The International Literacy Project is run by a team of educators and student volunteers from the Faculty of Education and the University of Melbourne.
Our vision is to promote literacy, sustainability practices and a connection to place in school communities around the world.
About
The International Literacy Project is supported by the DHB Foundation and a Graduate Student Life grant from the University of Melbourne.
When COVID-19 lockdowns kept us home in 2021, we reached out through our computer screens to interact with schools further afield. This led to the creation of a sustainable model for engaging with students around the world.
In 2021, the project began with two island schools in the Maldives and one school in Chile. Now the project has continued to expand as we connect with new partner schools in a range of countries – Maldives, India, South Africa, and Malaysia. We have plans to expand to Sri Lanka and Ghana.
We welcome the involvement of students, from all courses from the Faculty of Education and the university as our project continues to grow.
How does it work?
Sessions
We help students develop a love of reading and writing, guiding them towards creating their own class books to treasure.
We present an online lesson to the class through Zoom, guiding students through a literacy activity.
Our team later transforms students' work into a digital e-book, for the class to use.
Themes
Sessions focus on three broad themes:
- Sharing about place
- Promoting sustainability
- Storytelling
View our gallery page to see the beautiful books students have created based on these themes.
Teaching Themes
Our sessions are centered around children’s stories and are facilitated by teachers, students and alumni from the University of Melbourne. We use the stories as a teaching tool. For example, to facilitate creative writing, research skills and elements of grammar (such as nouns and adjectives). The power of sessions is that students are communicating with an authentic audience in the online sessions. As well as completing written tasks they also have opportunities to share their work orally, thereby building confidence to communicate in English.
Sharing about place
We use stories to share about the places where we live. For us we share about Melbourne and Australia, and we also learn about other places around the world. This gives students in our partner schools to share with us about their community and place.
Promoting sustainability
Using a range of children’s stories, we focus on the importance of understanding about environmental challenges and what we can all do to promote sustainable practices. A related project is the sustainability and stories website which provides free resources for teachers (lesson plan, PowerPoint and worksheet).
For more free resources: https://sustainability-and-stories.org/
Storytelling
Following the reading of a story, students are given the opportunity to create their own innovative stories. For example, the story The Hungry Caterpillar has been turned into a vast array of new stories such as: The Hungry Shark, The Hungry Tiger and many others.
See the gallery page to see the range of wonderful books students have created based on these themes.
Our team
Our team is based at the Faculty of Education, at the University of Melbourne. We share a passion for learning, teaching and travelling.
Contact Details
Email: literacyproject-mgse@unimelb.edu.au
Register your interest in becoming a student volunteer here
Our partner schools
Partner schools are at the heart of the International Literacy Project. Below is a list of schools we have worked with.
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Baa Atoll School, Maldives
Students at the local school on Baa Atoll, a tiny island in the Maldives, have worked with our team to create many books on the themes of My Place, Sustainability and Reading.
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Mulak School, Maldives
Mulak School in the Maldives has created numerous beautiful books. We will soon be working with them again.
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SK Tunku Muda Serting, Malaysia
We are excited to be expanding our project to Malaysia in June 2022, partnering with SK Tunku Muda Serting in Bahau.
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Prestwich Street Primary School, South Africa
Prestwich Street Primary School is located in Cape Town, South Africa. Students have worked with us to produce beautiful books on the theme of Place.
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Vedike School, India
Vedike Global School provides accessible, student-centred education to students in rural Bangalore.
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Hafiz Ahmed School, Maldives
The Hafiz Ahmed School joined us in 2022. Students have worked with us to produce a beautiful book on the theme of Sustainability.
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Sekolah Kebangsaan Datok Keramat 1, Malaysia
SK Datok Keramat 1 joined us in 2023. Students have worked with us to produce a beautiful book on the theme of Sustainability.
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Raa Atoll Education Centre, Maldives
Raa Atoll Education Centre joined us in 2023, and has worked with our team to create many books on the themes of My Place and The Hungry Caterpillar.
Testimonials
A big thank you to Dr. Rhonda Di Biase and her team for the session. Our children enjoy each session and look forward to these sessions.
- Baa Atoll School, Maldives
Become a partner school
If you are interested in joining our project as a partner school, please contact us at literacyproject-mgse@unimelb.edu.au.
For more information: Information for Partner Schools
We help students develop a love of reading and writing, guiding them towards creating their own class books to treasure.
Below is a showcase of books students have created as part of our project. Please read, download, and enjoy them.
Sharing about place
Sustainability theme
Storytelling theme
