This book, which is intended to inform Australia's education community about various aspects of the national literacy debate and the policy development process, reviews the literature on literacy teaching in secondary and postsecondary education and the workplace and describes the sociocultural and educational context for development of literacy policy and programs in the 1990s. Among the topics discussed in the book's six parts are the following: part 1, broad context of literacy education (the powers of literacy; literacy levels among Australians; and citizenship, social equity, and competence); part 2, necessary content of a national policy on literacy (policy context; purpose and scope; definitions; considerations in defining literacy; teaching cycles); part 3, Australia's learners (Australian English speakers, language diversity and English literacy, indigenous Australians, special needs, socioeconomic disadvantage); part 4, school literacy education (the early years, the middle years, the later years, the postschooling sector); part 5, adult literacy, numeracy, English-as-a-Second-Language) education, and lifelong learning for all; and part 6, state and territory programs in literacy (literacy teaching and learning in department of education schools in South Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania, New South Wales, and the Northen Territory and literacy teaching and learning and current practices in literacy education in the Catholic and independent schools sectors). (Contains 162 references) (MN)

With the rise of new technologies and media, the way we communicate is rapidly changing. Literacies provides a comprehensive introduction to literacy pedagogy within today's new media environment. It focuses not only on reading and writing, but also on other modes of communication, including oral, visual, audio, gestural and spatial. This focus is designed to supplement, not replace, the enduringly important role of alphabetical literacy. Using real-world examples and illustrations, Literacies features the experiences of both teachers and students. It maps a range of methods that teachers can use to help their students develop their capacities to read, write and communicate. It also explores the wide range of literacies and the diversity of socio-cultural settings in today's workplace, public and community settings. With an emphasis on the 'how-to' practicalities of designing literacy learning experiences and assessing learner outcomes, this book is a contemporary and in-depth resource for literacy students.

Infused with our authors' personal experiences teaching, Literacy in Australia, 4th Edition is delivered as a full colour printed textbook with an interactive eBook code included. With a prioritised focus on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures featured throughout the text, and a greater focus on using ICT in the classroom, pre-service teachers will be well-equipped with the knowledge of what kinds of activities they can include in and out of the classroom for an enriching learning experience for their students.

This edited volume brings together diverse perspectives on Australian literacy education for Indigenous peoples, highlighting numerous educational approaches, ideologies and aspirations. The Australian Indigenous context presents unique challenges for educators working across the continent in settings ranging from urban to remote, and with various social and language groups. Accordingly, one of the book’s main goals is to foster dialogue between researchers and practitioners working in these contexts, and who have vastly different theoretical and ideological perspectives. It offers a valuable resource for academics and teachers of Indigenous students who are interested in literacy-focused research, and complements scholarship on literacy education in comparable Indigenous settings internationally.

Being literate in the twenty-first century means being an empowered receiver, user and creator of diverse text types communicated across multiple and rapidly changing modalities. English and Literacies: Learning to make meaning in primary classrooms is an accessible resource that introduces pre-service teachers to the many facets of literacies and English education for primary students. Addressing the requirements of the Australian Curriculum and the Early Years Learning Framework, English and Literacies explores how students develop oracy and literacy. Reading, viewing and writing are discussed alongside the importance of children's literature. Taking an inclusive and positive approach to teaching and learning for all students, it explores the creation of texts using spelling, grammar in context and handwriting/keyboarding skills, as well as the need for authentic assessment and reporting. Finally, the text explores the importance of literacy partnerships and how teachers can address literacy challenges across the curriculum.

English and Literacies introduces pre-service teachers to the many facets of literacies and English education for primary students.

The editors and contributors to this collection explore what it means to adopt an “academic literacies” approach in policy and pedagogy. Transformative practice is illustrated through case studies and critical commentaries from teacher-researchers working in a range of higher education contexts—from undergraduate to postgraduate levels, across disciplines, and spanning geopolitical regions including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cataluña, Finland, France, Ireland, Portugal, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Adopting a 'social practice' approach to literacy research based on ethnographic methods, this book provides a strong critique of dominant understandings of the role of literacy in the lives of adults in Australia. It explores how groups of working-class adults can manage the literacy practices of their everyday lives by drawing on social networks of support. It is based on research conducted by the author over a forty-year career in adult literacy education, featuring the voices of varied adult groups, including: prisoners, the long-term unemployed, local council workers, manufacturing workers, adult literacy students, marginalised young people, vocational students, and patients living with a chronic illness (type 2 diabetes). Each chapter explains how dominant society views these adult groups in relation to literacy, and provides a qualitative examination at the local level of how members of these groups manage the literacy practices of their everyday lives.

The second edition books covers a range of topics, including: how literacy and English are linked to early childhood and to middle school education, special needs education, teaching literacy to Indigenous students, bilingualism and languages education, critical literacies and multi-literacies, literacy assessment, how to engage parents in their child's literacy and how quality literature can be used to support and enhance student's literacy development. The intended audience for this text is pre-service teachers working and studying in their early childhood and primary undergraduate degrees, as well as beginning teachers who are keen to improve their literacy teaching skills

This book is a guide to current research and debate in the field of literacies practice and education. It provides both an historical and lifespan view of the field as well as an overview of research methodologies with first-hand examples from a range of researchers involved in literacy research.