Week 3, September 18th + Portfolio 4.1

Learning to read the world: Literacy in the first 3 years.

I chose this literacy reading as I was drawn to the practical-sounding title & dot points ‘at a glance’ section of key points on the first page.

The main thrust of the article is that the core concepts of teaching reading to the early years are ‘presence, time, words, print, and intention’. Much of this came as little surprise to me.

However, I noted two phrases in the article relating to cultural sensitivity, which was a hot topic whilst I was on placement. This first caught my eye in one of the 5 key points at the beginning of the article where:

‘Every caregiver can, in culturally appropriate ways, help infants and toddlers learn to read the world’.

The two phrases in the body of the text were:

1. Caregivers need knowledge of the cultural supports for the language and literacy learning of the children and families they are serving’
2. Caregivers share words and print … in ways that honor the cultures and languages of the families in their programs’

I can’t help but feel that, as one of the 5 key points, it is only briefly and vaguely mentioned. I understand and agree with the general ideas of knowing a child’s cultural background and being respectful of this. However, I would have liked to see these explained in more than just two sentences, ideally with practical strategies. Otherwise it could be said that this is nothing more than lip service.

For my practice as an educator, I have picked up two useful key terms from this article:

Pseudowords - This is a concept I hadn’t heard of before. I now understand it to be the transitional phase between children making sounds and speaking real words.

Social marketing – Another term that I had never heard of, despite having a marketing background. I now understand that this relates to not-for-profit marketing, which explains why it’s not used in a business context. In this case, it relates to ‘marketing’ the importance of early literacy to parents. However, as with my points about culture above, (and also with pseudowords) this was only briefly mentioned so I had to ‘read between the lines’.

Update 21/11/13

I am updating this reading reflection in order to demonstrate its alignment with Outcome 4.1: Critiques other plausible perspectives on early literacy & numeracy awareness & immersion.

I felt that this week's entry was a good example of criticism of an academic perspective, in that I found two cases of perceived tokenism within this reading. I understand that there are many contested issues within early childhood research such as social justice, assessment (a.k.a gap analyses), gun / violent play, gender issues, and so on. However, I think tokenism is worth addressing because it's an issue that I have noted that many of my peers have mentioned.

The 'social marketing' comment is less of an issue. I suspect that it may have been included without being fully fleshed out as it evokes links with social media, which would have had as much weight, if not more, than today when it was published in 2004. This is not to say that it isn't a valid point, and in fact I agree that parents should be encouraged to be involved in their child's literacy and numeracy development. My critique is only that this should have been expanded upon.

My issues with cultural sensitivity are similar, but I feel as though this is far more prevalent. That is to say, whilst I feel that there is a lot of talk around this, how cultural sensitivity should actually translate seem thin on the ground. I'd like to see more practical advice in research papers, and more action within the classroom, rather than just decorations.

To be fair, I have seen some concrete examples of culturally inclusive activities in classes, but I feel that this could be improved upon. I am also conscious that my experiences are largely at a site with a strong reputation in this regard, so I wonder how many authentic experiences are offered elsewhere.

Reference:

Rosenkoetter, S. & Knapp-Philo, J. (2004). Learning to read the world: Literacy in the first 3 years. Zero to Three, 25(1), 4-9

Shopping for mathematics in consumer town

I chose this reading for two reasons. Firstly, ‘consumer town’ sounded unusual and interesting. Secondly, as mentioned above I have a business / marketing background so I was interesting to see these two worlds ‘collide’.

The main argument of the reading was that it was important for maths to be taught in a realistic manner. The idea was that this helped address the ‘disconnect between real-world applications and standards-based teaching’.

The most interesting point for me was that whilst young children can often count by memorising and repeating the number order, this does not mean they understand the numbers and how they can be applied.

The main implication I saw was that, by practically applying maths, I can move beyond mere repetition to meet basic standards.

I was pleased to see that there was some self-reflection about improvements for future iterations of consumer town, particularly about connecting work with money. I have read in the past that many Australian adults lack financial literacy, and I wonder if embedding core concepts from an early age would assist with this.

Reference:

Wolff, A. L., & Wimer, N. (2009). Shopping for mathematics in consumer town. YC Young Children, 64(3), 34-38. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/197640000?accountid=10910