EDFD454 - Literacy and Numeracy Across the Curriculum

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Unit rationale, description and aim

To achieve their education goals and contribute to an informed society, every student must develop strong skills in oracy, literacy and numeracy as the foundation for learning (Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration, 2019).

In this unit pre-service teachers examine the range of literacies and language learning required for different curriculum areas in secondary school subjects and the way these literacies need to be developed for learners from diverse language and cultural backgrounds. Pre-service teachers will develop and extend their understandings of research evidence related to teaching reading, writing, speaking and listening for curriculum learning, and develop a metalanguage for teaching and assessing spoken, written, visual, symbolic, graphic representations and their interactions in multimodal texts. Pre-service teachers will also identify and examine the numeracy skills inherent in their curriculum areas and extend their understandings of research evidence in the teaching of numeracy. This will culminate in the development of literacy and numeracy high challenge/high support strategies which differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities and are responsive to the strengths and needs of students from linguistic minority students.

The aim of this unit is to provide pre-service teachers with strategies and practices for integrating explicit literacy and numeracy instruction into an effective teaching and learning sequence. This knowledge will offer a resource for teachers to enhance the development of literacy, numeracy and learning within all curriculum areas.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Demonstrate an understanding of the skills and concepts of literacy and numeracy, including research evidence related to teaching reading, writing, speaking, listening and mathematics relevant to the different curriculum areas (GA5; APST 2.1, 2.5)

LO2 - Evaluate classroom practice in the teaching of literacy and numeracy (GA4, GA5; APST 3.3, 3.6)

LO3 - Use relevant questioning and assessment strategies to identify the literacy and numeracy knowledge, skills and understandings of students (GA5, GA8; APST 2.1, 2.3, 5.1, 5.3)

LO4 - Use understandings of issues in relation to the education of linguistic minority students to design appropriate teaching strategies to respond to diverse learner needs in the areas of literacy and numeracy (GA1, GA5, GA8; APST 1.3, 1.4, 2.5)

LO5 - Design and integrate tasks in a sequence of lessons which will allow for explicit teaching of literacy and numeracy including the use of ICT (GA8, GA9, GA10; APST 2.1, 2.2, 2.5, 2.6, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4)

Graduate attributes

GA1 - Demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity

GA4 - Think critically and reflectively

GA5 - Demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession

GA8 - Locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information

GA9 - Demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media

GA10 - Utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively

AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS - GRADUATE LEVEL

On successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should be able to:

Content

Topics will include:

• The nature of literacy, language and numeracy and their role in learning in the different areas of the curriculum
• Issues related to the nature and duration of second language and literacy learning and outcomes of schooling for different cultural/linguistic groups
• Contemporary understandings of research evidence related to teaching reading, writing, speaking, listening and mathematics in relevant curriculum contexts and levels
• Language as a social process, meta-language and numeracy in context
• Constructions of literacy and numeracy in relevant state, territory and national curriculum and support documents from upper primary level through to secondary level
• Integrating numeracy and literacy within culturally responsive learning frameworks
• The purpose and structure of different types of spoken, written, visual, graphic and multimodal texts
• Introduction to systems of grammar and discourse used in the current curriculum and assessment documents
• The nature of mathematical reading, writing processes and strategies used in the relevant curriculum and assessment documents including national and state tests
• A range of strategies used for the explicit teaching of literacy and numeracy
• Task design, construction and critical evaluation of resources used in the teaching of literacy and numeracy
• Strategies for evaluating, developing, assessing, monitoring and programming for literacy and numeracy development relevant for the different curriculum areas.

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

Pre-service teachers should expect to participate in a range of the following: lectures, tutorials/workshops, seminar presentations and group discussions, both online and face-to-face, self-directed study activities and assessment tasks. Some participation in appropriate educational settings may be required, in particular tasks expected on classroom placement.

This is a 10-credit point unit and has been designed to ensure that the time needed to complete the required volume of learning to the requisite standard is approximately 150 hours in total across the semester. To achieve a passing standard in this unit, students will find it helpful to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments utilised in this unit, as described in the learning and teaching strategy and the assessment strategy. The learning and teaching and assessment strategies include a range of approaches to support your learning such as reading, reflection, discussion, webinars, podcasts, video etc.

Technology Enhanced Learning

Technology will be used to enhance teaching and learning, as well as in assessment, as a means of communication, production and feedback. Students will be required to create digital artefacts and interact with the unit’s Learning Management System site, online resources and technology requirements.

Assessment strategy and rationale

The assessment tasks and their weightings allow pre-service teachers to progressively demonstrate achievement against the course learning outcomes by demonstrating academic and professional standards. The unit focuses on developing understanding of, and skills across the professional knowledge, practice and engagement needed to meet expectations of the Graduate Attributes and the APST - Graduate level. In this unit assessment task 1 focusses on preservice teachers’ identifying the literacy and numeracy demands in their teaching areas. Assessment task 2 fosters collaboration with peers which would occur in a school setting to identify students who need additional support for literacy and numeracy and possible methods of assessment. Assessment task 3 builds on the previous tasks and enables pre-service teachers to design learning activities which provide appropriate literacy and numeracy support for students to achieve the learning outcomes of the planned activities.

A range of assessment procedures are used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes and professional standards and criteria consistent with University assessment requirements. (http://www.acu.edu.au/policy/student_policies/assessment_policy_and_assessment_procedures).

Minimum Achievement Standards

The assessment tasks for this unit are designed to demonstrate achievement of each learning outcome. To promote sustained learning, pre-service teachers are expected to complete weekly readings and practice tasks as assigned by teaching staff and submit ALL assessment tasks. Assessments in EDF454 include one Critical Task: Assessment Task 3 Teaching Portfolio

These tasks are core to the demonstration of a number of Australian Professional Teacher Standards. In order to pass this unit, pre-service teachers must demonstrate mastery of every summative standard listed in the learning outcomes and attain a score of at least 50% in Task 3 and achieve a Passing grade overall.

Electronic Submission, Marking and Return

Assessment Tasks will be submitted, marked and returned electronically as appropriate and in accordance with the ACU assessment policy. This unit uses Turnitin as a text matching tool.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Required text(s)

The Australian Curriculum: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/.

National Literacy Learning Progressions: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/resources/national-literacy-and-numeracy-learning-progressions/national-literacy-learning-progression/.

National Numeracy Learning Progressions: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/resources/national-literacy-and-numeracy-learning-progressions/national-numeracy-learning-progression/.

Recommended texts for developing knowledge of language and literacy

Derewianka, B., & Jones, P. (2013) Teaching language in context. London, Oxford University Press.

Freebody, P., Maton, K., & Martin, J.R. (2008). Talk, Text and Knowledge in cumulative, integrated learning: A response to ‘intellectual challenge’ in Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. Vol 31.No 2 pp 188-201.

Humphrey, S. (2017). Academic literacies in the middle years: A framework for enhancing teacher knowledge and student achievement. New York, NY: Routledge.

Humphrey, S., & Vidal Lizama, M. (2020). Developing ‘Bridging’ Semiotic and Pedagogic Knowledge for Pre-Service Subject Area Teachers in the ‘New Mainstream’. In Cardozo-Gaibisso, L., & Vazquez Dominguez, M. (Eds). A handbook of research on advancing language equity practices with immigrant communities: Learning in and out of schools. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Gibbons, P. (2009). English learners, academic literacy and thinking: Learning in the challenge zone. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann – Chapter 3 Literacy in the Curriculum: Challenges for EL learners pp-43-57.

Rose, D. (2010). Beating educational inequality with an integrated reading pedagogy. In F. Christie and A. Simpson Literacy and Social Responsibility: Multiple Perspectives Equinox London.

Readings related to literacy and numeracy pedagogy

Jones, P.T., Matruglio, E., & Edwards-Groves, C. (Eds). (2021). Transition and continuity in school literacy development. London, UK: Bloomsbury.

Rose, D. (2015). Myth making and meaning making: the school and Aboriginal children. A discussion of the problems of Indigenous children in school and solutions through reading. In M Hamilton, R Heydon, K Hibbert & R Stooke [eds.] Multimodality and Governmentality: Negotiating Spaces in Literacy Education. London: Continuum, 167‐184.

What Works. The Work Program: Core Issues 3. Literacy for Succeeding at school. Australian Gov. Department of Education, Science and Training. http://www.whatworks.edu.au/upload/1282032251737_file_3Literacy.pdf.

Yunkaporta, Tyson Kaawoppa. (2009). DET NSW Our Ways of Learning in Aboriginal Languages. NSW Department of Education and Training. https://research.qut.edu.au/ydc/resources/.

Illustration of practice: www.aitsl.edu.au/tools-resources/resource/eight-ways-of-learning-illustration-of-practice.

Literacy in Mathematics. Chs 6 and 7. In YuMi Deadly Maths Supplementary Resource 3 Prep to Year 12). Queensland University of Technology. https://research.qut.edu.au/ydc/resources/.