The enactment of literacy curriculum policy by early childhood teachers in two Australian schools

Since the early 2000s, literacy education has become an area of intense focus in Australian education policy, positioned to have a role in Australia's pursuit of enhanced international competitiveness in the “global knowledge economy”. Policy called for improvements in literacy outcomes, monitored by mandated annual assessments, and policy statements recognised the need to establish solid literacy foundations in early childhood to facilitate learning, and desired improvements, in later years. This article is derived from a larger study that investigated the production and enactment of literacy curriculum policy by early childhood teachers in Australian schools. It focuses on the school level within the State of Western Australia, presenting findings derived from thematic and critical discourse analysis of participant interview and documentary data collected in two case‐study schools. Comparative analysis revealed that literacy curriculum policy processes in both case‐study schools were focused on achieving improved test results in mandated testing regimes. This was impacting upon literacy curriculum in the early childhood years of schooling, in Australia deemed to involve children up to 8 years of age, in many, possibly adverse, ways. These findings may offer insights in other contexts about literacy curriculum policy processes that are focused on enhancing competitive positioning.     

Scientific literacy for democratic decision-making

Scientifically literate citizens must be able to engage in making decisions on science-based social issues. In this paper, I start by showing examples of science curricula and policy documents that capitalise the importance of engaging future citizens in decision-making processes whether at the personal or at the societal levels. I elucidate the ideological underpinnings behind a number of the statements within those documents that have defined the trajectory of scientific literacy and have shaped what ought to be considered as personal and societal benefits. I argue that science curricula and policy documents can truly endorse scientific literacy when they embed principles of democratic education at their core. The latter entails fostering learning experiences where some of the underlying assumptions and political ideologies are brought to the conscious level and future citizens encouraged to reflect upon them critically and explicitly. Such a proposal empowers the future citizens to engage in critical deliberation on science-based social issues without taking the underlying status quo for granted. I end up the paper by situating the preparation of scientifically literate citizens within a framework of democratic education, discuss conditions through which a curriculum for scientific literacy can serve democratic decision-making processes, and provide modest recommendations.     

Computer Literacy as Ideology

Some of the most prominent policies in schools throughout the industrialized world today relate to the rapid introduction of computers. The most common rationale for introducing educational microcomputing is the concept of ‘computer literacy’. It is a concept, however, which is so poorly defined and delineated, and so unclear as to purpose and procedure, that it may best be investigated as a form of ideology. The justificatory arguments for computers in classrooms are primarily vocational or practical. They are based on assumptions that computers will be pervasive in the workplace of the future, or that they are soon going to be ‘everywhere’. The more purely pedagogical arguments are secondary: that learning about computers is a worthwhile experience in and of itself, and that computers can be useful productivity tools for other academic work. Drawing upon empirical evidence from an evaluation of computer use in two Canadian high schools, this paper shows how a critical treatment of computer literacy as ideology raises important issues about the computerization of education. It suggests that educators should question whether they have simply taken the ideology of computer literacy at face value, and whether this almost universal policy has received the critical attention it deserves.     

Incorporating the notion of recontextualisation in academic literacies research: the case of a South African vocational web design and development course

This article describes a small scale ethnographically oriented research study seeking to contribute to understanding student academic literacy practices in a South African vocational, web design and development course. In this course digital multimodal assessments are the main means whereby students demonstrate their learning. The findings of the study provide insights into the contextualised ways in which student academic literacy practices are shaped by academic and professional contexts where digital and multimodal practices are privileged. The academic literacies perspective used in this study, while useful for exploring the nature of student academic literacy practices, has not paid enough attention to theorising how literacy practices are shaped by broader contextual influences. To address this limitation the paper speculates about how the Bernsteinian concept of knowledge recontextualisation might be used alongside an academic literacies frame. The inclusion of an empirical focus on recontextualisation can provide an opportunity to explore how knowledge construction and transformation processes in the academic and professional domains result in the privileging of particular academic literacy practices.     

Policy enactment,context and performativity: ontological politics and researching Australian National Partnership policies

Recently, critical policy scholars have used the concepts of enactment, context and performativity as an analytic toolkit to illuminate the complex processes of the policy cycle, in particular, the ways in which a multitude of official education reform policies are taken up, challenged and/or resisted by actors in local, situation-specific practices. This set of theoretical tools are usually deployed to analyse interview data collected from a single school or cluster of schools to draw findings or conclusions about the complex processes of policy enactment. We aim to build on this critical policy studies work by, firstly, highlighting key aspects of these theoretical/methodological constructs, secondly, exploring the performative role of research in the materiality of specific contexts and, thirdly, theorising education policy research in terms of ontological politics. We ground this work in a recent collaborative enquiry research project undertaken in Queensland, Australia. This research project emerged in the Australian policy context of National Partnership Agreement policies which were designed to reform public or government-funded schools servicing low socio-economic communities, in order to improve student learning outcomes, specifically in literacy and numeracy as measured by high-stakes national testing.     

大学生英文新媒体素养的内涵与结构--兼论其与英语自我效能感的关系

大学生利用新媒体开展英语学习已成为常态,但其应用效果不完全一致。国内外关注英语学习者新媒体素养的研究较少,存在理论框架不完善、实证研究缺乏等问题。基于国际新媒体素养研究中最新的理论框架编制的大学生英文新媒体素养评价量表,包括功能性取用(取用技能、理解),功能性创用(创用技能、传播、生产),批判性取用(分析、整合、评价)和批判性创用(参与、反思、创造)4个一级维度和11个二级维度。经对486位大学生开展的实证研究显示:(1)改编后的大学生英文新媒体素养评价指标具有较好的信效度,有助于完善人们对新媒体素养内涵和结构的理解;(2)我国大学生的英文新媒体素养整体处于低阶水平,重功能性取用,轻批判性创用;(3)大学生英文新媒体素养与其英语自我效能感呈现高度相关,功能性媒体素养是英语自我效能感的重要预测因素。大学生在学习正确获取或应用网络资源的同时,应注重加强对新媒体来源信息的辨析采纳,提高批判性参与意识。高校应积极服务大学生多层次英文新媒体素养的提升,培养信息社会所需的高素质人才。     

Digital literacy,fake news and education / Alfabetización digital,fake news y educación

Abstract

The role of digital literacy in strengthening citizens’ resilience to misinformation and ‘fake news’ has been the subject of research projects and networking and academic and policy discourses in recent years, given prominence by an escalation of the perceived crisis following election and referendum results in the US and UK respectively. This special issue sets out to take forward critical dialogue in the field of media and digital literacy education by publishing rigorous research on the subject. The research disseminated in this collection speaks to the political and economic contexts for ‘fake news’, the complex issue of trust and the risks of educational solutionism; questions of definition and policy implementation; teaching about specific subgenres such as YouTube and clickbait; international comparisons of pedagogic approaches and challenges for teachers in this changing ecosystem.     

Making the invisible visible: disciplinary literacy in secondary school classrooms

In Ireland, policy on literacy now aims to expand the role that post-primary teachers of all subjects have in developing students' literacy skills. This paper draws on data from a wider research study carried out in secondary schools in 2010 and focuses on the classroom support with disciplinary literacy provided by subject teachers for students who have literacy difficulties. A brief outline is provided of the context and perspectives informing the study as well as the research methods used. Findings are examined against the backdrop of policy developments for literacy at second level and within the context of wider policy change. Teachers' lack of professional knowledge, combined with barriers at wider system level, is identified as a significant challenge to pedagogical change at classroom level. Implications for policy implementation, for initial teacher education and for cultural change at school level are discussed. It is argued that literacy must be repositioned as a central aspect of subject pedagogy and teachers, as subject experts, supported in unpacking and sharing with students, the discourse practices and ways of viewing and communicating about the world that are characteristic of their academic disciplines.     

The impact of PISA and the interrelation and development of assessment policy and assessment theory in Japan

PISA presents a new image for academic achievement, which has prompted Japanese education reforms over the past decade to innovate teaching and learning for ‘PISA-style literacy’. Supported by theoretical foundations, particularly with regard to the concept of ‘PISA literacy’ and ‘authentic assessment’, these reforms have accomplished progress in the focus on higher order competencies, such as application and the development of new assessment strategies. However, more recently, various critical discussions of ‘PISA literacy’ are underway in the Japanese academy. They interrogate it more critically and reveal the narrow emphasis on functional application and technical operation. Current assessment practices, which tend to fall into ‘criteria compliance’, are in urgent need of review. There is a need to extend the critical discussions in progress to the new assessment strategies. This paper responds to this, by considering the Japanese acceptance of ‘PISA literacy’ and its assessment, discussing the features and limitations.     

A multilevel model of child- and classroom-level psychosocial factors that support language and literacy resilience of children in Head Start

Early exposure to the multiple risk factors associated with poverty is related to an elevated risk for academic difficulty. Therefore, it is important to promote academic resilience as early as possible and to identify factors that support resilience. Given the positive relation between early language skills and later academic outcomes, examining resilience in the domain of language and literacy is critical. Both exposure to a high-quality classroom environment and early child psychosocial strengths may serve as protective or promotive factors for low-income children, reducing the risk of poor language and literacy outcomes. Using a sample of 275 preschoolers from 29 Head Start classrooms, the current study examined the relations among teacher-reported child-level psychosocial strengths, observed classroom process quality, and growth in language and literacy. Furthermore, whether child and classroom factors had an additive or an interactive effect on outcomes was also investigated. Results indicated that child-level psychosocial strengths predicted initial levels of language and literacy, and classroom organization predicted growth. Results are discussed in terms of understanding how malleable child- and classroom-level factors are associated with language and literacy outcomes and emphasize the importance of intervening early on in young children's learning trajectories.     

A policy analysis of adult literacy promotion in the Third World: An accounting of promises made and promises fulfilled

To the individual, literacy has promised a new mentality, a new social definition, and new economic capacities. At the collective level, literacy has promised modernization of institutions, democratization of political systems, and cultural renewal of societies in the Third World. Have the promises of literacy been fulfilled? The processes of policy formulation, policy analysis and policy assessment are essentially social processes and a search for ‘proof’ of the effects of literacy is naive, to say the least. What we need is a position on literacy promotion that is plausible, credible and probable, and thereby compelling for action. While both the enthusiasts for literacy and the sceptics continue to draw different conclusions from the same research and experience, a consensus is emerging that the question ‘Why Literacy?’ should now be laid to rest. The question to ask now should be: ‘How Literacy?’ In regard to the question of ‘How Literacy?’, there are two basic positions: Should literacy be taught within the specific small-frame of the selective and intensive approach to literacy, with the provision of basic needs? Or, should literacy be taught within a large-frame of literacy as a ‘potential added’, on a mass-scale and with the political orientation? This paper clearly opts for literacy asgenerative rather than merelyinstrumental.     

Teachers’ academic training for literacy instruction

Literacy instruction is a powerful determinant of children’s academic and school outcomes. Teachers’ training for literacy instruction is therefore critical for children’s reading learning. The present study examined the contents of 130 courses related to literacy instruction from a representative national sample of primary teachers’ undergraduate programs (N = 81), to address the following issues: which courses, related to literacy instruction, are included in the curriculum of undergraduate training programs? Which is the weight of the courses in undergraduate programs? What are the contents of the courses? The results show that most critical features of literacy instruction are included in the course contents of most programs (e.g. phonics, theory of literature). Still, some other critical features are underrepresented (reading/writing comprehension skills) or apparently missing (assessment and intervention in reading/writing problems). Moreover, the time allocated to literacy instruction seems to be scarce. Still, wide differences across university programs and courses were found.     

The association among literacy proficiency,effortful control,and frustration

The authors investigated the relationships among effortful control and frustration and literacy proficiency of preadolescence to determine which subcomponent of effortful control and/or emotion might be critical in achieving academic success. The participants included 72 children recruited from a larger longitudinal study. Children's frustration, effortful control, and literacy skills were assessed at Grade 5, and their nonverbal IQ levels were assessed at Grade 1. Effortful control and frustration were measured by a self-report questionnaire. Literacy proficiency was measured with tests of reading comprehension, written language, and the semestral grades in the subject of Chinese literacy. Results showed that children with higher effortful control perception had better literacy abilities, particularly writing and language academic achievement. The dispositional frustration moderated the predictive effect of attention control on children's reading comprehension. The findings support the importance of self-regulation and emotions on literacy proficiency.     

The Web and information literacy: scaffolding the use of web sources in a project-based curriculum

In this article we describe and discuss a three‐year case study of a course in web literacy, part of the academic literacy curriculum for first‐year engineering students at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Because they are seen as ‘practical’ knowledge, not theoretical, information skills tend to be devalued at university and rendered invisible to the students. In particular, web‐searching skills are problematic, given the challenges that the Web poses to academic values and traditional research practices. Consequently, the technical skills of web searching are often taught separately from academic curricula or left entirely unaddressed. We illustrate an alternative, integrated approach to the development of this aspect of information literacy. We apply a critical action research methodology to document, evaluate and reflect on students’ use of evaluative frameworks. Focusing on the facilitation of critical and evaluative use of the Web for exploratory learning, we interrogate the role of ‘cultural capital’ and evaluate the effectiveness of the scaffolding provided by the course design. We find important connections between developing knowledge of academic discourse and successful academic use of the Web, and note that, for students to transfer their skills to a range of contexts, these skills will require sustained attention throughout the undergraduate curriculum. We present evidence that the most effective strategies integrate everyday practical knowledge of research techniques with teaching about academic discourse and building students’ knowledge in a specific domain.     

The myth of literacy relapse: Literacy retention among Moroccan primary school leavers

The issue of literacy retention is central to the educational policy concerning of most developing countries. It has been variously suggested that 4–6 years of primary education may serve as an inoculation against ‘relapse’ into illiteracy in the Third World. This paper reports on one of the first longitudinal studies designed to address this question, by investigating the nature of literacy and cognitive retention in a sample of 72 adolescents two years following fifth grade departure from primary school in Morocco. The present study found that these school leavers, when reassessed two years later, showed a significant increase in performance in first literacy (Arabic), modest gains in second literacy (French), no change in cognitive skills, and a decrement in math skill. Furthermore, urban leavers gained more literacy than rural leavers, and girls more than boys. The present findings do not support the hypothesis of literacy ‘relapse’ or loss of academic/cognitive skills after five grades of primary schooling. It was also found that girls retained more academic skills than boys, but were much less likely to be employed, a finding which calls into question certain claims about the impact of schooled knowledge and literacy on employment in developing countries.     

Developing Visual Creative Literacies Through Integrating Art-Based Inquiry

Abstract

Visual literacy and the ability to think creatively are critical skills requisite to full participation and communication in the twenty-first century. Learning experiences that integrate studio-based inquiry and other academic concepts can develop discipline skills as well as communication skills of deciphering visual cues and de/re-constructing visual metaphor. This article provides a theoretical overview of meaningful art integrated inquiry, offering examples of science, technology and math integration with studio technique, materials and processes. Further, an argument is presented for the need for all teachers to engage in art-based practices to further develop their own skills and conceptual frameworks.     

The intersection of cognitive and sociocultural factors in the development of reading comprehension among immigrant students

The present paper synthesizes the international research literature on the educational achievement of immigrant and minority language students by articulating three propositions for which there is strong empirical evidence: (a) print access and literacy engagement play a key role in promoting reading comprehension; (b) the development of bilingual students?? L1 proficiency plays a positive role in L2 academic development; and (c) societal power relations play a direct causal role in promoting school failure among students from subordinated communities. This interpretation of the empirical evidence is contrasted with the conclusions of recent North American and European reviews. For example, the comprehensive review of literacy development among minority students conducted in the United States by the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth acknowledged the legitimacy of bilingual education as a policy option but said very little about the role of literacy engagement in promoting reading comprehension. By contrast, various reports of the Programme for International Student Achievement (PISA) conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) highlighted the importance of reading engagement for reading achievement but discounted bilingual education as a feasible or realistic policy option. The instructional implications of the present review include the need for educators to promote print access and literacy engagement, teach for cross-lingual transfer, and affirm students?? identities in classroom interactions.     

Handy Manny and the Emergent Literacy Technology Toolkit

This paper outlines the use of a technology toolkit to support emergent literacy curriculum and instruction in early childhood education settings. Components of the toolkit include hardware and software that can facilitate key emergent literacy skills. Implementation of the comprehensive technology toolkit enhances the development of these critical literacy skills in learners at risk of academic difficulties.     

Evidence,argument and social responsibility: first‐year students’ experiences of information literacy when researching an essay

This paper describes a phenomenographic study of undergraduates’ experiences of information literacy when researching an essay in a first‐year environmental studies course. Three hierarchical categories were identified that represented students’ experiences: (i) seeking evidence; (ii) developing an argument; and (iii) learning as a social responsibility. The critical variation that delimited the categories included students’ focus on learning, focus on the essay task, use of information in the course, use of information in the essay, use of contrasting perspectives and development of argument. Strategies for designing curricula are suggested based on the educationally critical aspects that the study reveals, and the nature of information literacy as a ‘generic’ skill is questioned. The study has significance for students, teachers, librarians, academic skills advisers and academic developers in higher education.     

Play and gender in Ontario kindergarten classrooms: implications for literacy learning

Research has highlighted the importance of early literacy development. In light of this, there has been a growing concern around boys’ underachievement on language and literacy assessments. Given the recent mandate for play-based learning in Ontario kindergartens, this paper examines children's literacy integration during play from a gender perspective. An analysis of 380 minutes of children's play revealed that girls and boys often played separately across the 12 kindergarten classrooms in this study. Importantly, the centres at which girls and boys played offered different literacy support. Our findings showed that gender played a salient role in children's play choices affecting the types of academic skills children practiced in their play. In this paper, we shed light on the need for gender awareness and sensitivity in policy mandates and teacher practice.