Teachers' selection of texts for Pasifika students in New Zealand primary schools.

Jesson, Rebecca ; Parr, Judy

Background to the study

The current study drew on the expertise of teachers to understand how texts are selected and used to support the literacy development of students from Pacific Nations communities (Pasifika). The need to optimise text selection and use for Pasifika students arises from the intersection of two contextual factors. The first is the need for equity. New Zealand's educational system is identified as high quality with low equity (OECD, 2010). Patterns of disparity for Pasifika students in the primary years are large, with national reports indicating effect size differences of d>1.1 in reading attainment between New Zealand European students and Pacific Nations ethnicities (Gilmore & Smith, 2010). These differences in outcome underscore the need to build New Zealand's instructional capacity for meeting the needs of Pasifika students.

The second, possibly related, factor is the relative autonomy of teachers. In the New Zealand context, teachers are free to select instructional materials and contexts to achieve outcomes identified in the New Zealand Curriculum (2007). In this sense, teachers have responsibility for shaping curriculum to be responsive to learners and communities. The way that teachers select and use texts for Pasifika students' literacy learning is the focus of this study.

Theoretical framework

Sociocultural theory draws attention to ways that institutions systematically structure the interactions among people and between people and artefacts (Minick, Stone & Forman, 1993). Valsiner's (1997) theory of 'bounded indeterminacy' emphasised that children's development is shaped through 'the organisation of person-environment relationships in everyday actions' (p. 169). According to this frame, the environment is structured through boundaries, set up by other people, which create 'zones' within which children develop. Valsiner identified three zones: the Zone of Free Movement (ZFM), the Zone of Promoted Action (ZPA) and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Through the interaction of the constraints set up by others (ZFM) and the actions that are promoted (ZPA), children can develop in ways that are within their ZPD. In this way, development can be characterised as channelled: allowing for free movement, but within constraints imposed by what is allowed and what is promoted (McNaughton, Phillips & McDonald, 2000). In school, texts can be considered part of the environment, purposefully deployed to allow and promote particular sorts of development, based on what teachers believe students can achieve and what is important to learn.

Thus, a complex series of choices and interactions influence development. Because the boundaries promote particular actions, it is necessary to consider too what lies outside those boundaries. If alternative pathways for development lie outside imposed boundaries there is the potential for risks in instruction (McNaughton, 2011). One element of risk arises from the notion that when teachers make decisions to teach in certain ways, this may preclude their acting in other ways, and thus incur opportunity costs, or 'trade-offs' (Palinscar & Duke, 2004). Teachers' selection and use of texts for Pasifika students is a relatively unexplored area, but, perhaps more importantly, there is no examination of the notion of instructional risks associated with these decisions.

Selected research on text selection and use

Previous studies suggest that, given freedom to choose, different teachers select texts depending on instructional purposes, their knowledge of available texts and on their beliefs about reading. Considerations focus on the interaction between text features and content (Friese, Alvermann, Parkes & Rezak, 2008). Teachers of beginning readers in the United States, for example, were found to use literature for comprehension purposes, and levelled texts for specific instructional aims (Mesmer, 2006). When considering text features, teachers acknowledged quantitative criteria, including word difficulty and frequency; they also included qualitative criteria, such as concept difficulty; and student considerations, such as prior knowledge and interest (Fitzgerald, Hiebert, Relyea-Kim, Kung & Elmore, 2015). Advice to teachers similarly focuses on qualitative and quantitative text features, including meaning, language, contextual support and format (Rasinski & Padak, 2015); textual diet, including the meaningful inclusion of informational text, and the learning of content through texts (Fisher & Frey 2015; Palinscar & Duke, 2004); but also match of text to student interests, background and reading strategies (Learning Media, 2012).

When selecting individual texts, teachers have to ensure that the features of the materials support the intended promoted actions (Mesmer, 2006). The quantitative features of texts that contribute to text complexity include lexical, syntactic, and discourse complexity (Mesmer, Cunningham & Hiebert, 2012). Qualitative features include concept difficulty and clarity (Fisher & Frey, 2015). These features can work to both support and constrain the actions of teachers, such that texts more complex in design might result in a higher level pattern of use by the teacher (Barr & Sadow, 1989), with the accompanying potential for promoting deeper thinking.

Texts can also be considered in terms of their combined characteristics. The 'textual diet' of students influences the aggregate opportunities to learn, and may provide more or fewer opportunities depending on combinations of text (Mesmer et al., 2012). For early year levels in New Zealand, a number of publishers produce levelled texts. The core series is 'Ready to Read' which is provided free to all state and state-integrated schools and is designed to reflect the lives and demographics of New Zealand children. The books are levelled based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative text features, including the content, structure, lexis, length, and layout. For higher levels, the Spache readability formula (Spache, 1953) is also calculated as a guide. Final levels are assigned taking into account the mix of criteria, trialling in schools, and the fit with existing texts (Lift Education, 2014). Schools are also free to purchase from other publishers, which may use other criteria for levelling. The PM series, for example, promotes traditional story structure with illustrative support and clarity of meaning, and purposefully controls the introduction of new words through the levels (Randell, 1999).

Teachers select materials that they feel are appropriate for students and will meet their particular learning needs (Saul & Diekman, 2005) in order to building on the familiar as well as unlock the unfamiliar (McNaughton, 2002). Knowing the learner thus requires cognisance of students' out-of-school literacies. Moje et al. (2004) conducted an ethnographic study to identify the ways that students make connections between their out-of-school contexts and schoolbased learning. The authors argue for the learning potential of integrating these funds of knowledge. Similarly, Alvermann and Moore (2011) offer examples of teachers tapping into students' out-of-school literacy activities. New Zealand based research suggests that many Pasifika students have out-of-school literacy practices which include extensive textual interactions within church and bible-study which are negotiated with the sometimes conflicting textual interactions in school (Dickie, 2011).

The deep knowledge of the learner may also include cognisance of the social implications. Using reading logs, Alvermann, Hagood, Heron-Hruby, Williams and Yoon (2007) investigated the out-of-school reading practices of students deemed 'struggling'. Their analysis suggests the importance of how students saw themselves as readers. In regard to Pasifika students, Taleni, Parkhill, Fa'afoi and Fletcher (2007) report that a number of Pasifika students in their research spoke of the social stigma attached to 'not knowing' words. The teacher in such a context has to provide a text that is challenging but not to the point that it confounds the learning with difficulties that may also induce negative feelings in terms of reading self-efficacy.

A feature of Pacific cultures' traditional literacies is oral story-telling, which provides a strong basis for school literacies. While there is a need to build on such expertise, the apparent overuse of fiction texts in classroom reading instruction has raised concerns internationally (Duke, 2004). The tendency to avoid non-fiction texts can be problematic as work by Pappas (2006) shows. Even when her teachers had a particular purpose in terms of science learning, often they did not select information texts to support this. Such studies may have implications for New Zealand contexts, where the effort to promote development in literacy learning through building on the known using narrative genres may also limit opportunities to tackle the unknown, in this case, informational text.

When teaching students from diverse backgrounds, responsive teaching contexts include the element of cultural responsiveness (Glynn, 2013). While the term might be operationalised in various ways, central is the acknowledgement of students' cultural identity, values and language. In New Zealand, research focused specifically on the achievement of Pasifika students has alerted teachers to the need to acknowledge learners as culturally centred, and to build on these cultural tools. One of the largest interventions to date has been Si'ilata, Dreaver, Parr, Timperley, and Meissel's (2012) study. Through observation and interview, combined with evidence of student learning, researchers identified teacher practices specifically effective for Pasifika learners. Facilitators worked with teachers to support their inquiries and to promote teacher learning in two groups of schools. The first group was purposefully selected as having success with Pasifika students in a previous iteration, the second were 'new' schools. Overall, the intervention worked to raise student achievement on standardised tests in reading and writing. To capitalise on the acknowledged existing expertise, the current study draws on the implicit understandings about text use from some of the most effective teachers working in these schools.

Method

The approach taken comprised teacher focus groups, together with researchers' analysis of a sample of their nominated texts. As the investigation into teacher text practice was undertaken in relation to students of Pasifika background, a Pasifika Advisory Group (PAG) was consulted in accordance with the Pasifika Education Research Guidelines (Anae, Coxon, Mara, Wendt-Samu & Finau, 2001). The advisory group of six, who provided consultation and guidance on the study, consisted of education professionals, including academics, with teaching and community leadership experience in Pasifika contexts.

Participants

Participants were drawn from the 10 primary schools that had participated in the Pasifika Literacy Professional Development Project project (Si'ilata et al., 2012); these were all schools with a sizeable Pacific Nations student population. Teachers invited (N = 11) were purposively selected as those whose class achievement data showed their Pasifika students had made well above the national average expected progress in reading or writing on standardised tests in each of the previous two years. The levels the teachers taught covered Years 1-6.

Procedure

A focus group discussion, of approximately two hours, was conducted with teachers in two major cities. Six teachers attended one and five the other. In each group, only one teacher was Pasifika, a demographic largely reflective of the teaching population more widely. The discussions explored text use: teachers were invited to bring up to three examples of texts that they found effective and up to three more that they found less effective in providing support for the English literacy development of their Pasifika students.

The rationale behind the approach was to promote discussion and interaction among participants to enhance the richness of data collected. It was anticipated that participants would offer their text selection experiences and contribute opinions and approaches concerning their use of text. A focus group structure, with facilitated discussion by two members of the research team, meant there was also the potential to explore and clarify with the group perspectives of literacy practice for Pasifika learners. A schedule of questions was designed by the team to use as a guide during each of the focus groups.

An individual round robin began the first part of a focus group, where teachers were invited to share, uninterrupted, an effective text that they bought along and explain the following: what made the text effective; what students or group of students you have found it to be effective with; what you use it for in terms of learning aims; and what you do with the text that makes it effective?

After the initial round robin presentation of effective texts, the facilitators opened the floor to invite a broader discussion from participant teachers and any further clarification. The participants were prompted to consider the following: Do the features that have been mentioned and recorded so far cover all the features of texts you have found to be effective for Pasifika students? Are these considerations the same as yours? What factors differ and why? Do these considerations hold for all groups of students? Once effective texts were shared, a round robin exploring less effective texts followed using the same format.

The second part of the session involved amplifying the features of an effective text from those discussed in the focus groups. Participants were asked to consider what had been said to date and add in more detail about the selected text including the specific purpose for which it was used; the features of the text that specifically related to the purpose; practices that best achieve the purpose given the features of the text; and student response when using the selected text. In addition, teachers were invited to contribute actual or possible uses of the amplified text. The discussion was recorded on a whiteboard so that all participants could see what had been explained and could use this to prompt additional ideas. All focus group discussions were audio-taped and transcribed. Thereafter, a list of texts brought by the teachers was compiled (see Appendix 1) and a sample of those discussed at the focus group sessions selected for independent analysis.

Analyses

Transcriptions of the focus groups were qualitatively analysed manually, using the constant comparison method. This involved the general process of open, axial and selective coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). A coding frame emerged inductively from the data. Key categories were identified, followed by iterative exploration of the relationships. Codes from the initial stage were linked together, questions about why, how and when were asked to assist building up of themes across the data. A member of the research team, who had also assisted in conducting the interviews, discussed the coding frame, checked to ensure codes were sufficiently exhaustive in their representation of participants' views and coded a sample of highlighted pieces of dialogue to ensure categorisation could be accomplished reliably. The final coding frame is presented in Table 1.

The sample of texts for independent analysis was chosen to be indicative of the commonly mentioned learning purposes. Three broad categories of purpose were selected, namely, (i) learning to read in Years 1-3, (ii) inference in Years 4-6, and (iii) engagement/ reading-writing links in Years 4-6. For each of these broad purposes, text associated with the purpose was analysed. For learning to read, two texts were analysed, one nominated as effective and one less effective at similar levels Father Bear Goes Fishing (Randell, 1993;; and Shush (Beveridge, 1996); for other purposes no ineffective texts were nominated, so effective texts were analysed; for inference, Piggybook (Browne, 1986), and to support engagement and reading-writing links, The Twits (Dahl, 1980).

Independent analyses of texts investigated the teachers' characterisations. Teachers' statements about their selection purposes were collated and then textual features indicative of those features were hypothesised and analysed in order to discern the features that might support the intended literacy focus (see Table 2). In this way, teachers' statements about what features of the text made it effective or ineffective were independently investigated.

For the texts for the early year levels, the measures included: total word count (total running words), number of pages, average number of words per page, number of sentences, and average number of words per sentence. There was a further count concerning aspects of lexicon, including the number of lexical items, the lexical variation (using a type/token ratio), tense and the percentage of high utility words (grammatical words or those from the first seven essential Spell-Write lists) (Croft, 1998). Picture/text relationship was analysed by considering the salience and positioning of the illustration and the relationship between the text and image. In addition, we employed Unsworth's (2010) framing of visual grammar to analyse images (including shape), ideation including visual metaphor, layout and also the picture/text relationship. Plot and theme were also analysed. Appendix 2 illustrates the analysis of the two instructional texts selected.

Results

Given the relatively open brief to bring along an example of at least one effective and less-effective text, there was considerable similarity in the texts nominated (see Appendix 1). Thirteen of the 16 texts nominated as effective were instructional readers, used during guided reading, mostly in the early grades. One was a sophisticated picture book for use in Years 4-6 and two more were junior novels for those same grades. Teacher resources were also advocated as texts from which teachers drew on. All of the texts nominated as less effective were instructional readers, which meant that we were unable to analyse less effective texts for other purposes. Features mentioned by teachers included those associated with individual texts, those associated with students' textual diets, and those that linked to students' strengths and needs in interaction with the curriculum goals.

Features of texts

Properties of effective instructional readers that teachers discussed as enabling effective learning for Pasifika learners encompassed: presentational features; the juxtaposition of illustration and text, and length.

Presentational features

Presentational features sought by teachers were those that promoted the students' noticing of text features, for example clear delineation of words was considered important when students were learning to point to individual words. In contrast, ineffective texts were those where text was deemed too 'busy' for students to notice important features readily.

Teachers also commented on the importance of the relationship of illustration to text. Illustrations were seen as important to aid construction of meaning when they were well matched to text. Inclusion of detail in illustration was seen as important for generating dialogue as 'we can start up a great discussion and talk about a lot of things that relate to their own experiences'. Illustrations also offered potential support for development of reading strategies. Explicit pictures were used to facilitate conversation and predictive support 'before they start reading'. Illustrations were considered less effective when they were placed too far away from the associated text, or contained unclear representations of the ideas.

The 'power' of the visual aspect of text was advocated as a bridge to higher order thinking. Teachers reported that they relied on illustrations to build inferential and critical literacy skills for their Pasifika students. Depictions of characters' facial expressions, visual metaphor and symbol were seen as affordances for scaffolding the more abstract ideas and meanings. The teacher of Years 4-6 who described her use of Piggyback (Browne, 1986) mentioned using the 'visual clues' to introduce critical exploration of connotation, symbolism and theme. Teachers expressed the need to build inferential skills and critical capacity for middle primary Pasifika students because 'they are so used to literal. When they come up to Year 5, it is literal, literal all the time'. Commenting on this for the early year levels, another teacher suggested that one way of introducing simple inference in relation to text illustration was 'how do you think this character is feeling? What makes you say that?' However, others cautioned against reliance on illustrative support in early years because 'the trouble is, once you do that, the kids are so motivated by it, it is hard to get back to reading'.

Complex vocabulary and linguistic constructions not commonly used in Pasifika students' spoken language were considered less effective, in that they confused children or created too much challenge. For example, teachers mentioned layout that confused students by being 'unpredictable' and formal or old fashioned phraseology. An example of this was the phrase, spoken by a character, 'Yes, let's', which was considered foreign to Pasifika students' oral language.

Length of text

To enable noticing of particular text features, teachers reported using 'short' pieces of text, even at upper level primary, so that students were quickly engaged in the skill or strategy in question. 'We can unpack it very quickly instead of having huge big text to read.' This was evidenced in the large number of instructional readers included in the corpus of both effective and less effective texts. Teachers were very clear that too much text could become overwhelming or too challenging for their Pasifika students and may divert them from the instructional focus. Time constraints and lesson structure therefore both promoted strategic use of short passages of text, defined as those that could be read within one lesson, as did the need to move at a fast pace for students. Thus, features of text were not only those that supported the Pasifika learner, but also those that supported instructional practices of reading one text in one guided reading session. The exception to this was the selection of two junior novels, used as a link to writing and characterisation and for its humour (discussed later).

Textual diets

The textual diet of students was apparent in discussion about the need to provide variety in terms of publisher, ideas, challenge and mode. Teachers reported teaching a particular item or skill using a predictably structured text as part of 'gaining our confidence', so that students subsequently could practice that skill on more challenging or authentic books. Despite reported selection for variety, little variety was apparent in the nominated texts in terms of classroom use or genre. As noted above, most texts selected were instructional readers employing narrative text. Of the total texts (N = 33) teachers nominated as either effective or less effective, only six were non-fiction (18%). In a few cases selected texts included description and explanation, but still within narrative formats.

Interaction between learners and curriculum goals

Teachers also explained that knowledge of the learner's identity, interests and learning needs was vital to select texts that were 'fit for purpose'; and that 'knowing the children and knowing their families and knowing a little bit about their culture' was considered to be a part of culturally responsive pedagogy. In discussing the text Lavalava, teachers described how the book title invoked 'an immediate connection'. Connections to the known involved affirming and building from students' funds of knowledge, which teachers suggested 'can give kids a sense of pride to say, "Oh, we have got that at our house".' One teacher expressed reservations, suggesting that bringing in these elements of home and community life 'doesn't happen often'. While, culture was acknowledged as important by all, texts in which culture was perceived as tokenism were more controversial. One such text, featuring a White Sunday celebration, that was nominated as effective by one teacher was also described as less effective by a different teacher; whereas one felt it resonated with her students, another felt it was tokenistic. This teacher expressed the view that stereotypical cultural content 'umu and traditional dances...' may not always resonate with urban Pasifika youth. Another agreed, '[the] experience doesn't have to be cultural'.

Both focus groups of teachers stressed the importance of knowing the learner in order to make legitimate connections to Pasifika students' experiences. Teachers agreed the best way of knowing about this was through communication with students. However, they admitted that at times their knowledge fell short, or that they made misguided assumptions about students' prior knowledge: 'My assumption was that they would know about fishing. Contemporary kids they were! They knew about fishing from the fish and chip shop ... so they couldn't relate to the text.' Such instances resulted in a disconnect between teachers' intentions and students' understandings.

There was a further tension expressed between the desire to support learning through building on prior knowledge and the wish to extend horizons and challenge students with new material. Many teachers favoured texts that students could connect with; texts in which they saw something of themselves and their lives reflected--mirrors (Bishop, 1990). But in response, one teacher reminded the group that she also selected texts that supported an expanded view of the world, as window texts, including content in texts that was not commonly known to the students. The teacher expressed the choice as 'a two way thing. Ok, you can make a connection [with the text] but, hold on, I want to broaden your experiences too', a sentiment with which others in the group agreed.

Humour was seen to cultivate positive associations with reading practice to facilitate risk-taking, considered a desirable disposition necessary for literacy learning. In particular, teachers mentioned employing the humour in text to bridge potential reservations associated with taking a critical stance. Pasifika students' perceived reticence in evaluating or challenging ideas was explained as 'holding back just to be respectful' and needing to demonstrate 'the right answer'. Irreverent humour and satirical ploys within The Twits, The Gorilla and Piggyback were seen as a means of promoting students' risk taking in thinking for themselves, formulating their own conclusions and arguing critical viewpoints. Laughter was also seen as a positive way to change attitudes to reading more generally.

Texts that could complement writing instruction were a curriculum-based reason for selection. Teachers advocated designing instruction around reading/ writing links through the provision of predictable structures--'a safe construct' as one described it. Using the predictable structure, students could manipulate and invent. An example offered was the use of traditional fairy tales, then inviting students to overturn and subvert characters and write from a reverse perspective to uncover power relationships: writing a fairy tale about 'The Three Little Wolves' or placing Father Bear as the narrator in 'Goldilocks'. Teachers described selecting model texts for form, vocabulary, concepts and thematic concerns which could form the basis for a teaching point or allow for appropriation by students.

Selecting text for the effective teaching of specific skills and explicit strategy instruction was considered even more important for Pasifika students, 'It has to be effective to work for Pasifika teaching. Ho-hum teaching doesn't work, whereas other children (non Pasifika) might pick it up without very explicit teaching'. Teachers tended to employ controlled approaches to text selection in targeting 'the skill I was going for', thereby exerting a strong influence over the features and perspectives promoted. Such selections were commonly made on the basis of appropriate textual support for skills, as in this example: 'by rerunning and cross checking at sentence level . they would be able to work out that vocabulary [themselves]'.

Arguably, all decisions require a degree of cost/benefit analysis. Teachers spoke of excluding what they considered to be less effective texts based on mismatches with Pasifika worldviews, for example: 'I didn't really like that [text]. It was a palagi [European] sounding name and also [I didn't like] that the teacher was quite mean and didn't try and understand why the child had done what she had done.' In such cases, teachers appeared to be assuming a protective stance, shielding students from unsavoury characters or themes that might not sit comfortably with their world view.

Independent analysis of teachers' text selections

The researchers' independent analyses of a sample of texts illuminated the linguistic underpinnings of teachers' preferences. For students learning to read in early year levels, teachers preferred texts that showed prototypical features, for example past tense, high utility words, repetition, a greater numbers of running words, less lexical density, and fewer novel words to solve. The example of the analysis of an effective early reading text shown in Appendix 2 illustrates these features. Such features supported teachers' articulated teaching foci concerning gaining momentum, practice, automaticity, fluency and phrasing for reading. Independent analyses further identified other textual features that supported teachers' stated purposes. Analysis confirmed, for example, support for a teacher's reported critical focus for Years 4-6 as governing selection, undiluted by difficulties of decoding. This was evidenced in low lexical density counts in the particular text referred to Piggybook, (Browne, 1986).

Similarly, text-image analysis showed teachers' tacit understandings about how the layout of texts could also support meaning making. Teachers favoured a clear text-picture distinction, and text-image relationships that obeyed the conventions of directionality. This type of picture support was seen to be important for students who are learning to decode print. The analysis of the relationship between print and the illustrations in the analysed nominated effective text (Randell, 1993) showed teacher preference for ideational concurrence (Unsworth, 2010) between the image and the text, rather than ideational augmentation where the image fills a gap to provide the meaning, which appeared in the text nominated as less effective (Beveridge, 1996).

Discussion

In an educational context where teachers are free to choose classroom texts without mandated constraints, the texts selected by teachers play an instrumental role in the ways in which development is channelled (Valsiner, 1997). Clearly, texts hold both affordances and constraints for teachers in their efforts to promote valued outcomes for students. Our analysis suggests that teachers' selection of texts was tightly focused on the promotion of specific skills, thereby potentially creating very narrow channels of development for Pasifika children, and possibly leaving wider concerns unexplored. In our study, those texts deemed to be effective by the teachers were those whose textual affordances most closely matched the immediate teaching aims within the instructional format. Like the teachers in Mesmer's (2006) survey, our teachers selected texts for specific purposes for developing literacy skills. The data highlight the teachers' complex decision making, to combine knowledge of their Pasifika students' learning needs, background knowledge and cultural heritage, and the potential affordances of the texts which they have to choose from, in order to marry this with planned curricular goals. But the data also highlight some potential trade-offs or risks.

In terms of individual texts, teachers' reports, combined with our analysis, suggest that selection was commonly based on salience of textual features that scaffolded a preferred teaching point, and the direct support that a text could offer to Pasifika students as they learned these skills. For children learning to read, for example, relative predictability can serve to confirm students' predictions and support monitoring and self-correcting, or high numbers of high utility words can support students gathering momentum and fluency as they read (Randell, 1999). For students in older year levels there was seen to be a need to move 'beyond the literal' to develop the inferential and critical skills. The comments from teachers, confirmed by our textual analysis, add testament to the teachers' understandings about features of text complexity and what makes a text more difficult for children to apply their developing skills. On the other hand, avoiding such complexities may channel the particular sorts of development in ways that leave students unprepared for longer term challenges. An example from our data was the avoidance of the need for inference based on gaps in ideation in the text in the early year levels, juxtaposed with the reported need for explicit focus on inference in older grades, as students by this age were considered too literal.

In creating environments to promote particular actions, sequencing of content, pace and repetition are key considerations (Mesmer et al., 2012) and textual diet was also a consideration within the teachers' discussion. Although unexpected, teachers reported that they did use texts with the features that they considered less effective, although they only did so once students had learned a skill on a more controlled text. While teachers termed this implicit sequencing consideration 'variety', there was less discussion about other features considered important when building a programme of texts. Repetition was tangentially touched upon in teachers' descriptions of links between texts, and reference to the recycling of words and characters in specific publishers' offerings. Pace surfaced briefly in teachers' comments about the need to get quickly to teaching points. It is likely that the apparent under-consideration of the overall textual diet is an artefact of our methodology for discussing the texts, a point which offers an avenue for future exploration, given that the effective combinations of texts surfaced in discussion and is likely to influence student development over time.

One aspect of textual diet that did seem to emerge was the predominance of narrative fiction (Saul & Diekman, 2005). On one hand, the use of narrative to link to informational content can be seen as building on Pasifika students' oral language strength in storytelling, but on the other hand may include exposing students to a less authentic form of exposition. Language, grammatical constructions and text structures such as in scientific articles and reports are widely recognised as presenting challenges for students generally (Fang, 2006; Moje, 2007). The teachers in our study acknowledged the tension between offering texts based on the known, but that also opened the view to the unknown. The corpus of texts selected as 'effective' suggests that fiction makes up most of Pasifika learners' textual diet.

Our findings also highlight teachers' understanding of the need to be responsive to students' identities (Glynn, 2013) when considering curriculum aims, for example using humour to disrupt authority and explore critical themes. For Pasifika students, the ideas or context needed to reflect what they were familiar with while offering opportunity to move to new insights. In this, our teachers were promoting particular actions (Valsiner, 1997), based on immediate, rather than longer term views of reading development. The often tight control of text challenges that was reported for short term learning aims potentially leaves gaps in the preparation of students for other, more long term or less constrained avenues of literacy development. Arguably, for example, the flip side of tightly supporting students can be restricting their opportunity to puzzle or problem solve. Unpredictable formats, for example, described as less effective, such as an illustration filling in gaps in ideational flow, might alternatively serve as useful visual material for developing inferential skills through discussion about different ways texts convey meaning. Such an approach, however, was considered a distraction from outside the promoted development of decoding text by teachers of younger year levels.

Similarly, shielding students from the unsavoury was evident in the avoidance of texts considered alien to Pasifika values, whereas inquiry into the nature of those values could arguably offer opportunities for critical engagement.

Therefore, on the one hand, teachers recognised their instructional opportunities in the comment, 'you can get any kind of purpose you want out of a text really'. But, on the other hand, independent analysis suggests that teachers' choices of text were often filtered by their immediate intended goals which masked other higher order or long term potential in texts. Teachers reported selecting from a variety of (narrative) texts to match varied needs, and their comments suggested that they did this once students had mastered skills in controlled texts. This variety potentially offsets some of the possible risks associated with governing tightly the features of texts on offer to students.

An additional factor impacting text selection was the instructional context. The example, apparent in our data, was the selection of texts to fit time constraints or teaching formats, such as guided reading. The risks associated with this lie in the extent to which text quality should be assessed based on how easily it fits into a lesson sequence, and in decreased reading mileage (Allington, 2009). Clearly, at some stage students need to be prepared to meet longer texts, to engage with texts over longer periods of time and with texts in the various discipline areas.

Limitations

Ours was a small scale study, drawing on the knowledge of teachers who were effective at raising the achievement of their Pasifika students. We have no way of knowing whether these teachers taught in ways that supported other, non-assessed skills. Our methodology, while illuminating the features of individual texts, was less effective at illuminating the textual diet over time. This we feel would be a fruitful research avenue, given the conversation that arose about the need to provide variety in text selection. Finally, given our methodology, representativeness of comments cannot be accurately gauged. In a focus group setting, with teachers from a range of schools, outright disagreement with the comments of others is unusual. It is possible that some of our teachers disagreed with some of the views expressed by their colleagues, but remained silent. This is not well captured by the approach we took.

Conclusions

The teachers in our study were selected on the basis that they were already effective teachers. Their text choices are based on extensive knowledge of their students, their instructional needs and curricular aims. We hope to contribute to that knowledge, by offering an analysis of the constraints and enablers afforded by their selected texts, in the belief that such understandings may lead to even more effective pedagogical choices. Further studies might investigate and evaluate the complex cost-benefit analysis that teachers, not necessarily consciously, engage in when selecting and utilising selections and the compounding nature of these opportunities over time combining to channel students' development in particular ways. The degree to which controlled selection of texts dominate the enacted curriculum for minority students like the Pasifika students in this study and the ramifications for reading development are important considerations when attempting to optimise literacy development. Appendix 1 Effective texts reported Effective Author Text Type Text Title White Sunday Glenn Jowitt Non-Fiction, School Journal in Samoa Matilda Roald Dahl Fiction, Junior Novel The Twits Roald Dahl Fiction, Junior Novel Goldilocks and Jenny Giles Fiction, PM Reader the Three Bears Lavalava Lino Nelisi Fiction, Ready to Read Father Bear goes Beverly Randell Fiction, PM Reader Fishing Finding Mum Don Long Fiction, Ready to Read Fasi Sings & Joy Cowley Fiction, Ready to Read Fasi's Fish Let's Go Feana Tu'akoi Fiction, Ready to Read Piggybook Anthony Browne Fiction, Sophisticated Where is Sam? Julie Ellis Fiction, Ready to Read Mum's Octopus Don Long Fiction, Ready to Read No More Cakes Barbara Beveridge Fiction, Ready to Read Keep Trying Jane Buxton Fiction, Ready to Read Freaky! Janet Cooper Non Fiction, School Journal Funny Insects Dr Simon Pollard Non Fiction, Sails Less effective texts reported Less Effective Text Author Text Type Title The Car Races Julie Ellis Fiction, Ready to Read Shush Barbara Beveridge Fiction, Ready to Read Matthew is Brave Annette Smith Fiction, PM Reader Dimitri's Lunch Dina Viatos Fiction, Ready to Read Hole in the King's Sock Phillip Webb Fiction, Ready to Read Bully Cat Jill Eggleton Fiction Fish Drive Jo Phillips Fiction Acorn to Oak Tree Camilla de la Non Fiction, QED Bedoyere Holes Louis Sacher Fiction, Junior Novel A History of Rock Alan Bagnall Non Fiction, Connections Journal Earrings Emma Kruse Va'ai Fiction Open It Diana Noonan Fiction, Ready to Read Hello Dad Diana Noonan Fiction, Ready to Read Is That an Earthquake? Alan Bagnall Non Fiction Sally's Friend Beverley Randell Fiction, PM Reader Lunch Bunch Margot Finch Fiction, Real Kids Reader The Safe Place Sue Mooar Fiction, Ready to Read Appendix 2 Example of text analyses Less Effective Text Effective Text Title: Shush Title: Father Bear Goes Fishing Level: Red level (Red 2/ Level 4) Level: Red level (Red 3/ Level 5) Teacher comments: Teacher comments: * Busy * Familiarity of bear (teddy bears) * Unpredictable * Variety of experiences with * Challenging fishing (children can compare experiences e.g. wharves) Unnatural (words that the * Predictability of text structure children don't use--she likes * Lots of high frequency words, yoghurt too) which is often the reason * Text is hard to find (all over why teachers use it the place) * Book language assumptions * Supports fluency and removal of finger pointing * Predictable speech * Extended text on last page supports fluency * Final page offers links back to real experiences/ comparisons of cooking at home * Links between texts within a series (the children meet these characters again) Running words: Running words: 29 (text); 74 (including speech 98 bubbles) Number of pages: 11 Number of pages: 15 Number of pages with text: 11 Number of pages with text: 9 (6 (text on every page) pages have text only on Average number of words per page: RHS of two page spread) 2.6 (text) Average number of words per page: 6.7 (including speech bubbles) 6.5 (averaged across all pages) Number of sentences:7 (text); 27 10.8 (average across pages with words) Average number of words per Number of sentences: 5 sentence: 4.1 (text); 2.7 (including speech bubbles) Average number of words per sentence: 6.5 Lexical items: 14 (text); 34 Lexical items: 27 (including speech bubbles) Lexical variation (type/token Lexical variation (type/token ratio): 14/29 = 48.2 (text) ration): 27/98 = 27.6 34/74 = 45.9 (including speech Tense: past bubbles) Tense: present High utility words: 15 (44.1%) High utility words: 24 (88.9%) Vocabulary' words: 19 (55.9%) Vocabulary' words: 3 (11.1%) Picture/ text relationship (one Picture/ text relationship (one page example) Page 3 page example) Page 2-3 Illustration copyright Illustration copyright The main character, Thomas, and Father Bear (who has glasses-- his cat outside Dad's bedroom symbol of age?), at the river, door. Thomas has a teddy bear in with a red bucket in background. his pocket. The cat's paw is Further in the background can be around Thomas' dressing gown cord seen a forest with a path leading (inference: the cat has pounced down the page to Father Bear at on the dressing gown). the river. Father Bear (who has glasses-- symbol of age?), at the river, with a red bucket in background. Further in the background can be seen a forest with a path leading down the page to Father Bear at the river. Dad can be seen in the background sitting up in bed, stretching (inference: waking up) and mouth open (inference: yawning). Text under illustration: Dad Text under illustration: wakes up. Father Bear went fishing. He went down to the river. Layout: Layout: Salience and position Salience and position Thomas is fore-grounded in the Father bear is foregrounded in picture (salience). The pictures picture (salience). 'Father Bear' (including speech bubbles) are in is in 'theme position' in text. 'given' position above the text. Bucket in picture is The cat and the cat's speech backgrounded. 'Fishing' in rheme bubble are on the LHS of Thomas. position in text. The picture is Thomas' speech (Shush!) is above on the left hand page of the (before?) and to the right of spread (in 'given position'). The (after?) the cat's. text is on RHS of spread (in Dad is on the right hand side of 'new' position) the illustration (in 'new' position). Dad is in theme position in the text (i.e. the text is about Dad, and the illustration is about Thomas). Relationship between text and Relationship between text and image image Ideational complementarity-- Ideational complementarity- augmentation. 'Inter-process concurrence through exposition distribution': the illustration (Unsworth, 2010). The image and fills the gap in the ideational text concur. flow of the text (Unsworth, 2010). The text relies on the fact that the reader has made a number of inferences based on the illustration. The text occurs as a result of the illustration.

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Rebecca Jesson is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland. She is Associate Director of the Woolf Fisher Research Centre, where she works with teachers and school leaders to redesign their instructional provision based on research evidence of what is working for their particular context. Rebecca's research interests are in the teaching and learning of literacy, and use of dialogic pedagogies to promote learning.

Judy Parr is Professor of Education in the Faculty of Education and Social Work. Her research program focuses on enhancing teacher practice and raising student achievement in literacy. Such work is designed to inform the ongoing direction of the projects and subsequent policy and practice. Judy's particular expertise is in writing, encompassing how writing develops, the cultural tools of literacy, considerations of instructional issues like teacher knowledge and practice and, in particular, assessment of written language. Table 1. Final coding frame of selection rationales mentioned in focus groups Features of Features mentioned When mentioned as effective ... tex Form Typography Clear Illustration: * Match to text * Explicit inclusion of content (detail) * Visual effect Structure: * Predictable * Authentic Length: * Ability to focus on teaching point * Within time constraints Content of Vocabulary Familiar/ controlled text Textual diet Features mentioned When mentioned as effective ... Genre Fiction/ non-fiction Variety Content Links to prior * from known to unknown contexts knowledge * culture * experiences Form Variety of publisher * level of challenge * from 'predictable' to more of a 'story' * learning a skill to applying in a more challenging text Features in Features mentioned When mentioned as effective ... relation to curriculum Content Inference Visual support Humour Learning to read Targeted skills Form Texts that lend Character description themselves as writing models Features in Features mentioned When mentioned as effective ... relation to students Content Texts that connect with students' worlds * interest * humour * event knowledge (e.g. church) * reflecting students' modern cultures Form Texts that enable * identification of features explicit teaching * practising of skills of textual features Features of When mentioned as less effective ... text Form Busy * Too distant from text * Unclear representation of content * Unclear visually * Unpredictable * Inauthentic * Too much text--'Overwhelming' * Extended lesson time Content of Unfamiliar text Textual diet When mentioned as less effective ... Genre Lack of variety Content Unfamiliar Form Interest: Diet of same publisher-- boring' Features in When mentioned as less effective ... relation to curriculum Content (not specifically mentioned) distractions Form (not specifically mentioned) Features in When mentioned as less effective ... relation to students Content Texts that do not connect * promote negative stereotypes * tokenistic imagery * mismatch in worldview / assumed prior knowledge Form (not specifically mentioned) Table 2. Features of textual analysis arising from teachers' statements Text Teachers' statements Type of textual analysis arising from teachers' statements Shush Learning to read Words * Fluency (and removing * Total running words finger pointing) * Number of pages * Challenge * Words per page Father Bear * High frequency Sentences word learning Goes Fishing * Predictability * Number of sentences * Layout * Words per sentence * Language Lexicon * Lexical items * Lexical density * High utility words (Spell-write lists) * Vocabulary items Tense * Picture / text relationship * Description * Salience / Position * Relationship Piggybook Critical literacy Images Inference * Shape * Ideation (meaning-- including visual metaphor) * Layout * Text picture relationship * Plot * Theme Words Running words Pages Sentences Sentence length Lexicon: * variety * vocabulary * collocation (words that go together') * connotation (words that invoke images / feelings) The Twits Humour Close reading Characterisation --identification of (for writing) characterisation and humour within text Lexical density Sentence length