The Forgotten Years: Why Years 3, 4 and 5 demand attention in a

digital age

Rosie KerinUniversity of South Australia

AEU Primary Years Conference11 July 2008

Four steps this morning:

1.The bigger picture of phases of schooling

2. Profiling students in Years 3, 4 & 5

3.Digital voices and experience in Years 3, 4 & 5

4. Reconceptualising and rebadging Years 3, 4 and 5

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innocence and

entryinterventionliteracy and

numeracy rich

family partnershipsmedia -

parents and teachers

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‘..return and restoration of childhood

before the fall...the continued crisis in

early print literacy has become a default

stalling tatic by educational systems that

are unable to come to grips with

generationally and practically with

multiliteracies and increasingly alien and

alienated student bodies.’ (Luke & Luke,

2001)

adolescence

Middle Years reviews

transitions

media - problems

teacher education

programs

conferences,

publications

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‘The innocent childhood no longer

exists - this is the world in which

early adolescents are already forming

identities, acquiring knowledge of

their community and learning to

participate in civic life. This the world

of increasing ‘risk’ at all levels’

(Carrington, 2006, p. 14).

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entry to adulthood

senior secondary reviews

certification/graduation

Success for All, Future SACE

pathways to careers

ICAN, SAYES

media attention-skills and futures

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How can you build

on the work of the PY3-5TA

to correct the amnesia?

The risks associated with early

years, middle years and senior

years are constantly before us.

So, what are the risks associated

with forgetting Years 3, 4 and 5?

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3 4 5Learners and Technology: 7-11 (Becta, 2008)

Research conducted by Institute of Education’s London Knowledge Lab, across 2007- 2008

Most school use: information and picture retrieval

Most home use: games, chatting, digital photography and email

Passive consumption dominant mode of engagement

most exciting - games - and least exciting - work

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Learners and Technology: 7-11

Becta (2008)

recognised complexity and inequities across schools

‘...a need for genuinely learner-driven methods to be used which can provide young people with sufficient space to think about and reflect on their ICT use’ (Cranmer, Potter & Selwyn, 2008, p.41)

See www.becta.org.uk

3 4 5Literacy after the early years: A longitudinal study

Comber, B., Nixon, H. & Pitt, J (2002)

What was working for young people:

“...children had access to and appropriated many literate practices and learning strategies that their teachers modelled and made important. We saw children emerging as strategic learners with skills and dispositions that should stand them in good stead...’

For ongoing reflection and strategic work:

equity and access to literate practices that count

respect for diversity and anticipation of needs of those in poverty

develop capacity for critique

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Learners and Technology: 7-11

Becta (2008)

recognised complexity and inequities across schools

‘...a need for genuinely learner-driven methods to be used which can provide young people with sufficient space to think about and reflect on their ICT use’ (Cranmer, Potter & Selwyn, 2008, p.41)

See www.becta.org.uk

‘Participatory culture shifts the focus of literacy from one of individual expression

to community involvement’

Henry Jenkins et al (2005)

playperformancesimulation

appropriationmultitasking

distributed cognitioncollective intelligence

judgmenttransmedia navigation

networking negotiation

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We are at the very beginning of a new market -- we have products customers see value in, creators who love what they are doing, and a path to making sure that people can pay for it all to keep going. With a little foresight and planning between the incumbents and the start-ups, we can ensure we have the opportunity to keep it this growing this way.

http://nabeel.typepad.com/brinking/2008/05/are-online-game.html

Participatory culture (Jenkins, 2005) appears to emerge as a particularly significant factor in the lives of contemporary children in Years 3, 4 and 5.Across new digital experiences, creation and collaboration we can see the development of new media literacies and movement beyond familiar home and school environments and communication practices.

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Effective, ethical productive engagement with new and emerging technologies

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consolidation of alphabetic literacies and numeracy with :

critical engagement and exploration of (digital) media that are targetted at this group

fusion and synchronisation with digital literacies in Years 3, 4 and 5

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Early years - alphabetic literacies and numeracy

Middle years - collaboration, engagement and authentic learning

Senior years - retention and pathways to the future

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Need to stake a claim, and rebadge

The mystery years... the transition... the bridging years... the connected years... the prime years.

Participate in a movement to highlight the significance and contributions of your phase of schooling.

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Discourses of risk: students in Years 3, 4 and 5 are at risk of being ‘virtually forgotten’

Need to match the intensity and scope of big business and technological innovations

Participate in a regeneration of interest in Years 3, 4 and 5 by those who don’t teach there.

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Some links to follow:Tibetian’s Children’s Village - A place of refuge in Dharamsala, India:http://www.bridgesweb.org/schools/schools_tcv.html#

Club Penguin - Bad Day http://ftp.youtube.com/watch?v=pQAUMzLUVYw

Spore - new game/world www.spore.com

Not any old book - Shoe Box Digital Story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/audiovideo/sites/yourvideo/pages/jack_j_01.shtml

My picture - Shoe Box Digital Story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/audiovideo/sites/galleries/pages/schoolshoebox.shtml

ACMI Digital Stories, Woodleigh School, Victoria (Year 3/4), Winner Screen It 2007 - Primary School Category - Animation http://www.acmi.net.au/screenit07_remotely_animated.htm

Graphic re virtual worlds http://www.kzero.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/virtual-world-numbers-q2-2008.jpg

Virtual worlds pie graphs http://www.virtualworldsmanagement.com/2008/youthworlds.html

Jackie Marsh blog:http:digitalbeginnings.blogspot.com/

Primary Proud: Years 3-5 Survey, August-September 2007, DECS httpwww.primaryyears.sa.edu.au/

References

Association of Virtual Worlds (2008). The Blue Book: A Consumer Guide to Virtual Worlds.www.associationofvirtualworlds.com Atkinson, S., & Nixon, H. (2005). Locating the subject: teens online @ ninemsn. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 26(3), 387-409.

Carrington, V. (2002). The middle years of schooling in Queensland: A way forward. A Discussion Paper prepared for Education Queensland. http://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/middle/docs/carrington.pdf Carrington, V. (2006). Rethinking Middle Years: Early adolescents, schooling and digital culture. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.

Comber, B., Nixon, H. & Pitt, J. (2002) Literacy after the early years: A longitudinal study. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 25(2), pp. 9-23.

Crafter, G., Crook, P. & Reid, A. (2006). Success for All: Ministerial Review of Senior Secondary Education in South Australia. http://sacereview.sa.gov.au/

Cranmer, S., Potter, J. & Selwyn, N. (2008). Learners and Technology: 7-11. Institute of Education - University of London, UK. www.becta.org.uk

Jenkins, H. with Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robinson, A. J. & Weigel, M. (2005). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. An occasional paper on digital media and learning for the MacArthur Foundation. http://digitallearning.macfound.org/site/c.enJLKQNlFiG/b.2108773/apps/nl/content2.asp?content_id=%7BCD911571-0240-4714-A93B-1D0C07C7B6C1%7D&notoc=1

Luke, A. & Luke, C. (2001). Adolescence Lost/Childhood Regained: an Early intervention adn the Emergence of the Techno-Subject. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 1(1), 91-120.

Marsh, Jackie See http:/digitalbeginnings.blogspot.com/ for AATE/ALEA presentation, Adelaide, 8 July, 2008.

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