Major Updates Made to the Literacy Glossary and Reading Lists

Some may downplay this announcement as merely routine site maintenance. In actual fact, an update to the site's glossaries and reading lists is news that significant progress has been made to the very foundations of the online resource. 

Firstly, progress is finally being made to the Literacy Glossary. This resource is a work-in-progress. A core list of 70 terms/concepts will be part of the initial list. These terms/concepts will be added over the coming weeks. A further announcement will be made once the Literacy Glossary is fully drafted.

Secondly, there is a range of additions that have been made to the Literacy-Related Reading Lists. In the Contexts of Literacy Instruction section, I have added readings related to the Language Experience Approach (LEA). LEA is an pedagogy whereby shared experiences (e.g. gardening, going out bush, cooking, etc) become the basis for interactive writing exercises which - in turn - produce texts that serve as sources of further reading practice. Teachers and students can use digital photography and information scaffolds to document experiences, and this documentation can be used to recreate, recount and extend upon the shared experiences. Teachers are also encourage to focus on particular words for word study and vocabulary exercises. LEA is an effective teaching technique for younger students and beginning English language learners. More about the Language Experience Approach will be written in the near future. In the meantime, please explore the readings. 

Two reading lists have also been added to the Elements of Instruction section of the readings: Supporting Fluency and Assessment Tools. This rounds out the Elements section. The lists mirror the five pillars of effective reading instruction (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000), whilst also including an emphasis on writing and oral language development. Effective instruction must foster the development of phonemic awareness, letter-sound correspondence (including spelling), vocabulary, oral language, reading fluency, reading comprehension and writing/composing. The Supporting Fluency reading list provides a brief yet comprehensive list of references, whilst the Assessment Tools reading list will grow over time.

Last but not least, word clouds have been added to each of the reading lists in the Elements of Instruction section. The logic of the word clouds will be revealed in a future resource. In the meantime, the following is a gallery of the collected clouds. Please enjoy and explore!

Reference

• National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Structuring the rhythms of practice: the foundations for learning

Photo by Allison Joyce/Getty Images News / Getty Images

We are pleased to announce that a new page has been added to the Teaching Folder. The Establishing Meaningful Practices page seeks to "get to the rough ground" and emphasise the importance of establishing effective practices in home, school and community environments, which are based on quality teaching principles. We are interested in contrasting what may appear as sporadic, isolated activities with those activities that are carefully arranged and which contribute to the development of meaningful literacy skills.

A practice “is something people do, not just once, but on a regular basis. But it is more than just a disposition to behave in a certain way; the identity of a practice depends on not only on what people do, but also on the significance of those actions and the surroundings in which they occur.” (Stern, 2004, pg 166). For some reason, people pray, brush their teeth, complete their tax, hike in National Parks, long for the next dance, etc. Each “activity” is part of - let’s says - religious practices, hygienic practices, economic practices, artistic practices, social practices and more. Each practice is much more than the sum of its parts. For instance, the combination of prayer, worship, scripture, and stewardship amounts to more than a collection of disparate activities. They amount to a form of life, and they rely upon resources, other participants, a sense of attachment, cultural artefacts, instruction (or initiation) and more. Likewise, literacy involves the orchestrations of many experiences which culminate in the fostering of the literate practitioner. Time and space must be carved out in the great hurly burly of life so that the practice can grow, flourish and evolve.

So ... how do we make certain activities part and parcel of the practices of home, school, the community, etc? What are the material and social conditions that make this happen? What role do adults and peers play in establishing the conditions of a practice? Is it realistic that all budding "apprentices" will have access to "teachers" (including parents) with sufficient expertise and wherewithal? Overall, how does something become a practice and, through practice, how does the learner's engagement with the world change?

Please click here to explore the Establishing (Literacy) Practices page in the Teaching Folder.

Progress with the Balanced Teaching page

I am pleased to announce progress with the Balanced Teaching page on the Wittgenstein on Learning website. This update includes a comprehensive, referenced introduction for the coming teaching presentations. Select the image and/or link below to begin exploring.

Balancing Instruction

The balanced teaching section provides practical guidance to help you foster the range of skills and experiences necessary for robust language, literacy and learning development.

Four Essays on the Elements of a Balanced Literacy Program

The following four "essays" each tackle the same question: "how do we foster a comprehensive and rich literacy program?" Whilst the essays risk repetition (starting with their descriptions below), they each represent a renewed attempt the explore the same very vexed question. Of the four essays, the essay A Teacher for All Seasons and All Places goes the furthest by taking into account the impact of literacy in the home environment and also speaking about factors that can increase equity in opportunity to learn.

Like previous essays, the following first appeared as Journal entries, but now find themselves revised and updated. (The first - Managing a Balanced Approach to Literacy - first appear in November 2013.) You will find that each reflects the same division of perspectives on language & literacy highlighted in the page titled, Why Wittgenstein? Why not a general site about literacy? Please explore, enjoy and share your thoughts!

Managing a Balanced Approach to Literacy

ADDED - 27/08/14 - The best teachers at all levels should be equally equipped to develop and monitor core skills whilst providing rich opportunities for students to read, write, speak and learn in authentic, meaningful contexts. For our present purpose, we will describes the two approaches as follows: skills-based and usage-based.  This instruction should prepare our students with the skills they need.  Read More ...

A Teacher for All Seasons in All Places

ADDED - 28/08/14 - Fostering literacy requires that one is adept at systematically reinforcing the core, constrained skills of literacy (to the point of mastery) so that fluency is attained and higher order thinking can be facilitated, whilst providing rich opportunities for students to gain and express meaning in multiple knowledge domains and modes through scaffolded speaking, listening, reading and writing. Read More ...

A Comprehensive Literacy Pedagogy Would ...

ADDED - 27/08/14 - In addition to attending to comprehension skills, compositional skills and print-based skills (e.g. phonemic awareness, spelling skills, fluency, etc), balanced instruction must take into account the learning of the language itself; the situations in which we speak, listen, read and write; and what we are actually trying to learn and achieve (e.g. cooking, gardening, football, etc) in the process.  Read More ...

A Framework for Considering Literacy Instruction

The developmental nature of literacy is captured in the six stages of reading development presented by Jeanine Chall (1996). Across the six stages, there are three skill domains and six developmental areas to take into consideration when implementing a framework for comprehensive literacy instruction. Read More ...

View fullsize

Let the Teaching (folder) Begin ...

"Thinking too has a time for ploughing and a time for gathering the harvest." Ludwig Wittgenstein, from Culture & Value

It is with great pleasure that I announce the beginnings of the Teaching Folder of the Wittgenstein On Learning website. The Teaching Folder is and will be a special section on the site. Its pages will seek to apply Wittgensteinian principles to practical, balanced teaching techniques and examples.

For some visitors, this section might appear to stray away from direct commentary on the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein. This is true. This section will be the one that is the most Wittgensteinian and the least Wittgenstein in nature.

In the Wittgensteinian spirit, it will provide teaching advice, strategies, assessment techniques and examples that meander between cognitive and socio-cultural explanations of learning. The advice will straddle structural and contextual considerations as well as individual and cultural perspectives. Over time, I hope the section will provide visitors with ideas that facilitate rich, meaningful teaching that is multifaceted, developmental and experiential.

A few housekeeping tasks have been completed to pave the way. The Topics Folder has been rebadged as the Background Folder, which now includes the Why Wittgenstein? and Initial Notes pages that previously could be found in the Home Folder. The Overview page has been retitled Key Themes and the Essays page has been moved into the Teaching Folder.

There is much work that still remains ahead. Visitors will notice how the Balanced Teaching, Planning & Assessment and Example & Case Studies pages are all currently under construction. Nevertheless, the bones of the skeleton are in place and a bit of flesh has already started to take shape. To receive updates, I encourage visitors to select the link below -  "Subscribe to the Journal". 

In the meantime, enjoy and explore!!