LITERACY FOR PASIFIKA STUDENTS : A WAY FORWARD

Kerensa Robertson

Literacy in English gives students access to the understanding, knowledge, and skills they need to participate fully in the social, cultural, political, and economic life of New Zealand and the wider world. To be successful participants, they need to be effective oral, written, and visual communicators who are able to think critically and in depth.

NZQA, 2007

AGENDA

9am KWL Post- It Chart

9.30am Session 1: The research so far…

10.30: Morning Tea

11 am Session 2: Critical Literacy

12.30: Lunch

1.30 pm: Session 3: Developing Activities for the Classroom

2.30pm: Plenary

SESSION 1: WHERE ARE WE AT?

69% of Pasifika Students achieve level 2 NCEA

42.9% of Eligible Pasifika Students achieve University Entrance

32% of Pasifika students are bilingual (60% in Auckland)

24 % of Pasifika students are reading above their level (Pisa 2001)

However…..NZQA, 2013

PASIFIKA PERSPECTIVE

Tagata Pasifika- NZ Education

Raising Pasifika Achievement

OUR FUTURE

35% of Pasifika students have literacy difficulties which are preventing them experiencing success in schools. (PISA 2001)

Pasifika children have a diverse range of experiences and backgrounds from fully bilingual to monolingual in either English or a Pasifika language. Many leave school without the necessary qualifications and skills for success.

(NZQA 2013)

LEARNING GOALS

Know what the research tell us about the literacy experiences of Pasifika students

Identify strategies which may improve Pasifika Literacy

Understand the potential benefits of critical literacy approaches

Identify activities which teach critical literacy skills

WHERE ARE WE AT?

Student Perceptions of Pasifika Achievement

Pasifika Students are also watching the news!What Messages are we sending them about their potential?

WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH TELL US?

There is a lack of connection between home and school.

Expectations at home can conflict with expectations at school.

Successful Pasifika students are effective at moving between ‘identities’ depending on their environment.

The most common source of literacy development outside school is church.

(Mila-Schaff, 2010; Dickie, 2010)

CHURCH BASED LITERACY

Church is a place of community and culture Students are not expected to question or

challenge Vocabulary learning is encouraged and is often

higher than comprehension and critical thinking.

Tautolo- reading out loud from the bible encourages strong oral skills

Connecting biblical principles to everyday life helps develop understanding.

(Dickie, 2010)

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR STUDENTS

Feel uncomfortable speaking in schools when they are in the minority

Do not feel they can read and write about their own culture

Do not like busy work e.g. irrelevant worksheets Are often not confident in decoding examination

questions Prefer group work but only when relevant See ICT and behaviour of others as barriers to

achievement

(Hawk & Hill, 1998)

IDENTITY THEORY Students who are better able to recognise and

understand the different rules for their environment, for example school, and adapt their identities to suit are able to achieve better educational outcomes . (Mila-Schaff, 2010 p 14)

The main way of coping is to keep the worlds separate and to move from one to another, rather than to attempt to reconcile the differences. (Hawk & Hill, 1998 p 2).

To improve student achievement, schools and teachers need to explicitly acknowledge and teach the world views and social rules of the academic environment (Alton-Lee, 2003 p 32)

For literacy education in secondary schools, the literacy values and expectations of these worlds may be very different.

WHAT WORKS FOR SCHOOLS?

Encouraging first language acquisition improves the understanding of the target language. (Alton-Lee, 2003 p 33)

Increasing the presence of Pasifika languages in all schools (McKay, 2002 p 16)

Improving home-school lines of communication (Alton-Lee, 2003 p 16)

WHAT WORKS FOR TEACHERS

Allow students to brainstorm/take notes in their first language.

Teach literacy strategies which are clear, scaffolded and explicit

Use texts that are relevant to the students’ interests and culture. (Tuafiti, Pua and Schajiik, 2011 p66)

Model- show what success looks like Build on strengths

(Hill & Hawk 2011)

THINKING ABOUT LEARNING STRUCTURE How does your late student know what to

do? Can your students explain what they are

learning and why? How is your learning scaffolded? What strategies do your students have for

getting help? How would your gifted students say they

were extended?

(Absolum, 2006)

SESSION 2: WHAT IS CRITICAL LITERACY? What is Critical Literacy?

CRITICAL LITERACY THEORY

Critical Literacy in the ClassroomThe text is a starting point for thinking, not the end point of reading. All texts are biased. Readers bring their own culture and understanding to a text. The benefits to Pasifika students are that it extends reading to include understanding and criticism which is essential to NCEA success.

HOW MIGHT THIS HELP PASIFIKA STUDENTS ENGAGE?

Critical Literacy is about helping students to see that all texts are cultural constructs, and therefore they can be questioned and challenged.

For Pasifika Students, who do not traditionally question the text, it may provide a new lens to understand literature.

For teachers, using this approach can help create specific and targeted activities for student needs.

AN EXAMPLE: LEVEL 2 ENGLISH

‘V for Vendetta’ is a film specifically about challenging the status quo.

This text is from the dystopian genre is currently popular, and students struggle with how to question the text, a skill necessary for level 2 achievement.

This task is designed to give students the background to the film, and also use critical literacy approaches to show them how to analyse the film before they begin studying.

The Pasifika students found it challenging, but helpful in developing the level of response required.

STEP 1: LINK TO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

The first step is a group discussion about these questions. THINK: About these questions:PAIR: with the person next to you and discuss them, SHARE: With the group

The questions for this slide are targeted at Textual Structures and Features, box 2 on your handout. as well as linking to prior knowledge.

STEP 2: SELECT TARGET SKILL/AREA

Students need more practice at close reading for explicit skills. Explicit teaching of knowledge about the wider text, e.g. guy Fawkes is essential to allow non-western student access to the curriculum.

STEP 3: TEXT AS CONSTRUCTThe questions on this slide are targeted at ‘TEXTUAL PURPOSES’

Trailers are a useful way of helping students become interested in the film, and understand key ideas.

For Pasifika students, the benefits are that the skills for learning are explicitly taught before the main text becomes the focus of learning. V for Vendetta Trailer

STEP 4: MAKE THE LEARNING EXPLICIT

These are discussion points, and students were asked: Why did the director chose THESE images for the trailer.

This is to get students thinking about texts as constructions before viewing the film.

SESSION 3: WHAT DOES CRITICAL LITERACY LOOK LIKE?

Task 1: In groups (4-6 people) 1: On your hand out (Part A), you have

a column for teaching strategies next to the critical literacy principles.

2. In groups, divide the areas and brainstorm activities you can use to teach these skills.

3. Share with the group and add to it.

ACTIVITY 2: TAKEAWAY!

In pairs, you all have some texts by Pasifika writers.

Use the activities you just developed to design a lesson for a class.

Thinking points: Are there any ideas and concepts which might be new to your students? How will you teach them?

Which skills will you choose to develop?

PLENARY

Check the KWL chart and if your ‘W’ has been answered, move it into the ‘L’ column.

Q & A session Next steps:

Talk to your neighbour about how you can use these ideas in practice

FURTHER READINGAbsolum, M (2006) Clarity in the classroom: Using formative assessment New Zealand, Hooder MoaAlton-Lee, A (2003) Quality teaching for diverse students in schooling: Best evidence synthesis. Wellington: Ministry of EducationBehrman, E. H. (2006). Teaching about language, power, and text: A review of classroom practices that support critical literacy. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 49(6), 490-498. Retrieved from https://resources.oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/user/mikuleck/Filemanager_Public_Files/L501/English%20and%20Literature/Beheman%20_2006_%20Teaching%20about%20language%20and%20power.pdfBrown-Jeffy, S., & Cooper, J. E. (2011). Toward a Conceptual Framework of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: An Overview of the Conceptual and Theoretical Literature. Teacher Education Quarterly, Winter, 65-84. Dickie, J. G. (2008). Pasifika Students, Literacy as Social Practice, and the Curriculum. New Zealand Annual Review of Education, 17, 107-124. Dickie, J. G. (2010). Proclaiming the good news: Samoan children, church literacy and comprehension. SET research Information for teachers, 2, 25-31. Dickie, J. G. (2011). Samoan students documenting their out-of-school literacies: An insider view on conflicting values. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 34(3), 247-259.

FURTHER READING 2 Fletcher, J., Parkhill, F., & Fa'afoi, A. (2005). What factors promote and support

Pasifika students in reading and writing?. Set: research Information for Teachers, 2, 2-8.

Hill, J., & Hawk, K. (2000). Making a difference in the classroom: Effective teaching practice in low decile, multicultural schools (5459). Retrieved from Ministry of Education, Research Division website: http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/5459

Janks, H. (2010). Literacy and Power. New York: Routledge. Mila-Schaaf, K., & Robinson, E. (2010). 'Polycultural' capital and educational

achievement among NZ born Pacific Peoples. Mai Review, 1. New Zealand Ministry of Education (2004) Effective Literacy Strategies in years 9-

13: A Guide for Teachers Wellington, NZ: Learning Media Ltd. Siope , A. (2011). The schooling experiences of Pasifika students. Set: research

information for teachers, 3, 10-16. Tuafuti, P., Pua, V., & Schajiik, S. (2011). Raising Pasifika children's achievement and

literacy levels: Assumptions and risks. He Kupu, 2(4), 1971. Tufulasi Taleni, L., Parkhill, F., Fa'afoi, A., & Fletcher, J. (2007). Pasifika Students:

What Supports them to become better readers?. Pacific Asian Education, 19(2), 56-71.

Wendt Samu, T. (2006). The 'Pasifika Umbrella' and quality teaching: Understanding and responding to the diverse realities within. Waikato Journal of Education, 12, 35-49.