Download - AATE/ALEA National conference

2009 AATE/ ALEA National Conference, Wrest Point Conference Centre 9-12 July 

Conference Program 

Bridging Divides: ensuring access, 

equity and quality in literacy and English 

education

WREST POINT FLOOR PLAN 

Show Room 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

(1st floor) 

................... 

................... 

Casino 

Riviera Room 

(1st floor) 

Derwent Rooms 

1, 2 and 3 

................... 

.......................... 

1 

2 

3 

Training Room 1 

.............................. 

Coffee 

Shop 

Loft 

Restaurant 

Front 

Foyer 

.......... 

.............. 

Motor 

Inn 

Portlight Bar 

Executive 

Board Room 

Convention Office and 

Registration Desk 

Ramp 

Upper 

Car Park 

................... 

Ramp 

Plenary 

Hall 

Exhibition 

Foyer 

Tasman Rooms 

A, B and C 

............... 

Board Walk Gallery 

Located on lower 

ground floor below 

Exhibition Foyer 

.............................. 

........................ 

................................... 

A 

B 

C 

................... 

.......................... 

Wellington Rooms 

1 and 2 

................... 

Stage 

1 and 2 

Green Room 

Located on the first 

floor, entrance from 

Bridge Lobby 

Lower 

Car Park 

To Hobart 

via Sandy Bay

Bridging Divides: ensuring access, equity and quality in literacy and English education 

WELCOME 

Welcome to the 2009 AATE / ALEA National Conference, Bridging Divides: ensuring access, equity 

and quality in literacy and English education. We are delighted that we have over 1100 delegates 

in attendance; a significant achievement in challenging times. We believe this to be the largest 

contingent in the history of AATE / ALEA joint conferences. 

The conference provides the opportunity for us to come together to share ideas and practices, 

acknowledge common and differing points of view and deal with (mis)perceptions. We hope 

the conference will act as a catalyst for vigorous debate, stimulating discussion and the 

establishment of new directions. We believe that it will help us to assess our current practices as 

literacy and English educators and to plan for the complexities of the future. 

The title of our conference is significant. Bridges are structures we build to link people and places. 

Bridges are both physical and psychological. Divides can be social, cultural, geographic, socioeconomic, 

sectoral, philosophical, ideological or political. To achieve access, equity and quality in 

literacy and English education, we need to ‘bridge’ these ‘divides’. The conference is focused on 

the actions needed to achieve this end. 

The conference features an exceptional group of international and national speakers and 

includes an enticing selection of workshops, presentations and papers. We hope that the 

information, insights and new knowledge gained from these sessions, together with the resulting 

conversations and discussions with fellow delegates, will inspire you now and for the way ahead. 

The Conference Committee welcomes all delegates to Hobart and trusts that your experiences at 

the conference will be enjoyable and rewarding. 

Margaret Kelly and Charles Morgan 

Conference Convenors 

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CONTENTS 

Wrest Point Floor Plan 

inside front cover 

Welcome 3 

Contents 4 

Conference Associations and Acknowledgements 5 

General Information 7 

Social Program 8 

Special Events 9 

Speakers 

Plenary 10 

Keynote 11 

Program Thursday 9 July 

Overview 14 

Program Friday 10 July 

Overview 15 

Speakers and Abstracts 20 

Program Saturday 11 July 

Overview 62 


Program Sunday 12 July 

Overview 101 


Trade Exhibitors 

Exhibitors 123 

Floor Plan 124 

Conference Partners and Sponsors 

Program at a glance 

inside back cover 

back cover 

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CONFERENCE ASSOCIATIONS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

The conference is proudly convened by the Australian Association for the Teaching of English 

(AATE) and the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association (ALEA). 

AATE is the national arm of Australian state/territory associations for the teaching of English. AATE 

members are part of an international network of teachers with a commitment to teaching and 

learning in the field of language and literacy. 

The Australian Literacy Educators’ Association is dedicated to the improvement of literacy 

development and language learning at all levels. It provides support and professional 

development to educators and others interested in literacy through international, national, 

state and regional conferences, workshops and seminars, journals, position papers and other 

publications. 

Conference Convenors 

Margaret Kelly (ALEA) and Charles Morgan (AATE) 

Conference Organising Committee 

Jill Armstrong, Heather Banks, Meree Barber, Bronwen Bowman, Greg Brown, Patricia Corby, 

Linda Dally, Jodie Donovan, Jacqui Frew, Daniel Howard, Freya Liddell, Margaret Luckman, 

Bev Moir, Jenny Morgan, Annette Moult, Philip Page, Mandy Jane Quinn, Elizabeth Robinson, 

Christine Topfer. 

Conference Organiser 

Ian Morgan 

Music 

The committee acknowledges the contribution made to the conference by the New Town High 

School Guitar Ensemble, Kingston High School All Stars and Lansdowne Crescent Primary School 

vocal group. 

Design 

The committee acknowledges the support of Duotone Design for the conference image and 

associated material. 

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National Literacy and Numeracy 

Week (NLNW) will be held from 

31 August – 6 September 2009. 

The theme for NLNW 2009 is 

Getting the Basics Right. NLNW 

celebrates the work of teachers, 

parents and communities who 

are working together to develop 

the literacy and numeracy skills 

of Australia’s young people. 

Three national activities will 

take place during NLNW 2009: 

123 

bC 4 

Reach for the Stars— 

national numeracy activity 

31 August – 4 September 

National Reading Day— 

national literacy activity 

Wednesday 2 September 

Dorothea Mackellar 

Poetry Awards Ceremony 

Gunnedah, NSW 

Friday 4 September 

National Reading Day 

This mass participation literacy activity has been developed 

by the Australian Literacy Educators Association (ALEA) 

and the Australian Association for the Teaching of English 

(AATE). Excellent teaching resources, fantastic networking 

opportunities and the chance to win great prizes are available 

to schools who get involved in the National Reading Day 

theme: A Story Sharing Safari. 

Reach for the Stars 

Each year since 2003, the Australian Association of 

Mathematics Teachers (AAMT) has conducted Reach 

for the Stars, a mass participation numeracy activity 

as part of NLNW. The common theme is that classes 

collect data locally, submit their results to a national 

data collection via the internet, and explore their own 

findings as well as a summary of the data collected 

by participants across Australia. 

www.deewr.gov.au/nlnw 

To find out all about NLNW 2009, including how you and your students can participate, visit


GENERAL INFORMATION 

Registration Desk Opening Times 

Thursday 9 July 8.00 - 9.30 

Friday 10 July 7.30 - 5.00 

Saturday 11 July 7.00 - 6.00 

Sunday 12 July 8.00 - 4.30 

Note to Presenters 

Presenters are requested to report to the registration desk on arrival. You will be directed to 

the speaker preparation room (beside the registration desk) where your presentation will be 

downloaded onto the Wrest Point Conference Centre network. The speaker preparation room will 

be open Thursday 4.30 - 7.00; Friday 7.30 - 5.00; Saturday 8.00 - 5.00 and Sunday 8.00 – 11.00. 

Conference Papers 

Conference papers will be available on the conference website 

www.englishliteracyconference.com.au following the conference. 

Internet Café 

An internet café for delegates’ use will be available in Pier One dining room during Friday and 

Saturday. As well, delegates with laptops can access the internet in the Exhibition Foyer and 

Boardwalk Gallery. Check at the registration desk for details. The Wrest Point Business Centre 

located on the mezzanine floor of the tower building is available for house guests on a user 

pays basis. 

Lunch and Refreshments 

Morning and afternoon teas and lunch will be served in the Exhibition Foyer and the Boardwalk 

Gallery. 

Special Dietary Requirements 

If you have advised the organisers of a special dietary requirement, this information has been 

forwarded to the catering staff at the Wrest Point Conference Centre. 

Name Badges 

Delegates will be provided with a name badge, which should be worn at all times. 

Messages 

A message board will be set up near the registration desk - please check regularly if you are 

expecting messages. 

Banks 

The nearest banks are in Sandy Bay - a ten minute walk or five minutes in a taxi. ANZ, CBA 

and Westpac have branches there. NAB has an ATM in Sandy Bay and a branch in the city. ATM 

machines are available at Wrest Point in the general public area. 

Taxis 

United Taxis - 13 1008 

Yellow Cab - 13 1924 

Taxi Combined Service - 13 2227 

Water Taxi - 0407 036 268 

A bus will leave for the airport on Sunday 12 July at 3.40. This will be at delegate’s own expense. 

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SOCIAL PROGRAM 

Welcome Reception - Thursday 9 July - 8.30 to 9.30 

Following the Conference Opening, the Welcome Reception will be held in the Boardwalk Gallery 

and Exhibition Foyer. Meet old friends, welcome international speakers and make new 

acquaintances while you browse the exhibition area with a glass of wine and tastings of 

Tasmania’s excellent produce. 

Cocktail Party - Friday 10 July - 6.00 to 7.00 

His Excellency the Honourable Peter Underwood, The Governor of Tasmania, and Mrs Underwood, 

will host a Reception at 6.00 on Friday 10 July at Government House. This is a ticketed event. 

Buses will leave Wrest Point (Conference Centre entrance) at 5.30. Buses will leave Government 

House at 7.10 for the North Hobart restaurant strip, Salamanca Place or Wrest Point Conference 

Centre. 

Literary Breakfast - Saturday 11 July - 7.15 to 8.30 

Finding the front door: puzzles and delights of Australian culture with Robert Hillman and Najaf 

Mazari, authors of The Rugmaker of Mazar-E-Sharif. 

Sponsored by Insight Publications. 

Tasman Room A, Wrest Point Conference Centre. 

Ferry to Salamanca Market - Saturday 11 July - 12.10 to 2.00 

Catch the ferry to Hobart’s historic centre and visit the iconic Salamanca Market, a Saturday 

feature for locals and tourists. The ferry will pick up delegates at the Conference Centre at 12.10 

and arrive at Salamanca (Brooke Street Pier) at 12.30. 

For the return journey, the ferry will pick up delegates at 1.30 at Brooke Street Pier to return 

to Wrest Point Conference Centre by 1.50 for the afternoon sessions. Brooke Street Pier is 

immediately adjacent to the market. A box lunch will be provided. 

Conference Dinner - Saturday 11 July - 7.00 for 7.30 

Tasman Room, Wrest Point Conference Centre. 

7.00 - Pre-dinner drinks - Exhibition Foyer, Wrest Point Conference Centre. 

7.30 - Dinner commences - Tasman Room, Wrest Point Conference Centre. 

Farewell Reception - Sunday 12 July - 3.30 to 4.30 

Reflect on, discuss and debate the many stimulating ideas that have been generated throughout 

the conference. Plan follow-up meetings, map future directions or simply enjoy the company and 

wine as the conference comes to a close. The Reception will be held in the Exhibition Foyer, Wrest 

Point Conference Centre. 

Musical Entertainment 

Throughout the conference various musical ensemble groups will be featured. We are pleased to 

be able to showcase the talents of students and teachers from New Town High School, Kingston 

High School, the Tasmanian Academy (Hobart campus) and Lansdowne Crescent Primary School. 

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SPECIAL EVENTS 

ALEA Life Membership Presentation 

The Life Membership Award is to honour those members who have made a sustained contribution 

to the Association over an extended period of time which demonstrated excellence, commitment, 

diversity and continuity at the local, state and national level in leadership, administration and the 

promotion of the aims and purposes of the Association. In addition, the member will have also 

made some contribution to ALEA at the international level. 

The ALEA medal will be presented on Friday at 11.00 in the Plenary Hall. 

AATE Life Membership Presentation 

Life memberships of AATE will be presented on Friday at 11.00 in the Tasman Room A and on 

Sunday at 1.00 in the Plenary Hall. Life membership of AATE is awarded to a person who has made 

an outstanding contribution to English teaching through their involvement in two or more of the 

following areas: 

• active participation in National Council 

• a high profile within the profession at a national level 

• an outstanding contribution in promoting research or publishing or developing policies 

through AATE 

• an outstanding contribution to English teaching through membership on AATE’s behalf 

of other national or international committees. 

Book launches and author signings at the conference 

There will be a number of book launches, author signings and product promotions occurring 

during the conference. Information about these events will be promoted on the screen in the 

Plenary Hall at the beginning of each day. 

2010 Conference handover to Perth - Sunday 12 July - 2.10 

The Perth conference Organising Committee will officially take over responsibility for the next 

AATE / ALEA National Conference for teachers of English and literacy. This will be held in the 

Plenary Hall. 

Miles Franklin Award Winner - Saturday 11 July - 12.30 

Conference delegates will have the opportunity to hear the acclaimed winner of the prestigious 

Miles Franklin Literary Award discuss this year’s winning novel. The session will be held in 

Wellington Room 1 and will be followed by book signings. 

Bell Shakespeare - Friday 10 July - 2.00 

Enjoy a performance of Love’s Magic by Bell Shakespeare’s actors at work. Love’s Magic explores 

the soaring heights and plummeting depths to which love can take us. It is an intelligent and 

entertaining introductory experience of Shakespeare in performance. This one-hour performance 

is a journey through a world of comic possibilities, plot complications and theatrical surprises. 

The performance uses scenes from Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The 

performance will be held in the Show Room and includes a post performance discussion with the 

actors about the program and its benefits for students. 

East of Everything 2 - Saturday 11 July - 12.15 

The launch of East of Everything 2: a new series for ABC television will be featured at the 

conference. Roger Monk will talk about the production of the series and its educational themes, 

English and media curriculum relevance and curriculum links. He will also screen an episode of the 

forthcoming series. The launch will be held in the Plenary Hall. 

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SPEAKERS 

Plenary Speakers 

P. David Pearson 

P. David Pearson is Dean of the Graduate School of Education and Professor of Language and 

Literacy, Society and Culture at the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Pearson’s research 

interests include practice and policy in literacy instruction and assessment. He has served as 

President of the National Reading Conference and the Association of American Colleges of Teacher 

Education. His honours include the William S Gray Citation of Merit from the International Reading 

Association, the Oscar Causey Award for Contributions to Reading Research from the National 

Reading Conference of America, and the Alan Purves Award from the National Council of Teachers 

of Education. 

Pirjo Sinko 

Pirjo Sinko is Counsellor of Education for the Finnish National Board of Education. Ms Sinko has 

had a leadership role in developing the national curriculum for the preschool, primary, lower 

secondary and upper secondary school sectors in language, literature and literacy. She is involved 

in a range of research projects, including an investigation of the power of narrative on young 

children’s thinking and learning. She is regularly invited to address international conferences on 

the reasons behind Finland’s success in literacy education. 

Scott Paris 

Scott Paris is Professor of Psychology and of Education at the University of Michigan and 

currently a Visiting Professor at the National Institute of Education in Singapore. Professor Paris 

conducts research on children’s self-regulated learning, reading, and assessment in schools and 

informal settings. Professor Paris was awarded the 2007 Albert J Harris Research Award from the 

International Reading Association and the 2007 Oscar Causey Award for Contributions to Reading 

Research from the National Reading Conference of America. He has also received the Dean’s 

Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching and the University of Michigan Amoco Foundation 

Faculty Award for Distinguished Teaching. 

Peter O’Connor 

Peter O’Connor is Co-Director of Applied Theatre Consultants Limited. Formerly National 

Coordinator for Arts and Drama in New Zealand, he is an adjunct associate professor at the 

University of Sydney and an associate professor, Artistic and Creative Education, at The University 

of Melbourne. Dr O’Connor focuses on working with students with special needs and mental 

illness. Dr O’Connor is the recipient of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education 2006 

Distinguished Dissertation Award. He has an international reputation for his work in the use of 

drama pedagogy across curriculum areas and within public health campaigns. He has an extensive 

publication record and has been an invited keynote speaker at conferences in the United 

Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong and Jamaica. 

Jeffrey Wilhelm 

Jeffrey Wilhelm is Professor of English Education at Boise State University, USA. Professor Wilhelm 

has an international reputation as an English and literacy educator. He has a particular interest in 

literacy education for boys and is currently developing a project to apprentice beginning teachers 

into the profession through professional assistance, peer coaching, reflective practice and joint 

inquiry. Among his many recent awards for teaching and publishing is the David H Russell Award 

for Distinguished Research in English Education presented by the National Council of Teachers of 

English. 

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Richard Flanagan 

Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan is regarded internationally as one of Australia’s pre-eminent 

novelists. His multi-award winning novels, Death of a River Guide, The Sound of One Hand 

Clapping, Gould’s Book of Fish, The Unknown Terrorist and Wanting have been published to 

popular success and critical acclaim in twenty-five countries. He wrote and directed a feature film 

version of The Sound of One Hand Clapping and most recently collaborated with Baz Luhrmann on 

the script for Luhrmann’s epic, Australia. 

Keynote Speakers 

Carole Miller 

Juliana Saxton 

Carole Miller, Juliana Saxton 

Carole Miller, Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the Faculty 

of Education and Juliana Saxton, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Theatre, both teach at 

the University of Victoria, Canada; they hold adjunct appointments in the University of Sydney. 

Each is the recipient of an excellence in teaching award and they have taught internationally 

and published extensively. Their collaborative research is primarily situated in pre-service 

teacher education, exploring pedagogies that engender competent, confident and comfortable 

classroom educators in drama. Articulating the relationship of literacy and drama practice to 

current post-modern curricula, they have recently been exploring how learners bring together a 

multifaceted range of metalanguages through real and fictional conversations of experience. Their 

award-winning text, Into the Story: Language in Action through Drama, is used widely by both 

elementary and secondary classroom teachers. Juliana Saxton is well known in Australia for her 

co-authorship of the best-selling texts, Asking Better Questions and Teaching Drama: a mind of 

many wonders. 

Andy Goodwyn 

Professor Andy Goodwyn is currently Head of the Institute of Education at the University of 

Reading where he formerly led English Teacher Education and Masters programs. He is currently 

Vice Chair for the UK’s National Association for the Teaching of English [NATE], and Chair Elect. 

He represents the UK on the International Federation for the Teaching of English, currently 

planning the next world conference in Auckland in 2011. His key research interests include the 

philosophy and practice of subject English, curriculum innovation and change in the subject and 

the development of pedagogic expertise. He is working on two current research projects, one 

investigating how outstanding teachers make use of ICT in innovative ways, the other examining 

the development of literary reading. He has given papers all over the world and published 

extensively in the field of English education. His next book The Expert Teacher of English will be 

published by Routledge in late 2009. 

Peter Freebody 

Peter Freebody is Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Sydney. His research and 

teaching interests are literacy education, educational disadvantage, classroom interaction and 

quantitative and qualitative research methods. He was the lead author of the Framing Paper for 

the National English Curriculum. 

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Gabrielle Matters 

Gabrielle Matters is Head of ACER Brisbane, Executive Secretary of the International Association 

for Educational Assessment, and Adjunct Professor at the Queensland University of Technology. 

she has had extensive experience in education as a classroom teacher (physical sciences), school 

administrator, university lecturer, chemistry editor, researcher, advisor, test designer, and author. 

Barry McGaw 

Barry McGaw is Executive Director of the Cisco-Intel-Microsoft 21st Century Skills Assessment 

project, which has its headquarters at the University of Melbourne, and Chair of the National 

Curriculum Board. Previously, he was Director for Education at the OECD in Paris. He had earlier 

been Executive Director of the Australian Council for Educational Research and Professor of 

Education at Murdoch University. 

Leonie Rowan 

Leonie Rowan is a senior lecturer in the School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith 

University. Her research interests relate to the broad fields of equity and social justice, especially 

the concept of relationship-centred schooling as a framework for disrupting traditional patterns 

of success and failure in diverse educational and cultural sites. She has published in areas such 

as early childhood education, new literacies/ new technologies, values education and home/ 

school partnerships. 

Lester-Irabinna Rigney 

Lester-Irabinna Rigney is a professor of Education and Director of the Yunggorendi First Nations 

Centre for Higher Education and Research at Flinders University. A highly influential Indigenous 

educationalist, he has received Visiting Research Fellowships to universities in the UK, South 

Africa and Canada. His 2006 co-edited book, titled Sharing Spaces: Indigenous and Non- 

Indigenous Responses to Story, Country and Rights, discusses Indigenous and non-Indigenous 

race relations and their convergence in the vulnerable, vital and contested space called 

‘education’. 

Phil Cormack 

Phil Cormack is an associate professor at the Hawke Research Institute and Director of the 

Centre for Studies in Literacy, Policy and Learning Cultures at the University of South Australia. 

His current work involves research on the history of adolescence, schooling and literacy; on 

literacy and place; environmental communications, middle school pedagogies; and on boys 

and literacy. 

David Hornsby 

David Hornsby is a private education consultant in schools, who works extensively in early years 

and middle years literacy education around the country. He worked for many years in the Victorian 

Ministry of Education as a teacher, curriculum consultant and school principal. He is a prolific 

author and producer of CD-ROM and multi-media programs. 

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Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli 

Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli has gained international recognition as a leading writer, researcher, 

lecturer, consultant and activist in the issues of cultural, sexual and gender diversity and family 

diversity in health and education. She lectures at Deakin University in the School of Health 

Science. Her first book for young adults, Tapestry, explored five generations of her family’s history 

in Australia and Italy. She is also the author of Girls’ Talk, Boys Stuff, Someone You Know, When 

Our Children Come Out and Love You Two. 

J C Burke 

Since J C Burke started writing in 1999, she has published a number of acclaimed books 

for teenagers and young adults, including Children’s Book Council Notable Books White Lies and 

The Red Cardigan, Aurealis Awards finalist Nine Letters Long, The Story of Tom Brennan, Faking 

Sweet, Starfish Sisters and Ocean Pearl. The Story of Tom Brennan won the 2006 CBC Book of the 

Year - Older Readers and the 2006 Australian Family Therapists Award for Children’s Literature. 

Andy Griffiths 

Andy Griffiths is one of Australia’s funniest writers for children, whose books and presentations 

are well loved by students and teachers alike. His books have sold over 4 million copies 

worldwide, have featured on the New York Times bestseller lists, and have won over 40 Australian 

children’s choice awards. 

Natalie Jane Prior 

Natalie Jane Prior is the award-winning author of numerous books for children and young adults. 

Her work includes the classic picture book The Paw and its sequels (illustrated by Terry Denton), 

and the internationally successful fantasy series Lily Quench. Her new series, The Minivers, 

has recently been published by Penguin in Australia and will be published in the UK by Scholastic 

in 2010. 

Kirsty Murray 

Kirsty Murray is a multi-award winning Australian children’s author who writes fiction and nonfiction 

for a range of age groups. Her publications include the Children of the Wind series, Market 

Blues, Zarconi’s Magic Flying Fish, Tough Stuff, Man-eaters and Bloodsuckers. Kirsty has recently 

completed titles for the NMA Making Tracks series, a futuristic novel – Vulture’s Gate – to be 

released by Allen & Unwin in August 2009, and a new work of historical fiction, set in India, which 

will be published in 2010. 

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PROGRAM OVERVIEW Thursday 9 July 

4.30 - 7.00 

REGISTRATION 

The registration desk will be open for delegates to register for the conference. 

Trade Exhibitions will be open in the Exhibition Foyer and the Boardwalk Gallery. 

Music 

New Town High School Guitar Ensemble 

7.00 - 7.30 

Plenary Hall 

WELCOME TO COUNTRY 

Greg Lehman 

CONFERENCE OPENING 

Margaret Kelly and Charles Morgan - Conference Convenors 

7.30 - 8.30 

Plenary Hall 

OPENING ADDRESS 

Richard Flanagan: Why novels are power 

Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan is regarded internationally as one of Australia’s pre-eminent 

novelists. His multi-award winning novels, Death of a River Guide, The Sound of One Hand 

Clapping, Gould’s Book of Fish, The Unknown Terrorist and Wanting have been published to 

popular success and critical acclaim in twenty-five countries. He wrote and directed a feature film 

version of The Sound of One Hand Clapping and most recently collaborated with Baz Luhrmann on 

the script for Luhrmann’s epic, Australia. 

8.30 - 9.30 

WELCOME RECEPTION 

Following the Opening Address, the Welcome Reception will be held in the Boardwalk Gallery and 

Exhibition Foyer. Meet old friends and make new acquaintances while you browse the exhibition 

area with a glass of wine and tastings of Tasmania’s excellent produce. 

Music 

Kingston High School All Stars 

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PROGRAM OVERVIEW Friday 10 July 

7.30 - 8.45 

8.45 - 9.00 

Plenary Hall 

REGISTRATION 

WELCOME 

Music 

Lansdowne Crescent Primary School vocal group 

FRIDAY 

9.00 - 10.30 

Official Opening 

The Premier of Tasmania and Minister for Education and Skills, the Honourable David Bartlett MP 

PLENARY 

P. David Pearson: The pedagogy of promise: Obama, Bush, and Australia 

(To cater for the large number of delegates, the Plenary Address will be video streamed to Tasman A). 

10.30 - 11.00 

MORNING TEA AND TRADE EXHIBITS - EXHIBITION FOYER / BOARDWALK GALLERY 

11.00 - 12.30 

Plenary Hall 

Tasman A 

KEYNOTES 

ALEA Life Membership presentation 

Peter Freebody: ‘Bridges and divides’ in high stakes curriculum knowledge, language and literacy 

in the classroom: what governments, systems and people should want to know about literacy 

achievement in school 

AATE Life Membership presentation 

Juliana Saxton and Carole Miller: Bridging the conversations between our inner selves and the 

outside world 

11.00 - 12.30 

Derwent 1 

Stage 2 

Derwent 2 

Derwent 3 

Wellington 1 

Tasman B 

Stage 1 

CONCURRENT SESSIONS 

Karen Wilson, Mary Reardon, Linda Francis: Connecting reading and writing through drama 

Gary Woolley, Janelle Wills: Bridging the divide: bringing fields together through engagement 

and empowerment 

Cara Shipp: Lurid tales: using Shakespeare’s great stories to bridge divides 

Christopher Witt, Lynda Cumming: Bridge the divide: supporting students to deal with the 

literacy demands across all learning areas 

Neale Pitches: Accelerating progress in Grades 3-8 literacy: comprehension scores and more … 

Emma Folo, Jenny Clements, Sarah Stenton: Bridging the divide with Writer’s Notebook: 

highlighting Grades K – 2 

Christine Melican: Teaching and learning English in the ACT: implementing a new curriculum 

supported by a quality teaching pedagogical model 

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FRIDAY 

Show Room 

Tasman C 

11.00 - 11.40 

Green Room 

Riviera Room 

Wellington 2 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Executive 

Board Room 

Loft Restaurant 

11.50 - 12.30 

Riviera Room 

Green Room 


Wellington 2 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Executive 

Board Room 

Prue Sturgess, Wendy Wilson, Karolyn Davidson, Tania Milbourne: Bridging the divide with 

Writer’s Notebook: highlighting Grades 3 - 6 

Erin Wamala: Addressing the different needs of boys and girls when selecting novels for the 

classroom or wide reading lists 


Di Wilson: Enhancing literacy learning through ICT: supporting teacher professional learning in 

the 21st century 

Diana Masny: Bridging - access, equity and quality: the case for multiple literacies 

Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli: Bridging and bordering cultural, gender and sexual divides: using text 

to explore and understand social diversity and discrimination particularly in relation to cultural, 

family and sexual diversity 

Margaret Gill: An evaluation of the impact of reading adventure packs on a six, seven and eight 

year old child’s attitude towards reading 

Mary Weaven, Donna Lourensz: Editing partners: a collaborative approach to better writing 

Joy Lawn: Literature to find the lost and indulge the found 


Christine Edwards-Groves: iKindy: responding to home experiences in kindergarten 

classrooms 

Mark Vicars: Everybody reads, everybody writes: promoting literacy and educational achievement 

in economically and culturally disadvantaged communities 

Michael Kindler: What makes a literate citizen in the 21st century Contested forms of literacy in 

a global knowledge economy 

Sarah Long: The (D)English divide: building bridges with disengaged and reluctant adolescent 

learners in the English Communication classroom 

Don Henderson: Whose canon 

Lyn Tonkin: Taxing your thinking: a bridge for improving pre-service teacher engagement in 

reading groups 

12.30 - 1.30 

1.00 

Plenary Hall 

LUNCH AND TRADE EXHIBITS - EXHIBITION FOYER / BOARDWALK GALLERY 

AATE Book Launch - English for a New Millenium: Leading Change 

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1.30 - 3.00 

Plenary Hall 

Tasman A 

KEYNOTES 

David Hornsby: Springboards into literacy: ensuring access for all 

J C Burke: The Story of Tom Brennan from idea to novel 

FRIDAY 

Stage 1 

Tasman B 

Derwent 1 

Tasman C 

Stage 2 

Training Room 

Wellington 1 

Show Room 

1.30 - 2.10 

Riviera Room 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Wellington 2 

Green Room 

Executive 

Board Room 

Derwent 3 

Derwent 2 

2.20 - 3.00 

Green Room 


Leith Daniel: Alternative film studies (ambiguity intended) 

Jeffrey Wilhelm: Getting it right! The constructive teaching of correct language use 

Alison Davis: Bridging the comprehension divide: teaching students to read between the lines 

Rodney Martin: Teacher as editor: the bridge between writer and audience in a digital world 

Greg Howes, Helen Johnston: Bridging the digital divide 

Suzanne Rayson: When the bridge does not build itself 

Lauren O’Grady: Interactive whiteboards and literacy: a world of opportunities 

George Banders, Charmaine Gormoan-Kedmenec, Shaun Goss and Sarah Ogden: 

Bell Shakespeare’s actors at work performance: Love’s Magic 


Mel Dixon: Creative writing in the senior English classroom 

Jessica Mantei, Lisa Kervin: ‘Authentic’ learning experiences: what does this mean and where is 

the literacy learning 

Kathy Mills: Bridging print and digital literacies 

Paul Molyneux: Bilingual education as a bridge to (bi) literacy 

Sally Godinho, Wesley Imms: Bridging the curriculum divides: cross-disciplinary approaches 

to learning 

Catherine Laughlin: Improving literacy skills 

Janet Scull: The young learners’ project: mapping preschool teachers’ beliefs and literacy 

practices 


Judy Yaron, Jenny Robins, Ross Robins: YALP - YACHAD Accelerated Learning Project: 10 minutes 

a day - that’s all it takes 

17


FRIDAY 

Derwent 2 

Riviera Room 

Executive 

Board Room 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Wellington 2 

Derwent 3 

Victoria Cochrane: Literacy intervention in the classroom: explicit literacy strategies for the 

mainstream classroom 

Gloria Latham, Julie Faulkner: Disrupting the norms: creating autonomous learners through 

formative feedback 

David Rhodes: Out of the silence: challenging homophobia and heterosexism through the use of 

young adult imaginative literature in the English classroom 

Lisa Kervin: One school’s response to literacy learning and teaching using technology 

Karen McLean, Clare Schaper, Jacqui Vanderkley: Technology as a doorway to literacy in the 

early years of education: access, equity and quality in literacy education 

Calvin Taylor: Pre-paid literacy: money, youth and mobile technologies 

3.00 - 3.30 

AFTERNOON TEA AND TRADE EXHIBITS - EXHIBITION FOYER / BOARDWALK GALLERY 

3.30 - 5.00 

Plenary Hall 

Tasman A 

3.30 - 5.00 

Stage 1 

Stage 2 

Tasman B 

Show Room 

Wellington 1 

Tasman C 

Riviera Room 

KEYNOTES 

Lester-Irabinna Rigney: Future directions for Indigenous education post apology: trends and 

implications for literacy 

Phil Cormack: A pedagogical perspective on literacy teaching: thinking beyond strategies and 

techniques 


Patricia Hipwell: NAPLAN testing: is it testing what it claims to test 

Feni Bembridge, Penny McLoughlin: Motivating, connecting with, and improving student results 

Peter O’Connor: A book of promises 

AATE National Council: Future leaders’ forum: leadership and other challenges for the English 

teaching profession 

Leonie Rowan: The most important R of all: relationships! Creating positive partnerships between 

teachers, kids and caregivers in transformative literacy classrooms 

Marianne Schubert, Gayle Swann, Kate Dascombe, Sue Filips, Carla Walker, Karen 

McCullagh: Improving student spelling and increasing teacher knowledge of spelling: school 

based project 

Jo Padgham, Christine Topfer, Cal Durrant: Consultation forum on Teaching Australia’s proposed 

primary standards for accomplished teachers 

18


3.30 - 4.10 

Derwent 1 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 


John Mason, Jane Bovill: Rethinking guided reading 

Jane Westworth: A bridge to the future: students’ use of e-portfolios and reflective practice to 

design pathways to further study 

FRIDAY 

Training Room 

Derwent 3 

Derwent 2 

Wellington 2 

Executive 

Board Room 

Green Room 

4.20 - 5.00 

Derwent 2 

Derwent 1 

Executive 

Board Room 

Wellington 2 

Derwent 3 

Green Room 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Training Room 

Elizabeth Hook, Bronwyn Thomas: Torch light and aliens’ eyes: ESL students and engagement 

Margaret Neilsen: Supporting struggling writers with the use of voice recognition software in 

class 

Debbie Brosseuk: Empowering all students and promoting success through literacy stations 

Natalie Jane Prior: Please, I’m stuck: common creative writing mistakes children make, and how 

you can help them avoid them 

Suzanne Macqueen: Grouping primary students by achievement for literacy and numeracy 

instruction: who wins 

Val Faulkner, Janet Hunter: Writing in action: poetry 


Ann Daly: Investigating geographic and cultural divides in comprehending texts with images 

Deborah Showers: Spanning the gap using curriculum mapping and good design 

Larissa McLean Davies: Building bridges: classic Australian texts and critical theory in the senior 

English classroom 

Rachael Adlington: Reading beyond the lines The role of digital texts and technology in reading 

groups 

Cecilia du Toit: Fairy fluff and African fable: the influence of orality on literacy attainment 

Lisa Kervin, Jessica Mantei: Advertising in ‘tween’ magazines: exploring the considerations and 

opportunities 

Jean Mulder, Caroline Thomas: Accessing grammar in senior secondary English: a Victorian 

exemplar 

Beryl Exley: Making sense of an everyday science text: linguistic, visual and spatial design 

6.00 - 7.00 

GOVERNOR’S RECEPTION - GOVERNMENT HOUSE (ticketed event) 

19


SPEAKERS AND ABSTRACTS Friday 10 July 

FRIDAY 

9.00 - 10.30 

Plenary Hall 

Audience: 

All 

PLENARY 9.00 - 10.30 

The pedagogy of promise: Obama, Bush, and Australia 

P. DAVID PEARSON 

P. David Pearson begins with a systematic comparison of the Obama administration’s plans for 

literacy programs with those of his predecessor, and compares the emerging American contrasts 

with forces shaping literacy pedagogy in Australia. 

Biography 




president of the National Reading Conference and the Association of American Colleges of Teacher 




of Education. 

KEYNOTES 11.00 - 12.30 

11.00 - 12.30 

Plenary Hall 

Audience: 

All 

‘Bridges and divides’ in high stakes curriculum knowledge, language 

and literacy in the classroom: what governments, systems and people 

should want to know about literacy achievement in school 

PETER FREEBODY 

Recent debates over literacy, English and language education in schools have made the divides 

clear, but not so much the bridges. These debates have again raised a question about the 

‘curricular location’ of responsibility for literacy teaching and learning – in the primary school in 

English departments where In this presentation I will summarise and illustrate some aspects of 

my research on literacy education in various curriculum areas. I will draw on this to re-make the 

age-old, accepted but largely unnoticed case that different kinds of literacy education do and can 

take place across the curriculum. I will show examples of what it currently looks like, and how it 

might look if it were informed by coherent and rich understandings of discipline-based knowledge 

in teaching and learning from the early years through to secondary. I will conclude by considering 

what these ideas might say about the need for ecologically valid assessment of how students and 

teachers are responding to the high-stakes literacy demands they face across the school years. 

Biography 

Peter Freebody is Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Sydney. His research and 

teaching interests are literacy education, educational disadvantage, classroom interaction and 

quantitative and qualitative research methods. He was the lead author of Framing Paper for the 

National English Curriculum. 

20


11.00 - 12.30 

Tasman A 

Audience: 

All 

Bridging the conversations between our inner selves and 

the outside world 

JULIANA SAXTON AND CAROLE MILLER 

Drama educates through a multiplicity of metalanguages – what the joint declaration of the 

UNESCO World Arts Conference (2006) calls ‘the humanising languages of the arts’ and it 

requires that each student brings his/her own personal contexts and feelings into play. ‘Telling 

stories,’ writes Fulford (1999), citing the work of neuroscientist Mark Turner, ‘is not a luxury or 

pastime but part of developing intelligence. Stories are the building blocks of human thought; 

they are the way the brain organises itself . . . integrating bits of thought and sensation through 

overlapping systems, or maps, of neurons.’ It is this mental bridging that lies at the heart of 

learning. Twenty-five years ago Gavin Bolton recognised the power of embodied narrative when 

he argued for placing drama at the centre of the curriculum. Rather than seeing literacy practices 

as ‘independent and neutral competencies’ unconnected to their lives outside school (Street & 

Street, 1991; Little, 1984), students in drama use their literacy skills in situations that demand 

their participation. It is this ‘apprenticeship into the very specific forms of [social] languages and 

literacies represented inside and outside the classroom’ (Hawkins, 2004) that makes drama such 

a rich pedagogy. While understanding the text is a central focus, the ways of accessing it are 

‘multi-modal, experiential, participatory’ (Preece, 2004)). ‘Drama,’ writes Hughes (1991), ‘allows 

students to build a bridge between their own inner worlds and the external reality of other people, 

events and ideas.’ This keynote address will illuminate the opportunities that drama provides 

for students to engage with the variety of literacies inherent in narratives rich in possibilities. 

In exploring those multiple languages, we do not simply concentrate on what each is, but on 

what they do and how they shape us and the world. Such literacies, we suggest, are crucial to 

the development of the whole person and by extension, to the continued generation of healthy, 

literate and democratic societies. 

Biographies 

Carole Miller, Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction, Faculty of 

Education and Juliana Saxton, Professor Emeritus, Department of Theatre, both teach at the 

University of Victoria, Canada; they hold adjunct appointments in the University of Sydney. 

Each is the recipient of an excellence in teaching award and between them they have taught 

internationally and published extensively. Their collaborative research is primarily situated in 

pre-service teacher education, exploring pedagogies that engender competent, confident and 

comfortable classroom educators in drama. Articulating the relationship of literacy and drama 

practice to current post-modern curricula, they have recently been exploring how learners bring 

together a multifaceted range of metalanguages through real and fictional conversations of 

experience. Their award-winning text, Into the Story: Language in Action through Drama, is used 

widely by both elementary and secondary classroom teachers. Juliana Saxton is well known in 

Australia for her co-authorship of the best-selling texts, Asking Better Questions and Teaching 

Drama: a mind of many wonders. 

FRIDAY 

21


FRIDAY 

11.00 - 12.30 

Derwent 1 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Primary 

CONCURRENT SESSIONS 11.00 - 12.30 

Connecting reading and writing through drama 

KAREN WILSON, MARY REARDON, LINDA FRANCIS 

This workshop reflects the building of bridges between reading and writing across the K – 6 

spectrum in primary schools through drama. It is based on action research undertaken by three 

classroom teachers at Ainslie School, in the inner north area of the ACT. The research was based 

on observations and conversations about the natural imagination young children display when 

they ‘make believe,’ and the freedom they exhibit in exploring and expanding their ideas. In these 

situations children are seen to pay close attention to detail, and develop their story as it unfolds 

so that they can see and experience how the ‘event’ is to play out. The children appear to know 

their characters intimately and can relate their story with considerable detail and complexity. 

In this way, drama is seen to be an effective vehicle for children to access their sense of ‘story’. 

The purpose of the research was to investigate whether the use of drama would result in higher 

quality writing of narratives by children. We were exploring the effects of removing the constraints 

of formal written planning and replacing this with the opportunity to ‘act out’ the story in their 

heads. Would this help to clarify thoughts before being asked to put anything of paper and 

assist children in developing more intimate characters, and develop more complex and detailed 

storylines Each teacher will share their experience relating to the development of the project, 

including dilemmas and questions met along the way, and the effect their research had on 

improving student achievement. 

Biographies 

Karen Wilson is an executive teacher at Ainslie School in the ACT, also teaching in a Year 2 class. 

She has taught students Kindergarten through to Year 4 in four Australian states and is a trained 

Reading Recovery teacher. She spent three and a half years as a literacy consultant in the Bronx, 

New York City developing her own understandings and knowledge of best practice. 

Mary Reardon is an experienced teacher who has worked in many schools in the ACT teaching 

in Years K-6. She is currently teaching a Year 4/5 class and her love of literacy inspires her to 

continually challenge herself to develop and refine pedagogy which helps children to see the 

power of their words. 

Linda Francis is an executive teacher at Ainslie School in the ACT, also team teaching a Year 6 

class. She has taught students from Years 1-6 and is passionate about developing and improving 

all students’ literacy skills. Linda has presented at several literacy PD sessions which focus on 

best practice. Linda is also member of ACT ALEA local council and is a keen participate at National 

conferences. 

11.00 - 12.30 

Stage 2 

Audience: 

Primary 

Bridging the divide: bringing fields together through 

engagement and empowerment 

GARY WOOLLEY, JANELLE WILLS 

Typically, professional development programs are presented as one-off, or a series of sessions, 

designed to inform teachers about new directions in education. This new knowledge, however, is 

not always effectively transferred into classroom practice. In response to this, Griffith University 

and Independent Schools Queensland developed a yearlong professional development program 

for teachers. The research informed program, called Reading Partnerships was conducted 

throughout 2008 in a number of independent schools. It was designed to empower teachers by 

22


giving them a literacy-based pedagogical framework to systematically develop literacy skills and 

enhance students’ learning engagement, while also developing the notion of teachers as 

researchers. The framework is a flexible theoretical construct that incorporates a range of 

evidence-based, reading comprehension enhancing strategies that aim to provide cohesion and 

direction for student research activities within the literacy environment of the classroom. The 

project developed some new directions, not only in terms of P.D. for teachers, but also in the 

teaching of reading comprehension with very positive results. The literacy framework was trialled 

in a range of classroom situations resulting in overall reading improvement. A second expanded 

program will be conducted in 2009. It is envisaged that the presentation will outline the 

theoretical and practical aspects of the pedagogical framework. Dr Gary Woolley and Janelle 

Wills will give a brief outline of the program and teachers from some of the participating schools 

will give examples of the children’s work and reflect upon their experiences as teachers and 

researchers. 

FRIDAY 

Biographies 

Gary Woolley is a lecturer at Griffith University. He conducts research and regularly publishes in 

the area of literacy, comprehension and learning difficulties. He is an experienced teacher having 

taught primary and high school children in government and non-government school systems. His 

professional interests include reading difficulties, memory, cognition, learning engagement, and 

professional development. 

Janelle Wills is the Manager (Teaching & Learning) for Independent Schools Queensland and is 

completing her PhD. Her research focuses on optimising the learning potential of gifted students 

with a reading disability, with an emphasis on developing self-efficacy. She is a skilled classroom 

teacher who brings practical insight to her research. 

11.00 - 12.30 

Derwent 2 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Lurid tales: using Shakespeare’s great stories to bridge divides 

CARA SHIPP 

During Shakespeare’s time his plays were often slammed for their ‘sex and violence, the swearing 

and blasphemy’ (Bate & Jackson, 1966, p 25). Today, Shakespeare’s writing is lauded for its 

grappling with human emotion – love, hate, jealousy, and anger are key components of his plays. 

While written to depict a certain class of people at a certain time, Shakespeare connects to many 

people by representing these commonly experienced emotions. Why, then, should low-literacy 

students be denied the experience of Shakespeare’s great stories. In this workshop, two units of 

work on Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew will be presented. They are simple paperand-pen 

lessons which focus on scaffolding to ensure secondary students’ access to texts they 

would otherwise never dream of experiencing. A selection of activities (based on LUAC strategies 

and the theoretical principles of Vygotsky) will be showcased and participants will take away a 

CD-Rom of lesson plans to adapt to their own classes. 

Biography 

Cara Shipp teaches English at Belconnen High School, ACT. During her time at Belconnen High 

she has tutored international students and been involved in running a homework centre for 

Indigenous students. Her passion is scaffolding rich texts for students with low literacy in order to 

improve their confidence and engage them in quality literature. 

23


FRIDAY 

11.00 - 12.30 

Derwent 3 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Bridge the divide: supporting students to deal with the literacy 

demands across all learning areas 

CHRISTOPHER WITT, LYNDA CUMMING 

Many learning area teachers baulk at the idea of having to teach ‘reading’ or ‘writing’ to their 

students, especially when there is so much content to get through. These teachers would also 

agree that student success would be enhanced across the middle and secondary schools with 

improved literacy skills. It is possible to bridge this divide and support students to deal with 

the literacy demands in learning areas, at the same time as enhancing content understanding. 

This session will explore a repertoire of literacy strategies that can be applied to a variety of 

texts generally used across learning areas. It will also explore highly practical and innovative 

teaching and learning activities linked to the improved use of these strategies. These ideas can 

be taken straight back to any classroom to successfully support the literacy demands of different 

learning areas in middle and secondary schools. Come along and gather some practical, hands-on 

approaches and ideas to use and to share with subject area teachers in your school. 

Biographies 

Christopher Witt is a consultant for STEPS Professional Development based in South Australia. 

He is currently creating a professional development resource for middle/secondary teachers to 

help students deal with literacy demands across all learning areas. Previous to this, Chris was 

the Curriculum Adviser for the Hills Murraylands District in South Australia. For five years he 

enjoyed supporting teachers across the District to improve literacy and mathematics teaching and 

outcomes. 

Lynda Cumming is an educational consultant with STEPS Professional Development specialising in 

literacy. In this role Lynda conducts professional development courses for K-10 teachers nationally 

and internationally. Prior to joining the STEPS team in 2007, Lynda worked for the Education 

Department of Western Australia for over 25 years. She enjoyed a variety of roles including 

classroom teacher, specialist literacy teacher and leadership positions in schools. 

11.00 - 12.30 

Wellington 1 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

Accelerating progress in Grades 3-8 literacy: comprehension scores and 

more … 

NEAL PITCHES 

Neale Pitches will discuss new research evidence-based teaching and learning approaches 

that show promise for accelerated literacy progress for all students in Grades 3 to 8 – offering 

more equitable outcomes for ESOL students and strugglers and excellence for able readers. 

Neale will share an international, Australian and New Zealand research base, and the teaching/ 

learning approaches that come from it. He will offer a ‘21st Century’ vision for shared and guided 

reading – improving comprehension scores, vocabulary and fluency. He will use a variety of short 

texts from English, science, maths and social studies literacy. He’ll show video models, hyperlinked 

glossaries for vocabulary instruction, digital teaching tools and classroom data (from 

New Zealand AsTTle testing) that show promise of stunning acceleration. He will also discuss 

how to build background knowledge and how students work cooperatively on difficult texts to 

‘crack the code’, then become reflective readers in a classroom learning community. Neale will 

focus on metacognition – often the missing strategy in literacy instruction – and show ways to 

deeply engage students in their learning and monitoring their own progress. He will demonstrate 

real-time enquiry learning using digital texts and show practical examples of modeling, thinkaloud, 

interactive whole-group instruction, interactive guided reading, audio-assisted learning, 

cooperative learning and independent application – to benefit comprehension, vocabulary and 

fluency learning in Grades 3 to 8. 

24


Biography 

Neale Pitches is CEO of Lift Education in New Zealand. Following a career as a teacher and 

principal in rural, inner city and suburban schools, Neale became the founding CEO of Learning 

Media, a company dedicated to the publication of quality classroom literacy and numeracy 

resources. Neale presents internationally on literacy and school leadership, focusing on how 

to teach comprehension strategies across the curriculum and on the alignment of school 

leadership with effective practice. He continues to pioneer innovative literacy materials through 

his leadership of CSI: Comprehension Strategies Instruction, a mixed digital, audio and hard copy 

resource for middle schooling. Neale was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for 

services to education in 2003. 

FRIDAY 

11.00 - 12.30 

Tasman B 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Bridging the divide with Writer’s Notebook: highlighting Grades K - 2 

EMMA FOLO, JENNY CLEMENTS, SARAH STENTON 

A whole school approach to develop young writers who are engaged, are explicitly taught the 

craft of writing and can select from a range of text forms has created a buzz at St Leonards 

Primary School in Launceston. The key to engaging students in writing is the Writer’s Notebook 

- personalised in Grades 3 to 6, and whole class Prep to Grade 2. Notebooks are filled with 

thoughts, ideas, observations and things we wonder about, hope for or want to know more about. 

The main emphasis of the notebook in the early years is to scaffold the students’ learning about 

writing and develop their thinking skills through whole class modelling and discussion. During 

Grade 2, students start to explore their own seeds, often in partnership with their older buddies. 

Classes place their idea (or seed) into their notebook, do some exploratory thinking and then 

shape their idea into a topic or text type. Teachers model the use of a range of simple scaffolds to 

support their unpacking of ideas. Critical to the success of this approach is the explicit teaching 

of different text forms. This starts here in the early years when teachers discuss, model and create 

shared texts. Each student in Grades 3 to 6 has a personalised Writer’s Gift - a celebration of 

published work. Each and every child is given the support needed to achieve success. Our primary 

students are now able to articulate the purpose of their writing and the forms it can take. St 

Leonards was the 2007 Tasmanian National Excellence in Literacy winner with writing revitalised 

and learning outcomes improved with this whole school focus. 

Biographies 

Emma Folo is an early childhood teacher at St. Leonards Primary School who is currently working 

in Kindergarten and Flying Start. She is a Literacy Mentor and has used Writer’s Notebook in 

classes from K-2. 

Jenny Clements is currently teaching Grade 5/6 at St Leonards. She has been a Literacy Resource 

Teacher and is a Literacy Mentor and a Speaking and Listening First Steps Facilitator. She has also 

been involved in helping disseminate the Writer’s Notebook concept to early childhood teachers 

for Learning Services North. 

Sarah Stenton is teaching Prep/1 at St Leonards Primary School and has been involved in the 

Literacy Mentor Program. She was also a spokesperson on our DVD called Writing Rocks at St. 

Leonards. 

25


FRIDAY 

11.00 - 12.30 

Stage 1 

Audience: 

All 

Teaching and learning English in the ACT: implementing a 

new curriculum supported by a quality teaching pedagogical model 

CHRISTINE MELICAN 

In November 2007 a new ACT curriculum framework P - 10 entitled Every chance to learn was 

released for government and non-government schools. The title is significant - students are not 

just given one chance to learn before being tested and, whatever the result, being moved on. By 

contrast, they are given Every chance to learn. And the learning is organised to equip students 

so that they can thrive in the complex world of the 21st century. The implementation of this 

curriculum is underpinned by an adopted and adapted version of the Quality Teaching Framework, 

released by NSW DET in 2003. This powerful model enables teachers to reflect on their practice, 

analyse their strengths and decide on areas for improvement or change in order to meet the 

learning needs of their students. This presentation will tell the story of what English teachers in 

the ACT are doing to enable and empower students to: be powerfully literate citizens; build and 

use their capacities; develop deep understanding of themselves and their world; construct and 

walk the bridge of respect and understanding between themselves and peoples of all cultures; be 

creative and enjoy the world of imagination and literary expression. 

Biography 

Christine Melican has over 25 years experience in government and non-government schools. 

Teaching English to adolescents is her first love as an educator. However, over the past four years, 

she has been privileged to be part of the ACT DET’s curriculum renewal and curriculum writing 

process and currently is the Assistant Manager of the Curriculum Support Section. She leads a 

team of 10 curriculum officers in working with P - 12 teachers across all KLAs. She is passionate 

about the importance of education as the bridge from all manner of beginnings to a productive 

and satisfying life for all students. 

11.00 - 12.30 

Show Room 

Audience: 

Primary 

Bridging the divide with Writer’s Notebook: highlighting Grades 3 - 6 

PRUE STURGESS, WENDY WILSON, KAROLYN DAVIDSON, TANIA MILBOURNE 

A whole school approach to develop young writers who are engaged, are explicitly taught the 

craft of writing and can select from a range of text forms has created a buzz at St Leonards 

Primary School in Launceston, Tasmania. The key to engaging students in writing is the Writer’s 

Notebook – personalised in Grades 3 to 6, and whole class Prep to Grade 2. Notebooks are filled 

with thoughts, ideas, observations and things we wonder about, hope for or want to know more 

about. Students can include sketches, photos, artefacts and newspaper headlines. All students 

can access the notebook at their own personal level. Children place their idea (or seed) into 

their notebook, do some exploratory thinking and then shape their idea into a topic or text type. 

Children are encouraged to use a range of scaffolds to support their unpacking of ideas. Critical to 

the success of this approach is the explicit teaching of different text forms. Our students are now 

able to articulate the purpose of their writing and the forms it can take. Each student in grades 

3 to 6 has a personalised Writer’s Gift – a celebration of published work. Each and every child 

is given the support needed to achieve success. St Leonards was the 2007 Tasmanian National 

Excellence in Literacy winner with writing revitalised and learning outcomes improved with this 

whole school focus. 

Biographies 

Prue Sturgess teaches Grade 5/6 at St Leonards. She was part of a group who visited Ivanhoe 

Grammar in 2006 and helped conduct action research leading to our school-wide approach. She 

has been a Literacy Mentor for Learning Services North and has helped disseminate Writer’s 

Notebook to other teachers through ALEA workshops and school visits. 

26


Wendy Wilson teaches Grade 3/4 at St Leonards and is skilled in the Arts. She also visited Ivanhoe 

Grammar, participated in the action research and implementation of Writer’s Notebook. In 2008 

she was a Literacy Mentor who welcomed teachers to her classroom. 

Karolyn Davidson is a Grade 5/6 teacher at St Leonards who is active and skilled in the Arts. 

She joined the staff as they were starting to implement the whole school approach to Writer’s 

Notebook and has become an avid supporter. 

Tania Milbourne is a second year teacher who has readily adapted to the whole school approach 

to writing and has become an active member of the Literacy team. 

FRIDAY 

11.00 - 12.30 

Tasman C 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Addressing the different needs of boys and girls when selecting novels 

for the classroom or wide reading lists 

ERIN WAMALA 

Gone are the days when it was expected that boys would only read one type of story (adventure) 

and girls will just go along with the boys because they will read anything. Every reader deserves 

to be presented with books that tap into their lives, interests, experiences and aspirations. Male 

and female readers come in all shapes and sizes; boys can and will read a variety of authors and 

genres and stories for girls can be exciting and challenging, not just ‘light and fluffy’. However, 

school life is increasingly busy and it can be difficult for English teachers to be exposed to, and 

able to recommend, books to suit their readers. In this session, Penguin Senior Education 

Consultant, Erin Wamala, will present a range of titles that celebrate male and female readers, 

their experiences, interests and aspirations. There will also be a focus on good graphic novels 

that can be taught in the classroom as a class text. Delegates will be presented with strategies 

for choosing novels for their students, be provided with anecdotal evidence of books that have 

worked with various readers and will receive a range of teacher resources that will aid them 

in bringing these novels into the classroom. 

Biography 

Erin Wamala is the Senior Education Consultant for Penguin Group. She has a degree in Education 

and experience in bookselling, trade and educational publishing. Erin has also previously been 

a regular contributor to Viewpoint Journal and was the Schools Program Coordinator for The Age 

Melbourne Writers’ Festival. 


11.00 - 11.40 

Green Room 

Audience: 

All 

Enhancing literacy learning through ICT: supporting teacher 

professional learning in the 21st century 

DI WILSON 

In recent years, governments and schools have invested significant resources into ICT and there 

have been significant improvements in the availability of high speed internet connections, 

computer infrastructure, hardware and software and in the meaningful integration of ICT into 

curriculum development and teaching practice. However, this progress has not been uniform 

between or within individual schools. Bridging the divide between the availability of technology 

in schools and its effective use in the classroom continues to be a challenge for schools and 

individual teachers, especially in rural and regional schools. In 2006, The Association of 

Independent Schools of Victoria (AISV) implemented a pilot program for primary/middle years 

27


FRIDAY 

teachers to build their capacity to integrate ICT effectively into their teaching. The pilot program 

was evaluated by staff from Deakin University. The program has now been adapted for teachers 

in a range of metropolitan and regional schools where the integration of ICT into classroom 

practice has been limited. The program is underpinned by the Victorian Essential Learning 

Standards and the National Consistency in Curriculum Outcomes Statements of Learning and 

draws on contemporary research from the domains of ICT-integration, the effect of ICT on student 

learning outcomes and effective professional learning principles. It focuses on the development 

of teacher skills and competencies in the effective integration of ICT for the teaching of literacy 

and numeracy. This presentation will outline the development and evaluation of the program and 

present some of the materials and activities used to engage the teachers in exploration ICT to 

support and enrich literacy teaching in the 21st Century. 

Biography 

Di Wilson is an education consultant in ICT with the Association of Independent Schools Victoria. 

She has extensive experience in working cooperatively with teachers across all subject areas to 

develop students’ information literacy and ICT skills. 

11.00 - 11.40 

Riviera Room 

Audience: 

All 

Bridging - access, equity and quality: the case for multiple literacies 

DIANA MASNY 

What is the role of literacy as a means to bridging the divide How can access, equity and quality 

in literacy contribute to bridging the divide This presentation focuses on the theme of the 

conference by presenting an avenue for the bridge through MLT (Multiple Literacies Theory). What 

is MLT MLT as a social construct consists of words, gestures, attitudes, speaking, writing, and 

valuing: becoming with the world. Literacies are texts that express multiple meanings and are 

taken up as visual, oral, written, and tactile. They constitute texts in a broad sense (i.e. music, art, 

physics, and mathematics). They fuse with socio-political, cultural, economic, political, gendered 

and racialised contexts. It is how literacies are coded. These contexts are not static. They are 

fluid and transform literacies that produce speakers, writers, artists, communities. In short, 

literacies (e.g. personal, critical, community, school-based, etc.) are about reading, reading the 

world, and self as texts. MLT serves as a backdrop to examine how it supports access, equity and 

quality in literacy. It will illustrate the ways in which a pedagogy based on MLT is about learners 

transforming through literacy. Based on research in early childhood education, this presentation 

centres on how learning, teaching and assessing can bring about change and promote equity with 

learning literacy as a process. 

Biography 

Diana Masny is full Professor and Director of the Multiple Literacies Research Unit at the Faculty 

of Education, University of Ottawa. Her research interests focus on the elaboration of MLT 

(Multiple Literacies Theory) and its implications for pedagogy, teaching, learning and evaluation. 

The applications of MLT have been taken up in program policies, curriculum development and 

pedagogy in Canada. 

28


11.00 - 11.40 

Wellington 2 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Bridging and bordering cultural, gender and sexual divides: using 

text to explore and understand social diversity and discrimination 

particularly in relation to cultural, family and sexual diversity 

MARIA PALLOTTA-CHIAROLLI 

Using my research and workshops with schools, and three of my books, Someone You Know, 

Tapestry and my novel, Love You Two, I will explore how the English classroom can be a 

powerful and supportive space where controversies, divisions and misrepresentations can be 

acknowledged and addressed. 

Biography 







FRIDAY 

11.00 - 11.40 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Early Years 

An evaluation of the impact of reading adventure packs on a six, seven 

and eight year old child’s attitude towards reading 

MARGARET GILL 

This study examined a school-home partnership literacy improvement program, the Reading 

Adventure Pack (RAP), that aims to support the child’s involvement in and attitude to reading, 

and involve the members of the family in the child’s reading by supplying literacy material. The 

RAP is based on a theme, containing about five books and a variety of related activities, which 

promote the skills of literacy, similar to the ‘Home Literacy Bags’ developed by Barbour (1999). 

In particular the study explored the effectiveness of the RAP with students from Years K/Prep to 

3 in New South Wales and Victoria. The study involved a pre-RAP child and carer questionnaire 

followed by the child’s RAP experience and then a post-RAP child and carer questionnaire. The 

children borrowed the resource packs to take home on a weekly rotational basis. This continued 

until the children had experience with all of the sixteen different RAP packs. When the RAP was 

returned the children shared their writing in the response journal with their peers. Each child 

was asked the same fourteen questions on the pre-RAP and post-RAP questionnaire with an 

extra eight questions specific to the RAP experience included in the post-RAP questionnaire. 

The questionnaires revealed that the home environment, in the majority of cases, was extremely 

limited in terms of appropriate reading resources for children of this age, that the mother was 

the carer most involved in literacy development of the younger child in the home and the father 

was more likely to be somewhat involved with the older child in the home. The carers reported 

that they enjoyed working with RAP, and indicated that RAP, from their perspective, had a positive 

effect on their child’s attitude to reading. The children’s questionnaires revealed positive attitudes 

towards the RAP and that the RAP experience had increased the child’s willingness to explore 

different literacy genres and had increased their involvement in and attitude to reading. It was 

noticed, however, that the impact of the RAP experience was not consistent across the age 

groupings or between the male and female students. The RAP experience had the greatest impact 

on the seven and eight year old female and eight year old male children. 

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FRIDAY 

Biography 

Margaret Gill, MEd (Honours), an ESL/Special Assistance teacher at Orchard Grove Primary School 

(OGPS), has an interest in innovative and creative ways of promoting early literacy skills in the 

classroom as well as across the community. 

11.00 - 11.40 

Executive 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Editing partners: a collaborative approach to better writing 

MARY WEAVEN, DONNA LOURENSZ 

This session presents early findings from research conducted in Donna’s Prep classroom. Donna’s 

‘beginning writers’ were allocated an editing partner from the same grade to assist in their 

learning. Mary’s role was to record the implementation of this process. The concept of Editing 

Partners is aimed specifically at ‘bridging the divide’ between those students who are confident, 

competent writers, and those who claim that they ‘can’t write’. As teachers we continually search 

for activities to motivate reluctant writers. This approach, however, of engaging each child as 

an editing partner, assumes that all children do actually want to write, and that they want to be 

able to do it well. One of the challenges of this approach is that it requires teachers to relinquish 

some of their authority. The research being conducted in Donna’s prep classroom investigates 

and critiques what actually happens when a teacher implements an approach to writing that 

recognises learners as taking an active role in their own development. We contend that this can 

occur even in ‘beginning’ writers; early evidence strongly supports this contention. What then are 

the conditions necessary for this approach to work properly and to achieve the goal of ‘ensuring 

access, equity and quality in literacy and English education’ This research examines the teaching 

decisions and judgements that contribute to the development of written skills in very young 

writers who are operating within a milieu of engaged collaborative learning. We recognise too that 

although this approach may not be new, very little research has been conducted so far into the 

application and evaluation of the use of Editing Partners as a teaching technique. 

Biographies 

Donna Lourensz is in her third year of teaching at Wembley Primary School, after having come a 

little later than is conventional to the profession. Donna’s teaching places a strong emphasis on 

the work that students themselves have produced. Her interest is in promoting literacy excellence 

for all students. 

Dr Mary Weaven lectures in Diversity, Inclusion and English Method in the School of Education at 

Victoria University. She taught English in state secondary schools for many years, has worked as 

a curriculum consultant and taught in the TAFE sector. Mary is a past vice-president of Victorian 

Association for the Teaching of English. Both presenters are recipients of this year’s ALEA 

scholarship for classroom research. 

11.00 - 11.40 


Audience: 

All 

Literature to find the lost and indulge the found 

JOY LAWN 

Literature can find the lost and indulge the found. We need to lure child readers then keep them 

hooked by offering wonderful literature. A plethora of things, including lost children, can be found 

within its pages. Children may be lost literally or metaphorically. Most lost children are found but 

many of our students are not confident of their direction, or face different scenarios. The lost child 

needs an escape, a solution, others to emulate — especially those who have succeeded. The 

vicarious experience that books can offer the metaphorically lost, or simply curious readers, can 

provide insight and comfort. The ‘found’ can be avid readers or anyone who has discovered the 

gift of reading. We can keep them reading because the body of literature is constantly replenishing 

30


itself. There is always something that will entice and nourish every reader - from the present and 

past. There is a plethora of things to be ‘found’ in children’s literature, such as precious objects, 

new friends, hidden talents ... We can lose ourselves in books. There’s so much we can ‘do’ with 

books but it’s that suspension in time and dimension, that absolute ‘losing’ yourself inside a 

book, that is invaluable. Literature not only gives us a respite from the uncertainty of life, but 

actually enhances life. Be a guide to lead lost children into that enchanted space that is fashioned 

by that glimmer of truth; that glimpse of the profound that literature can reflect. These ideas will 

be explored and exemplified using real books. 

FRIDAY 

Biography 

Joy Lawn has appeared in a professional capacity as a conference presenter for ten years. She 

advises on CYA literature, in which she holds an MA. Joy is a current CBCA and Qld Premier’s 

Literary Award judge, reviews for major journals, is the author of Inside the Shortlist and writes for 

Curriculum Corporation. 


11.50 - 12.30 

Riviera Room 

Restaurant 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Whose canon 

DON HENDERSON 

There is a canon of English literature that stands like a mountain too high for many students. This 

presentation covers some simple and practical ideas (plenty of handouts) for enabling teachers 

and students to use classic texts in mainstream classes. It will feature a study of Charles Dickens 

which uses the illustrations of Phiz as a starting point. These illustrations provide an interesting 

way to introduce some of the greatest descriptive writing of all time. This then provides a starting 

point for students to develop their own writing. The presentation will show how parts of classic 

texts can be studied and used in conjunction with more typical mainstream class novels. Other 

classic writers considered will include James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. Also covered will be ways to 

involve classes in contemporary adaptations of Shakespeare. The use of my latest novel, a parody 

of Macbeth, entitled Macbeth, You Idiot! will be considered in this context. In this novel a boy 

starting Year Eight joins the school’s football (soccer) team and lets his ambition get the better 

of him. I will model an approach that emphasizes the themes and the universality of the themes 

presented in Shakespeare. The presentation will conclude with an explanation of a mini-novel/ 

publishing assignment that I have given students after studying examples of excellent writing in 

classic texts. 

Biography 

Don Henderson is an English teacher and writer. His first two young adult novels, Half the Battle 

and Keepinitreal were published by Scholastic and his third novel, Macbeth,You Idiot! has just 

been released by Penguin. He is an advocate for the use of classic texts. 

31


FRIDAY 

11.50 - 12.30 

Green Room 

Audience: 

Primary 

Everybody reads, everybody writes: promoting literacy and 

educational achievement in economically and culturally disadvantaged 

communities 

MARK VICARS 

This paper critically examines the interconnection between multimodal pedagogies and literacy 

practices of children who are disadvantaged by poverty and/or other emblematic indicators 

and considers how 21st Century literacy practices can promote and facilitate the development 

of reading and writing skills in children from economically, culturally and linguistically marginal 

communities. It describes the process and effects of re-energizing classrooms with multimodal 

activities and texts and considers how such interventions can enable children, at risk of 

social exclusion: to elect to learn; to develop knowledge of English spelling, grammar and an 

understanding of genre; to compose meaningful texts in English by drawing on their cultural 

heritage backgrounds and resources; to use texts functionally in relation to how they perform 

social and cultural functions and to reproduce texts (read or write) independently. The paper 

draws on longitudinal data taken from a school in a suburb of Melbourne that has one of the 

highest unemployment rates, a large migrant community who speak a language other than English 

at home and an income profile that is lower than the average across metropolitan Melbourne. 

The paper indicates how, by developing and embedding and engaging with 21st Century literacy 

practices, there have been significant improvements in literacy standards across the school 

measured by improved attainments and achievements in standardised national assessments. 

The paper will have relevance for educators working in schools interested in developing 

multimodal literacy practices and pedagogies that can bridge the gap for children at risk of social 

and educational exclusion. 

Biography 

Mark Vicars is a senior lecturer in literacy education at Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia. 

His research is located within The New Literacy Studies reflecting on literacy, language and 

identity practices and he is particularly interested in intercultural literacy and literacy and identity 

practices of marginalised groups. 

11.50 - 12.30 


Audience: 

All 

What makes a literate citizen in the 21st century Contested forms of 

literacy in a global knowledge economy 

MICHAEL KINDLER 

Traversing the chronological and historical terrain of having taught languages, English and literacy 

since 1976 to students in high schools, university undergraduates and postgraduates, the writer 

identifies a range of contesting themes and forms of English that have populated the expectations 

of what constitutes a literate person. Picking his way across several of these perceptions and 

intellectual tussles, he argues that the time has come for a consolidation of competing literacy 

expectations into a contemporary, coherent and relevant whole that is driven by high intellectual 

expectations, sound pedagogy, a curriculum relevant to the 21st century and consistent 

assessment practices. 

Biography 

Michael Kindler has been a languages teacher, English head teacher, leading teacher and lecturer 

at six universities in Australia, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. His current position is Manager 

for Curriculum Support for the Department of Education and Training for the ACT. As a language 

educator, the opinions expressed in this paper are not meant to be considered representative of 

the Government Department for which he works. 

32


11.50 - 12.30 

Wellington 2 

Audience: 

Secondary 

The (D)English divide: building bridges with disengaged and reluctant 

adolescent learners in the English Communication classroom 

SARAH LONG 

This paper presents teacher practitioner research into an English Communication classroom that 

focuses on linking the ‘outside school’ multi-modal literacy practices of adolescent students to 

their classroom literacy learning for the purpose of improving academic outcomes. A schoolbased 

English Communication program has been developed as a powerful and meaningful context 

for literacy learning based on student surveys and data on ‘outside school’ literacy practices 

and experiences. The literacy program draws on five core principles (meaning, relevance, value, 

authenticity & connectivity) and includes a challenging array of guest speakers, excursions, group 

work and computer-assisting learning opportunities embedded with ‘real-life’ experiences. Tasks 

and learning experiences focus on real world application and re-engaging reluctant or resistant 

learners in literacy for life. Data from in-class student surveys and questionnaires on ‘outside 

school’ literacy practices provide a rich source of information on which learning experiences and 

assessment tasks are based. The class commonly includes reluctant learners labeled as poor 

performers who are disengaged from the traditional curriculum. The presentation shows how 

the learners ‘stake a claim’ in their own literacy learning, developing a renewed sense of pride 

and engagement in academic work whilst improving their educational outcomes and future 

opportunities with further study, the workforce and beyond. 

Biography 

Sarah Long is Head of English Curriculum at the Australian Technical College Gold Coast. She is a 

teaching fellow at Bond University and currently pursuing doctoral studies at Griffith University. 

She has worked as a secondary school English educator for some years and has a keen interest 

in adolescent literacies and pedagogical approaches to support ‘reluctant’ learners in English 

literacy. 

FRIDAY 

11.50 - 12.30 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Primary 

iKindy: responding to home experiences in kindergarten classrooms 

CHRISTINE EDWARDS-GROVES 

This paper examines how school and classroom practices extend [or overlook] the technological 

capacities of young people entering schooling. In a climate of rapid change and raised political 

expectations to embed Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) across subjects, 

classroom teachers are faced with developing their personal capacities for utilising a range of 

technologies in their teaching. For many it is a challenging and confronting prospect. This has also 

meant that there is a need to transform both the substance and the pedagogy of the classroom 

experience as literacy practices in schools contend with political agendas which sharply impact on 

both classroom practices and the broader practices of schooling. This paper reports the findings 

of research investigating the ways teachers of students entering schooling acknowledge and 

respond to these challenges in their own classrooms. Specifically, it addresses ways in which 

schools and teachers respond to the issue of integrating ICT into teaching design in meaningful 

and responsive ways as part of a new landscape for producing oral, written and visual texts in 

classrooms emerges. 

Biography 

Christine Edwards-Groves has researched and written about the efficacy of professional 

development and influences on classroom learning. In 2006-7, Christine conducted extensive 

research in rural NSW, focusing on student voice focusing on Aboriginal males. Currently, she is 

33


FRIDAY 

involved in an international consortium involving researchers from across the world researching 

and writing about praxis. Currently, this involves co-editing a special issue of Pedagogy, Culture 

and Society entitled ‘Pedagogy, Education and Praxis’. 

11.50 - 12.30 

Executive 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Tertiary 

Taxing your thinking: a bridge for improving pre-service teacher 

engagement in reading groups 

LYN TONKIN 

Teacher educators have expressed concern about the ways that pre-service teachers not only 

go about the readings required for their course but also engage with those readings in more in 

depth ways. Often pre-service teachers and their lecturers do not share the same understandings 

about what it means to do the readings and how they should be approached. An apparent lack 

of engagement with the content of set readings means that pre-service teachers are unlikely 

to demonstrate sufficient understanding to be fully successful in their courses. To ensure the 

divides between teacher educators’ and pre-service teachers’ expectations of tertiary reading 

are bridged some promising strategies have been developed. Reading Groups are one means 

of providing opportunities for pre-service teachers to learn with their peers through sharing 

their understandings of course readings. The collaborative nature of Reading Groups means that 

they are more likely to be engaged in the readings. This engagement will be strongly affected 

by the kinds of reading they do and the processes established within the reading groups. This 

presentation outlines findings from a small study we conducted in an English course at UniSA. 

It focuses on a strategy ‘Taxing your thinking’ that we devised to support our Reading Groups. 

The strategy attempts to engage pre-service students in reading groups in more productive ways. 

From the data we collected we found that by establishing a framework, clear processes and 

models for the reading group task that pre-service teachers are scaffolded in knowing what and 

how to read, what kinds of questions to ask and how to plan appropriate tasks with which the 

group might engage. 

Biography 

Lyn Tonkin teaches English curriculum in the under-graduate, graduate and trans-national 

programs at the University of SA, Magill campus. For many years Lyn has been an active member 

of ALEA at the national, state and local levels. She has been involved in a range of curriculum 

writing projects to produce teacher professional development materials and more recently 

participated in consultancy projects in Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. 

KEYNOTES 1.30-3.00 

1.30 - 3.00 

Plenary Hall 

Audience: 

All 

Springboards into literacy: ensuring access for all 

DAVID HORNSBY 

This presentation will describe different starting points for literacy and how three different 

schools in Melbourne tackled the literacy learning needs of their students. At a school in the 

outer northern suburbs, teachers worked with a team from La Trobe University to develop an arts 

program as a springboard for literacy. A large body of research and many case studies show that 

using the creative arts in schools improves children’s literacy. At an inner-city school, science 

was used as the springboard for literacy teaching and learning. Through hands-on, experiential 

learning, the children in Prep investigated floating and sinking. They learned the concepts and the 

language for those concepts before writing about their experiences and then engaging in relevant 

34


reading tasks. At a school in a far eastern suburb, the P/1/2 teachers developed a project-based, 

developmental curriculum which they called ‘explorations’. The children are ‘engaged in an 

extended inquiry process structured around complex, authentic questions.’ All three schools 

have diverse populations, with students from many different cultural backgrounds. The teachers 

understand that ‘reading and writing float on a sea of talk’ (Britton, 1970) and a common goal was 

to develop the children’s language as a basis for their literacy development. It will be argued that 

schools need the professional freedom to lead kids into literacy in a multitude of ways. Only then 

can schools develop programs that are relevant for their student populations. Access, equity and 

quality, the themes of this conference, are not provided by bureaucratic ‘one size fits all’ programs. 

The three Victorian schools described in this session, like many others, broke away from the 

inflexible routine of Victoria’s Early Years Program, which disconnected literacy from the rest of 

the curriculum and even separated the teaching of reading and writing. We now have the Victorian 

Essential Learning Standards, which are promoting integrated learning. (We also have a National 

Framing Paper for English-literacy which will help to shape future curriculum documents.) 

FRIDAY 

Biography 

David Hornsby is a private education consultant in schools, who works extensively in early years 

and middle years literacy education around the country. He worked for many years in the Victorian 

Ministry of Education as a teacher, curriculum consultant and school principal. David is a prolific 

author and producer of CD-ROM and multi-media programs. 

1.30 - 3.00 

Tasman A 

Audience: 

All 

The Story of Tom Brennan from idea to novel 

J C BURKE 

J C Burke, the author of The Story of Tom Brennan, will discuss the process of writing the awardwinning 

novel. Jane’s presentation will look at the work and research involved with taking the 

initial idea through drafting and its various stages of editing. The theme of ‘into the world’ will be 

examined within the context of Tom’s story and the author’s own personal experience. The voice, 

characterisations, dialogue, research and the use of ‘flash backs’ will also be explored. The author 

will display the various research, editorial and writing notebooks which were an integral part of 

the novel. 

Biography 

J C Burke was born in Sydney in 1965, the fourth of five sisters. With writers for parents, she grew 

up in a world of noise, drama and books, but she decided to become a nurse after her mother 

lost a long battle with cancer. Since Burke started writing in 1999, she has published a number 

of acclaimed books for teenagers and young adults, including Children’s Book Council Notable 

Books White Lies and The Red Cardigan, Aurealis Awards finalist Nine Letters Long, The Story of 

Tom Brennan, Faking Sweet, Starfish Sisters and Ocean Pearl. The Story of Tom Brennan won the 

2006 CBC Book of the Year - Older Readers and the 2006 Australian Family Therapists Award for 

Children’s Literature. It is currently on the NSW HSC syllabus list. Jane lives on Sydney’s Northern 

Beaches and is married with two children. 

35


FRIDAY 

1.30 - 3.00 

Stage 1 

Audience: 

Secondary 

CONCURRENT SESSIONS 1.30 -3.00 

Alternative film studies (ambiguity intended) 

LEITH DANIEL 

There are a number of stock-standard films used in the English classroom that seem to be chosen 

not because of their entertainment value, or skill with techniques, but the issues with which they 

deal. Not only does this then limit responses from students and risk having them discuss the 

issue and not the film, it also tends to be extremely boring. These choices do little to help the 

students’ understandings of visual literacy. However, there are also worthwhile films that can be 

studied which are usually ignored for studying in the English classroom. These range from b+w 

classics (Casablanca) to ‘80s action films (Die Hard) to sci-fi orgies of violence (Starship Troopers). 

This seminar will be an introduction to some films you may never have thought of using in the 

classroom, with ideas for what to do with them. It will also include ideas on how to teach visual 

texts generally, providing an alternative to the problematic SWAT mnemonic, with a view to 

helping students deal with constructing essay responses. 

Biography 

Leith Daniel is a teacher of 10 years and has become known as a pop-culture specialist (he has 

the best DVD and comic collections). He has presented at two ETAWA conferences so far (one on 

B-Grade films, one on etymology) and been published three times in the ETAWA journal (B-Grade 

film, the F-word, film analysis). 

1.30 - 3.00 

Tasman B 

Audience: 

Primary 

Getting it right! The constructive teaching of correct language use 

JEFFREY WILHELM 

This interactive workshop will focus on engaging research-based methods for helping students to 

write more competently and correctly. Highlighted topics will include ways of thinking about error, 

helping students inquire into language use, teaching correct language use in context through 

induction, sentence-combining, and writing from models. 

Biography 


has an international reputation as an English-literacy educator. He has a particular interest in 




for Distinguished Research in English Education presented by the National Council of Teachers 

of English. 

1.30 - 3.00 

Derwent 1 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

Bridging the comprehension divide: teaching students to read 

between the lines 

ALISON DAVIS 

Bridges are structures we build to link people and places. Bridges in text link words and ideas. 

This interactive workshop will focus on the actions needed to explicitly teach students how to 

manage, use and comprehend text and how to infer hidden meanings. This workshop will include: 

36


explicitly teaching students to manage, use and produce a variety of texts using effective reading 

strategies; teaching and learning strategies to explicitly teach comprehension; specific strategies 

for bridging the gap between decoding and deep understanding; visual literacy and its importance 

in fully comprehending text; and explicitly teaching inferential comprehension across the text 

types. 

FRIDAY 

Biography 

Alison Davis is a training and development consultant with Cengage Learning. She is an inspiring 

facilitator who is committed to supporting teacher learning. Alison has presented at local and 

national levels, and to international audiences on a range of educational topics. She has extensive 

background and experience in training and development through her senior management 

positions working with principals, consultants, literacy and numeracy educators and classroom 

teachers. 

1.30 - 3.00 

Tasman C 

Audience: 

All 

Teacher as editor: the bridge between writer and audience in a 

digital world 

RODNEY MARTIN 

Most people in our society can read to some level, but, as academics and employers increasingly 

complain, there is a great divide between exiting school students who can and those who can’t 

write coherently beyond basic personal correspondence in a digital environment. How do editors 

identify the strengths and weaknesses in manuscripts and suggest strategies that will make a 

difference to authors How do they build bridges between writers and their audience In what 

sense do teachers as editors build bridges for students Editors are the unseen collaborative, 

creative and professional filters through whom professional writing passes before it is exposed to 

the public. Likewise, teachers need to respond to students’ writing drafts and make constructive 

suggestions so students can take them to the next level. This presentation explores the 

practicalities of how an editor works with authors to take their manuscripts to a publishable 

standard. It also addresses how the digital revolution has affected this process. A parallel is drawn 

between the roles of teacher and editor and, for teachers, focuses on strategies that help them to 

respond to writing at the whole text, paragraph, sentence and word levels. Reference to children’s 

writing will illustrate how some children are effectively mimicking style and structure from text 

models and how this can be used by the teacher for explicit instruction in specific language 

knowledge. 

Biography 

After 14 years as a primary teacher, administrator and member of the SA State Curriculum 

Advisory Board, Rodney Martin became a writer and editor of children’s literature and educational 

materials. He continues to work as an educator providing professional development in literacy for 

teachers around the world. 

1.30 - 3.00 

Stage 2 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Bridging the digital divide 

GREG HOWES, HELEN JOHNSTON 

In an age of increasing ‘networked isolation’, teachers are faced with the challenge of engaging 

students with technologies that enrich their connections with other human experiences. Tasks 

that employ a range of traditional and emerging literacies can provide students with a bridge to 

other generations and cultures, as well as building greater self-awareness. In this session, we will 

present three units from Year 8 to Year 10 English in which students use 21st Century literacies to 

37


FRIDAY 

construct and reconstruct stories and poetry digitally. Because these technologies are from their 

own lifeworlds, greater access to a quality English education is enabled. We will explain how Year 

8 students can enhance their appreciation of a poem through the selection and sequencing of 

powerful images and sounds in Microsoft Photo Story. In Year 9, the students learn to re-represent 

an original narrative digitally before composing a multimodal biographical story, in Year 10, on 

a leader of their choice. Participants in this session will be provided with information about the 

practical implementation of technology in the classroom and will be shown examples of student 

work across the three year levels. 

Biographies 

Greg Howes is in his sixth year of teaching at Brisbane Grammar School, where his experiences 

have ranged from being a core teacher in the Middle School to a senior English teacher. 

After 15 years working in a range of schools both in Australia and the US, Helen Johnston is now 

teaching English to boys in Years 10 to 12 at Brisbane Grammar School. This is her fourth year there. 

1.30 - 3.00 

Training Room 

Audience: 

Primary 

When the bridge does not build itself 

SUZANNE RAYSON 

Every student has a story, a unique, individual story. A story that gathers, sorts, shapes and 

stores all sorts of information and experiences as it grows at its own pace. A story that can be 

penetrated and known if one takes the trouble. Taking the trouble to look, ask the right questions 

and listen well to this story is, and always has been, an integral part of teaching and critical 

to improving and continuing a student’s learning. By using a combination of quantitative and 

qualitative research methods teachers collect a range of data that can be analyzed and interpreted 

for various reasons. There are many formal assessments already in place in schools that deal 

with the quantitative aspect of data collection and assume a fixed, measurable reality. In many 

cases teachers have no control over these assessments so these are not going to be discussed 

here. The focus of this presentation is instead on student surveys that are teacher designed, 

are student orientated to ask open-ended questions and require student/teacher conversation. 

Surveys that produce qualitative data that seeks out a variety of perspectives and does not try to 

reduce the multiple interpretations to a norm. Armed with this knowledge teachers will be able 

to reach across their gulf of unknowing, develop relationships with, and build a wiser picture 

with greater understanding of the students in their care. This way they will be better equipped to 

plan and practise instruction, improve the learning of their students and be motivated to be more 

innovative and diverse in their approach to education. 

Biography 

Suzanne Rayson has been actively involved in literacy education and teacher training in Australia, 

Papua New Guinea and the United States. A published author, she is an experienced practitioner 

who is passionate about learning and teaching and is committed to improving the learning of the 

students and teachers with whom she works. 

1.30 - 3.00 

Wellington 1 

Audience: 

All 

Interactive whiteboards and literacy: a world of opportunities 

LAUREN O’GRADY 

Is your school equipped with interactive whiteboards but you are unsure about their relevance 

for literacy Have you tried using an IWB for a little while but need more hands-on experience Or 

maybe you have never even been near one but would love more information about their uses and 

benefits in the literacy classroom This session is for teachers who are beginning their journey in 

38


the exploration of this powerful tool in the teaching and learning of literacy. Come and learn about 

how Interactive Whiteboards can assist in opening up your literacy classroom to the world. 

Biography 

Lauren O’Grady is no doubt one of the most well-known presenters and educators regarding 

the use of interactive whiteboards in the classroom. Prior to her current role as IWB consultant, 

Lauren worked in various roles with the Department of Education, including heading the 

Innovations and Middle Years unit at Caroline Springs College and as an ePotential resource 

officer. Lauren has presented at many conferences around Australia and, in collaboration with 

Georgina Pazzi, created an Interactive Whiteboard Resource DVD for use in schools. Voted by her 

peers as Information and Communication Technology Education of Victoria’s ‘Teacher of the Year’ 

in 2007, Lauren brings with her a wealth of experience and an astute understanding of teacher 

professional learning to ensure best student learning outcomes. 

FRIDAY 

1.30 - 3.00 

Show Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Bell Shakespeare’s actors at work performance: Love’s Magic 

GEORGE BANDERS, CHARMAINE GORMOAN-KEDMENEC, SHAUN GOSS, SARAH OGDEN 

Love’s Magic explores the soaring heights and plummeting depths to which love can take us. 

It is an intelligent and entertaining introductory experience of Shakespeare in performance. This 

one hour performance is a journey through a world of comic possibilities, plot complications 

and theatrical surprises. The performance uses scenes from Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer 

Night’s Dream. The performance will include a post performance discussion with the actors about 

the program and its benefits for students. 

Biographies 

George Banders recently graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts. He has performed in 

Loves Labours Lost, Fear and Misery in the Third Reich, The Conduct of Life and many more. He has 

also appeared in the feature film Shot of Love. 

Charmaine Gormoan-Kedmenec has been working professionally in theatre, film and television 

for over 15 years. She has toured in productions of High Society with the Melbourne Theatre 

Company, Fiddler on the Roof with Topal, and Eurobeat-The Eurovision Musical. She has recently 

finished touring Australia with Gary Ginnivan’s production of Possum Magic: The Musical. 

Since graduating from NIDA Shaun Goss has worked with Sydney Theatre Company in Love Lies 

Bleeding, Griffin Theatre in Stoning Mary and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for Classic Kids 

Concerts. Shaun has also worked in film and television; most recently in Emerald Falls for Channel 10. 

Sarah Ogden holds a Bachelor of Dramatic Art (Acting) from the VCA, a Bachelor of Creative 

Industries (Drama) with Distinction from QUT and an Associate Diploma of Speech and Drama 

Teaching from the Trinity College London. She has also trained with the Queensland Shakespeare 

Ensemble and is a skilled singer and dancer. Sarah made her professional stage debut at the age 

of 11 as Mary Lennox in the Gordon Frost Australian tour of The Secret Garden. 


1.30 - 2.10 

Riviera Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Creative writing in the senior English classroom 

MEL DIXON 

Developing creative writing in senior English students is a difficult process. How do we move from 

Edgar Allen Poe’s criteria for a short story to a dynamic and modern text that still grips 

39


FRIDAY 

the audience This presentation will look at the role of the writer and offer practical advice on how 

to encourage creativity in the senior English classroom, using film and other texts as models. 

Biography 

Mel Dixon has been a head of department and teacher of English in schools in Queensland 

and New South Wales. She has been an active ETA committee member in both states, a regular 

conference presenter and is the editor of mETAphor, the journal of the English Teachers’ 

Association of New South Wales. 

1.30 - 2.10 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Primary 

‘Authentic’ learning experiences: what does this mean and where 

is the literacy learning 

JESSICA MANTEI, LISA KERVIN 

Teachers are challenged to adopt practices that facilitate the development of ‘necessary’ skils 

and strategies for learners. For many, however, what is required in policy and curricula is 

increasingly obscured and even confusing as teachers are bombarded with jargon prescribing 

seemingly similar (yet apparently different) approaches such as ‘rich tasks’, ‘big questions’ and 

‘fertile questions’ that are to be ‘relevant’, ‘authentic’ and ‘engaging’ for the learner. Barton and 

Hamilton (2000) argue that literacy learning should take the learner beyond the transmission 

of technical skills in the classroom to an understanding of its role within a community’s cultural 

practices. These literacy practices (Street, 1995) are mediated by literacy events (Heath, 1983) 

and it is engagement with these events and their diverse demands that allows learners to make 

strong connections to their own literacy practices. In essence, ‘…it’s not reading performance 

which ultimately counts in children’s lives but what they learn to do with texts’ (Comber, 2005). 

Reported in this paper are the interpretations of eight experienced primary school teachers as 

they plan, program and facilitate authentic literacy experiences in their classrooms. Evident in 

these teachers’ stories are the beliefs, contexts and competing tensions that underpin the design 

and implementation of these experiences. The teachers’ stories reveal the complexity of teaching 

as they considered the individual contexts of their schools, their students’ own communities, the 

expectations of stakeholders in a child’s education and the availability of resources within the 

school community. 

Biographies 

Jessica Mantei is a PhD student and tutor at the University of Wollongong. She is the President of 

the South Coast Local ALEA Council. She is an experienced primary teacher. 

Dr Lisa Kervin is employed as a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of 

Wollongong and is the NSW State Director of ALEA. She is an experienced primary teacher. 

1.30 - 2.10 

Wellington 2 

Audience: 

Primary 

Bridging print and digital literacies 

KATHY MILLS 

The rapidly changing world of technology and the pervasiveness of multimedia and online 

communication environments have caused educators to rethink literacy teaching and learning. 

The literacy skills and resources that students bring to school differ markedly from those of 

students in the past, as they actively participate in digital cultures that are distant from the 

classroom in time and space. For example, outside of schools, children are frequently participants 

of social networking sites, virtual communities and video gaming cultures. How can teachers 

40


bridge the gap between essential print literacies and the digital spaces that many students today 

inhabit This presentation provides a toolkit of motivating strategies for engaging primary school 

students in both print and digital literacies, today and into the future. 

Biography 

Dr Kathy Mills is a lecturer of literacy and multiliteracies at Christian Heritage College and post 

doctoral candidate in digital school reform with the Queensland University of Technology. Formerly 

a primary teacher and curriculum coordinator, she has published three books in the internationally 

distributed Deep End reading series by ERA. 

FRIDAY 

1.30 - 2.10 

Green Room 

Audience: 

Primary 

Bilingual education as a bridge to (bi) literacy 

PAUL MOLYNEUX 

In supporting students to become critically aware, multiliterate learners (see Cope & Kalantzis, 

2000; Freebody, 2001; Gee, 2000; New London Group, 1996; Unsworth, 2002; Zammit & 

Downes, 2002) able to deploy a broad range of powerful textual practices that require academic 

language proficiency in English (Cummins, 2000; Gee, 2002), the bilingual education pathway 

is frequently overlooked. This paper reports on research conducted at three Victorian primary 

schools offering bilingual learning opportunities to their linguistically and culturally diverse 

students. The research investigated these students’ language and literacy development (in both 

English and other languages of instruction), along with their emerging language awareness and 

intercultural knowledge. Data were collected from 58 bilingually educated students, through 

individually administered questionnaires and focus group interviews, offset by reference to 

students’ achievement against English standards and targets. The research findings reveal these 

students attach high levels of importance to becoming biliterate, expressing satisfaction with 

their abilities across the dimensions of language and literacy, perspectives supported by a range 

of English assessment data collected at the school level. Inhabiting multilingual lifeworlds where 

‘translanguaging’ (Baker, 2003, 2006), codeswitching (Myers-Scotton, 1997), and linguistic 

transfer (Cummins & Swain, 1986) are daily realities of these students’ educational and social 

language interactions, this research suggests that bilingual – even multilingual – pedagogies that 

support the bridging of linguistic and cultural divides, potentially enhance both students’ learning 

outcomes and their orientations to schooling. As such, the research reported on here suggests 

that alternate pathways to English language proficiency require deeper systemic consideration. 

Biography 

Paul Molyneux lectures in Language and Literacy Education at the University of Melbourne. His 

teaching and research interests centre on pedagogical arrangements that support the language 

and literacy development of linguistically and culturally diverse students. His PhD investigated 

bilingual education arrangements for students from immigrant and refugee backgrounds, a study 

he has built on in the paper designed for this conference. 

1.30 - 2.10 

Executive 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

Bridging the curriculum divides: cross-disciplinary approaches 

to learning 

SALLY GODINHO, WESLEY IMMS 

The National English Curriculum framing paper acknowledges that bridging the disciplinary 

divides is reflective of the nature of learning and work in the 21st century. Cross-disciplinary 

curriculum has a highly visibly presence in current state curriculum frameworks, and likewise 

41


FRIDAY 

in the International Baccalaureate Organisation’s (IBO) Primary Years Program and Middle 

Years Program. Curriculum that bridges the disciplinary divide has long been identified as a 

means of making learning more relevant and cohesive, and of cultivating student voice and civic 

engagement. Yet cross-disciplinary curriculum is not a recent innovation; in the 1930s John Dewey 

noted the need for a more cohesive conceptualisation of learning. He rebuked school systems for 

their segregation of knowledge to which Dewey attributed students’ inability to connect schoolbased 

knowledge to their lived experiences. In this paper, we argue that very positive learning 

outcomes for students occur when teachers accept the challenge of bridging the disciplinary 

divide. We draw on two case study classes that are situated very differently both temporally 

and spatially: a Tasmanian government primary school in 1965 and a Victorian co-educational 

independent secondary school in 2007. In these classes, a creative Year 2 teacher sailed her 

students around the world in a virtual ship, while an equally creative Year 8 English teacher 

engaged her class in an exploration of reality. Audio and video taped interview data and artifacts 

are analysed to show how students’ literacy skills and knowledge are constantly revisited and 

refined through their reconfigurations in different curriculum areas. 

Biographies 

Sally Godinho is a senior lecturer in education in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education. 

Her research interests include interdisciplinarity and the discursive practices of teachers and 

students. 

Wesley Imms is a senior lecturer in Education in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education. His 

research interests include the impact of Visual Art curriculum on students’ academic social and 

emotional development. 

1.30 - 2.10 

Derwent 3 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Improving literacy skills 

CATHERINE LAUGHLIN 

In this fast-moving age of the internet, the most neglected aspect of the English language is 

spelling. While using abbreviations and unconventional spellings in such mediums as SMS, 

emails and TXT messages may be acceptable, when it comes to trying to express meaning in a 

written medium — to communicate to others in formal situations — poor spelling reflects badly 

upon both the writer and the message. As a faculty, we decided to take some drastic action to 

raise awareness of spelling, not just in English but across all the Key Learning Areas taught in 

our school. Through utilising the methods of action research, we have implemented a Spelling 

Program which has seen increased students’ awareness of words and language, as well as 

improved spelling ages, significantly from the start of Year 7 to the end of Year 8. The aim of 

this spelling program is to be one of the tools used by teachers, students and parents, to build 

confidence in written expression, to expand vocabulary (specific subject specific terminology) 

and to foster a sense of pride in themselves as learners. This presentation will outline what our 

program looks like, how it was implemented and how its success is monitored. 

Biography 

Catherine Laughlin has had fifteen years of middle and senior secondary English teaching 

experience and leadership in Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales. She has 

undertaken extensive professional development to supplement the private reading/research 

she has undertaken in the areas of teaching/addressing film and multi-media in the classroom; 

engaging adolescents in reading and writing; and functional grammar and everyday literacies. She 

has been a workshop presenter at numerous international, national and state ETA conferences. 

42


1.30 - 2.10 

Derwent 2 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Primary 

The young learners’ project: mapping preschool teachers’ beliefs and 

literacy practices 

JANET SCULL 

The Young Learners’ Project, funded by The Australian Scholarships Group and The Australian 

Research Council is a large scale, longitudinal study that is investigating factors including the 

preschool program, home-life and personal characteristics, that are positively associated with 

high outcomes in literacy, both in the preschool year and first year of schooling. A sub-study 

within this research examines early literacy teaching in the year prior to school entry. Informed 

by studies of early childhood teacher beliefs (Ure & Raban, 2001), behaviours of effective 

teachers (Louden & Rohl, 2005, Topping & Ferguson, 2005; Wray, Medwell, Fox & Poulson, 2000), 

understanding of early literacy teaching (Clay, 2001; Dickinson, 2001; McGee & Richgels, 2003; 

Tafa, 2008) and pedagogy as a factor in transition from preschool to school (Petriwskyj, 2005), 

this research aims to map and interpret early childhood teachers’ beliefs and understandings 

of literacy and identify their distinct literacy strategies. This session will present data collected 

from ten preschool teachers who participated in the first year of this study. Survey, participant 

self-assessment and interview data alongside video observations of teaching will be considered 

to map how literacy is conceptualised and enacted in preschool contexts and the theoretical 

perspectives that inform this practice. The analysis reveals the dominant pedagogical beliefs of 

practitioners, practices and literacy concepts prioritised and affords insights into how preschool 

teachers extend children’s interest in literacy, and in doing so will provide a basis for bridging 

divides between preschool and school literacy interpretations and practices. 

Biography 

Janet Scull has experience as a classroom teacher and in the design of early years literacy 

curriculum. She currently lectures in language and literacy education at The University of 

Melbourne. Her research interests include an examination of relationships between language and 

literacy and pedagogical practices to support children’s understanding of texts. 

FRIDAY 


2.20 - 3.00 

Green Room 

Audience: 

All 

YALP-YACHAD Accelerated Learning Project: 10 minutes a day - that’s 

all it takes 

JUDY YARON, JENNY ROBINS, ROSS ROBINS 

The YACHAD Accelerated Learning Project (YALP) has been delivering accelerated learning 

practices, developed by the NCJW Research Institute for Innovation in Education, at the Hebrew 

University of Jerusalem, Israel to Indigenous and non-Indigenous students of Australia in remote, 

rural and regional settings for the past four years. This demonstration presents an overview of the 

project while focusing on YALP’s one-one-one Tutoring Model – The Ten Minute System (10MS). 

Through tailor-made accelerated learning techniques catering to individual students’ learning 

styles, level and needs, the 10MS maximises the attention span of learners at risk. Data shows 

the positive impact of the 10MS on students’ literacy and numeracy achievements, self-esteem, 

classroom engagement and learning habits as well as the positive impact of YALP’s professional 

development program on the professional growth and empowerment of the YALP Tutors. YACHAD 

in Hebrew means ‘together’. This presentation shows how by working together – educators, 

students, parents/caregivers and community – all children can learn, reach their potential and 

consequently nurture and pursue their aspirations. 

43


FRIDAY 

Biographies 

Judy Yaron is National YALP Coordinator. She oversees the pedagogical aspects of the program 

and school relationships. Judy has an MA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language and is 

completing her Doctorate in Educational Leadership. She has over 25 years experience in 

classroom teaching, teacher training, project administration and material development. 

Jenny Robins has a T.P.T.C. Graduate Diploma in Special Education and is a trained Reading 

Recovery teacher. Jenny has over 30 years experience as a classroom teacher, special education 

teacher, education administrator, and literacy consultant in Australia and abroad. As a YALP Trainer, Jenny 

provides professional development to schools in literacy, YALP methodology and data collection. 

Ross Robins is a T.P.T.C. Diploma Education Graduate and has a Diploma in Educational Studies. 

Ross has over 30 years experience in education as a classroom teacher, educational administrator 

and educational consultant throughout Australia in rural and urban schools and abroad. As a YALP 

trainer, Ross provides professional development to schools in literacy, YALP methodology and data collection. 

2.20 - 3.00 

Derwent 2 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Primary 

Literacy intervention in the classroom: explicit literacy strategies 

for the mainstream classroom 

VICTORIA COCHRANE 

Did schools ever make a conscious decision that intervention for children with reading difficulties 

could only ever be conducted outside the classroom environment Have specialist and/or Flying 

Start teachers been given the responsibility because teachers have become too busy with their 

day-to-day programming to provide explicit and individualised intervention for the students 

in their class who are falling behind their peers One of the most critical elements of any literacy 

programme is that of direct, explicit and differentiated teaching (Edwards-Groves, 2003; Snow et. 

al., 1998; Westwood, 1997). An effective teacher should be able to manage time restraints to take 

account of students’ difficulties within the classroom program. My presentation will outline the 

action I took as a Grade 1/2 classroom teacher with five students who were not coping with the 

normal classroom program. I will discuss how I planned for differentiated learning to take place 

within the literacy programme by grouping according to needs. I will also outline four specific 

techniques that I used to address individual learning needs: Elkonin (Clay, 1993) sound boxes to 

address poor phonemic awareness; mastery learning (Bloom, 1964) of sight word recognition to 

assist in the improvement of reading ability; language experience, quarter book, cut-up sentence 

and interactive writing; CVC spelling booklets that scaffold children’s ability to hear and 

represent sounds. 

Biography 

Victoria Cochrane is on secondment to the Association of Independent Schools Tasmania as a 

literacy advisor, working in schools on the NW coast. She is writing her Honours dissertation 

based around explicit intervention in the classroom setting. Her teaching experience includes 

classroom teacher (K-4), Reading Recovery, Flying Start, cluster support and literacy co-ordinator. 

2.20 - 3.00 

Riviera Room 

Audience: 

All 

Disrupting the norms: creating autonomous learners through 

formative feedback 

GLORIA LATHAM, JULIE FAULKNER 

This paper will explore a research project currently being undertaken at RMIT’s School of 

Education to examine the power of formative feedback in shaping, empowering and disrupting 

the norms of learning. We recognise that every gesture, facial expression, every act and every 

omission that happens in and beyond the classroom is a form of feedback. The paper will provide 

44


current literature around feedback for learning and the innovative practices being undertaken 

to better inform and empower learners to become autonomous. This paper will focus around 

literacy teachers and learners in particular and how a virtual school we created is enabling us to 

provide critical and timely feedback. This virtual school was designed to provide a fertile space for 

students to experience new pedagogies and reflect on ways a ‘pedagogy of disruption’ can assist 

in unsettling taken for granted assumptions about teaching and learning. 

FRIDAY 

Biographies 

Gloria Latham is a senior lecturer at RMIT University. Her research is in teaching and learning 

literacy and reflective practice. She has co-created a virtual school, Lathner Primary, and text 

Learning to teach: New Times, New Practices (2006), where ideas about new learning are situated. 

She is co-editor of Practically Primary. 

Julie Faulkner is a senior lecturer at RMIT University. She is a secondary English lecturer involved 

in New Learning practices and multiliteracies. She co-created the virtual school to disrupt current 

notions of teaching and learning and is part of the research team on formative feedback. 

2.20 - 3.00 

Executive 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Out of the silence: challenging homophobia and heterosexism through 

the use of young adult imaginative literature in the English classroom 

DAVID RHODES 

This paper will address the findings of research investigation exploring the use of young adult 

fiction in the English classroom to challenge homophobia and heterosexism. The presumption 

of heterosexuality is very much encoded into the fabric of western society and is reinforced and 

validated in schools. Young people, struggling with their own sexual identity, face many obstacles 

in self-efficacy, especially if they believe that they may not be heterosexual. Homophobia remains 

as the last ‘acceptable’ prejudice of the twenty-first century. Laws still exist that discriminate 

against same-sex attracted people. Indeed, many people fail to recognise that there are any queer 

youth at all. Imaginative literature opens up a world of possibilities for young adults. For samesex 

attracted youth it can provide the opportunity to see authentic representations of aspects of 

their own lived experiences. In a society that provides too few role models for queer adolescents, 

fiction can also offer examples of gay people leading fulfilling lives, having satisfying and loving 

relationships and who experience a sense of belonging in the places where they live and work or 

study. There is much misinformation about same-sex attraction and there are too few safe places 

for young people to look for answers to their questions about sexuality whether heterosexual, 

bisexual, transgender or homosexual. Books can stimulate discussion where otherwise there may 

be silence; make the invisible, visible; offer hope and reinforce dreams. They can give a voice to 

those who may not be able to speak out loud. 

Biography 

David Rhodes is currently completing a PhD in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the 

University of Sydney. He is also a full-time secondary teacher. This paper reflects the research that 

he has been undertaking, exploring issues of masculinity in young adult fiction and how these 

texts can be incorporated into the English classroom to combat homophobia and heterosexism. 

45


FRIDAY 

2.20 - 3.00 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Audience: 

All 

One school’s response to literacy learning and teaching using 

technology 

LISA KERVIN 

The federal government’s pledge for increased access to computers for students has been 

held up as ‘groundbreaking reform’ as ‘digital schools’ become a reality for more students. 

However, access to technology remains uneven across schools, student competency levels differ 

and teacher expertise varies considerably. Incorporating new technologies such as laptops, 

wireless connectivity, smartboards and mobile communication devices into interactive practices 

frequently requires rethinking configurations of curriculum, bodies and space. Teachers are 

experts in pedagogy, not necessarily technology. It is vital that teachers are acknowledged for the 

considerable knowledge they have about their profession – what constitutes ‘good’ pedagogy, the 

nature of learning and ways to engage students in the classroom. While there appears an everincreasing 

range of technologies to incorporate within classroom learning experiences, technology 

use alone is not a substitute for good practice. As such, it is important that teachers develop clear 

reasons and purposes for technology integration in connection with curriculum goals, student 

learning gains and informed personal philosophies. This paper aims to examine teaching practices 

in the literacy session within one primary school as we: identify and describe practices for the 

integration of new technologies in literacy pedagogy; begin to examine teacher and student 

activity in these teaching practices; consider the theoretical underpinnings of such practices. 

Biography 

Lisa Kervin is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Wollongong. This 

paper reports on research from a funded project entitled: Teaching in the ‘digital revolution’: reexamining 

the literacy session. 

2.20 - 3.00 

Wellington 2 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Primary 

Technology as a doorway to literacy in the early years of education: 

access, equity and quality in literacy education 

KAREN McLEAN, CLARE SCHAPER, JACQUI VANDERKLEY 

This paper presents an interim report of a study which explores the integration of information and 

communications technology (ICT) into the English curriculum in the early years of education. The 

research question driving the study was How can technology be a doorway to literacy in the early 

years of schooling Traditionally literacy and technology have been considered pedagogically 

opposed, but this study suggests that the pedagogies surrounding the teaching of literacy and 

technology are mutually inclusive because of the symbiosis of literacy and technology. Early 

findings confirm the symbiotic relationship between literacy and technology for the children in 

kindergarten and early years of primary education. The study raises important equity issues for 

quality literacy education. The research highlights the implications of appropriate pedagogical 

practice to support literacy development in the context of access, equity and quality in a rapidly 

changing and technologically advancing world. 

Biographies 

Karen McLean is an experienced primary teacher and lecturer in Education at Australian Catholic 

University. Karen’s research interests include literacy in the early years and pedagogical 

approaches to the integration of technology in the early years of education. Karen is currently 

completing doctoral studies with a research focus in these areas. 

Clare Schaper is an experienced kindergarten teacher. When she is not teaching in the 

kindergarten she is a lecturer in Early Childhood Education at Australian Catholic University. Clare 

46


embraces a holistic approach to technology in the kindergarten program. 

Jacqui Vanderkley is a highly enthusiastic and motivated primary teacher. Jacqui has a strong 

interest in approaches to personalised learning and the integration of information and 

communications technology across the early years program. 

FRIDAY 

2.20 - 3.00 

Derwent 3 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Pre-paid literacy: money, youth and mobile technologies 

CALVIN TAYLOR 

The pervasiveness and ubiquity of mobile technologies for contemporary teenagers presents a 

raft of challenges, including the financial cost of communication: they not only cost money upfront, 

but on a continuous basis. That the majority of students have limited access to economic 

capital raises issues of access and equity, not just amongst students, but between them and other 

social groups. Whilst studies have examined the financial aspects of young people’s use of mobile 

phones, how this impacts on the ways in which the devices are actually used for communication 

and what this means in terms of literacy, needs further research. Drawing on an ethnographic 

study into youth literacy practices associated with mobile technology use, this paper will explore 

the relationship between the financial cost and ways in which mobile technologies are used. 

Whilst mobile technology use is understood within the framework of ‘literacy as social practice’, 

the concept of ‘financial literacy’ is also useful in examining student practices. Drawing on the 

voices of students, strategies for cost-minimisation will be explored, including: the re-emergence 

of the primacy of print, the use of technical features, contract knowledge and choice, and the 

importance of social networks. As mobile technologies are adopted more actively for teaching and 

learning – as ‘m-learning’ makes its way into our classrooms – bridges need to be built between 

in-school and out-of-school literacies. The financial cost of mobile communication plays a central 

role in how mobile technologies are used and the emerging literacy practices involved. 

Biography 

Calvin Taylor is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education at Monash University investigating 

youth literacy practices associated with mobile technology use. Previously, he completed his BA 

(Hons) and BTeach (Hons) studies at the University of Tasmania, before teaching secondary school 

in rural Victoria for a number of years. 

KEYNOTES 3.30 - 5.00 

3.30 - 5.00 

Plenary Hall 

Audience: 

All 

Future directions for Indigenous education post apology: trends and 

implications for literacy 

LESTER-IRABINNA RIGNEY 

Poor performance indicators in education and literacy for Indigenous Australians are unacceptable 

and unsustainable. Too many observers have reduced this phenomenon to a symptom of 

economics and welfare policy failure. Subsequent studies reveal a more complex picture. This 

paper will examine the state of Indigenous Education and its challenges toward seeking optimistic 

evidence based solutions. 

Biography 

Lester-Irabinna Rigney is a professor of Education and Director of the Yunggorendi First Nations 

Centre for Higher Education and Research at Flinders University. A highly influential Indigenous 

47


FRIDAY 

educationalist, he has received Visiting Research Fellowships to universities in the UK, South 

Africa and Canada. His 2006 co-edited book, titled Sharing Spaces: Indigenous and Non- 

Indigenous Responses to Story, Country and Rights, discusses Indigenous and non-Indigenous 

race relations and their convergence in the vulnerable, vital and contested space called 

‘education’. 

3.30 - 5.00 

Tasman A 

Audience: 

All 

A pedagogical perspective on literacy teaching: thinking beyond 

strategies and techniques 

PHIL CORMACK 

In current policy pronouncements on literacy in Australia, there is an oft-expressed wish to 

develop or promote the right teaching ‘strategies’ as the way to improve outcomes for our 

students. Policy seems to be obsessed with what are variously called strategies, techniques or 

approaches as a kind of cure-all for an implied (or directly stated) poor quality of teaching. In this 

session I review some current policy statements from federal and state governments to show how 

they reduce teaching to technique even as they argue for improved quality. I ask what might be 

learned about literacy teaching if we focus on a pedagogical perspective which takes account of 

the complex interactions that occur between the teacher, the student and the knowledge at play 

in particular subjects. While strategies typically focus on what teachers do to students, and often 

make naïve assumptions about the ideal forms of those two figures (the explicit, eloquent teacher 

and the obedient and responsive student), a pedagogical perspective understands their relation 

as multiple and complex. At different times in the history of English and literacy, there has been 

a focus on ‘method’, but equally there has been an understanding that the texts that are used – 

the role of literature for example – and the relation between the teacher and the student – who 

must ‘teach’ and ‘learn’ from each other – are also significant parts of the mix. I take a range of 

examples of these pedagogical relations from my own historical research and work with teachers 

in contemporary settings to illustrate that to focus on strategies alone is poor policy and that 

we need richer imaginings of the teacher, the student and their relations if we are to improve the 

quality of learning. 

Biography 

Phil Cormack is an associate professor at the Hawke Research Institute and Director of the Centre 

for Studies in Literacy, Policy and Learning Cultures at the University of South Australia. His 

current work involves research on the history of adolescence, schooling and literacy; on literacy 

and place; environmental communications, middle school pedagogies; and on boys and literacy. 


3.30 - 5.00 

Stage 1 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

NAPLAN Testing: is it testing what it claims to test 

PATRICIA HIPWELL 

NAPLAN tests particular constructions of literacy realised through print based tests. The tests 

assess typical rather than best performance and disallow the resources normally available to 

students as they learn as these tests are conducted in silent places. However, Australia now has 

national testing of literacy and numeracy and teachers are anxiously preparing students and 

considering the best ways to do this. There are several ways in which students can be prepared 

for NAPLAN Testing including ‘bolt on’ preparation practice sessions, mimicking the style of 

48


questions for everyday teaching, designing assessment with the NAPLAN literacies in mind and 

explicit teaching of the literacies being tested. During this workshop, Pat will share her work on 

the literacy demands of the NAPLAN papers. She will demonstrate that the literacies of national 

testing can be taught in all areas of the curriculum by all teachers, rather than just by English 

and Maths teachers. National testing does not have to distort teaching such that teachers feel 

compelled to teach to the test, as preparation should be part of a whole school approach to 

literacy teaching and learning. Teachers will be given suggested classroom activities to develop 

the literacies that are being tested. They will also consider how these literacies can be embedded 

in assessment and aligned with classroom practice. NAPLAN should not be regarded as a separate 

entity from other forms of assessment as it can enhance students’ literacy development. This 

workshop is practical. 

FRIDAY 

Biography 

Patricia Hipwell is an independent literacy consultant for her own company, logonliteracy. Since 

starting a consultancy business four years ago, Patricia has provided professional development to 

schools that are developing whole school approaches to literacy. She has particular interest in the 

literacy demands of school based assessment in Queensland and national testing. 

3.30 - 5.00 

Stage 2 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Motivating, connecting with, and improving student results 

FENI BEMBRIDGE, PENNY McLOUGHLIN 

It’s no secret that when students have targeted and explicit approaches to subject specific literacy 

demands, their performance improves. When students can read, write, speak and listen according 

to the needs of each context or learning area, their confidence and skills grow. But what if you do 

not feel adequately equipped or confident about the explicit teaching of literacy This workshop 

is intended to give teachers simple, practical and student friendly strategies to engage students 

in effective listening, reading and viewing, writing and speaking activities that can be used in 

every learning area. Teachers will be put in the shoes of the learner and subject specific texts will 

be used to demonstrate what can be done to engage students and to develop subject specific 

literacy. 

Biographies 

Feni Bembridge is currently working as a principal consultant with the Secondary Schooling and 

Participation Directorates in the Department of Education and Training in Western Australia. She 

has worked in a variety of contexts as an English teacher, literacy leader and train-the-trainer for 

secondary literacy programs throughout Australia. 

Penny McLoughlin is a principal consultant for English as a Second Language or Dialect and 

English Literature in the Department of Education and Training in Western Australia. She has 

experience in literacy and English as a teacher, administrator, examiner, moderator and writer of 

English programs. 

3.30 - 5.00 

Tasman B 

Audience: 

Secondary 

A book of promises 

PETER O’CONNOR 

Promises and especially promises about keeping things quiet are an important part of many 

young people’s lives. The workshop uses a range of dramatic conventions to question the nature 

of promises and whether or not you should always keep quiet about things. The workshop 

has been trialled extensively in Year 7 and 8 classrooms in New Zealand as part of the Keeping 

Ourselves Safe programme with the New Zealand Police. 

49


FRIDAY 

Biography 



University of Sydney and an associate professor, Artistic and Creative Education, at the University 







3.30 - 5.00 

Show Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Future leaders’ forum: leadership and other challenges for the English 

teaching profession 

AATE NATIONAL COUNCIL 

This forum is for all those wanting to become more involved in shaping the work of their state 

or territory English teaching association in the future. Participants will join members of AATE 

Council to identify and discuss the challenges facing English teaching in the next ten years and 

the role state and national English teaching associations might play. The forum will also enable 

participants to learn about the activities and operations of the different state and territory 

associations in Australia and to discuss ways they can be supported to take on leadership 

positions in these associations. Interested participants will be invited to put together a summary 

of the issues, challenges and possible ways forward discussed at the forum. This summary will 

provide impetus for further discussion and action at national and local levels by AATE and state 

/ territory associations. This forum is the second in what is intended to be an ongoing part of 

national conferences and builds on the work begun last year in Adelaide. Participants will be 

invited to join a Ning to engage in ongoing discussion of matters raised during the forum. 

Biographies 

The forum will be led by members of AATE Council. 

3.30 - 5.00 

Wellington 1 

Audience: 

All 

The most important R of all: relationships! Creating positive 

partnerships between teachers, kids and caregivers in transformative 

literacy classrooms 

LEONIE ROWAN 

The benefits of positive relationships between parents, teachers and students are well 

documented in educational research. In day to day life of schools, however, it is easy for the 

demands of curriculum and assessment to dominate our time, and for the seemingly complex 

business of relationship building to slip a long way down our ‘to do’ lists. In this presentation 

I will explore the concept of relationship based schooling, and discuss some of the multiple 

ways in which diverse teachers throughout Australia are working to establish positive, powerful 

partnerships with caregivers and kids. Participants will have the opportunity to learn from their 

colleagues and to share their own success stories about relationship building, as we develop a 

shared understanding of some of the multiple and manageable ways in which we can take the ‘R’ 

of relationships, and use it to turn ‘parents’ into ‘partners’. 

50


Biography 



the concept of relationship centred schooling as a framework for disrupting traditional patterns of 

success and failure in diverse educational and cultural sites. She has published in areas such as 

early childhood education, new literacies/new technologies, values education and home/school 

partnerships. 

FRIDAY 

3.30 - 5.00 

Tasman C 

Audience: 

Primary 

Improving student spelling and increasing teacher knowledge of 

spelling: school based project 

MARIANNE SCHUBERT, GAYLE SWANN, KATE DASCOMBE, SUE FILIPS, KAREN MCCULLAGH. 

CARLA WALKER 

In this trial project, four schools develop strategies for improving student spelling and increasing 

teacher knowledge of spelling. Teachers explored effective ways to assess, plan for and teach 

spelling to meet the needs of individuals and groups within their class. All four schools were 

selected for a trial project based on their different community profiles. Each school had to have 

identified a need to improve spelling across their school through analysis of school data. The 

schools also needed to have in place a leadership team including at least one administrator 

and one teaching staff member. Because of the differences in school factors, each leadership 

team approached the implementation process in different ways to suit their staff and student 

populations. This presentation and following paper will briefly outline the processes and 

outcomes from these schools. 

Biographies 

Marianne Schubert is currently an Education Queensland Regional Literacy Manager in Greater 

Brisbane. She works extensively with teachers to provide literacy professional development. 

The spelling project evolved in her region as an extension of the work undertaken as part of a 

statewide literacy initiative. Marianne has worked as a curriculum developer at QSA. She has 

drawn on her collaboration with QSA testing branch in development and analysis of the project. 

She has extensive classroom experience. Her presentations have been well received at local, state 

and national conferences and professional development activities. 

Co- presenters: Gayle Swann (Calamvale State College), Kate Dascombe (Bulimba State School), 

Sue Filips (Bulimba State School), Karen McCullagh (Bulimba State School), Carla Walker (Yeronga 

State School). 

3.30 - 5.00 

Riviera Room 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Primary 

Consultation forum on Teaching Australia’s proposed primary 

standards for accomplished teachers 

JO PADGHAM, CHRISTINE TOPFER, CAL DURRANT 

This forum will be run by ALEA and AATE National representatives Jo Padgham, Christine Topfer 

and Cal Durrant. A working party for Teaching Australia has written a draft set of standards for 

the Accomplished Primary Teacher. June and July of this year is the first phase of consultation 

around these standards and feedback from the forum at the conference will directly inform the 

development of the standards. The standards will be trialled nationally in September and October. 

Come along to the forum, see the draft standards and have your say on the proposed standards 

and how they should be used. 

51


FRIDAY 

Biographies 

Jo Padgham, Christine Topfer, Cal Durrant are ALEA and AATE National Council representatives. 


3.30 - 4.10 

Derwent 1 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Primary 

Rethinking guided reading 

JOHN MASON, JANE BOVILL 

Rethinking guided reading has brought positive gains to learning outomes at St Leonards 

Primary School in Launceston. The Fountas and Pinnell model of introducing the test, reading 

the text, teaching process skills and word work has been developed in our context. Visual cues 

help students articulate the reading strategies they are using. This provides a bridge for preindependent 

learners, some with identified learning disabilities, in order to make positive gains 

with accuracy, fluency and comprehension. There is explicit attention to the features of both fiction 

and non fiction texts. The school is trialling the Fountas and Pinnell Levelled Literacy Intervention 

which is a small group supplementary intervention designed for children who find reading and 

writing difficult in the early years and supports them to get to grade level standard. Each lesson 

is a combination of reading, writing and phonics (word study). It is a resource that supports the 

whole school approach. 

Biographies 

John Mason is an experienced early childhood/primary classroom teacher who has also worked in 

special schools. He currently works at St Leonards Primary as both a support teacher for students 

on the severe disability register and as a reading intervention teacher in Grades One and Two. 

Jane Bovill is the principal of St Leonards Primary. She is both a previous literacy consultant and 

state director for ALEA in Tasmania. In 2008 she was funded by the School Improvement Board of 

Learning Services North for a sabbatical. She attended a summer institute in Boston with highly 

regarded researcher and educator, Irene Fountas, focussed on literacy leadership and literacy 

coaching. 

3.30 - 4.10 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Tertiary 

A bridge to the future: students’ use of e-portfolios and reflective 

practice to design pathways to further study 

JANE WESTWORTH 

This paper examines the role of a foundation course, the Diploma of Further Education, in 

preparing students for the first year of tertiary education, and student participation in the trial of 

a new e-portfolio – Pebble Pad. It describes the backgrounds, needs and fears expressed by these 

adult learners continuing, or returning to, study, and the choices they make in order to prepare an 

effective pathway to their intended courses. At the end of the year, Diploma students present a 

Folio - a selection of appropriate work, and a record of their learning pathways. This year, students 

have been invited to trial a new e-portfolio. Being involved in the trial will lead to conscious 

reflection, participation in focus groups, experience of survey techniques and awareness of 

ethical considerations. This makes the students’ learning real: it provides a tangible focus for their 

reflective journals, enables them to be a part of a qualitative research project, and to experience 

advanced uses of technology. The experience will be shared by teacher and students: the teacher’s 

narrative is but one voice; the students are seen as partners in the research. The study would not 

be possible without the support of the community of practice of which they are now members. 

The results are expected to reflect the learners’ growth as members of a meaningful learning 

52


community, encouraging them to explore new technological concepts, to experiment freely with 

language and ideas, and to expose themselves to change and risk, the basis of independent, 

active learning. 

Biography 

Jane Westworth is currently teaching at RMIT, and working towards a PhD at Monash University. 

She has taught in England, Denmark, New Zealand and Australia, and is especially interested in 

enabling students to take command of their own learning, and in challenging the boundaries of 

traditional classrooms and their discourses. 

FRIDAY 

3.30 - 4.10 

Training Room 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Primary 

Torch light and aliens’ eyes: ESL students and engagement 

ELIZABETH HOOK, BRONWYN THOMAS 

The paper will investigate the significance of engagement in bridging ESL students’ language gaps 

and suggest some practical ways to support their literacy development. Analysis of oral language 

assessment data in 2008 highlighted specific needs of fifty primary ESL students. I developed a 

program using science experiments as a vehicle for oral language instruction and supported and 

scaffolded their discussions while recording their comments. They were fully engaged, making 

connections with personal experiences and sharing knowledge. My notes revealed they were 

using descriptive language which had not been evident in the formal assessment data. Early in 

2009, I read of the findings of Piera Carroli who uses Italian literature to teach and inspire ANU 

students as they learn Italian. She discovered that students were internalising new language 

forms and then later reproducing them. She suggests that a high level of engagement facilitated 

learning of language. I wondered if my ESL students, while engaged, had drawn on their own 

literary experiences in articulating observations and ideas. I studied my notes and realised that 

some of the comments were very literary-like: ‘angry dinosaur’, ‘windy forest’, ‘dancing flowers’, 

‘wobbly jelly’, and ‘a volcano shaking the earth’. The students’ ability to draw on literary sources 

to enhance observations suggests powerful opportunities exist for the explicit teaching of English 

language. This paper will explore the use of shared texts to engage ESL students while developing 

their language use and literacy skills. 

Biographies 

Elizabeth Hook is currently ESL teacher at Ainslie School. She has broad, wide ranging primary 

teaching experience and has taught in Tasmania, the Northern Territory, the ACT and Northern 

Ireland. A thorough appreciation of students’ abilities, needs and learning styles informs her 

planning for educational experiences. 

Bronwyn Thomas has been teaching Japanese at Ainslie School for the past year. In 2009 she has 

also taken on an ESL role, teaching children from Years 3 to 6. She has a degree in Arts/Asian 

Studies with a major in Linguistics. 

3.30 - 4.10 

Derwent 3 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

Supporting struggling writers with the use of voice recognition 

software in class 

MARGARET NEILSEN 

As a result of a case study research project, a Tasmanian independent school has differentiated 

its support to struggling writers by adopting a range of learning strategies with the use of 

voice recognition software. The study demonstrated that the software facilitated significantly 

improved writing efficiency and learning outcomes. Using their oral and auditory skills, the 

53


FRIDAY 

writers developed planning, composing editing and evaluating techniques that expanded their 

vocabulary range and syntactical strictures. The research identified effective strategies that 

overcame spelling, working memory and processing difficulties. Accurately attributing personal 

learning strengths and selecting appropriate learning strategies enabled them to change their 

cognitive and affective outcomes. They actively sought help and persevered with tasks to achieve 

markedly better writing performances. The study used a qualitative, ethnographic methodology 

to examine the effects of this form of assistive technology. The research was positioned within 

a sociolinguistic and sociocognitive approach to teaching and learning, which considers 

writing a social and cognitive act. A supportive school environment and constant access to 

voice recognition software was found to be essential. Multifaceted data collection drew on the 

students’, their teachers’ and parents’ reflections of their writing improvement by considering 

vocabulary use, text length and the appropriate use of text features and structures. The students 

learned to evaluate their writing and gained greater learning independence. Their increased 

knowledge of effective learning strategies positively affected their efficacy, as they produced 

lengthy, articulate, carefully crafted texts. By differentiating their learning processes these 

students’ difficulties with writing were overcome. 

Biography 

Margaret Neilsen’s Honours research was the foundation for the assistive technology program 

offered at The Friends’ School to struggling writers with specific writing difficulties. Margaret has 

extensive experience in teaching writing and was instrumental in the Tasmanian Qualification 

Authority allowing the use of voice recognition technology in external examinations. 

3.30 - 4.10 

Derwent 2 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Empowering all students and promoting success through literacy 

stations 

DEBBIE BROSSEUK 

Literacy stations present students with a set of learning experiences which can be visited 

independently or in a small group. They are geared toward hands-on activities that reinforce 

components of phonic awareness, phonics, spelling, reading and writing. But how can we build 

on this notion of literacy stations Could literacy stations be a way of presenting ALL students, 

regardless of their ability, interests and background, with an opportunity to experience success 

in literacy learning Absolutely! This practical workshop will offer educators an insight into how I 

use literacy stations as an effective way to bridging the divides among my Year 2 students, who 

include an ascertained student, a dyslexic student and two gifted students, creating a learning 

environment which sets them up for success. Visual examples will support my discussion of 

how I choose the target literacy skill for each station, the structuring of the ‘I can’ task cards, the 

organisation of the stations in attractive, mobile bags, the whole class production of the ‘essential 

agreement’ of expectations during literacy station time and most importantly, the use of peer 

tutoring. 

Biography 

Debbie Brosseuk is passionate about literacy teaching and learning. She has twelve years 

teaching experience and is currently teaching at an independent Anglican school in North 

Queensland. Her ambition is to attend a summer workshop at the Teachers’ College for Reading 

and Writing at Columbia University, New York. 

54


3.30 - 4.10 

Wellington 2 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Primary 

Please, I’m stuck: common creative writing mistakes children make, 

and how you can help them avoid them 

NATALIE JANE PRIOR 

This workshop is for teachers interested in helping their middle primary students with creative 

writing. Natalie will share insights from her own career as a writer, and offer advice from her own 

experiences running workshops for this age group. This will be an informal session which will 

be tailored as much as possible to the needs and interests of a group, so please bring as many 

questions as you like. 

Biography 



and the internationally successful fantasy series Lily Quench. Her new series, The Minivers, has 

recently been published by Penguin in Australia and will be published in the UK by Scholastic 

in 2010. Natalie’s books have won the Aurealis Award for fantasy and science fiction, the Davitt 

Awards for crime writing, have been honour and shortlisted and notable books in the Children’s 

Book Council of Australia Awards, and have been short listed for numerous children’s choice 

awards. Natalie lives in Brisbane with her husband, young daughter, and two long-haired red 

miniature dachshunds. 

FRIDAY 

3.30 - 4.10 

Exeuctive 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Primary 

Grouping primary students by achievement for literacy and numeracy 

instruction: who wins 

SUZANNE MACQUEEN 

Achievement grouping in the form of streaming was demonstrated to be inequitable on many 

levels by research conducted in the 1960s and 70s. The practice was demonstrated to produce 

limited advantages for limited groups of students whilst hindering the academic and social 

advancement of the majority. Streaming became less common in the ensuing decades. Since that 

time, achievement grouping has taken different forms in response to these issues, such as setting, 

tracking and regrouping, with the desired perception being that more equitable strategies have 

been implemented. Recent research in the United Kingdom and elsewhere has suggested that 

these grouping methods have similar equity issues to streaming. This paper examines the practice 

of regrouping Australian primary students into separate classes according to achievement levels 

for literacy and mathematics lessons. Results from a mixed method study involving two groups of 

schools (one employing regrouping and one with mixed-achievement classes) are examined. Data 

collected through interviews with principals and teachers, student surveys, state-wide academic 

test results and classroom observations are analysed. The results bring the practice of regrouping 

into question, as it is determined that between-class achievement grouping by subject area is 

merely a more politically palatable form of streaming. 

Biography 

Suzanne Macqueen is an associate lecturer in the School of Education at the University of 

Newcastle, teaching courses related to literacy, quality teaching and professional preparation. She 

recently completed a Master of Education (Research) on the topic of between-class achievement 

grouping in primary schools. 

55


FRIDAY 

3.30 - 4.10 

Green Room 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

Writing in action: poetry 

VAL FAULKNER, JANET HUNTER 

The power of creative writing is its ability to engage the reader. This is often achieved through the 

use of strong words and powerful images. It is also accomplished through the writer’s capacity 

to use a number of cohesive devices, for example, rhythm, alliteration, simile or metaphor. 

Poetry is one such writing form that encourages the exploration of these literary devices when 

composing text. It is an excellent medium through which the function of words can be explored. 

The writing of poetry can also be an occasion when short, creative pieces can be produced rather 

than more extended text. This session will introduce participants to a DVD that was produced as 

part of the larger Writing Project currently being conducted in Independent Schools throughout 

Western Australia. The DVD represents one of a number of case studies that have emerged from 

the research project. When considering the case studies we will analyse aspects of the classroom 

teacher’s work; we will highlight the importance of ‘teacher knowledge’ of language when 

supporting children in the composition and crafting of texts; and we will illustrate the power of 

the pedagogical approach which encourages teachers to ‘zoom-in and zoom-out’ of the context of 

both exemplar literary and non-fiction texts as well as those that are produced by the children in 

the participating class. 

Biographies 

Val Faulkner is an experienced teacher and applied researcher in the field of literacy, currently 

working as a literacy education consultant with the Association of Independent Schools WA. 

Janet Hunter teaches literacy education to post graduate and undergraduate students at Edith 

Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia. She has a particular interest in supporting students 

who experience difficulties in literacy (and their teachers). She has participated in a number of 

research projects at a national and a local level. 

Recent and current literacy research projects undertaken by Val and Janet include ‘Literacy 

Intervention: Supporting students with literacy difficulties in the middle and upper years of 

primary schooling’ (2006-2007), jointly funded by ECU, the Catholic Education Office of Western 

Australia and the Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia, and ‘Supporting 

writers across the middle years of schooling’ (Years 3-8), funded by ECU and AISWA. 


4.20 - 5.00 

Derwent 2 

Audience: 

Primary 

Investigating geographic and cultural divides in comprehending 

texts with images 

ANN DALY 

This paper presents findings from PhD research during which Indigenous and non-Indigenous 

primary school students in metropolitan, provincial and remote locations were interviewed about 

their reading strategies and their comprehension of texts with images and written language. 

The research is part of an Australian Research Council linkage project that is aiming to develop 

a model of image-language relations in texts. The research investigated the comprehension of 

reading materials from the 2005 and 2007 NSW Basic Skills Tests. Data from these tests enabled 

a comparison of the difficulty of questions about the comprehension of image-language relations 

and the nature of complexities within those relationships. The different types of relations between 

images and written language and their relative difficulty will be outlined and separate aspects of 

complexity within the written language and within the images will also be discussed. The reading 

56


strategies chosen by Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in different geographic locations 

have been statistically compared as have the number of inferences about images and written 

text made during a ‘think-aloud’ reading process. In order to identify any features that reflect 

the divides existing between mean state reading scores for these different student groupings, 

the group statistical analyses will be considered along with examples of the reasoning given by 

students. In conclusion, text complexities, item difficulties and student responses, strategies and 

inferential reasoning will be considered and discussed in order to identify factors relevant to the 

comprehension of texts with images. 

FRIDAY 

Biography 

Ann Daly is an external PhD student with the University of New England. She currently works part 

time for the NSW Department of Education and Training developing literacy tests for research 

projects. Ann developed the NSW Basic Skills Test for eleven years after teaching in primary 

schools for ten years. 

4.20 - 5.00 

Derwent 1 

Audience: 

All 

Spanning the gap using curriculum mapping and good design 

DEBORAH SHOWERS 

Too often the curriculum in one classroom is different to the room next door. In order to help 

students make sense of their learning and the world, we need to build bridges between these 

classrooms. We need consistency in the big ideas, so that students can have a shared experience. 

Through the development of whole school curriculum maps and units of work, we can achieve 

this. Individual differences and learning styles are catered for through the independent and 

small group work aspects of the units. Units of work are integrated wherever possible. Planning 

of the units is undertaken by the teaching teams, along with the consultant, thus building more 

bridges, supporting new and beginning teachers in development and ownership of the curriculum. 

Participants will learn about the journey one school has taken. The school is in its third year 

and caters for Grades 6-8 in a diverse urban area of New York City. The school is committed to 

developing the social, emotional and academic needs of its students. The model used in the 

literacy classes has been so successful that it is being used across the school. Participants will 

have the opportunity to view some of the units and the work the students have completed. 

Templates and planning documents used will be shared. 

Biography 

Deborah Showers is an Education Consultant in both New York and Melbourne. She has worked 

as a principal, teacher, teaching and learning coach, curriculum coordinator, professional 

development coordinator and in numerous other leadership roles in Victorian primary schools. 

4.20 - 5.00 

Executive 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Tertiary 

Building bridges: classic Australian texts and critical theory in the 

senior English classroom 

LARISSA McLEAN DAVIES 

In the past two years much has been said, by both media and government, about the role of 

secondary English teachers in promoting ‘classic’ Australian literature. Two significant documents 

have explicitly directed attention towards this issue. The first was a communiqué, produced by 

the Australia Council for the Arts, in response to the Australian literature in Education Roundtable, 

convened on August 7, 2007, and the second was the English Framing Paper produced by the 

National Curriculum Board in November, 2008. While the English Framing Paper acknowledges a 

57


FRIDAY 

greater diversity of Australian texts than the Communiqué, it also implies that classic Australian 

literature is a kind of a Bourdiuian ‘gift’ to be received throughout the years of secondary 

English (NCB, 2008, p.12). This paper contends that an approach to Australian literature, which 

emphasises cultural heritage over relational and theorised approaches to texts, maintains rather 

than bridges cultural and historical ‘divides’, and thus does not best serve the diverse needs of 

students in 21st century secondary classrooms. To explore this argument, this paper draws on 

two classic Australian texts that continue to be much used (and loved) in secondary classrooms: 

Jessica Anderson’s Tirra Lirra by the River, and Helen Garner’s Monkey Grip. My aim is both 

to explore a theoretical paradigm that will offer a new reading of these significant Australian 

texts, and also to suggest an approach to reading and teaching classic Australian literature 

that investigates an alternative to the more traditional pedagogies that have dominated media 

responses to this issue. 

Biography 

Larissa McLean Davies is a lecturer in Secondary English Education in the Graduate School of 

Education at the University of Melbourne. Her research interests include: the teaching of national 

literatures; the English curriculum; and the nexus between literature and popular culture. In 2007, 

Larissa completed a PhD on representations of space in Australian women’s writing. 

4.20 - 5.00 

Wellington 2 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Primary 

Reading beyond the lines The role of digital texts and technology in 

reading groups 

RACHAEL ADLINGTON 

Beginning reading pedagogy is evolving to reflect technological advances. Student learning 

outcomes incorporate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in documents such as the 

K–6 English Syllabus (Board of Studies NSW, 2007), and classroom practitioners are beginning 

to incorporate new technologies into literacy experiences. While these attempts are bridging 

the technological divide in classrooms between old and new literacies, some researchers argue 

that teachers and students are not necessarily engaging with new literacies when using new 

technologies (Lankshear & Knobel, 2003). This paper discusses research conducted on the use of 

technology in common literacy experiences, specifically during ‘reading groups’, in Early Stage 1 

and Stage 1 classrooms in rural NSW. In total, 36 teachers responded to a survey about their use 

of technology with students, the types of reading experiences with which technology was used 

(i.e., modelled, guided, independent, whole class, small group and individual), and the benefits 

and barriers encountered when using ICT in reading groups. Data was also collected from two 

exemplary teachers through classroom observations and semi-formal interviews. It was found 

technology was used in a range of reading experiences, but most frequently encountered by small 

groups and individual students working independent of the teacher. Students typically engaged 

with electronic storybooks and drill and practice applications. This research illustrates the need to 

expand the definition of ‘text’ to close the technological gap in beginning reading pedagogy. New 

and emerging texts must be endorsed as legitimate, and explored as part of the reading corpus in 

explicit reading instruction. 

Biography 

Rachael Adlington lectures in English, Literacies, and ICT education at the University of New 

England. She is a member of the Centre for Research in English and Multiliteracies Education 

(CREME), and her research interests include ICT and beginning literacy pedagogy. Rachael is also 

the Multimedia Manager of SiMERR National Centre. 

58


4.20 - 5.00 

Derwent 3 

Audience: 

All 

Fairy fluff and African fable: the influence of orality on literacy 

attainment 

CECILIA du TOIT 

The South African oral tradition, if not entirely lost in pockets of modernity, has been almost 

unrecognisably transformed through globalisation, technocratisation, and urbanisation, thereby 

losing much of its power to provide a means through which learners attain some understanding 

of traditional values, beliefs and insights that form their lives. Discounting the value of orality not 

only adulterates the emotional life of modern children, it also erodes their literacy attainment, 

especially in deep rural areas where the use of the mother tongue as language of instruction is 

not always practicable. Myth has not only afforded succour in African context for thousands of 

years, the aesthetics of orality has shaped the very fabric of society – as Jungian psychologists 

show, albeit from a Euroamerican perspective. The fact that folklore’s universal qualities 

transcend cultural and racial differences explains the existence of similar tales in widely differing 

contexts. The negation of orality in South Africa has far-reaching consequences. Although many 

historical divides have been bridged in South Africa in the course of the past fifteen years, the 

continuing educational deficit displays the imprints of an inequitable past that has made literacy 

development neither universally attainable nor resolutely practised, as recent dismal reading 

survey results show. In the belief that the language of folktales is spoken by people of all ages, 

races and cultures, I argue in this paper for a revival of the custom and use of traditional narratives 

in South African context specifically as precursor and support to early literacy training. 

Biography 

Cecilia du Toit teaches in the Department of Humanities Education in the Faculty of Education of 

the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Her academic fields are literacy research and literature 

education which she has taught at various levels and her interests include creative writing and 

children’s literature. 

FRIDAY 

4.20 - 5.00 

Green Room 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

Advertising in ‘tween’ magazines: exploring the considerations and 

opportunities 

LISA KERVIN, JESSICA MANTEI 

Many children in our classrooms have competence when interacting with visual and print based 

texts. While the familiarity may well exist, there is a need to examine children’s ability to sort 

through and make meaning from the myriad of messages, commercial and otherwise, they 

encounter. While some argue that children are empowered by the ability to use and manipulate 

popular culture for their own purposes (Harding, 2004), others voice concern that this market 

is vulnerable to negative effects of media. In Australia both the number of magazines targeting 

children, and the readership of these magazines, is high and increasing. For example, audited 

circulation for K-Zone was 66,320 in 2007 and for Total Girl was 64,450 (http://www.bandt. 

com.au); and readership was estimated at more than three times these figures (http://www. 

pacificmags.com.au /Pages/Magazines/). A marketing journalist (Curtis, 2004) commented 

that while television advertising aimed at children ‘raises tempers,’... ‘subtle marketing through 

children’s magazines has gained parental approval’. Advertisers see magazines as the solution 

to communicating with children. Children’s magazines often carry hidden advertisements in 

editorials, comics, games and puzzles (Kraak & Pelletier, 1998); and the Australian organization 

Media Watch monitors for ‘advertorials’ in print materials. In this paper we examine the 

prevalence, range and content of advertising material within two magazines (Total Girl and K Zone) 

and the considerations and opportunities these pose for critical reading. 

59


FRIDAY 

Biographies 

Lisa Kervin is employed as senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of 

Wollongong and is the NSW State Director of ALEA. 

Jessica Mantei is the President of the South Coast Local Council. Both are experienced primary 

teachers. 

4.20 - 5.00 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Accessing grammar in senior secondary English: a Victorian exemplar 

JEAN MULDER, CAROLINE THOMAS 

As both locally and across the globe calls to renew the teaching of grammar in schools continue 

to be made, this paper addresses how this might be achieved. First, we argue that renewal should 

not be taken as simply a return to a traditional grammar approach. Instead, in rethinking the way 

grammar is being taught, we contend that it is important not to ‘chuck-out’ present approaches 

with their emphasis on language as communication, but to combine the explicit teaching of 

grammar with the actual real world study of language. Each grammatical concept needs to be 

introduced within the context of a particular aspect of language use. Secondly, we demonstrate 

that VCE English Language, part of the senior secondary English syllabus in Victoria, provides an 

example of how grammar can be taught meaningfully, whilst allowing access to those students 

who would like an alternative or an addition to the standard English course. Worked examples 

illustrate how this VCE level subject ‘bridges’ the study of grammar and the study of English texts. 

Thirdly, this paper evaluates the success of the subject through considering assessments by three 

focus groups of students, teachers and educational decision makers, respectively, along with 

statistics on the growth in student numbers and number of schools offering the subject since it 

was first introduced in 2001. We conclude that, while it was a brave move to introduce VCE English 

Language, it has been successful in bringing the study of grammar into Victorian schools at the 

senior school level. 

Biographies 

Jean Mulder is a senior lecturer in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at the University of 

Melbourne. Her research ranges over educational linguistics, minority language documentation, 

and grammatical and discourse analysis. She has been actively involved with the development 

and implementation of VCE English Language since its inception. 

Caroline Thomas has been teaching English and ESL for over thirty years. A keen interest and 

studies in Linguistics at the University of Melbourne inspired her involvement in VCE English 

Language. She has participated in its development as: teacher, examiner, co-author of a textbook, 

provider of professional development and tutor. 

4.20 - 5.00 

Training Room 

Audience: 

Primary 

Making sense of an everyday science text: linguistic, visual and 

spatial design 

BERYL EXLEY 

This article contributes to the ongoing professional conversations about scientific literacies in the 

middle years. We frame our discussion on Norris and Phillips’s (2003) notion of scientific literacies 

as being made up of two interrelated senses: fundamental and derived. The fundamental sense 

broadly refers to the act of ‘reading and writing’ scientific content whereas a derived sense refers 

to being knowledgeable, learned and educated about science concepts. Much of the research 

into school science focuses on the derived sense, often ignoring the interrelatedness to the 

60


fundamental sense. In this article, we consider ways of identifying the designs of the fundamental 

sense of scientific literacy as it occurs in one part of a lesson from the ‘Marvellous Microorganisms 

Stage 3 Life and Living’ Primary Connections unit (Australian Academy of Science, 

2005, pp 4-8). We draw on a framework offered by the New London Group (2000) to consider three 

designs of the everyday science text of bread wrappers. Our findings are that the linguistic, visual 

and spatial designs of bread wrappers are not trivial and that this should also inform instruction 

when students are working with everyday science texts. 

FRIDAY 

Biography 

Beryl Exley is a lecturer in language and literacy at the Queensland University of Technology. She 

is the ALEA Queensland State Director and in 2008 was the state’s National Literacy & Numeracy 

Ambassador. Her areas of interest include curriculum literacies, visual literacies, critical literacies 

and the role and function of grammar. 

61


PROGRAM OVERVIEW Saturday 11 July 

7.00 - 9.00 

7.15 - 8.30 

Tasman A 

9.00 - 10.30 

Plenary Hall 

REGISTRATION 

LITERARY BREAKFAST (ticketed event) 

Robert Hillman, Najaf Mazari: Finding the front door: puzzles and delights of Australian culture 

PLENARY - Garth Boomer Memorial Address 

Peter O’Connor: Talking about the way the world wags 

(To cater for the large number of delegates, the Plenary Address will be video streamed to Tasman A). 

10.30 - 11.00 


SATURDAY 

11.00 - 12.00 

Plenary Hall 

Tasman A 

11.00 - 12.00 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Stage 1 

Derwent 2 

Derwent 1 

Show Room 

Derwent 3 

Stage 2 

Tasman B 

Training Room 

Wellington 2 

Executive 

Board Room 

KEYNOTES 

Andy Griffiths: Why did the boy fall off his bike Humour, creativity and bridge building 

Gabrielle Matters: Bridging the divide by replacing dichotomies with continua 


Kaye Lowe, Debbie Martens: U-CAN Read Program: providing a literacy bridge for parents to 

assist their children to achieve in reading and writing 

Nicholas Jose, Donna Gibbs: The Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature: teaching 

texts for our times 

Lindsay Williams: Practical ideas for teaching grammar: bridging the divide between a traditional 

and functional approach 

Scott Paris: Engaged and disengaged readers 

Robyn English: Teaching visual literacy skills: bridging the divide between theory and practice 

Michèle Anstey, Geoff Bull: Empowering students to learn by bridging the modes: using 

multimodal texts and digital resources in the classroom 

Marion Meiers: Teachers’ reading and writing: engaging with the professional community 

Phil Cormack: The Children’s Hour: school papers and the reshaping of the teacher-student 

relation in the classroom 

Mark Collins, Adrian Collins: Shakespeare’s Macbeth the RSC way 

Bette Triglone, Carolie Wilson: Bridging divides: literacy learning in the early years with a 

particular focus on writing 

Rosanne Simpkin, Maria Conceicao, Julia Gaio: Literacy in Timor-Leste 

62


Riviera Room 

Green Room 

Tasman C 

Wellington 1 

Juliet Paine: Quality and rigor in teaching poetry in the senior school 

Jan Roberts: Interactive comprehension strategies for all students 

Robert Hillman: When two become one: Robert Hillman discusses the craft of creating voice on 

paper 

Julie Fielding: Digital narratives for digital natives 

12.00 - 2.00 

12.10 


FERRY TO SALAMANCA - DEPARTS WREST POINT 

12.15 - 1.15 

Plenary Hall 

12.30 - 1.30 

Wellington 1 

LUNCH TIME PRESENTATIONS 

Roger Monk: East of Everything 2: a television series for ABC television 

Miles Franklin Literary Award Winner 2009 

SATURDAY 

2.00 - 3.15 

Plenary Hall 

2.00 - 3.15 

Tasman C 

Stage 1 

Tasman B 

Derwent 2 

Tasman A 

Show Room 

Stage 2 

Executive 

Board Room 

Derwent 3 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

PLENARY 

Pirjo Sinko: To quality through equity in a Finnish way 


Kirsten Murphy, Gabrielle Williams, Kirsty Eagar: New voices for young adults 

Gayleen Jackson, Stacy Cottam: Wii learn a lot by using ICTs in the classroom 

Deborah Showers: Guided reading isn’t rocket science 

Len Unsworth: Bridging new literacies and national assessment programs in literacy 

Ilana Snyder: Being digital in school, home and community 

Barbara Fisher, Rosemary Kadow, Marion Meiers, Anne Siemon, Roslyn Teirney, Beryl Exley: 

Reflections from the ALEA People to People literacy delegation to China 2008 

Geoff Bull, Michèle Anstey, Priscilla Holborn: Empowering Indigenous students, their 

communities and teachers: practical outcomes from balancing community, contexts and NAPLAN 

Alyson Simpson: Reading and the National Curriculum: the three wishes approach to children’s 

literature 

Susan Hill: Connections between oral language and beginning to read 

Jantiena Batt, Bernadette Hayes: Building bridges to success 

63


Derwent 1 

Riviera Room 

Wellington 1 

Green Room 

Portlight Bar 

Wellington 2 

Kevlynn Annandale and Lynn Lockett: Quality literacy: exploring the explicit teaching of reading 

strategies 

Rita van Haren, Prue Gill, Anne Dunn, Jessica Klein, Rachael Radvanyi, Christian Riley: 

Learning by design: supporting students to read, respond to and create their own texts in Years 

7 to 10 English. 

Richard McRoberts: A workshop in digital literacy using Ziptales 

Jo Padgham, Felicity Levett, Norma John: Stories in a box 

Juliana Saxton, Carole Miller: Drama: language in action / literacies in practice 

Julie Blake, Tim Shortis: Texts, technology and learning in the UK: praxis projects using webbased 

technologies to augment classroom learning 

SATURDAY 

3.15 - 3.45 

3.45 - 5.00 

Plenary Hall 

Tasman A 

AFTERNOON TEA AND TRADE EXHIBITS – EXHIBITION FOYER / BOARDWALK GALLERY 

KEYNOTES 

Natalie Jane Prior: Small pleasures: an Australian children’s author working in an international 

market 

Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli: Weaving textual tapestries: weaving the ‘Italian woman-writer’ into the 

social fabric across genres and generations, borders and divides 

3.45 - 5.00 

Stage 1 

Tasman C 

Wellington 2 

Training Room 

Wellington 1 

Riviera Room 

Tasman B 

Stage 2 

Show Room 


Christina van Kraayenoord: Developing principles for teachers’ professional learning to sustain 

pedagogical change 

Janet Hunter, Val Faulkner: Becoming wordsmiths: exploring the power of words 

Coral Swan: More...teaching strategies for literacy in the early years 

Marie Cook: Personalising research through narrative non-fiction 

Andy Goodwyn: Literature as personal experience: student teachers’ views of the value of their 

own literary experience and its implications for pedagogy 

Karen Yager: Imaginative engagement: ways to use technology to enhance writing and creativity 

Noella Mackenzie: From drawing to writing: bridging the divide between meaning making 

through drawing (and talking) and meaning making through writing in the first year of school 

Camille Davey: Britannica online school edition: a complete teaching aid 

Louise Manka: Peer mentoring literacy project 

64


3.45 - 4.20 

Portlight Bar 

Derwent 3 

Derwent 2 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Derwent 1 

Executive 

Board Room 

Green Room 

4.25 - 5.00 

Derwent 2 

Executive 

Board Room 

Derwent 1 

Portlight Bar 

Derwent 3 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 


Christine Harris: My life in a jar 

Sue Denny, Lisa Kervin: A framework to support teachers to make informed choices about 

websites for inclusion in classroom learning experiences 

Catriona Lawson: Between the lines: exploring the auditory bridge to literacy 

Patricia Norton: A literacy educator’s approach to designing a trade professional program for 

fourth year apprentices 

Brenda Barry: Something for everyone 

Jan Bailey: ESL: power and voice 

Deborah Robertson: International supports for building bridges to improved achievement for 

students 


Andrea Lynch: Understanding urban Indigenous student mobility: considerations for literacy 

educators 

Jim Fidler: The 4 Roles of Reading Framework 

Amanda Williams, Steven Figg: The Inquiry Project: I cannot teach anybody anything; I can only 

make them think 

David Harris: True lies 

Linda Willis: A multiliteracies project in the middle school: parents as co-teachers 

Graham Parr: Literature teachers’ learning in the age of standards-based reforms 

SATURDAY 

5.00 - 6.00 

Green Room 

7.00 - 7.30 

7.30 - 11.00 

ALEA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 

CONFERENCE DINNER - WREST POINT 

Pre-dinner drinks - Exhibition Foyer 

Dinner - Tasman Room 

65


SPEAKERS AND ABSTRACTS Saturday 11 July 

LITERARY BREAKFAST 7.15 - 8.30 

7.15 - 8.30 

Tasman A 

Audience: 

All 

Finding the front door: puzzles and delights of Australian culture 

ROBERT HILLMAN, NAJAF MAZARI 

Robert Hillman and Najaf Mazari in conversation, discussing the pitfalls and surprises 

encountered by an Afghani rugmaker attempting to make his way in a new land. 

SATURDAY 

Biographies 

Robert Hillman is a Melbourne-based writer of fiction and biography. His most recent biography, 

My Life as a Traitor, written with Zarha Ghahramani, came out in 2007 and will appear in numerous 

overseas editions this year. His 2004 autobiography, The Boy in the Green Suit, won the Australian 

National Biography Award for 2005. His collaboration with Najaf Mazari on The Rugmaker of 

Mazar-e-Sharif grew out of an abiding interest in the hardships and triumphs of refugees. He has 

a particular empathy for and interest in Middle Eastern and Central Asian peoples and cultures, 

having travelled and worked in a number of countries of that region. 

Najaf Mazari fled Afghanistan in 2001 after escaping the Taliban. He survived the dangerous boat 

trip to Australia, ending up in Woomera detention centre. Mazari now lives in Melbourne and, 

last year, was finally reunited with his wife and daughter. The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif is his 

memoir. 

PLENARY 9.00 - 10.30 

9.00 - 10.30 

Plenary Hall 

Audience: 

All 

Talking about the way the world wags 

Garth Boomer Memorial Address 

PETER O’CONNOR 

How might we lift what is said in classrooms beyond the everyday How might the incidental and 

everyday conversations we have with children lead to poetic explorations of the world we share 

These questions are explored through the retelling of classroom dramas created with children 

at every level of the education system in special needs units, prisons and schools. The title for 

the address comes from a quote by Garth Boomer: ‘In a time of increasing complexity in society, 

I crave simplicity in schools. Simplicity that values conversations between teachers and children 

… simplicity that allows time to talk about the way the world wags; simplicity that spurns the 

enticing laboratory and exercise books, preferring the humble wisdom of the teacher and the real 

materials of life’ (Boomer, 1973). 

Biography 



University of Sydney and an associate professor, Artistic and Creative Education, at the University 




66





KEYNOTES 11.00 - 12.00 

11.00 - 12.00 

Plenary Hall 

Audience: 

All 

Why did the boy fall off his bike Humour, creativity and bridge - 

building 

ANDY GRIFFITHS 

Everybody loves to laugh, but is there any more to it than the simple pleasure of laughter Peter 

Ustinov said that comedy was simply a funny way of being serious. Edward De Bono went so far 

as to declare humour to be by far the most significant function of the human brain, allowing us 

not only to work on problems more creatively, but offering us the ability to completely shift the 

perspective from which we are viewing the problem ... sometimes so radically that the problem 

no longer even exists. Despite this, humour is still a vastly underrated, misunderstood and underutilised 

ingredient in the literacy classroom. In this keynote Andy Griffiths will consider how 

humour works and offer a variety of practical strategies for using it as an effective way of bridging 

divides between students, teachers, and even different parts of ourselves. He will also reveal why 

the boy fell off his bike. 

Biography 





SATURDAY 

11.00 - 12.00 

Tasman A 

Audience: 

All 

Bridging the divide by replacing dichotomies with continua 

GABRIELLE MATTERS 

Apparent dichotomies populate the education literature. The term ‘dichotomy’ generally refers 

to the separation of something into two divisions that differ widely from or even contradict each 

other. It is also the formal term for the first-quarter and third-quarter phases of the moon when 

only half of its surface appears to be illuminated by direct sunlight. The power of this analogy 

is that it reminds us that the illuminated portion of an object tells but half the story - which is a 

difficult place to be when the story is the engineer’s plan for a bridge over the troubled waters 

swirling around literacy and English education. This paper identifies eight commonly displayed 

dichotomies and discusses them with respect to subject English. Included in the list are: generic 

skills versus conventional knowledge categories; relevance versus rigour; sociological paradigm 

versus psychological paradigm for explaining academic success; and, intended curriculum versus 

enacted curriculum. The relevance of the dichotomies to strategies for ensuring access, equity 

and quality is that different dichotomies take centre stage in different jurisdictions at different 

times. This paper concludes that the bridge would be more stable and enduring if each of the 

dichotomies were replaced by a continuum, and suggests what these continua might be. For 

example, it could be argued that the (false) dichotomy, assessment of learning versus assessment 

for learning (not discussed in the paper), could be replaced by a continuum labelled ‘effective 

assessment’. 

67


Biography 

Gabrielle Matters is Head of ACER Brisbane, Executive Secretary of the International Association 

for Educational Assessment, and Adjunct Professor at the Queensland University of Technology, 

with a doctorate in the field of psychometrics. She holds a BSc (UQ) and AMusA (QCM), and is a 

Fellow of the Australian College of Educators. Gabrielle has had extensive experience in education 

as a classroom teacher (physical sciences), school administrator, university lecturer, chemistry 

editor, researcher, advisor, test designer, and author. She has held executive management 

positions within the Australian education sector, prepared reports for the Australian and 

Queensland governments, and worked with education systems in Australia and overseas, most 

recently in Tajikistan. 


SATURDAY 

11.00 - 12.00 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

U-CAN Read Program: providing a literacy bridge for parents to assist 

their children to achieve in reading and writing 

KAYE LOWE, DEBBIE MARTENS 

This paper is about the evolution of a parent literacy intervention program designed to assist 

students in Years 3 -10. The University of Canberra through its Literacy Centre has successfully 

conducted parent programs for the last 25 years. The Centre has recently been transformed and 

expanded to become the National Capital Centre for Literacy Research. The Centre has a strong 

focus on strategic research as a means for expanding its agenda in parent education and literacy 

generally. The Centre’s parent education program is known as U-CAN Read. The parent program 

is a joint venture between the University of Canberra and the ACT Department of Education and 

Training. It supports students in Years 3-10 achieve literacy success by providing parents with 

knowledge about literacy acquisition and strategies to assist their children at home. The practices 

of the Centre reflect current best practice. Parents receive modeling and guidance through a 

twelve hour course followed by intensive tutoring with the parent and child. Strategies include 

the selection of appropriate texts, collaborative approaches to reading and writing and a positive 

approach to strengthening the parent child relationship. Literacy advisors work collaboratively 

with the child and parent to implement the strategies and guide learning. Local schools are kept 

informed and supported through opportunities for professional development and feedback to 

enhance the collaboration between students, parents, schools and the university in a multipronged 

approach to improving literacy outcome. 

Biographies 

Kaye Lowe is Director of the University of Canberra Literacy Centre. She has worked as Visiting 

Professor at the University of Kentucky, Senior Research Fellow at Charles Darwin University 

and Associate Dean at the University of Western Sydney. Kaye has worked in schools, tertiary 

institutions, jails and work places. She has completed projects of national significance and 

published widely. 

Debbie Martens is a literacy advisor for the U-CAN Read program. She has 14 years teaching 

experience from pre-school to Year 6. She is currently completing a Masters of Education focused 

on understanding and improving learning outcomes for students experiencing literacy difficulties 

and programs to support parents in literacy education. 

68


11.00 - 12.00 

Stage 1 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Tertiary 

The Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature: teaching 

texts for our times 

NICHOLAS JOSE, DONNA GIBBS 

The first half of the presentation will introduce the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian 

Literature, forthcoming in July 2009, as a major contribution to national literary infrastructure. 

What do we mean by and want from Australian literature today Reference will be made to recent 

community debate about Australian literature and its teaching in schools and universities. General 

editor Nicholas Jose will outline the conceptual basis of the Anthology, the collaborative process 

of its compilation and production, and the need for contextual and support material, among 

some of the issues in framing Australian literature for contemporary readers. In the second half 

of the session Donna Gibbs will talk about the Anthology from the perspective of what’s in it for 

educators. She will discuss ways of using the Anthology in the classroom for curriculum purposes 

and will outline how the website and online teaching guide that accompany the Anthology have 

been developed as a resource to support a variety of teaching approaches. She will also suggest 

ways in which the website can be used and provide an overview of the nature and scope of the 

focus units for both lower and upper secondary students. 

Biographies 

Nicholas Jose has a chair in writing in the Writing and Society Research Group at the University 

of Western Sydney and will hold a Harvard Chair of Australian Studies for 2009-10. He is general 

editor of the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian literature. His publications include fiction and 

essays. 

Donna Gibbs has worked as an English head teacher, an English inspector for the NSW Board of 

Studies, and as an associate professor in Education at Macquarie University. Her publications 

are on subjects ranging from children’s literature to cyberculture to curriculum in national and 

international contexts. 

SATURDAY 

11.00 - 12.00 

Derwent 2 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

Practical ideas for teaching grammar: bridging the divide between a 

traditional and functional approach 

LINDSAY WILLIAMS 

The NAPLAN Language Conventions test encourages teachers to think of grammar as largely 

a process of identifying and labelling ‘parts of speech’. Such a traditional view is limited and 

limiting, having the potential to reduce access, equity and quality in literacy and English 

education. Instead, students require a context based functional approach that illustrates how 

parts of language work together to create meaning (NCTE, 2008). As the (draft) Framing Paper for 

a National English Curriculum (2008, page 6) puts it: ‘The goal here centres on the gradually more 

powerful conversion of ‘knowledge about’ language into a resource for effective reading, listening, 

viewing, writing, speaking and designing.’ In this workshop, participants will take part in three 

practical activities that demonstrate how the effective use of grammar can lead to more powerful 

and engaging teaching of: punctuation; critical evaluation of information texts; and creative 

writing that successfully manipulates the roles of the writer and reader. 

Biography 

Lindsay Williams taught in state and private schools for 25 years, 16 of those as a Head of English. 

He has been involved in a range of English curriculum projects and resources, and tutors in 

teacher education. In 2003, ETAQ presented him with the Peter Botsman Memorial Award for 

contributions to English in Queensland. 

69


SATURDAY 

11.00 - 12.00 

Derwent 1 

Audience: 

All 

11.00 - 12.00 

Show Room 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

Engaged and disengaged readers 

SCOTT PARIS 

Why are some students eager to read, yet others avoid reading Why does motivation to read 

appear to decline as students go from primary to secondary grades What are the differences 

between students’ motivation to read in and out of school What can teachers do to enhance 

engaged reading in school I will use the frameworks of reading engagement and self-regulation 

to answer these questions as we examine how students can create motivational misconceptions 

about their abilities, goals, and attributions that undermine motivation for reading. 

Biography 









Teaching visual literacy skills: bridging the divide between theory 

and practice 

ROBYN ENGLISH 

The need to explicitly teach visual literacy skills at the primary level is not a new concept but there 

are many classroom teachers who need support and are at a loss to know where to begin. This 

presentation shares experiences that have successfully introduced young students to the use of 

camera shots and introduced the notion of the film maker positioning the viewer. Whilst much of 

our adult knowledge and understanding of visual literacy is innate, there is a divide between our 

own skills and our ability to teach them to our students. Similarly, there is a divide between the 

‘theory’ of critical visual literacy and the ‘practice’. This session aims to assist teachers to bridge 

this divide as they begin to explicitly teach students about visual text. Beginning with simple 

cartoon footage, students are engaged in the topic, get to use still digital cameras to model the 

techniques they have studied and create materials that demonstrate their understanding of 

the techniques. These skills are brought to the big screen as students are introduced to simple 

analysis of film as text. The hands-on nature of this topic and the simple goals that are made 

explicit to the students make the lessons enjoyable and lead to excellent learning outcomes. 

Students work in small groups, and group work skills are an emphasis of the topic. Assessment 

is conducted in a number of ways with students participating in the development of assessment 

criteria and conducting self and peer assessment. 

Biography 

Robyn English is the assistant principal of Boroondara Park Primary School in Melbourne. This role 

involves supporting teachers in professional learning but Robyn is not very good at keeping out of 

classrooms and she likes to get in and get her hands dirty. As an active member of the Melbourne 

local council of ALEA, she has had continued involvement in colleague support and continuous 

learning. Robyn has written a number of teacher resource publications including Show me How 

to Learn, with Sue Dean and How to Succeed with Learning Centres with Jeni Wilson. Robyn is a 

regular writer for Pearson Education and co-authors the Magazines in the Classroom series with 

70


Sue Young. Robyn is particularly interested in visual literacy, thinking, writing and integrated 

curriculum and frequently conducts professional development on these topics for teachers in 

Victoria. 

11.00 - 12.00 

Derwent 3 

Audience: 

All 

Empowering students to learn by bridging the modes: using 

multimodal texts and digital resources in the classroom 

MICHELE ANSTEY, GEOFF BULL 

The focus of this highly practical workshop will be on using digital materials to teach students 

how to read and write multimodal texts and use digital material for learning across the curriculum. 

Empowering students to use their literate capacities to reach their goals means ensuring they 

have knowledge and skills to continually learn, using resources that include audio, visual, and 

linguistic modes, delivered on paper, via electronic means or live. Teaching resources that provide 

authentic texts from across the curriculum are essential to learning in a multiliterate classroom, 

particularly digital resources that can be shared, explored and manipulated via data projectors, 

laptops and/or interactive whiteboards. This workshop will assist teachers to select and use a 

range of freely available digital material effectively in their classrooms. We will explore how items 

such as sections of moving image footage; images of documents, line drawings, paintings and 

maps; photographs; and audio files of songs or broadcasts can be used effectively for teaching 

curriculum content and developing literacy skills with multimodal texts. A planning tool that will 

assist teachers in analysing digital resources and planning and selecting appropriate pedagogy 

for their use will be introduced and examples of the use of specific digital resources across the 

curriculum will be provided. 

Biographies 

Dr Michèle Anstey and Dr Geoff Bull run Anstey and Bull Consultants in Education (www. 

ansteybull.com.au). They provide practical, cutting edge, research-based professional 

development in literacy, children’s literature, pedagogy and school renewal throughout 

Australia and New Zealand. They conduct tendered research, commissioned writing, conference 

presentations, prepare professional development packages for trainers and advise on curriculum. 

Previously associate professors at the University of Southern Queensland, teachers in Victoria, 

NSW and Qld and advisers to state-wide literacy projects; together they have published ten books 

including Teaching and Learning Multiliteracies: Changing times changing literacies (2006) and 

various chapters in edited works and journal articles. 

SATURDAY 

11.00 - 12.00 

Stage 2 

Audience: 

All 

Teachers’ reading and writing: engaging with the professional 

community 

MARION MEIERS 

Members of teacher professional associations are the key audience for the varied range of 

resources published by organisations such as ALEA and AATE. Teachers also write for the journals 

of these associations. Professional reading and writing is a key means of engaging with the 

national professional community of English and literacy teachers. Being active members of the 

professional and wider community is one of the STELLA statements about what accomplished 

teachers believe, know and are able to do. One of the main purposes of the associations’ 

publications is to share effective teaching practices and research findings. Four journals, targeting 

different audiences, are published by ALEA and AATE: Practically Primary, Literacy Learning: the 

Middle Years, the Australian Journal of language and Literacy, and English in Australia. 

71


This workshop is designed to provide a forum for teachers and teacher educators who are 

interested in writing for a range of professional audiences. It is also designed for teachers, as 

readers of the journals, to share experiences about readings from a journal that have influenced 

their teaching, or that they have used successfully in professional learning team discussions 

about teaching and learning. 

Biography 

Marion Meiers is a senior research fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research. Her 

research interests lie in English and literacy teaching and learning, and in teachers’ professional 

learning. She is Publications Director for the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association, and has 

an extensive record of publishing in professional journals. 

SATURDAY 

11.00 - 12.00 

Tasman B 

Audience: 

All 

The Children’s Hour: school papers and the reshaping of the 

teacher-student relation in the classroom 

PHIL CORMACK 

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, education departments of the colonies/states of 

Australia developed ‘School Papers’ which were magazine-style texts produced to be used in the 

primary-school reading lesson and beyond in far-flung homes. These materials were produced as 

a supplement to reading primers typically imported from the UK. One of the aims of the School 

Papers was that they would address the needs of Australian children and focus on local issues. I 

focus on one such School Paper – The Children’s Hour – produced by the Education Department 

of South Australia from 1889 and the first of its kind. The Children’s Hour represents a distinctive 

curriculum genre, incorporating within itself a range of genres such as stories, historical tales, 

puzzles, reports of current events, regular columns and songs. In many ways, The Children’s 

Hour was modelled on, and used materials from, magazines and publications from religious 

organisations in the US and Britain. By examining a range of materials from The Children’s Hour 

– such as tales of insufferably moral children, stories of other lands, news reports of war and 

cricket, and pictorial features, to name a few – we can analyse the often contradictory purposes 

and relations that the reading lesson could contain and consider how contemporary texts for 

children do similar or different work. In this workshop I consider how such materials were part of a 

move to invent a new kind of child reader and, in concert, a new kind of reading teacher connected 

with a movement that came to be called the ‘New Education’. I argue that the materials we use in 

the reading lesson are not simply texts to be read, but actually participate in governing relations 

between the teacher and the student and their relations with themselves. 

Biography 

Phil Cormack is an associate professor at the Hawke Research Institute and Director of the Centre 

for Studies in Literacy, Policy and Learning Cultures at the University of South Australia. His 

current work involves research on the history of adolescence, schooling and literacy; on literacy 

and place; environmental communications, middle school pedagogies; and on boys and literacy. 

11.00 - 12.00 

Training Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Shakespeare’s Macbeth the RSC way 

MARK COLLINS, ADRIAN COLLINS 

This ‘do-and-choose’ workshop is for new and experienced teachers of Shakespeare (Years 9-12) 

who want an opportunity to develop new understandings and discuss actions we can implement 

in pursuit of ‘Shakespeare is for now and for all’. Prior knowledge of the text and teaching 

72


11.00 - 12.00 

Wellington 2 

Audience: 

Early Years 

experience are not required for participants who will be taken through proven strategies – 

sequential, short and stimulating – for engaging students in a physical approach to Shakespeare’s 

language. The strategies are carefully chosen to be a bridge: immediately transferable to your 

classroom and applicable to other plays you might teach. This workshop is a result of Adrian 

and Mark’s intensive year of learning and classroom application for the inaugural Post Graduate 

Certificate in Teaching of Shakespeare (University of Melbourne 2008), and many years’ reflective 

experience of teaching Shakespeare in English and Literature courses, in co-educational and 

single sex secondary schools. A RSC ‘toolkit’ will be supplied to participants. 

Biographies 

Adrian Collins and Dr Mark Collins are experienced teachers of English and Literature, co-authors 

of The Wide World of English 4 (2001) and Go Grammar! (second edition 2008). Adrian teaches 

at Carey Baptist Grammar School and is experienced in both IB and VCE studies. Mark teaches 

at Scotch College Melbourne and is co-presenter of a discussion of classic literature, www. 

worldliteraturepodcasting.com (2008). He conducts, with Adrian Collins, specialist seminars and 

workshops in English at VATE and AATE Conferences. 

Bridging divides: literacy learning in the early years with a 

particular focus on writing 

BETTE TRIGLONE, CAROLIE WILSON 

Young children enter pre-school and primary school reception classes with a range of literacy 

capacities. Teachers can and do make a difference in how those capacities develop. This 

presentation will discuss the development of literacy in early years classrooms and bridging 

divides in the transitions between home and school and within school. The manner in which 

very young children construct a range of literacies in the context of the prepared environment 

will be explored. The presenters will share the journey of young students as they develop their 

literacy skills with a particular focus on authentic writing tasks. Strategies to assist young 

children develop literacy will be discussed as well as the use of First Steps Resources to assist 

in documenting literacy development and linking assessment with teaching and learning. The 

presenters will also share experiences in the role of teachers as co-researchers and one school’s 

journey within the context of the recent ACT Department of Education and Training’s pre-school 

and primary school amalgamations. 

Biographies 

Bette Triglone is an early childhood teacher who has taught preschool to Year 2. Her particular 

interest lies with the first year at school and in the value of developmental play, opportunities for 

authentic literacy ‘moments’ throughout the day and using quality children’s literature to engage 

and inspire young minds. Bette has been an active member of ALEA (ACT) throughout her teaching 

career and has presented at local ALEA conferences, including the AATE/ALEA National Conference 

in Canberra in 2007. 

Carolie Wilson is Deputy Principal of Ainslie School in the ACT. She is passionate about literacy 

learning and is currently President of ALEA (ACT) Local Council. She is also a tutor in First Steps 

2nd Edition Writing for the ACT Department of Education and Training. She is an experienced 

school leader and classroom teacher P-8 and has taught at international schools in India and 

Papua New Guinea as well as in the ACT Government system. Her doctoral thesis involved a study 

of the Montessori movement in India. 

SATURDAY 

73


SATURDAY 

11.00 - 12.00 

Executive 

Board Room 

Audience: 

All 

Literacy in Timor-Leste 

ROSANNE SIMPKIN, MARIA CONCEICAO, JULIA GAIO 

In 2002, a United Nations Development Program report titled, East Timor Human Development 

Report, 2002, noted that Timor-Leste’s standard of education was among the lowest in the world. 

It cited the literacy rate as only 43% and that there was a striking gap between the urban areas 

where the rate was 82% and the rural areas where the rate was only 37%. The vast majority of the 

older generation will never learn to read. In 2009 this still has an enormous impact on the ability 

of children to participate in schooling successfully. Developing literacy in schools is made harder 

by the shortage of reading materials/books in Tetun and Portuguese and through teachers being 

inadequately trained to assist in the acquisition of literacy. Teacher qualifications and skills are 

very limited and there are very high teacher to student ratios. Student and teacher absenteeism 

is high and parents are often concerned about the relevance and suitability of schooling. Tetun 

and Portuguese are the official languages of Timor-Leste; however, there are over 16 different 

mother tongue languages across the districts. In addition Indonesian is still frequently used 

in some communities. The language of instruction in schools is Portuguese and most teachers 

currently attend Portuguese courses up to five times per week to develop their own language 

skills so that they can be more competent in the classroom. Low literacy rates also contribute to 

the high repetition rates and drop out rates within Timor-Leste’s educational system, thus making 

it difficult for the country to achieve the Millennium Development goal that all children will attend 

and complete primary schooling by 2015. What bridges need to be built to support the literacy 

rates in Timor-Leste 

Biography 

Rosanne Simpkin, an experienced teacher from Ballarat, has lived and worked in Timor-Leste 

since 2002. As an educational adviser to the Ministry of Education and the Alola Foundation, she 

has been involved in preparing and delivering literacy courses to Timorese trainers and teachers, 

facilitated in the production of appropriate literacy resources, and assessed and monitored preprimary 

teachers for accreditation across Timor-Leste. 

11.00 - 12.00 

Riviera Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Quality and rigor in teaching poetry in the senior school 

JULIET PAINE 

Poetry is often considered a difficult and challenging part of the standard secondary English 

curriculum by both teachers and students. Yet a quality poetry syllabus that provides accessible 

strategies for analysis and discussion, as well as covering a diverse range of texts from both 

western and non-western cultures can be a richly rewarding learning experience. In this 

workshop, I will look at developing a rigorous poetry curriculum across years 9 to 12 that is 

logically sequenced, and ensures cultural diversity, while also paying homage to the subject’s rich 

tradition. A range of diverse scaffolds will be presented that are based on Bloom’s taxonomy and 

are easily accessible for students in a typical mixed-ability class. I will also discuss the importance 

of context when teaching poetry and how this is a strategy for engaging the students with the 

texts they are studying. Reading lists of easy to access poems suitable for a variety needs will be 

provided. These will focus on a range of contexts such as Indigenous experience, war, modern 

Australia, and the romantic and modernist periods, as well as including some examples of poetry 

in translation. 

74


Biography 

Juliet Paine is currently Acting Senior English Coordinator at Loreto College, Marryatville in South 

Australia and has taught Year 8 to 12 English. She is currently a SAETA Council Member and 

Year 12 Subject Moderator. She is also an award-winning and published poet and prose writer. 

Her most recent book is the Friendly Street Reader 33 co-edited with Aidan Coleman, published 

by Wakefield Press. Her own poetry collection was published by Ginninderra Press in 2001 and 

her poetry and prose have appeared in The Weekend Australian newspaper, Five Bells, Famous 

Reporter and Voiceworks. 

11.00 - 12.00 

Green Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Interactive comprehension strategies for all students 

JAN ROBERTS 

This workshop is aimed at classroom and special education secondary teachers and will 

demonstrate practical, collaborative ways teachers can involve and help all students to 

understand texts, even if basic reading skills are poor. The aim is to teach students how to 

read actively and purposefully for key information, inferences and to analyse texts. We want to 

bridge the gap between just reading the words and understanding. The strategies are researchbased 

and appropriate for use in classrooms and small groups. Strategies will include some 

of the following: visualising for more effective understanding and remembering information 

and scaffolded reading. Inferential reading becomes very important at higher levels and 

earlier practice is very useful. Strategies such as ‘in the text, in my head, in my heart’ will be 

demonstrated. Text analysis is difficult for students with learning difficulties. This workshop will 

demonstrate a step-by-step approach to the various features of a text, what to look for and what 

to say when writing about it. Focus words and drawing for comprehension are both activities 

that appeal to students as they are comprehension sans writing and just a different way to 

explore a text. 

Biography 

Jan Roberts has taught all levels in primary and secondary classrooms. She tutors students 

with learning difficulties and conducts practical workshops on literacy. Jan’s authored resources 

include: Spelling Recovery; Now I can spell and read better, too; Comprehension Plus; Step by 

step text analysis. She co-authored, with De Bono, the Manual for Education in Six Thinking Hats. 

SATURDAY 

11.00 - 12.00 

Tasman C 

Audience: 

Secondary 

When two become one: Robert Hillman discusses the craft of creating 

voice on paper 

ROBERT HILLMAN 

Participants are invited to explore writing techniques that avail the author in fashioning a literary 

character from a living person. 

Biography 

Robert Hillman is a Melbourne-based writer of fiction and biography. His most recent biography, 

My Life as a Traitor, written with Zarha Ghahramani, came out in 2007 and will appear in numerous 

overseas editions this year. His 2004 autobiography, The Boy in the Green Suit, won the Australian 

National Biography Award for 2005. 

75


SATURDAY 

11.00 - 12.00 

Wellington 1 

Audience: 

All 

Digital narratives for digital natives 

JULIE FIELDING 

Digital storytelling gives us the opportunity to bridge the divide between what Marc Prensky, 

internationally acclaimed presenter for ICT in education, refers to as digital immigrants (teachers) 

and digital natives (students). The report entitled Mapping Multiliteracies: Children of the New 

Millennium from the South Australian University and Education Department tells us that, in our 

world of multiliteracies, students must not only learn to read, write, listen and speak, but are 

also expected to express their ideas through a range of media including design, layout, colour, 

graphics and animation as they decipher, code break and achieve meaning. As we bring together 

our wealth of knowledge and expertise in the practice of storytelling along with our student’s 

knowledge of the technological world we could possibly cross that ‘digital divide’ between digital 

immigrants and digital natives, creating something new and exciting. Technology provides us 

with tools (in addition to pen and paper) to address basic aspects of writing such as organising, 

planning, structuring and communicating a message effectively to a specific audience. This 

workshop will consider a small selection of freely available tools that effectively engage and 

motivate students. These tools provide opportunities to capture the innovative ideas of students 

who are reticent to write in the traditional manner. They allow our students to express themselves 

within a medium they feel confident and comfortable using, possibly exposing previously 

hidden thoughts and feelings. Come along and see how these tools can enhance your students’ 

storytelling abilities, creating messages that draw our worlds together. 

Biography 

Julie Fielding is a senior education officer for ICT Professional Learning in Learning Services South. 

She works across schools in Hobart and its surrounding areas with principals, teachers and 

students, assisting in the seamless integration of ICT into teaching and learning practices. 

LUNCH TIME SESSIONS 12.00 - 2.00 

12.15 - 1.15 

Plenary Hall 

Audience: 

Secondary 

East of Everything 2: a television series for ABC television 

ROGER MONK 

Roger Monk will talk about the production of the series and its educational themes, English 

and media curriculum relevance and curriculum links. He will also screen an episode of the 

forthcoming series. ABC Television’s East Of Everything 2, set in a regional community in the 

Northern Rivers of NSW, explores today’s meaning of family, values, inter-generational issues and 

relationships with humour and realistic drama. Building on the drama of the six episodes of Series 

1, East Of Everything 2 continues to follow the Watkins boys (Art and Vance), their family, friends 

and local community. However, it’s now five months since Art and Vance gave in to their dead 

mother’s wishes and re-opened the seventies backpacker’s retreat, the Far Out East and their lives 

have taken some unexpected turns. In Series 2 the drama and comedy is amplified in the world of 

Broken Bay as its inhabitants deal with new characters and new challenges. For the co-creators 

of East of Everything, writers Deb Cox and Roger Monk, the joy of writing series 2 was in delving 

deeper into the lives of the show’s main characters and introducing key new characters. Deb Cox 

says that the first series explored the alienated father-son relationship, and while Series 2 is still 

largely about male issues, we’ve complicated it so we have inter-generational conflict and more to 

play with – more complexity, more humour and more irony. As a storyteller, Producer Fiona Eagger 

welcomed the opportunity to create a second series. ‘In East of Everything 2 we talk about family 

76


12.30 - 1.30 

Wellington 1 

Audience: 

All 

and about difficult, adult relationships, a sense of community and about the choices we have 

as human beings.’ Filmed on location in the Northern Rivers area of NSW, this major Australian 

television series - from its production values and location to its cast, characters and sound track, 

reflects the values and themes relevant to people in our community. East of Everything 2 features 

an extraordinarily talented cast led by Richard Roxburgh, Tom Long, Suzie Porter, Nick Tate and 

Gia Carides. 

Biography 

Roger Monk is the co-creator, writer and associate producer of the series. Roger wrote the feature 

film Walking on Water, which was the most nominated Australian film of 2002. It won the AFI, IF 

and Critics Circle awards for best script along with the Teddy and Siegessaule prizes at the 2002 

Berlin Film Festival. Roger was also an episode writer on the successful TV series, The Secret Life 

of Us, and was short listed for the 2004 Queensland Premiers Literary Awards for the TV series 

Love Bytes, written for Fox Australia and UK Shine TV. In 2006 Roger attended the Binger Filmlab in 

Amsterdam to develop Dance for Me, a feature film loosely based on the acclaimed documentary 

The Man who Stole my Mother’s Face and he is also adapting the novel, A Private Man, by Malcolm 

Knox into a feature film with Macgowan Films. Roger is currently developing with Big and Little 

Films, a 13-part drama series for SBS TV. Roger is co-creator/writer and associate producer on 

East of Everything. 

Miles Franklin Literary Award Winner 2009 

This session offers delegates the opportunity to meet the acclaimed winning author for the 

2009 Miles Franklin Literary Award and to hear this author discuss the 2009 winning Australian 

novel. Australia’s most prestigious, and first literary prize, The Miles Franklin Literary Award 

established by author Miles Franklin, celebrates Australian character and creativity and nurtures 

the continuing life of literature based on Australia. It is awarded for the novel of the year which 

is of the highest literary merit and which presents Australian life in any of its phases. Since it 

was first awarded in 1957 to Patrick White for his novel Voss, the Award continues to encourage 

authors and delivers an immense contribution to the richness of Australian cultural life. Past 

winners include Thea Astley, Peter Carey, Thomas Keneally, Elizabeth Jolley, Tim Winton, Shirley 

Hazzard and Steven Carroll. Australian copyright management company, Copyright Agency Limited 

(CAL) proudly supports the touring program for The Miles Franklin Literary Award. CAL is a not-forprofit, 

member-based organisation, whose role is to provide a bridge between creators and users 

of copyright material. The Miles Franklin Literary Award 2009 winner will be interviewed about the 

winning novel and what it means to win Australia’s most prestigious literary prize. Trust Company 

Limited is the Trustee for the Award and Cauz Group Pty Limited is the Organiser. The session will 

be followed by book signing opportunities. 

SATURDAY 

PLENARY 2.00 - 3.15 

2.00 - 3.15 

Plenary Hall 

Audience: 

All 

To quality through equity in a Finnish way 

PIRJO SINKO 

‘Equal opportunities’ is the leading principle in the Finnish education policy. Differences in the 

socio-economic status of families have little impact on the students’ reading achievements, which 

according to the PISA survey were the best in the year 2000 and 2003 and the second best in the 

77


year 2006 among 15 year olds among the OECD countries. It is believed that the Finnish school 

system has brought these excellent results. I will analyse factors behind these results. We can 

identify them in the school system itself, in the teacher education, in the way mother tongue, 

literature and media education is taught and how the whole society is supporting school in its 

literacy work. Against these results, it is perhaps surprising that we have no national reading test 

during the basic education. 

Biography 







SATURDAY 

2.00 - 3.15 

Tasman C 

Audience: 

Secondary 


New voices for young adults 

KIRSTEN MURPHY, GABRIELLE WILLIAMS, KIRSTY EAGAR 

Penguin presents three new and emerging young adult authors. Kirsten Murphy, Gabrielle 

Williams and Kirsty Eagar will discuss their latest novels, their inspirations, the challenges of 

writing for this age group and the trials and tribulations of teenage love, humour, angst and hope. 

This is an opportunity to hear from three of Australia’s most exciting new authors and, in turn, 

introduce students to new voices in Young Adult literature. 

Biographies 

Kirsten Murphy grew up in Melbourne, the youngest of four children. Inspired by Anne of 

Green Gables, she studied Arts for a semester on Prince Edward Island, Canada, and travelled 

extensively before returning home to Melbourne and completing her Bachelor of Arts 

(Professional Writing). Kirsten’s first novel Raincheck on Timbuktu was published by Penguin in 

2002. Kirsten then returned to study a Diploma of Education while continuing to write. Her second 

novel The King of Whatever was published in 2005. Kirsten now divides her time between writing 

and working as a secondary school English teacher. Kirsten’s latest novel, Halfway to Good, will be 

published in June 2009. 

Gabrielle Williams has a background as an advertising copywriter. She lives in Melbourne with her 

husband and two teenage children. Gabrielle’s first novel, Beatle Meets Destiny, will be published 

in June 2009. 

Kirsty Eagar grew up on a cattle property in Central Queensland. She studied economics at the 

University of Queensland and went to work in central banking in Sydney and London before 

changing direction, surfing overseas and around Australia. She has written freelance magazine 

articles and worked as a cook and personal trainer before turning her hand to writing fiction. 

Kirsty is the author of two novels for young adults, Saltwater Vampires, to be published by 

Penguin in 2010, and Raw Blue, which won a CBCE (NSW) senior award for unpublished writers. 

Raw Blue will be published in July 2009. 

78


2.00 - 3.15 

Stage 1 

Audience: 

Primary 

Wii learn a lot by using ICTs in the classroom 

GAYLEEN JACKSON, STACY COTTAM 

This presentation will explore the use of ICTs to engage diverse learners in both early and middle 

years of schooling. Both presenters will demonstrate how to use ICTs as a tool in classrooms to 

teach curriculum. Stacy, an early years teacher, has used Wii Olympics as the stimulus to engage 

a group of diverse learners in mathematics, SOSE, HPE and the associated literacies. She will 

also demonstrate the use of digital still and video cameras and a variety of computer programs 

appropriate for use in the early years. Gayleen will explore how the use of ICTs can help diverse 

learners develop required curriculum goals. She will demonstrate exciting uses of several web2 

tools and educational software that can enhance teaching and learning in the curriculum areas for 

middle years students. 

Biographies 

Gayleen Jackson is Programs Manager at the Education Queensland Learning and Innovation 

Centre on the University of the Sunshine Coast campus. In her work at the centre she plans and 

implements a wide range of PD for teachers and school staffs showing the benefits of embedding 

ICTs into classroom learning environments. Gayleen has also been a very popular presenter for 

Meanjin (Brisbane, ALEA local council). Her workshops are so practical that at the last two Meanjin 

events her workshops have been packed to capacity. Gayleen draws on her extensive teaching 

career as well as the teachers with whom she works to demonstrate engaging and worthwhile 

ways to bridge the technology divide for today’s learners. 

Stacy Cottam is an early years teacher with many years experience teaching years 1-3. She has 

been accredited with an Education Queensland ICTs Pedagogical Licence. She has received 

glowing response for her presentations for Meanjin (Brisbane, ALEA local council) as well as early 

years conferences in Brisbane and on the Sunshine Coast. 

SATURDAY 

2.00 - 3.15 

Tasman B 

Audience: 

All 

Guided reading isn’t rocket science 

DEBORAH SHOWERS 

Guided Reading isn’t rocket science. Somehow we’ve turned it into that. It’s time to go back and 

look at the basics of what effective guided reading is. Guided reading isn’t round robin reading. 

In guided reading, students are matched to the text and we guide them through the reading. 

Rich discussion between, and among, the students and the teacher is integral. Comprehension 

is at the forefront, as it should be. There’s no reading without meaning. There’s no reading 

without enjoyment and interest. So what’s happened in the last few years that we have forgotten 

these basic principles This session will explore what makes guided reading effective. How do 

we match kids to texts What texts can we use How do we select texts How do we vary text 

types Participants will work through the process of planning an effective guided reading lesson. 

Templates and planning documents used will be shared. 

Biography 

Deborah Showers is an education consultant in both New York and Melbourne. She has worked 

as a principal, teacher, teaching and learning coach, curriculum coordinator, professional 

development coordinator and numerous other leadership roles in Victorian primary schools. 

79


SATURDAY 

2.00 - 3.15 

Derwent 2 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

Bridging new literacies and national assessment programs in literacy 

LEN UNSWORTH 

The reconceptualization of literacy beyond a focus on words alone to include the increasingly 

multimodal nature of contemporary paper and screen based texts needs to be reflected in 

national assessment programs. This is essential to optimise the use of such assessments in 

enhancing the literate capacity of all young people growing up into an exponentially intensifying 

multimedia digital age. This paper firstly notes the wide consensus that reading in today’s world 

necessarily entails sophisticated integrative processing of meanings afforded by the combination 

of images and language. Secondly it notes that Australia’s first National Assessment Program 

in Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) does not reflect this multimodal conceptualisation of 

reading comprehension. The third element of the paper outlines some of the results of an ARC 

funded study of the NSW Basic Skills Test (BST) and English Language and Literacy Assessment 

(ELLA). These results explicate the different types of image/language relations that needed to 

be negotiated in responding to test questions and indicate the relative difficulty level of these 

different types of intermodal meanings. The fourth element of the paper will outline the results of 

the final phase of the study which investigated year six students’ understanding of different types 

of image/language relations in online texts dealing with science and social studies topics for 

primary school. Finally, implications for the development of a National Assessment Program that 

takes due account of the multimodal nature of contemporary paper and screen based texts, will 

be discussed. 

Biography 

Len Unsworth is Professor in English and Literacies Education at the University of New England. 

His publications include Literacy learning and teaching (Macmillan, 1993), Researching language 

in schools and communities (Continuum, 2000), Teaching multiliteracies across the curriculum 

(Open University Press, 2001), [with Angela Thomas, Alyson Simpson and Jenny Asha], Teaching 

children’s literature with Information and Communication Technologies (McGraw-Hill/Open 

University Press 2005), e-literature for children and classroom literacy learning (Routledge, 

2006), New Literacies and the English Curriculum (Continuum, 2008) and Multimodal Semiotics 

(Continuum, 2008). 

2.00 - 3.15 

Tasman A 

Audience: 

All 

Being digital in school, home and community 

ILANA SNYDER 

In this paper, I report the findings from a national survey of Year 10 students’ digital literacy 

practices. The survey was part of the Being Digital project funded by the Australian Research 

Council. The main purpose of the survey was to provide a comprehensive account of young 

people’s engagement with digital technologies in the various dimensions of their lives and to 

consider the implications for English education. The focus was on the diffusion, uses, experiences 

and significance of new technologies in the everyday lives of Australian young people. The 

research asked what the term ‘literacy’ will mean in the next decade. What new kinds of literacy 

practices will characterise the students now entering Australian schools To what extent are 

English teachers prepared to work with students in productive ways How might current curricula 

and approaches to teaching and learning subject English be modified to take into account the fact 

that young people spend more time engaging with computer games and websites than they do 

reading the pages of printed books The survey also set out to map the cultural forms associated 

with young people’s use of digital technologies and to consider the extent to which these cultural 

80


forms are being transformed. To address the conference theme of ‘bridging divides’, I pay 

particular attention to the importance of demographic factors in understanding young people’s 

use of digital technologies and to the role English teachers might play in bridging digital divides. 

Biography 

Ilana Snyder is a professor in the Faculty of Education, Monash University. Her most recent book 

The Literacy Wars, analyses the media debates around literacy education. Most of her research 

has focused on the changes to literacy, pedagogical and cultural practices associated with the use 

of new media and the implications for the teaching of English. 

2.00 - 3.15 

Show Room 

Audience: 

All 

Reflections from the ALEA People to People literacy delegation 

to China 2008 

BARBARA FISHER, ROSEMARY KADOW, MARION MEIERS, ANNE SIEMON, ROSLYN TEIRNEY, 

BERYL EXLEY 

In this session, six participants from the ALEA People to People Literacy Delegation to China 2008 

offer reflections of their two week experience and what this means for them as Australian-based 

educators. The session commences with a photo display of the context and literacy education in 

early years, middle years and teacher preparation courses in cosmopolitan Beijing as well as rural 

Guiyang. The following individual reflections are then presented: Barbara Fisher - China today: A 

background briefing for Australian teachers; Rosemary Kadow - Insights into the teaching of 

English in China today; Marion Meiers - Learning about Teacher Education in China; Anne Siemon 

- Learning English in China: Is Communicative Language Teaching a Reality; Roslyn Teirney - 

Personalising learning about China using ICT; Beryl Exley - Realia from China: Australian students 

decoding the text on drink bottles. 

Biographies 

Barbara Fisher is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Avondale College. Her research 

interests include K-6 English and literacy development for pre-service teachers, spelling 

instruction and religious education. She has previously taught at primary, secondary and tertiary 

levels in Australia, New Zealand and USA. 

Rosemary Kadow is an experienced primary and middle years classroom teacher. Rosemary also 

has experience as an ESL teacher and is passionate about literacy education and teaching in 

schools. Rosemary currently works in the area of literacy education across Independent schools in 

South Australia. 

Marion Meiers is Senior Research Fellow in the Teaching, Leadership and Learning research 

program at the Australian Council for Educational Research. Her research interests include English 

and literacy education at all levels of schooling, and teachers’ professional learning. She is 

Publications Director for the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association. 

Anne Siemon has extensive experience teaching in classrooms for both early and middle years 

students. She teaches English as a second language to adult students from overseas at EF 

International Language School in Brisbane. Her interests include the globalisation of English and 

how cultures, as well as the economic and political climates of countries, influence the learning of 

language, and what role pragmatics plays in learning English as a foreign language. 

Roslyn Teirney works at Ogilvie High School in Tasmania, where she is the leader of the Gateways 

project in support of gifted and talented students. A teacher of more than thirty years experience, 

Roslyn won a Tasmania Together award for educational excellence for incorporating ICT into the 

teaching of English. 

SATURDAY 

81


Beryl Exley is an experienced early years and middle years classroom teacher who is now lecturing 

in language and literacy education within the School of Cultural and Language Studies at the 

Queensland University of Technology. Beryl is currently the ALEA Queensland State Director and 

the ALEA representative on the International Development Oceania Committee. 

SATURDAY 

2.00 - 3.15 

Stage 2 

Audience: 

All 

Empowering Indigenous students, their communities and teachers: 

practical outcomes from balancing community, contexts and NAPLAN 

GEOFF BULL, MICHELE ANSTEY, PRISCILLA HOLBORN 

This paper will report on the practical outcomes of a research project that sought to benchmark 

information from Indigenous students, their parents, teachers and community, together with data 

from NAPLAN testing, as a base from which to take strategic action. It will provide details of the 

specific strategies and recommendations made as a result of examining and comparing: parent, 

student and community perceptions about literacy learning and teaching; student perceptions 

about what helps them learn literacy; NAPLAN tests and data in relation to these perceptions; 

school climate and support mechanisms for Indigenous students; community perceptions about 

school climate and support mechanisms, and; the support mechanisms for teachers and their 

knowledge regarding Indigenous students’ learning and their culture. As a result of these analyses 

recommendations were able to be made regarding pedagogy, teaching strategies, curriculum 

planning, developing community relationships and cultural safety. The Scoping Analysis Research 

project was tendered by an Indigenous Committee (the Greater Toowoomba Regional Advisory 

Committee to DEEWR) and funded under the Whole of School Intervention (WoSI) – Parent 

School Partnership Initiative (PSPI). The research took place in State, Catholic and Independent 

schools in the Darling Downs and South West areas of Queensland. It focused on recognising and 

identifying the unique perceptions, characteristics and needs of urban, regional, rural and remote 

communities in an effort to provide specific targeted assistance that would achieve real outcomes. 

Biographies 

Dr Michèle Anstey and Dr Geoff Bull run Anstey and Bull Consultants in Education www.ansteybull. 

com.au. They provide practical, cutting edge, research-based professional development in 

literacy, children’s literature, pedagogy and school renewal throughout Australia and New 

Zealand. They conduct tendered research, commissioned writing, conference presentations, 

prepare professional development packages for trainers and advise on curriculum. Previously 

associate professors at the University of Southern Queensland, teachers in Victoria, NSW and Qld 

and advisers to state-wide literacy projects; together they have published ten books including 

Teaching and Learning Multiliteracies: Changing times changing literacies (2006) and various 

chapters in edited works and journal articles. 

Priscilla Holborn is an Indigenous woman from the Ugarapul and Birragubba people in 

Queensland. Her passion is the educational needs of Indigenous people. Her work at Education 

Queensland has been as an aide, liaison officer, and community education counsellor. She is 

employed by DEEWR within the Indigenous Education and Employment Strategies Branch. 

2.00 - 3.15 

Executive 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Primary 

Reading and the National Curriculum: the three wishes approach to 

children’s literature 

ALYSON SIMPSON 

Where does literature fit in the national curriculum If I had three wishes literature would be a key 

feature of a curriculum designed to link language to curriculum literacies; create an imaginative 

82


2.00 - 3.15 

Derwent 3 

Audience: 

Early Years 

space in the classroom; and help children understand the lives and contexts of others. In this 

paper I will address the first of these wishes and show how literature can stimulate learning about 

literacy through learning about language. When literature encourages students to focus on the 

language choices that literary authors make, students are supported to learn not only about 

English but also about other curriculum literacies. For example, learning the language of critical 

response needs to be carefully scaffolded to build on the language of personal response. Learning 

both by the end of primary school better equips the student to meet the curriculum demands 

of English in the middle years/high school. When literature is used as the stimulus for response 

activities such as literature circles or drama, reading is part but not the entire story. Learning the 

language of imaginative description can also help support learning in Science just as learning 

the language of point of view can help support learning in Studies of Society. This presentation 

investigates ways in which children’s literature can enrich the primary classroom. It uses examples 

from literary texts and student work to illustrate how literature really can make curriculum wishes 

come true. 

Biography 

Alyson Simpson is a teacher educator with a passion for children’s literature. With a background 

as a teacher librarian she now works with pre-service teachers at the University of Sydney as a 

senior lecturer in English/literacy education. In all areas of her teaching she links educational 

theory and practice. 

Connections between oral language and beginning to read 

SUSAN HILL 

This presentation explores the connections between young children’s oral language and children’s 

reading of written language in beginning reading books. Oral language has been viewed as the 

foundation for emergent reading development as it provides the semantic base, syntactic base 

and phonological base for successfully moving from oral to written language. In fact, in the years 

before school, the development of children’s oral language in the home environment is viewed as 

an important factor for early reading success. The research reported in this presentation involved 

children in their first year of school in a socio-economically diverse community. The findings 

revealed disconnections between children’s receptive oral language and early reading. Children 

with English as a Second Language scored low on oral language but high on reading levelled 

texts. Children with high scores on oral language vocabulary scored low on reading levelled 

texts and a small group of Aboriginal children scored low on both oral and written measures. 

This presentation raises questions about the view that oral language neatly underpins reading 

development and suggests that learning to read written language is akin to learning a second 

language for all children. 

Biography 

Susan Hill’s research over the past twenty years has been in the area of early literacy 

development. She has conducted a number of longitudinal research projects and worked, written 

and published in the area of early literacy. 

SATURDAY 

83


SATURDAY 

2.00 - 3.15 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Primary 

Building bridges to success 

JANTIENA BATT, BERNADETTE HAYES 

This workshop provides practical applications to close the achievement gap and build bridges 

to success for all our students. It explores the principles that underpin adult learning and how 

these can be utilised to build teacher capacity to improve the learning outcomes for all our 

students. Mentoring and coaching teachers and using action research encouraged all teachers to 

be involved in the journey of change. Many teachers identified a performance gap in what they 

believed they were doing in the classroom to what was actually implemented when they engaged 

in a lesson study approach. The ACT Department of Education and Training has developed an 

effective model for building teacher capacity that builds on the Ontario model and embeds the 

work from the Early Literacy and Numeracy Program. The model utilised in many ACT DET system 

programs also supports teachers in their understanding of the Teacher Levels of Transfer as 

espoused by Robin Fogarty. This approach allows coaching to be specific to the teacher level 

of transfer. When utilised, the factors needed for successful change are enhanced and change 

initiatives sustained. Action Research results from the case studies will be presented. The case 

studies spread over three years and across such programs as BEE Spelling, First Steps Reading 

and Writing and the Early Literacy and Numeracy Officer Program. The results of the action 

research highlight the need for an identified moral purpose for change and ensuring all teachers 

have the skill and will to change their practice (FulIan). 

Biographies 

Jantiena Batt has been teaching for ten years in the ACT in a range of settings including childcare 

centres, preschools, P-2 early childhood schools and primary schools. She is currently an Early 

Literacy and Numeracy Officer with ACT DET Literacy and Numeracy Section. Jantiena is also a First 

Steps Reading and Writing facilitator and worked collaboratively with the Literacy and Numeracy 

Section in designing the BEE Spelling program. 

Bernadette Hayes has been teaching for twenty years in the ACT in a range of settings. She has 

worked as an Early Literacy Officer with the ACT DET Literacy and Numeracy Section. Bernadette 

is currently the Assistant Manager of the Literacy and Numeracy Section and is responsible for 

literacy P-5. Bernadette is also a First Steps Writing facilitator and worked collaboratively with the 

Literacy and Numeracy Section in designing the BEE Spelling program. 

2.00 - 3.15 

Derwent 1 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Primary 

Quality literacy: exploring the explicit teaching of reading strategies 

KEVLYNN ANNANDALE, LYNN LOCKETT 

Effective teachers have an understanding of a multidimensional approach to teaching reading. 

They are able to plan learning experiences and instruction that supports students to become 

more successful within all aspects of reading. An important element of supporting reading 

development is one sometimes neglected. This element is the explicit teaching of comprehending 

and composing strategies. Efficient readers automatically integrate a range of strategies, so many 

occur without conscious deliberations. However, all students need explicit instruction to gain 

control of these strategies. This practical session will identify eighteen key reading strategies. 

The session will demonstrate how the Gradual Release of Responsibility model can be applied 

to explicitly teach these strategies to students from Years 1-8. Come and explore how modelling, 

sharing, guiding and applying sessions can activate the potential of every student and help them 

to begin to consciously use a range of strategies when comprehending texts. 

84


Biographies 

Over the past fifteen years Kevlynn Annandale has been actively involved in all phases of 

conceptualisation, development and implementation of First Steps professional development and 

materials for local, national, and international markets. Kevlynn directed the development of the 

First Steps 2nd Edition Reading and Writing texts and professional development courses. In 2006 

the Writing strand of First Steps 2nd Edition was awarded the Best Teacher Reference Category in 

the Excellence in Educational Publishing Awards within Australia. 

Lynn Lockett is currently National Manager of STEPS Professional Development-Australia and has 

been with the company since its inception. During this time she has held a number of positions 

including Consultant USA, Area Manager UK and Senior Consultant Australia. These positions 

have involved many and varied tasks including the development and delivery of high quality 

professional development for educators, sales and marketing of professional development 

resources and training as well as contributing author of the award winning First Steps 2nd Edition 

materials. 

2.00 - 3.15 

Riviera Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Learning by design: supporting students to read, respond to and create 

their own texts in Years 7 to 10 English 

RITA VAN HAREN, ANNE DUNN, PRUE GILL, JESSICA KLIEN, RACHAEL RADVANYI, 

CHRISTIAN RILEY 

In this presentation a team of teachers will share the exciting work they have been exploring 

using the Learning by Design framework (Kalantzis and Cope). Key aspects of this work have been 

developing student agency, addressing diversity, and including new technologies to make learning 

relevant to the life world experiences of the digital natives in our classrooms and applicable to 

the needs of collaborative work places. Participants will be able to learn how teachers engage 

students and explicitly teach them to read and respond to multimodal texts. Teachers will also 

explain how they have developed deep knowledge and understanding of the themes, structure 

and language features of the text for their students through a range of inclusive strategies, 

including using field, tenor and mode of functional grammar. Teachers will also present their units 

of work, authentic materials including samples of student work, and assessment tools such as 

CQ (criteria/quality) rubrics to explicitly communicate high standards and feedback that supports 

future learning. 

Biographies 

Rita van Haren is a deputy principal in the Lanyon Cluster of Schools supporting teachers from 

preschool to year 10 in curriculum and pedagogy. She is a member of the ACTATE executive and on 

AATE national council. 

Anne Dunn is an executive teacher at Lanyon High School and a member of the Lanyon Cluster 

Literacy Coordinators’ team. She has led Learning by Design in her school since 2004 and also 

participated in an Australian Research Council project about its implementation in the Cluster. 

Prue Gill has been teaching English at Lanyon High School for the past three years. During this 

time she has worked with the Learning by Design frame work, developing and creating curriculum. 

She is currently undertaking a Masters of Education through the University of Illinois. 

Jessica Klein has taught English in government high schools in NSW and the ACT for the last five 

years. She is part of the Lanyon Cluster Literacy Coordinators team and has been involved in 

action research and collaboratively planning curriculum using the Learning by Design framework. 

Rachael Radvanyi is an executive teacher at Lanyon High School. Rachael has been actively 

involved in researching the implementation the Learning by Design framework and she was recently 

SATURDAY 

85


awarded a scholarship to undertake her Masters of Education through the University of Illinois. 

Christian Riley is a classroom teacher at Lanyon High School who has taught in ACT schools 

for 9 years. She is a Cluster Literacy Coordinator who shares responsibility for planning and 

implementing literacy programs. Christian also recently received a scholarship to undertake her 

Masters of Education online through the University of Illinois. 

SATURDAY 

2.00 - 3.15 

Wellington 1 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Primary 

2.00 - 3.15 

Green Room 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Primary 

A workshop in digital literacy using Ziptales 

RICHARD McROBERTS 

In this hands-on workshop teachers will explore Ziptales, an Australian literacy site for primary 

age children. It exploits the high motivational effects of ICT (today’s children are ‘digital natives’) 

to bring reading into the twenty-first century. The stories are all ‘high interest’ – chosen for their 

‘entertainment’ as well as educational value - and presented in a sympathetic, child-friendly 

way. Meaningful ‘whole language’ texts across a broad range are offered in an age appropriate 

manner. There are three onboard readability measures, so that teachers can easily get a ‘fix’on the 

difficulty of a story. All stories have professional ‘voiceovers’, to simulate the presence of a caring 

adult reader (in a one to one relationship with the child). All stories come with two interactive 

comprehension instruments, so students can monitor their own learning. A Curriculum Program 

Manual is available free to all subscribing schools. Teachers are encouraged to explore and review 

the ‘library’ from the comfort of their own home. As well as the nearly 200 stories, there are 

videos, puzzles, poems, comics, documentaries, DIY projects and ‘How to write’ lessons – 300+ 

content modules. All stories come with reproducible worksheets (general ‘creative’ worksheets, 

Learning Support and Spelling/Vocabulary), another 600+ items of content. Ziptales is ‘digital 

literacy’, designed to engage children. It is a genuine use of the internet for core curriculum. The 

content is interactive - suitable for electronic whiteboards, small group, whole class or individual 

configurations. 

Biography 

Richard McRoberts was a literacy teacher in Australia and overseas for many years before going 

into publishing full time. He has a Masters in Literature, and is a widely published author in his 

own right. He is the Creative Director of Ziptales, responsible for all content, as well as being part 

of the company’s pedagogic managing team. 

Stories in a box 

JO PADGHAM, FELICITY LEVETT, NORMA JOHN 

This workshop builds bridges from the Adelaide conference to the Hobart conference. At the 

July 2008 AATE/ALEA national conference in Adelaide Jo Padgham was excited by the plenary 

presentation by Dr Daniel Meadows from Cardiff University on digital storytelling, in particular a 

project where children and adults he worked with told their stories from a few collected items that 

they brought along in a box. Daniel helped them craft these stories into two minute digital photo 

stories. On returning to her P-6 school, Jo shared Meadows’ work with the staff who had a whole 

school goal on improving Writing outcomes. The idea of creating a box of items such as the ones 

used with Daniel Meadows was developed as a key strategy for the annual school literacy festival. 

Twenty boxes were created, one for each class, all with about five items. The items ranged from 

the very personal to the very quirky in an attempt to capture the imaginations of the students of 

all ages and interests. In addition each class and teacher received a letter inviting the class to 

individually or as a class write/create the stories or poems stories in a range of ways, including as 

digital stories that were inspired by the items. The letter prompted the class to ‘see’, ‘think’ and 

86


2.00 - 3.15 

Portlight Bar 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

‘wonder’ about each item, thus prompting the teachers to use the Writer’s Notebook strategy. The 

results were exceptional and more than expected. The ideas have developed in 2009 with some 

students using virtual tours of galleries to search for items for a ‘virtual box’. This workshop will 

take participants through the Stories in a Box strategy and how it has developed teachers to go 

beyond their usual strategies to engage young writers. 

Biographies 

Jo Padgham is the ALEA ACT State Director and an executive member of ALEA National Council. Jo 

is principal of Ainslie School, a government primary school in inner city Canberra and has taught in 

the ACT for 30 years. Jo was co-convenor of the 2007 Canberra ALEA/AATE conference and led the 

ALEA STELLA project in 2006. As part of her ALEA National Council role, Jo visited Timor-Leste in 

January 2009. 

Felicity Levett is an executive teacher at Miles Franklin Primary School in the ACT. She has taught 

across K – 6 and has been an LA and ESL teacher. In her current position she mentors staff in 

quality literacy practices including Writer’s Notebook and Workshops. Felicity is also hoping to 

become a published picture book author sometime soon. 

Norma John is the Teacher Librarian at Ainslie School in the ACT. Over the years, she has taught 

students in years K-6 in schools across Australia and overseas. Norma has a passion for all 

things middle school and IT in particular and attained a Master of Education in Leadership and 

Management from USQ in 2004. 

Drama: language in action / literacies in practice 

JULIANA SAXTON, CAROLE MILLER 

Story drama structures provide an open framework in which students explore multiple literacies 

and cross disciplinary applications. Analysis, question-making and answering, integrating 

personal experience, and sharing values and beliefs through reflective and recursive discourse, 

exercise the habits of mind and personal dispositions that Deasy (2001) posits as new means for 

imagining teaching and learning in the 21st century. Individual contributions are negotiated into 

a common understanding out of which the group divines the new choices that require further 

exploration. This interactive workshop offers participants an opportunity to use drama structures 

to investigate themes and issues through the exploration of a children’s picture book. A detailed 

teaching guide, based on our text, Into the Story: Language in Action through Drama, will be 

available. 

Biographies 

Carole Miller, Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction, Faculty of 

Education and Juliana Saxton, Professor Emeritus, Department of Theatre, both teach at the 

University of Victoria, Canada; they hold adjunct appointments in the University of Sydney. 

Each is the recipient of an excellence in teaching award and between them they have taught 

internationally and published extensively. Their collaborative research is primarily situated in 

pre-service teacher education, exploring pedagogies that engender competent, confident and 

comfortable classroom educators in drama. Articulating the relationship of literacy and drama 

practice to current post-modern curricula, they have recently been exploring how learners bring 

together a multifaceted range of metalanguages through real and fictional conversations of 

experience. Their award-winning text, Into the Story: Language in Action through Drama, is used 

widely by both elementary and secondary classroom teachers. 

Juliana Saxton is well known in Australia for her co-authorship of the best-selling texts, Asking 

Better Questions and Teaching Drama: a mind of many wonders. 

SATURDAY 

87


2.00 - 3.15 

Wellington 2 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Texts, technology and learning in the UK: praxis projects using webbased 

technologies to augment classroom learning 

JULIE BLAKE, TIM SHORTIS 

This session outlines recent UK work in using web-based, digital approaches to representations 

of text, data and learning approaches in English teaching and seeks advice from Australian 

teachers on a major new website offering opportunities for small scale but global collaboration. 

The presenters have backgrounds in the education of 16-19 year olds in the UK including 

the study of language and literature, and using theories and methods drawn from Applied 

Linguistics and Cultural Studies. They work independently as freelance consultants for a number 

of agencies including Teachit, The Poetry Archive, and the British Library and they create webbased 

curriculum materials for teachers and students designed to scaffold learner engagement, 

interactivity and enquiry. This session presents a brief overview of their work and outlines some 

of the problems - ethical, theoretical and methodological - encountered in a current larger scale 

project for a language and literature website being developed for the British Library. 

SATURDAY 

Biographies 

Julie Blake’s The Full English presents a well-respected and popular A-Z of pedagogical 

approaches to English teaching (available from the AATE bookshop). 

Tim Shortis wrote The Language of ICT and is researching language used in cellphone texting and 

related technologies. 

KEYNOTES 3.45 - 5.00 

3.45 - 5.00 

Tasman A 

Audience: 

All 

Weaving textual tapestries: weaving the ‘Italian woman-writer’ into the 

social fabric across genres and generations, borders and divides 

MARIA PALLOTTA-CHIAROLLI 

Tapestries interweave images of people and events from various times and places into one image. 

I use the tapestry as a metaphor to describe the bordering and interweaving of my ‘multiple 

lifeworlds’ and multiple identities as an Italian-Australian woman, academic, writer, and social 

activist, and the ‘multiple lifeworlds’ of the people in my research, writing and community 

activism. Within and between each of those worlds are points of tension and confluence, 

questions and quests, exhilarations and exasperations, that motivate my own research and 

writing, and motivate my work helping young people to articulate their own ‘multiple lifeworlds’ 

of culture, gender and sexuality through writing and art. In this presentation, I will draw from 

my published research, autobiographical books and my novel to explore the negotiating and 

interweaving generations, communities and identities of a multicultural, multi-sexual Australia. 

Biography 







88


3.45 - 5.00 

Plenary Hall 

Audience: 

All 

Small pleasures: an Australian children’s author working in an 

international market 

NATALIE JANE PRIOR 

Natalie Jane Prior’s career as a children’s writer has never followed a typical trajectory. In her 

address she will talk about the challenges for an Australian working in both the local and 

international publishing industry, and the difficulties of writing Australian books that can jump the 

divide into overseas markets. She will discuss her working methods with particular reference to 

her internationally successful middle primary series Lily Quench, and her new series, The Minivers, 

published by Penguin Books in Australia and Scholastic in the United Kingdom. 

Biography 



and the internationally successful fantasy series Lily Quench. Her new series, The Minivers, has 

recently been published by Penguin in Australia and will be published in the UK by Scholastic 

in 2010. Natalie’s books have won the Aurealis Award for fantasy and science fiction, the Davitt 

Awards for crime writing, have been honour, shortlisted and notable books in the Children’s Book 

Council of Australia Awards, and have been short listed for numerous children’s choice awards. 

Natalie lives in Brisbane with her husband, young daughter, and two long-haired red miniature 

dachshunds. 

SATURDAY 


3.45 - 5.00 

Stage 1 

Audience: 

Primary 

Developing principles for teachers’ professional learning to sustain 

pedagogical change 

CHRISTINA VAN KRAAYENOORD 

Teachers’ ongoing professional learning allows them to improve their literacy knowledge and 

practices to create pedagogical change. This paper builds on the symposium in last year’s 

conference that reported the action research projects of three Queensland schools. As part of 

the action research projects the school teams and the researchers generated a set of principles 

related to supporting effective professional development in these schools. This paper will report 

the process of the development of these principles. We will describe how the principles comprise 

nine elaborated sets that both align with and extend previous models of whole school planning. 

We will also discuss how these principles are broadly applicable to teachers’ learning in all 

schools. 

Biography 

Christina van Kraayenoord is an associate professor in the School of Education at The University 

of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Christa teaches courses relating to literacy, 

diversity, and learning difficulties. Her research interests are in literacy learning and achievement; 

learning difficulties; teachers’ professional learning and school improvement. 

89


3.45 - 5.00 

Tasman C 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

Becoming wordsmiths: exploring the power of words 

JANET HUNTER, VAL FAULKNER 

National testing data over the last several years (MCEETYA, 2004-2007; NAPLAN, 2008) suggest 

that as many as 20% of children fail to reach the benchmarks in spelling, and that fewer children 

reach the benchmark as they get older. As children move into the middle and upper years of 

primary school and on into secondary school, building word consciousness is important for a 

number of reasons. First, an understanding of the systematic nature of English orthography 

assists in spelling fluency, and this in turn frees up “cognitive space” to attend to the crafting of 

texts. Second, an understanding of word derivations and etymology not only assists with spelling, 

but also helps children expand their vocabulary. A wide and varied vocabulary contributes to 

fast, efficient decoding in reading, which leads to increased fluency and aids comprehension. 

Further, a strong vocabulary allows writers to craft texts with clarity and effect. This presentation 

will discuss the importance of instruction in spelling and vocabulary, under the umbrella of ‘word 

consciousness’, and demonstrate some ways of engaging middle and upper primary children in 

investigations and activities which will enable them to tap into the power of words. 

SATURDAY 

Biographies 

Val Faulkner is an experienced teacher and applied researcher in the field of literacy currently 

working as a literacy education consultant with the Association of Independent Schools WA. 

Janet Hunter teaches literacy education to post graduate and undergraduate students at Edith 

Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia. She has a particular interest in supporting students 

who experience difficulties in literacy (and their teachers). She has participated in a number of 

research projects at a national and a local level. 

Recent and current literacy research projects undertaken by Val and Janet include ‘Literacy 

Intervention: Supporting students with literacy difficulties in the middle and upper years of 

primary schooling’ (2006-2007), jointly funded by ECU, the Catholic Education Office of Western 

Australia and The Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia, and ‘Supporting 

writers across the middle years of schooling’ (Years 3-8), funded by ECU and AISWA. 

3.45 - 5.00 

Wellington 2 

Audience: 

Early Years 

More...teaching strategies for literacy in the early years 

CORAL SWAN 

This presentation will focus on more teaching strategies for literacy in early years’ classrooms. 

Teaching Strategies for Literacy in the Early Years was published by ALEA in February this year. 

The author continues to research and refine teaching strategies that develop and extend young 

children’s literacies. The strategies showcased in this session are: baskets of books, ‘on the spot’ 

learning, adapting an expanding expression tool (Smith, 2005), and mobile literacy centres. 

Photos and work samples will highlight the session. The strategies effectively bridge divides 

between the children’s everyday lives (knowledge, cultures, interests and abilities) and their 

literacy learning. 

Biography 

Coral Swan’s passions are literacy, learning and literature in the early years. Her book Teaching 

Strategies for Literacy in the Early Years was published in February by ALEA. She has many years 

teaching experience and is still excited about ‘reaching into the minds’ of her Year 1 students at 

Freshwater. 

90


3.45 - 5.00 

Training Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Tertiary 

Personalising research through narrative non-fiction 

MARIE COOK 

Telling story is a way to bridge divides, of making the unknown recognisable, relevant and 

inspiring. These days students are constantly confronted with a mountain of research on a 

constant global scale that they need to make sense of, in order to build bridges and to develop 

empathy. The contemporary genre ‘narrative non-fiction’ is about personalising research through 

narrative. It is a valuable essay writing genre that allows students to find a personalised approach 

to research, whether archival or interview, and from any form of media, and that helps them 

to integrate their experience and points of view through the use of narrative as observation, 

reflection and also employing fictional techniques. This genre is especially relevant to the new 

Victorian VCE study design units of ‘Creating and presenting’, but also for Expository writing, for 

recognising personalised responses to issues in Persuasive writing, and for a range of creative 

writing tasks that include memoir, autobiography and imaginative responses to texts. The 

workshop will be based on the presenter’s own narrative non-fiction manuscript produced for 

an MA thesis. It will include a short talk about the presenter’s process of writing a narrative nonfiction, 

a series of short writing exercises, handouts of excerpts of narrative non-fiction texts, and 

a bibliography of narrative non-fiction writers. The focus of the workshop will also be about how 

these writing exercises and resources relate to relevant student writing tasks. 

Biography 

Marie Cook is a secondary teacher teaching English and literacy, and a freelance writer of narrative 

non-fiction, visual texts and short story. Marie has written a film for television, short plays, and 

theatre reviews. Studies include a BA (Hons), majoring in writing for theatre, a Dip Ed in English 

and Drama, beginning a Professional Editing and Writing diploma, but changing direction to an MA 

to learn more about how to explore research that was getting out of hand. 

SATURDAY 

3.45 - 5.00 

Wellington 1 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Literature as personal experience: student teachers’ views of the value 

of their own literary experience and its implications for pedagogy 

ANDY GOODWYN 

Recent years have seen a steady increase in the importance of empirical studies of literary 

experience. Findings from this mostly experimental work are beginning to identify psychological 

patterns that may be unique to ‘literary reading’ and are building strong arguments for the 

importance of such reading in human development. Recent years have seen an equal trend 

in literary theory to absolutely dismiss the notion that ‘reading literature is good for you’, 

especially any notion of moral benefit. The empirical findings suggest that readers are enabled 

in a number of ways through literary experiences and that all readers may be enabled in this 

way but that regular literary readers are ‘more so’. Put simply, this is an argument for teaching 

literature in schools without making inflated claims for it but maintaining the notion of such 

reading as ‘beneficial’. This paper reports on two parallel investigations. One, an ongoing, 

small scale, qualitative study of student teachers consisted of semi-structured interviews in 

which each student was asked to reflect on their own literary experiences and to consider how 

they might inform their own teaching. The second is a qualitative analysis of over 200 reading 

autobiographies, written by student English teachers, collected over 15 years. The findings of 

both studies support the idea that reading literature has benefited the participants, who believe 

the right kinds of teaching can have similar benefits for children and illustrate the complex and 

fundamental relationship between literary reading and the formative identity of future English 

teachers. 

91


Biography 

Andy Goodwyn is Head of Education at The University of Reading in the UK. Having taught 

secondary English in schools, he then ran both Postgraduate and Masters programs in English 

Education before becoming Head of School. He has presented on English around the world and 

written many articles and books. 

SATURDAY 

3.45 - 5.00 

Riviera Room 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

Imaginative engagement: ways to use technology to enhance writing 

and creativity 

KAREN YAGER 

Technology inspires our students to be innovative, and to confidently realise the potential of their 

imagination and literary expression. Creating digital stories, pod casts, hyperlinked timelines, 

or slow-motion films focuses students on the craft and artistry of writing, and taps into their 

creativity. This presentation will explore how to use technology and explicit literacy strategies with 

your students K-10 to motivate all students to become confident and effective writers. A plethora 

of resources, practical strategies and examples will be shared in this presentation. 

Biography 

Karen Yager is the Professional Learning Coordinator for the Northern Region DET, and a director 

of the English Teachers’ Association. Karen has presented at numerous NSW and national 

conferences on English, literacy and ICT. She has published numerous papers and written 

extensively for NSW State Office and ETA. 

3.45 - 5.00 

Tasman B 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Primary 

From drawing to writing: bridging the divide between meaning making 

through drawing (and talking) and meaning making through writing 

in the first year of school 

NOELLA MACKENZIE 

Starting school provides many challenges for children. One of these challenges is learning to 

write. This presentation will discuss a successful structure for supporting children as they learn to 

write in the first year of school. Writing has been described as the most artificial and difficult of all 

language activities because it imposes demands on the performer which differ markedly from our 

other ‘active use of language (talking) or our receptive ones (reading and listening) ... requiring 

the transfer of words “in the head” into an accumulating set of markers on paper: from an aural 

medium to a primarily visual medium which is dominated by rigid rules’ (Burgess et al., 1973, pp. 

11-12). Teachers can make this process easier for children if they utilise the strengths that children 

bring with them when they start school. In this session, the presenter will share with you the 

insights gained from the work of a group of kindergarten teachers in the first half of 2009, as they 

successfully used children’s drawings (and talk) as a bridge into writing. 

Biography 

Noella Mackenzie is a lecturer in Literacy Education in the Faculty of Education at Albury/Wodonga 

Campus, Charles Sturt University. Her research focus is in early writing development. In her 

present role she supports undergraduate and postgraduate students in their understanding of 

literacy development and in devising appropriate instruction to facilitate children’s learning. 

92


3.45 - 5.00 

Stage 2 

Audience: 

All 

3.45 - 5.00 

Show Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Britannica Online School Edition - a complete teaching aid 

CAMILLE DAVEY 

See why Britannica is head of the class. Britannica Online School Edition has tipped the scales 

of online encyclopaedias by including four different products within the one resource. Through 

each of the age-appropriate resources, Britannica provides instructional and research content 

that will fit the needs of every user from one simple access point. The online edition includes the 

Encyclopaedia Britannica for senior high school students, Britannica for middle school, Primary 

Britannica and Britannica’s latest program for pre K – 2 early learners, Learning Zone. With the 

addition of Learning Zone, Britannica Online School Edition reaches every user at every level, 

while still providing educators with teacher resources, learning objects, digital images and media 

maps and much more. This session will provide instruction on how to use this complete research 

tool, while having some interactive fun. 

Biography 

Heading up the education department at Britannica, Camille has worked for many years with 

schools, universities and public libraries providing the expertise that is required to integrate 

technology into every-day learning and teaching for institutions. 

Peer Mentoring Literacy Project 

LOUISE MANKA 

In 2008, a pilot Peer Mentoring Literacy Project, funded by the Northern Tasmanian Youth 

Transitions Taskforce, was implemented at Prospect High School in Launceston. The model 

was developed from community need, research, best practice models and a review of Prospect 

High’s student leadership programs. The project combined mentoring, teaching and behaviour 

management skills with existing Peer Support structures. Students in Year 7 lacking access to 

school literacy support but clearly struggling with literacy were matched with a Year 10 Peer 

Mentor who had undergone training in theory and practical work. Each week they met their 

student and completed activities that were developed by the English Teacher, Project Consultant 

and classroom teachers. The project outcomes were to improve the literacy skills of both the 

student and Peer Mentor, to develop confidence in approaching literacy tasks, to develop 

strategies that assist with literacy, to increase confidence with IT tasks, and to be recognised 

for their participation. Empowerment and belief are the cornerstones of mentoring and were 

embedded in the training. They enable the development of trust required for students to allow the 

Peer Mentors to teach them through scaffolding their own knowledge and that gained through 

teaching sessions throughout the year. Additional benefits observed included improved school 

cultural changes and enhanced leadership opportunities. Other potential implications include the 

ability to develop positive relationships at home, work and socially and for parenting in the future. 

The University of Tasmania completed an independent evaluation and concluded that the project 

had identifiable benefits for all stakeholders. 

Biography 

Louise Manka is a mentoring consultant who has facilitated the Peer Mentoring Literacy Project 

as part of the Peer Support Leaders Program at Prospect High School. She is a trainer of mentors 

and trainers/program coordinators with eight years experience state-wide and nationally. She is 

a trainer and member of the reference group for the National Youth Mentoring Network and has 

presented papers on mentoring both state wide and nationally. She is currently studying for her 

Masters of Philosophy through Curtin University on the topic of Peer Mentoring as an effective 

teaching strategy. 

SATURDAY 

93



3.45 - 4.20 

Portlight Bar 

Audience: 

All 

My life in a jar 

CHRISTINE HARRIS 

‘I don’t know what to write ... I can’t think of anything ... Nothing ever happens to me.’ Sound 

familiar Memory Jars are a way around the blocks put up by our minds. They are a clever, yet 

simple way to store memories which can be accessed for pleasure, laughter, memory prompts or 

writing triggers for all genres. They tease out forgotten events, people and feelings that can be 

shared in stories, written or told, or given as gifts. Students, teachers, parents, grandparents and 

friends can all stuff their lives into jars, then take them out and reassemble them a memory at a 

time. Memory Jars are a self-constructed tool for journal writing or creative fiction. Find out what 

they are, how they work, their multiple uses and have at go at sampling memories of your own. 

SATURDAY 

Biography 

Christine Harris has written 50 books for young readers in Australia, New Zealand, France, UK, 

Italy, Russia, Canada, USA, Thailand, Japan and Brazil. Her books have won or been shortlisted for 

many awards. Currently, Audrey of the Outback is shortlisted for CBCA Book of the Year, WAYRBA, 

and was awarded a White Raven from the International Children’s Library, Munich. For more 

information, visit www.christineharris.com 

3.45 - 4.20 

Derwent 3 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

A framework to support teachers to make informed choices about 

websites for inclusion in classroom learning experiences 

SUE DENNY, LISA KERVIN 

Children and teachers alike interact with websites both in and out of the classroom. In a time 

when over half (56%) of the households in Australia have access to a computer at home, with the 

majority also having internet access (Australian Bureau of Statistics) it is necessary to consider 

the impact that this has on literate activities external to and within the classroom. Many teachers 

feel enormous responsibility as they analyse and choose suitable websites for students to engage 

with in classroom learning experiences. In this paper we present a framework with which teachers 

can analyse websites aimed at children for both information and social purposes. The framework 

applies elements of visual design as choice of colour, semiotics and layout are investigated. The 

framework offers critical reading criteria to catalogue various manipulative strategies by the 

website’s author. Navigation through a website takes considerable time for both teachers and 

students and placement of hyperlinks within the website plays an important part of meaning 

making for a reader engaged in a website. This framework investigates how the placement of 

these navigational tools can help or hinder a reader navigate throughout the website and how the 

deliberate links (or lack thereof) to internal or external sites or web pages further manipulates 

the meaning. We believe the framework we present enables teachers to discern suitability of a 

website for classroom use as they investigate sites in connection with their knowledge of literate 

practices and their learners. 

Biographies 

Sue Denny is an early career teacher with a research interest in supporting students in areas of 

digital literacy. 

Lisa Kervin is employed as senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of 

Wollongong and is the NSW State Director of ALEA. 

94


3.45 - 4.20 

Derwent 2 

Audience: 

All 

Between the lines: exploring the auditory bridge to literacy 

CATRIONA LAWSON 

This conceptual study revisits the work of literacy theorists in the light of recent research in the 

psychology of music, as an alternative starting point for exploring literacy development. The paper 

argues that the bridge to literacy is an auditory one and draws on studies that have found that 

children across all cultures are immersed, almost exclusively until they begin to talk, in the music 

of language, its prosody. Such studies show that parents use music and vocal play to teach infants 

about spoken language. They also indicate that babies are innately musical and respond to what 

they hear using music to communicate meaningfully. Additionally, in written cultures, children 

who are read to by adults hear the prosody of the written language, which is quite different from 

the prosody of speech. Britton’s discourse category system offers a framework for understanding 

literacy in terms of the prosodic features of each category. In particular, the spectator and 

participant roles that underpin the system provide a distinction between the ways in which text 

may be heard by the reader or writer. This paper argues for recognition of the significance of the 

auditory connection to literacy, and suggests that the prosodic aspects of both spoken and written 

language are demonstrated rather than taught. An understanding of prosody may in turn suggest 

new strategies to allow all children to build an auditory bridge to literacy. 

Biography 

Catriona Lawson is a PhD candidate at Murdoch University, where she is also a language and 

literacy tutor for the B.Ed programme. Catriona’s background in music and theatre, coupled 

with her literacy teaching, has led to her area of primary interest: the role of music in literacy 

acquisition. 

SATURDAY 

3.45 - 4.20 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Tertiary 

A literacy educator’s approach to designing a trade professional 

program for fourth year apprentices 

PATRICIA NORTON 

A curriculum designer’s brief was to develop a ‘Trade Professional Program’ of three Certificate IV 

units. The goals included improved team relationships, leadership development and awareness 

of work priorities. The real need was to ‘pitch’ the package to the needs of a diverse group of 

fourth year apprentices in the power industry. That diversity was evident in age, gender, workbased 

experience, learning experiences and literacy skills. The challenge, therefore, paralleled the 

conference theme — to ‘bridge the divides’. To meet the brief, the package design demonstrated: 

integration of the three units to avoid repetition and focus on critical knowledge; customisation 

of the package to focus on organisational values and authentic situations; and implementation 

of proven literacy learning strategies to engage learners, meet individual needs and develop 

work group cohesion. This paper focuses particularly on the benefits of the second and third 

characteristics, arguing that: customisation overcame the ‘situatedness’ of the training room, 

and literacy learning strategies met learners’ needs, promoted a social context for learning and 

replicated the workgroup community of practice. It outlines the theory supporting the approach 

and examines the curriculum content and strategies that resulted in a ‘particularly positive’ 

evaluation of the training package. 

Biography 

Patricia Norton’s career has demonstrated commitment to literacy learning in diverse contexts 

including schools, training organizations, industry and, most recently, a tertiary institution. Her 

roles have included those of teacher (primary and secondary), head of department, dean of 

studies (P-12), project manager/technical writer, literacy consultant and lecturer (Education). 

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SATURDAY 

3.45 - 4.20 

Derwent 1 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

3.45 - 4.20 

Executive 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Tertiary 

Something for everyone 

BRENDA BARRY 

As English teachers, we are often challenged to provide something for everyone in order to cater 

for the diversity of student needs in our classrooms. This workshop will address issues of access 

and equity for students in the twenty-first century English classroom by identifying barriers 

to learning and exploring practical ideas for teaching and learning. A range of research-based 

strategies linked to planning processes will be provided. Participants will identify those strategies 

that best cater for a range of learner needs and explore planning options that support teachers 

in long term, medium term and short term planning. Planning proformas that have been used in 

primary and secondary English classrooms to streamline planning will be shared in this workshop. 

Biography 

Brenda Barry is English Consultant in the Rockhampton Diocese. Brenda has taught in primary 

and secondary schools, been a learning support coordinator in a secondary college and worked in 

adult literacy programs. Currently Brenda works with teachers in primary and secondary schools 

to provide professional learning and support planning processes. 

ESL: power and voice 

JAN BAILEY 

Growing out of Alice Pung’s response to media criticism surrounding claims that international 

students do not assimilate into mainstream tertiary culture, and in particular, her comment that 

‘as an Asian woman you don’t feel you have much of a voice’, this research paper attempts to 

explore critical issues about the benefits of writing, the place of literature, and the development 

of identity and ‘voice’ for English as a Second Language (ESL) students. The research paper uses 

Critical Discourse Analysis to explore the experience via writing of seven Victorian Certificate of 

Education (VCE) students during their coursework for Area of Study 2: Creating and Presenting: 

context study ‘Encountering Conflict’; a recently introduced curriculum from the Victorian 

Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA). Of the students involved, five are international 

students: four from mainland China; one from Hong Kong. Two are Chinese born permanent 

residents of Australia. The paper attempts to achieve two primary aims: to identify and explore 

the networks of power evident in a student’s cultural capital (Bourdieu & Passeron 1990), and that 

are ‘sustained and brought into existence by writing practices’ (Kamler 2001: 109); and to explore 

whether writing creatively, and using texts to connect to personal experience through writing, can 

lead to the emergence of ‘voice’ (Giroux 1987). 

Biography 

Jan Bailey is a teacher of English as a Second Language (ESL) and English at Ivanhoe Girls’ 

Grammar School, Melbourne, Victoria. She has a Masters in Education (Research: How do ESL 

students write about conflict in an examined curriculum: A Case Study) from Deakin University. 

She has presented at The Victorian Association for Teachers of English (VATE): VATE 08 and has 

had an article published in Idiom. 

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3.45 - 4.20 

Green Room 

Audience: 

Primary 

International supports for building bridges to improved 

achievement for students 

DEBORAH ROBERTSON 

This paper gives an overview of international literacy assessments. The author analyses what can 

be learnt from the information produced from these assessments to inform and assist classroom 

teachers and school leaders. The paper identifies what is included in the concept of literacy in the 

international context, as well as the difficulties involved with comparing assessment results from 

diverse populations. The international assessment instruments and processes are compared and 

contrasted with assessment regimes occurring in Australia. In commenting on PISA 2006 results, 

Allan Luke points out the ‘success’ of countries with ‘high quality/high equity’ education systems. 

This paper looks more closely at that situation in terms of school and curriculum improvement 

in these countries and how this might be applied in Australia. In the spirit of the true meaning 

of conference as the sharing of colleagues, structures will be used in the presentation to access 

the knowledge, experience and opinions of participants in the session to expand, as well as to 

gain insights into, the presentation material. The purpose of the paper/session is to develop 

the expertise of those in schools in order to empower them to provide curriculum most suitable 

for their local context, and to assist them in bridging the gap in students’ literacy achievement, 

particularly for those students identified as ‘at risk’. 

Biography 

Deborah Robertson has been a teacher and school leader in primary schools for nearly 30 years 

and is currently a principal. Deborah is particularly interested in the development and use of 

effective assessment practices that genuinely assist teachers in catering for the individual needs 

of their students, and thereby raise achievement levels particularly for those students identified 

as ‘at risk’. 

SATURDAY 


4.25 - 5.00 

Derwent 2 

Audience: 

Primary 

Understanding urban Indigenous student mobility: considerations for 

literacy educators 

ANDREA LYNCH 

Mobility is a well known characteristic of Indigenous Australians’ lived experience and plays 

an important role in the maintenance of connections to family and country that are integral to 

Indigenous people’s cultural and spiritual well-being (Commonwealth Department of Education 

Science and Training & Department of Defence, 2002). However, while some researchers 

have drawn attention to student mobility as a challenge for literacy teachers (Comber, 2003; 

Henderson, 2006), less frequently explored are literacy practices that ‘close the gap’ for 

Indigenous students, particularly, urban mobile Indigenous students. This paper explores 

the current research about the mobility of urban Indigenous students and contextualises the 

challenges faced by primary school literacy teachers working in school and community settings 

characterised by high mobility, Indigeneity and socio-economic disadvantage. It highlights the 

significant gaps in research available to inform practice in literacy teaching that meets the needs 

of highly mobile urban Indigenous students. It then discusses a participatory action research 

project underway in regional Queensland that aims to document effective literacy teaching 

practices for highly mobile urban Indigenous students. 

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Biography 

Andrea Lynch is a PhD student at James Cook University, Townsville. She has previously worked 

as a secondary learning support teacher and a literacy and numeracy teacher in a youth detention 

centre school. Her PhD study is investigating effective literacy teaching strategies for mobile 

urban Indigenous students. 

SATURDAY 

4.25 - 5.00 

ExecUtive 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

The 4 Roles of Reading Framework 

JIM FIDLER 

The 4 Roles of Reading Framework is based on the ALEA professional development website www. 

myread.org. The framework was first implemented into the Middle School at the International 

School Beijing in April 2004. Consultants involved with the My Read initiative were brought in 

from Australia to launch the framework and now the 4 Roles of Reading Framework is embedded 

across the curriculum in the Middle School at ISB. The Framework is based on the four reading 

roles of code breaker, text participant, text user and text analyst. These roles are then used in a 

variety of situations in the classroom to promote deeper understanding of written and visual text. 

Cooperative learning strategies are an integral part of the Framework where teachers work with 

students to develop advanced questioning skills that encourage discussion. The workshop is built 

around the website http://4rolesreadingframework.wikispaces.com/. 

Participants will be introduced to the 4 Roles and taken through a sample lesson using the 4 roles 

in a cooperative learning session. 

Biography 

Jim Fidler has been an educator for over thirty years. Jim worked as a teacher, Language Arts 

consultant, assistant principal and principal in Tasmanian public schools from 1978 - 2000. Jim 

then took on the role of elementary assistant principal at the International School Beijing for 

two years. Jim then returned to the classroom where he now teaches Grade 8 Humanities at ISB, 

photography workshops and organises the Middle School Year Book. In 2004, as Head of English 

in the Middle School, Jim implemented a reading framework based on the ALEA website MY 

READ. Jim has subsequently presented reading workshops at the EARCOS (Bangkok) and NORDIC 

NETWORK (Sweden) teacher conferences along with many in-house staff, parent and Chinese 

school workshops. Jim has been invited to present at the Council of International School Annual 

Conference in Hamburg Germany in November 2009. 

4.25 - 5.00 

Derwent 1 

Audience: 

Secondary 

The Inquiry Project: I cannot teach anybody anything; I can only make 

them think 

AMANDA WILLIAMS, STEVEN FIGG 

Socrates said, ‘We can tell whether students are clever by their answers. We can tell whether 

students are wise by their questions.’ This presentation will showcase how we worked 

collaboratively with our students in the classroom at Kingston High School to harness the power 

of inquiry. We started our journey with the belief that our 21st century students needed greater 

opportunities to learn how to think critically and creatively. We wanted our students to discover 

personal meaning in their work and apply their efforts with focus and imagination. We invited 

students in our year 9 English/Society and History class to work in pairs or threes to undertake a 

twenty-five hour inquiry project combining aspects of literary, philosophical and historical inquiry. 

We asked them to investigate a topic, theme, idea and/or issue in which they were particularly 

interested. We suggested that they frame one big question and several supporting questions 

98


about the topic, theme, idea and/or issue. The Inquiry Project then began – good questions were 

asked, problems were defined, information was gathered, possibilities were explored, decisions 

were made, conclusions were drawn, artefacts were constructed and findings were shared. And 

what an exciting journey it was! 

Biographies 

Amanda Williams is an early career teacher at Kingston High School in Hobart where she teaches 

English/Society and History. She is also currently working as a grade supervisor at the school. 

Steven Figg is currently Assistant Principal – Curriculum at Kingston High School in Hobart. His 

first love remains teaching English which he has been doing for longer than he cares to remember. 

He has served in several executive roles with the Tasmanian Association for the Teaching of 

English and is a former Principal Education Officer, English with the Tasmanian Department of 

Education. 

4.25 - 5.00 

Portlight Bar 

Audience: 

All 

True lies 

DAVID HARRIS 

How does a writer turn history into adventure stories In the process, how does the genre 

affect historical truth, and what truths are revealed through fiction My talk is about stories 

that Nobel Prize Winner, E.L. Doctorow described as journeys into places where historical 

figures become part of fictional events and fictional characters participate in real history. As I 

say in the opening pages of my adventure book for young readers, Blood of the Incas: Hiram 

Bingham’s discovery of Machu Picchu… ‘This story is a portal into an alternative reality where 

people and events are shape-shifters, with a rage for a life of their own. Time and space collapse 

and expand. Memories distort, explode and fade away.’ True Lies is an analysis of the ways an 

author transforms time, place, events and characters into cliffhanging adventures, while at the 

same time remaining faithful to the historical people and events. The relevance to teachers is the 

professional writer’s tips on ways students can improve their writing about their own and other 

people’s lives. 

Biography 

David Harris is an historian and writer, with a background as teacher, education consultant and 

literacy coordinator. He writes adventure books based on history for younger readers and has 

written many books for adults. His latest books, Blood of the Incas: the discovery of Machu 

Picchu; and Monsters in the Sand: the discovery of Nineveh, are the first titles in the Time Raiders 

Series, ABC Books. For more information and teacher notes, visit David’s website at www. 

davidharris.com.au 

SATURDAY 

4.25 - 5.00 

Derwent 3 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

A multiliteracies project in the middle school: parents as co-teachers 

LINDA WILLIS 

This paper examines the experiences of one middle years English and Studies of Society and 

Environment (SoSE) teacher who adopted a multiliteracies project-based orientation to a unit on 

War and Refugees. It details the multiliteracies teaching and learning cycle, which is based on four 

non-hierarchical, pedagogical orientations: situated practice, overt instruction, critical framing 

and transformed practice (The New London Group, 2000; Kalantzis & Cope, 2005). Following the 

work of Kalantzis and Cope (2005), it draws out the knowledge processes exacted in each of these 

four phases: experiencing the known and the new; conceptualising by naming and theorising; 

analysing functionally and critically; and, applying appropriately and creatively. On the teacher’s 

99


invitation, two parents entered the study as co-teachers. Using Bourdieu’s (1992) construct of 

capital, the findings report on how the multiliteracies approach enabled them to engage in schoolbased 

literacy practices differently than they had done previously in classrooms. An unexpected 

finding concerns the teacher’s altered view about how his role and status were perceived by the 

parents. 

Biography 

Linda Willis is a PhD student and part time tutor at the Queensland University of Technology in 

Brisbane. Her research interests lie in literacy, science and technology, particularly in the middle 

years of schooling. In a teaching career that spans three decades across state and private sectors, 

Linda’s roles have included senior teacher, team leader and science coordinator. 

SATURDAY 

4.25 - 5.00 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Tertiary 

Literature teachers’ learning in the age of standards-based reforms 

GRAHAM PARR 

While Western governments embrace the language of professional teacher standards in their 

attempts to bring about standards-based reforms, these same governments are increasingly 

investing in teacher professional learning in order to achieve reform (see Doecke, Parr & North, 

forthcoming). In Australia, where the introduction of a national curriculum is the latest chapter 

in standards-based reform (Doecke & Parr, 2008), NCB documentation is already highlighting 

the role that teachers’ ‘ongoing professional development’ will play (NCB, 2008, p. 12). There 

are important questions to be answered about the nature of the new centralised English 

curriculum and about the ‘ongoing professional development’ that will be required to support its 

implementation. Will teachers across Australia be directed to managerial models of professional 

development, where the outcomes of their learning are prescribed in advance and the pedagogy 

of the PD is replicated across disparate settings Will there still be scope for inquiry-based 

professional learning, where the curriculum of learning can be negotiated to meet the local needs 

of teachers, students and particular learning communities This paper reports on an episode of 

inquiry-based professional learning, in which secondary literature teachers in a Melbourne school 

were reflecting on the value and limitations of reader response theory in their teaching. The 

episode was part of a fourteen month project investigating inquiry-based professional learning. 

Using Bakhtin’s (1981) notion of ‘negotiating dialogic potential’, I explore the ways in which 

teachers were negotiating their learning in social, critical and ethical ways, ever mindful of the 

managerial imperatives that mediated their involvement in the project. 

Biography 

Graham Parr is a senior lecturer in English Education at Monash University. He previously taught 

English and Literature for 15 years in secondary schools. Recent research includes: co-editing 

AATE’s Writing=Learning (2005); PhD investigating inquiry-based professional learning of Englishliterature 

teachers (AARE award for 2008); co-authoring DEEWR’s soon-to-be-released National 

Report into Professional Learning in Australia. 

5.00 - 6.00 

Green Room 

Audience: 

ALEA members 

ALEA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 5.00 - 6.00 

ALEA members are cordially invited to attend the 2009 AGM 

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PROGRAM OVERVIEW Sunday 12 July 

8.00 - 9.00 

9.00 - 10.30 

Plenary Hall 

REGISTRATION 

PLENARY 

Scott Paris: Bridges to improved pedagogies: lessons from Singapore 

10.30 - 11.00 


11.00 - 12.00 

Plenary Hall 

Wellington 2 

11.00 - 12.00 

Tasman A 

Show Room 

Portlight Bar 

Tasman B 

Derwent 3 

Derwent 1 

Wellington 1 

Training Room 

Stage 2 

Derwent 2 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Tasman C 

Green Room 

KEYNOTES 

Barry McGaw: Pursuing quality and equity through a national curriculum 

Leonie Rowan: Powerful partners or pushy pests The positioning of parents in home/school 

literacy partnerships 


Andy Griffiths: Where do the ideas come from 

Helen Sykes: Choices for English 

Coral Tulloch: Fact is fiction 

Pirjo Sinko: The reading and writing curriculum in Finnish schools 

Karren Philp, Stephen Raphael, Lea Pond, Warren Grellier: What are the effective pedagogies 

to improve student writing 

Lee Willett, Allan Gardiner: Testing the spelling: exploring NAPLAN 

Alison Robertson: I have a dream: successfully integrating language, literature and literacy in a 

unit of work for senior English 

Penni Russon: On being a Tasmanian writer: myth-making, islands and identity 

Garry Collins: Bridging the potential grammar divide: useful tools as well as rules 

Anthony Bortolot, Sarah Major Cox: Bridging the divide in the middle school 

Helen Woodford, Rod Maclean: Professional learning for reading comprehension in the middle 

years of schooling: an action research project 

Erin Wamala: Looking for Australian content 

Mel Dixon: Fantastic lessons with fantasy for junior secondary 

SUNDAY 

101


Executive 

Board Room 

Stage 1 

Marion Meiers: Identifying the outcomes of teacher professional learning programs: a review of 

some evaluation studies 

Larissa Brenner, Janine Davison: 21st century English literacy 

12.00 - 1.00 


1.00 - 2.00 

Plenary Hall 

KEYNOTES 

AATE Life Membership Presentation 

Andy Goodwyn: Expert teachers and innovative uses of technology 

Tasman B 

1.00 - 2.00 

Derwent 1 

Derwent 3 

Portlight Bar 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Tasman A 

Show Room 

Wellington 1 

Tasman C 

Stage 1 

Stage 2 

Wellington 2 

Kirsty Murray: Imagining the future world: narrative, cultural literacy, and nurturing global 

citizens 


Sharyn Jameson: Bringing the real world into the classroom: strategies to motivate learning 

Joy Lee, Connie Seng: Visual mapping to help primary school ESL learners 

Scott Johnston: Dancing with Ben Hall: exploring fact and fiction in Australian history and 

Australian historical fiction 

Nikki Aharonian: Teacher writing for professional learning 

P. David Pearson: Back to the future with integrated curriculum: using reading, writing, and 

language as tools for promoting knowledge and thinking in inquiry-based Science 

Jan Turbill, Mark Howie: The National English Curriculum: the role of your associations 

Ros Cocker: Using ICT to personalise English and literacy learning 

Scott Bulfin: Cyber-savy students and industrial-era schools Disassembling and recasting the 

new home-school mismatch hypothesis 

Marion White, Janny McCurry: Bridging the divide between curriculum documentation and 

classroom implementation: Victorian experiences 

Annmarie Reid, Lyn Wilkinson: Improving access and equity for ‘at risk’ secondary school 

students by building bridges between home and school literacies 

Suzannah Brook: Bridging the gap using digital realities 

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Executive 

Board Room 

Derwent 2 

Green Room 

Kristina Love, Mary Macken-Horarik: Obama, Rudd and the Australian National English 

Curriculum 

Michelle Young: Coaching as a strategy for literacy improvement 

Julie Ballie: The words children write: the Oxford Wordlist research study 

2.10 - 3.30 

Plenary Hall 

2010 CONFERENCE HANDOVER TO PERTH 

PLENARY 

Jeffrey Wilhelm: Achieving teacher expertise: what I have learned from my students and what I 

have learned from you and this conference 

3.30 - 4.30 

FAREWELL RECEPTION - EXHIBITION FOYER 

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SPEAKERS AND ABSTRACTS Sunday 12 July 

PLENARY 9.00 - 10.30 

9.00 - 10.30 

Plenary Hall 

Audience: 

All 

Bridges to improved pedagogies: lessons from Singapore 

SCOTT PARIS 

Although Singapore students score highly on international tests of mathematics and literacy, 

educators are striving continually to reform curricula and pedagogies. The driving forces in 

Singapore are similar around the world so their efforts to promote innovative reforms offer 

lessons for other countries. In this presentation, Professor Paris will identify how core reforms 

in assessment, literacy, technological tools and teacher education are translated into classroom 

practices, and how those new practices support students’ collaboration, higher-order thinking, 

self-regulated learning, and motivation. 

Biography 









KEYNOTES 11.00 - 12.00 

SUNDAY 

11.00 - 12.00 

Wellington 2 

Audience: 

All 

Powerful partners or pushy pests The positioning of parents in home/ 

school literacy partnerships 

LEONIE ROWAN 

Schools throughout Australia draw regular attention to the ways in which the involvement of 

parents and caregivers in the education of children can improve students’ attitudes, outcomes and 

overall engagement. The impact of home based literacy activity is particularly widely celebrated, 

with parents regularly encouraged to be active partners in their children’s literacy learning. 

But whilst the power of parental involvement is one of the dominant themes found within 

contemporary educational literature, in the day to day business of schools, parental participation 

often ends up being defined in narrow and limiting ways. Despite many good intentions, it is all 

too easy for caregivers to end up feeling alienated, distanced, confused, baffled and occasionally 

rather insulted by the very messages that are meant to be promoting their involvement. Given the 

impact that parental involvement can have on literacy outcomes, and given also the widespread 

awareness that we have much still to achieve when it comes to improving the literacy levels of 

the diverse kids in our classroom, confronting the challenging topic of home/school partnerships 

is an urgent and significant task. In this presentation I am interested in unpacking the various 

messages about parental participation that are circulated within our schools, and the ways in 

which it is possible for us to aspire towards genuine partnerships between schools and diverse 

family and caregiver groups. I will begin by looking briefly at some of the common barriers that 

appear to close down parental participation. I will then go on to explore some ways in which 

schools have been able to create meaningful relationships between themselves and their 

104


students’ caregivers: relationships that go beyond stereotypes, or tokenistic efforts – towards 

deep, sustainable, truly innovative partnerships that may finally have some chance of disrupting 

those long standing patterns of educational success and failure. 

Biography 



the concept of relationship centred schooling as a framework for disrupting traditional patterns of 

success and failure in diverse educational and cultural sites. She has published in areas such as 

early childhood education, new literacies/new technologies, values education and home/school 

partnerships. 

11.00 - 12.00 

Plenary Hall 

Audience: 

All 

Pursuing quality and equity through a national curriculum 

BARRY McGAW 

Australian school education is high quality, on average, but relatively low equity according to the 

international comparisons provided by the OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment 

(PISA). In the first two PISA surveys only Finland was significantly ahead of Australia in average 

performance. In the third there were five countries significantly ahead of Australia, in some 

cases because they improved but also because Australia’s performance declined. The decline in 

Australia’s mean performance was due to a decline among high performing students. The paper 

will present this evidence and examine ways in which the national curriculum in English will 

address questions of quality and equity in students’ learning. 

Biography 

Barry McGaw is Executive Director of the Cisco-Intel-Microsoft 21st Century Skills Assessment 

project, which has its headquarters at the University of Melbourne, and is Chair of the National 

Curriculum Board. Previously, he was Director for Education at the OECD in Paris. He had earlier 

been Executive Director of the Australian Council for Educational Research and Professor of 

Education at Murdoch University. 

11.00 - 12.00 

Tasman A 

Audience: 

All 

CONCURRENT SESSIONS 11.00 12.00 

Where do the ideas come from 

ANDY GRIFFITHS 

Good writing comes from a combination of good technique and inspiration. There are plenty of 

useful guides on writing technique, but very few that really come to grips with inspiration and 

the vexed question ‘But where do the ideas come from’ In 1986 American poet Natalie Goldberg 

published ‘Writing down the bones’: one of the best and most inspirational writing guides 

ever written. It details a very simple method – called Timed Writing Practice – for accessing the 

treasure trove of your subconscious. In this practical session you will learn the four simple rules 

of Timed Writing Practice as well as being given lots of opportunity to practise them. And don’t 

worry, I won’t make you read your work out loud unless you really want to … (but, be warned, you 

probably will!) 

SUNDAY 

105


Biography 





11.00 - 12.00 

Show Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Choices for English 

HELEN SYKES 

Helen Sykes has had a lifelong passion for children’s and young adult literature and a commitment 

to sharing that passion with teachers and students. In this presentation she will introduce recently 

published titles that will work well in secondary classrooms. She will discuss the importance 

of offering readers choices and of making selections that make it possible to match readers 

with books. She will also look at ways of making connections between stories – in wide reading 

selections, book clubs, literature circles and so on – to encourage students to keep reading. This 

is a practical presentation that will provide teachers with annotated lists of texts that they can use 

immediately in their classrooms, as well as proven strategies that they can use with those texts. 

Biography 

Helen Sykes has been a head teacher of English, the author of many books for secondary English, 

a bookseller and a publisher. She is a regular conference presenter, known for her reputation for 

inspiring teachers to share her commitment to getting kids to read. 

SUNDAY 

11.00 - 12.00 

Portlight Bar 

Audience: 

All 

Fact is fiction 

CORAL TULLOCH 

‘Bridging Divides’ made me consider the number of times I have worked with children to try 

to combine the ingredients of both fact and fiction. In the past, many publishers were wary of 

marketing books such as this, and the work may have proved difficult to catalogue. Fortunately, 

the way we view books has changed. The facts and truths of our world are all around us and can 

be the inspiration for us to question, think and create. In this session I will take my experience 

of working for the past ten years with Antarctica and show how research, and a passion to 

understand the facts, will naturally lead to fiction. Using either a written or visual narrative, the 

facts of our everyday lives can also become our greatest stories. 

Biography 

Coral Tulloch has worked on over fifty books for children, including fiction and non-fiction. In 

1999, she was accepted as an Arts Fellow with the Australian Antarctic Division. She has produced 

several works from this experience and her factual work, Antarctica, The Heart of the World (ABC 

Books), won the Environment Award for Children’s Literature in 2004. Her most recent book is 

Sydney of the Antarctic, based on the true story of a little mouse lost. She is currently working on 

a book with Alison Lester that is set in Macquarie Island, and an illustrated fictional novel. 

106


11.00 - 12.00 

Tasman B 

Audience: 

All 

The reading and writing curriculum in Finnish schools 

PIRJO SINKO 

In this workshop, the themes discussed in my plenary address will be further elaborated. The 

workshop will describe reading and writing curriculum and instruction from pre-school to A-level. 

The workshop will also describe strategies we employ to support struggling readers, especially 

boys, in the national project ‘Reading Finland’. 

Biography 







11.00 - 12.00 

Derwent 3 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Tertiary 

What are the effective pedagogies to improve student writing 

KARREN PHILP, STEVEN RAPHAEL, LEA POND, WARREN GRELLIER 

A group of 20 Western Australian secondary English and humanities teachers have this as their 

action research question for 2009. Funded by the Fogarty Foundation, facilitated by academics 

from the Education Faculty at Edith Cowan University and supported by the Department of 

Education and Training WA, teachers from Mount Lawley Senior High School and Hamilton 

Senior High School are exploring a wide range of classroom approaches and strategies that aim 

to improve adolescent students’ abilities to write a range of forms effectively for a variety of 

purposes, audiences and contexts. This presentation will tell the story of the journey so far. We 

will explain our action planning process and our evaluation tools, provide samples of the different 

action plans and examples of the student writing that were the result of those plans enacted. 

Delegates will then be invited to make some preliminary findings in relation to our action research 

question. 

Biographies 

Karren Philp has been an English educator for 28 years, teaching in 6 government schools. She 

spent the past 6 years focussed on teacher professional development with the Education and 

Training Department and with The English Teachers Association (WA). She recently completed a 

four year term as president of AATE. She returned to the classroom in July 2008 and is currently 

Head of English at Hamilton Senior High School. 

Steven Raphael is the Head of Middle School English at Mount Lawley Senior High School. He has 

taught for 19 years in 5 different schools. 

Lea Pond is a research assistant with the Fogarty Learning Centre at Edith Cowan University. 

Warren Grellier is the Principal Consultant, Policy and Advice, English, in the K-12 Curriculum, 

Assessment and Reporting Branch in Central Office. He has been involved in significant English 

educational developments in WA as a Head of Department, English; syllabus and curriculum writer 

and supervising examiner for English; and Chair of the Curriculum Council English reference group 

writing the English Learning Area Statement for the Curriculum Framework. 

SUNDAY 

107


11.00 - 12.00 

Derwent 1 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

Testing the spelling: exploring NAPLAN 

LEE WILLETT, ALLAN GARDINER 

Being able to spell is critical to writing. Without it, the best of writing is rendered unintelligible 

and useless. Spelling is also the window into students’ deep understanding of the orthographic 

system. This knowledge also underpins effective reading. In the National Assessment Program 

of Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), spelling is one of the two sub-strands that make up the 

Language Conventions Paper. In this Paper, spelling is tested through the use of two item formats 

— both are proofreading. One item format has the errors identified, the other unidentified. The 

use of these item formats raises several questions: What do these items represent spelling to 

be How do these items relate to curriculum What relationship is there between results on these 

items and students ability to spell How can teachers use the data to inform their understanding 

of spelling This paper will present the findings from the first year of a longitudinal study that will 

compare student performance on the NAPLAN items with that when asked to spell the words. The 

results from approximately 600 students in each cohort have been analysed. From analysis of 

these data, the comparative facility rates and the errors student make, the study will also explore 

the possible implications these test results may have for informing curriculum development and 

the teaching of spelling. 

Biographies 

Lee Willett is Principal Testing Officer (Literacy) with the Queensland Studies Authority. Lee has 

teaching experience in both secondary and primary schools. She has research interests in all 

aspects of literacy. 

Dr Allan Gardiner is Senior Item Writer with the Queensland Studies Authority. Allan has lectured 

and published in the field of Australian literature. 

SUNDAY 

11.00 - 12.00 

Wellington 1 

Audience: 

Secondary 

I have a dream: successfully integrating language, literature and 

literacy in a unit of work for senior English 

ALISON ROBERTSON 

The Framing Paper for the National English Curriculum talks about the importance of integrating 

the three elements of Language, Literature and Literacy in our teaching. This presentation 

provides an example of a unit of work for a senior English class, which I hope exemplifies how 

this can be done. Using such literary texts as Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, the 

film Pleasantville and various other written, visual and digital texts, students engage in a study 

of the language devices used by the various text types, an exploration of their literary qualities 

and the values they communicate, and hone their literacy skills in decoding and producing written 

and oral texts themselves for authentic audiences and purposes. Although I have titled this as 

a presentation, I will allow opportunities for discussion, questions and sharing of how other 

teachers achieve the worthy aim of ‘bridging the divides’ between these three elements of the 

English curriculum. 

Biography 

Currently President of SAETA, Alison Robertson has presented many workshops at state and 

national conferences as well as convening and presenting at the annual SAETA Refresher Course 

for Year 12 English teachers and Exam Preparation Evening for students. She recently completed 

her Graduate Certificate in Neuroscience (Learning) and is enthusiastic about applying the latest 

discoveries in brain research to her teaching practice, as well as debunking neuromyths. 

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11.00 - 12.00 

Training Room 

Audience: 

All 

On being a Tasmanian writer: myth-making, islands and identity 

PENNI RUSSON 

I have always considered myself a Tasmanian author, though I have spent most of my adult life 

in Melbourne. When I began writing the Undine trilogy setting wasn’t a conscious decision. For 

me Tasmania is the landscape of childhood and adolescent experience. Being born on an island 

furnishes you with a life-long metaphor for identity. You belong to the part as significantly as you 

belong to the whole. You occupy a space that is partial and fragmented and incomplete, the child 

always reaching for the mother figure of the mainland. Simultaneously, and perhaps paradoxically, 

you also dwell in a microcosm, an intensely charged small space that mirrors in miniature the 

cultural and social experience of the larger, more diluted land mass with it’s sparsely spread out 

population (I remember hearing as a teenager that new products were often tested in Tasmania 

because of the comparatively containable test ground). You are forgotten (left off the map, 

untoured by rock groups, unrepresented in national sports competitions or cultural events). You 

are Lost. You are mysterious, you are other, you are adrift in time and space. A little bit savage, a 

little bit wild. My talk will be a journey back to the island: an exploration of the territories of my 

childhood imagination, a study of my own books, and a look at the books about Tasmania and 

other islands I read growing up, and the islands I have encountered as an adult, leading back, 

always, home. 

Biography 

Penni Russon is a Tasmanian born author of books for children and teenagers, including the 

Undine trilogy, set in Hobart and a mythical bay somewhere around Eaglehawk Neck, and her 

bestselling novel The Indigo Girls. Her most recent novel for teenagers Little Bird will be released 

in July and is also set in Hobart. Penni has made her home in Melbourne with her husband and two 

daughters. She teaches creative writing at Melbourne University and writes. 

11.00 - 12.00 

Stage 2 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

Bridging the potential grammar divide: useful tools as well as rules 

GARRY COLLINS 

One aspect of the development of a national curriculum in English is a renewed focus on the 

explicit teaching of grammar. In this part of the school English curriculum, the profession did, to 

some extent, throw out the baby with the bathwater in the early 1970s. However, English teachers 

have never ceased trying to inculcate an implicit understanding of grammar in their efforts to 

get students to produce effective written and spoken texts. One element of effectiveness has 

always been the avoidance of grammatical errors but texts can be relatively error free and still 

not particularly effective in relation to genre, purpose and audience. This session will aim to 

demonstrate that there need not be a contentious divide between many of the traditional notions 

of grammar on the one hand, and useful ways of looking at language derived from systemic 

functional linguistics on the other. Explicit knowledge of grammatical terms and concepts provides 

a meta-language enabling teachers and students to talk efficiently about important aspects of 

what is going on in texts, both those studied and those produced by students. In addition, an 

explicit knowledge of grammatical structures enables students to make better informed choices 

in the composition of their own texts. A renewed focus on grammar has considerable potential 

but we will need to be on our guard that it is not misguidedly used by some to propose a return to 

ineffective teaching practices from the past. The session will focus on writing generated from 

a poem. 

SUNDAY 

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Biography 

Currently President of ETAQ, Garry Collins was an English Department Head in Queensland state 

high schools for over 30 years. In addition, he has experience of North American high school 

classrooms via year-long exchanges in Oregon and Ontario. In recent years he has also taught 

university courses in functional grammar. 

11.00 - 12.00 

Derwent 2 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

Bridging the divide in the middle school 

ANTHONY BORTOLOT, SARAH MAJOR COX 

In this presentation workshop Anthony Bortolot and Sarah Major Cox will examine how digital 

pedagogies enable students from low socio-economic backgrounds to achieve improvements in 

both standardised literacy and numeracy assessments and student connectedness (measures 

of this include attitudes to school survey and NAPLAN data and student self assessments). 

The presentation will draw on theories of critical inquiry-based learning to examine how 21st 

century learning practices (such as inquiry models, 16 habits of mind, executive processes and 

various thinking tools and comprehension frameworks) can be implemented alongside the more 

traditional print literacy. Using samples of children’s work and videos of learning scenarios from 

a Victorian country school, the presentation/workshop will be grounded in real world contexts 

and practical classroom experiences and will provide examples based on current project-based 

classroom practices. This presentation builds on work presented at the AATE/ALEA National 

Conference in Adelaide in 2008 ‘Reframing the Three-Level Guide: A thinking framework to deepen 

metacognition and critical literacy in the Middle Years’. 

SUNDAY 

Biographies 

Anthony Bortolot’s passion for deep and authentic contextualised learning has led him to use 

current methods of digital engagement with literacy. Amidst chaos and confusion of the transition 

of students from the early years to the middle years, students struggle and teachers waste energy 

on managing behaviours. From the ashes of country Victoria many phoenixes are rising in the 

guises of children who want to connect. 

Sarah Major Cox has worked as a primary teacher, teacher-librarian, university lecturer and more 

recently as a literacy coach for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, 

Loddon Mallee Region. She has been actively involved with ALEA, CBCA and IbbY at Local, State 

and National levels for nearly 2 decades. She is passionate about bridging the divides between 

theory and practice, classroom teachers and teacher educators, digital and print literacies and 

sees her most important contribution as being a conduit for understanding between three of the 

peak literacy and children’s and young adult literature organisations in Australia. Anthony and 

Sarah began their learning journey together in 2007 when Sarah came to ‘coach’ in Anthony’s 

classroom and got more than she bargained for!!! 

11.00 - 12.00 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Professional learning for reading comprehension in the middle years of 

schooling: an action research project 

HELEN WOODFORD, ROD MACLEAN 

In an effort to improve the reading comprehension skills of the Year Seven cohort in a regional 

government secondary school, we employed an action research approach to both develop a 

teaching program and support the development of a cohesive, self-directed teaching team. 

Teachers worked together to select from and adapt strategies supported by the literature on 

reading comprehension as well as developing some of their own approaches in reaction to 

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needs that became evident during the program. Helen Woodford acted as the team coordinator, 

assuming the role of literacy coach as the program progressed, working both with individual 

teachers and in a team teaching situation. The program proved successful in improving the 

reading comprehension of the students. In this paper we report on the program and discuss the 

benefits of an action research approach which focuses not only on a program to meet student 

needs but also on developing teacher skills and professional knowledge relevant to the program. 

Biography 

Helen Woodford is a teacher of Literacy in the Middle Years and conducted the research as part of 

her Master of Education study. 

Rod Maclean is a senior lecturer in Literacy Education at Deakin University. He has an interest in 

teacher identity and teacher professional learning. 

11.00 - 12.00 

Tasman C 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Looking for Australian content 

ERIN WAMALA 

Over the past few years, English teachers and the media have been increasingly focused on the 

amount of Australian content taught in English classrooms. Australia has some of the best authors 

for children and young adults in the world, though it can be difficult to know which titles and 

authors will be suitable to teach. Penguin Senior Education Consultant, Erin Wamala, will present 

a range of titles, for students from lower to upper secondary, that are suitable to use as class 

texts. From James Moloney to Sonya Hartnett, Doug MacLeod to Gabrielle Wang, new authors 

and the tried and true, there is something for every reading level, interest and topic. Settings 

span the inner city to country Australia and beyond; time periods move from the 1780s through 

the 20th century to the present day; themes explore humour and adventure, living in the Middle 

East, finding your family history in China, the difficulties of being an adolescent girl who doesn’t 

fit in, surviving the eruption of Krakatoa and much more. Australian authors represent a country 

and people rich with history, culture, experience and adventure. Delegates will be presented 

with teacher resources designed to provide further information on Australian authors and titles 

and recommending them to their students. They will also be presented with units of work and 

teachers’ notes that will aid in the implementation of these titles in the classroom. 

Biography 

Erin Wamala is the Senior Education Consultant for Penguin Group. She has a degree in Education 

and experience in bookselling, trade and educational publishing. Erin has also previously been 

a regular contributor to Viewpoint Journal and was the Schools Program Coordinator for The Age 

Melbourne Writers’ Festival. 

SUNDAY 

11.00 - 12.00 

Green Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Fantastic lessons with fantasy for junior secondary 

MEL DIXON 

This unit for lower secondary students introduces the elements of novel study while exploring 

a genre that engages students. Delegates will be taken through a package of exercises that 

challenge and extend students using films, novels, poetry and short stories. Students are given 

the scaffolding to respond and compose their own texts. 

111


Biography 

Mel Dixon has been a Head of Department and teacher of English in schools in Queensland 

and New South Wales. She has been an active ETA committee member in both states, a regular 

conference presenter and is the editor of mETAphor, the journal of the English Teachers’ 

Association of New South Wales. 

11.00 - 12.00 

Executive 

Board Room 

Audience: 

All 

Identifying the outcomes of teacher professional learning programs: 

a review of some evaluation studies 

MARION MEIERS 

There is a general consensus in current research about factors characteristic of effective 

teacher professional learning, including the importance of intensive and sustained professional 

development, focus on specific academic content, strong working relationships among teachers, 

and alignment with school improvement goals and priorities. Investigations of the links between 

the enhancement of teachers’ knowledge and practice resulting from professional learning 

activities, and improvements in students’ learning raise a number of key research questions. 

Evaluation studies designed to identify features of successful professional learning programs 

typically address research questions such as: What impact has the program had upon the 

understandings, confidence and teaching skills of participants What has been the impact of 

the program on the achievements of students in participating schools What were the factors 

critical to the success of the initiative Questions about the nature of evidence that might provide 

answers to these questions are of paramount importance. Links between teachers’ professional 

learning and student learning outcomes are elusive, and the task of finding evidence of links 

between teachers’ learning and students’ learning presents significant challenges. A key challenge 

involves ways of capturing the chain of impact from the changes to teaching practices brought 

about by professional learning activities to changes in student learning outcomes. Evidence of 

these changes is often more likely to be found in longitudinal investigations. This paper reviews 

several evaluation studies of large-scale professional learning initiatives provided by education 

systems, as well as school-based professional learning initiatives. 

SUNDAY 

Biography 

Marion Meiers is a Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research. Her 

research interests lie in English and literacy teaching and learning, and in teachers’ professional 

learning. She is Publications Director for the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association, and has 

an extensive record of publishing in professional journals. 

11.00 - 12.00 

Stage 1 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Primary 

21st century English literacy 

LARISSA BRENNER, JANINE DAVISON 

Web 2.0 web-based tools allow a read/write approach to the web, enabling students to be both 

consumers and producers of web content and services. Using web 2.0 tools in teaching assists 

greatly in ‘bridging the divide’ between student’s technology rich home lives and their schooling, 

capitalising on students’ experience of a technology rich world. Web 2.0 enables students and 

teachers to explore, share and clarify knowledge within local or global networks. Students are 

proactive in their learning and learning is personalised. Students are co-authors in web 2.0 

environments, collaborating and generating new knowledge through a community of practice. It 

is important that students are provided with twenty first century literacy learning opportunities. 

This session will: explain what web 2.0 tools are, how they work and how they are being used 

112


in classrooms to transform literacy learning; showcase a collection of free browser based tools 

that teachers can use; suggest ways that participants can incorporate web 2.0 tools into their 

classrooms to empower students and create exciting new literacy learning opportunities, under 

the following categories - audio visual, e.g. Flickr, Slideshare, Voicethread, Teacher Tube; social 

networking e.g. Nings, SuperClubsPlus; collaborative e.g. wikis, Delicious Blogs; visual e.g. Moshi 

Monsters, Club Penguin; RSS feeds e.g. Bloglines, Pageflakes, igoogle. Web 2.0 is not going away. 

Teachers can embrace web 2.0 technologies and use them to provide gen Y students with relevant 

and rewarding learning experiences. 

Biography 

Larissa Brenner is Tasmania’s state-wide Curriculum Project Officer (Information and 

Communication Technologies). Larissa’s work focuses around the use of digital learning 

experiences across all curriculum areas. Larissa has also had 15 years classroom teaching 

experience including several years in a senior teacher role. She has taught all grades K-10. 

Janine Davison is currently combining the roles of Co-ordinator eLearning Design and Senior 

Education Officer Languages (LOTE). An upper primary teacher for more than twenty years, 

Janine’s involvement in online learning includes instructional design in development of learning 

objects. Janine is The Le@rning Federation’s Contact Liaison Officer for Tasmania. 

KEYNOTES 1.00-2.00 

1.00 - 2.00 

Plenary Hall 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Tertiary 

Expert teachers and innovative uses of technology 

ANDY GOODWYN 

Huge amounts of funding have been devoted to the provision of technology in education and 

much research has attempted to evaluate and measure its impact. However, a vast amount of 

the theoretical work, for example about the affordance of ‘new technologies’, is almost entirely 

speculative. Whilst Government agencies and policy makers are constantly seeking some 

justification for the monies spent and for models of effective practice, very little research has 

focused on expert teachers who make some use of technology. Therefore, investigating how 

expert teachers use technology in their teaching is a vital tool in our efforts to improve the use 

of new technologies in the classroom. This paper presents evidence of expert teaching in infant, 

primary and secondary schools, exploring how expert teachers have adapted technology to 

produce highly effective practice alongside some of the factors that motivate these teachers to 

‘innovate’ in the classroom. This study presents data from 60+ semi-structured interviews with a 

range of teachers nominated by their schools as ‘outstanding’ in their practice, alongside in-depth 

case studies with a sub-sample of these. The teachers range from being enthusiastic beginners 

to experienced experts. They share a passion for excellent teaching and continue to pursue 

new ways to integrate technology to fundamentally improve teaching and learning. The paper 

discusses the ways in which teachers use ICT to adapt and improve their teaching and illustrates 

some of the personal, social and pedagogic influences behind this. The findings support Hattie’s 

(2003) view on the elements of expert teaching. 

Biography 

Andy Goodwyn is Head of Education at The University of Reading in the UK. Having taught 

secondary English in schools, he then ran both Postgraduate and Masters programs in English 

Education before becoming Head of School. He has presented on English around the world and 

written many articles and books. 

SUNDAY 

113


1.00 - 2.00 

Tasman B 

Audience: 

All 

Imagining the future world: narrative, cultural literacy, and nurturing 

global citizens 

KIRSTY MURRAY 

As media becomes more fragmented, information technologies rise to the fore, and curriculums 

groan under the sheer weight of their ambitions, what does the future hold for young readers We 

live in an era where the balance of world power is shifting. Every day, cultures collide with often 

tragic results. How do we develop a confidence in young people and ease with other cultures that 

extend beyond borders 

Biography 

Kirsty Murray is a multi-award winning Australian children’s author who writes fiction and nonfiction 

for a range of age groups. Her publications include the Children of the Wind series, Market 

Blues, Zarconi’s Magic Flying Fish, Tough Stuff, Man-eaters and Bloodsuckers. Kirsty has recently 

completed titles for the NMA Making Tracks series, a futuristic novel – Vulture’s Gate – to be 

released by Allen & Unwin in August 2009, and a new work of historical fiction, set in India, which 

will be published in 2010. 


SUNDAY 

1.00 - 2.00 

Derwent 1 

Audience: 

All 

Bringing the real world into the classroom: strategies to motivate 

learning 

SHARYN JAMESON 

This presentation will introduce a research project that explores ‘real world’ strategies for 

learning. The paper and presentation address the conference theme of ‘bridging’ for learning 

in particular focusing on promoting innovation and fostering diverse forms of participation in 

education. The presentation will report on three phases of the research project. Phase 1 reports 

on a professional development project undertaken with teachers to improve student reading 

outcomes. The project is called Literature & Latté and involves teachers meeting as a group 

with the researcher in local cafés to establish a bookclub. The researcher guides the teachers 

to examine the ‘real world’ strategies that they use as adult readers when sharing books and 

how to transfer these strategies to their classrooms. The project has led to some very successful 

outcomes in motivating teachers and students and encourages a love of reading. Phase 2 reports 

on a project set up to support International Students in the School of Education at the Australian 

Catholic University. The project Tea ‘n Talk was established to increase students’ confidence 

and language skills by providing a forum for students to participate in theme-based, guided 

conversations to practice speaking English in an informal setting with morning tea provided. 

The sessions took place sitting around a table, simulating an everyday social context conducive 

to authentic conversation. All students indicated increased confidence from participating in the 

project. In addition to confidence building, the project helped to build relationships and cultural 

understanding. Phase 3 of the project reports on a group of undergraduate students in a children’s 

literature course participating in Linking Literature – a bookclub strategy used for their tutorial 

sessions. The presentation will identify characteristics of ‘real world’ learning, describe the three 

strategies and report on the implications for learning. 

114


Biography 

Sharyn Jameson is a senior lecturer in English and Literacy at the Australian Catholic University. 

Sharyn has a broad-based career background providing her with expertise in teaching/ 

lecturing, research, educational leadership, educational consultancy, professional development, 

management and policy. Her academic and educational professional experience has provided 

her with an in-depth knowledge and understanding of learning theory, pedagogy and conditions 

that foster learning. Sharyn’s experience equips her with wide ranging expertise in scholarly 

approaches to education and innovative strategies to enhance learning and organisational 

development. 

1.00 - 2.00 

Derwent 3 

Audience: 

Primary 

Visual mapping to help primary school ESL learners 

JOY LEE, CONNIE SENG 

Drawing on the findings of their action research studies, the two presenters will explore 

pedagogical possibilities using visual mapping procedures with young ESL learners. While 

visual mapping is often recognized as a powerful tool for taking notes, this procedure can also 

enhance the learning of other language skills such as reading and speaking (Mukerjea, 1996). 

At the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to use this technique to help children to 

improve their literacy skills. Instead of the conventional use of comprehension questions, children 

could be asked to use graphic representations to map the meaning of the text. The presenters 

will also demonstrate the use of a visual learning tool, InspirationTM as a creative writing tool for 

helping children to generate interesting story ideas. Templates that visually represent the shape 

and essential parts of a story can scaffold children’s brainstorming and organizational processes 

while guiding questions at each part of the template will direct children’s brainstorming activity. 

The presenters will also demonstrate how interesting language features from carefully selected 

reading materials will provide pertinent linguistic inputs. 

1.00 - 2.00 

Portlight Bar 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Biographies 

Connie Seng and Joy Lee are master teachers with the Singapore Ministry of Education supporting 

about 12 schools each. They support schools in their instructional programs and work closely 

with both primary and secondary school teachers in their classroom practice, especially for ESL 

learning. 

Dancing with Ben Hall: exploring fact and fiction in Australian history 

and Australian historical fiction 

SCOTT JOHNSTON 

In this practical, resource and ideas focussed presentation, a unit of work undertaken with Grades 

nine and ten students will be shared. Using Jackie French’s short story, Dancing with Ben Hall as 

a starting point, reading a range of Australian children’s and teen titles, researching historical 

reports and records and responding creatively to write historical fiction, students worked as 

historians/researchers and as imaginative writers, recognising connections and boundaries 

between the disciplines and roles. Resources including a comprehensive bibliography of children’s 

and teen Australian historical fiction, a detailed timeline of Australian historical events, handouts 

and proformas, will be available. 

SUNDAY 

115


Biography 

Scott Johnston is a Tasmanian teacher of English with extensive experience in middle and 

secondary schools who is interested in children’s and young adolescent literature. He regularly 

presents workshops and presentations for TATE. 

1.00 - 2.00 

Mezzanine 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

Teacher writing for professional learning 

NIKKI AHARONIAN 

Traditional frameworks for professional learning often fail to consider individual teachers’ needs 

and the varied social, cultural and curriculum contexts in which educators work (Lieberman & 

Pointer Mace, 2008; Lieberman & Wood, 2001). In recent years, however, individual educators 

and communities of literacy educators have shown how a more complex approach to professional 

learning can consider teachers’ needs and diverse professional environments (e.g. Doecke & 

Parr, 2005; Vescio, Ross, & Adams, 2007). In some of these learning contexts, narrative writing 

has proved useful in the generation of teacher knowledge (e.g. Doecke, Homer, & Nixon, 2003). 

When embarking on post-graduate studies, learning and powerful experiences with writing 

positively influenced my teaching practice and stimulated growth in my professional identity. I 

became increasingly aware of the potential of writing and written conversation for learning in 

teacher communities. I was eager to introduce educators in my present professional environment 

to professional learning, mediated by writing, in supportive learning groups. In this paper, the 

literature published in the past two decades calling for teachers to write is discussed; emphasis is 

placed on the benefits of writing for teachers of writing. This paper suggests ways in which written 

reflection and the sharing of teacher narratives can be an effective method for teacher learning 

and identity development. I describe my efforts to establish significant non-traditional learning 

frameworks for literacy teachers in Israel. Narratives illustrate my experiences supporting teachers 

as they struggle to enrich the writing of their pupils. 

SUNDAY 

1.00 - 2.00 

Tasman A 

Audience: 

All 

Biography 

Nikki Aharonian is an Australian teacher and assistant principal in a primary school in Israel. 

She is also a leader of professional development responsible for professional learning courses 

on literacy and inclusion. The teaching of writing is her main interest. She completed her MEd in 

Literacy Studies at Monash University and will soon begin her PhD. 

Back to the future with integrated curriculum: using reading, 

writing, and language as tools for promoting knowledge and thinking 

in inquiry-based Science 

P. DAVID PEARSON 

P. David Pearson reports on the results of a multiple-year National Science Foundation research 

and development project designed to infuse language and literacy into inquiry-based science, 

noting positive outcomes for both science and literacy learning. He concludes with an analysis of 

why literacy is better situated when it is operationalised as a set of learning tools rather than a set 

of curriculary encapsulated goals. 

Biography 




116


president of the National Reading Conference and the Association of American Colleges of Teacher 




of Education. 

1.00 - 2.00 

Show Room 

Audience: 

All 

The National English Curriculum: the role of your associations 

JAN TURBILL, MARK HOWIE 

Development of the National English Curriculum is entering the writing phase after a year of 

national and state forums, and the final versions of the Shaping Paper and Framing Papers 

have been completed to guide the writers of the Curriculum. ALEA and AATE have had a major 

input into the process thus far and will continue to do so. This session will present the issues 

and the challenges ahead that each Association perceives as we move toward the writing of the 

Curriculum and its implementation in 2010/2011. 

Biographies 

Jan Turbill is a Senior Fellow in the Faculty of Education at the University of Wollongong. Her 

research ranges from early literacy development to the professional development of teachers. 

More recently she has been researching the use of technology as a support for literacy learning 

in the early years of schooling and as a medium for professional learning for teachers. She is 

the author of many books and articles and is President of the Australian Literacy Educators’ 

Association (ALEA). In 2008 Jan was inducted into the International Reading Association’s Reading 

Hall of Fame. 

Mark Howie is President of The Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE) and Head 

Teacher of English at Penrith High School, NSW. Mark has contributed to a number of publications 

in the areas of English curriculum and teaching, including Only Connect: English Teaching, 

Schooling and Community (edited by Doecke, Howie and Sawyer). In 2008, Mark was Highly 

Commended in the ‘Excellence by a Teacher’ category of the Australian Government National 

Awards for Quality Schooling. 

1.00 - 2.00 

Wellington 1 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Using ICT to personalise English and literacy learning 

ROS COCKER 

Information and communication technologies are powerful tools for engaging students with 

learning in English and literacy. By making informed use of digital tools and resources that take 

account of the learning styles and needs of their students, teachers are able to personalise 

learning to reach and connect with as many of their students as possible. This workshop explores 

a range of ways ICT is used by classroom teachers to scaffold learning tasks, motivate and engage 

students and provide new audiences for their writing. Within the context of a specific writing 

strategy (known as Writers’ Notebook), we will consider simple and practical ways ICT can be 

used to support specific learning needs, enhance drafting, editing, proof-reading and publishing 

processes, while valuing students’ ICT experiences outside the classroom. Participants will take 

away a collection of immediately usable ideas as well as digital tools and resources to add to 

the repertoire of ways in which they support every learner to find success in English and literacy 

learning. 

SUNDAY 

117


Biography 

Ros Cocker is a senior education officer for ICT professional learning with the Department of 

Education in Tasmania. She works across 45 schools near Hobart supporting teachers to develop 

the knowledge, competence and confidence to exercise their professional judgment in applying 

ICT in ways that help every child to achieve success. 

1.00 - 2.00 

Tasman C 

Audience 

Secondary 

Tertiary 

Cyber-savy students and industrial-era schools Disassembling and 

recasting the new home-school mismatch hypothesis 

SCOTT BULFIN 

This paper reports on a recently completed doctoral study examining students’ use of new media 

in and around five schools in Melbourne, Victoria. The study has developed case studies of 25 

young people and their digital literacies, related to both school-authorised activities and also to 

activities that were unauthorised, clandestine, sub-rosa or negotiated on the boundary. The study 

addresses key questions about the tension between the failure of educational technology efforts 

on one hand, and the pervasiveness of digital media in the lives of many young people on the 

other. This tension has become a new home-school mismatch hypothesis and the stock-in-trade 

of education commentators, literacy experts, technology promoters and many researchers. In 

particular, these groups claim that the new home-school mismatch - between cyber-savvy, digital 

natives on one hand and industrial-era schools and digital immigrant teachers on the other - 

results in a generation of disconnected, bored and stifled young people. While this is a seductive 

idea, the relationship between young people and new technologies is not a simple mismatch. 

In this paper, I examine these claims with reference to the lives of young people in the study, 

showing how students’ responses and reactions to typical school uses of technology offer ways of 

disassembling and then recasting this new home-school mismatch and of reinvigorating notions 

of curriculum as conversation and as communication. Free resources will be available! 

Biography 

Scott Bulfin is a lecturer in education in the Faculty of Education at Monash University. He has 

served on AATE National Council and is a founding member of the VATE Advocacy Committee. 

SUNDAY 

1.00 - 2.00 

Stage 1 

Audience: 

All 

Bridging the divide between curriculum documentation and classroom 

implementation: Victorian experiences 

MARION WHITE, JANNY McCURRY 

English has been successively ‘cut’ or ‘divided’ in curriculum documents in various ways. The 

Framing Paper for English published by the National Curriculum Board contains the latest 

way of ‘making the cut’, viz. ‘Literature, Language, Literacy’. Whatever the component parts, 

(Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; Code Breaker, Text Participant, Text Analyst, Text 

Producer; Texts, Contextual Understanding, Linguistic Structures & Features, Strategies) there’s 

always the risk that teachers will lose sight of the whole ‘intertwined’, interdependent richness 

of an English curriculum, especially when high-stakes testing and assessment fragments the 

curriculum. How to ensure that the component parts of the ‘documented curriculum’ foster a richly 

integrated ‘enacted curriculum’ Luke and Freebody’s Four Resources Model of literacy practices 

celebrates the idea that, of its theoretically-pluralist component parts, all are necessary and 

none is sufficient. There is much in the English National Framing Paper that suggests a similar 

capaciousness and interconnectedness will appear in the curriculum documents being developed 

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now! In this workshop, teacher practitioners will advocate classroom activities that encompass all 

aspects of an English curriculum, no matter which way you cut it. The workshop will be useful for 

teacher educators, experienced classroom practitioners, and for theoretical curriculum developers too. 

Biography 

Marion White has taught VCE Literature and English Year 7 – 12 in the ACT and Victoria. She is 

English Curriculum Manager at the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. 

Janny McCurry has taught English Year 7 – 12, VCE Literature and VCE English Language. She is a 

member of VATE Council. 

1.00 - 2.00 

Stage 2 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Tertiary 

Improving access and equity for ‘at risk’ secondary school students 

by building bridges between home and school literacies 

ANNMARIE REID, LYN WILKINSON 

The 2008 future SACE School to Work Innovation Program: Literacy Project targeted Year 10 

students who had scored at Benchmark 5 or below on the NAPLAN test in Year 9. University 

and teacher researchers worked together to expand understandings about literacy and try new 

pedagogical approaches with the target students. A number of these approaches sought to build 

bridges between the students’ home and school literacies. Teachers had reported that many of 

the students were disengaged, struggling with the mainstream curriculum and likely to leave 

school before completing their senior school SACE certificate. In this presentation, we will tell the 

stories of three young men who fit this description for whom teachers’ work made a difference. We 

will explore the challenges faced by secondary teachers who seek to make the curriculum more 

permeable and share some of the strategies they used. Our presentation will highlight the ways 

in which the knowledge gained from funded teacher action research projects can increase access 

and equity for ‘at risk’ students. 

1.00 - 2.00 

Wellington 2 

Audience: 

Primary 

Secondary 

Biographies 

Annmarie Reid and Lyn Wilkinson are university based teacher researchers whose experience 

as secondary teachers connects them strongly to the teacher researchers with whom they are 

working. Acting as mentors to the schools in the 2008 project put them in a privileged position, 

particularly when it came to listening to students. 

Bridging the gap using digital realities 

SUZANNAH BROOK 

As students progress through the secondary years, the gap in literacy success between high and 

low achievers usually widens. This gap is the result of factors like class, language, background 

and geographic location. Although it is important for a classroom teacher to be aware of these 

factors, the biggest challenge is to deliver a classroom program for all students and promote 

literacy success for all. In this presentation, I will share strategies for using technology that have 

not only engaged and motivated students, but allowed them to achieve well beyond teacher 

expectations. I will talk about the various technological tools (i.e. blogging, movie maker, 

Photostory, Toondoo - cartoon creation, electronic games etc.) and share some exemplary student 

work. The presentation will demonstrate how the informed literacy teacher can use technology 

to work for access, equity and quality, particularly for low achieving students. It is clear that 

technologies are fuelling changes in all aspects of the way we view and live our lives. Whilst I am 

SUNDAY 

119


interested in using technology as a tool, I am more interested in using digital resources to engage, 

motivate and connect the new generation of students to others outside of their own sphere. 

Technology should help students understand themselves and their world through engagement 

with a range of cultures and the ways these cultures represent human experience. I will share 

students’ work, including poetry and other texts relating to refugees around the world. Learn how 

digital technologies can be used to bridge divides and empower students! 

Biography 

Suzannah Brook teaches English from Years 7-10 at Trinity Lutheran College in Mildura and 

coordinates the Years 5-10 English department. She also helps with ICT across the school, as 

she believes that technology can offer exciting opportunities to engage students in worthwhile 

learning, and that it helps develop global understandings. 

SUNDAY 

1.00 - 2.00 

Executive 

Board Room 

Audience: 

Secondary 

Obama, Rudd and the Australian National English Curriculum 

KRISTINA LOVE, MARY MACKEN-HORARIK 

Element 1 of the proposed National Curriculum for English argues that we approach knowledge 

about English as ‘a coherent, dynamic, and evolving body of knowledge.’ But just what kinds of 

knowledge about language are relevant to such a body of knowledge And how do teachers and 

their students take it up In this paper, we explore the possibilities of a functionally oriented 

metalanguage and how this can be used to help students ‘negotiate evaluations of the social 

and aesthetic value of texts.’ In particular, we focus on an increasingly powerful genre in English 

and in the community — the public speech. Two recent examples of this can be found in Kevin 

Rudd’s Apology and Barak Obama’s Victory speeches. Both served in somewhat different ways 

to galvanize people to new hope in their elected leaders and to new ways of thinking about the 

task of 21st century governments. They are also linguistically interesting in their use of narrative 

as well as argument genres and in the way that evaluative language is used to position readers 

and listeners to particular emotional/ethical responses. We outline how a tool kit which works 

with ‘big picture’ categories (such as genre and register) alongside more fine-grained categories 

of linguistic choice can be used to help our students explore the way language works to ‘create 

particular emotional, intellectual and philosophical effects’ in such speeches. We argue that 

teachers and their students need access to a multi-faceted functional metalanguage if they are to 

compare and contrast texts and if they are also to undertake the close language study required in 

senior English. Our conclusions will explore the implications of our analysis of such powerful texts 

for learning about language in the national curriculum. 

Biographies 

Kristina Love is Associate Professor and head of Language and Literacy Education at the University 

of Melbourne. She has taught extensively in pre-service and in-service programs for English 

teachers, been deeply involved in the development and assessment of the senior school subject 

‘English Language’ in Victoria, and has produced multimedia products designed to support 

teachers in understanding the language and literacy demands of schooling (BUILT and LASS). 

Mary Macken-Horarik is Associate Professor of English and Mulitliteracies Education at the 

University of New England. She has worked for many years in the field of English language 

education as English teacher, curriculum developer and researcher and is increasingly publishing 

in the field of multilteracies. She is best known for her work in systemic functional linguistics and 

is currently writing a book for young people about how to get an A in English. 

120


1.00 - 2.00 

Derwent 2 

Audience: 

Early Years 

Coaching as a strategy for literacy improvement 

MICHELLE YOUNG 

The 2005 DEST National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy in Australian Schools highlighted 

research into the positive benefits of literacy coaching partnerships in classrooms. This report 

recommended that ‘all schools identify a highly The 2005 DEST National Inquiry into the Teaching 

of Literacy in Australian Schools highlighted research into the positive benefits of literacy 

coaching partnerships in classrooms. This report recommended that ‘all schools identify a highly 

trained specialist literacy teacher with specialised skills in teaching reading to be responsible for 

linking whole school approaches and planning effective classroom practice’. It also confirmed by 

research that the quality of teaching students receive makes the biggest difference to their literacy 

outcomes. With this rationale in mind, Brisbane Catholic Education began a trial that focused 

on the use of coaching as a strategy for the improvement of literacy learning and teaching. This 

session will present a brief history of coaching and an explanation of the strategy employed to 

support identified literacy leaders in schools who in turn support teachers in their classroom 

practice. Participants can expect to see how a model of executive coaching is used within an 

educational context and hear results of the trial that helped to build links and bridge the divides 

between the theory and practice of literacy teaching in classrooms. 

Biography 

Michelle Young works as a senior education officer in the curriculum team of Brisbane Catholic 

Education. She has a history of primary teaching and for the past 8 years has worked to support 

teachers to reflect on and improve their teaching practice for the benefit of all learners. Michelle 

has participated in training as an executive coach through Australia Growth Coaching, and has 

been able to apply this knowledge along with her background and interest in the areas of English 

and literacy to her work supporting teachers. 

1.00 - 2.00 

Green Room 

Audience: 

Early Years 

The words children write: the Oxford Wordlist research study 

JULIE BAILLIE 

An extensive and rigorous study was conducted by researchers from Oxford University Press 

Australia in Australian schools and published in 2008, to find those words most frequently used 

by students in their first three years of school in their own writing and to provide educators 

with an up-to-date list that reflects Australian students of today. It was the first study of its type 

in over 30 years. Professor Joseph Lo Bianco and Janet Scull from the University of Melbourne 

designed the study, and analysed the final data. The general aim of the research was to document 

students’ word choices, to examine these word choices considering demographic characteristics 

of the student, and to explore what they indicate about children’s personal identities and social 

experiences. The collection method also provided the context in which these words were used. 

Wordlists that consider and connect the words used by our broad student community to the 

classroom increase their relevancy as they are included and referred to in reading, writing and 

spelling resources used in schools. What can we learn from the words children use in their earliest 

samples of writing What do the words reveal about children as writers and also about the 

individual person, his or her subjectivity and interests What can we infer from the word selections 

that children make, about the influences on them What do children’s word choices tell teachers 

about the teaching of reading and writing These are some of the many questions raised when 

conducting and interpreting the Oxford Wordlist research. 

SUNDAY 

121


Biography 

Julie Baillie is Research Manager: Primary Division Oxford University Press Australia. She taught 

in early years’ classrooms in South Australia for over 20 years. She was one of the key authors of 

the SACSA English Companion document and went on to hold the positions of DECS Policy Project 

Officer – Companion documents, and district Early Years’ Learning Band Coordinator during the 

implementation of the Early Year’s Literacy Strategy in SA. Julie’s understanding of the needs of 

educators and students was instrumental in the formation of this study in which she was the lead 

researcher. 

PLENARY 2.10 - 3.30 

2.10 - 3.30 

Plenary Hall 

Audience: 

All 

Achieving teacher expertise: what I have learned from my students 

and what I have learned from you and this conference 

JEFFREY WILHELM 

Everybody knows it and the research base shows it: expert teaching is the central factor in 

improved student engagement and performance. Reflective teaching practices, which include 

teacher research methods that fit naturally into the classroom, are ways to achieve more wideawakeness 

and conscious competence in our teaching. This requires learning from our students 

how to best teach them. This is abetted by working with other teachers in informal and more 

formal professional projects and networks. Professor Wilhelm will review some of his own teacher 

research studies and the most important insights he has learned from his students. He will also 

review some of the central insights he has gleaned from the professional networking at this 

conference. 

SUNDAY 

Biography 


has an international reputation as an English-literacy educator. He has a particular interest in 




for Distinguished Research in English Education presented by the National Council of Teachers 

of English. 

122


TRADE EXHIBITORS 

Australian Association for the Teaching of English 

Australian Literacy Educators’ Association 

Australian Children’s Television Foundation 

Australian Council for Educational Research 

Blake Education/Pascal Press 

Birchalls Education Centre 

book&volume 

Curriculum Corporation 

Encyclopaedia Britannica Aust Ltd 

Edsoft 

e:lit - the Primary English Teaching Association 

Gilead Enterprises 

HarperCollins Publishers Australia 

Insight Publications 

Lioncrest 

Macmillan Publishers Australia 

Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE 

Modern Teaching Aids (MTA) 

Oxford University Press 

Pearson Australia 

Random House Australia 

Scholastic Australia 

STEPS Professional Development 

Sydney University Press 

UNSW Global - Educational Assessment Australia 

Vision Australia - Louise Braille Audio 

Walker Books Australia 

Yarn Strong Sista 

Ziptales 

www.aate.org.au 

www.alea.edu.au 

www.actf.com.au 

www.acer.edu.au 

www.blake.com.au 

www.birchalls.com.au 

www.bookandvolume.com.au 

www.curriculumpress.edu.au 

http://edu.britannica. com.au 

www.edsoft.com.au 

www.elit.edu.au 

http://gilead.trump.net.au 

www.harpercollins.com.au 

www.insightpublications.com.au 

www.lioncrest.com.au 

www.macmillan.com.au 

www.msit.tafe.qld.gov.au 

www.teaching.com.au 

www.oup.com.au 

www.pearson.com.au 

www.pascalpress.com.au 

www.randomhouse.com.au 

www.scholastic.com.au 

www.stepspd.com.au 

www.sup.usyd.edu.au 

www.eaa.unsw.edu.au 

www.louisebrailleaudio.com 

www.walkerbooks.com.au 

www.yarnstrongsista.com 

www.ziptales.com 

123


TRADE EXHIBITORS FLOOR PLAN 

EXHIBITION FOYER 

BOARD WALK GALLERY 

20 

KEY 

AATE 1 

ALEA 2 

Australian Children’s Television 

Foundation 9 

Australian Council for 

Educational Research 4 

Blake Education/Pascal Press 21 

Birchalls Education Centre 16 

book&volume 27 

Curriculum Corporation 3 

Encyclopaedia Britannica 19 

Edsoft 17 

e:lit 23 

Gilead Enterprises 24 

HarperCollins Publishers 10 

Insight Publications 8 

Lioncrest 11 

Macmillan Publishers Australia 13 

Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE 31 

Modern Teaching Aids 30 

Oxford University Press 12 

Oxford University Press 28 

Pearson Australia 14 

Pearson Australia 15 

Random House Australia 29 

Scholastic Australia 20 

STEPS Professional 

Development 7 

Sydney University Press 22 

UNSW Global - Educational 

Assessment Australia 18 

Vision Australia 

(Louise Braille Audio) 26 

Walker Books Australia 5 

Yarn Strong Sista 25 

Ziptales 6 

124

CONFERENCE PARTNERS AND SPONSORS 

AATE/ALEA would like to acklowledge the support of our conference partners and sponsors. 

CONFERENCE PARTNERS 

SPONSORS

Program at a glance 

4.30 - 7.00 

7.00 - 7.30 

7.30 - 8.30 

8.30 - 9.30 

THURSDAY 

Registration / Trade Exhibitions 

Music 

Welcome to Country and Conference Opening 

Opening Address - Richard Flanagan, Plenary Hall 

Welcome Reception - Exhibition Foyer / Boardwalk Gallery 

FRIDAY 

11.00 - 12.00 

11.00 - 12.00 

12.00 - 2.00 

12.15 - 1.15 

Keynote - Gabrielle Matters, Tasman A 

Bridging the divide by replacing dichotomies with continua 

Concurrent Sessions - 60 minutes 

Lunch and Trade Exhibits - Exhibition Foyer / Boardwalk Gallery 

Ferry to Salamanca Market (ticketed event) 

East of Everything 2 - ABC Series, Plenary Hall 

Book Signings 

8.30 - 8.45 

8.45 - 9.00 

9.00 - 10.30 

Music 

Official Opening - Premier of Tasmania 

Plenary Address - P. David Pearson, Plenary Hall, Tasman A 

The Pedagogy of Promise: Obama, Bush, and Australia 

12.30 - 1.30 

2.00 - 3.15 

Miles Franklin Award Winner 2009, Wellington Room 

Plenary Address - Pirjo Sinko, Plenary Hall 

To quality through equity in a Finnish way 

10.30 - 11.00 

11.00 - 12.30 

11.00 - 12.30 

11.00 - 11.40 

11.50 - 12.30 

12.30 - 1.30 

Morning Tea and Trade Exhibits - Exhibition Foyer / Boardwalk 

Gallery 

ALEA Life Membership presentation, Plenary Hall 

Keynote - Peter Freebody , Plenary Hall 

‘Bridges and divides’ in high stakes curriculum knowledge, 

language and literacy in the classroom: what governments, 

systems and people should want to know about literacy 

achievement in school 

AATE Life Membership presentation, Tasman A 

Keynote - Juliana Saxton & Carole Miller, Tasman A 

Bridging the conversations between our inner selves and the 

outside world 





AATE Book Launch 

2.00 - 3.15 

3.15 - 3.45 

3.45 - 5.00 

3.45 - 5.00 

3.45 - 4.20 

4.25 - 5.00 

5.00 - 6.00 

7.00 - 11.00 


Afternoon Tea and Trade Exhibits - Exhibition Foyer / 

Boardwalk Gallery 

Keynote - Natalie Jane Prior, Plenary Hall 

Small pleasures: an Australian children’s author working in an 

international market 

Keynote - Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli, Tasman A 

Weaving textual tapestries: weaving the ‘Italian womanwriter’ 

into the social fabric across genres and generations, 

borders and divides 




ALEA AGM - Green Room 

Conference Dinner - Tasman Room (ticketed event) 

1.30 - 3.00 

Keynote - David Hornsby, Plenary Hall 

Springboards into literacy: ensuring access for all 

Keynote - J C Burke, Tasman A 

The Story of Tom Brennan from idea to novel 

8.00 - 9.00 

SUNDAY 

Registration 

1.30 - 3.00 

1.30 - 2.10 

2.20 - 3.00 

3.00 - 3.30 

3.30 - 5.00 




Afternoon Tea and Trade Exhibits - Exhibition Foyer / 


Keynote - Lester-Irabinna Rigney, Plenary Hall 

Future directions for indigenous education post apology; 

trends and implications for literacy 

Keynote - Phil Cormack, Tasman A 

A pedagogical perspective on literacy teaching: thinking 

beyond strategies and techniques 

9.00 - 10.30 

10.30 – 11.00 

11.00 – 12.00 

11.00 - 12.00 

Plenary Address - Scott Paris - Plenary Hall 

Bridges to Improved Pedagogies: lessons from Singapore 


Gallery 

Keynote - Barry McGaw, Plenary Hall 

Pursuing quality and equity through a national curriculum 

Keynote - Leonie Rowan, Wellington 2 

Powerful partners or pushy pests The positioning of parents 

in home/school literacy partnerships 


3.30 - 5.00 

3.30 - 4.10 

4.20 - 5.00 

6.00 - 7.00 

7.00 - 9.00 

7.15 - 8.30 

9.00 - 10.30 




Governor’s Cocktail Party - Government House (ticketed event) 

SATURDAY 

Registration 

Literary Breakfast 

Robert Hillman, Najaf Mazari, Tasman A 

Finding the front door: puzzles and delights of Australian 

culture (ticketed event) 

Garth Boomer Memorial Address 

Peter O’Connor, Plenary Hall, Tasman A 

Talking about the way the world wags 

12.00 - 1.00 

1.00 - 2.00 

1.00 - 2.00 

2.10 - 3.30 


AATE Life Membership presentation, Plenary Hall 

Keynote - Andy Goodwyn, Plenary Hall 

Expert teachers and innovative uses of technology 

Keynote - Kirsty Murray, Tasman B 

Imagining the future world: narrative, cultural literacy, and 

nurturing global citizens 


Conference Handover - 2010 Perth - ALEA WA / AETA WA - 

Plenary Hall 

Plenary Address - Jeffrey Wilhelm, Plenary Hall 

Achieving teacher expertise: what I have learned from 

my students and what I have learned from you and this 

conference 

10.30 - 11.00 


Gallery 

3.30 - 4.30 

Farewell Reception - Exhibition Foyer / 


11.00 - 12.00 

Keynote - Andy Griffiths, Plenary Hall 

Why did the boy fall off his bike Humour, creativity and 

bridge-building

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