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 completed three 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, a sooky dog and 6 chickens. I love warm cups of tea and gooey chocolate cake.
My Official Bio
Libby Baker is a passionate literacy educator, researcher and presenter who has delivered professional learning at local, state and national events. Her presentations focus on functional grammar, contextualised approaches to literacy, diverse text selection and critical literacy, supporting educators to translate research into practical classroom practice.
Libby holds a Master of Education specialising in literacy education, a Master of Teacher Librarianship from the Queensland University of Technology, and a Master of Education and Professional Studies (Research) from Griffith University. Her research explored the teaching of functional grammar for critical literacy through multimodal texts in the primary years. In 2025, Libby was awarded the Reading Australia Fellowship, during which she investigated diversity in Australian picture books and their use.
Libby is a classroom teacher and teacher librarian in the ACT and mentors educators across the territory. She is President of the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association (ALEA) ACT Local Council, where she leads professional learning and literacy advocacy across the state. She is also an Associate Fellow of the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association, a member of the CBCA ACT Branch, and a member of the Language and Literacy in Education Network (LLEN).
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 primary school class. This approach means that my professional learning is highly practical. I share examples from real classrooms and real teaching.
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.