be made between existing professional and academic community discourses. Here the concept of a 'literacy crisis' resides. It is expressed through informant talk as a perceived fall in academic literacy standards. Informant debate on what has caused this decline is generally expressed through two key positions. One of these holds a rhetorical view of literacy as a somewhat natural and procedural outcome of the higher educational process, positioning literacy within an oppositional framework of deficit cultural and linguistic models. A second view evokes a competitive agenda of limited and limiting academic and professional opportunities. Behind these arguments and their rebuttals, lie assumptions about the 'literate' person as a member of the faculty. In arguing that research into the field of academic literacy has concealed a student sub-text, this study argues that literacy has been constructed, implemented and investigated from the perspective of the institution. It follows that academic literacy can be better understood as a socially constructed and signifying space, one which includes opportunities for students to create their own powerful identities as writers and as members of professional and faculty communities. This project bridges many aspects of student experience, with the major focus upon that which has been excluded by the absence of students from the making of the topics and the relevance of the discourse. For this compelling reason, this project has direct relevance to teachers, researchers, fieldworkers and policy-makers involved in the overlapping fields of literacy and higher education.