Report on the experiences of the evaluation team as they planned and implemented interventions working with children of teen mothers.

1. Christchurch City Libraries
‘Ready For Reading’
Librarians and Teachers working together to
strengthen literacy opportunities for a group
of marginalised preschoolers
Philippa Buckley, Brad Meek, & Pat Street
Diversity Challenge Resilience: School Libraries in Action - The 12th Biennial
School Library Association of Queensland, the 39th International Association of
School Librarianship Annual Conference, incorporating the 14th International
Forum on Research in School Librarianship,
Brisbane, QLD Australia, 7 September – 1 October 2010.

2. Overview
•Share one strand of the journey of the R4R project
•Set the context and partnership of library and education
•Project Background
What we did…and why we did it
•Our discoveries while working with marginalised groups
•Strengths of the partnership
•Where to next?

3. Christchurch
Introducing Christchurch….
In 2006
• 348,435 people
• 41% male
• 70% have some formal
educational qualification
• 47,196 people aged over 65 (14 %)

4. University of Canterbury
College of Education
Teacher Education

5. CCL - partner

6. Christchurch City Libraries
CCC Strategic Directions from LTCCP
Strong Communities
Increase involvement in lifelong learning, by:
•providing resources and information through
libraries and websites
•provide learning facilities, programmes and
activities
•advocating for high quality education and training
•encouraging people of all ages to take advantage
of learning opportunities.
Promote participation in democratic processes by:
•making it easy for people to understand and take
part in Council decision-making processes.
Also links to Healthy Environment and Prosperous Economy

7. Christchurch City Libraries
Informing
Inspiring
Empowering
Inclusive
Entertaining

8. Social Inclusion
CCL Life Long Learning Strategy

9. Commitment to Life Long Learning
“Our learning opportunities help us participate in the community and the
economy. Quality education is available for people of all ages”
Christchurch City Council
“Public libraries engage, inspire and inform citizens and help build strong
communities”
Kia āwhina te hunga ora, ki te hāngaia o rātou ake āo
Public Libraries of NZ Strategic Framework
Underachieving tail has a disproportionate representation of children from
marginalised lower socio-economic groups
Crooks and Flockton

10. Christchurch City Libraries
Pre-school years
• Developing ‘habits of mind’
• Family focus
Love of reading
Numeracy
Simple location
Learning together
Fun
• Supporting parents and
caregivers

11. Christchurch City Libraries
Pre-school Programmes
• Baby time Wā Pēpi
• Story time Wā Kōrero
• Pre-school Outreach
• Ready Steady Click
• Other services
Books for Babies
Ready 4 Reading

12. Project Ready for Reading
Ready for Reading launched in 2008
Evolved as a literacy package
Compliment the work of Books for Babies
Gift from the City to all four year olds
Family pre-school outreach team deliver
Question of on-going sustainability
How do we know it is making a difference?

13. The Ready for Reading Kit - R4R
The R4R Kit contains:
* Puzzle
* Book suitable for shared reading
(one line captions)
* Parent Information Card
Also included are a birthday card, library
enrolment and programme details, together
with a survey seeking feedback about the kit.

14. The New Zealand Context
Literacy Education
The development of literacy is a key priority within New Zealand education.
(Ministry of Education, 2009)
New Zealand provides effective literacy instruction practises that meet the
needs of most children, however particular cohorts of children make slower
progress than others.
(Mullis, Martin, Kennedy, & Foy, 2007; Chamberlain, 2007)
New Zealand’s underachieving ‘tail’ is made up mainly of children from
marginalised and lower socio-economic groups.
(Crooks and Flockton, 2005; McNaughton, 2002)

15. The New Zealand Context
Literacy Education
Particular knowledge, skills, and attitudes support the transition to school.
These include rich oral language foundation, the ability to write your name,
awareness of concepts about print (CAP), and the some alphabet
knowledge. (Ministry of Education, 2010)
Concepts About Print (CAP) are developed through experiences with text
Directionality
One-to-one correspondence
Return sweep
Identification of a ‘word’ and a ‘letter’
Development of phonological understandings

16. The New Zealand Context
Literacy Education
Many NZ educators hold a socio-cultural view of education with an underlying belief that
“much that is relevant to the development of literacy occurs before a child first passes
through the schoolhouse door” (Pressley, 2006, p96).
Children from lower socio-economic families are less likely to be immersed in supportive
oral interactions that promote dialogue and encourage thinking. (Hart and Risley,1995)
Children in low SES groups and cultural minority groups are less likely to have exposure
to quality storybook reading (Hammer, 1999, 2001; van Kleeck, 2004)
The CCL team was clear that whilst the R4R resource
had been developed for all families, the particular
focus was on children of families that did not have an
ongoing connection with the library.

17. R4R Project
Ready for Reading – Teen Mothers
Target Group: Teen Mothers
Located from: Library Outreach and Social Agency contacts
Intervention: Two Workshops
The focus was explaination and elaboration on the contents of the kit, in
particular ‘unlocking’ the ideas contained within the Parent
Information Card
Social Agency feedback unanimously positive
‘…so enthusiastic…’
‘…fabulous idea…’
‘...encouraging...’

18. R4R Project
Challenge One - Recruitment
Teen reaction unanimously negative
What’s in it for ME?
Reading seen as ‘difficult’ or ‘boring’ rather than pleasurable
Text selection – limited exposure to engaging picture books
Level of commitment suggested

19. R4R Project
Teen Mothers @ Kimihia
Teen Parenting unit at Linwood College, Christchurch
Teen mothers wishing to return to secondary school study
Mothers (from age 14) with children (babies through to approx 3 years old)
Kimihia Staff very supportive of R4R including workshops as part of English
NCEA Programme
1. Two R4R workshops
2. Preparation of an enlarged text
3. Whanau time – reading opportunities
Kimihia mothers were representative of a
‘hard to reach’ cohort

20. R4R Project
Challenge Two – Locating NZ’s four year olds
Finding New Zealand’s ‘hard to reach’ is challenging – as early childhood
education is non-compulsory...
…however recently introduced government policy
‘20 hours free’ (for children over 3) provides potential for accessing
children from marginalised cohorts

21. R4R Project
Challenge Two – The Intervention
Our Vision
Warm positive tone
Motivated & Engaged
Language Rich
Issue 1: ‘Capturing’ the audience
Use of Baby Times and Story Times model
Themes: song, rhyme, hooking children’s interest, having fun
Issue 2: Clear communication of the KEY message – ‘Sharing a Text’
‘Reaching’ teen mums thorough a text
‘Handy hints for starting school’
** A knowledge of the process of print acquisition underpins the ability to plan and implement a
strategy that models, describes and discuss the key features of literacy development.

22. R4R Project
Implications for Interventions
Engage parents via their children. This acts as a model but also relies on a
strong ‘performance’ element from a skilled leader
If the intervention includes ‘content’ for parents then the children need to
be withdrawn
Further engage parents thorough support footage (DVD) and conversation
to ‘unpack’ examples
Careful selection of the person to lead the intervention
Communicate ease and confidence working with marginalised parents
Social ‘connectedness’ – language use, age, dress
Strong understanding of the stages of print literacy acquisition

23. R4R Project
Strengths of the CCL / UC Partnership
Collaboration around initial resource development
(in particular the Parent Information Booklet)
Affirmation of existing library preschool programmes
Springboard off known strengths (Performance, Outreach)
Strong Outreach connections
Literacy positioned within a ‘next step’ education context
Outreach model directly connected to a NZ educational imperative
Enrichment of understanding of the Reading Process
Research awareness

24. R4R Project
Where to Next?