Yager awarded 2020 Reading Australia Fellowship

The Copyright Agency has announced Karen Yager, deputy head at Knox Grammar School in New South Wales, is the 2020 recipient of the Reading Australia Fellowship for Teachers of English and Literacy.

Yager will use the $15,000 fellowship to research the connection between the Australian landscape and literature, ‘with the aim of developing an extensive resource to support English teachers in improving their students’ writing’, according to the Copyright Agency.

Yager said her research would feature ‘the evocative writing of Australian writers who have captured the heart and soul of landscapes to inspire young people to improve their own writing’.

‘Unfortunately, for too many years, there has been a decline in the writing standards of Australian students,’ said Yager. ‘All too often students approach writing with trepidation. Good writing starts with great models and inspiring stimuli, such as our rich and colourful landscapes.’

The annual Reading Australia Fellowship, first awarded in 2019, provides $15,000 to a leading English and/or literacy teacher to undertake a career-enhancing research project that will benefit the successful fellow as well as the education sector. The 2020 judging panel comprised Copyright Agency board member Helen O’Neill, the Australian Association for the Teaching of English’s Phil Page, and the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association’s Wendy Bean.

The inaugural fellowship was awarded to Alex Wharton, head of middle school at Carinya Christian School in Gunnedah. His research focused on the teaching of Indigenous literature in the classroom.

Yager will complete her fellowship by July 2021.

For more information, see the Reading Australia website.

Category: Awards Local news