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• T he three strands of the Australian Curriculum 0 4

• English as a coherent and cumulative body of knowledge 0 5

• W hat is explicit instruction? 0 6

• Summary of explicit instruction 0 9

• Mentor texts 11

Introduction

It is a very exciting time to be an English teacher. More than ever before is known about the intricacies of oral language, reading, writing, multimodal and digital texts, and children’s literature. Pioneering research has revealed teaching approaches that enable deep student learning, the cognitive processes that occur as students engage in literate practices, factors that make learning different aspects of English difficult for some learners, and the relationship between English learning in primary school and a person’s life chances.

Teaching English well is important for every primary school teacher, but it can also seem overwhelming—and for good reason! English is without question the most commonly taught learning area in classrooms. Based on the number of content descriptions in the Australian Curriculum documents, the amount of English content that must be taught between the beginning and end of primary school is considerably greater than the next highest area: mathematics. This is because speaking, listening, reading, writing, viewing, and creating are social practices that rely on highly complex cognitive processes, and their teaching requires specialised knowledge about the English language itself, how children develop literacy skills to use English for different communicative purposes, and how to analyse, explore, interpret, and experiment with children’s literature. This book was written to deal with these complexities and promote the effective teaching and learning of primary English.

English education as a travel guide

The central metaphor of this text is that of a travel guide (see Figure 1.1). Travel guides help travellers understand and plan trips through unfamiliar cities and locations. They do not aim to cover everything about a place; instead, they provide information about the most significant sights and things to do. Teaching and Learning Primary English was designed to meet a similar purpose, bringing together the most important aspects of English education theory and pedagogy with a novel organisation and design to promote deep understanding of the content. This text aims to assist teachers at every career stage to navigate the often complicated, crowded, and interconnected landscape of English education.