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Culturally Diverse Literature

Stories are powerful. They shape the way we think about the world, ourselves and each other. The stories we choose to present to students at school, as teachers and librarians, profoundly affect how students perceive the world and their place in it. We want to help you choose culturally diverse resources that reflect students’ diverse lives, promote inclusion, challenge stereotypes, confront racism and ultimately strengthen our multicultural society.

This series of professional learning events is a result of collaboration between staff from the Languages and Multicultural Education Resource Centre (LMERC), the School Libraries Association of Victoria (SLAV), Stella Schools, and VicTESOL.

About the Organisers:

The School Library Association of Victoria (SLAV) offers dynamic and inspiring opportunities for teacher-librarians and library teams to build their essential role in engaging and developing lifelong learners.  Through leadership, advocacy and collegiality and an extensive professional learning and publications program.

www.slav.org.au

Stella is an organisation that champions cultural change through recognising, elevating and celebrating Australian women’s writing.  It includes the annual Stella Prize award for women’s writing, the Stella Count, which examines gender bias in book reviewing and Stella Schools, which develops programs that seek to inspire and empower young people to find their own creative voices, challenge stereotypes and imagine a future not limited by their gender.

https://thestellaprize.com.au/

The Languages & Multicultural Education Resource Centre (LMERC) is for educators across all sectors K-12. LMERC provides resources in the areas of English as an Additional Language (EAL), Languages other than English, the Intercultural Capability and the cross curriculum priorities areas of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia, and Sustainability. The library holds an extensive collection of over 25,000 resources in all formats for educators across all sectors and at all levels, early childhood to adult. Library membership is available free to teachers from these educational settings: early childhood centres (in receipt of government funding), schools F-12 across all sectors, pre-service teachers and lecturers (in the areas of EAL and languages), homework clubs and community language schools. Home school parents, teachers of adults and community workers in education roles are also welcome to join.

https://lmerc.softlinkhosting.com.au/oliver/home/news

 

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Finding culturally diverse literature:

Stella has a couple of wonderful resources to support your text selection around gender diversity and writing from the intersection. If you would like to know more you can contact Lenny Robinson:  schools [at] thestellaprize.com.au and visit https://thestellaprize.com.au/.

In Part 3 of this Professional Learning Series (7 October 2020), groups discussed:

Auditing and Selection:

  • Have you audited your collections or text list?
  • What is your current process for selecting texts for the library or classroom study?
  • Do you have a selection policy? Is it ratified by the school administration?
  • What is included in text selection criteria?
  • What is the text selection process? How do you ensure input from all stakeholders?
  • How do you get input from students?
  • Have you set targets for the text list? What factors impedes reaching targets?
  • What changes are you considering making to your text selection process to improve it?
  • How do you make sure the texts you select are accessible to EAL learners at your school/institution?

Wider reading:

  • Beyond set texts, how do you promote diverse literature for pleasure reading?
  • Wider reading programs allow access to a wide range of resources. In what other ways can we support students to access culturally diverse literature?
  • What strategies do you have for engaging EAL learners in wider reading?

Suggestions:

  • What suggestions do you have for culturally diverse literature?
  • What suggestions do you have for finding quality, diverse literature? (eg. Suppliers, websites etc)
  • Multilingual resources – Suggestions?
  • What changes are you considering making to the texts in your collection or text lists?

In Part 2 of this Professional Learning Series (15 September 2020)

In part 2, we discussed possible ways to audit your current text lists or collections, and give resource recommendations for you to consider introducing at your school or institution.

Jennifer Peck took participants through the resources available through LMERC, including lists of culturally diverse texts.

Stella Schools Manager Lenny Robinson introduced the audience to two resources developed by Stella Schools to support diversity in text selection: The Read Up Reading Guide, developed in partnership with the Victorian Government, and the Stella Sparks Reading Guide, one of several resources included in their Resource Kit for Stella Sparks schools program.

We then split into groups facilitated by SLAV and LMERC librarians who took participants through some resource recommendations. This part of the session was not recorded.

Jennifer Peck’s presentation: 

Download (PDF, 5.18MB)

Lenny Robinson- Stella Schools Manager:

 

LMERC text lists:

Group Presentation Resources:

  • 6-12 year old readers– Raff Grasso:

https://bit.ly/2RrMd6y

https://padlet.com/grassr/2qvzrijrajxkn8nm

Participants were asked to read the article ‘Assessing and selecting culturally diverse literature for the classroom’ by Helen Adam and Laurie Harper (2016) prior to attending this professional learning event.  The article can be accessed by clicking here.

Adam, H., & Harper, L. (2016). Assessing and selecting culturally diverse literature for the classroom. Retrieve from https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013/1892

Upcoming Professional Learning:

VicTESOL:

https://victesol.vic.edu.au/index.php/events/

SLAV:

Picture Book Showcase

8 October, 4 to 6pm

https://slav.wildapricot.org/event-3934920

 

Masterclass – Powering Learning – Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives

Joint event with LMERC

13 November, 9.30 to 12.30

https://slav.wildapricot.org/event-3871570

 

Virtual Conference – The Power of Reading

27 November, 8.30 to 3.30

ttps://slav.wildapricot.org/event-3696748

 

Download (PDF, 483KB)

Download (PDF, 380KB)

Download (PDF, 2.68MB)

 

 

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Translanguaging in the Classroom- Dr Sue Ollerhead (Macquarie University)

In this workshop, Dr Sue Ollerhead discussed the important role that students’ home languages play in their classroom learning. She explored the rationale for using translanguaging as a pedagogical approach…

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Learning from home: Supporting EAL students remotely – Participant contributions

The ideas compiled here are from teacher comments and discussions during a number of professional learning sessions that VicTESOL has run since the move to online and remote learning began. The teachers who participated were from primary and secondary schools and from the adult education sector.

Like the teachers in this session, we hope the ideas and resources in this list help you to also feel more confident about supporting EAL learners remotely. This list includes the positives (what’s working), some challenges, tips, strategies and resources. We hope you find them both useful for, and affirming of your experiences and practices.  Thank you to all the participants for sharing their ideas and to the session facilitators for compiling them.

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English as an Additional Language (EAL) – Department information

EAL information for schools is outlined on the Department website at:

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/support/diversity/eal/Pages/default.aspx

Click here to access information relating to:

 

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Teaching EAL learners online using video conferencing

To download an edited PDF of powerpoint:

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To download the resource links page:

Download (DOCX, 15KB)

Victoria Butterfield, Voula MacKenzie, Heena Sharma, Panayiota Kai
The Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program of the Victorian School of Languages (VSL)
Tuesday 28 April, 4-5pm
Online Webinar

Are you faced with the challenge of teaching your EAL students online during the COVID-19 crisis?

This session provided practical strategies for teaching EAL online, followed by a Q and A session with a panel of expert primary and secondary EAL teachers who work with the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program.

Participants learnt tips and strategies for the effective use of videoconferencing to teach EAL learners. Examples were shown of how engaging lessons can be conducted online for F-10 EAL learners at all levels.

This professional learning session focused on working with EAL students who have access to videoconferencing software at home.

About the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program [VNAP]
The Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program supports new arrival EAL students using video conferencing sessions delivered through a distance education model at the Victorian School of Languages (VSL). The Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program (VNAP) is specifically for newly-arrived EAL learners in remote country schools who cannot access an English Language School or English Language Centre.

Victoria Butterfield is co-coordinator and a teacher in the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program (VNAP). She is a highly accomplished EAL teacher who has taught in English Language Schools and Centres in Victoria for the past twelve years. Since 2017, Victoria has taught in the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program to support newly-arrived EAL learners and teachers in regional Victoria.

Voula MacKenzie is an experienced EAL, Information Technology and Humanities teacher, who has taught in Victorian secondary schools, English Language centres and most recently at the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program (Distance Education) hosted at the Victorian School of languages campus in Thornbury. Since 2014, Voula has led the development of the Virtual EAL program, which began as a pilot project, and is now an established program with 65 students throughout rural Victoria. Voula co-coordinates the program.

Heena Sharma is a generalist teacher specialising in EAL. She has worked in government Primary schools for over 15 years and in collaboration with Panayiota Kai teaching EAL. Heena Sharma joined the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program team in 2017.

Panayiota Kai is a generalist teacher specialising in Languages and EAL. She has taught in government Primary and Secondary schools for over 20 years. Panayiota has worked as an EAL Coach, trained EAL Leaders and offered PD on EAL issues. Panayiota has been part of the Virtual EAL New Arrivals Program as Curriculum Co-ordinator since 2015.

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Multicultural Classrooms – Plurilingualism in Practice Webinar presented by Janet Armitage

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Wednesday 4 March

Functional Multilingualism/Translanguaging are currently popular terms being researched, discussed and adapted to diverse learning settings. This webinar was a practical response to the current interest in Translanguaging, suggesting ways this might look in EALD classrooms and what teachers might consider when developing Translanguaging activities. With the intention of bringing students’ linguistic and cultural knowledge to the fore through redesigning Australian Curriculum and SACE task, four tasks, along with samples of student work, were presented and discussed.

Janet Armitage currently works for the South Australian Department for Education in the role of EAL/D Hub Coach supporting teachers in professional development that recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander EALD learners. Janet undertook action research in a large secondary school in South Australia where she was an EALD teacher and EALD & Languages Coordinator. She is also a PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics with the University of South Australia and has been part of a team providing professional development to Languages teachers across the state.

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The diverse interactions of Aboriginal EALD speakers: Codeswitching, translanguaging or “whatever”….

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Professor Rhonda Oliver, Curtin University
Monday 28 October, 7-8pm (Australian Eastern Standard Daylight Savings Time)

Australian Aboriginal people interact in diverse ways and this is especially the case for those who grow up and live in rural and remote locations. In such locations Standard Australian English (SAE) is often not spoken as the residents’ first language or dialect, instead they may have either traditional Indigenous language(s) or an English-lexified creole as their first language (L1), or they may have Aboriginal English (AE) as their first dialect. In addition, most will also use AE as the lingua franca to communicate with other Aboriginal people who do not share their home language. For Aboriginal people, particularly those living in the rural and remote communities, the importance of language (i.e., traditional languages, creoles and AE), both for the maintenance of culture and as a marker of Aboriginality, should not be underestimated. For younger people in particular, their Aboriginal languages contribute in significant ways to the formation of their self-identity. At the same time, however, to fully participate in mainstream Australian society Aboriginal people also need to develop an awareness of and have skills in using SAE. This is especially the case for those studying in schools and universities. To address this need, Aboriginal students have been encouraged and, at times, explicitly taught to codeswitch – changing from their home language to SAE within the classroom. This has been implemented on the assumption that written literacy development will emerge from such a foundation. Yet despite this, educational outcomes (e.g., NAPLAN results) show they continue to achieve under the national standard in language and literacy (ACARA, 2012). While formal success in SAE seems elusive, many Aboriginal speakers, including children, demonstrate a complex linguistic repertoire. Rather than simply switching from one language to another they move fluidly between their various linguistic codes and do so as required by the context, audience, and the learning environment. In this presentation I will describe various observational data showing the diverse ways and various modes in which they do this and make suggestions for how pedagogy (including assessment) can move beyond our current monolinguistic hegemony to one that is Informed by a translanguaging perspective (Garcia & Wei, 2014).

Professor Rhonda Oliver is Head of the School of Education at Curtin University, Perth, Australia. She is widely published in the area of second language acquisition with more than 4,000 citations to her publications. Internationally she is best known for her work in relation to child language learners. As well as work within the interactionist paradigm, she has also conducted numerous studies on language learners in schools and universities. She has also undertaken work in the area of Aboriginal education, particularly for those students who have Standard Australia English as their second language or dialect.

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Carolyn Elliot, Principal, Doncaster Gardens Primary School: ‘I can rather than I can’t’ – supporting students, families and teachers to achieve continued growth

VicTESOL Symposium – August 2019

In this inspiring presentation, Carolyn shared her experience and insights into supporting newly arrived migrants and refugees in a school setting. She began with a look at what constitutes an “I can” rather than an “I can’t” mindset, then outlined ideas about how to gather information, value stories and build relationships with new families. She then introduced some practical resources for teachers to use in planning and implementing programs to support students in their settlement and English language learning. Positive and constructive, this session reassured teachers that they can make, and are making, a difference to each student every day.

Session Summary by Michelle Andrews, VicTESOL Committee Member

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Fiona Ackerly, Susan Govett & Brooke Henderson with Margaret Nutbean: Teaching Young Children in English in Multilingual Contexts (TYCEMC)

VicTESOL Symposium – August 2019

Fiona, Brooke and Susan spoke about the teaching and learning cycle that they use with their EAL students following participation in Margaret Nutbean’s intensive TYCEMC workshops. Participants were able to see how ideas from the workshop were modified to meet the learning needs of the EAL students in their setting. The ideas presented at their workshop were practical, relevant and demonstrated how the teaching and learning cycle supported the EAL students through recycling and reinforcing language. An engaging presentation that left participants with ideas to consider using in their own classrooms.  

Session summary by Yan Yao Choong, VicTESOL committee member

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Kate Plant, EAL leader, Newbury Primary School: Establishing an EAL program in a mainstream primary school

VicTESOL Symposium – August 2019

Kate Plant demonstrated how she works with the teachers in Newbury Primary School to set up a program that places student wellbeing at the forefront to provide an optimum learning environment for the EAL students in her school. She discussed using strategies such as using standard visual displays across the school and consistent classroom routines to reduce the cognitive load on the EAL students. She also talked about how she structures her timetable to ensure that EAL students receive EAL instruction according to their level of support required. Kate also talked about how she engages families in their children’s learning. Participants came out of the workshop equipped with practical ideas that can be implemented in their own schools.

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