Welcome to our first e-newsletter for 2026. 

Please share widely amongst your networks and suggest they become a Friend. They can learn more about the Foundation through the promotional video above.

A big welcome to the profession to those starting teaching this year. You are joining a profession that makes a big difference to our world.

The FFLL is here to support you.

There are signs that teacher judgement and teacher professionalism are being undermined.

Teachers and school leaders across Australia have just been involved in professional learning days to set up the new school year. This practice is not new, and it has been a highly valued part of the start of the school year. Recent changes to the professional learning undertaken this year have seen several Australian schooling sectors, as outlined by John Cole in an article below, "mandate instructional methods that include scripted lessons, and tightly defined pedagogical “non-negotiables”, where teachers have little room to adjust their teaching to meet the needs of the range of students they teach. John Cole goes on to say, “How does a teacher consider and value their professional choices and expertise in a school where materials and approaches are directed from a centralised source? At what point does teacher professional judgement yield to head office directions to use “these slides” and present with “these methods”?”

The Foundation for Learning and Literacy strongly advocates for school leaders and teachers to exercise their professional judgement to select the pedagogies and resources that will meet the individual needs of their students ensuring all students show growth in their learning and in addition, are able to use what they learn across a wide range of contexts.

Connecting to the Touchstones

Two of our touchstones address these issues:

• Touchstone 6- Learners’ experiences are different, their environments are different, their ways of thinking are different. A ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to literacy learning does not work. Every learner is unique.
• Touchstone 10- Teachers teach children and young people. Programs don’t.

Read more about Touchstone 6 and 10 here. 

We have curated the following with a focus on supporting school leaders, literacy coaches, teachers and pre-service teachers:

• Cole, J. Setting the Standards: who chooses ‘best practice’? (2026, February 3). Edu Research Matters
• Ashenden, D. How we can all fix NAPLAN. Starting now. (2025, December 8).  Edu Research Matters.
• Ewing, R. Key principles for designing early years literacy programs

FFLL advocates for the provision of high quality and inclusive literature for every Australian preschool and classroom. We have two new resources to help you select literature for children:

• For educators: Choosing Quality Literature for Your Classroom
• For parents and carers: How do I choose quality books for my child?

Past featured articles and resources can be accessed in the newsletter archive.

Yours in literacy,

The Executive and General Committees
Foundation for Learning and Literacy