Literacies in Early Childhood (Paperback) | Released: 19 Dec 2019

Literacies in Early Childhood takes a deliberately eclectic approach to taking on new ideas about literacy teaching and learning in early childhood education, and challenges conventional thinking on new and returning debates about the 'best' way to teach early literacy.

The book is made up of four sections. Section 1 provides a balanced foundation for thinking about how literacy can be understood. Readers are provided with insight into a broad range of issues relevant to being a literacy teacher, and are invited to engage with different dimensions of the range of literacy repertoires required in today's times.

Section 2 considers notions of diversity by looking at issues including learning English as a second or additional language, early childhood programs for ATSI children, social justice in early childhood provision, and aspects of interculturalism.

In Section 3 the collection focuses specifically on the engagement of young children with pedagogy and the curriculum offered to them. This section includes a diverse selection of extracts and examples from research and practice. In the final section, the authors call literacy teachers to take up a position on what it means to learn literacy and teach literacy in today's contexts.

This collection is put forward not to provide definitive answers, but instead to open discussions in classrooms, lecture halls, and school staff rooms. Literacies in Early Childbood intends to be the impetus for much intellectual work toward providing quality and equity in literacy education across schools and early childhood education contexts.

About the Author:
Annette Woods, Associate Professor, Queensland University of Technology, Beryl Exley, Professor, Griffith University

Annette Woods is a Professor in the Faculty of Education at Queensland University of Technology. She teaches and researches in the areas of literacies, social justice, curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, and school reform. Her current research projects include a sociomaterial investigation into learning to write in the early years of school; a study of the implications of bringing literacy and sustainability together as children in kindergarten name their worlds, and research with teacher researcher partners on bringing imagination as a concept to the curriculum. She was a teacher across early childhood, primary and adult literacy contexts for many years before entering the academy. In 2018-2019 she was the President of the national research body, Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE).

Beryl Exley is a Professor who works as a teaching and research academic within the School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia. She is an experienced early years and primary years classroom teacher and teacher educator with an interest in English Curriculum and Literacies Education. She has authored and co-authored numerous chapters and journal articles on literacy as a social justice issue and pedagogical approaches for high quality learning and teaching in schooling. Beryl has served on the National Council of the Australian Literacy Educators' Association since 2005 and is currently the National President (2018-2019). She is also past-chair of the International Development in Oceania Committee, a standing committee of the International Literacy Association.