Nature immersions: teaching reading through a real-world curriculum

Debates about teaching reading have long been a part of educational vernacular, frequently reduced to polarised views about phonics. This attention can unnecessarily divert from the cumulative skills required for learning to read and comprehensive research, which indicates the positive influence of...

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Main Author: Katherine Bates
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2023-06-01
Series:Australian Journal of Environmental Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0814062622000507/type/journal_article
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author Katherine Bates
author_facet Katherine Bates
author_sort Katherine Bates
collection DOAJ
description Debates about teaching reading have long been a part of educational vernacular, frequently reduced to polarised views about phonics. This attention can unnecessarily divert from the cumulative skills required for learning to read and comprehensive research, which indicates the positive influence of systematic phonics instruction on students’ reading outcomes. Australian education has recently moved beyond these reading wars to include explicit phonics instruction in a reformed national English Curriculum. This provides an opportune time to engage preservice teachers entering the workforce with strategies that explicitly teach these skills while nurturing young people’s ecological consciousness through positive nature connections. With this focus in mind, a participatory action research project involving preservice teachers was undertaken, from which an Eco-Conceptual Framework ensued. The project put immersive activities in place, promoting transdisciplinary ways to develop learners’ connections with nature using images collected from participants’ real world when learning to read. Results indicate that action research energised preservice teachers’ perceived knowledge, self-efficacy about teaching early reading utilising place and skills in designing visual resources. It brings attention to the critical influence of preservice teachers’ dispositions and preferred natural spaces on what images are collected and offered when designing early reading activities utilising the natural world.
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spelling doaj-art-ef615ece9dd7413ea5f0949f2f17c18a2025-08-20T04:02:27ZengCambridge University PressAustralian Journal of Environmental Education0814-06262049-775X2023-06-013918119810.1017/aee.2022.50Nature immersions: teaching reading through a real-world curriculumKatherine Bates0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6524-4036Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, AustraliaDebates about teaching reading have long been a part of educational vernacular, frequently reduced to polarised views about phonics. This attention can unnecessarily divert from the cumulative skills required for learning to read and comprehensive research, which indicates the positive influence of systematic phonics instruction on students’ reading outcomes. Australian education has recently moved beyond these reading wars to include explicit phonics instruction in a reformed national English Curriculum. This provides an opportune time to engage preservice teachers entering the workforce with strategies that explicitly teach these skills while nurturing young people’s ecological consciousness through positive nature connections. With this focus in mind, a participatory action research project involving preservice teachers was undertaken, from which an Eco-Conceptual Framework ensued. The project put immersive activities in place, promoting transdisciplinary ways to develop learners’ connections with nature using images collected from participants’ real world when learning to read. Results indicate that action research energised preservice teachers’ perceived knowledge, self-efficacy about teaching early reading utilising place and skills in designing visual resources. It brings attention to the critical influence of preservice teachers’ dispositions and preferred natural spaces on what images are collected and offered when designing early reading activities utilising the natural world.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0814062622000507/type/journal_articleplace-based educationenvironmental consciousnessteacher educationsemioticsphonics
spellingShingle Katherine Bates
Nature immersions: teaching reading through a real-world curriculum
Australian Journal of Environmental Education
place-based education
environmental consciousness
teacher education
semiotics
phonics
title Nature immersions: teaching reading through a real-world curriculum
title_full Nature immersions: teaching reading through a real-world curriculum
title_fullStr Nature immersions: teaching reading through a real-world curriculum
title_full_unstemmed Nature immersions: teaching reading through a real-world curriculum
title_short Nature immersions: teaching reading through a real-world curriculum
title_sort nature immersions teaching reading through a real world curriculum
topic place-based education
environmental consciousness
teacher education
semiotics
phonics
url https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0814062622000507/type/journal_article
work_keys_str_mv AT katherinebates natureimmersionsteachingreadingthrougharealworldcurriculum