Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemLiteracy assessment in the early years: teachers at work in a changing policy paradigm( 2020)This thesis reports on a mixed-methods, two-phase study, which focused on the literacy assessment practices of early years teachers and literacy leaders in Catholic schools in the Melbourne archdiocese in a period following the devolution of assessment responsibility to schools. Phase 1 of the data collection resulted in 76 literacy leaders’ responses to a questionnaire on literacy assessment practices in their schools. In Phase 2, semistructured interviews with 23 early years teachers and seven literacy leaders were conducted to investigate their literacy assessment beliefs and practices. Importantly, the thesis reports on the participants’ interrogation, innovation on, resistance to, or acceptance of both previously mandated and current options around literacy assessment priorities and practices. Additionally, the thesis explores assessment in the early years within the contemporary high-stakes assessment environment which is characterised by heightened levels of teacher accountability. Bernstein’s (1990, 1996, 2000) pedagogic device is used as a theoretical framework to examine the complexities and tensions of policy enactments at the school and classroom level. Findings from this study illustrate that early years teachers’ literacy assessment work is complex due to working in a “boundary zone” of tension and compromise where, on one hand, they are encouraged to engage in age-appropriate, child-centred early years pedagogies yet, on the other, are mandated to assess and report against system-wide primary curriculum standards.
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ItemBɛ ŋme anfooni karimbu ka sabbu: accessing out-of-school children’s perspectives of literacies in northern Ghana through collaborative digital photography( 2020)Literacy is simultaneously a practice in which people engage daily and a global education policy challenge. Formal education contexts, such as schools, are generally viewed as the sites for developing literacy. Similarly, those that have been, or are going, to school are viewed as literate. When literacy and schooling are conflated, the understanding of literacy is narrowed. This has relegated 63 million primary school-age children to being considered out-of-school and, therefore, non-literate. This narrow understanding and hypothesis of literacy as a school-based skill has mobilised international advocacy and development efforts to achieve universal primary education and literacy targets. Ethnographic approaches to literacy research have challenged practices and policies of literacy as autonomously schooled, uncovering everyday literacy events and practices in which people engage outside of school. This study seeks to access and understand the literacy experiences of out-of-school children in order to support their literacy development. To support the development of out-of-school children’s literacy, it is important to understand the ways in which literacy is embedded in their everyday worlds. This case study seeks to access the perspectives of ten out-of-school children, from two rural communities in northern Ghana, of their understanding and practice of literacy. A collaborative digital photography methodology was developed to access the children’s perspectives during their enrolment in a nine-month Complementary Basic Education program. The study demonstrates different configurations of literacy in the two communities, and how each child negotiated their understanding and practice of literacy in their community. It also finds that methodologically, visual research can access out-of-school children’s perspectives through collaborative digital photography. This visual knowledge of children’s literacies has the potential to inform the creation of relevant and meaningful curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment to progress their literacy learning. Appropriate interventions can be designed when a nuanced understanding of children’s practices, knowledge, and understandings are taken into account. This will help to accelerate the goal to achieve universal primary education and meet literacy targets in those hardest to reach places.
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ItemDescribing teacher and school engagement with a professional learning intervention: A mixed-methods study( 2019)The use of school-based randomised controlled trials (RCTs) testing the effectiveness of learning/educational interventions has increased significantly over the last ten years. It is well recognised that implementation and process evaluations (IPE) alongside RCTs play a crucial complementary role by enhancing contextual understanding of trial outcomes and capturing educator experiences otherwise absent from RCT results. This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study describes how teachers and schools in the Classroom Promotion of Oral Language (CPOL) RCT engaged with a two-year professional learning (PL) intervention. Drawing on Berkel and colleagues’ (2011) integrated theoretical model of program implementation, teacher and school engagement was investigated and described using measures of participant responsiveness previously shown to be associated with positive program outcomes. These included attendance at face-to-face PL days, utilisation of opportunities for active participation including follow-up support and the online component, completion of between-unit-activities and program satisfaction. Mixed-methods findings demonstrated great variability in engagement with each intervention component. Leadership co-participation was found to significantly facilitate teacher engagement with all intervention components, and conversely a major barrier when absent. Additionally, teachers from schools that were participating in multiple projects/interventions at once found it difficult to give CPOL the time and effort required for sustained engagement. The use of multiple measures and time points showed that despite satisfaction increasing over time, participants found continued engagement into the second year challenging without strong leadership support.
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ItemCreativity in literacy : making meaning in the middle years( 2004)Literacy is often described as either a social phenomenon or a functional one - it is rarely viewed as an imaginative or creative phenomenon. Yet the processes involved in the development of literate identities are akin to roleplay; readers and writers try on different stances as they engage in various ways with diverse texts, and this requires a capacity for imaginative projection. A `creative age' has been proclaimed in Western societies. Creativity and high levels of literacy are prized for their perceived capacity to fit people for the anticipated rapidly changing circumstances of the future. However, while vast resources are devoted to developing literacy in education, aspects of schooling may discourage creativity, and, indeed, the kind of literacy (or 'literacies') required for this new era. This thesis argues that much might be gained by reconsidering imagination and creativity for educational purposes. It recounts psychological approaches to studying creativity, which, despite limitations, have led to a model that is useful for identifying the `locus of creativity' - a systems model of creativity (Feldman, Csikszentmihalyi & Gardner, 1994). This model is re-evaluated so as to theorise a systems model of student creativity. The term `literacy' has come to signify many different things in education, and the complexity of the phenomenon is discussed to show how imagination and creativity are integral to it. An acknowledgment of their role offers exciting possibilities for middle years curriculum in particular. This investigation into the place of imagination and creativity in literacy involved the analysis of `official' curriculum documents and of two case studies - one Year 9 and one Grade 5/6 teacher and their English/literacy classes. This permitted observations of the ways in which curriculum is enacted in classrooms. The fieldwork revealed data about common constructions of creativity, and where it inheres in literacy.
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ItemAn investigation of change through one school's involvement in the early literacy research project( 2000)This study closely monitored one small rural school's involvement in the Early Literacy Research Project (ELRP) in order to ascertain the critical players in effecting sustained change. The literature endorses the sustainability of change within systems if it is embodied within an effective design. The ELRP used the Hill & Crevola (1997) Whole-School Design for Effective Schooling as a framework for implementing changes in literacy teaching practice. This thesis investigated, through the collection of evidence, both quantitative and qualitative, the implementation of a structured classroom literacy program set within a design model, that predicted improved literacy outcomes. This study focused on three of the nine elements within the design model, namely the multi-dimensional approach to professional development, the professional learning team as a critical vehicle in maintaining the momentum of change and the impact of changed literacy teaching on improved student literacy outcomes. This thesis identified the structures, processes and people that combined to effect sustained change. This small case study produced a substantial quantity of research data that included interviews, reflective journals, observation and surveys. Importantly, this case study used the quantitative student performance data collated as part of the ELRP to support the finding of improved student literacy outcomes. The outcome of the investigation conducted within the context of a school literacy program, supports the proposition that successful and effective change recognises the multi-dimensional characteristics of organisational change management. This study used the nine dimensions of the Hill & Crevola whole-school design as a framework for discussing the change processes observed.
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ItemMapping the emergence of literacy-related knowledge in preschool students( 2009)This short-term longitudinal study investigated the emergence of literacy-related knowledge in typically developing preschool children aged between 3- and 6-years of age. The study comprised 68 children (42 males, 26 females; M age = 4.70, SD = 0.70) recruited from two early childhood settings and allocated to one of three age based cohorts (younger n = 17, M age = 3.83, SD = 0.16; middle n = 22, M age = 4.42, SD = 0.26; older n = 29, M age = 5.42, SD = 0.23). Each child completed a comprehensive suite of individual assessment tasks that incorporated oral, phonological, orthographic, alphabet and print knowledge, in addition to some aspects of conventional literacy knowledge (e.g., reading, writing). The tasks were re-administered six months later and complete literacy data were obtained on all measures for 54 children. Children's performance was compared across the three age cohorts and over the time of the study in order to examine the developmental progression of literacy-related knowledge during the preschool period (Study 1). The concurrent associations between measures of emergent literacy-related knowledge and conventional literacy knowledge were also explored for each of the cohorts (Study 2). Nonparametric and parametric analyses revealed group differences on many of the measures, particularly between the older preschool children and the two younger cohorts. Study 1 further demonstrated that literacy-related knowledge emerges early in some knowledge areas and that considerable growth in literacy-related knowledge occurs over a relatively short period of time, particularly between the ages of 4- and 5-years. Study 2 demonstrated that the associations between measures of emergent and conventional literacy knowledge generally increased with age and over time, indicating that emergent literacy-related knowledge and conventional literacy knowledge become more strongly associated during the preschool period. Overall, the results of this study indicate a clear developmental trend towards conventional literacy knowledge that commences in the preschool period. Important implications for early childhood education policy and practice are discussed.
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ItemImplementation and implications of the National English Profile for improving assessment strategies in a primary classroom( 1996)The National English Profile provides the framework for teachers to use in assessing the literacy development of children in Australian schools. This study documents how one school and, in particular, one teacher, implemented the National English Profile. In order to place this initiative in the context of educational change in Victoria today, recent initiatives and changes to the teaching of language have been examined. Current literature in the field of literacy and assessment have been critically reviewed. As a foreground to the study, the process of educational change is examined in two interrelated case studies. The first looks at how the site school reviewed their Assessment and Reporting Policy. The second examines personal educational change of the researcher with regard to the teaching and assessment of literacy. Both of these case studies refer to current literature in the field and refined the focus of the research in one classroom. This research study draws on and investigates a national initiative in assessment. It traces the implementation and implications of the National English Profile on classroom based assessment strategies. It took place over two years, at a time of quite dramatic change in state education in Victoria. The study provides insight into how teachers managed and adjusted to these changes in one particular school. The research design is drawn from naturalistic inquiry methodology. Data were collected from teachers, parents and children of the site school through questionnaires and interviews. From an analysis of these data, generalisations were made about the understandings a group of teachers, parents and children have about the worth of the National English Profile and the usefulness of particular classroom based assessment strategies. The use of Portfolios as a system of work sample collection that is both manageable and purposeful for teachers and children has been examined in this study.
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ItemInteractions between literacy in Korean and English in Korean immigrant children in Australia( 2008)Previous research has found that literacy skills, knowledge and strategies transfer across languages, and a strong establishment in one language facilitates development of a second language. This research is ultimately concerned with the interactions between literacy in different language contexts - Korean and English. That is, the research explored how bilingual children's literacy in the first language (Korean) affects the acquisition of a second language (English). To accomplish this objective, this study investigated the strategies that Korean bilingual children use for reading and writing in Korean script and whether these strategies have a positive or negative transfer to English. This research also exposed the reading and writing behaviours, and attitude towards the two languages and how they affect the transfer of literacy skills and strategies. The study was based on the qualitative case-study method with some additional quantitative measures, in search for in-depth understanding about bilingual children's language acquisition and development. The subjects for this project consisted of three Korean immigrant children aged eight to ten for the purposes of comparison. This research asked them to display their literacy experiences in both languages and their attitudes. The main precise method for reading was the running-records technique, which tests contextual reading accuracy and strategy use during which children read the appropriately leveled texts. Whether the texts are appropriate is decided by the error rate that is simply estimated by the number of words read incorrectly to the total number of words read. Reading data was analysed though the running records coding scheme and conventions. A running record was suitable for the research in terms of helping assess children's reading ability, and capture various reading behaviours and strategies use, based on the children's errors and self-corrections. To look into the writing process, think-aloud protocols were employed. This is defined as verbalising thought processes while reading or writing. Children's introspective verbal reports were coded and analysed through Arndt's (1990) modified version of the coding scheme developed by Perl (1981). The method helped the researcher discover the writing processes and interactions between the first and second languages. Discussion centred on the transferable strategies and the relationship between Korean and English reading and writing. The result was that the reading and writing behaviours and strategies that the children displayed were consistent across languages. All in all, this research provided a better understanding of Korean English bilingual children's biliteracy development. The research concluded that a positive transfer of strategies occurred from Korean to English, and accordingly Korean literacy had a positive effect on English literacy development.
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ItemTeaching genres in the primary school : what teachers know and do( 2000)In recent times in Australia much has been written and debated about what literacy is, what schools should teach in regards to literacy and how teachers should teach it. Teachers vary in their approaches to teaching literacy in the primary school, depending on many factors. One important factor is the quality of teacher knowledge of language and the associated capacity to use it to guide student literacy learning. This study focuses on teacher knowledge of genres and its relevance to the teaching of literacy in a Victorian Catholic primary school classroom with students from diverse language backgrounds. The concept of genres is clearly embedded in current curriculum documents, namely. the Curriculum and Standards Framework Il- English (Board of Studies, 2000). The explicitly stated outcomes consistently refer to students being able to use, analyse and control different genres and their related' structures and features. This implies that teachers need to have knowledge of genres as well as a range of strategies for teaching genres. In order to explore what knowledge teachers have about language and genres and how teachers teach this knowledge, this research involves a qualitative case study of an individual teacher in a Catholic primary school. The findings. suggest that the kinds of knowledge the teacher has about language and how to teach literacy is related to the practices adopted in the classroom and to the outcomes of student learning.
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ItemThe role of an early childhood educator in children's emerging literacy( 1996)During the two years of this semi longitudinal study, one early childhood educator reflected on and developed her practice. The particular focus of this study was the pre-school children's literacy development and how best this could be facilitated and supported. Action Research was chosen as the most suitable research methodology which enabled the investigation to develop in an iterative manner. In the first instance an analysis of the literature concerning children's early learning, their literacy development and the role of the adult during these early years was reviewed. The next stage involved a critical evaluation of both the provisions and resources for literacy in the pre-school classroom under investigation and also the most appropriate role for the teacher in relation to these children's emerging literacy. While the focus of this study has been the development of the teacher's knowledge base and practice, it was also possible to monitor the literacy development of the children from ages three to six years. In addition, highly favourable results were obtained by those children who took part in the study when they were compared with others who did not after the start of formal schooling. Consideration has also been given to the role of parents of these children in the pre-school environment and their role with respect to childrens emerging literacy.