Early+years+teaching+practices

= Early years teaching practices =

//'Every teacher is a teacher of literacy//' //(DEECD, 2009)//

//***The following page outlines Early Years Teaching Practices, identifying key terms, and findings from observations of five Early Years classrooms,**// **//and their approaches to literacy teaching//**//*//

One of the roles of a teacher is to assist their students in the ability to read and write independently. The Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Education (DEECD, 2009), have established that a 'balanced and integrated' approach to teaching literacy is required, built on a foundation of theories and research. Two main concepts for teaching and learning underpin much of literacy teaching: the Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding (DEECD, 2009).

= = == = = =Zone of Proximal Development =

Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist, developed the term 'Zone of Proximal Development' to refer to the zone where students and teachers are moving towards a child's independence in learning (DEECD, 2009), as seen in Figure 1. Teachers support children in learning by guiding them towards achievable goals which they may not be able to attain on their own. As students achieve a goal, they are able, through support, to move to the next level of learning.



=Scaffolding =

Teachers assist their students to move through the Zone of Proximal Development using a scaffolding approach, a term derived from Vygotsky's work by Jerome Bruner (DEECD, 2009). Bruner noted that adult caregivers helped children to learn language by working together with the child to construct language, then slowly withdrawing the support to enable the child to attain independent language skills. For more information see toe DEECD website. [|Linking Theories to Practice]

 =Teaching Literacy =

The Victorian Essential Learning Standards are based on these theories, focussing on a scaffolding approach to literacy. Using this approach in literacy, teachers move from modelled reading and writing (by the teacher), to sharing, guiding, followed by independent reading and writing, where the child has independence and control, as seen in Figure 2. (For further details of the modelled, shared, guided and independent reading approaches, see attached information adapted from Hill (2006)).

Figure 2. A Scaffolding Approach to Literacy. (AISD, 2009) There are two approaches commonly used in teaching literacy: the 'Literacy Block' Approach, and the Play Based / Developmental Language Experience Approach (Paatsch, 2011, p. 6). >>>>
 * Literacy Block Approach - Usually occurs in the first 2 hours of the teaching day, with both reading and writing, each following the format below:
 * Whole Group (Modelled or Shared Reading or Writing)
 * Small Group (Language experience, shared or guided reading/writing, independent reading/writing)
 * Group (Share Time)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"><span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Play Based / Developmental Language Experience Approach - Children investigate skills and concepts through their own experiences from their home or communities. This helps children to relate oral language with written language with their own experiences.(Hill, 2006 & Paatsch, 2011)

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; vertical-align: super;"> <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; vertical-align: super;">Early Years Teaching Literacy Observation =

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; vertical-align: super;">Five early years teachers were observed during one of their classroom literacy blocks. The following outlines the findings from these observations. The teachers observed taught the following classes: = = = = = = =<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Teaching Approaches =
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Mrs Green - Grade1/2
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Mrs Black - Grade 2
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Mrs Mauve - Grade Prep
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Mrs Purple - Grade 2
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Mrs Brown - Grade 2

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Although there were variations in teaching methods, each teacher observed used a 'Literacy Block' approach to teaching literacy, moving from the whole group (with either modelled reading, shared reading or modelled writing) to a small group or individual work, and then returning to the whole group. The teachers that moved to small group work had varied activities including guided reading, worksheets, computer activities and independent reading. Individual work included worksheets, creative writing and guided writing.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Some teachers began with a writing session (Mrs Black and Mrs Brown), while the other teachers began with reading. In all the classrooms observed, all teachers, beside Mrs Black, taught literacy in the first 2 hours of the classroom timetable (Mrs Black began the literacy session late in the morning timetable, for 1 1/2 hours).

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">All teachers observed followed similar guidelines to a scaffolded teaching approach to literacy, as outlined in Hill (2006). The following table (Table 1) illustrates the use of these approaches used in the literacy sessions.

Table 1. Teaching Approaches observed in literacy lessons.
 * ~  ||~   ||~   ||~   ||~ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Teacher ||~   ||~   ||
 * ~  ||~ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Teaching Approach ||= <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Mrs Green ||= <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Mrs Black ||= <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Mrs Mauve ||= <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Mrs Purple ||= <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Mrs Brown ||
 * ~  ||= <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Modelled Reading ||= x ||= x ||=   ||=   ||= x ||
 * ~  ||= <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Shared Reading ||= x ||=   ||= x ||=   ||=   ||
 * ~ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Reading ||= <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Guided Reading ||=  ||=   ||= x ||=   ||= x ||
 * ~  ||= <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Independent Reading ||=   ||=   ||= x ||= x ||=   ||
 * ~  ||= <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Modelled Writing ||= x ||=   ||= x ||=   ||= x ||
 * ~  ||= <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Shared Writing ||=   ||=   ||=   ||= x ||=   ||
 * ~ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Writing ||= <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Guided Writing ||= x ||=  ||=   ||= x ||= x ||
 * ~  ||= <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Independent Writing ||= x ||= x ||= x ||=   ||= x ||
 * ~ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Reading/Writing ||= <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Language Experience ||=  ||=   ||=   ||=   ||= x ||
 * ~ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Reading/Writing ||= <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Language Experience ||=  ||=   ||=   ||=   ||= x ||
 * ~ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Reading/Writing ||= <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Language Experience ||=  ||=   ||=   ||=   ||= x ||

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">From the information presented above, Mrs Black and Mrs Purple used very limited teaching approaches in the observed lessons. The other teachers used 2-3 teaching approaches in each of their reading or writing sessions. Only Mrs Brown used a group language experience in the observed literacy lesson.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">In Mrs Mauve and Mrs Brown's lessons, both were observed using a variation on the guided reading format outlined in Hill (2006). In both sessions, teachers the guided reading by allowing each child to read independently, rather than together as a group.

=<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Conclusion =

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Through observations of five early years teachers, it was noted that all teachers used at least some of the scaffolded teaching approaches. However, the teachers all varied in the amount and usage of these approaches, with some more comprehensive than others. Guided reading was varied by some teachers to suit their own teaching strategies.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">In a balanced approach to teaching literacy, teachers need to assist students to move towards obtainable goals using a scaffolding approach - from high teacher support towards student independence. In order to achieve this, teachers need to develop a comprehensive literacy program that includes modelled, shared and guided reading and writing, and rich language experiences.(Hill, 2006).

<span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 200%;">

<span style="color: #d600ff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 200%;"> "...we, as teachers, have the power to make a difference to the literacy learning of children.... teachers in the early years lay the foundations for future literacy success" <span style="color: #d600ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> (Hill, 2006, p.xi)