Program Overview

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EDEN410 - Critical Issues in Literacy Education

Unit Rationale, Description, and Aim

This unit addresses emerging trends and research-informed practices in literacy education, building upon previous knowledge to enhance students' global contextual understanding of critical issues in literacy education. The unit extends understanding of the links between the Australian Curriculum English and other curriculum areas, with a focus on issues such as assessment, differentiation, and teacher pedagogic knowledge.

The aim of this unit is to develop in pre-service teachers a more global view of literacy education, its effects on key curriculum areas, and the impact on all learners and stakeholders in the collection of data and the interpretation of this data on whole school pedagogical approaches to literacy.

Learning Outcomes

To successfully complete this unit, students will be able to demonstrate achievement of the following learning outcomes:

1. Examine Contemporary Literary Leadership Models: Examine how contemporary literary leadership models with primary stakeholders can create a successful school-wide culture of literacy to achieve literacy requirements across the curriculum.
2. Demonstrate Understanding of Principles of Data, Evidence, and Assessment: Demonstrate an understanding of principles of data, evidence, and assessment in relation to a critical issue in literacy education.
3. Demonstrate Knowledge and Understanding of the Evidence Base: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the evidence base in relation to a contemporary critical issue in literacy instruction.
4. Understand Global and National Trends in Literacy Education: Understand global and national trends in literacy education, and their theoretical underpinnings in relation to literacy as a social justice issue.

Content

Topics will include:

• Literacy requirements across and within Australian curriculum areas
• Creating a school-wide culture of literacy
• Contemporary literacy leadership
• Data, evidence, and assessment in literacy to improve student achievement
• Political influences on literacy education
• Controversial issues in literacy education
• Emerging national and global trends in literacy education
• Technological influences on literacy education
• Teachers' pedagogic knowledge for literacy across the curriculum
• Collaborations with key stakeholders to promote and improve literacy

Assessment Strategy and Rationale

The assessment tasks and their weightings allow pre-service teachers to progressively demonstrate achievement against the course learning outcomes by demonstrating academic and professional standards.

• Assessment Task 1: Contemporary Literacy Leadership: Examine how a contemporary literacy leadership model can improve collaboration with primary stakeholders to create a successful school-wide culture of literacy. (20%)
• Assessment Task 2: Assessment to Improve Student Achievement: Critical essay on how data and evidence are used for assessment in literacy to improve student achievement. (30%)
• Assessment Task 3: Contemporary Critical Issue: Identify a contemporary critical issue pertaining to one aspect of literacy instruction and design a workshop for professional learning based on best practice to improve literacy teacher practice and student learning. (50%)

Learning and Teaching Strategy and Rationale

The learning and teaching strategies in this unit include lectures, tutorials, and independent online learning tasks. The unit is designed to ensure that the time needed to complete the required volume of learning to the requisite standard is approximately 150 hours in total across the semester.

Representative Texts and References

• Required Text: Fehring, H. (Ed) (2017). Assessment into Practice: Understanding assessment practice to improve students' literacy learning.
• Recommended References:
  • Barnes, M., Gindidis, M., Phillipson, S. (2018). Evidenced-based learning and teaching: A look into Australian Classrooms.
  • Dougherty-Stahl, K.A., Flanigan, K., & McKenna, M.C. (2019). Assessment for reading instruction (4th ed.).
  • Morrow, L. M., & Gambrell, L. B. (Eds). (2019). Best practices in literacy instruction (6th ed.).

Locations and Credit Points

• Location: Online
• Credit Points: 10

Year

2026