PETAA Papers

Practical articles focusing on a specific aspect of English teaching

Receiving three new PETAA papers annually and access to the entire digital collection is one of the many entitlements of PETAA membership.o receive future PETAA Papers and to access our entire archive.

Child looking at gem stonesRocks in the head: Children and the language of Geography

By Beverly Derewianka

This PETAA Paper describes an action learning project involving a class of seven-year-olds in a country school in Australia . Their teacher, Fran Egan, had been introduced to Michael Halliday's Functional Grammar (2007) and was keen to try applying her new insights about language in her classroom.

Read more

Writer and author on feature graphicWriting the Future: authors in schools project

By Tracy Grice

This PETAA Paper by literacy coach and creator of the Writers Read podcast Tracy Grice outlines the work that author-in-residence Louise Park undertook at Concordia College in 2018, with a focus on Year 5 students, as part of PETAA’s Writing the Future outreach supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Read more

Students at Londonderry School on stage'Writing beyond the classroom using the community as a resource

By Adam Hall

This paper focusses on and unpacks the rich learning experiences that were created when members of the community were invited into the classroom to share their stories, aspirations inspirations with students, and, using a multilietracy pedagogy, students were able to develop and tell community stories in a This Is Your Life type performance.

Read more

Student with the featured book ‘Mechanica'Let’s write a unit (based on a quality text and tailored to your students’ needs)

By Michael Murray and Dr Lorraine Beveridge

Teachers are great at sharing, evidenced by the plethora of literature-based units by teachers available online (including those published for PETAA members). This paper, which includes exemplars and downloadable resources, outlines a seven-step collaborative process to write a unit of work.

Read more

Members can explore the full digital list of PETAA Papers below.

Discover a rich back list  (including e:updates and PENs) in PETAA’s open access and member archives.

Reflect on evolving teaching practice over time in the archival list of PENs and PETAA Papers.

Digital List of PETAA Papers

If you are not logged in as a member only the open content, freely available PETAA Papers are displayed below. Log in to access dozens more. Membership gives you access to a broad range of publications including PETAA Papers — and that access is just is one of the many benefits of PETAA membership. Discover the benefits of PETAA membership.

PETAA PAPER 202 — Engaging and supporting all our students to read and learn from reading

Date of Publication: 5/12/2016
This PETAA Paper by David Rose in 2016 outlines a set of strategies, based on practical classroom research, that are designed to help teachers meet the complex requirements of curriculum, student behaviour and individual needs

More >>>

PETAA PAPER 200 — Connecting research and practice

Date of Publication: 8/28/2015
This PETAA Paper by Marcelle Holliday celebrates its status as Number 200 by exploring the methods and collaborative potential of action research, using PETAA publications and resources for professional learning

More >>>

PETAA PAPER 196 — The critical conversation about text: Joint construction

Date of Publication: 11/3/2014
This PETAA Paper considers theory related to learning and pedagogy, particularly in regards to the joint construction of knowledge and language, and then applies those ideas to practice by considering the design of teaching and learning ...

More >>>

PETAA PAPER 190 — Literacy within, across and beyond the curriculum

Date of Publication: 8/30/2013
This PETAA Paper by Lorrae Ward in 2013 argues that to ignore the rich learning experiences beyond the school gates and outside the curriculum is to trivialise the world young people inhabit and risk making school irrelevant.

More >>>

PETAA Paper 188 — Literacy as behaviour, process, and social activity

Date of Publication: 12/5/2012
Also published as PETAA Paper 188, the companion essay to Project 40 Part 1 — a three-part video, in which Professor Peter Freebody reflects on PETAA's anniversary and interprets the journey of forty years, with reference to key PETAA publications.

More >>>

PETAA PAPER 183 — Teaching EAL/D learners in Australian classrooms

Date of Publication: 5/25/2012
This PETAA Paper by Michèle de Courcy, Karen Dooley, Robert Jackson, Jenny Miller and Kathy Rushton covers the areas of identifying learners, the importance of oral language development, code-breaking instruction, vocabulary and comprehension ...

More >>>

PETAA PAPER 178 — Writing persuasive texts

Date of Publication: 6/15/2011
This PETAA Paper by Penny Hutton explores the broader context, structural, rhetorical and grammatical features of persuasive texts, referencing related Australian curriculum content descriptions, and provides assessment advice

More >>>

PETAA PAPER 177 — Why bother Blogging?

Date of Publication: 10/1/2010
This PETAA Paper by Georgia Constanti (originally published as e:update 015 in 2010, updated in 2015) explores the role of blogs in developing students’ literacy and presents a practical approach to starting your students’ blogging.

More >>>

PEN 162 — Planning the learning environment for refugee background students

Date of Publication: 9/11/2008
In the series later re-named PETAA Papers, this PEN by Pam Luizzi and Janet Saker outlines the very different needs of students from refugee and disrupted schooling backgrounds and provides background knowledge in planning a literacy program

More >>>

PEN 150 —Teaching students who speak Aboriginal English

Date of Publication: 9/22/2005
In the series later re-named PETAA Papers, this PEN by Yvonne Haig, Patricia Konigsberg and Glenys Collard explores the relationship and differences of Aboriginal English to Standard Australian English and the implications for teaching.

More >>>

PEN 120 — Language tracks: Aboriginal English and the classroom

Date of Publication: 6/15/1999
In the series later re-named PETAA Papers, the purpose of this PEN by Lee Simpson, Geoff Munns and Sue Clancy is to encourage teachers of Aboriginal students to see how Aboriginal English is a pivotal element of their classroom relationships

More >>>

PEN 093 — Aboriginal English

Date of Publication: 7/1/1995
In the series later re-named PETAA Papers, this PEN by Diana Eades focuses on issues for Aboriginal children and English language teaching in primary schools, including the language skills and strengths, and needs of Aboriginal children

More >>>

Explore the digital list for contemporary and landmark PETAA Papers (and PENs) in digital format. Discover a rich back list of articles (including e:updates and PENs) in PDF format in PETAA’s open access and member archives. Reflect on evolving teaching practice over time in the archival list of PENs and PETAA Papers. The key icon in the digital list denotes member access.