ETL402 – Assessment 2 – Part B – Reflection
As a current primary Stage 2 classroom teacher moving towards becoming a Teacher Librarian (TL), I have found so much of this subject invaluable for working with our current TL’s more closely as well as being highly informative to assist me in my future practice. My knowledge of the current book industry and the encouragingly dominant market share Children’s and YA literature occupies within the general market expanded through Module 1. Above all I have learnt more specifically what TL’s teach (Valenza, 2011) and their value when collaborating with the classroom teacher (Purcell, 2010).
My understanding of literary learning has expanded through Module 2 with a greater awareness of genres and formats and their capacity to assist all learners (Haven, 2007), including high potential learners and students with learning support. For many students literary learning has also shown to increase the reader engagement with the text and enhance recall when compared with other textual styles (Cornett, 2014). I also learned that one of the highest values of literature is to facilitate discussion (Allington & Gabriel, 2014) and this will benefit students when engaging in classroom literary responses and cross-curricula understanding.
My knowledge of literary response strategies (Derouet, 2020) has greatly expanded as has my deeper awareness of the semantic distinction between literacy and literary learning which was explored in Module 5. Prior to this subject I was not fully aware of the clear distinctions between literacy and literary learning. This deeper learning will help me in the future when planning and selecting literary resources to suit other subject areas and cross-curriculum priorities.
Module 6 inspired me to broaden my knowledge of digital literature to give students a greater range of platforms to express ideas through technology. When I absorbed research highlighting the reported greater use of technology in secondary schools compared with primary schools (Moore & Cahill, 2016), it strengthened my resolve to expose my current and future students to more digital forms of literature and to encourage an increasing number of digital literary responses when integrating resources into class lessons. My exploration of graphic novels at the start of this subject also opened my classroom programming to include digital versions of graphic novels (Huynh, 2015) which I had not previously considered!
Overall it is my new knowledge about the capacity of literature to make connections for students between what they already know and what they are learning about; and to build new neural networks of understanding as they use literary resources to respond to curriculum subjects other than English. Furthermore, through the focus of literary learning in response to the Cross-Curriculum Priority of Sustainability I have respected how much literature can deeply enable students to respond to the wider world beyond the classroom and encourage connections of relevance to be made between literature, the student’s inner world, the local community and the global environment.
As much as I have always loved teaching literature to students within the subject of English, this newfound awareness of the wider-reaching implications of literary learning to enhance curriculum understanding and depth within other subjects will inspire me for my classroom programming for the remainder of this year and beyond.
References
Allington, R., & Gabriel, R. (2014). Every child, every day. Educational Leadership, 69(6). 10-15. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=af8a4fab-9b19-447e-835f-78f39f145c0b%40sdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=73183256&db=ehh
arts integration for Classroom teachers (5th ed., pp. 144-193). USA.
Thread: Examples of literature response strategies. ETL402 Discussion Board. Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_44234_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_88815_1&forum_id=_181934_1&message_id=_2891282_1
The science behind the starting power of story. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group.
A digital graphic novel adaptation. Retrieved from http://www.sbs.com.au/theboat/
Moore, J., & Cahill, M. (2016). Audiobooks; Legitimate ‘reading’ material for adolescents? Research Journal of the American Association of School Librarians. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/slr/volume19/moore-cah
Purcell, M. (2010). All librarians do is check out books right? A look at the roles of the school library media specialist. Library Media Connection. 29(3), 30-33.
Valenza, J. (2011). What do Librarians Teach? Retrieved from http://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2010/12/03/a-revised-manifesto/
Wheeler, M. (2020, May 17). A Vision for the Future of Children’s Literature [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/csurtc/2020/05/17/a-vision-for-the-future-of-childrens-literature/