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Online
Conference - 2004
Literature abstracts (last updated
10 March 2004)
| Dr Kerry Mallan (Associate
Professor, Course Coordinator Graduate Diploma in
Education (Teacher-Librarianship), Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia)
Kerry Mallan has been a
primary school teacher and a teacher librarian. She
has been teaching in the GDE (Teacher Librarianship) since
1979, and course coordinator since 1999. Kerry has
published widely both nationally and internationally in
areas of children's and youth literature and film.
Recent publications include: A co-authored publication Performing
Hybridity: Impact of new technologies on the role of
teacher librarians (CSU, 2002); Youth cultures:
texts, images and identities, co-edited with S. Pearce
(Prager, 2003), and Performing bodies: Narrative,
representation and children's storytelling (Post
Press, 2003).
|
| Changing world orders
and children's fiction: Constructing communities of
critical or compliant readers? (keynote paper) |
| Prior to and after
September 11 there have been numerous texts written for
children and youth dealing with issues relating to
changing world orders, terrorism, safety, and forces of
evil. Many of these texts are ostensibly written to
explain to children the acts of terrorism, war, ethnic
cleansing, and so forth. Invariably, these texts
present the world in terms of good and evil, and often a
utopian vision is offered as the ideal world of the
future. These texts provide timely opportunity for
engaging with issues related to developing critically
literate readers. By considering a selection of
these texts (both written and visual) we can come to a
better understanding of the reader-text relationship in
terms of reader positioning, explicit and implicit
ideologies, and the ambiguity of meaning in both words and
visuals. |
Jennie Bales
(Teacher Librarian, Summerdale Primary School, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia) With
many years experience as a practising teacher librarian in
the primary sector, recent employment has included working
as a Curriculum Project Officer for the Department of
Education, Tasmania, ICT resource teacher and a lecturer
in teacher librarianship at Charles Sturt University,
NSW. Active association membership has included
executive responsibilities on behalf of ASLA with
involvement in projects and professional
development. Current research interests are focused
on investigating educational MOOs as supportive
environments for literature discussions as doctoral
research with Charles Sturt University. |
| Student engagement
with texts: an investigation of literature circle roles to
promote thinking |
| Literature circles offer
a student centred approach to reading where participants
are actively involved in book selection, discussion and
response. The literature circles model supports students'
active engagement with reading and the development of questioning
skills. This paper presents key features of the
literature circles strategy and provides scope for further
exploration. The
embedded cooperative structures found in literature
circles support shared responsibility and active
participation by group members and address both individual
and group accountability. The use of literature circle
roles stimulates students to explore texts from various
cognitive perspectives. A range of roles presented
by Daniels (1994) are outlined and examined in terms of
the cognitive processes they generate.
Investigation of the inherent role
structure embedded in the model identifies how literature
circles provide a discussion framework that encourages
higher order thinking in students; addressing cognitive,
aesthetic and affective learning styles. The
application of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy (Anderson &
Krathwohl, 2001) provides a framework for evaluating
various roles in terms of their cognitive processes.
An outline of the four Knowledge Dimensions is presented
with a focus on Conceptual Knowledge. By examining
the roles in the context of the Cognitive Process
Dimension, the paper demonstrates the levels of thinking
students apply in responding to the selected literature
from the perspective of each role.
References:
Anderson,
LW & Krathwohl DR 2001, A taxonomy for learning,
teaching and assessing, Addison Wesley Longman, New
York.
Daniels,
H 1994, Literature circles: voice and choice in a
student-centred classroom, Stenhouse, Portland, ME. |
Wendy Chapman
(Teacher librarian, Wollondilly Public School,
Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia) After
spending fourteen years as a classroom teacher and gaining
a Diploma in Remedial Education in 1979, Wendy Chapman trained as a
Reading Recovery teacher in 1988. Seeing first-hand
the power of learning in these developmentally delayed
students, Wendy was stimulated to pursue further opportunities
to empower learning, and retrained as a teacher librarian
through Charles Sturt University in 1993-1994. She
has since been working in this challenging field as a
Teacher Librarian at Wollondilly Public School in
Goulburn, New South Wales.
In this capacity Wendy has facilitated multiple Book Raps
through the NSW Department of Education and Training,
beginning with the first DET coordinated Book Rap in
1999. Students at Wollondilly School have also been
involved for several years, with Literature Circles, in
LC_MOO. Wendy
was awarded the John H. Lee Memorial Award "for
innovative and collaborative teaching practices
integrating information and communication
technologies" in February 2004 by the Australian
School Library Association of New South Wales. |
| Book Raps:
Engagement, enrichment and entreaties for an energizing,
e-learning environment |
| While many students and
teachers have gained much through their involvement with
Book Raps in the pasts, this paper will seek to stimulate
further development of book discussions using email, by
empowering participants to increase connectivity and to
more effectively utilise the collaborative potentials of
on line discussion using ICTs.
The paper will briefly outline the
inbuilt structures and protocols necessary for successful
engagement in book discussions using email and will then
go on to explore enrichment opportunities inherent in
existing Book Rap structures. Examples of the
capacity of these structures to cater for higher order
thinking skills, multiple intelligences and varied
learning styles will be investigated.
Reference will be made to powerful
pedagogical opportunities which exist in the context of
Book Raps, and personal anecdotes will serve to illustrate
how there is still much work to be done in constructing
communities of learning in this forum.
The paper will conclude by
suggesting actions participants may take which would
enrich current patterns of interaction, and maximise the
activity's potential for a more collaborative, energetic
online learning community. |
Dr John Foster (Senior
Lecturer, School of International Studies, University of
South Australia)
Dr John Foster has taught
Children's Literature at the University of South Australia
and its predecessors for nearly 30 years. He has
written one and co-written three books, plus numerous
journal articles and book reviews, and has spoken at
conferences on five continents. He is Australian
President of the International Board on Books for Young
People (IBBY), and formerly National Vice-President of the
Children's Book Council of Australia and Convenor of the
Centre for Children's Literature at the University.
|
| How many more bum
jokes can we stand? The current state of Australian
children's popular fiction |
| That robust expression
of childish rebellion through humour, the bum joke, seems
to have taken over popular literature for Australian
children. Indeed, with titles like The Day My Bum Went
Psycho, Bumface (which is not about posteriors
at all), My Life Is a Toilet, The Bugalugs Bum
Thief and the new Zombie Bums from Uranus –
plus such short stories as ‘Skeleton on the Dunny’ -
it seems that an entire children’s scatological
literature course could be run.
Why should this material be so
popular at the moment? The likely reasons will be
discussed, including the effect of television programs,
the role of overseas children’s literature and ‘gross-out’
movies, and the lack of respect for authority figures in
both children’s media and reality. Examples of toilet
humour will be examined from a number of perspectives, and
whether value judgments should be made concerning this
material will be considered.
To put this discussion into
perspective, the nature and appeal of ‘popular
literature’ – usually a pejorative term – will be
explained, and a definition suggested. Furthermore, a
method of analysing it will be outlined - a method that is
not so much judgmental as awareness-raising and which
allows for the positioning of works within a schema of
generically similar examples.
There is, though, another, almost
equally strong, body of work in the field of popular
literature for young readers, and that is
sword-and-sorcery fantasy. With its roots in traditional
literature – the Quest, the Hero, magic – and the
corresponding overseas works including those by Rowling
and Tolkien, the most significant Australian proponents of
the genre are Emily Rodda and Garth Nix. A similar method
of analysis will be employed in the examination of
examples of their novels, too.
Of course, much of the Australian
popular literature for young readers cannot be pigeonholed
neatly into one of these two genres. Therefore, further
examples, some from other genres of fantasy and others
from realism, will be considered and their role in the
field explored. Examples of the work of a number of other
writers, including Morris Gleitzman, Elyne Mitchell,
Margaret Clark, John Marsden and Felice Arena will be
encountered here, as will several publishers’ series.
Given this range of relevant
material, it is apparent that there are several seemingly
contradictory trends currently in motion, and conclusions
will be offered to explain this phenomenon. At the same
time, individual authors, titles and series will be placed
into some overall perspective, and the question posed in
the title of this paper answered. |
Pat Pledger (Teacher
Librarian, South Australia,
Australia) Pat
is currently on long service leave from the Department of
Education and Childrens' Services in South
Australia. She has worked as a teacher librarian and
library co-ordinator for over 20 years, and as the EdNA
Online Information Officer for the Government Education
Portal. She is co-author with Fran Knight of Senior
fiction - books and films sorted by themes. Pat
is a director of Pledger Consulting, publishers of
LinksPlus and WebLinks Internet directories. |
| Promoting literature
through online communities |
| Online communities can
be wonderful ways to enriching our knowledge about
literature. In this paper, online communities that
promote literature will be examined. These will
include the use of OZTL_NET for compilation of lists, web
sites, promotion of award winning books and professional
development. Other discussion lists like the
Children's Fantasy Views and Reviews discussion and the
Mystery Readers group will be discussed as well as online
methods of engaging student interest such as Book Raps,
literature circles and email to foster understanding by
students.
An overview of what online
communities are and the principles and processes that
govern successful online communities will also be given.
Online communities are groups of
like minded people who come together online to
participate, debate and share information. They use
a range of online tools ranging from discussion forums,
chat, and discussion email lists.
These communities of practice are
people who share information, insight, experience and
tools. They focus on an area of common
interest. The three elements of communities of
practice include; a domain of knowledge which creates a
common ground and sense of common knowledge in the
community; a community which fosters interaction and
relationships based on mutual respect; and practice which
includes a set of frameworks, ideas, tools, information,
that the community members share.
Online communities have
benefits. They extend communication by allowing
people to connect from remote locations. They
provide a supportive flexible structure for professional development
and mentoring while people have the opportunity to learn
and share.
There are critical factors to the
success of online communities. These include a focus
on topics of importance to the community, having a well
respected community member to coordinate and facilitate
the community, allowing time and encouragement for people
to participate and involving key thought leaders. |
Heather Voskuyl (Head
Librarian, Queenwood School for Girls, Mosman, New South
Wales, Australia)
Heather Voskuyl is the Head
Librarian at a K-12 Independent Girls' School in New South
Wales, Australia. She has also been a teacher librarian in
State, Catholic Systemic and International Schools.
Heather is currently working on her PhD thesis on
representations of adolescence in Australian Young Adult
Fiction.
|
| Our stories, their
stories - the need for diversity in children's and YA
literature |
|
Each
child needs and deserves a literature, but the literature
that meets
their
needs is unlikely to be a homogenous one
(Hollindale
1988, p. 8).
The
need to diversify the curriculum is an educational mantra
and it runs parallel with a heightened interest in
encouraging students to read. Within out context of
restricted budgets and competing demands (all of which are
urgent and mandatory) how do we try to meet the challenge
of providing a collection that will challenge and
entertain the children and adolescents in our
schools? Do we agree with Hollindale that all
children need literature and, if so, how do we define it,
theoretically and practically? The political focus
has been on getting children to read but is this focus too
narrow? If we conclude that stories, in whatever
format, are important then we are left to confront the
hurdle of what sorts of stories are "suitable'.
Our responses to this question will reflect our personal
and professional ideologies but overriding these must be a
concern for the particular needs of the child or the
adolescent reader. |
© ASLA Inc., 2003
Prepared by: ASLA
Webmaster
Last updated:
10 March 2004
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