ETAQ

ETAQ E-pistle 17-10

bdarben — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 01:06:28 +0000

Annual State Conference – weekend 14-15 August
Members are reminded that ETAQ’s Annual State Conference will be conducted at the Anglican Church Grammar School at East Brisbane over the weekend 14-15 August.
The conference program and registration form have been distributed in a recent mailing and can also be downloaded from the website at www.etaq.org.au
The conference theme is “English in the era of the Australian Curriculum” and our keynote speakers are Lesley Englert, Queensland nominee to the ACARA Board, Lynn Redley, the ACARA Curriculum Manager for English, and Dr Alison Scott from the University of Queensland’s School of English, Media Studies and Art History.
The due date for registration is Monday 9 August.
There is a conference dinner on the Saturday evening and ETAQ’s traditional champagne breakfast on the Sunday morning. I hope to see many of you at the conference.

Draft Years 11 & 12 Australian Curriculum: English
The feedback that ETAQ has thus far provided to ACARA can be accessed on the Discussions page of the website at http://www.etaq.org.au/?page_id=92 The State Conference program includes sessions in which members could make further contributions to this feedback.

myfuture Video Competition
The following information may be of interest to members.
The myfuture Video Competition is open for entries from young people aged 12-25. The winner will receive a cash prize of $7500 and also have a chance to win another $5000 in the myfuture Viewers’ Choice Award.
The aim of the competition is to assist young people to explore career ideas by producing a 2-3 minute video on an occupation that interests them. This is an exciting opportunity for young people Australia wide to explore their future and film making skills in a creative and innovative way.
The closing date for the myfuture Youth Video Competition is Friday, 28 February 2011.
Other categories for 2010 include the myfuture Best School Video that offers a cash prize of $7500. This category closes on 29 October 2010.
Entrants will have the chance to win an additional $5000 with the myfuture Viewers’ Choice Video Award.
Visit the myfuture website (http://www.myfuture.edu.au) for further information and to sign up to receive regular competition updates that will provide helpful tips for producing a video entry.

An Accessible International Conference
The 10^th IFTE (The International Federation for the Teaching of English) Conference is to be held at the Universityof Auckland, New Zealand, April 18-21, 2011. This is during the autumn vacation for EQ schools and provides an opportunity for ETAQ members to participate in an international conference on English teaching.
Entitled “Much Ado About English”, the conference has the following themes are: Literacies and literature: Creative possibilities; Diversity and voice: Inclusion and representation; English teachers @ work: Tensions, pressures, opportunities; New Technologies, New Practices.
Keynote speakers include: Glenn Colquhoun, Barbara Comber, Peter Freebody, Pam Grossman, Hilary Janks, Carol D Lee, Stuart McNaughton, Debra Myhill.
The organizers look forward to receiving proposals for a paper, workshop or seminar for this conference. For further details go to the IFTE website www.IFTE.net and click on the conference page.

National Celebration of Literacy
Members are reminded that National Literacy and Numeracy Week will be observed from 29 August to 4 September. Information about school participation is now available on the website www.celebrationofliteracy.net.au

ETAQ E-pistle 16-10

bdarben — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 01:07:02 +0000

July after-school forum on adolescent reading
Members are reminded about the forum on adolescent reading to be held in the Lilley Centre at BrisbaneGrammar School on the afternoon of Tuesday 27 July. Our guest speaker is children’s literature expert Joy Lawn from Coaldrake’s Bookshop and the session is planned to run from 4:00 to 6:15 pm..
The flyer and registration form were included in the recent mailing and can also be downloaded from the Events page of the ETAQ website at http://www.etaq.org.au/?page_id=106
The cost is $20 per person and replies are requested by Friday 23 July. I hope to see a good roll-up of Brisbane-based members.

State Conference
The registration form for the annual State Conference to be conducted at the Anglican Church Grammar School at East Brisbane over the weekend 14-15 August can now be downloaded from the Events page of the website at http://www.etaq.org.au/?page_id=106
It is planned that hard copy of the registration form and the full program will be mailed early this week.
The theme for the conference is “English in the era of the Australian Curriculum” and our keynote speakers are Lesley Englert, Queensland nominee to the ACARA Board, Lynn Redley, the ACARA Curriculum Manager for English, and Dr Alison Scott from the University of Queensland’s School of English, Media Studies and Art History.
I look forward to seeing many of you at the State Conference.

Sponsored attendance at the State Conference
Partial sponsorship to attend the State Conference is available for two (2) country-based members and one (1) student member. The selected country-based members will be eligible for free registration and $200 towards travel and accommodation costs. A Brisbane-based student member would receive free registration. A student member from outside Brisbane would receive free registration and $200 towards travel and accommodation costs.
What would be required in return would be an article for Words’Worth on some aspect of the conference.
To apply, email me at gazco48@bigpond.net.au and briefly explain why you would be a suitable recipient of one of the awards. Applications are required by Monday 2 August.

ETAQ E-pistle 15-10

Garry Collins — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:32:32 +0000

Workshops for ETAQ State Conference

There are still opportunities available for members to share and showcase their work by presenting a workshop session at this year’s ETAQ State Conference.

The conference will be run at the Anglican Church Grammar School at East Brisbane over the weekend 14-15 August and, with the theme “English in the era of the Australian Curriculum”, most workshop sessions that people might be interested in running could be accommodated.

The Call for Presenters form can be downloaded from the Events page of the ETAQ website at http://www.etaq.org.au/?page_id=106 .

Sessions on the Saturday will be 1 hour while the Sunday morning program will have two 90 minute time slots.

For the program, prospective presenters will need to provide a title, an abstract and a brief bio.

Ideally, we’d like detailed proposals by Saturday 26 June. However, if the end-of-term rush won’t enable you to meet that, an extension is possible if you advise us of your interest in offering a session. Send an email to Fiona Laing (flain1@eq.edu.au ) by Saturday and the details could be provided a little later

Shouldn’t you have a conference presentation on your CV?

Draft Australian Curriculum in English for Years 11 & 12

Have your say!

If you’re in Brisbane and have some time free next Monday afternoon, you might like to have your say at a meeting to discuss ACARA’s draft Australian Curriculum in English for Years 11 & 12.

The meeting will be held from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm on Monday 28 June in Meeting Room 1 at the Brisbane City Council library at Chermside. The lbrary is accessed from Hamilton Road just near the shoppoing centre on the corner of Gympie and Hamilton Roads.

If you’re able to attend, please email me at gazco48@bigpond.net.au .

The draft curriculum material is available on ACARA’s consultation portal at www.australiancurriculum.edu.au and the consultation period is scheduled to close at the end of July.

Interesting conjecture

Now that Julia Gillard is to be the Prime Minister I wonder who the new federal Minister for Education will be.

ETAQ E-pistle 14-10

Garry Collins — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 06:59:10 +0000

Workshops for ETAQ State Conference

Members are reminded that proposals for workshops to be presented at the ETAQ State Conference are due by Saturday 26 June. The Call for Presenters form can be downloaded from the Events page of the ETAQ website at http://www.etaq.org.au/?page_id=106 . Sessions on the Saturday will be 1 hour while the Sunday morning program will have two 90 minute time slots. Prospective presenters will need to provide a title, an abstract and a brief bio. Shouldn’t you have a conference presentation on your CV?

With the theme “English in the era of the Australian Curriculum”, the conference will be run at the Anglican Church Grammar School at East Brisbane over the weekend 14-15 August.

Draft Australian Curriculum in English for Years 11 & 12

Members in the Brisbane area are reminded that a meeting to discuss ACARA’s draft Australian Curriculum in English for Years 11 & 12 will be held from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm on Monday 28 June in Meeting Room 1 at the Brisbane City Council library in Hamilton Road, Chermside.

If you plan to participate, please email me at gazco48@bigpond.net.au . If you’re unable to attend you could send your comments to the email address above. In any case, please try to find some time over the vacation to have a look at the draft material on ACARA’s consultation portal at www.australiancurriculum.edu.au .

July after-school forum on adolescent reading

A forum on adolescent reading with guest speaker Joy Lawn will be held in the Lilley Centre at Brisbane Grammar School on the afternoon of Tuesday 27 July. The flyer and registration form can now be downloaded from the Events page of the ETAQ website at http://www.etaq.org.au/?page_id=106

ETAQ Writing Competitions

Members are reminded to encourage students to complete their entries to meet the closing dates in these two competitions.

Literary Competition (in conjunction with QIEU and James Cook Uni) Friday 16 July (This one also has a teachers section.) Entry form can be downloaded from the ETAQ website.

Children’s Illustrated Book Competition 31 July

A PD Opportunity re functional grammar

A great opportunity to develop understandings of functional grammar will be this year’s annual conference of the Australian Systemic Functional Linguistics Association (ASFLA) to be held in Adelaide over the period 29 September by 1 October. In conjunction with the conference proper will be a 2-day Pre-Conference Institute on 27 & 28 September. This is in the second week of the Spring vacation for EQ schools. Full details can be found on the website at http://www.asfla2010.net/ Earlybird registration closes 30 June.

National Celebration of Literacy

Please note in your diaries for Semester 2 that National Literacy and Numeracy Week will be observed from 29 August to 4 September. Information about school participation will be available on a dedicated website www.celebrationofliteracy.net.au

Vacation

I hope all members enjoy a relaxing vacation and I look forward to seeing some of you at the AATE/ALEA National Conference in Perth.

ETAQ E- pistle 13-10

Garry Collins — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 06:57:49 +0000

Draft Australian Curriculum in English for Years 11 & 12

For those in the Brisbane area a meeting to discuss ACARA’s draft Australian Curriculum in English for Years 11 & 12 will be held on the afternoon of Monday 28 June, the start of the first week of the winter vacation for EQ schools. This discussion will contribute to ETAQ’s formal response that will be submitted to ACARA.

The venue will be Meeting Room 1 in the Brisbane City Council library in Hamilton Road, Chermside.

The meeting is scheduled to run from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm and a certificate for Continuing Professional Development will be available to attendees.

If you plan to participate please email me at gazco48@bigpond.net.au so that I know how many to expect.

If you’re not able to attend but would like to provide some input please email your comments to the email address above.

Some preliminary comments on the draft are shown below.

Suite of courses

Provided that the content of the four components is suitable, this suite of courses (English, Essential English, Literature, English as an Additional Language) appropriately provides for the range of needs and interests of the cohort of students currently completing high school.

On the ACARA website, it would be better to list English rather than Essential English first (ie on the left) so that it is immediately obvious that this is the mainstream course to be undertaken by most students.

The four courses proposed for the Australian Curriculum generally equate to existing QSA courses as follows:

English (ACARA) – English (QSA)

Essential English (ACARA) - English Communication (QSA)

Literature (ACARA) - English Extension (Literature) (QSA)

English as an Additional Language (ACARA) - English for ESL learners (QSA)

This is not to say that the content of the corresponding courses is completely equivalent.

Apart from the actual content, the QSA English Extension (Literature) course also differs from the proposed ACARA Literature option in that it is done only in Year 12 rather than as a full 2-year senior course. It may be that it will be easier for Queensland schools to program a 2-year Literature course than it currently is to create English Extension classes just for Year 12.

If the proportion of students selecting two English Courses (eg English and Literature) increases significantly under the Australian Curriculum, this will obviously have an effect on the overall balance of learning experiences that some students have in the senior years within the 6-subject program that has traditionally been the norm in Queensland. Whether this should be seen as a plus or a minus depends on the relative balance that it is thought should be struck between a broad education and specialization.

Organization

Strands It is good to see that the courses for Years 11 and 12 have not used the three strands of Language, Literature and Literacy as the main organizational structure. As we said in relation to the K-10 draft, these three elements can conveniently describe the scope or territory of subject English but are not the most helpful organizers for a curriculum document.

Unit structure The headings for the four semester units common to all four course options (1 Language, texts and contexts; 2 Representation; 3 Making connections; 4 Perspectives) indicate very worthwhile aspects of learning in English but are not the appropriate basis for four sequential units in a 2-year course. Instead, these four aspects should be present to some extent in all four semesters and should be applied to an appropriate degree to all texts studied. The notion of a common structure to facilitate movement between courses is a worthy one but the apparent solution of the same focus for each semester unit has produced a very significant other problem.

Level of difficulty The information under this heading for both English and Literature is that “Students who choose to undertake English or Literature should have knowledge and skills developed up to Year 10.” Presumably this means knowledge and skills developed via a successful completion of Year 10. Again presumably, students who had not achieved at least a C grade in Year 10 English should generally select Essential English rather than English or Literature. This should be made clearer.

Text requirements and selection

In Year 11 teachers/schools will choose texts for study but in Year 12 selections are to be made from a prescribed list. No rationale is provided for this arrangement but it is assumed that the prescribed list in Year 12 is to facilitate arrangements for the public examinations that prevail in most states. Since assessment arrangements are still to be the responsibility of the states and territories it is difficult to see why a prescribed list should be imposed on Queensland.

Many Queensland schools utilize hire schemes and have collections of class sets of texts. With the advent of a prescribed list for Year 12 a proportion of these class sets and the supporting resources that have been developed to teach them will no longer be able to be used. The transition to a prescribed list regime will involve a dollar cost and will need to be phased in.

The draft curriculum specifies that each text in the prescribed list will “be appropriate for students at this level of schooling and for both male and female students.” The list of illustrative examples provided for the English course includes Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice”. There is no doubt that this is deservedly a classic novel and certainly it can work very well with girls but it is to be doubted that it would be a wise choice likely to engage the average male student of the large cohort that will select this option.

ETAQ E-pistle 12-10

Garry Collins — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 06:56:38 +0000

State Conference Update

With the theme “English in the era of the Australian Curriculum”, this year’s ETAQ State Conference will be run at the Anglican Church Grammar School at East Brisbane over the weekend 14-15 August.

The keynote speakers will be:

Saturday morning: joint presenters - Lesley Englert, Queensland nominee on the ACARA Board, and Lynn Redley, ACARA chief writer for the Australian Curriculum in English.

Saturday afternoon: Dr Alison Scott, Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Queensland.

Workshops Proposals are sought from people interested in conducting supporting workshops. The formal call for session presenters will be included in the June mailing and can be downloaded from the Events page of the ETAQ website at http://www.etaq.org.au/?page_id=106 . Sessions on the Saturday will be 1 hour while the Sunday morning program will have two 90 minute time slots. Proposals are required by Saturday 26 June and will need to include a title, an abstract and a brief bio.

National Celebration of Literacy

This year AATE is again working with ALEA on a special initiative to be run during National Literacy and Numeracy Week (29 August to 4 September). In previous years it has been known as National Reading Day, but this year it will be extended across the whole of NLNW and will be called the National Celebration of Literacy.

The theme is Learning for Living. The Australian Literacy Educators’ Association (ALEA) and the Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE) are developing activities for the website in conjunction with DEEWR. The activities developed this year focus on reading and writing for real audiences and real purposes.

The National Celebration of Literacy follows the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book Week, held from 21-27 August with the theme, this year of Across the Story Bridge. Many schools already celebrate children’s literature during this time and the National Celebration of Literacy encourages teachers to further develop activities begun during Book Week.

The website www.celebrationofliteracy.net.au is currently under development and will soon be open for schools to register and access a range of activities and ways of sharing children’s work within the school and to a wider community. However, the main focus this year is on digital stories.

Digital Stories are short, personal, multimedia presentations created through image, edited on a computer with video editing software to include a spoken narrative. Digital stories generally contain 10-15 images, 250 words and are 2-3 minutes in length. The website will feature examples of digital stories from students to inform and inspire teachers to get involved.

Schools that participate in the National Celebration of Literacy will be eligible to win a range of prizes that will be featured on the website. A brochure is currently being prepared by DEEWR to assist schools with planning.

The Project Manager is Wendy Bean. If you would like to receive regular updates please contact Wendy, wendyb@uow.edu.au

Annual State Conference

Garry Collins — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 05:03:31 +0000

The annual ETAQ State Conference will be run at the Anglican Church Grammar School (“Churchie”) at East Brisbane over the weekend 14-15 August. The conference theme is “English in the era of the Australian Curriculum”.

The keynote speakers will be: Saturday morning - Lesley Englert, former EQ Assistant Director General – Curriculum and the Queensland nominee on the ACARA Board with Lynn Redley, ACARA chief writer for English; and Saturday afternoon - Dr Alison Scott, Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Queensland.

The final program is here: finalconferenceprogram2010

Reigstration forms can be downloaded here: etaq-asc-2010-rego-form1

ETAQ E-pistle 11-10

Garry Collins — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 06:55:33 +0000

State Conference

The annual ETAQ State Conference will be run at the Anglican Church Grammar School (“Churchie”) at East Brisbane over the weekend 14-15 August. The conference theme is “English in the era of the Australian Curriculum”.

The keynote speakers will be: Lesley Englert, former EQ Assistant Director General – Curriculum; currently Executive Principal and the Queensland nominee on the ACARA Board; and Dr Alison Scott, Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Queensland.

Volunteers are sought to conduct supporting workshops to flesh out the conference program. The June mailing includes the formal call for session presenters. The State Conference is a major opportunity for English teachers to share their work with colleagues. Sessions on the Saturday will be 1 hour while the Sunday morning program will have two 90 minute time slots.

Competitions

Members are asked to encourage students to complete their entries to meet the closing dates in these two competitions:

Literary Competition Friday 16 July (This one also has a teachers section.)

Children’s Illustrated Book Competition 31 July

PD opportunities for July Student Free Day

Members in the Brisbane area interested in PD opportunities on Monday 12 July, the EQ Student Free Day, might like to consider the following.

The English Teacher Guru (aka Lindsay Williams) will be conducting two workshops at the Brisbane Technology Park Convention Centre – easy access from the Gateway, South East Freeway (via Clem7 from north side) and Logan Motorway.

Workshop One (9:00 – 11:45 am) Critical factors for writing (and reading) success in QCST, NAPLAN and academic work

Workshop Two (12:30 – 3:15 pm) A practical introduction to principles and strategies for disengaged readers and writers

More information can be found at www.englishteacherguru.com Alternatively, you could contact Lindsay@englishteacherguru.com or phone (07) 3841 2812.

After-school forum in Brisbane

Another upcoming ETAQ PD event in Brisbane is the after-school forum on adolescent reading to be conducted at Brisbane Grammar School on Tuesday 27 July. The guest speaker is Joy Lawn, children’s literature consultant with Coaldrakes Book Store. Flyer and registration form are in the June mailing.

Australian Curriculum

Please try to find time to have a look at the draft Years 11 and 12 component of the Australian English Curriculum now available for comment on the ACARA consultation portal at www.australiancurriculum.edu.au .

ETAQ E-pistle 10-10

Garry Collins — Fri, 14 May 2010 06:54:13 +0000

AATE/ALEA National Conference 2013

Members are reminded that the earlybird registration for this year’s national conference in Perth during the winter vacation closes on Monday, 17 May.

Australian English Curriculum

The draft Years 11 and 12 component of the Australian English Curriculum is now available for comment on the ACARA consultation portal at www.australiancurriculum.edu.au . As with the draft K-10 document, a draft ETAQ response will be prepared and uploaded to the ETAQ web site for member input.

The consultation period for the K-10 section of the curriculum has been extended one week to 30 May. A draft ETAQ response is available on the association’s web site at www.etaq.org.au . If you’d like to provide input, please email me your comments at gazco48@bigpond.net.au

Annual Literary Competition

Please do all that you can to promote the annual Literary Competition and encourage talented student (and teacher) writers to enter. Entry materials were sent to schools during Term 1.

Brisbane May Seminar

Members in the Brisbane area are reminded about the seminar to be conducted at the Anglican Church Grammar School at East Brisbane on Saturday 22 May. The theme is “English in a digital world: Implications for the teaching of language, literature and literacy” and the keynote speaker will be Professor Catherine Beavis now at Griffith University’s Gold Coast campus.

The flyer and registration form for this PD activity (3.5 hours) can be downloaded from the Events page of the website at http://www.etaq.org.au/?page_id=106 Hard copies were included in the most recent mailing. Registrations are required by Tuesday 18 May.

Free public lecture at UQ

Another reminder for Brisbane-based members is about a lecture entitled “Shame and Reflection in Montaigne and Shakespeare” to be presented at the University Art Museum, St Lucia campus, University of Qld on Wednesday 19 May 2010, 6.00pm to 7.00pm. Refreshments will be provided following this free event and all are most welcome. RSVP: Cathy Squirrell (c.squirrell@uq.edu.au ) by Monday 17 May. More info can be obtained at http://www.emsah.uq.edu.au/index.html?page=29807&pid=0#Lloyd%20Davis

ETAQ E-pistle 09-10

Garry Collins — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 07:23:34 +0000

Feedback on Draft K-10 Australian Curriculum: English

As advised in E-pistle 8-10, a draft ETAQ response to the ACARA draft curriculum has been posted to the Discussions page of the ETAQ website at http://www.etaq.org.au/?page_id=92

Face-to-face meetings to discuss the draft curriculum and ETAQ’s draft response are to be held as follows:

Brisbane north side: Thursday 6 May (3:45 - 5:45pm) Chermside BCC Library, Hamilton Road, Chermside – Meeting Room 1. Please email Garry Collins if you plan to attend (gazco48@bigpond.net.au )

Brisbane south side: Wednesday 12 May (3:45 - 5:45pm) MacGregor State High School, Blackwattle Street, MacGregor – Room TBA. Please email Geoff Ferguson if you plan to attend (gferg1@eq.edu.au )

For both meetings please try to being your own copies of the draft curriculum and the draft ETAQ response. Certificates of attendance for 2hours of CPD will be available.

AATE/ALEA National Conference in Perth 4-7 July

Earlybird registration for this year’s national conference has now been extended to Monday 17 May. Remember that ther is also a discount for AATE membership. Being a member of ETAQ automatically makes you a member of the national English teacher body, AATE, the Australian Association for the Teaching of English.

The conference website can be found at http://www.englishliteracyconference.com.au

Sponsored attendance opportunity: As previously advised in the last edition, the ETAQ Management Committee has decided to provide financial assistance of $500 each for up to three members to help defray the costs of attending the national conference. Two of the recipients would be expected to participate in the “Future Leaders Forum” to be held during the conference (5-6 pm on Monday 5 July) and all would be required to provide an article on their conference experiences for publication in Words’Worth. The forum has been a feature of the conference for the past several years and is an opportunity for interaction amongst English teachers who, in the future, might potentially move into leadership positions in their state or territory ETA. However, no firm obligation is involved. To apply, just send me an email (gazco48@bigpond.net.au ) giving brief details of your teaching experience and current situation and explaining in about 50 words why you should be selected. Closing date for entries is Friday 14 May.

ETAQ State Conference – session proposals sought

ETAQ’s 2010 Annual State Conference will be conducted at the Anglican Church Grammar School at East Brisbane (“Churchie” ) over the weekend 14-15 August. The intended theme is “English in the era of the Australian Curriculum”.

Members are invited to contribute to the ongoing professional development of English teachers in Queensland by sharing aspects of their professional practice via workshop sessions at the conference.

Needless to say, the process of preparing and presenting a session at such a conference is also a highly beneficial professional development experience for the presenters themselves. And not a bad thing to have on your CV either.

Details of session length will be distributed as planning for the conference proceeds. Proposals for workshop or paper presentations should be sent to Garry Collins at gazco48@bigpond.net.au For the flyer and program we will need a session title, an abstract and some biographical details like those shown in the flyer for the March and May seminars.