In this episode, we explore the evolving world of literacy education, where technological innovations are revolutionising traditional teaching and learning methods.
In this episode, we explore the evolving world of literacy education, where technological innovations are revolutionising traditional teaching and learning methods.
Our guests Dr. Kylie Bradfield and Claudia Shute, explore the critical role of literacy across all curriculum areas, emphasising how incorporating students’ home languages can enrich literacy education by enhancing comprehension and inclusivity. They also discuss the transformative impact of children’s books, highlighting its power to offer students mirrors and windows - reflecting their own experiences, whilst exposing them to new perspectives at the same time.
Together, we explore:
This episode highlights the broad impact of literacy on academic success and personal development, advocating for a holistic approach that empowers teachers, involves parents and meets the diverse needs of students. Jump in and Let’s Talk Teaching.
Resources:
Special Guests:
Dr Kylie Bradfield
Senior Lecturer, Curriculum, Teaching and Inclusive Education - Monash University
Claudia Shute
Teacher - Barton Primary School, Cranbourne West
If you’re enjoying Let’s Talk Teaching, don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review! You can follow us on Instagram, X and Facebook, and share your thoughts on the show by using the hashtag #letstalkteachingpodcast
If you’re interested in hearing more about the short courses, undergraduate and postgraduate study options that Monash Education offers, please visit: Monash Education's learn more page.
We are grateful for the support of Monash University’s Faculty of Education in producing this podcast.
[00:00:00] Bec: This podcast is recorded on the land of the Boon Wurrung people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. We'd like to pay our respect to elders past and present, and acknowledge that this land was stolen and never ceded. Welcome to Let's Talk Teaching, the podcast created by teachers for teachers. I'm Associate Professor Rebecca Cooper, Assistant Dean of Initial Teacher Education at Monash University's Faculty of Education, and I'll be your host for this series.
[00:00:28] Bec: Our aim is to create a conversational series that's informative, engaging and relevant to your teaching practice. Joined by academics and teaching alumni from Monash University, we'll be exploring the challenges, issues and experiences you might be facing in and out of the classroom. Drawing on their personal experiences to provide you with with valuable insights into the world of teaching.
[00:00:53] Bec: How do we navigate the ever evolving landscape of literacy in education? Well, today I'm joined by [00:01:00] Dr. Kylie Bradfield, lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Monash University, and Claudia Schutt, a passionate teacher from Barton Primary School. Together, we explore the expansive definition of literacy.
[00:01:12] Bec: From traditional reading and writing to critical thinking and digital comprehension and discuss how technology is reshaping our approach to teaching these essential skills. Let's get started. Well, thank you, Kylie and Claudia for coming to talk all things literacy, reading and writing with me. Kylie, I'll start with you.
[00:01:33] Bec: Where did your interest in literacy come from? Where did it start?
[00:01:37] Kylie: My mum says it was there before I could even realise it was there. She said I didn't read, I devoured books. But I do remember my year one teacher allowing me to take home extra reading books, which I thought was just wonderful. And as a little bit of a, I guess, a cycle of life, years later that, that teacher was in the same school that I was working at, [00:02:00] and actually sent my first email to her.
[00:02:02] Kylie: When we were doing our email training. So the teacher who taught me to read was the first person that I emailed. So it's, it's been around for a long time and it continues to grow.
[00:02:12] Bec: It continues to grow. So it's feeding it now, do you think?
[00:02:15] Kylie: Oh, so many things. You mean, I don't get invited to barbecues because I talk about literacy instead of, you know, what's happening on TV, but I love, new books, especially children's literature is just the most amazing thing to me.
[00:02:29] Kylie: I own way too many. Um, and I think because we're in a time where literacy has become just so important, you know, in the 21st century, we can't ignore how important it is for us to be able to communicate. And for that reason, it just, it. Yeah. Just
[00:02:45] Bec: fuels the passion I have. So when we say literacy though, what do we actually mean by that?
[00:02:52] Bec: What does it mean? What is literacy? That's a huge question. It's huge. I know. It's okay. We've got time. We've got time. Do you want to [00:03:00] start us off, Kylie, and then? Claudia, jump on in.
[00:03:02] Kylie: Sure. I think it's easy to know what literacy is today if we think about what it used to be.
[00:03:07] Bec: Okay.
[00:03:07] Kylie: So let's say in the 50s or 60s, if we asked a teacher what it meant to be literate, they would probably say something like reading, uh, writing, spelling, punctuating, and having correct grammar.
[00:03:21] Kylie: And of course, today those things are all still true. But on top of that, we have the added complexity of Technology, meaning that the texts we read and the texts we write are vastly different. I would say technology is probably the biggest change. And the second one, and I hope you all agree with this Claudia, is the need to be critical readers to not take for granted thoughts we have to have around who is telling us this information and what might their goals be in the telling of that information.
[00:03:54] Kylie: Would you agree?
[00:03:55] Claudia: A hundred percent. I think what you said about like that. critical thinking that [00:04:00] is like, you need that. And I think you're right. And when you say that literacy, it's huge. Um, and like traditionally in like a school or teaching sense, we'll think, you know, reading, writing, um, spelling, all of those things that you mentioned.
[00:04:12] Claudia: Um, but yeah. Literacy kind of goes beyond that as well. You need, like, you need to be literate to kind of be able to do anything. Like you've got financial literacy and that's like just a whole, like, yes, it's a completely different topic, but you need to be able to understand and look critically at all the information you're getting from all sources and in every topic, um, and be able to understand that.
[00:04:35] Claudia: And. Do something with it as well.
[00:04:37] Bec: Claudia, what I'm hearing is that literacy actually has a role across the curriculum. What is sort of, why is it important across all of those curriculum areas? You
[00:04:47] Claudia: need literacy and you need to be able to be literate to be able to, I think, access. All the other learning areas in maths like yes, you're problem solving, but you actually need to be able to comprehend the question.
[00:04:59] Claudia: What [00:05:00] are you being asked to do? What answer are you trying to find? And it's the same in all areas, um, inquiry units. You need to be able to find the information. If we're say our grade ones, we're researching light and sound for them to be able to understand how light and sound work. They have to have those skills to understand vocabulary, comprehend what they're reading or what, what they're being told.
[00:05:21] Claudia: It's, it's a huge skill across the curriculum and in life really, you need to be able to be literate and understand, um, and communicate with other people.
[00:05:29] Kylie: You're
[00:05:30] Claudia: nodding along there,
[00:05:30] Kylie: Kyla. I am, absolutely. And as I said before, the digital technology changes what happens across curriculum areas as well. So when we think of a textbook now, it's usually not just a paper Transcribed document.
[00:05:45] Kylie: It might have additional videos that you can go and watch. And it might have documents that you can click on to find the meaning of the words. And so all of these things, including reading pictures, are part of being [00:06:00] literate. And we use images so much now in our content area learning. Does it shift and change across the years of schooling?
[00:06:07] Kylie: I think it probably does, but it shouldn't. I think we should be, uh, teaching with this 21st century definition right across the board. So when we look at young children, for example, in a year one class that I've just been designing a task for them to look at Mother's Day catalogs. So here's an example where critical literacy and multi modality or the way that we present the information comes into play.
[00:06:34] Kylie: So we collected. Lots and lots of Mother's Day catalogs, and we looked at what the messages were being told from the Mother's Day catalogs. What did mothers want if we believed these, uh, magazine or brochure developers? And of course it was everything pink. It was everything to do with fluffy slippers and cuddling our children.
[00:06:55] Kylie: We then made a survey for the year one children to take home to find out what. mothers [00:07:00] really wanted, which you'll laugh at some of the examples, and then created a brochure that was based on reality. So we were being critical. We were thinking about who was telling us the messages. And we also answered back to that in a way that was relevant.
[00:07:16] Kylie: By the way, mums wanted time on the computer to themselves and time for a bubble bath. So I thought that was pretty good.
[00:07:24] Bec: It's pretty good. I'll take it. I'll take it. That is great. You know, that works. So you've talked a little bit about technology, but what do you see has really been the influence of technology on teaching and learning literacy over the last few years?
[00:07:41] Kylie: They spend every hour outside of school engaging in highly digital and highly literate kinds of activities. And so what we have to see is. Less of a disconnect between what they do at home and what they do in school. So we want to see them creating digital texts. [00:08:00] So instead of doing a book report that, you know, is the old traditional pen and paper, why don't we think about creating book trailers, like a movie trailer?
[00:08:08] Kylie: And we take images from the text and we highlight the really exciting parts of the book. So that's why we need to be thinking about the connect between real lives and the lives of the students in our classrooms.
[00:08:22] Bec: I know I say, even with my own daughter, she communicates with me differently on an email, particularly when I'm traveling, then the way she does.
[00:08:30] Bec: You know, if I call her on FaceTime or that, I often get a lot more detail in the texts than I do sometimes when we're, we're face to face. So I think there's something in definitely in using the technology, but in teaching them to use it effectively
[00:08:44] Claudia: and wisely. I think that's a skill that we have to teach as well, that it's in the curriculum, you know, teaching students how to, Like there are different ways of communicating, the way you might communicate with your mum will be different to the way you communicate with your brother or sister or your best friend.
[00:08:59] Claudia: And then [00:09:00] that's different again from maybe the way you would communicate with your principal. And then all of that is probably different again in the way that you would communicate with them over digital technology. It's kind of changed the way we communicate. And so, yeah, you're right. Like we have to, teach that.
[00:09:14] Claudia: So
[00:09:15] Bec: then thinking about the teaching practices, how have they changed in relation to literacy education over time?
[00:09:21] Kylie: What we're doing a really good job of is not falling into the trap of just teaching the digital technology, but we're teaching through the digital technology. When things first started appearing, it was very much about how does the PowerPoint work or how does this camera work?
[00:09:38] Kylie: But now as children become more adept at using these tools, we move into how are you going to show that kind of, um, idea to your audience? What colors will you pick? What frame will you choose? What angle would you choose? And so it's become less about the digital technology and more about [00:10:00] communicating through the digital technology.
[00:10:02] Bec: But to do that, I, I, It sort of makes me wonder how much support teachers need in being able to do that and to drive that really effectively and how that's sort of changing the way classroom environments look and feel when kids are learning to read and write and becoming literate. Is that something you've seen or observed?
[00:10:22] Bec: Absolutely. But if
[00:10:24] Kylie: we think about the world that the children live in we've got to move with them. And of course we know that this challenges a lot of people because you don't feel like you might have, you may not have the skills, but in fact, you don't have to be perfect at all of it, but you have to understand how that works as a literate kind of experience.
[00:10:44] Kylie: So having the knowledge of why someone would choose to crouch down on the ground and take the photograph with, you know, someone, um, peering above them. That's the kind of information that you need, um, over and above the [00:11:00] technology. You know, it's really about the pedagogy and how you support the students to do that, rather than the digital technology.
[00:11:07] Bec: And thinking about those students, you know, there's a very diverse student population out there in, in schools that, um, are learning to read, write, become literate people at all different rates and paces. And Claudia is smiling at me right now. Um, so how does this diverse student population. impact on the teaching when it comes to literacy?
[00:11:32] Claudia: It's tough. I know my experience, I have half my class on a EAL curriculum. Um, so I think the challenge and I'm working in junior year. So I think that again, adds another layer as well. I think the challenge lies in that these children are learning how to read and write in their home language. And then at school they're learning how to read and write in English.
[00:11:53] Claudia: So it's almost like. everything they're learning is doubled and they have to translate the things I'm [00:12:00] teaching them about reading and writing into English, which they're already learning additionally. And then they have to translate that to their home language as well. So it presents quite a big challenge.
[00:12:09] Claudia: And I think going back to digital technology that can sometimes help bridge that gap a little bit, having access to, you know, Visuals, just so that that cognitive load for students is reduced, they don't have to process what you're saying in English, translate it back to their home language, answer the question in their home language, translate it back to English and then give that answer to you.
[00:12:31] Claudia: Um, the visuals can help reduce that cognitive load a little bit.
[00:12:35] Kylie: Okay. I think this is the biggest change that we will see in our careers, this, this notion of the diversity of classrooms. Australia's always been very diverse, but more so now. And in fact, those of us who are monolingual, I only speak one language, except I can order coffee in Italian and French because you've got to have the emergency skills down pat.
[00:12:56] Kylie: Oh, you shouldn't. Uh, 70 percent of the world now is [00:13:00] bilingual or multilingual. So I'm a minority. So our classrooms for the rest of our careers are going to be places of high diversity, particularly for English language learners. And I think one of the other biggest changes in literacy is the fact that home languages are now invited and acknowledged and valued in the classroom.
[00:13:21] Kylie: So we will see Australian classrooms where children are talking in their home languages as a part of the vehicle moving towards learning English.
[00:13:31] Bec: So what does that mean for teachers who are Another challenge. Yeah. Another challenge. And what do
[00:13:36] Kylie: we do about it, Kai? Well, it doesn't mean we have to become multilingual.
[00:13:41] Kylie: What it does mean we have to do is to value and bring in every linguistic resources that these kids have and say, if you need to talk about this in your home language first, before we start putting some of the English
[00:13:56] Bec: with that, then go ahead. Even if they don't have anybody else in the [00:14:00] class that speaks their home language, is it about verbalising out loud?
[00:14:03] Bec: They
[00:14:03] Kylie: could probably be doing things there like drawing and labelling in home languages. It's great if we can find other children that they can speak to. And this element, we call it either plurilingualism or translanguaging, which is about what the children do. We see it coming now into things like the curriculum.
[00:14:22] Kylie: We see it coming into the standards for Australian teachers. It's there, and it's going to be an amazing change, I think, for how these children feel in a place where they may be. completely at sea, they can have their home language as a way of bringing English
[00:14:41] Bec: to them. And so aside from, um, maybe speaking it or writing it, how else can they bring their language with them?
[00:14:48] Bec: I
[00:14:49] Claudia: think what you're talking about this, um, was it multilingualism? It can't, multilingualism is part of, part of this. It's, um, I think it's a really amazing idea and amazing [00:15:00] notion for students to be able to do that in the classroom. And I think it also creates a real sense of belonging in a space where that they can feel free to share their language and it allows for them sometimes to be the expert in the room.
[00:15:13] Claudia: You know, if you are lucky enough to have maybe have a few students who speak the same language, they can really help each other.
[00:15:18] Kylie: You know, people who speak more than one language or are learning a new language, this is what they do. They don't leave their first language at home. It's not outside the classroom.
[00:15:26] Kylie: It's there with them. It's part of their linguistic repertoire. It's what they own. It's what they know. And in fact, when we talk about the challenge that these children have coming into a classroom and learning language, we sometimes forget to say, They are already language users. They are already language knowers.
[00:15:44] Kylie: It just happens to not be the language of the classroom. Um, and there's that, you know, English centric view we have where English is the only important thing. And of course that's not true. I
[00:15:55] Claudia: think that could be. A lot of the English language has come from other languages. [00:16:00] So once you start looking at maybe morphology of words and things along those lines, those skills that they have in another language, they might come out there and they might be like, Oh, I understand what this word means because I know, um, this other word in my home language and they can help there as well.
[00:16:15] Claudia: When you're talking about home language, do parents play a role
[00:16:18] Kylie: here? They do, absolutely. And I think they're going through a big change too, for teachers. This idea of home languages being a tool to learn English is a, is It's a bit of a challenge for some people, particularly those of us who don't understand what it's like to try and speak another language.
[00:16:38] Kylie: But for many years, we've thought about English only, English in the classroom. And I know some parents who are now hearing about plurilingual strategies are thinking, but I want my child to learn English. So where we need to go is to have continued conversations about the fact that as a language [00:17:00] learner.
[00:17:00] Kylie: This child has so much to bring to the learning of English that we do see, and we have research based evidence of this, that that first language can help support the learning of the second or the third or the fourth or the fifth. It's amazing.
[00:17:18] Bec: It is amazing. And what about just generally, what role can parents play in supporting literacy development
[00:17:26] Claudia: for kids?
[00:17:27] Claudia: When, and I think in all aspects of schooling, when parents are on board and supportive at home, could be little things like reading a book together for enjoyment before bed, or maybe it is reading the word list of the week, or even just talking to their child at home. Oh, you know, what, what sounds did you learn today?
[00:17:45] Claudia: It kind of reinforces happening at school and gives the student a chance to practice what they're doing at school as well in more opportunities. And we know that multiple exposures, you know, always help with learning.
[00:17:58] Kylie: Yeah. I don't think you could go past [00:18:00] that reading to your children. You know, we, the evidence about what that can do is just immense from teaching new words, the vocabulary, which is absolutely imperative.
[00:18:12] Kylie: I mean, if, if you're going to do anything with a young child. It is teach them new words. And I don't mean reading words, I mean knowing words. A huge vocabulary is like the best jetpack to start you off on the literacy journey you could possibly have. And we know that some vocabulary is learned through those read alouds that parents do with their children.
[00:18:33] Kylie: It's really important. And the children's literature
[00:18:36] Bec: today.
[00:18:37] Kylie: Oh my goodness. Oh, here we go. Here we go. Did I just light
[00:18:40] Bec: up? You did just light up. Brighter than that light over our heads there, Kylie. But children's literature today does a really good job of supporting, oh, I understand that it does. And it's my experience with my own daughter.
[00:18:53] Bec: It does. And what can you tell us, expert? Yeah.
[00:18:55] Kylie: Oh my goodness. What will I tell you? If we link up to some of the things we've talked [00:19:00] about, yes, they are great vehicles for learning about literacy and learning about the English language and learning about literature itself, right, which is really important.
[00:19:09] Kylie: But I think what I really love about children's literature is this kind of framework that came from the States from a researcher named Bishop, who decided that looking at. classrooms in black communities in America. She started to wonder what was going on with these children reading the texts that were given to them in the classroom, that were white middle class families, you know, mum, dad, two kids and a dog.
[00:19:35] Kylie: And so she brought this beautiful metaphor of books being windows and mirrors. So in our classroom, we should have books that aren't mirrors, that children should be able to see themselves in the cultural backgrounds or the experiences of the characters in the book. But we also should have windows, meaning books that open the world to us, that show us different cultures, that show us different [00:20:00] experiences.
[00:20:00] Kylie: So you know, if you don't have mirrors in your classroom, then your children are not represented and they don't feel seen. And if you don't have windows, then we don't learn about other cultures and other things happening in the world. That, for me, is just the cherry on the top. That's a really beautiful metaphor.
[00:20:15] Kylie: It is. Yeah.
[00:20:17] Bec: Do you have some favorite children's literature books? Absolutely. Go on.
[00:20:22] Kylie: Go on. Tell us. I work with teachers around supporting English as an additional language learners. One of the first things I get them to do is to read the book. Um, my two blankets. I don't know if you know that one. It's about a young girl who comes to the, to a country, um, and feels the new words raining down on her like a waterfall of cold water.
[00:20:42] Kylie: But as she grows and learns the language, she builds a blanket that's new, a blanket of words that's new. And of course, then she has her home language blanket and her new language blanket. And it just shows the complexity that young children go through as they start learning a new [00:21:00] language. Have you got a favorite, Claudia?
[00:21:01] Claudia: I have lots of favorite books. Oh, tell us a few then. One I read recently and it was more, I guess the book, it was, I'm not sure if it was created for more of like a wellbeing purpose, um, but it's The Red Beast. Um, and every time I've read it to my class, it's just, I think really opened their eyes to just understanding different perspectives and just knowing a little bit more about.
[00:21:28] Claudia: other, other students, um, and the way other students can feel. Another book that I love, and we'll be reading it very soon, is I Wanna Iguana. And it's just so much fun, which is I think maybe why I love it so much, but is that you can just go. in so many different directions with it. The reading discussion points in there are endless.
[00:21:48] Claudia: It can link to writing, writing your own persuasive, um, you know, right. We've written persuasive letters to the teacher to get a class pet. It's just so, it just has so many opportunities within it.
[00:21:59] Bec: Fantastic. [00:22:00] I love hearing about new ideas and new books that have come out because there's so many, so many for kids to engage with.
[00:22:06] Bec: So how can we better support it. All teachers, and I mean primary, secondary, in all different curriculum areas to improve the literacy standards for our students. Just a little question, how
[00:22:21] Claudia: in so many different ways, there is so much research, um, but also avenues to access that research now, like podcasts, podcasts, like this one, even on social media, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, there is just so much information readily available.
[00:22:39] Claudia: That's often my starting point on a new. When I'm trying to learn a little bit more about something and then that leads to research papers and things where you can delve into a little bit deeper and get the background on it. I think using other teachers as a resource is a really helpful starting point.
[00:22:56] Kylie: Mine would be, it's a little mantra I have for myself, which is pedagogy [00:23:00] over products. So I mean you can buy the flashiest, shiniest, most wonderful product that you might use in your classroom, a kit or a, you know, a program. But unless you understand. pedagogy that goes along behind it. It's useless. It's a doorstopper.
[00:23:16] Kylie: So stick to the research informed practices, the, the pedagogy that we know works and, you know, leave the doorstopper alone.
[00:23:25] Bec: And on that note, thank you both so very, very much for a great conversation. Thank you. Thanks, Bec. I hope today's episode has inspired you to delve into the world of children's literature and infuse your teaching with innovative ideas that spark a love for reading and learning.
[00:23:42] Bec: As we approach the finale for this season, get ready for an episode that brims with creativity and critical thinking strategies. Dr. Jen Mansfield and Melissa Gatt are going to share their methods for transforming classrooms into places where students aren't just learners, but [00:24:00] innovative, critical thinkers prepared to tackle the challenges of the future.
[00:24:04] Bec: We've included a wealth of practical resources in our show notes that support your teaching journey. Be sure to check them out. If you're enjoying the show, don't forget to subscribe, rate and review, and follow us on Instagram at monash underscore education. X at Monash Education and Facebook at Education Monash and tell us what you thought of today's episode using the hashtag Let's Talk Teaching Podcast.
[00:24:31] Bec: We are grateful for the support of Monash University's Faculty of Education in producing this podcast. For more information on short courses and undergraduate and postgraduate study options, head to Monash. edu. edu. au forward slash education forward slash learn more. Thanks again for listening to Let's Talk Teaching.