Literacy Professional Learning Package

In May 2006, Dr Kristina Love and Dr Julie Hamston won a $100,000 contract with the Department of Education and Training to produce the Prep-Year 10 Literacy Professional Learning Package. This project provides valuable resources for teachers to enable them to improve the teaching of literacy, especially in schools where achievement is currently lower than expected. The Literacy Professional Learning Resource can be viewed on the Department of Education's English Domain Website

Five modules were developed, based on contemporary state, national and international, evidence-based research and methodology. Each module takes into account the diverse nature of the Victorian student population and comprises a series of strategic professional learning interactions which can be combined flexibly by a school-based facilitator to best meet the needs of participants. Each module includes:

• pre-reading to set the context
• an outline of the content
• a series of strategic professional learning interactions (based on a balance of theory and practical application) suitable for Years P – 6 and Years 7 -10
• materials and further references that expand on module content
• processes for individual and collaborative reflections on personal practice
• facilitator’s speaker notes
• module preparation notes.
  

The modules are structured around VELS’s three key stages of learning: P-4 (Laying Foundations); 5-8 (Building Breadth and Depth) and 9-10 (Developing Pathways), since the research literature can also be viewed as focussing on these key stages. As such, the package of modules links to DE&T’s Early Years Literacy Program and the Middle Years Literacy Leader Professional Development Program.

The Package is designed for face to face and online delivery at a school, cluster and regional level for Years Prep – 6 and Years 7 – 10 school-based literacy leaders, coordinators and teachers. The initial audience for face-to-face delivery is staff in identified schools with significant numbers of students not achieving expected outcomes in literacy.
The 5 modules collectively include the following focus areas:

• understanding standard Australian English language and second language and literacy acquisition at all stages of learning (Prep to Year 10)
• effective, inclusive approaches and strategies for teaching literacy and supporting students with diverse and higher needs
• assessment of, for and as  literacy learning
• supporting literacy across the domains of the Victorian Essential Learning Standards, particularly in the interdisciplinary learning domains
• improving, monitoring and sustaining professional learning capacity.