Recognition of a socio-cultural view of literacy reminds us that children learn to be literate in rich contexts, in their home, in the community and in early learning contexts. Participation in these social contexts means that children have a “variety of understandings about what literacy is and how it is done” (Barratt-Pugh, 2020) and the value that it holds. As one would expect, the ways in which children learn literacy vary within and across these contexts. You will provide a written response of no more than 2500 words that  addresses the following:

·       Synthesises socio-cultural theories of literacy, language learning and meaning making 
·       Evaluates the diverse communicative backgrounds of children and the impact this diversity has on learning including for children who speak languages other than English or in addition to English 
·       Explains the effect of oral language development on the literacy learning of young children from diverse linguistic, social and cultural backgrounds 
·       Describes strategies used by educators to develop oracy and build on the home, community and real-world literacy practices of children 

In order to complete your written response, you must engage with the materials on Moodle and the references/readings suggested by your lecturer.

Word count for this task is 2500 words.

An elaboration of the assessment task will be available on the Moodle site.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence agents (Gen AI)
Within this assessment, the use of Gen AI agents is as follows: 

•  Gen AI content can be used to generate ideas and general structures, however, it must be acknowledged in your task.

Please refer to the Moodle Assessment tile for specific details.

• Synthesise socio-cultural theories of literacy, language learning and meaning making
• Evaluate the diverse communicative backgrounds of children and the impact this diversity has on learning including for children who speak languages other than English or in addition to English
• Explain the effect of oral language development on the literacy learning of young children from diverse linguistic, social and cultural backgrounds
• Describe strategies used by educators to develop oracy and build on the home, community and real-world literacy practices of children 

This assessment task has a number of components that must be completed prior to the placement. This includes the completion of relevant forms and the completion of a quiz to ensure that you have engaged with unit materials prior to commencing your placement. Your placement draws on understandings/knowledge and skills that you will develop through engagement with the unit materials and participation in online tutorials.

a ) Formative assessment - Completion of required placement compliance forms. You will access and complete the relevant form through the SONIA placement system. Once you have agreed to each of the statements and submitted the form, it will be available to download through SONIA. We will provide additional guidance regarding the submission of the form/s. 
b) Formative assessment - Compulsory Online Quiz. You will complete a 15 question quiz based on the content from the unit. To pass this task and proceed to placement, 100% (that is 15 out of 15) needs to be achieved. You can take the quiz as many times as needed to achieve 100%. Failure to complete the quiz will result in cancellation of your placement.
c) You will undertake a 15-day placement with children (3 – 4 years) and complete all tasks outlined in the Information and Guidelines Booklet for Professional Practice Component. 
The placement will be organised by the relevant University Professional Practice Coordinator. An up-to-date working portfolio must be maintained throughout the placement. Explicit guidance about the organisation of the portfolio is provided in the Information and Guidelines booklet. Additional information will be addressed during the tutorials. The working portfolio should include a copy of each of the requirements outlined in the booklet. In addition, you will need to include records of all observations, planning, evaluation and reflection conducted throughout the placement.  The staff member at the early learning setting, in consultation with the university supervisor, will complete both an interim and a Final Summative Report.
Please note: The placement booklet will require that students focus on language, literacy and the creative arts during their placement.

 Plan and assess developmentally appropriate experiences that promote young children’s learning with a particular focus on integrating language and literacy, and the creative arts 
Demonstrate professional responsibility through adherence to placement guidelines, codes of conduct, codes of ethics and legislative, administrative and organisational policies and processes for teachers at the professional experience site. 

This task requires you to submit your design for spaces that support children’s engagement with literacy and the arts, particularly the visual arts.
Design and create a provocation space or an experience that provokes children's exploration, enabling them to respond in multiple ways. As you plan/create this space or experience, you need to consider how children can respond using the arts, particularly the visual arts. 
You might draw inspiration for the provocation space from images in texts (including literature), nature, the work of artists, techniques used by illustrators (such as collage), experiences that children might have had (that is, connected to the lives of children), and so on.
Also important in your design is the consideration of ensuring that the provocation space/or experience reflects what you know about young children, their strengths, needs and interests and how you predict they may respond. 
As part of the planning process, you need to create a web of possibilities for learning and articulate how knowledge and understanding of children’s development, strengths, needs and interests are reflected in the design of the space and the planned experience. 
This means that you need to articulate the pedagogical choices that you might make. This might occur via playful interactions with the children, the language that you might introduce, and the techniques that you support children to select. For example, you might extend language pertaining to colour, line, shape and framing and composition and so on.
You need to explicitly identify how the web of possibilities for learning afforded to children links to the relevant learning framework (EYLF) particularly Outcome 5. 
Documentation of children’s engagement during the planned experience is required.
You are asked to critically reflect on planning and pedagogies that you enacted to determine their suitability for supporting language and literacy development and their engagement with the creative arts.  You need to consider also how the pedagogies you enacted were responsiveness to the diverse learner characteristics, abilities and stages of development and align with the way young children learn and make meaning about their world. 
Your reflection will be supported with links to the literature examined in the unit and the feedback you received from the teacher/educator. 

Word count: 1500 words maximum

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence agents (Gen AI)
Within this assessment, the use of Gen AI agents is as follows: 

•  Gen AI content can be used to generate ideas and general structures, however, it must be acknowledged in your task.

• Critically reflect on planning and teaching strategies exacted to determine their suitability for supporting language and literacy development and engagement in the creative arts and their responsiveness to diverse learner characteristics, abilities and stages of development. 
• Design a provocation space or experience that invite children’s engagement and provide opportunities for them to respond in multiple ways particularly through the creative arts