Our Research

Current Project

This report details a study that was motivated by a desire to explore the the cultural and linguistic diversity within pre-service teacher cohorts, in four metropolitan Australian universities with large teacher education programs. In this document, we report on findings from a study of predominately primary and early childhood Pre-Service Teachers’ funds of knowledge, funded by an Education grant from the Collier Charitable Foundation. While we sought to investigate PSTs across four urban
university sites in Sydney, interruptions resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic, restricted access to participants across the four university sites. This report centres on the analysis of data collected from PSTs at predominantly two universities, Western Sydney University and the University of Sydney.

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Explore linguistic repertoires
  • Learning from China to internationalise Australian research education: pedagogies of intellectual equality and ‘optimal ignorance’ of ERA journal rankings by Michael Singh. Centre for Educational Research, Western Sydney University, Australia. Access the article here.
  • Learning to Theorise from Bourdieu: Using Zhongwen in English for Research Publication Purposes by Michael Singh. Western Sydney University, Australia. Access the article here.
  • Post-Monolingual Research Methodology: Building Multilingual Postgraduate Researchers’ Capabilities for Theorizing by Michael Singh. Western Sydney University, Australia. Access the article here.
  • Using Chinese Knowledge in internationalising research education: Jacques Ranciere, an ignorant supervisor and doctoral students from China by Michael Singh. Western Sydney University, Australia. Access the article here.
  • Postmonolingual critical thinking: internationalising higher education through students’ languages and knowledge by Michael Singh and Lu Si Yi. Access the chapter here.

Recent Research

See the links to recent research articles and journals to the left. Click on the hyperlink for access.

Past Projects

By Janet Dutton, Jacqueline D’warte, Joanne Rossbridge and Kathy Rushton

Tell Me Your Story: Confirming Identity and engaging writers in the middle years makes the case that, ‘Valuing the linguistic and cultural heritage of students is an important way to develop inclusivity and connectedness and to promote wellbeing and engagement with learning. By fostering an inclusive creative pedagogy, teachers can meet the needs of students from a range of linguistic, cultural and social backgrounds …’

The chapters of Tell Me Your Story provide a range of pedagogical approaches that focus on engagement and the affirmation of student identities. Each chapter has a particular focus and readers can choose the chapter or chapters that reflect their preferred approach to negotiating and affirming student identity in their own classrooms. The chapters provide a range of suggestions for working with students in the middle years and many examples of how different approaches can be implemented in classrooms.

Find out more about the book
Journals
  • Dutton, J., Rushton, K. (2021). Using the translanguaging space to facilitate poetic representation of language and identity. Language Teaching Research, 25(1), 105-133. [More Information]
  • Dutton, J., Rushton, K. (2018). Confirming identity using drama pedagogy: English teachers’ creative response to high-stakes literacy testing. English in Australia, 53(1), 5-14. [More Information]
  • D’Warte, J. (2021), ‘Facilitating agency and engagement : visual methodologies and pedagogical interventions for working with culturally and linguistically diverse young people’, Language Teaching Research, vol 25, no 1 , pp 12 – 38.
  • D’warte, J. and Slaughter, Y. (2021), ‘Introduction : reframing language in teaching and learning : leveraging students’ meaning-making repertoires’, Language Teaching Research, vol 25, no 1 , pp 5 – 11.
  • D’warte, J. (2019), ‘Mapping languages and literacies with multilingual students in Australian classrooms’, The Reading Teacher, vol 72, no 5 , pp 663 – 669.
  • D’warte, J., Daniel, P. and Allan, A. (2018), ‘Enhancing learning through building on students’ and parents’ linguistic and cultural repertoires in Year 1 classrooms’, Practical Literacy, vol 23, no 1 , pp 31 – 34.
  • Naidoo, L. and D’warte, J. (2017), ‘The Western Sydney rustbelt : recognizing and building on strengths in pre-service teacher education’, Australian Journal of Teacher Education, vol 42, no 4 , pp 69 – 83.
  • D’warte, J. (2015), ‘Building knowledge about and with students : linguistic ethnography in two secondary school classrooms’, English in Australia, vol 50, no 1 , pp 39 – 48.
  • D’Warte, J. (2014), ‘Exploring linguistic repertoires : multiple language use and multimodal literacy activity in five classrooms’, Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol 37, no 1 , pp 21 – 30.
  • D’Warte, J. (2014), ‘Linguistic repertoires : teachers and students explore their everyday language worlds’, Language Arts, vol 91, no 5 , pp 352 – 362
  • D’warte, J. (2020), ‘Recognizing and leveraging the bilingual meaning-making potential of young people aged six to eight years old in one Australian classroom’, Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, vol 20, no 2 , pp 296 – 326.
  • D’Warte, J. (2012), ‘Talking about texts : middle school students’ engagement in metalinguistic talk’, Linguistics and Education, vol 23, no 1 , pp 123 – 134.
  • Murphy, M., Rushton, K. (2018). Mind the gap: The critical role of school leaders in promoting parents and teachers as partners. Scan, 37(10), 1-11. [More Information]
  • Dutton, J., Rushton, K. (2018). Poets in the making: confirming identity in English. Scan, 37(3).
  • Orellana, M. and D’Warte, J. (2010), ‘Recognizing different kinds of “head starts”‘, Educational Researcher, vol 39, no 4 , pp 295 – 300.
  • Rushton, K. (2016). Traditional tales from around the world: Encouraging young voices into the classroom through literary description. Practical Literacy: the Early and Primary Years, 21(2), 27-29.
  • Rushton, K. (2010). Teaching grammar in the context of narrative. e:lit updates, 10, 1-8.
  • Rushton, K. (2010). The culture of silence: why local stories matter. Scan, 29(4), 25-30.
  • Rushton, K. (2009). Books and reading: Tools or toys? Tesol in Context, S2, 1-7.
  • Rushton, K. (2008). Cooperative planning and teaching for ESL students in the mainstream classroom. Tesol in Context, 18(1), 21-28.
  • Somerville, M. and D’Warte, J. (2014), ‘Researching children’s linguistic repertoires in globalized classrooms’, Knowledge Cultures: A Multidisciplinary Journal, vol 2, no 4 , pp 133 – 151.
  • Tan, L., Zammit, K., D’warte, J. and Gearside, A. (2020), ‘Assessing multimodal literacies in practice : a critical review of its implementations in educational settings’, Language and Education, vol 34, no 2 , pp 97 – 114.

Publications

Book Chapters
  • Callow, J., Rushton, K. (2019). A gallery of practices – Mobile learning, language, literacy and the arts (K-6). In Grace Oakley (Eds.), Mobile technologies in children’s language and literacy: Innovative pedagogy in preschool and primary education, (pp. 29-49). Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited. [More Information]
  • D’warte, J. (2019), ‘Explorations of place, communication and conflict : navigating local and global contexts in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms’, The Nexus among Place, Conflict and Communication in a Globalising World, Palgrave Macmillan 9789811359248.
  • D’warte, J. (2019), ‘Exploring, thinking, and learning about languages and literacies with young people in super-diverse Australian classrooms’, Language and Cultural Practices in Communities and Schools: Bridging Learning for Students from Non-Dominant Groups, Routledge 9781138597877.
  • D’warte, J. (2018), ‘Creating space for a shared repertoire : re-imagining pedagogies to cultivate transcultural and translingual competencies’, Resisting Educational Inequality: Reframing Policy and Practice in Schools Serving Vulnerable Communities, Routledge 9781138089303.
  • D’warte, J. (2016), ‘Students as linguistic ethnographers : super-diversity in the classroom context’, Super Dimensions in Globalisation and Education, Springer 9789811003103.
  • D’warte, J. (2016), ‘Exploring linguistic repertoires : applications for writing’, Teaching, Writing and Representing in the Primary School Years, Pearson Australia 9781488613708.
  • Arthur, L. and D’warte, J. (2016), ‘Diverse languages and dialects’, Anti-bias Approach in Early Childhood, MultiVerse Publishing 9780995379503.
  • D’warte, J. (2015), ‘Reflections on language and literacy : recognising what young people know and can do’, Understanding Sociological Theory for Educational Practices, Cambridge University Press 9781107477469.
  • D’Warte, J. and Somerville, M. (2014), ‘Language mapping : researching marginalised students’ everyday language and literacy practices’, Contemporary Issues of Equity in Education, Cambridge Scholars 9781443863322.
  • Rushton, K. (2007). The significance of text in the teaching of reading in the early years. In Alyson Simpson (Eds.), Future directions in literacy: International conversations conference 2007, (pp. 256-268). Sydney: Sydney University Press.
Books
  • Dutton, J., D’warte, J., Rossbridge, J., Rushton, K. (2018). Tell me your story: Confirming identity and engaging writers in the middle years. Sydney: Primary English Teachers Association Australia (PETAA).
  • Ewing, R., Callow, J., Rushton, K. (2016). Language and literacy development in early childhood. Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
  • Rossbridge, J., Rushton, K. (2011). Conversations about text 2: teaching grammar using factual text. Sydney: Primary English Teachers Association Australia (PETAA).
  • Rushton, K., Rossbridge, J. (2010). Conversations about Text. Teaching Grammar using Literary Texts. Newtown, NSW: Primary English Teachers Association Australia (PETAA).