Future Directions in Literacy

Selected, edited papers from the conference in September 2007. The link between research and practice has never been more significant as global awareness about literacy pushes us to question the success of programs in schools. National reports on literacy were challenged during the conference. Grounded evidence was given of literacy programs that work to make a difference for groups with diverse needs. The collection of ideas in the conference represents a broad concept of literacy that includes the ability to communicate in multimodal, digital texts and values creativity alongside testing for skills. Classroom based research from the sum of these perspectives presents significant reason for change to practice and policy. To make a difference to future generations of students, we need to take the research out of the classroom and make it the centre of informed debate. This publication is a step towards achieving that goal.

Alyson Simpson is an associate professor of English literacy education at the University of Sydney.

About this book
About the conference
Acknowledgements

1. Reading places: creative and critical literacies for now and the future
   Barbara Comber
2. Stories from an Indigenous perspective in the reading resources mix, and the role they play in literacy success for Indigenous Australian students
   Margaret Cossey
3. How much can we learn from literacy assessment tasks?
   Ann Daly
4. University–school partnerships: literacy and students with additional learning needs
   David Evans, Criss Moore and Iva Strnadova
5. The entry knowledge of Australian pre-service teachers in the area of phonological awareness and phonics
   Barbara Fisher, Merle Bruce and Cedric Greive
6. Building literacy education: pasts, futures, and ‘the sum of effort’
   Peter Freebody
7. Conversations across borders: interactions between literacy research, policy, and practice
   Pauline Harris
8. Catching the reading bug: looking at how to immerse children in the literary experience using visual and textual literacy
   Jacqueline Hicks
9. Literacy meets technology in the primary school: symbiosis of literacy and technology
   Karen McLean
10. Looking for clarity amongst the challenges faced by teachers as they consider the role of ICT in classroom literacy learning experiences
    Jessica Mantei and Lisa Kervin
11. Applying multiple literacies in Australian and Canadian contexts
    Diana Masny and David Cole
12. icurricula, ipedagogies and outmoded ideologies: literacy teaching and learning in the digital era
    Jackie Marsh
13. Eyes in the back of our heads: reading futures for literacy teaching
    Jo-Anne Reid
14. The significance of text in the teaching of reading in the early years
    Kathleen Rushton
15. Debating and public speaking as oral literacy: promoting democratic education
    Benjamin Spies-Butcher
16. Research based criteria for the design and selection of literacy and thinking tools
    David Whitehead

Format: paperback
Size: 210 × 148 mm
314 pages
21 b&w illustrations and 9 b&w tables
ISBN: 9781920898779
Publication: 01 Mar 2008