EDFD454: Curriculum Literacies
Literacy Module One
Lily Leman S00117000
Assignment 1: Perspectives on teaching literacy and numeracy
Current Tensions in the teaching of Literacy and Numeracy.
Part A
Discussion of the competing definitions of literacy
As the world around us changes with technological advancements affecting the way
we communicate, it therefore should impact on how we define literacy and the
programs and pedagogy surrounding it. Therefore the definition of literacy is one to
be contested and in fact, Wyatt, Elkins and Gunn (2005) argue that, “A consensus
on a single definition may not be feasible, and possibly not even desirable, given
our rapidly changing times (p, 18). Wheldall and Beaman (2005) define literacy as,
“the ability to read and write; nothing more and nothing less” (p, 256). It is
interesting to compare this most basic definition of literacy and address how it has
evolved and been enriched by the incorporation of various theories and
perspectives. Anstey and Bull (2006) believe that the most suitable and useful
definition of literacy is provided by Luke and Freebody (2000) who argue that,
“Literacy is the flexible and sustainable mastery of repertoire of practices with the
texts of traditional and new communications technologies via spoken, print, and
multimedia” (as cited in Anstey and Bull, 2006, p, 19). This is indeed a more
elaborate definition, as it takes into consideration old text and new developing texts
as well as the various modes, such as visual and oral that we use within literacy.
Stating that is a ‘flexible’ mastery is also important as it implies that in order to be
a literate person you need to be able to adapt to continuous evolving literacies of
the 21st century. Wyatt et al., (2005) also address the fact that every definition of
literacy must not be used in isolation and suggest that,“the social, political and
economic contexts in which a definition is developed and used must be considered”
(p, 19).
1
Part B
Multiple perspectives on difficulties in learning literacy and numeracy and contemporary
competing perspectives on this discipline area.
Each chapter and author in Multiple Perspectives on difficulties in learning literacy
and numeracy contribute to the various theories and advice that are available to
teachers of literacy, which should be ALL teachers across ALL domains.
Westwood (2012) states that, “The main message from various authors of the 17
chapters is that learning difficulties in literacy and numeracy are multifaceted (p,
55). There are no clear answers or one correct theory when it comes to improving
and teaching literacy skills. To help us categorize the competing perspectives on
literacy teaching, Mills (2005) provides us with three sets of opposing views in
which these authors’ perspectives can align with. The three sets involve 1) the
skills-based versus whole-language debate 2) The exclusively print-based approach
versus multiliteracies, and 3) The opposition between cultural heritage and critical
literacy theoretical models (Mills, 2005).
In Chapter 4, The New Literacies of Online Reading Comprehension:New
Opportunities and Challenges for Students with Learning Difficulties, Castek,
Zawilinski, McVerry, O’Byrne, and Leu (2005) suggest that online reading is
beneficial for students whom are struggling with traditional texts. Castek et al.,
(2005) believe that integrating new technologies into the classroom allows for all
facets of literacy learning to be explored and should be valued as a reading
achievement. Castek et al., (2005) suggest that, “any approach seeking to improve
students’ reading ability must recognize that the nature of reading comprehension
has expanded in the 21st century”( p, 91). Castek et al., (2005) suggestion very
much aligns with the multiliteracies perspective in Mills (2005) sets and
acknowledges new literacies and new communication technologies. It is believed
that that reading in an online environment is beneficial for students with learning
2
difficulties due to students being able to construct their own text, have access to
supportive multimedia features such as images and videos, as well as
organizational tools and the ability to take the internet into their home which aligns
with the students own personal interests (Castek et al., 2005).
In Chapter 8 Parent, Family and Community Support for Addressing Difficulties in
Literacy, Wearmouth and Berryman (2005) similarly discuss how literacy skills
and development can be brought into the home of the students through the role of
the family. They also discuss how teachers can and should align literacy practice
with students own personal cultures. Wearmouth and Berryman (2005) believe in
the principle that ‘literacy is a practice that takes place within a social context’
(Westwood, 2012) and should be a shared concern across numerous domains
within and outside the school. Similar to the definition of literacy provided
previously, Wearmouth and Berryman (2005) believe literacy is something that
exists within different contexts as they state, “It is more appropriate to view literacy
as a practice that takes place within a social context and is linked to culture,
knowledge, power and the dominant ideology of any particular societal group” (p,
181). Wearmouth and Berryman (2005) suggest that family involvement with
students literacy is more based towards the meaning based approach with the aim
of understanding. However when literacy is seen as an acquisition of skills, family
members feel that this should usually be left up to the professionals. This opens up
the skills-based versus whole-language debate that Mills (2005) suggests is one of
the sets of opposing views for the teaching of literacy. Wearmouth and Berryman
(2005) insinuate that families and outside sources of help for student literacy
development feel most comfortable with the Whole language and Psycholinguistic
approach.
However, in Chapter 12 Effective Instruction for Older, Low-Progress Readers:
Meeting the Needs of Indigenous Students, Wheldall and Beaman (2005) argue that
the skills based approach has more of a vital role to play, particularly for the
literacy development of Indigenous students. Wheldall and Beaman (2005) agree
3
the skill based literacy such as ‘grapheme-phoneme correspondence, phonological
and phonemic awareness, alphabetic knowledge, grammar, spelling, and
conventions of punctuation and so on’, as stated in the National Curriculum Board
proposal (National Curriculum Board, 2008, p.7) are what teachers should be
focusing on. They further argue against the idea of critical and mulitliteracies by
implying that being able to developing a sharp, critical faculty is important yet
impossible if you are not able to simply read or understand it (Wheldall and
Beaman, 2005). Therefore, it is important that regardless of the developing
definitions and ideas of literacy, that the simple traditional skill of literacy; being
able to read and write is and will continue to be important throughout the
development of ‘new literacies’.
Part C
Briefly suggest what the above means for the type of teaching strategies you will need to
employ when teaching in your discipline areas.
The various competing perspectives, theories and strategies for teaching literacy
that each chapter explored should not be viewed as ‘either or’, instead as Mills
(2005) states, “ it should be ‘ but’, ‘when’ and ‘for which students” (p, 71).
Castek et al., (2005) suggest that using and recognizing online reading as a literacy
practice is beneficial for those students who struggle with traditional texts.
Therefore the strategy of incorporating and integrating the Internet and online texts
will provide students with the opportunities for online comprehension. Castek et.,
al (2005) idea of using online texts aligns with the mulitliteracies theory and this is
very important to discuss in terms of potential strategies to be implemented.
Multiliteracies was a term introduced by a group known as the New London Group
(1996) to acknowledge that texts are not only print based but include digital, visual,
oral, spatial and gestural. These different types of texts involve the “Modalities of
Meaning” which include written language, oral language, visual representation and
4
tactile representation, etc (Cope & Kalantzis, 2009). A strategy to improve students
literacy in terms of the multilteracy framework would be to have students working
with these Modalities and the five different semiotic systems within range of
multimodal texts. These include linguistic, visual, audio, gestural and spatial (Bull
& Anstey, 2010).
Wearmouth and Berryman (2005) argue the importance of a student’s home and
cultural context. Students are influenced by their ‘literary identity’, which is
developed by their background knowledge and experiences as well as their social
and cultural backgrounds (Bull & Anstey, 2011). A simple strategy to promote
could be to incorporate and acknowledge the students community literacy contexts
and develop a reciprocal partnership where the home based literacy practices are
incorporated into the classroom (Wearmouth and Berryman, 2005)
5
References
Anstey, M., & Bull, G. (2006). Teaching and learning multiliteracies: Changing times, changing
literacies. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Bull, Geoff and Anstey, Michele (2010). Using the Principles of Multiliteracies to Inform
Pedagogical Change. In D. Cole & D. Pullen (Eds.), Multiliteracies in Motion: Current
theory and practice (pp141-159). New York: Routledge.
Bull, Geoff & Anstey, Michele (2011). Evolving pedagogies : reading and writing in a
multimodal world. Carlton South, Australia: Education Services Australia Limited.
(ibook)
Castek, Jill, Zawilinski,, Lisa, J. Greg McVerry, O’Byrne, W. Ian Leu, Donald J. (2005) The
New Literacies of Online Reading Comprehension:New Opportunities and Challenges
for Students with Learning Difficulties. In Multiple perspectives on difficulties in
learning literacy and numeracy (pp. 91-110). Utrecht, Netherlands: Springer
Cope, Bill and Mary Kalantzis, (2009) A Grammar of Multimodality’, International Journal of
Learning, 16,(2) 361-425
Mills, K 2005, ‘Deconstructing binary oppositions in literacy discourse and pedagogy’,
Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 67-82.
New London Group (1996) A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies. Harvard Educational Review,
66 (1)
National Curriculum Board. (2008). National English curriculum: Initial advice. Canberra, ACT:
National Curriculum Board.
Westwood, Peter (2012). Book review on Multiple perspectives on difficulties in learning
literacy and numeracy. Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties, 17(1), 55-62
Wearmouth and Berryman (2005). Parent, Family and Community Support for Addressing
Difficulties in Literacy. In Multiple perspectives on difficulties in learning literacy and
numeracy (pp. 179- 196). Utrecht, Netherlands: Springer
Wheldall, Kevin and Beaman ,Robyn (2005). Effective Instruction for Older, Low-Progress
Readers: Meeting the Needs of Indigenous Students. In Multiple Perspectives on
Difficulties in Learning Literacy and Numeracy (pp. 255- 274). Utrecht, Netherlands:
Springer
Wyatt-Smith, C., Elkins, J. & Gunn, S (2005). Multiple Perspectives on Difficulties in Learning
Literacy and Numeracy. Utrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
6