Mapping literacy in Tasmania

Over the last 25 years schools in Australia have seen changes in the teaching of literacy. The Tasmanian context is no different. This paper, based on early work toward a PhD thesis, reviews the literacy policies and practices evident in early childhood classrooms in Tasmanian government schools over the past 25 years. In more recent times the Tasmanian Department of Education (DoE) has implemented a variety of specific literacy programs in the Early Childhood years. Some of these programs have been 'imported' into the Tasmanian context - such as Reading Recovery and Spalding, while others have been developed by the DoE - for example the Flying Start program and the Program of Additional Support and Structure (PASS). An analysis of the content of the most prevalent of these programs examines areas of intersection in practices and theoretical frameworks. A mapping of literacy programs in Tasmanian gives an overview of the policy and practice changes and an understanding of literacy discourses circulating in the state.