Forster awarded 2023 Reading Australia Fellowship

The Copyright Agency has named Bridget Forster, a Victorian teacher with over 20 years of experience, the 2023 Reading Australia Fellow for Teachers of English and Literacy and teacher librarians.

Forster, who is the head of Kerferd Library and VCE Literature teacher at Mentone Girls Grammar, receives $15,000 for a research project that will focus on using AI generated texts in the English classroom to interrogate the notion of an Australian literary voice. Her research will explore questions including how teachers can identify cultural bias and ethical issues in the use of AI in the English classroom and how students can be taught to be ethical users. The project will also examine the copyright implications of AI.

‘My Fellowship project will explore the fate of the Australian written voice in the age of AI generated texts,’ said Forster. ‘The wide adoption of AI large language models such as ChatGPT in Australia changes the tone, rhythm, and language of our communications, diluting our rich and distinct Australian voice. My research will explore approaches to AI large language models in the English classroom, covering issues of identity, creativity, and ethics. This project is important to me because I see Australian stories as important in both negotiating and affirming personal and cultural identity. Moreover, it is crucial that we equip our students to navigate the evolving AI-powered information landscape critically and ethically.’

The annual Reading Australia Fellowship is open to English and literacy teachers and teacher librarians with at least five years’ teaching experience in a primary or secondary school. Jantiena Batt was awarded the 2022 fellowship for research to ‘analyse texts and teaching approaches to ensure that our pedagogy does not inadvertently contribute to the reinforcement of heteronormativity as the dominant discourse’.

Reading Australia was created by the Copyright Agency in 2013 with the goal of ‘making it easier for teachers, through their passion and skills, to spread a love for Australian texts.’ It now has 275 resources, covering all year levels from Foundation to senior secondary, for texts aligned with the Australian Curriculum.

Forster will share her research and findings with colleagues in 2024.

Category: Awards Local news