Literacy in the Early Years Reflections on International Research and Practice

Claire McLachlan is a Professor of Education and Head of School for Te Hononga, School of Curriculum and Pedagogy in the Faculty of Education at the University of Waikato. She was formerly a Professor of Childhood Education at Massey University. She holds a B.A. in English and Education and M.A. (Hons, 1st class) and Ph.D in Education from Massey. Her primary research interests are in early literacy, early childhood curriculum, assessment and teachers’ beliefs about practice and she has produced five recent books on curriculum, literacy and assessment. Her current research concerns supporting teachers’ understandings of literacy in order to promote improved literacy outcomes for young children, the effectiveness of family literacy programmes and an intervention study on physical activity in early childhood settings. Claire’s contribution to early childhood research is reflected in her membership in the New Zealand Ministry of Education Early Childhood Research Policy Forum, membership in the UNESCO Panel on Early Reading and her being honored with an award from Massey University for excellence in educational research. She has also recently received an OMEP International research award.

Alison Arrow, PhD, is a senior lecturer in literacy at Massey University, having graduated from the University of Auckland in 2008. One of Alison’s research areas is professional development in literacy with early childhood education teachers. This research has included the assessment of literacy abilities with children as young as three years old. She has published on the nature of literacy in early childhood and her current research examines how young children use digital technology at home and school for their literacy learning. Dr. Arrow has won a number of internal Massey University research grants and in 2012 she was the Massey University College of Education Early Career Research Award Winner. More recently, Alison has been successful in obtainingresearch funding for longitudinal intervention research with children just beginning school.