190-PETAA

PETAA 190PaperLiteracy within, across andbeyond the curriculum Lorrae WardLiteracy sits at the heart of all learning and of all human interactionswhatever their purpose, mode or context. Literacy is both how welearn (a tool, something to use) and an essential skill (somethingto learn). The simplest definition of literacy is that it is about beingable to read and write. In reality it is much more than that. Literacy isneeded in order to create, access and share information, knowledgeand wisdom. Without literacy we cannot engage with the world aroundus, or make sense of it.This PETAA Paper considers the idea of literacy beyond the The purpose of this paper is to promotecurriculum, literacy that is developed and used in the world reflection and to challenge. It does notoutside the school gates. The background for the ideas offer a recipe for the development ofpresented here can be found in research underpinning the the diverse literacy skills needed in thepublication of Collaboration in Learning (Lee & Ward, 2013) twenty-first century. Rather, I hope, itand other research-based literature (Mizuko et al., 2013; provides food for thought. The AustralianSharples et al., 2012). It also has its foundations in learning Curriculum talks of the ‘literacy-richtheory, particularly the work of Vygotsky (1962): the Zone situations’ that arise across all curriculumof Proximal Development, and Valsinier (1997): the Zones of areas. But, there are also literacy-richPromoted Action and Free Movement. Their theories on how situations beyond the school gates. Thereand when young people learn are critical for understanding the are also many teachers who influence theimportance of context, social interaction and literacy to learning development of the young, beyond thoseand as such they are introduced in the following section. It employed by schools. If, after readingalso has links to the idea of cultural repertoires: the norms of this, you begin to look beyond thebehaviour and the social tools that people acquire through the school gates for resources and contextsgroups they belong to. Individuals do not, generally, belong to that can enrich your students’ learningjust one group, nor do they have only one way of doing things. experiences then it will have achieved itsExpected norms of behaviour at home can be very different to purpose.those at school, for example.© 2013 PETAA – Primary English Teaching Association Australia. PO Box 3106 Marrickville Metro NSW 2204 Tel 61 (02) 8020 3900 www.petaa.edu.au ISSN 2200-2189 1 ......

Sociocultural Development (ZPD). The ZPD emphasises the importance oftheory in a adults, of teachers, in enabling young people to learn. The ZPDnetworked world is the difference between what a child can do alone and what is beyond their current developmental capacity. It is what they canWe live in a networked world, a world do with appropriate scaffolding and support from a ‘teacher’.in which communication is no longerbounded by time or space, and in that In the twenty-first century, young people learn 24/7/365world we have many choices about how (allowing for sleep). As discussed in Collaboration in Learningand when we interact with others, with (Lee and Ward, 2013), teaching and learning do not occurthe physical world and with information. only within schools. Teachers can be found among peers, parents, grandparents and sports coaches to name a few.Vygotsky (1962), the Russian teacher Many young people are self-taught as they use the knowledgeand psychologist, examined how social and information readily available to them in the digital world;environments influence the learning they provide their own support to move beyond their currentprocess. He argued that learning takes capabilities. They are continually interacting with the worldplace through the interactions students around them, submitting and decoding messages, drawinghave with their peers, teachers and inferences from what they see and hear. They use a wide rangeothers; that it is a social construct. He of media and many are adept at choosing the most appropriatealso argued that culture is central to how medium for a particular message or activity. The ZPD is, in aindividuals access and define knowledge. sense, much larger than it has ever been, and certainly is notIn his view, the interaction between limited to the school or the teachers within the school.society and individuals is dynamic –just as society affects individuals, so do There are many possible examples of using other teachers,individuals affect society. teachers not employed by the school to deliver formal education (for some examples see Lee and Ward, 2013). AsWhat would Vygotsky make of the a classroom teacher, you can set inquiry tasks that requirebreadth and diversity of the social world students to engage with adults in their wider worlds. Give themmany young people now inhabit? How opportunities to learn from others, be they grandparents, familywould he view the potential of Facebook, friends or experts from the ‘real world’. We should not dictateTwitter and Instagram, to name but a few with whom they must communicate or how the learning mustdigital interaction tools? How would he occur when they are completing projects or assignments. Setadapt his view of learning to include the the scene, provide the motivation and then allow students topotential of the virtual world? Or would manage their own learning experience. Ask them to interviewhe need to? Perhaps it is simply a matter people or to tell a story from their family history (a good wayof redefining and extending our definitionof the environment within which studentslearn and of accepting that their learningis influenced by an increasingly wideand diverse range of people, activitiesand contexts, both within and beyondschool. The society with which youngpeople interact is potentially much morenebulous, flexible and intangible thanthat of any other generation. Further, theway they interact with and make senseof things within and across this extendedenvironment can vary greatly.Vygotsky (1962) also argued that learningoccurs within the Zone of Proximal...... 2 © 2013 PETAA – Primary English Teaching Association Australia. PETAA Paper 190: Literacy within, across and beyond the curriculum

of recognising different cultures and heritages). Perhaps they their immediate surroundings. They nocan talk to a local ‘hero’ and retell their story, emphasising the longer need accept physical boundariesvalue of the local area and the people within it. Do not treat of time and space. For school to besuch activities as an ‘added extra’. Ensure that you discuss their relevant, the same ideas apply. To ignorework and that they are given chances to present it – show you the rich learning experiences that occurvalue it as part of the curriculum, that it is important learning beyond the school gates and outside thefor everyone. curriculum, to suggest that young people are not developing literacy skills beyondAlso look for ways to bring the outside into the classroom, the classroom, is to trivialise the worldusing guest speakers and experts. Those with authentic stories they inhabit and risk making school evento tell can provide valuable learning experiences. Many will more irrelevant than it already is to manynot charge for their time, particularly if they are retired or of them.linked to the school. Look out into your community and seewhat resources are available. There may be a writer, an artist, To ignore the richa graphic designer or someone who has a story to tell. Theremay be grandparents or parents willing to come in and work learning experienceswith students. beyond the schoolThere is more evidence of the importance of recognising thepotential for learning beyond the classroom in the work of gates and outside theValsinier (1997). Valsinier also used the idea of zones whentalking about learning. He too argued that children develop curriculum is to trivialisethrough their relationships with their environment and thosewithin it, that learning is a social construct and as such requires the world young peopleand uses literacy skills. inhabit and risk makingValsinier’s theory is based on the existence of two zones: theZone of Free Movement (ZFM) and the Zone of Promoted school irrelevant.Action (ZPA). Essentially, Valsinier argues that children learnboth through independent interaction with their environment If one thinks of culture as the ‘way(the ZFM) and through more directed activities (the ZPA). The things are done’, as the norms ofrole of adults and teachers is to ensure that the environment of behaviour, than the culture of youngyoung people, whether within the ZFM or the ZPA, is resource people outside school is often veryrich, that it enables self-regulated and independent learning. different to that within. Just as it isThe role of a teacher is not always to control the learning. That increasingly acknowledged that cultureis not to say children do not need guidance, do not need to and heritage are important, that teachersbe ‘taught’ the basics. That is essential, but they also need to need to understand the backgrounds ofbe given opportunities to explore, to interact with others and their children, it is also important thatto extend their own passions and interests. Think about your schools value and acknowledge the wayclassroom and the learning experiences of your students. To the young of the twenty-first centurywhat extent do you, and they, operate within a ZPA rather than communicate and interact with theira ZFM? Do they only get to work independently, to make choices worlds.and to follow their interests, when the ‘real work’ is finished?Or have you set up a resource-rich environment within which it An example from a recent experience ofis safe for children to explore and to learn, to make choices and my daughter might help to show howto discover new things. Is the guidance offered relevant to their learning can be enriched through ancurrent developmental needs, to their ZPD? extension of the learning environment and recognition of the importance ofAs with Vygotsky’s theory this idea of zones is extended and others as teachers. For a project on warenriched by the networked and digital world of the twenty- she emailed a very close friend of herfirst century. For young people, the world extends far beyond grandfather’s and asked him about his experiences in the Malayan Emergency© 2013 PETAA – Primary English Teaching Association Australia. PETAA Paper 190: Literacy within, across and beyond the curriculum 3 ......

in the late 1950s. Not only did she Literacy beyond thelearn about this war, she also spent some curriculumtime talking to her grandfather about hisown experiences of compulsory military The central argument being positedservice and looking at old photos. in this paper is that literacy should notEveryone gained from the experience, the be confined by academic boundaries,learning was richer because it involved or be viewed as something that ispeople she knew, and it was more real. predominantly learned in school forThe role of the formal teacher? He set the school purposes. Few, if any, educatorsoriginal task: to interview someone who would deny the importance of studentshad been involved in the New Zealand developing the knowledge and skillsarmed forces. needed to ‘access, understand, analyse and evaluate information,What does this example have to do make meaning, express thoughts andwith literacy beyond the classroom? My emotions, present ideas and opinions,daughter was developing and extending interact with others and participate inher verbal and written literacy skills in a activities at school and in their livesnumber of authentic contexts. She used beyond school’ (ACARA, 2013). Mostboth verbal and written skills, as well as would clearly recognise the importanceinformation literacy. She had to email her of developing literacy skills across thegrandfather’s friend a set of questions, curriculum, of ensuring that studentsshe researched the Malayan Emergency become familiar with and find out howand spoke with her grandfather about to use the languages, texts and literacywhat she had been learning and about practices of the different subject areashis life. She did all this using her personal they encounter at school.literacies, her cultural repertoire. Thesocial environment within which this Less evident may be the importance of literacy beyond thelearning occurred extended well beyond curriculum, of the value of the myriad ways young peoplethe immediate classroom. More recently, communicate, participate and interact, share ideas andshe asked me to buy a book for her set emotions outside school, and the range of people they interactin the Malayan Emergency – a fictional with. Yet, the knowledge, attributes and skills studentsstory. School and home learning and develop through their social interactions beyond school haverecreation boundaries firmly blurred! the potential to enhance their learning within school, to provide new contexts, new meanings and diverse media. JustIt is true that not all students have access as teaching and learning can be defined as being broader thanto a resource-rich home life but that the traditional, formal notions of school-based teaching andshould not deter schools from looking learning (Lee and Ward, 2013) so too can literacy be definedbeyond their gates when designing as broader than that which enables students to engage inlessons, when engaging with families school-based learning. Think of the many individuals andand the wider community. Indeed, groups your students interact and communicate with and thesupporting the development of rich many opportunities they have for learning (both good andlearning opportunities in the home can bad!).be of benefit for all. The next time youare planning a lesson or unit of work,think about both Vygotsky and Valsinier,and ask yourself whether you have thebalance correct between the ZPA andthe ZFM. Also ask yourself whether youare recognising and using all the otherteachers in your students’ lives to extendtheir ZPD....... 4 © 2013 PETAA – Primary English Teaching Association Australia. PETAA Paper 190: Literacy within, across and beyond the curriculum

The knowledge, attributes and skills The place of digital students develop through their social technologies interactions beyond school have the It is true that digital technologies are at the forefront of changes to society and potential to enhance their learning that they continue to influence how we interact with each other and with within school. information. However, while education is now ‘inextricably tied to technology’As early as 1990, Resnick discussed the importance of literacy (Sharples et al., 2012, p. 7) it is not thepractices outside schools as a solution to the ‘literacy crisis’ only form of interaction and participation.in America. She argued that ‘schools are too isolated from Literacy beyond the curriculum is abouteveryday ways of using the written word to serve as the only more than digital technologies, it is aboutsource of literacy competence in society’ (p. 169). Rather than all forms of communication and all formsthe situation improving, one could argue it has worsened. of interaction.The last thirteen years have seen incredible changes in theway society communicates and interacts outside educational That is not to understate the extent toinstitutions, in the way information is accessed and new which digital technologies have enabledknowledge is created. However, as the world outside school the creation of new and exciting learningembraces the twenty-first century, schools seem increasingly contexts, contexts that can be rich innervous about allowing ‘disruptive technologies’ into their resources and opportunities. Nor is it toclassrooms, technologies that have the potential to change underestimate the power of increasinglyhow students experience, and more importantly, gain access mobile, sophisticated and accessibleto learning (Halverson and Smith, 2009). digital tools to disrupt our view of education. Learning is a social construct,In their 2011 report, Innovative Teaching and Learning Research, it requires interaction with others.SRI International suggest that education today ‘faces severalcritical gaps’ related to a lack of innovation in education The virtual worldcompared to the wider world (SRI international, n.d.). Theyargue that, as technological innovations continue to flourish enables interactions withand develop in the world and as the knowledge economy grows,students remain largely consumers of information. This is people and informationdespite the growing ability of schools to use the vast resourcesbeyond the gates to enhance, extend and enrich student that previouslylearning opportunities. Their research found huge variationswithin schools regarding the level of innovative practice. This were not possible inwas also true of individual activities and teachers. What theyfound was that learning activities incorporating a combination bounded learningof innovative practices were ‘quite rare’. Further, the learningactivities they did see offered few opportunities for students to contexts. It has also leddevelop ‘21st century learning skills’. Using a four-point scale(4 = strong) to rate learning activities, they found that the to the developmentmean score across all learning activities was 2. Examples givenwere children working in pairs, but not sharing responsibility of new literacies andfor the work as collaborative partners, or children repeatinginformation rather than building knowledge. Both are examples new identities; newof limited interaction, either because the teacher retains toomuch control (think Valsinier and the ZFM) or the student is ways of knowing andincapable of the level of interaction expected and needs moresupport (think Vygotsky and the ZPD). understanding the world around us.© 2013 PETAA – Primary English Teaching Association Australia. PETAA Paper 190: Literacy within, across and beyond the curriculum 5 ......

Think of the way many young people We all have different identities and operate in different cultures– and I mean young – communicate within and across our lives. In some instances these change asthrough digital technologies. It bears we transition across different life stages, assuming differentlittle resemblance to the way previous roles: student, child, parent, worker and so on. We can alsogenerations communicated – but have different identities within a life stage (eg school student,that does not mean it is wrong or athlete, musician, friend). In each of these worlds, the dominantinappropriate – it has just evolved. We discourse will be different to some extent from that in othermust not underestimate the depth of worlds. Sometimes the differences are large, as when newunderstanding, of sense-making and immigrants first experience a western-style education system.knowledge development that young In other instances they will be virtually non-existent, suchpeople experience through digital media. as when family values and norms closely mirror those of theJust because the communication is school. Recognising and, where appropriate, valuing differentdifferent does not mean it is invalid. We discourses is important. Also important is understanding andneed to use the passions and interests of using the many different worlds and influences that haveour students to motivate their learning. created the unique individual who is also a student.Have you thought about using virtual Around the world young people participate in what arecommunities to provide rich literacy essentially isolated communities of practice (Wenger, 1998).contexts? There is any number of These communities can be described as island states withexamples of these, where young people their own rules, infrastructure, systems and processes.are able to work with others around the Some are governed by adults, others are more independent.world on projects, to engage with experts Across these islands young people assume different roles andand to develop new literacy skills. One different identities, and interact with others using appropriateexample is The Global Classroom Project languages and symbols. This is their immediate environment,(http://theglobalclassroomproject. a microcosm of activity and people that forms and constrainswordpress.com/). their social, educational and emotional development. In some instances there are bridges between the islands, butMultiple worlds, most operate independently of each other. This microcosmmultiple literacies, is repeated many times around the globe; with parallel andmultiple identities: intersecting worlds.Building bridgesthrough and for Connecting these communities, using literacy to build bridges,learning can provide powerful learning experiences. These bridges can also provide opportunities to make school-based learning moreLet us turn now to understanding the authentic, more real, for students. They can enable you as avery different worlds students can classroom teacher to be responsive to different cultures andoccupy through their lives; the worlds discourses, to individual needs and interests.that literacy can connect, and the worldsthat require different literacies. It is Looking beyond thethrough literacy, through language, that immediate: New ideasyoung people are able to articulate their of learningidentity and culture, it is also throughliteracy that they present their different Increasingly, there is an understanding of the potential forcultural repertoires: the tools, behaviours learning that extends beyond the immediacy of a particularand values they are building as they lesson or classroom setting or even group of people. Dependentexplore the world around them. on the authors of a particular piece of literature, there may be different names or slightly different foci but all acknowledge the breadth and depth of the world beyond school and the richness and importance of the learning experiences within it. If you are...... 6 © 2013 PETAA – Primary English Teaching Association Australia. PETAA Paper 190: Literacy within, across and beyond the curriculum

interested in learning more, the following publications are compliance monitors as they sign readinga good starting point. While the examples given are generally logs, test spelling words or ensure theirfor students beyond the primary years, they can be readily children complete worksheets, enablescaffolded and adjusted. them to be active participants in their child’s learning. Set tasks that require ● Innovating Pedagogy 2012 (Sharples et al., 2012) collaboration and interaction, that enable available at: http://www.open.ac.uk/personalpages/ the home culture and experiences of the mike.sharples/Reports/Innovating_Pedagogy_report_ children to be recognised. July_2012.pdf In particular, look at the sections on Rhizomatic Learning and Seamless Learning. Be flexible during inquiry-based project work. Do not always dictate how learning ● Connected Learning: http://connectedlearning.tv/ should be accessed or presented. Allow what-is-connected-learning The report on Connected room for individuals, for personalising Learning (Mizuko et al., 2013) is full of case studies. the learning and its articulation. Some project work should occur within theEach of these models of learning has one important ingredient ZFM. Focus on the higher-order learningin common. They recognise that learning occurs as a social you require, not the detail. Does it matteractivity and that it should not be bounded by the immediate how a student demonstrates her or hisclassroom. They recognise that young people are continually learning if you are not teaching a specificlearning and that learning is a collaborative and collective literacy or presentation skill?activity involving diverse communities. In recognising this,they are also implicitly acknowledging that there are now For example, you may be doing amyriad ways to access information and learning, to make writing activity about writing for ansense of the world and to communicate new knowledge. audience. Many older primary students enjoy developing children’s books.What does this mean for schools? Does it matter if that book is written in English or their first language if it is a If literacy is the way to collaborate, language other than English? If they can to facilitate meaning and to express demonstrate to you that they understand learning, it is important to recognise the techniques and skills you want them that students may undertake sense- to learn, think of the added benefits to making in very different ways, they their learning and that of others if you may represent their ideas in different allow a broader set of literacies than the ways, and there are times when dominant one in your school. You have these are not only valid but very shown them – and their family – that you important. Following are some ideas value their language, culture and identity. for using the worlds your students live You have also enabled them to show in, for recognising the wider social their peers their bilingual capabilities – environment they inhabit. and potentially those same peers have been given the opportunity to learnA central idea is focusing on home learning, not home work. about another culture and language.Ensure that the tasks you require students to complete outside Perhaps their parents or grandparentsthe classroom are not simply extensions of what they do could come to the school and talk aboutin the classroom. Provide opportunities for them to engage how they shared stories and what thosewith others, to learn through these interactions and to focus stories were about. This could be a veryon what interests them. Rather than having parents act as exciting lesson about culture, about the use of language to demonstrate culture, and about how our identities develop over time through the people we interact with.© 2013 PETAA – Primary English Teaching Association Australia. PETAA Paper 190: Literacy within, across and beyond the curriculum 7 ......

In conclusion, as was stated at the start of this discussion, the purpose of this paper is to challenge, to provide some ideas worth further exploration. Its message is simple, the world beyond school is a rich learning resource, and the literacies used within it are as valid and as important as the ones used in the school. REFERENCES ACARA 2013, Australian Curriculum: English, General Capabilities: Literacy. The Global Classroom Project: http://theglobalclassroomproject.wordpress.com/ Halverson, R and Smith, A 2009, ‘How new technologies have (and have not) changed teaching and learning in schools’, Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 26 (2), pp. 49–54. Lee, M and Ward, L 2013, Collaboration in Learning: Transcending the classroom walls, ACER Press, Melbourne. Ministerial Council on Education, Employment Training and Youth Affairs 2008, Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians. <Accessed June 2013 from www.curriculum.edu.au> Mizuko, I, Gutierrez, K, Livingstone, S, Penuel, B, Rhodes, J, Salen, K, et al. 2013, Connected Learning: An agenda for research and design, Digital Media and Learning Research Hub, Irvine, CA. Resnick, LB 1990, ‘Literacy in school and out’, Daedalus, 119 (2), pp. 169–85. Sharples, M, McAndrew, P, Weller, M, Ferguson, R, Fitzgerald, E, Hirst, T, et al. 2012, Innovating Pedagogy 2012: Open University Innovation Report 1, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK. SRI international n.d., Innovative Teaching and Learning Research: 2011 findings and implications. <Accessed June 2013 from ITL Research: www.itlresearch.com> Valsinier, J 1997, Culture and the Development of Children’s Action: A theory of human development (2nd edn), John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, UK. Vygotsky, L 1962, Thought and Language, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Wenger, E 1998, Communities of Practice: Learning, meaning and identity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. About the author Dr Lorrae Ward has an extensive and varied background in education. Starting as an English teacher, her career includes university lecturer, professional development facilitator, educational evaluator and researcher. Her interests lie in the area of school reform and in extending the boundaries of teaching and learning to enrich the learning experiences of children. While much of her work has been in the area of digital technologies, her vision is wider than that. Dr Ward is currently working as an independent researcher and author and is the director of CYPERUS Ltd, a consultancy firm providing evaluation and professional services to a wide range of private and public organisations. About PETAA The Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA), founded in 1972, is a national professional association supporting primary school educators in the teaching and learning of English and literacies across the curriculum. For information on how to join and to view professional learning resources, visit the PETAA website. Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA) PO Box 3106, Marrickville Metro, NSW 2204, Australia Tel: (02) 8020 3900 Email: [email protected] Website: www.petaa.edu.au...... 8 © 2013 PETAA – Primary English Teaching Association Australia. PETAA Paper 190: Literacy within, across and beyond the curriculum