Robyn Ewing

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.

This textbook highlights the unique role that quality Arts processes and experiences can and should play across the curriculum to ensure that all learners’ creativities and imaginations flourish. It provides much-needed strategies, units of work and practical resources in six arts disciplines – visual arts, literature, drama, music, dance and media arts. It is a must-read for those keen to develop research-informed, integrated, arts-rich learning and teaching strategies while also exploring each discipline. Alongside the ‘four Cs’ (critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity) the authors propose four additional ‘Cs’: curiosity, compassion, connection and courage as much-needed 21st century capabilities. The book speaks to the current debates on STEAM vs. STEM education, and provides an important framework for preservice and experienced classroom teachers, including arts specialists.

This book builds on conversations between the author educators and other experts in the field, including authors, illustrators and teachers, to explore the benefits of discussions around quality literature within a classroom context that exercises the imagination and generates new ideas and discoveries. The book focuses on a range of strategies that can be utilised to reimagine literacy learning in a 21st century context including parent and teacher talk; active listening; fostering student driven questions; building vocabulary and imagery; and metacognitive talk. These are argued to have a hugely beneficial impact on how children learn to solve problems, engage in complex thought processes, negotiate meaning, as well as learning how to wonder, explore, create and defend ideas. The book also defends the importance of parents, teachers and academics as ‘storytellers’, using their bodies and voices as instruments of engagement and power. It will make compelling reading for students, teachers and researchers working in the fields of education and sociology, particularly those with an interest in creative methods for improving literacy.

This book builds on conversations between the author educators and other experts in the field, including authors, illustrators and teachers, to explore the benefits of discussions around quality literature within a classroom context that exercises the imagination and generates new ideas and discoveries. The book focuses on a range of strategies that can be utilised to reimagine literacy learning in a 21st century context including parent and teacher talk; active listening; fostering student driven questions; building vocabulary and imagery; and metacognitive talk. These are argued to have a hugely beneficial impact on how children learn to solve problems, engage in complex thought processes, negotiate meaning, as well as learning how to wonder, explore, create and defend ideas. The book also defends the importance of parents, teachers and academics as ‘storytellers’, using their bodies and voices as instruments of engagement and power. It will make compelling reading for students, teachers and researchers working in the fields of education and sociology, particularly those with an interest in creative methods for improving literacy.

This book provides pre-service and practising teachers with an integrated approach to language and literacy learning in early childhood. Written by leading academics in the field, it explores how children learn to talk, play using language, become literate and make meaning - from birth through to the pre-school years. Emphasising the importance of imagination and the arts in language learning, this book addresses a wide range of contemporary issues, highlights the impact of diverse socioeconomic, language and cultural backgrounds on young children's language and literacy development, and shows how early childhood teachers can effectively partner with parents and caregivers to help children learn through and about language. Case studies, interviews, reflective questions, clear links to the Early Years Learning Framework and the Australian Curriculum, and a rich array of practical and creative activities for use in early childhood environments help students connect theory and current research to practice.

Teaching is becoming increasingly complex in the 21st Century, creating a need for more sophisticated frameworks to support teachers’ professional learning. Action learning is one such framework and has been used for workplace learning in business settings for many years. It is now becoming increasingly popular in school and university settings, but it is often misunderstood. This book clarifies what action learning is, linking key concepts to illustrate that it is not merely a process, but a dynamic interaction between professional learning, communities, leadership and change. The book brings together more than a decade of the authors’ research in school-based action learning. Rich and diverse, the research draws on more than 100 case studies of action learning by teams of teachers in schools. The authors: provide practical advice on how to initiate and sustain action learning; explain the interaction between action learning, teacher development, professional learning, community building, leadership and change; and illustrate how action learning can link to classroom practice so closely that it becomes part of what teachers do, rather than an added impost.Addressing the highs and lows, the successes and failures, and their underlying causes, Action Learning in Schools provides insights into theories of cooperation, innovation, leadership and community formation to inform individual projects and large-scale school improvement initiatives. It will be of interest to teacher educators, pre-service and experienced teachers alike, as well as school and education system managers and policymakers keen to enhance teacher professional learning and educational outcomes for students.

Teaching is becoming increasingly complex in the 21st Century, creating a need for more sophisticated frameworks to support teachers’ professional learning. Action learning is one such framework and has been used for workplace learning in business settings for many years. It is now becoming increasingly popular in school and university settings, but it is often misunderstood. This book clarifies what action learning is, linking key concepts to illustrate that it is not merely a process, but a dynamic interaction between professional learning, communities, leadership and change. The book brings together more than a decade of the authors’ research in school-based action learning. Rich and diverse, the research draws on more than 100 case studies of action learning by teams of teachers in schools. The authors: provide practical advice on how to initiate and sustain action learning; explain the interaction between action learning, teacher development, professional learning, community building, leadership and change; and illustrate how action learning can link to classroom practice so closely that it becomes part of what teachers do, rather than an added impost.Addressing the highs and lows, the successes and failures, and their underlying causes, Action Learning in Schools provides insights into theories of cooperation, innovation, leadership and community formation to inform individual projects and large-scale school improvement initiatives. It will be of interest to teacher educators, pre-service and experienced teachers alike, as well as school and education system managers and policymakers keen to enhance teacher professional learning and educational outcomes for students.

Winner of the 2002 Colorado Prize for Poetry.