Masters Degree course work.

1. This assessment task will synthesise the current academic arguments
surrounding text selection in the school environment. The synthesised
arguments will form the framework for a reflection on the current text selection
practice in the school environment in which I teach, and inform
recommendations for improved classroom practice. As a Year 4 teacher in a
government primary school, my reflections and recommendations on text
selections will relate entirely to a primary school context.
“Books don't harm kids; they arm them.”
Mem Fox.
(Mem Fox Quotes, 2011).
As Mem Fox, the eminent Australian children’s author noted, books and text
are the tools which give children the power to navigate and understand the
world around them. It is with this in mind that we must take the responsibility
of text selection within schools as seriously as possible.
To adequately understand the complexity of text selection, we must first define
what a “text” is and its role in student’s education.
The soon to be implemented Australia Curriculum defines text as:
“the means for communication. They can be written, spoken or
multimodal, and in print or digital/online forms. Multimodal texts
combine language with other means of communication such as visual
images, soundtrack or spoken word, as in film or computer
presentation media. Texts provide important opportunities for learning
about aspects of human experience and about aesthetic
value.“ (English/Standards/Victorian Essential Learning Standards,
2009)
Such a broad definition of text ensures that the arguments surrounding text
selection are also broad. These include discussion around the role of text in
making links to global citizenship, the effect of text on levels of student
comprehension and the promotion of gender equality through text
representation. For the purpose of this paper I have chosen to address the
notion of text selection and student engagement due to their relevance to my
school and current year level, but also due to the fact that within this
apparently simple concept, many of the above issues are supported and
addressed.
The Victorian Essential Learning Standards endorses a student centered
approach to pedagogical practice, a view point that must recognise the role
that student’s engagement to reading plays in effective cognitive
development.
This is recognised by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development in their report on International Student Assessment.

2. “Effective reading instruction programmes need to take account of both
cognitive and motivational components of reading.”
(PISA, p.13. 2000).
This poses the question, what do students read? What engages students in
their reading? These fundamental questions require a level of research to
ascertain.
A study out of Sydney University by Manuel & Robinson (2002) shows that
action, fantasy and mystery were the most popular genres for students. While
more importantly for the purpose of this paper, they noted that the most
preferred reading activity in school was “stories chosen and read by students”
followed by “silent reading”. The student’s least favourite reading activities
were poetry “read by the teacher” and “stories chosen by the teacher”. These
latter findings clearly indicate that student choice is clearly a main factor in
establishing student engagement.
Understanding the component parts of engagement is the first step to
nurturing self-motivated readers, and the findings of Manuel & Robinson
(2002) compliment the findings of Guthrie in his 2008 paper Reading
Motivation and Engagement in Middle and High School. Guthrie (2008)
identifies three student needs that contribute to increased level of
engagement. Firstly he mentions the need to be in control through having and
making choices in text selection. Secondly, students need to show
competence in their reading. The knowledge that they are achieving and
making progress allows them to experience self-efficacy. Lastly, he
acknowledges the need for students to feel socially engaged with the text.
Relevance and context within the text allow students to feel they belong and
are connected with the text, which affords a personal connection.
It became apparent that boys suffered from a lack of intrinsic motivation more
than girls and an attempt to promote the development of boy’s literacy
development has led to a flood of children’s text that focus solely on
traditionally “male” topics. These texts, such as the Specky McGee series,
have gone a long way to engaging boys, however these measures have also
lead to a counter development in girls engagement. As educators we often
make the decision to select texts that will engage and involve the reluctant
readers in our class, leaving the girls to learn with a minimum of input.
As a Year 4 teacher, I am particularly aware of student engagement with
reading and the phenomenon that has been described as the Fourth-Grade
Slump. This phrase refers to the decline in student’s levels of attainment
across the English curriculum, beginning at or around the time of entering
Year 4. In The Educational Forum, Sanacore & Palumbo (2009, P 68)
identified that students were not given enough opportunity to select reading
material that was of interest to them. They also make reference to providing
access to a broader range of text types, specifically placing a focus on non-
fiction, information text. Most tellingly though is the lack of time given to in
school reading. The recommended period of time for in school reading is 90

3. minutes.
Upon developing an understanding of the complexity of the issues
surrounding text selection, educators can begin to reflect on text selection
practices in schools and assess whether pedagogical practice can promote
greater levels of inclusiveness?
Currently in my school environment the discussions around text selection
often take place over a pile of books that have been placed in the staffroom
by one of the bigger educational publishers. With a sandwich in hand,
teachers from the same year level often flick through these texts, looking for
books relevant to our units of inquiry or text which target learners we have
identified within our classrooms. This ad hoc approach does not fully
acknowledge the importance of quality text selection, and as a consequence
the quality of the program of inquiry is compromised. To further the disconnect
between text and pedagogy, teachers do not plan curriculum documents with
those from other year levels, and even more importantly, specialist teachers
do not plan units of inquiry in consultation with classroom teachers. This
situation is critical as it does not allow strong connections to be made
between learning experiences, rendering them to isolated snapshots of
learning.
The first step to opening up lines of communication and to allow students to
engage in discussion about texts is to allow time for this to happen. This can
be facilitated through book clubs and discussion groups. Informal discussion
encourages reading for enjoyment amongst school staff, a practice that can
then be fully modeled to students. This arrangement allows for teachers from
different year levels to be exposed to an array of text, and supports greater
knowledge of these texts. The power of a group to share information is far
greater than the effort required for an individual teacher to read 30 books.
Acknowledging the importance of student engagement and reading for
pleasure requires a shift in pedagogical practice and education for the parent
community. Teachers need to allow time for self guided reading, a practice
that is only given credence through placing personal and professional value
on the practice. During this time it is important to model text selection and
read with the students.
Educating parents as to the importance of this practice eliminates any
negative perceptions they may have as to the rigor of this practice. There is
an assumption that different text types are more academically valid than
others, for example, The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank as compared to
an analysis visual literacy in advertising. Both text can lead to critical analysis
of culture, society and the human culture. Yet parents often perceive
multimedia text as “play” or frivolous.
Maximising student engagement also has a positive effect on strengthening
reading comprehension, addressing low levels of literacy and encouraging
positive reading practices amongst males.

4. Within my primary school context, we are in a situation where we have been
without a fully functioning library for almost 4 years, a consequence of new
buildings being built and growing student numbers. This situation has meant
that students have not had exposure to current engaging texts as they should
have been if there was a consistently changing library operating within the
school. They have been missing the opportunity to make choices and select
texts for pleasure. It has also forced timetable changes and where there was
once a regular time for research and reading for enjoyment, this has now
been replaced in the timetable by other areas of the curriculum. (Guthrie,
2008)
Teachers need to develop strong personal relationships with their students, a
practice that strengthens student’s commitment to reading engagement.
(Skinner, Wellborn, & Connell, 1990)
Another factor that influences my primary school’s choice of text is our current
application to become a recognised International Baccalaureate, Primary
Years Programme curriculum school.
Their documentation surrounding the written curriculum that is
delivered in our school states that learning must be:
“about issues that have meaning for, and are important to, all of us.
The programme offers a balance between learning about or through
the subject areas, and learning beyond them. The six themes of global
significance create a transdisciplinary framework that allows students
to "step up" beyond the confines of learning within subject areas.”
(IB Primary Years Programme at a glance, 2005)
Therefore it is our responsibility to provide texts that support this philosophy
through the availability of Multi-view social issue books.
Lewison, Leland, & Harste wrote in the Australian Journal of Language and
Literacy in 2000 of the need to provide students with access to what they
termed multi-view social Issues books. This text type was defined as one that
provides a range of viewpoints, or characters voices around a central, socially
relevant theme. (2000)
An example of a multi-view social issue book is My Place written by Nadia
Wheatley, a children’s book that presents the stories of 21 children, one for
each decade since the colonization of Australia in 1788. All the children are
connected by the fact that they all lived in the same house, yet share different
cultural backgrounds, socio-economic profiles and social perspectives.
Multi-view social books address and support the discussion about socially
complex issues. However we need to be aware that for some educators,
encouraging discussion and debate around sensitive areas can be
challenging. For this reason, collegiate support and discussion prior to
presenting text to the student body is essential in supporting the teacher to be

5. able to draw out the most educational benefit related to the student’s learning.
I also believe that to fully address engagement in reading, a reassessment of
school literacy practices is also required. Implementing the Four Resources
model as a framework for curriculum planning will ensure student capabilities
to work with multimodal and traditional text types. The 4 Resources Model is a
social model that acknowledges that being literate is not an isolated
experience, but instead requires the participation of a number of individuals. It
recognises that language and writing conventions are used to convey
meaning and content within a framework of social, cultural and financial
contexts.
This model identifies 4 resources that individuals need to employ to compose
and to use texts in an effective manner (New Literacies, 2009).
The 4 Resources are:
• Text Encoder
• Text Participant
• Text User
• Text Analyst
“a social model of writing which incorporates how writers represent texts;
how they compose meaning; how they achieve social purposes; and how
they influence readers.” (Harris et al, 2003)
While this assignment is not addressing the process of writing, understanding
the tools used by writers helps support readers to contextualise and develop
deeper comprehension of a text.
Currently our physical world, social society and beliefs and values are
experienceing rapid change and reassessment. Bearing this in mind, as
educators we must address all of this metaphorical social recipe, as without
one ingredient our cake will fail to rise. We must have the courage to present
challenging text to students to develop critical literacy and critical thought,
without which we are failing a future generation.
Reading List.
• English/Standards/Victorian Essential Learning Standards. (September
11, 2009). Retrieved October 27, 2011, from
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/English/Content-structure
• Guthrie, J.T. (Ed.). (2008). Engaging adolescents in reading. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
• Harris, P., McKenzie, B., fitzsimmons, P., & Turbill, J. (2003). Writing In
The Primary School Years. Riverwood, Australia: Social Sciences

6. Press.
• IB Primary Years Programme at a glance. (2005). Retrieved October
27, 2011, from http://www.ibo.org/pyp/
• Lewison, M., Leland, C., & Harste, J. (2000). ‘Not in my classroom!’: The
case for using multi-view social issues books with children. Australian
Journal of Language and Literacy, 23 (1) pp. 8-20. ISSN 1038-1562 (13 pages
copied).
• Manuel, J. & Robinson, D. (2002). What are teenagers reading? The findings
of a survey of teenagers' reading choices and the implications of these for
English teachers' classroom practice. English in Australia. V.135. 69-78.
• Mem Fox Quotes. (2011). Retrieved October 28, 2011, from http://
www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2131.Mem_Fox.
• New Literacies. Retrieved October 29, 2011, from http://
www.newliteracies.com.au/
• Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
(2000). Reading for Change: Performance and Engagement Across
Countries: Results from PISA 2000. [full report]. OECD: Programme for
International Student Assessment (PISA).
• Sanacore, J, & Palumbo, A. (2009). Understanding the Fourth-Grade
Slump: Our Point of View. The Education Forum. V. 73, 67-74.
• Skinner, E. A., Wellborn, J. G. & Connell, J. P. (1990). What it takes to
do well in school and whether I’ve got it: A process model of perceived
control and children’s engagement and achievement in school. Journal
of Educational Psychology, V.82, 22 - 32.