Kia ora koutou
I am thrilled to become an editor of Literacy Forum NZ: Te Kōrero Pānui Tuhituhi o Aotearoa with Kirsten Kean.
I am tangata tiriti and grew up in Otautau. Having moved around since then, I now live in Te Whanganui-a-Tara where I am a member of the Wellington Literacy Association. Throughout my career I have been a teacher, post-graduate student, teacher educator, professional learning facilitator and researcher. In 2022, I retired from the Teaching Council Matatū Aotearoa where I had been privileged to work around the country facilitating teachers’ professional learning related to Our Code Our Standards, Ngā Tikanga Matatika Ngā Paerewa. I was also involved in the development of Unteach Racism.
My passion for literacy teaching, learning and research began in the 1990s. Through the Otago Reading Association, I was introduced to the value of literacy research for my practice. Since then, I have published articles and presented at reading conferences nationally and internationally, often with researcher colleagues and teacher partners. I wanted to understand more about the skills and knowledge students need to be successful readers in their secondary school content areas. My work also focused on explicit teaching about authorial choices of form, audience and intent to build students’ critical awareness as readers and writers. I continue to be fascinated by the ways in which students can be taught to effectively engage inference, reaching a deeper understanding of content to support their discussion and gain knowledge.
I greatly value my editor’s role working with Kirsten alongside teachers, researchers and councils who are sharing their findings and practices within our literacy professional learning community.
Ngā mihi mahana
Chris