Abstract
Accelerated Literacy pedagogy was implemented in many places in Australia in the 1990s and 2000s in remote Indigenous and other educationally disadvantaged school sites. The pedagogy has been evaluated many times, with mixed outcomes. Evaluation methodologies have varied widely, and student apparent growth data have proved difficult to collect. This chapter argues that a program so implemented in such varied contexts cannot be judged without due and separate regard to the theories that underpin the pedagogy and to the implementation processes in each context. The chapter offers the South Australian Accelerated Literacy Program (SAALP) as one example of an implementation site, managed by the author. After explaining the theoretical basis and intent of the pedagogy, I use criteria for effective implementation proposed by two McKinsey Reports and Fullan to analyse the implementation processes used in SAALP. I use NAPLAN effect size data for Reading and Writing, and Reading Comprehension growth data to demonstrate the effect of the program in mainstream South Australian schools across 3 years. The data show how the implementation strategies used in this context were able to show a sustained positive effect.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
In South Australia, schools are categorised using an Index of Disadvantage, ranging from 1 (highest level of disadvantage) to 7 (lowest level of disadvantage.) The formula is similar to the national Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage.
References
ACARA (2008). National Assessment Program, Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). Melbourne: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. https://www.nap.edu.au/
ACER. (2003). Test of reading comprehension (TORCH). Melbourne: Australian Council of Education Research.
ACER. (2011). SAALP Test of reading comprehension (TORCH) growth analysis. Camberwell, Victoria: ACER.
ACER. (2012). SAALP Test of reading comprehension (TORCH) growth analysis. Camberwell, Victoria: ACER.
ACER. (2013). SAALP Test of reading comprehension (TORCH) growth analysis. Camberwell, Victoria: ACER.
APA. (2000). Excellence in leadership in Indigenous education award. Sydney: Australian Principals’ Association Professional Development Council.
Bernstein, B. (1990). Class, codes and control No 4: The structuring of pedagogic discourse. London/New York: Routledge.
Bernstein, B. (2000). Pedagogy, symbolic control, and identity: Theory, research, critique. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.
Berry, R., & Hudson, J. (1997). Making the jump: a resource book for teachers of Aboriginal students. Broome: Catholic Education Office.
Bruner, J. S., & Watson, R. (1983). Child’s talk: Learning to use language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cazden, C. B. (2001). Classroom discourse: the language of teaching and learning. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Coe, R. (2002). It’s the effect size, stupid: What effect size is and why it is important. Paper presented at the annual conference of the British Educational Research Association, University of Exeter, UK.
Cresswell, J., Underwood, C., & Withers, G. (2002). Evaluation of the scaffolding literacy program with Indigenous children in school. Melbourne: ACER.
Fullan, M. (2006). The future of educational change: System thinkers in action. Journal of Educational Change, 7(3), 113–122.
Fullan, M. (2011). Choosing the wrong drivers for whole system reform. Melbourne: CSE.
Fullan, M. (2014). The principal: Three keys to maximizing impact. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.
Gibbons, P. (2002). Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning. Teaching second language learners in the mainstream classroom. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Gray, B. (1984). Helping children to become language learners in the classroom. Darwin: Northern Territory Department of Education.
Gray, B. (1990). Natural language learning in aboriginal classrooms: Reflections on teaching and learning style for empowerment in English. In C. Walton & W. Eggington (Eds.), Language maintenance and education in Australian aboriginal contexts (pp. 105–139). Darwin: NTU Press.
Gray, B. (1998). Accessing the discourses of schooling. Dissertation, University of Melbourne.
Gray, B. (2007). Accelerating the literacy development of Indigenous students: The National Accelerated Literacy Program (NALP). Darwin: Charles Darwin University Press.
Gray, B. (2014a). The accelerated literacy program: Developmental outline. ALPAA. http://www.alpaa.com.au/resources/publications
Gray, B. (2014b). The Traeger Park project: Developmental outline. ALPAA. http://www.alpaa.com.au/resources/publications
Gray, B., & Cazden, C. B. (1992). Concentrated language encounters: International biography of a curriculum concept. Paper presented at the 26th annual TESOL Convention, Vancouver.
Gray, B., & Cowey, W. (2001). University of Canberra accelerated literacy program: First report to the Northern Territory department of education and training. Melbourne: University of Canberra.
Gray, B., & Cowey, W. (2002). University of Canberra accelerated literacy program: Third report to the Northern Territory department of education and training. Canberra: University of Canberra.
Gray, B., Gray, P., & Cowey, W. (2002). University of Canberra accelerated literacy program: Second report to the Northern Territory department of education and training. Canberra: University of Canberra.
Gray, B., Cowey, W., & Axford, B. (2003). Scaffolding literacy with Indigenous children in school. Final report to the Indigenous education branch, DETYA. Canberra: University of Canberra.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1993). Towards a language-based theory of learning. Linguistics and Education, 5(2), 93–116.
Hammond, J. (2001). Scaffolding: Teaching and learning in the language and literacy classroom. Newtown: PETAA.
Hargreaves, A. (2005). Extending educational change. Dordrecht: Springer.
Hasan, R. (2005). Semiotic mediation, language and society: Three exotropic theories – Vygotsky, Halliday and Bernstein. In J. J. Webster (Ed.), Language, society and consciousness: Ruqaiya Hasan. London: Equinox.
Hattie, J. (1992). Measuring the effects of school. Australian Journal of Education, 36(1).
Kemp, M. (1987). Watching children read and write. Victoria: Deakin University.
Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. E. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experiential and inquiry-based teaching. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 75–86.
Konza, D. (2010). Understanding the reading process. Adelaide: DECS.
Konza, D. (2011). Phonological awareness. Adelaide: DECS.
Lundgren, U. (1981). Model analysis of pedagogical processes, 2nd edn, Stockholm: CWK Gleerup.
Martin, K. (2005). Childhood, lifehood and relatedness: Aboriginal ways of being, knowing and doing. In J. Phillips & J. Lampert (Eds.), Introductory Indigenous studies in education: The importance of knowing. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia.
Martin, J. R. (2011). Bridging troubled waters: Interdisciplinarity and what makes it stick. In F. Christie & K. Maton (Eds.), Disciplinarity: Functional linguistic and sociological perspectives. London: Continuum.
Martin, J. R. (2013). Embedded literacy: Knowledge as meaning. Linguistics and Education, 24(1), 23–27.
Mitchell, D. (2013). What really works in special and inclusive education: Using evidence-based teaching strategies. London: Routledge.
Mourshed, M., Chikioke, C., & Barber, M. (2010). How the world’s most improved school systems keep getting better. McKinsey Report. McKinsey & Company.
NALP. (2008a). AL teaching sequence. Melbourne: Curriculum Corporation.
NALP. (2008b). Practitioner guide: Lesson observation and classroom support. Melbourne: Curriculum Corporation.
NALP. (2008c). Questioning techniques. Melbourne: Curriculum Corporation.
Nicholson, T. (1984). The process of reading: An introduction to theory and practice in the teaching of reading. Cammeray: Martin Educational.
NRP. (2000). Report of the national reading panel: Teaching children to read. Rockville: NRP.
Parkin, B. (1999). Deadly readin’ writin’ and talkin’ project annual report: We’re on to something. Adelaide: Salisbury North R-7 School. http://www.alpaa.com.au/resources/publications
Parkin, B. (2000). Deadly readin’ writin’ and talkin’ project annual report: On the move. Adelaide: Salisbury North R-7 School. http://www.alpaa.com.au/resources/publications
Parkin, B. (2001). Deadly readin’ writin’ and talkin’ project annual report: Getting somewhere. Adelaide: Salisbury North R-7 School. http://www.alpaa.com.au/resources/publications
Parkin, B. (2014). South Australian accelerated literacy program: Final report. Adelaide: DECD. https://www.alpaa.com.au/resources/reports/parkin-b-2014-saalp-final-report-adelaide-saalp
Pearson, P. D., & Hiebert, E. H. (2010). National reports in literacy. Educational Researcher, 39(4), 286–294.
Pressley, M. (2002). Reading instruction that works: The case for balanced teaching. New York: Guildford Press.
Rose, D., Gray, B., & Cowey, W. (1998). Providing access to academic literate discourse for Indigenous learners. Ngoonjook, 15, 62–70.
SAALP (2013). Effective school Rubric’ DECD. Adelaide: SAALP. https://www.alpaa.com.au/sites/default/files/downloads/fs10_effective_school_rubric_2013.pdf
Siegel, D. J. (2001). Toward an interpersonal neurobiology of the developing mind: Attachment relationships, mindsight, and neural integration. Infant Mental Health Journal, 22(1), 67–94.
Stahl, S. (2002). Phonics they really use: Phonics in a balanced literacy program. Paper presented at the CIERA, Georgia.
Stern, D. (1985). Affect attunement: Mechanisms and clinical implications. In J. Call, E. Galenson, & R. Tyson (Eds.), Frontiers of infant psychiatry (Vol. 2). New York: Basic Books.
Sugrue, C. (1997). Complexities of teaching: Child-centred perspectives. London: Falmer Press.
Trevarthen, C. (1998). The child’s need to learn a culture. In M. Woodhead (Ed.), Cultural worlds of early childhood. London: Routledge.
UNESCO. (2006). Why literacy matters. In Education for all: Global monitoring report. Paris: UNESCO.
Vanblaere, B., & Devos, G. (2016). Exploring the link between experienced teachers’ learning outcomes and individual and professional learning community characteristics. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 27(2), 205–227.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Vyotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Wertsch, J. V. (1985). Culture, communication, and cognition: Vygotskian perspectives. Cambridge: CUP.
Westhorp, J. (2008). Effective contexts for accelerated literacy. Adelaide: DECD. http://www.alpaa.com.au/resources/publications
Wilson, B. (2013). A share in the future: The review of Indigenous education in the Northern Territory. Darwin: NTDETE.
Wood, D. J. (1989). Social interaction as tutoring. In M. H. Bornstein & J. S. Bruner (Eds.), Interaction in human development. Hillsdale: L. Erlbaum Associates.
Wood, D. J., Bruner, J., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17(2), 89–100.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Parkin, B. (2019). Good Theory, Good Systems: An Instance of Accelerated Literacy Pedagogy Implementation. In: Rennie, J., Harper, H. (eds) Literacy Education and Indigenous Australians. Language Policy, vol 19. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8629-9_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8629-9_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-8628-2
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-8629-9
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)