Hi, I’m Libby.
I’m a self proclaimed nerd burger and lover of all things literacy. I am a teacher librarian currently, but I have worked across all primary school year levels, including in EAL/D and literacy specialist roles. I am passionate about literacy education being authentic, developed from research and rooted in inquiry. I’m a perpetual student and have just completed my 3rd Masters of Education. I love sharing my ideas on teaching and have written articles for ALEA journals, units for Reading Australia and co-authored book chapters, I also write my thoughts about literacy and education on my blog here. I live with a very patient husband, three beautiful small people, 2 dogs and 5 chickens. I love warm cups of tea and gooey chocolate cake.
My Official Bio
LIBBY BAKER is a passionate literacy educator having presented on a range of literacy topics at conferences and teacher professional developments. She has presented at local, state and national events on functional grammar and using a contextualised approach to literacy.
Libby has completed a Masters of Education focusing on literacy education and a Masters of Teacher Librarianship through Queensland University of Technology. Libby recently completed a Master of Education and Professional Studies Research degree through Griffith University. Her research focused on teaching functional grammar for critical literacy using multimodal texts in the primary years.
Libby is a classroom teacher and teacher librarian in the ACT and works as a mentor across the state developing the capacity of her colleagues. She is currently a member of the ALEA ACT Local Council coordinating professional development events and promoting literacy in the state.
My Approach
I use a contextualised approach to teaching literacy. This means that I use a lot of high quality literature and authentic texts when speaking about literacy teaching. I use picture books to explain concepts just as I would if I was working with a class. This approach means that my professional learning is highly practical. I share examples from real classrooms and real teaching. In my courses I explain concepts just as I would if I was working with my class.
I strongly believe in an inquiry approach to literacy teaching. So you won’t see any traditional worksheets or “chalk and talk” in the strategies I share. Learning is best done when it is a discovery.
My courses are research driven. I use recent best practice and peer reviewed research in my professional development to ensure that what I share is high quality.
Publications
Thesis
Baker, Elizabeth. (2022) An inquiry into the development of critical text creators: Teaching grammar in the primary years. [Master’s Thesis, Griffith University]. Griffith Research Online. https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/handle/10072/411535
Journal Articles
Alford, J., Exley, B., & Baker, E. (2024). Resisting research evidence-base deficits: a comprehensive analysis of a leading English association journal over a decade. English in Education, 58(4), 329–345. https://doi.org/10.1080/04250494.2024.2388104
Baker, E. (2024). Grammar Gold Mining with Picturebooks. Practical Literacy: The Early and Primary Years, 29(2), 15-17.
Baker, E., Exley, B., Willis, L., & Kitson, L. (2023) Apprenticing students into political participation: using critical visual literacy to review and redesign the school website, English in Education, DOI: 10.1080/04250494.2023.2272697
Baker, E,. (2018) Is grammar really ‘Cutting edge’? Practical Literacy: The Early and Primary Years, Vol. 23(1), 24-26.
Baker, E.. (2017) Where have all the ‘real’ books gone? Practical Literacy: The Early and Primary Years, 22(3), 8-9.
Book Chapters
Daffern, T., Baker, E., & Barlow, L. E. (2020). Teaching writing across disciplines: The upper primary school years. In T. Daffern, & N. M. Mackenzie (Eds), Teaching writing: Effective approaches for the middle years (Chapter Twelve). Allen & Unwin Academic.