The theory behind teaching literacy enabled me to reflect on my own teaching and how and when I actually encourage literary learning to occur. I co-teach history and geography to the whole school alongside the RFF teacher. My program has aspects of transmission, student-centred and sociocultural learning theories and upon reflection but I would love to reduce the amount of my program that includes the transmission theory and increase student-centred and sociocultural learning theories as I feel they are more conducive to literary learning condition. Moving forward, I will implement literature circles as it is a student-centred approach that allows the students some control and ownership over their learning and it encourages socio-cultural learning to take place as students work together and learn from each other (Bales, 2022; Beach et al., 2011). The flexible nature of literature circles is appealing and provides an adaptable tool that allows the curriculum to be taught in an efficient and effective manner.

Children’s fiction literature has so much more to offer than simply teaching students how to read and write. It provides an opportunity to deepen cross-cultural understandings, (Magabala, n.d.), it promotes cognitive empathy (Kucirkova, 2019), it can change social practices with critical literacies (Leland et al., 2017) and the list goes on. I think one of the biggest take aways I have learnt from this subject is that all students should be represented within the school library collection (Jorgeson & Burress, 2020) as this allows them to connect personally with fiction. Once students have this connection, they may then build connections and understandings with others (Winch et al., 2020). Fiction text allow students to explore sensitive issues and gain a sense of hope in a world that is not always rainbows and sunshine (Winch et al., 2020). As a teacher librarian, it is my priority to improve the library collection and ensure diversity to meet all needs of the school community and ensure school censorship policies are in line with national library policies and procedures (Australian Library and Information Association, 2018a).

At the beginning of this subject, my ideas about the significance of technology in adding value to literary learning, was emerging as evident in my blog post. Working through this subject I have developed my understandings of the impact technology has on literary learning and how it may occur when engaging with fiction online. This occurs not simply via eBooks or a read aloud on YouTube but rather through the many interactive sites that add multimodal dimensions to fiction. The variety of modes in multiliteracies includes texts that combine a range of forms that require their own set of skills to make meaning (Johnston, 2014). These multimodal texts allow students to engage and interact with the text at different levels to gain understandings and multiple perspectives for deeper learning to occur (Robertson, 2016). Even though I struggle with the balance of screen time for children as highlighted in the discussion post (9 Jan 2023), it has influenced my role as a teacher librarian by incorporating multimodal text to enhance multiliteracy learning in teaching and learning programs.

References

Australian Library and Information Association (2018a). ALIA core values policy statement. https://read.alia.org.au/alia-core-values-policy-statement

Bales, J (2022). Teaching and promotion strategies for using literature [modules]. ETL402, Interact 2. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_64656_1&content_id=_5408646_1

Beach, R., Appleman, D., Hynds, S., & Wilhelm, J. (2011). Teaching literature to adolescents. Taylor and Francis.

Jorgenson, S. & Burress, R. (2020). Analyzing the diversity of a high school library collection. Knowledge Quest, 48(5), 48–53.

Kucirkova, N. (2019). How could children’s storybooks promote empathy? A conceptual framework based on developmental psychology and literary theory. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 121–121. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00121

Magabala Books, (n.d.). Teaching Indigenous Content. https://www.magabala.com/pages/teaching-indigenous-content

Leland, C. H., Lewison, M., & Harste, J. C. (2017). Teaching children’s literature : It’s critical!. Taylor & Francis Group.

Ross Johnston, R. (2014). Literary literacies: Digital, cultural, narrative, critical and deep literacies. In G. Winch, R. Ross Johnston, P. March, L. Ljungdahl & M. Holliday (Eds.), Literacy: Reading, writing and children’s literature (5th ed., pp. 534-558). Oxford University Press.

Roberts, J. M. (2016). Influence of the Digital Age on Children’s Literature and Its Use in the Classroom. In K. A. Munger (Eds.), Steps to Success: Crossing the Bridge Between Literacy Research and Practice (Chapter 7). Open SUNY Textbooks. https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/steps-to-success/chapter/7-influence-of-the-digital-age-on-childrens-literature-and-its-use-in-the-classroom/

Winch, G., Johnston, R. R., & March, P. (2020). Literacy: Reading, writing and children’s literature (6th ed.). Oxford University Press Australia & New Zealand.