PETAA is a vibrant community of empowered and engaged teachers, leaders and students of English

The purpose of this position is to provide an evidence-informed model of English teaching at the classroom and school level.

English plays a pivotal role in Australian curriculum because it is both a curriculum subject as well as the primary means through which students access other curriculum subject areas. English also plays a critical role in enabling individuals to participate in civic life. Many young Australians learn Standard Australian English alongside other family and community languages and dialects of English. 

PETAA supports the three strands of The Australian Curriculum: English language, literature and literacy and acknowledges the different ways that states and territories are aligned with the national curriculum through their syllabus and curriculum documents. PETAA draws on the functional theory of language that underpins the Australian English curriculum, a theory that foregrounds meaning and purpose. In this theory, texts are the starting point for teaching English.

  • Language PETAA builds teachers’ knowledge so that they can support their students to develop a conscious knowledge of how language works in different contexts of use and at various language levels, e.g. text, sentence, group/phrase, word, sound.
  • Literature PETAA recognises the central place of literature in English curriculum and in cultural practice. PETAA builds teachers’ understandings so that they can confidently identify and use a diverse range of literary texts in their teaching. 
  • Literacy PETAA appreciates that literacy involves making meaning, using and adapting language knowledge and skills in various modes and for various purposes. Across the primary years, listening, speaking, reading and writing need to be developed systematically and concurrently. Teachers support students to build on foundational skills (incl. phonic and word knowledge) to meet the demands of general and specialised purposes and contexts, with fluency and confidence.

Guiding Principles

KNOWLEDGE

VOICE

COMMUNITY

Learning and teaching

PETAA sees teachers as experts who select and sequence content and learning activities in order to support learning that develops cumulatively over time. These sequences are initiated through teacher-directed explicit teaching of knowledge and skills, followed by guided practice that develops knowledge and skills so that students can operate independently. Throughout, teaching decisions are informed by on-going assessment of students’ progress.

We provide teachers at all stages of their careers with the knowledge and resources to enable them to make informed decisions to support their students’ learning.

How PETAA supports teachers