Part B – Reflective Blog Post
From both an educational and personal perspective, I have always been aware of just how important quality literature is to the education of young children. Although this concept is not foreign, the term ‘literary learning’ and how intricate literary learning can be was something I have learnt and developed throughout ETL402. Initially, I was not alone in assuming ‘literacy learning’ and ‘literary learning’ could be interchangeable terms. However, once I had read through existing literature, I came to realise that they are two very distinct activities. Throughout ETL402, I explored various literary learning experiences, in particular literature responses. Travers and Travers (2008) were particularly pertinent in my developing understanding of the importance of quality student literature responses especially how students provide their own unique perspectives and experiences when interacting with literature. Despite literacy and literary learning being two distinct concepts, I have come to learn they are interconnected. Having been a classroom teacher for three years, I have become well versed in the range of literacies that young children possess however exploring ‘transliteracy’ in ETL402 provided another perspective on literacy. In the Module Five discussion forum, I made a response to the post regarding transliteracy practices and how it includes ‘visual, digital and audio formats’ and student ability to synthesize these formats (Walmsley, 2020) but my understanding has now shifted to include how students must be able to easily convert between the formats and, as a Teacher Librarian, understand the context of ever changing information landscapes and how transliteracy plays into this rather than just being able to synthesize the information. At the conclusion of ETL402, it is evident how much there is to learn about literary learning and how invaluable literature can be to a child’s development.
It is now crucial that I take all of the knowledge I have gained regarding literary learning and ponder how I will incorporate it into my practice as a Teacher Librarian. Some of the most important aspects to my future practice as a Teacher Librarian regarding literary learning is educating colleagues and advocacy. I envision my Teacher Librarian practice to include collaboration with all educators to support the inclusion of literature across curriculum areas. I also aim to inform educators on best practice regarding literary learning, particularly literature responses. This would involve continuous verbal communication about literature with students in the early years, encouraging creative literature responses as well as exploring a technology driven approach to responding to literature. As Boote (2012) highlights, what society defines as ‘literacy’ is becoming increasingly diverse. Therefore, my future practice as a Teacher Librarian will involve a focus on developing student ability to become transliterate ensuring they can effectively interact with and shift between any literature they may encounter. Ultimately, as the Teacher Librarian, my future practice will greatly involve creating a culture of literary experiences. The culture of literary learning will involve all of the school community and permeate through student school and home life with the school library as the hub of literary learning.
References:
Boote, E. C. (2012). Transliteracy: Defining a skillset for 21st century literacy. Retrieved from https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/masters_papers/gb19f930b
Travers, B. E., & Travers, J. F. (2008). Children, literature and development: Interactions and insight. In B. E. Travers & J. F. Travers, Children’s literature: A developmental perspective. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.
Walmsley, N. (2020, January 8). Re: Transliteracy practices [blog comment]. Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_38049_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_74552_1&forum_id=_177196_1&message_id=_2631509_1
