Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemPrinciples, practices and priorities of teaching reading in the early years of schooling( 2020)The teaching of literacy (particularly reading) in the early years of schooling remains an ongoing area of interest and evokes media attention (Adoniou, 2017; Hall, 2010; Torgerson, Brooks, Gascoine & Higgins, 2019). This is particularly the case in Victoria since a retreat there from systematically supported (even mandated) practices associated with the Early Years Literacy Research Project (EYLRP) of the 1990s and early 2000s. This PhD thesis reports on a qualitative case study (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2018; Miles, Huberman & Saldana, 2014; Schwandt & Gates, 2018) that investigates how contemporary primary teachers make pedagogic decisions that inform their planning and teaching of early reading. Through data collected via an online questionnaire, lesson observation, document and artefact analysis, and teacher interviews, the underpinning principles, practices and priorities of 16 Foundation to Year Two teachers of early reading were examined. Dewey’s model of reflective thought (1933) provided the framework to analyse the nexus between these principles, practices and priorities and determine how each element influenced and contributed to pedagogic decision-making about the teaching of reading. Findings from this study revealed the influence of reflective thought on teacher practice, regardless of what principles and priorities teachers tacitly or consciously endorsed. This outcome has future implications for system-wide and school-based leadership and teacher professional development and support.
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ItemA report on the relationship between family literacy practices and attitudes and those of year one boys who were referred to reading recovery intervention after one year of schooling( 2007)An overview of recent research in Australia has found that boys perform lower in literacy-related areas of the curriculum and that gender is a key predict�r of literacy attainment. Specifically, boys comprise about two-thirds of all students referred to Reading Recovery Intervention in Australian schools. The purpose of this study therefore was to report on the literacy practices and attitudes of four Year One boys who were referred to Reading Recovery Intervention after one year of schooling and how these relate to the literacy practices and attitudes valued in their families. In particular, this study investigates how these boys appropriate those highly situated literacy practices valued in the home and then transfer them to the school context. This qualitative case study undertaken at an inner suburban Government Primary school in Melbourne (Victoria) is informed by a socio-cultural view of learning which acknowledges the significant role of family enculturative practices on children's literacy development. Unlike previous studies which have explored traditional variables such as ethnicity, race and poverty on literacy development, this research is significant because it specifically examines families with high levels of physical and cultural capital who initiate and participate in supportive and rich literacy practices in the home. Therefore, it was of interest to the study why some boys did not engage with reading and writing as their parents and teachers might have assumed.. Also, throughout this study the intention was to elicit the boys' `voice' to determine their perceptions of literacy and their own learning. Interview data were gathered from the boys, their parents and classroom teachers in the form of semi-structured interviews, responses to fictional scenarios and peephole observations of home literacy practices. McNaughton's (1995) Socialisation Model of Emergent Literacy incorporating issues of gendered preferences, guided participation and appropriation provided the theoretical and conceptual framework for data analysis. The research findings provided confirmation of strong enculturative literacy practices operating within families of the study. Furthermore, the findings demonstrated the notion of identity played a key role in the boys' literacy choices. The study also provided evidence of dissonance between the home and the school with regards to writing practices and highlighted the narrow definition of literacy operating in both these contexts.