Literacy Coaching Roles in Diverse Contexts of Teaching and Learning - New Ways of Working

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jasmine

As literacy-coaching demands evolve, educational providers take on shifting responsibilities for supporting school teams and improving student performance on standardized literacy tests. Drawing on an open-ended, two-year interview, one Queensland primary-school literacy coach recounts her experiences. The study theorises new ways of working in diverse teaching and learning contexts, highlighting how roles, identities, and preparedness vary across research and practice.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Evolving literacy coach roles and research background

Context, participants, and professional development

Year one: implementing the sanctioned coaching model

Year two: inquiry into socio-cultural aspects and literacy identities

Theoretical perspective and re-theorising the coaching model

Australian Journal of Teacher Education | Volume 38 | Issue 4 | Article 2 | | --- | --- | | 2013
Literacy Coaching Roles in Diverse Contexts of Teaching and Learning: New Ways of Working
Lisa J. van Leent
Education Queensland, [lisavanleent@yahoo.com.au](lisavanleent@yahoo.com.au)
Beryl Exley
Queensland University of Technology, [b.exley@qut.edu.au](b.exley@qut.edu.au) | | Recommended Citation van Leent, Lisa J. and Exley, Beryl (2013) "Literacy Coaching Roles in Diverse Contexts of Teaching and Learning: New Ways of Working,"Australian Journal of Teacher Education: Vol. 38: Iss. 4, Article 2. Available at: [http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol38/iss4/2](http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol38/iss4/2) This Journal Article is posted at Research Online. [http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol38/iss4/2](http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol38/iss4/2) Australian Journal of Teacher Education Literacy Coaching Roles in Diverse Contexts of Teaching and Learning: New Ways of Working Lisa J. van Leent Beryl Exley Queensland University of Technology Abstract As the demands placed on the literacy coach have evolved, so too have the roles of these educational providers who are often responsible for working with school teams to turn around student performance on standardized literacy tests. One literacy coach based in a Queensland primary school recounts her experiences via open ended interview over a two year period. We offer a theorisation of the newways of working as a literacy coach in a context of teaching and learning marked by diversity. Despite the number of departments of education throughout the world appointing school-based literacy coaches (see Rennie, 2011), the research literature reports thatways of working as a literacy coach are varied and complex. The confusion is so resounding, a largescale survey of literacy coaches from across the United States called on state education providers to rethink the depth and breadth of preparedness for working as a literacy coach before assigning high performing teachers to the position (Dole, Liang, Watkins & Wiggins, 2006) . Another large-scale survey from across the United States documented that many school-based literacy coaches were expending ‘a great deal of energy trying to create an identity’ (Blamey, Meyer & Walpole, 2008, p. 122) . Rainville and Jones’ (2008) qualitative case-study also records the inherent tensions as literacy coaches negotiate their varied identities with different stakeholders. Another research study undertaken with 31 literacy coaches over a two year period by Walpole and Blamey (2008) found that ‘what coaches should do on the job is the matter of intense debate and very little scholarship’(p. 222) . Similarly, Australian-based educators Gill, Kostiw and Stone (2010) report on the ‘anxiety’associated with ‘diverse interpretations’ of the literacy coaching role (p. 52) . The experiences of one literacy coach, which are explored in this paper, add to the developing concept of theliteray coaching role in Australia by sharing new ways of working when faced with diverse contexts of teaching and learning. To better understand the range of ways of working as a primary school literacy coach and their varying implications, we introduce one newly appointed literacy coach from Queensland, Miss Leigh Tracey (pseudonym). We present experiences from Miss Tracey as a result of dozens of informal interviews over a period of two years. The next section offers a brief introduction to the educational context, Miss Tracey’s professional background, the professional development program for newly appointed literacy coaches in Queensland, and information about the school site where Miss Tracey undertook her first literacy coaching assignment. We then recount the first year of Miss Tracey’s assignment where she implemented the departmentally sanctioned literacy coaching model, a dialogic cycle of activity of leading the teachers through multiple phases of

FAQs

What does the study examine about literacy coaching roles?

It examines how literacy-coaching roles evolve and how coaches work with school teams in diverse teaching and learning contexts, drawing attention to varied and complex ways of working.

How is the main evidence collected?

The evidence comes from open-ended interviews conducted over a two-year period with one Queensland primary-school literacy coach.

What changes are described from the first to the second year of the coach’s assignment?

In the first year, the coach implements a departmentally sanctioned literacy coaching model through a dialogic cycle. In the second year, she and teachers begin inquiring into socio-cultural aspects of literacy teaching and learning, especially literacy identities.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jasmine