ABSTRACT

The term literacy has not yet been clearly defined. The issue of understanding the nature of and defining literacy for a Super-symbolic Information Age is discussed. For the purposes of this study literacy was defined as a transient, idiosyncratic Gestalt, which is a by product of constructions of meaning from symbolic and embedded symbolic information in textual data.

The primary aim of the study was to develop a grounded theory of acculturated meaning making in the development of idiosyncratic literacy practices. This was achieved through three sub aims: Describing one school's culture; describing three individual families’ intergenerational family acculturation; and ascribing acculturated patterns of responses to the making of meaning in the classroom by three young children, during their first three years of school, when they construct literacy. Acculturation may be defined as the means by which beliefs, attitudes, values, patterns and practices are willingly and unwillingly, overtly and covertly, verbally and non-verbally, communicated, negotiated and mutated (i.e., altered) from one generation to another and within generations of a family, community and culture (Ref.: Kingson, Hirshorn, Cornman & Cabin, 1986; Guerin, Fay, Burden & Kautto, 1987; Guerin & Pendagast, 1976; Minuchin, 1974).

Longitudinal Case Study data were collected over three years. During this time three children, their families and one of their teachers from the one school participated. Parents completed a questionnaire about their intergenerational family acculturation (i.e., their beliefs, attitudes, values, patterns and practices over three or more generations). Additional questions addressed parents' own experiences as learners and their beliefs, attitudes, values and practices with regard to their child's language, literacy and learning. The teacher and the three children were observed and video taped in the classroom over a three year period (1991-1993). One parent of each child and the teacher participated in individual focus interviews. These interviews acted as memberchecks whereby interpretations of observations were assessed, corroborated, errors corrected and new information added.

The school culture was derived from document analysis and classroom observations.

Naturalistic Inquiry methods were used to collect data for three main data pools: Intergenerational family acculturation data; document analysis; data and classroom observation data. Each data pool was subsequently collapsed to produce other data pools and provide additional information about embedded symbolic knowledge (Ref: Wurman, 1989).

A process for analyzing embedded symbolic information was developed and described. This process was developed in response to predictions of futurologists such as Reich (1993), Toffler (1990) and Wurman (1989) and specifically, Toffler's (1990) notion of a Super-symbolic Information Age and embedded symbolism in which symbols "represent nothing more than other symbols inside the memories and thoughtware of people and computers" (Toffler, 1990:62). Accordingly, data pools were analyzed for embedded information, then embedded knowledge and lastly, embedded beliefs.

A grounded theory is presented of how young children use their knowledge of the world derived from their primary experiences in their family of origin and their school to develop idiosyncratic responses during the construction of literacy in the classroom. Young children come to school already knowing how to use their knowledge of the world to make meaning. They learn how to make meaning through intergenerational acculturation processes which are fundamental to all family units. Intergenerational family acculturation provides a ready meaning making template system. It is through this meaning making template system that young children pattern their experiences and specifically, textual data, when constructing in the classroom. Intergenerational family acculturation appears to construct meaning at a deep level of embedded symbolic information. Implications of the results of this study are discussed, including implications for how we understand individual children's responses during the construction of literacy in the classroom; the role of contexts in the meaning making process; the intimate acculturation processes inherent in school culture and teaching and learning processes.

Dedicated to:

Suzanne and Michelle, two of my best reasons for being

and Brian, "a person without equal" in encouraging me in making connections

Acknowledgments

No research is possible without participants and my participants have been particularly generous and enduring for which I am eternally grateful. I do hope my representation of you in this thesis does you the justice you deserve. Thankyou.

Brian Cambourne provided me with optimal levels and combinations of support, advice, admonition and encouragement to allow me to make the connections I needed to make so I could say "I did it my way" and, I did it "his way", too, as he encouraged me to find a "sufficiently satisfying" way of presenting and sharing what I knew. Thankyou, Brian, I could not have done it without you!

Bert, Michelle and Suzanne, yes, I do still exist, and yes, I am coming home. Thankyou for your enduring unconditional love and support. I couldn't have done it without you, either!

My friends will now see a different me as I emerge from my thesis cocoon, my domicile for such a long time. I look forward to catching up before my next venture (well almost): I'm sure I can think of another project to keep me going into the Twenty First Century... A special thankyou to Maleeka Salih who unwittingly crossed my path at the eleventh hour providing much needed sane interludes at an insane time.

At a crisis point in my brief thesis writing career, Jan Turbill's invaluable audit of my work helped me to articulate my thesis and to keep me focused on what I was trying to achieve. Thanks Jan.

Bottom line support from Kylie Pickford, Lois Leitch and Debbie McGavin have filled many functional gaps among others! Thanks folks.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

• PREAMBLE
• FOCUS OF THE STUDY
• FUTUROLOGISTS' CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
  • Global village
  • Powershift
  • Information Systems
• ACCULTURATION THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
  • Intergenerational Family Acculturation
  • School Culture
• APPLICATION OF THE FUTUROLOGIST AND ACCULTURATION FRAMEWORKS TO THE STUDY OF LITERACY
  • A working definition of literacy
• AIM OF THE STUDY
• RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
• TIMELINESS
• PROFESSIONAL NEEDS
• THEORETICAL NEEDS
• SOCIO-HISTORICAL-POLITICAL CONTEXT OF THE STUDY
• PROBLEMS CURRENTLY ASSOCIATED WITH DEFINING "LITERACY"
  • Functional role of definitions
  • Descriptive definitions
  • Evaluative definitions
• CURRENT APPROACHES TO LITERACY TEACHING AND LEARNING IN AUSTRALIA
  • An interactive-compensatory approach to literacy
  • A Genre approach to literacy
  • A Whole Language approach to literacy
• APPROACHES TO ASSESSING AND EVALUATING LITERACY
  • Standardized Testing
  • Responsive Evaluation
• THEORETICAL ORIENTATION OF THE STUDY
• RATIONALE FOR THE MULTI-THEORETICAL APPROACH TO THIS STUDY
  • Access to a broader range of discourses
  • An applied example of symbolic-analytic skills
• MAJOR THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE STUDY
  • Communication Theory
  • Social semiotic Theory
  • Acculturation Theory
  • Psychological Theory
  • Whole Language Theory
  • Psycholinguistic Theory
• RESEARCH DESIGN
• METHODOLOGY
• OUTCOME OF THE STUDY
• OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY AS PRESENTED IN THIS THESIS
• ACCESSING AND PATTERNING THE DATA ANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS AND EVALUATION OF RESULTS

CHAPTER 2: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE 44

• INTRODUCTION
• LITERATURE BASE
• THEORIES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERACY
  • An overview of theoretical approaches to the development of literacy
  • Interactive-compensatory Theory
  • Genre Theory
  • Whole Language Theory
• CURRENT ISSUES IN LITERACY IN AUSTRALIA
  • Accountability in teaching and learning of literacy
  • Nature of beliefs about literacy
  • Literacy and work
  • Access and equity
  • Functional literacy
  • Literacy assessment and evaluation
  • Objective assessment and evaluation
  • Responsive Evaluation
  • Predictions of future literacy needs
  • Super-symbolic Information Age
  • Society and literacy needs
• RECOGNIZING EMBEDDED SYMBOLIC INFORMATION
• NATURE OF SYMBOLISM
  • Embedded symbolic information inherent in acculturation processes
  • Intergenerational family acculturation
  • Acculturation and socialization
  • School Culture: Beliefs, attitudes, values, patterns and practices
  • The human mind and symbolic and embedded symbolic information
  • Embedded symbolic information inherent in the construction of literacy
• SYMBOLIC-ANALYTIC SKILLS AND LITERACY
  • Immersion
  • Demonstration
  • Expectation
  • Responsibility
  • Approximation
  • Employment
  • Feedback
• DEFINING LITERACY FOR A SUPER-SYMBOLIC INFORMATION AGE
• PROBLEMS WITH CURRENT DEFINITIONS
  • Foci of current definitions
  • Need for literacy to be redefined for a Super-symbolic Information Age
• TOWARDS REDEFINING LITERACY FOR A SUPER-SYMBOLIC INFORMATION AGE
  • The role of context in defining literacy
  • An omnibus definition of literacy
• SUMMARY OF MY REVIEW OF LITERATURE

CHAPTER 3: THE RESEARCH PROCESS

• INTRODUCTION
• SITE SELECTION
• ENTRY TO SITE
• PARTICIPANTS AND SAMPLING
• ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
• DATA COLLECTION PROCESSES
• ACCESSING THE DATA
• TRUSTWORTHINESS
  • Credibility
  • Dependability
  • Confirmability
  • Transferability
• DATA GATHERING TECHNIQUES
  • Parent Questionnaire
  • Public documentation on the school
  • Descriptive school reports
  • Field notes (running records)
  • Teachers' records and assessments
  • Other teacher materials
  • Focus interviews with teacher and parents
  • Video tapes
  • Audio tapes
  • Children's work and comments
• ARTICULATING THE FLOW OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS OF NATURALISTIC INQUIRY
• THE AUDIT TRAIL
  • The role of an audit trail
  • Providing an audit trail for my study
• SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS

CHAPTER 4: PROCESSES OF ANALYSIS

• INTRODUCTION
• MY ANALYTIC PROCESS
• MY EXPERIENCE AS HUMAN-AS-INSTRUMENT
  • Recognizing and purposively accessing my data 110 Recognizing embedded layers of data
  • Intergenerational family acculturation data
  • Document analysis data
  • Classroom observational data
  • Deriving information: Meaningfully patterning the data in my study
  • The process of patterning and coding my data
  • Constructions of reality
  • Recognizing meaningful patterns in the data
  • Building a Knowledge Base
• SUMMARY OF MY ANALYTIC PROCESS
• AN OVERVIEW OF SYMBOLIC-ANALYTIC INFORMATION PROCESSING
  • Recognizing and processing layers of embedded data
  • Raw data
  • Embedded information
  • Embedded knowledge
  • Practices
  • Iterated patterns of practice
  • Embedded belief systems

CHAPTER 5: RESULTS OF ANALYSIS

• INTRODUCTION
• BANKSIA GROVE SCHOOL
• BACKGROUND TO BANKSIA GROVE SCHOOL
  • An introduction to Banksia Grove School
  • How and why Banksia Grove School was established
  • Banksia Grove School's acculturation processes
  • A holistic child-centred learning environment
  • Emphasizing a home-school continuum
  • A democratic approach to decision making
  • Promoting individual, communal and environmental rights, respect and support
  • Beliefs about children
  • Beliefs about knowledge and learning
  • Beliefs about society
  • Beliefs about the Banksia Grove experience of education
• HOW THE BANKSIA GROVE SCHOOL CULTURE OPERATES TO MAKE MEANING
  • Interpersonal relationships
  • Shared experiences
  • The classroom context
• HOW ONE TEACHER FACILITATES MEANING MAKING DURING THE CONSTRUCTION OF LITERACY IN THE CLASSROOM
• PRESENTING THE CASE STUDIES
• BACKGROUND TO THE CASE STUDY CHILD
• [CASE STUDY'S NAME] AS A MEANING MAKER
• [CASE STUDY'S NAME] AS A CONSTRUCTOR OF LITERACY
• A SUMMARY OF MY CASE STUDY OF [CASE STUDY'S NAME]
• CASE STUDY: CHRISTINE
• BACKGROUND TO THE CASE STUDY OF CHRISTINE
  • An introduction to the person, Christine
  • Christine's intergenerational family acculturation
  • Why Christine's parents chose Banksia Grove School for her
  • Community
  • Curriculum
  • Expectations
  • Self-determination
• CHRISTINE AS A MEANING MAKER
  • Modes of expression
  • Persistence
  • Humour
  • Social needs
• CHRISTINE AS A CONSTRUCTOR OF LITERACY
  • Persistence
  • Need to control the process
  • Sense of purpose
  • Exploration of different modes of expression
• A SUMMARY OF MY CASE STUDY OF CHRISTINE
• CASE STUDY: LIAM
• BACKGROUND TO THE CASE STUDY OF LIAM
  • An introduction to the person, Liam
  • Liam's intergenerational family acculturation
  • Why Liam's parents chose Banksia Grove for him
  • Pragmatics
  • Philosophy of education
• LIAM AS A MEANING MAKER
  • Modes of expression.
  • Persistence
  • Humour
  • Social needs
• LIAM AS A CONSTRUCTOR OF LITERACY
  • Exploration of different modes of expression
  • Need to control the process
  • Persistence
  • Sense of purpose
• A SUMMARY OF MY CASE STUDY OF LIAM
• CASE STUDY: CASEY
• BACKGROUND TO THE CASE STUDY OF CASEY
  • An introduction to the person, Casey
  • Casey's intergenerational family acculturation
  • Why Casey's parents chose Banksia Grove for her
  • Parents' childhood experiences of school
  • Personal contact with the school
  • Self directed learning
  • Emphasis on self-sufficiency and personal organization
  • Teachers function as resources
• CASEY AS A MEANING MAKER
  • Modes of expression
  • Persistence
  • Humour
  • Social needs
• CASEY AS A CONSTRUCTOR OF LITERACY
  • Exploration of different modes of expression
  • Need to control the process
  • Persistence
  • Sense of purpose
• A SUMMARY OF MY CASE STUDY OF CASEY
• OVERVIEW OF THE RESULTS OF MY ANALYSIS: IDIOSYNCRATIC RESPONSES DURING THE CONSTRUCTION OF LITERACY
• THE CHILD AS AN IDIOSYNCRATIC CONSTRUCTOR OF LITERACY

CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION

• INTRODUCTION
• REFLECTION ON THE PROCESS OF MY RESEARCH
• CONNECTING MY REFLECTIONS OF MEANING MAKING WITH THOSE IN THE LITERATURE
  • Immersion.
  • Demonstration
  • Engagement
• PRESENTING A GROUNDED THEORY OF HOW YOUNG CHILDREN CONSTRUCT LITERACY IN THE CLASSROOM
• AN OVERVIEW OF MY GROUNDED THEORY
• DETAILED ASPECTS OF MY GROUNDED THEORY
  • The nature of contexts in relation to the individual's Information System
  • Immediacy and Internalization
  • Internal Context
  • External Context
  • Transferability
  • Intercontextuality
  • The processes of making meaning
  • The origins, nature and evolution of Meaning Making
  • The notion of a meaning making system within an Information System
  • Intergenerational family acculturation as the primary meaning making system
  • Meaning making during the construction of literacy in the classroom
  A
• SUMMARY OF MY GROUNDED THEORY
• IMPLICATIONS OF THIS STUDY
• CHILDREN AS CONSTRUCTORS OF LITERACY IN THE CLASSROOM
• TEACHING AND LEARNING RELEVANT LITERACY SKILLS IN SCHOOLS
• THE CULTURE OF SCHOOLS
  • Structure and purpose of school curricula
• FUTURE RESEARCH
• LITERACY REVISITED
• CONCLUSIONS
• REFERENCES

APPENDICES

• Appendix I: Research Proposal
• Appendix II: Sample member checking letters
• Appendix III: Observation Sessions and Dates
• Appendix IV: Parent Questionnaire
• Appendix V: Sample School Report
• Appendix VI: Sample forms of teacher records
• Appendix VII: Samples of Story/book writing, reports (recounts) and other materials
• Appendix VIII: Sample points used for focus interview questions
• Appendix IX: Samples of children's work
• Appendix X: Key words and phrases from Unauthorized Document 2

POSTSCRIPT

List of Tables

• Table 1.1: Structure of Chapter
• Table 1.2: Beliefs, attitudes, values, patterns and practices defined using a symbolic framework
• Table 1.3: Underlying assumptions of the positivist and constructivist paradigms (from Guba & Lincoln, 1989:84)
• Table 1.4: Conceptual and theoretical contributions to the study
• Table 1.5: Contents of the two sections which comprise this thesis
• Table 2.1: An outline of my latest synthesis of the literature and the order in which it is presented in this chapter
• Table 3.1: Data types, recording methods and operationalizations used in the data collection process for this study
• Table 3.2: Audit trail classifications, file types and evidence for this study (adapted from Halpern, 1983, in Lincoln & Guba, 1985:382-392)
• Table 4.1: Structure of Chapter 4
• Table 4.2: Data accessed for this study at the level of evidence of the data's existence
• Table 4.3: My template for patterning and coding my data
• Table 4.4: Operational definitions for patterns and categories used in this study
• Table 4.5: My analytic process
• Table 4.6: Results of my analysis of the data
• Table 5.1: Structure of Chapter 5
• Table 5.2: Strategies Hilary, the teacher, uses to facilitate meaning making during the construction of literacy in the classroom
• Table 5.3: Ways children in Hilary's class participate during the construction of literacy in the classroom
• Table 6.1: The interrelatedness of data, information, knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, values, patterns and practices
• Table 6.2: Processes in making meaning for the young children in my study during the construction of literacy.

List of Figures

• Figure 1.1: An Information System consists of five Information Rings which an individual accesses during the construction of idiosyncratic meanings (Wurman, 1989:43).
• Figure 1.2: The processes and stages of Responsive Evaluation (Reproduced from Cambourne & Turbill, 1994:19, with permission).
• Figure 1.3: Some inter-relationships between the multiple conceptual and theoretical contributions to this study
• Figure 1.4: A transactional model of communication (redrawn from Mohan, McGregor & Strano, 1992:42).
• Figure 2.1: Three areas of language study in relation to models of literacy (adapted from Webster, 1986:108)
• Figure 2.2: Two approaches to reading (redrawn from Cambourne, 1979:82). 49
• Figure 2.3: Cambourne's (1988) Conditions of Learning relevant to the "acquisition of literacy" in the context of the Whole Language classroom
• Figure 2.4: The communication process according to Leech (1976:12) 65
• Figure 2.5: A sample genogram (redrawn from Hartman, 1979:307) 69
• Figure 3.1: Data sources for the study. Each circle adds another layer of data thereby providing a thick description and potentially more interconnections. 93
• Figure 3.2: The flow of naturalistic enquiry from Lincoln & Guba (1985:188)
• Figure 3.3: The flow of naturalistic enquiry from Lincoln & Guba (1985:188) redrawn to apply to this study
• Figure 4.1: The main data pools used in this study and possible data pools derived from collapsing the main data pools
• Figure 4.2: The manifestation of the embedded layers of data accessed in this study
• Figure 5.1: Some Banksia Grove Community activities before and after The Long Walk in 1992 as reported in the School Bulletin 30.7.92 and 12.11.92
• Figure 5.2 Notice by Christine, my first Case Study, advertizing ghost stories at a Bush Dance in the school bulletin (Authorized Document 2: 112, 25.3.93)
• Figure 5.3: The process of constructing the Case Studies as presented here
• Figure 5.4 The play program cover by Christine
• Figure 5.5 A page from Christine's Journal where she tells of her "outing" to the aquarium
• Figure 5.6: A page from Liam's The can you find book
• Figure 5.7: Liam's persistence in constructing meaning through a topic within science is demonstrated in his fascination with volcanoes over two years.
• Figure 6.1: The possible relationship between Immediacy and Internalization of Information
• Figure 6.2 Layers of embedded symbolic information are added as the degree of abstraction increases and are shed as the degree of abstraction decreases.
• Figure 6.3: The role of acculturation in the derivation of a single dynamic meaning making template system
• Figure 6.4: The evolution of a Literacy Meaning Making System from the acculturation process
• Figure 6.5: High speed transfers of embedded symbolic information enhance the interconnectedness of the layers of the data and the acculturation and literacy meaning making systems (and other meaning making systems) within the Individual's Information System
• Figure 6.6: The DNA model applied to acculturated making of meaning during the construction of literacy in the classroom
• Figure 6.7: Using one's knowledge of the world to make meaning during the construction of literacy.
• Figure 6.8: The process of becoming embedded in the social and cultural nuances of one's experiences.