What will be the outcomes of learning about literacy pedagogy, in terms of visions, goals of the school re: literacy? How will the SLT develop positive attitudes to professional learning about literacy in staff, in Key Learning Areas (KLAs) and in students? What will staff learn as improved literacy teaching practice? What will this new teaching look like? Why is it relevant to the school to improve its literacy pedagogy? your school as a literacy learning community improving its literacy pedagogic practice To what extent do students value literacy and learning it? Do they have positive attitudes to literacy? How will you foster positive attitudes to literacy learning in students? What do teachers actually do to teach literacy in strategic ways? What is the school’s capacity for learning new teaching practice? Does the school have the conditions needed to build a culture for professional learning about literacy? What opportunities does it have for learning more about, and for improving, its literacy teaching? To what extent is the school leadership equipped to provide instructional leadership for improving its literacy teaching? (Source: Adapted from the original diagram in Munro, 2007) The school, through its leadership team, needs to: develop and implement a clear ‘visual’ action plan – a pathway that shows how literacy goals will be achieved each term, where the school is at any time, how the school’s literacy results fit on this pathway, and what these indicate about student learning; know that the literacy project is long-term and have relevant expectations; own the literacy enhancement program – all staff members need to have confidence that the priority will continue, even with changes in staff, policy and structure; identify what constitutes literacy learning, recognise successful instances of it, and know what it looks like; recognise effective literacy teaching, knowing what it looks like and what teachers and students would be doing when it is in place; show it recognises and values improvement in literacy teaching, in tangible and visible ways; show it values students’ literacy progress; invite staff and Professional Learning Teams to share recent literacy teaching innovations, at staff meetings; know the resources that are needed;
Estimate what the School Leadership Team knows about literacy and leading literacy growth. 1 2 3 4 5 How adequate are the school’s visions and goals related to literacy outcomes? To what extent has the school’s vision for literacy been accepted by staff in terms of their shared goals? 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 To what extent has the school mapped the vision or goals into an operational action plan or pathway for improving literacy outcomes? 1 2 3 4 5 To what extent has the school specified clear indicators to monitor student progress? 1 2 3 4 5 What is known about your students’ attitudes to literacy, its value and use? What work has your school done to help students understand its importance for them? 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 How available are the appropriate physical resources to support growth/improvement? 1 2 3 4 5 To what extent have teachers examined possible activities that they could use to improve students’ literacy knowledge? 1 2 3 4 5 To what extent does the school encourage goal congruence and commitment among staff to the vision of literacy enhancement? 1 2 3 4 5 To what extent does the school provide opportunities for staff to learn to teach literacy effectively? 1 2 3 4 5