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EDUC3526 - Planning for LiteracyIsobel Grear 2095557

Question of Choice:

Using the Four Resources Model, outline some learning activities for at least one

of the resources/dimensions that will support your students’ continuing

development as literate participants in one of your learning areas.

Introduction:

This essay is drawing on Luke and Freebody’s (1999) definition that

states that ‘teaching and learning literacy involves shaping and mastering the

repertoire of capabilities called into play when managing texts in ways

appropriate to various contexts.’ However, it focuses on the efficiency of the Four

Resources Model (Luke and Freebody, 1990) and adapts these resources in

order to create learning activities that will support students learning in the

subject of English. The four literacy resources are a set of specifications that

were developed in an attempt to outline the kinds of resources that any theory of

literacy education and any pedagogy aimed at that education should address

(Ludwig 2003).

The following learning activities are based on a Unit of Work on World

War Two Propaganda that is aimed at students in the Middle years of schooling.

In particular, this unit is aimed at Year Nine students in an English class. This

Unit of Work integrates the Australian Curriculum outcomes for Year Nine

English that state that Students will ‘interpret and compare how representations

of people and culture in literary texts are drawn from different historical, social

and cultural contexts’ (ACARA curriculum, 2012). However, it also has cross-

curricular links into History and SOSE. It must be noted that, the construction of

this text has been strongly influenced by the structure of Derout’s (2010) article

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that identified how Luke and Freebody’s (1999) four resources model can be

used to frame picture books.

How the Four Resources Model can be to analyse WW2 propaganda

posters:

World War Two propaganda posters can be used successfully as a text as

they are a reflection of a society that was politically driven. World War Two

propaganda posters are a text that has an obvious Audience, Purpose and Form

and are constructed within a significant social context. Therefore, students are

able to easily dissect the text using the Four Resources Model. This is a successful

combination as the Four Resources Model provides an outline of in depth

analysis for World War Two propaganda posters. Each separate Resource of the

model is important to help students to develop the “set of literacy capabilities

that are required for students to become participating and effective members of

a contemporary literate society” (Luke and Freebody, 1999).

Code Breaker:

According to Ludwig (2003), the Codebreaker resource has an emphasis

on ‘decoding and encoding the codes, symbols and conventions of written,

spoken, visual and multimodal texts in response to contextual factors’. Poster

designers use many visual codes to influence the persuasion and impact of the

poster. When taught these codes explicitly and shown examples, students in the

middle years are informed in their understanding of Posters and other

illustrative texts. Figure 1 demonstrates the type of Code-Breaker based

techniques Student’s could use to understand Posters.

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Text Participant, Text User, and Text Analyst:

Moreover Derout (2010), states that the text participant, text user and

text analyst roles ‘rely upon specific skills in collaboration to make sense of the

text’. This means that it is the student’s previous and personal discourse that

collaborates with new experiences that influences their analysis of the text.

Therefore, the following lists depict question that may be asked of students in

their considerations of World War Two Poster.

Figure 1: WW2 Poster analysed using the Code-Breaker technique.Figure 1: WW2 Poster analysed using the Code-Breaker technique.Figure 1: WW2 Poster analysed using the Code-Breaker technique.Figure 1: WW2 Poster analysed using the Code-Breaker technique.Figure 1: WW2 Poster analysed using the Code-Breaker technique.Figure 1: WW2 Poster analysed using the Code-Breaker technique.

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The following list is based on ‘comprehending and composing or making

meaning from texts’ (Ludwig, 2003) as this is the emphasis of the Text

Participant resource:

How does the reader make sense of the picture poster?

What life experiences does the reader bring to the poster?

Can the reader predict what the text is about/trying to say?

Can the reader unlock the visual codes and transfer their meaning/s?

What resources and background knowledge do they draw upon? (In this

instance, can the reader apply their historical knowledge of World War

Two to the scenario?)

Are there references to other historical events?

How does the reader feel when looking at the Poster? How do the pictures

make readers feel?

How does the placement of features, text and sequences in the poster

construct and manipulate meaning?

The following list is based on the central ideas of the Text User Resource. That is,

that the students will gain ‘understanding of the purposes of different texts and

using texts in different ways for different cultural and social functions’ (Ludwig,

2003).

Are there references to other texts, art works and/or historical events to

enhance the meaning of the text?

Does this Poster have a purpose? What is it?

Can readers identify other texts that are like this one?

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How would this text change if students were going to use the ideas in a

poem/brochure/television advert?

The Text Analyst resource is necessary for students to understand ‘that texts are

not neutral but represent particular points of view and silence others’ (Ludwig,

2003). The following list is based on this understanding:

Whose voice is heard in this poster? Whose voice is absent?

What was the Posters author’s purpose in the creation of the Poster?

What is it and why do you think it is expressed in this way?

Does the Poster reflect any cultural, social and/or political views?

What are they? Should they be expressed in this way?

Has it influenced how you think about these views?

Practical classroom and learning activity examples that have been

developed using the Four Resources Model:

In order to practice the Four Resources Model within a learning context,

the following assessment and classroom tasks have been created. Ludwig (2003)

points out that Freebody and Luke (1990) call for an ‘appreciation of the

necessity for integration of these four resources’ into effective planning and

learning activities. The classroom discussion and analysis of the propaganda

posters is guided through assessment tasks and learning activities that identify

with the Code Breaker, Text Participant, Text User and Text Analyst resources.

Furthermore, the Code Breaker resource requires students to decode the

different conventions of World War Two propaganda posters. The learning

activity that has been embellished with the functions of the Code Breaker

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Resource is the ‘Visual Analysis of World War Two Propaganda Posters’ task

(Appendix 1). This task was created as an introduction to the Unit of Work on

WW2 propaganda posters. The task asks students to conduct a visual analysis of

three posters. However, the first Poster has already been visually analysed. In a

classroom context the teacher may choose to conduct the first analysis as a

whole class discussion. This task is also effective as it is a good starting point for

the teacher to understand each student’s current understanding on the topic of

World War Two.

For this Unit of Work on World War Two propaganda posters there is a

heavy emphasis on the Text Participant resource. This is because the topic of

propaganda posters requires a substantial amount of historical and social

understanding from students. However, in order to get students comprehension

started, the teacher would conduct a class discussion on how the students are

reacting to the propaganda of each poster. Appendix 2 would also be used to give

students a context of World War Two and to “relate their previous experiences

with” (Ludwig, 2003) each text. Furthermore, the Diary Entry task (Appendix 3)

asks students to have empathy with an individual who was involved in the war

effort also gives students a context. As a conclusion, students would be involved

in group discussion that question the roles of men and women of World War

Two in comparison to the roles they have today? To be specific, the different

gender roles of the Army and War.

The teacher should create a Think-Pair-Share situation in order to discuss

Text User relevant information in conjunction with different World War Two

propaganda posters with students. The questions that would be asked are, ‘Why

was this Poster created?’ ‘Who is it directed at?’ and ‘Who are the audience?’.

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However, the major assessment task of this unit would be the ‘Designing

Propaganda’ task (Appendix 4). This learning activity has students ‘recognise

what to do with a text in a particular context’ and ‘understand that each text type

has its own particular structures and features’ (Ludwig, 2003). However, it also

expands the original concept of the four resources model with its use of multi-

model textual assignments. As Serafini (2012) states, ‘one must reconceptualize

the reader as a reader-viewer attending to the visual images, structures and

designs of multi-modal texts along with printed text’.

The Text Analyst resource could be used as an effective conclusion on the

topic of World War Two propaganda posters. Students would now have created

their own propaganda texts and understand that texts “are not neutral but

represent particular points of view and silence others” (Ludwig, 2003). There are

plenty of discussion starters that a teacher could use to summarise students’

findings. These include:

- What has the creator of these posters tried to convey?

- How does this poster reflect societal values?

- Who is the enemy? Are they portrayed correctly? Why/Why not?

- Whose voice is not heard in these propaganda posters?

Conclusion :

Overall, Luke and Freebody (1990) state that Literacy is ‘the intrinsic and

interdependent relationship between social context, meaning and language’. It is

for this reason, that I chose to use the Four Resources Model to guide my Lesson

planning and development of Learning Activities. However, I am also reminded

by Derout (2010) that successful teachers do draw on a wide range of different

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teaching strategies and weave these together. Hopefully this will come with

practice, but as a burgeoning teacher I will aim to ensure that I can integrate

tasks that are both constructed on the Four Resources Model but tasks that also

aware of the individuality of each student.

Word Count: 1531

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Reference List:

Australian Curriculum, (2012), ACARA Codes. Sourced:

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/English/Curriculum/F-10#level=9

Derout, L. (2010). Using picture books in middle years classrooms. Literacy

Learning in the Middle Years, 18(1), i-xi.

Expanding the four resources model: reading visual and multi-modal texts

Freebody, P., & Luke, A. (1990). 'Literacies' programs: Debates and demands in

cultural context. Prospect, 5(3), 7-16.

Ludwig, C. (2003). Making Sense of Literacy. Newsletter of the Australian Literacy

Educators’ Association, February 2003

Luke, A. & Freebody, P. (1999). A map of possible practices: Further notes on the

four resources model. Practically Primary, 4(2). Accessed from the web 9.2.06.

Serafini, F., (2012). Pedagogies: An International Journal, Vol.7(2), p.150-164

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Appendices: Appendix 1 – “Visual Analysis of World War Two Posters” Task

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Appendix 2 – “Historical Research: Why Propaganda” Task

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Appendix 3 – “Empathy: Diary Entry” Task

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Appendix 4 – “Designing Propaganda” Task

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