2005 Beeby Fellow named

2005 Beeby Fellow named

Jannie van Hees of the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Education has been selected as the recipient of the 2005 Beeby Fellowship.

The Fellowship, a joint initiative between the New Zealand Council for Educational Research and the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO, is worth $25,000 with the recipient expected to devote 3-4 months full-time to developing resources drawn from their research.

Ms van Hees is currently Project Director for the Faculty’s Oracy Literacy Learning Initiative and English Language Assistant’s Professional Development programme. Her work as Beeby Fellow will see her producing a book, supported by a DVD/video, tackling issues that have emerged from her work. She will particularly focus on oral language, offering teachers important perspectives about oral language, especially in relationship to classroom practices.

“Language is the basis of all learning, so it is critical everyone has the chance to develop linguistic skills that allow them to express ideas and concepts through spoken language. One’s ability to understand and express ideas and thinking with meaning orally, especially through the use of ‘elaborated text’, is widely recognised as having a high impact on overall learning achievement,” says Ms van Hees.

Her work to date has primarily been concerned with learners’ abilities and teaching practices in the oracy and literacy fields. Much of this work has been in primary school settings, but the resources developed through the Fellowship will be equally applicable elsewhere, from early childhood to adult learning, across cultural groups, and for those for whom English is a new or additional language.

“The Beeby Fellowship will allow me to share more widely some of the significant outcomes from my work. I believe it will make a valuable contribution to the implementation of the oral strand of the Ministry of Education’s National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy,” says Ms van Hees.

The Fellowship, first awarded in 1998, was established to allow the recipient to research an innovative programme they are involved in, with a focus on aspects that have enhanced practice and students’ learning. NZCER provides educational research and publishing support, and will publish the resource material on its completion.

ENDS

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