Thesis abstract:

«p»«p»Recent discourse regarding early literacy instruction in the political and research domains has become distracted by isolated debates concerning specific pedagogical approaches, rather than focusing on the construction of inclusive, integrated literacy instruction that is effective for all children. Similarly, teachers' understandings of literacy provision have become clouded and undermined by a 'false dichotomy' (Hamston & Scull, 2007) between phonics and whole language teaching approaches. In order to shift paradigms away from notions of 'fixed ability', this research will investiate approaches to kindergarten literacy pedagogy through teacher questionnaires, classroom literacy observations and semi-structured interviews. Prior research in this field has focused on the merits of individual pedagogical approaches in isolation, without consideration of the broader, diverse classroom contexts in which these approaches must be understood and implemented. By examining early literacy education using an Inclusive Pedagogical Approach (Florian & Spratt, 2013) as a framework, it is proposed that the research will provide a way forward in terms of educational policy, practice and paradigms.«/p»«/p»