Putting the tract in tractor: Dragging literacy out of the dark ages
Marshall Roberts talks about his family’s journey into home tutoring and literacy advocacy. Marshall will discuss his family’s background story, what fired him up, what he’s learnt along the way, some parallels between education and farming cultures (yes, really!) and what he’d do differently in hindsight. He will also share some reflections and information for other parents who may be just at the point of thinking “something’s not right”.
Marshall
Roberts
Marshall Roberts is a regenerative farmer in Tasmania’s Huon Valley, co-opted director of CODE REaD Dyslexia Network, father to adult fraternal twins and step-father to primary school aged girls, all of whom have diagnosed Specific Learning Disorders, including dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. His background paper “Merchants of Illiteracy” caught the eye of a local ABC reporter, who then ran a national story on his family’s efforts to tutor their dyslexic children at home, and his campaign for schools to move to science-informed literacy instruction. Prior to inheriting the fifth-generation farm, Marshall worked in IT, for organisations in the public and private sectors, from small business to listed multinational, as well as his own consultancy.
Thursday, May 4, 2023
7:30 PM - 8:45 PM Hobart (AEST)
Calling all TAS TFE Members …
Connect with fellow Tassie Educators committed to building literacy for social equity.
Meet the TAS Branch Team
Greg Warman
Greg has worked in education for 20 years and is currently an instructional coach and school leader in southern Tasmania. He became interested in the Science of Learning and the Science of Reading through his leadership and teaching in the early years, particularly in developing effective literacy instructional models across classrooms that support all learners. He has completed courses with Latrobe University’s SOLAR program and studied literacy in depth as part of post-graduate work in inclusive education. He was inspired by the professional development on offer at Think Forward that he co-founded the Tasmanian Branch.
Jessica Scurry
Jessica Scurry moved to Hobart in 2021 and currently works as an Intervention Teacher at an independent primary school. Jess began her career in education 20 years ago, teaching secondary school English and Humanities in places far and wide across NSW and Victoria. A stint as a Literacy Support teacher for older students in 2015 changed everything. It forced a deep dive into education research and a reckoning with how students become literate. Jess completed a Masters of Learning Intervention (Specific Learning Difficulties) at the University of Melbourne (2020), retraining to become a Special Education teacher.
Eldon Jenkin
Eldon is an early years teacher in Hobart, Tasmania and a founding member of the Sharing Best Practice and Think Forward Educators – Tas Branch groups. Eldon graduated with a Masters of Teaching (Primary) from the Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne in 2015. He began researching the science of reading when his experiences as a newly graduated teacher highlighted essential literacy instruction that he needed to teach effectively. Eldon has taught in government schools in Melbourne, Victoria and Hobart, Tasmania for 8 years. Prior to that he worked as an IT project manager in Australia and London. Eldon believes in strong professional teacher networks to foster the skills and expertise to implement a structured literacy approach in our classrooms.
Natalie Bown
Natalie has been a member/Team leader for TFE Tas branch for 2 years and she currently works as a Speech Language Pathologist within the Department for Education, Children and Young People. During her 15 years in Education, Natalie has been involved with the Speech Pathology Literacy Support project 2016 -2018 which involved supporting and engaging Tasmanian schools in the science of reading, providing professional development to over 980 Teachers and Teacher Assistants, screening children in the early years for literacy difficulties and the implementation of evidenced based programs to support students at risk. Natalie is a strong and pssionate advocate for improving literacy outcomes for all children and young people. Natalie loves engaging with schools and supporting them with changing their practice, one school at a time! Natalie also enjoys engaging with our Tas Branch TFE members and providing high quality free PL through TFE around Literacy and Learning.
Jo Griffin
Jo Griffin graduated from the University of Tasmania in 2003 with a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood). She has taught in a range of settings in Tasmania and London in her 20 year career. Jo currently works as part of the leadership team at New Town Primary in Hobart where she has passionately guided the implementation of evidence based Literacy Instruction across the school. She has been driven to complete many hours of professional learning focussed on the Science of Reading including Latrobe University SOLAR courses. Jo is passionate about bringing the SoR to all Tassie classrooms and welcomes opportunities to share her knowledge and experience with others. Jo joined Think Forward Educators at the start of her journey into evidence based instruction and now enjoys the opportunity to support in developing the Tasmanian network of TFE’s.
Narelle
Narelle is a Literacy Quality Teaching Coach in Southern Tasmania and has worked within the Department for Children and Young People for 18 years. Following many years with our youngest readers as a Prep classroom teacher, Narelle now supports families and teachers from Kindergarten to Grade 6 to know and understand their students’ needs. Narelle’s passion for equity in Literacy education began with completion of the LaTrobe University SOLAR courses and Sounds-Write courses, and only continues to grow. Narelle enjoys reading and learning about current research and translating this into practice through providing Literacy intervention and building the confidence of teachers to deliver quality Structured Literacy instruction for all.
Live/work in Tassie, but not a member of the TAS branch yet?
Get the details on the TFE TAS Branch Facebook Group.