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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

 

Download (PDF, 407KB)

Download (PDF, 172KB)

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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Preparing students for the VCE EAL Exam

Online Presentations and Discussion Rooms, Tuesday 6 October, 4-5:30 pm

Naomi Weiler, Stephanie Georgiou, and Maria Papasotiriou

Are you preparing students for the VCE EAL exam? Get ideas and strategies from three experienced EAL teachers and join us afterwards for small group discussions.

Presenters

Stephanie Georgiou has more than 18 years of experience in teaching EAL. She has worked in the adult, Catholic and government sectors, continuing her ongoing tenure at the Department of Education and Training.  She has managed and coordinated multiple programmes throughout her career. This includes setting up a government funded bridging program for refugee students and most recently as Language Centre and EAL coordinator managing the learning of international students and teaching staff within that program. She has run numerous in-house in-services for staff on teaching strategies for EAL students.

Maria Papasotiriou is the Head of EAL at Wellington Secondary College, a large government secondary school in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne. She is an experienced VCE EAL teacher and has taught local and international students from culturally diverse backgrounds, including refugees with disrupted schooling. She has previously presented at the VATE Conference and has been an English assessor for VCAA.

Naomi Weiler is the EAL Unit 1-4 Coordinator and Gifted Learners’ Leader at St Francis Xavier College. Naomi has ten-years teaching experience in English, EAL, Humanities and Accelerated Subjects. Naomi will be presenting on Section A of the exam. Her approach to the Listening Task is based on the explicit teaching of skills and knowledge to aural content.

Session Resources

Section A Resources – Naomi Weiler, St. Francis Xavier College

Download (PPTX, 604KB)

Section B Resources – Stephanie Georgiou, McKinnon Secondary College

Download (PPTX, 809KB)

Download (DOCX, 312KB)

Download (DOCX, 31KB)

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Download (DOCX, 21KB)

Section C Resources – Maria Papasotiriou, Wellington Secondary College

Download (PPTX, 202KB)

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Meeting graduate standards for working with EAL/D learners – Dr Jenny Barnett

Tuesday 8th September 2020

Download (PDF, 2.17MB)

If you expect to work with EAL/D learners in your teaching career, then you will want to be familiar with the EAL/D Elaborations of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. In this webinar, Jenny went through some of the thinking behind the document and showed how it can serve teachers both in their preparation and their practice.  As convenor of the original writing group, she aimed to bring the EAL/D Elaborations to life, and to answer questions from the participants.

This webinar was aimed at Initial Teacher Education students and pre-service teachers.

Please click here to access the EAL/D Elaborations of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.

Dr Jenny Barnett worked for many years in TESOL teacher education at the University of South Australia, offering pre-service and in-service courses with a focus on inclusive pedagogies and curriculum design. Her research interests have centred on learning and teaching English in settings ranging from multilingual city schools to remote Indigenous communities and South East Asian universities.

https://docs.acara.edu.au/resources/EALD_Learning_Area_Annotations_Maths_Revised_February_2014.pdf

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Teaching Grammar: A Deductive Approach

Julia Lippold, Lauriston Girls School Thursday 30 July 2020 Online webinar https://youtu.be/BDVk8gVXHzI     ‘Students working things out for themselves.’ This principle is at the heart of Julia Lippold’s approach…

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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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Differentiation for EAL across the curriculum – Ruth Hibburt and the Geelong English Language Centre teachers and MEAs

Download (PDF, 1.03MB)

This session was a practical workshop to assist teachers to modify programs and scaffold learning to assist EAL students to access the Victorian Curriculum across all subject areas. Participants learnt about engaging EAL learners, scaffolding essential vocabulary and making appropriate modifications to learning and assessment tasks.

The session began with a short presentation from Ruth Hibburt. The presentation focused on the ‘nuts and bolts’ of differentiation. The powerpoint presentation is available above. A recording of the presentation will be available shortly.

This presentation was followed by expert teachers from GELC working with participants in small groups to guide them through making appropriate adjustments to a work sample for their EAL learners. Participants were asked to send in a work sample such as lesson plan, unit planner, assessment task or worksheet they are currently using or are planning to use in Term 3 so that GELC staff could formulate recommendations tailored specifically to participants’ needs. This part of the session was not recorded.

This session was aimed at primary and secondary school teachers. Prior to this event, participants were asked to read pages 32-36 of the article ‘Catering for EAL/D Students’ Language Needs in Mainstream Classes: Early Childhood Teachers’ Perspectives and Practices in One Australian Setting’ (Toni Dobinson & Sylvia Buchori).

* Recommended reading: Dobinson, T. J., & Buchori, S. (2016). Catering for EAL/D Students’ Language Needs in Mainstream Classes: Early Childhood Teachers’ Perspectives and Practices in One Australian Setting.. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41(2).

Ruth Hibburt is a highly accomplished teacher with over 12 years experience teaching in Victorian Secondary Schools 7-12 and English Language Centres P-10. She specialises in teaching the academic language of Mathematics and Science through planning, engagement, curriculum development, assessment and reporting for EAL Maths and Science P-10. Ruth is a positive change maker in education and an expert in building skills and confidence with teachers and students. She has taught over 3000 students from a diverse range of social backgrounds and learning needs. Ruth currently works in Victorian schools as a Network Numeracy Improvement Teacher.

The GELC staff are all qualified specialist EAL teachers with many years experience in delivering English language programs. GELC programs develop the English language knowledge and skills for students to access the Victorian curriculum across a range of subjects areas including maths, science, humanities and ICT. GELC staff also work in a coaching and mentoring capacity with mainstream classroom teachers to scaffold learning appropriately to meet the needs of EAL students.

Here is a presentation by Premila Veerasamy and Hsah Mu Hen Tun (Geelong English Language School) that covers some further content relating to the discussions from this professional learning event:

Download (PPTX, 4.88MB)

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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.

Download (PDF, 266KB)

 

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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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Learning from Home: Supporting EAL students remotely – Recordings from PL sessions (5 May & 7 May 2020)

 

Online discussion forum and mini-presentations
Tuesday 5 May & Thursday 7 May, 4:00-5:45pm

  • Clare Blackman & Jessie Sambell (Blackburn English Language School)
  • Emily Tucker (Carringbush Adult Education)
  • Nathan Chong (Brunswick English Language Centre)
  • Jennifer Peck (Languages and Multicultural Education Resource Centre- LMERC)

VicTESOL provided an online space for teachers to come together to discuss their experience of teaching and supporting EAL students remotely during the COVID-19 crisis.

The session began with a number of mini-presentations with presenters sharing what they have implemented so far and their reflections on the experience of remote teaching and learning. This was followed by small group discussions between participants in which there was an opportunity for participants to share their experience and also hear what other teachers are implementing, sharing tips and advice for future learning. Librarian Jennifer Peck from the Languages and Multicultural Education Resource Centre (LMERC) then presented some of their multilingual and EAL online resources.

Click here to access the information shared by Jennifer Peck from the Languages and Multicultural Education Resource Centre (LMERC).

Click here to view the ideas and the resource list compiled from teacher comments and discussions during these professional learning sessions.

Click here to join the teacher discussion forum on Facebook ‘LBOTE Families and home learning’.  Click here to access further information on the VicTESOL website about this discussion group.

Click here to access information relating to the Department resources.

Download (PDF, 415KB)

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Teaching EAL learners online using video conferencing

To download an edited PDF of powerpoint:

Download (PDF, 657KB)

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.