Eric Brace is the Director of First Languages and Digital Innovation for the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF), where he oversees the delivery of the ALNF’s national initiatives. This includes the coordination of ALNF’s First (Indigenous) Language & Literacy programming, including the award-winning Living First Language Platform. It also includes digital oversight of the ALNF’s Early Language and Literacy Developmental Index as well as the Refugee Action Support program. Eric has a depth of experience in literacy teaching and learning, in supporting English language learners, in addressing barriers to educational equality, and in advocating for needs of diverse communities.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with K12 Digest, Eric shared his insights into the importance of literacy and language education, emphasizing the need to respect and celebrate local knowledges and cultures. He believes that literacy development is a complex, human process that requires practice, attitudes, and agency. Eric also highlighted the potential of technology to personalize instruction and create multilingual learning environments, while stressing the importance of human connection and community-led initiatives. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Hi Eric. Please tell us about your background and areas of interest.
Hi. My name is Eric Brace, and I am presently the Director of First Languages and Digital Innovation at the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation. I am teacher-trained by background. Initially, I trained as a high school teacher with a focus on English (literature) and English as an Additional Language/Dialect instruction.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, I attended university at the University of California, San Diego where I earned a degree in English literature. In 2000, I moved to Australia for personal reasons, and studied to be a teacher through the University of New South Wales. As part of my studies, I focused on effective instruction and support for new migrant communities, including learning support for children and young people from refugee backgrounds.
I spent a short period as the Youth Liaison Officer for the Foundation for Young Australian where I had the privilege of working to prepare an Australian youth delegation to the UN World Conference Against Racism, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban in 2001.
Soon after that, I joined the – then – small team at The Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF), and it has been a lovely journey since. I have served many roles at the ALNF; as a Project Officer, Executive Educational Advisor, Director of Programs and now as the Director of First Languages and Digital Innovation.
I have been able to work with colleagues on some amazing initiatives, such as:
- The Refugee Action Support Program (since 2006) – which involves partnering with local universities, such as Western Sydney University, to involve pre-service teachers in providing quality language, literacy and learning support for children and youth of refugee backgrounds;
- Subtext Program: Language and Literacy through the Arts;
- Helping with the Early Language and Literacy program (written by esteemed ALNF Co-Founder Mary-Ruth Mendel) – which is a quality training initiative that makes speech pathology-informed practices accessible to early years educators (e.g. preschool teachers), school-based teachers, community practitioners and more;
- Assisting with the digitisation of the Early Language and Literacy Development Index (ELLDI), which is a world-first formative assessment tool of oral language and early literacy for children aged 2 years old to 5 years old, and continuing on to 8 years old. ALNF commissioned the Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) to develop the ELLDI as part of a longitudinal evaluation. At the core of the ELLDI is an empirically derived developmental scale with psychometrically aligned assessment, and a growing library of accessible advice and strategies for children as they grow across time; and
- Directing the work of the Living First Language Platform (LFLP) and related programming. The LFLP is an award-winning digital platform that Indigenous communities use to rapidly collect, record, curate, share and teach their Languages as living, vibrant languages. Each “digital Language Space” facilitates community-led practices in generating quality teaching and learning resources for both language and literacy instruction and exploration. Through the LFLP we have also partnered with other changemaking organisations – such as Boston-based Curious Learning – to facilitate additional fun, quality literacy materials for children in their own languages. The following is a link to an article that effectively captures this ethos with an example from this work: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-03/language-app-feed-the-monster-helps-preserve-waramungu/102423484
Overall, I am passionate about helping all learners developing the skills to be able to read, write, speak and listen. Literacy is important to exploring the world around us, developing knowledge, expressing our voices and participating socially and economically.
What do you love the most about your current role?
Diversity and creativity. I am the Director of First Languages and Digital Innovation here at the ALNF and both of those portfolios provide amazing opportunities. In the area of First Languages, this refers to Indigenous First Languages. Through this work, I have the privilege leading a team who works directly with representatives from over 25 Indigenous Language communities in Australia. There is also a dynamic network of passionate people here in Australia, and recently we had the good fortune of gathering together in Darwin for the PULiiMA Indigenous Language and Technology Conference organised by Daryn McKenny and the Miromaa Aboriginal Language & Technology Centre. Being part of this network is a one-of-a-kind experience. Currently, it is also the UN International Decade on Indigenous Languages, and my colleagues and I have had the opportunity to present to the UNESCO Information for All Programme. Therefore, the work connects us deeply within Australia and to the world. I regularly liaise with colleagues in the Pacific, South America, Canada as well as India and Nepal. There is never a boring day.
In relation to digital innovation, we have had the good fortune of receiving quality recognition for the ELLDI and LFLP from such reputable outlets as the Google Impact Challenge, the SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards, MIT Solve and the World Summit Award network. ALNF is enormously fortunate to have a team at Brisbane-based Josephmark overseeing the quality of these impactful, scalable digital products. When you put these factors together with the rapid pace of digital innovation, it is exciting, creative, and humbling to be able to create tools that affect change and learning every day.
Also, people! I have a dedicated team, and I enjoy the energy, creativity, experience and resourcefulness of the people with whom I work.
In a nutshell, I love being able to work with our teams to facilitate training and to develop tools and resource that help everyday educators and caregiver support quality learning across a vast range of settings. It is special to play a part in collective educational efforts.
What defines success in addressing literacy and numeracy challenges in diverse Australian communities?
I don’t want to overcomplicate this answer. Success is ensuring that every person has the support they need to develop the language, literacy and numeracy skills to be able to engage educationally, socially and economically.
This direct perspective guided the establishment of the Refugee Action Support, a program ALNF was involved in founding close to 20 years ago. At that time, there was a vital need to provide young refugees with regular, scaffolded support so they are able to develop the English language, literacy and numeracy skills needed to pursue their educational goals. Many refugee youth experience significantly disrupted education, which is why ALNF along with Western Sydney University and the NSW Department of Education worked to set up a sustainable tutoring scheme between local schools and local universities so these young people could receive the additional support they need to gradually gain skills over time from a mentor tutor. Nothing beats practice, practice, practice, which makes it vital to facilitate safe spaces in which learners can speak and read and write and learn with a range of caring and supportive teachers and tutors.
This example also reveals few other principles that I hold. First, there are stages of literacy development, and the nature of instruction and learning changes across these stages. Therefore, this show that learners may develop competency in one stage of their development, but these learners need to be prepared for their next stage of their development as well, such as in the classic distinction between “learning to read” to “reading to learn”. This also illustrates the risks when a learner fails to consolidate skills in an earlier stage of their development, and struggles in later stages of development due to gaps in their learning. This also leads to two other principles that I often remind myself of: practice and attitudes. First, we cannot underestimate the power of practice (fun and engaging), which is the amount of time learners of all ages need when developing the networks of skills required for literacy and numeracy, such as– say – the literacy skills of speaking and listening, phonological awareness, comprehension (listening and reading), concepts of print, decoding and encoding and so on.
If I refer to a quote that was foundational for me, I can share the following from Catherine Snow, et al,
“[In] a developmental theory, literacy is not a single skill that simply gets better with age or instruction, as a sprinter’s running time gets better with practice and conditioning. Being literate is a very different enterprise for the skilled first grader, fourth grader, high school student, and adult, and the effects of school experiences can be quite different at different points in a child’s development.” (Snow, et al., 1991, pg 6)
Snow, C., Barnes, W. S., Chandler, J., Goodman, I. F., & Hemphill, L. (1991). Unfulfilled expectations: home and school influences on literacy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
The teacher’s role is to arrange tasks and activities in such a way that students are developing (Verhoeven and Snow, 2001).
The other key factor is attitudes and agency. The following quotes stuck out to me early on in my studies and career, “acquisition requires interventions that address attitudes and beliefs as much as interventions that assure cognitive changes in the learner.” (Verhoeven and Snow, 2001, pg 2).
“Through literacy, children are able to construct meaning, to share ideas, to test them, and to articulate questions … The notion of literacy engagement is closely linked to views of children as having an active role in their own development.” (Verhoeven and Snow, 2001, pg 4-5)
Verhoeven, L. and Snow, C. (2001). Literacy and motivation: bridging cognitive and sociocultural viewpoints. In Verhoeven, L. and Snow, C. (Eds.), Literacy and motivation: reading engagement in individuals and groups (pp. 1- 22). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Success is when a learner sees in literacy and numeracy the tools to participate in the world around them, make an impact in their world, explore the world and ideas, and to express themselves and their understandings.
When working with diverse communities, success occurs when the learning environments celebrate the diversity of knowledges that the broader school community brings into the classroom. This can excite learning and generate a more inclusive environment.
In your view, what makes for effective advocacy for educational equality?
I don’t think there is a science to this. If I were pressed to answer, I’d say that effective advocacy for educational equality involves the following:
Listening to the voices of community, and involving those voices in dialogues that relate to equitable access to quality education.
Emphasising how important it is to respect, celebrate, include and build upon the local knowledges. Time and time again I have heard about the importance of fostering pride, identity and problem solving within the local context and its cultures, histories and knowledge systems. This provides firm foundation through which explore culture and history and knowledge more broadly. (My colleagues expressed this quite well a few years ago in an article titled “Walking the red dirt and the red carpet: quality education in Australia’s First Languages” that in the Human Rights Defender (journal); Volume 29, Issue 1, March 2020.)
Developing a whole range of relationships, including within communities, across service providers, with decision makers and with the public. All quality work is founded in relationships and trust, and growing a base of allies who share a commitment to your cause is vital.
Persistence … I don’t have a magic formula for gathering together the resources, systems and partners. If you have a clear and effective vision and a proven approach to achieving educational equality, then grit and persistence is needed to make the vision a reality.
Looking ahead, what trends in literacy and language education do you find most promising?
At the moment, everyone is talking about AI and I will talk about it as well, but maybe in a different way. Whilst gains in the uses of AI have been impressive in recent times, we need to remind ourselves that learning is a human process and a practice. In other words, I don’t believe AI will shortcut the need for people to grapple with complex skills and concepts.
However, I do believe that there are ways that this technology can be used to personalise instruction (practice) at scale, which can complement face-to-face, meaningful conversations in the classroom. Whilst I am also mindful of limiting screen time, I think there will be innovations in how learners can engage with personalised instruction in new, more natural user experiences.
Recently, I explored promising practices that use technology to enhance one-on-one tutoring initiative. Whilst one-on-one tutoring is found to be quite effective in building learners’ skills, it is difficult to scale and is quite costly. Dr Monica Bhatt from the University of Chicago is exploring how technology can be leveraged to facilitate high dosage tutoring at scale: https://educationlab.uchicago.edu/resources/realizing-the-promise-of-high-dosage-tutoring-at-scale-preliminary-evidence-for-the-field/
As I have suggested above, practice makes perfect. If new technologies can be harnessed to support personalised instruction so that every learner (young and old) is progressing, drawing connections, exhibiting curiosity and making discoveries, then it is something that I find really promising … as long as these opportunities are accessed equitably, which has often not always been the case with new technologies in the past.
This concept is something that we are watching closely with ALNF’s Early Language and Literacy Development Index, and we ask ourselves questions like, “with the ELLDI’s empirical, reliable scale of oral language and early literacy development, can we continue to work with educators and parents to seamlessly facilitate the provision of aligned, age-appropriate activities and strategies so that every child is receiving the regular, rich types of learning suited to where each child is at in their particular stage of development? Can the advice and strategies adapt and align as the child grows? Does this empower the many adults with the child’s life?”
Similarly, I also feel that technology is making it easier to create multilingual learning environment that can be used to provide quality resources in the world’s diverse languages. We are seeing this with our own Living First Language Platform as well as with such resource as Storyweaver (from Pratham Books), Library for All, Curious Learner’s suite of apps, the Global Digital Library and more.
Have you had any mentors or role models who have influenced your career path?
I have had many mentors and role models that have influenced my career path, so it is difficult to properly assess. If I share them as a stream, they would be people like the young students at Garfield Alternative High School in inner-city San Diego who ignited my passion and joy for education and for equity in education. These young learners made the choice to return to school after an absence to finish their studies, and even though they encountered many obstacles, they also exhibited resilience (and humour).
Of course, my parents, my sister and my grandparents served as enormous role models, mentors and supporters.
When working with the Australian youth delegation on the UN World Conference Against Racism, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, I had the privilege working former Australian Human Right Commissioner Chris Sidoti. Following that, I had the opportunity to meet former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, whose policies embodied themes of inclusion, equity, recognition and reconciliation, and I still remain active in the Whitlam Institute.
I also received strong support from leadership at Western Sydney University, including from former Vice Chancellor Janice Reid and such socially minded academic as Margaret Vickers, Florence McCarthy, Loshini Naidoo, Tanya Ferfolja and Shirley Gilbert.
NSW’s Department of Education’s Multicultural Education Unit exhibited great patience and guidance on ALNF’s early work in refugee education, particularly from Hanya Stefanuik, Amanda Bourke, Jane Wallace and Rachel Hennessy.
It is imperative that I mention the founders of the ALNF (Mary-Ruth Mendel and Kim Kelly). In particular, Mary-Ruth Mendel introduced and guided me into the world of Indigenous Language literacy, and both Mary-Ruth and I were mentored by the esteemed Warumungu elder Mrs Judy Nixon Nakkamara. ALNF’s First Language journey owes a lot to Mrs Nixon as well as to Aunt Bunny Napurula and Rosemary Plummer, as well as to Karan Hayward, CEO of Tennant Creek’s Language Centre (Papulu Apparr-Kari).
The list can go and on because I have been very fortunate to have the support of some truly impressive people, including the esteemed literacy expert Stephanie Gottwald as well as ALNF’s former Chief Technology Officer Mark Macduffie and Ben Johnson, CEO of digital innovation firm Josephmark.
ALNF’s Chair Professor Tom Calma AO is a hands-on leader that has guided me and ALNF’s work in the Indigenous Language space. Prof Calma is a respected Indigenous leader and national treasure, and I have been fortunate to be mentored by him over time.
Even the amazing literacy leader Catherine Snow generously offered up her time to meet me with me when I was visiting Harvard many years ago, and I appreciated the advice she provided.
These are all individuals who have helped me in so many different areas, whether it was understanding literacy more deeply, understanding program negotiation and development, understanding digital development workflows or gaining key competencies in community planning.
What are your passions outside of work?
Family. I won’t share too much about my family, but family time is really important outside of work, and our children absorb our time, our energies and our passion. Whilst l love to read, garden tinker with technologies, family is my biggest passion outside of work.
What is your favorite quote?
Such a hard question. How to pick just one? I must admit that I have always had an interest in Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language. The following is a quote that I often remind myself of:
- “To imagine a language means to imagine a form of life,” Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigate.
There are many facets to this quote that are pertinent. For instance, learning a language (and literacy in a language) involves much more than just knowing the words. It involves appreciating the place that language and literacy fit within everyday life and how we come to use language and literacy to see and interact with the world around us. Consequently, as an English as additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) teacher, I know that I need to create contexts in which learners can use and explore language meaningfully, purposefully and effectively.
Similarly, it is often easy to dismiss or fail to appreciate the complexities of another culture (or language culture), because you don’t live (or embody) that form of life, but is essential to see the life within the words and stories of a language. It is important to appreciate, become curious about and share in the cultures that languages sit within, particularly when educating within Indigenous languages.
Wittgenstein’s quote pushes me to look beyond technical explanations of language and literacy.
What are your long-term career aspirations, and how do you see yourself evolving as a leader over the next five years?
This is a question that I haven’t explicitly thought about. At my stage of career, I want to be able to work with the sectors that relate to our work and to collaborate on impactful activities. You can achieve so much more together than apart. Over time, I have found that sectors, such as the Indigenous Language sector, the EdTech sector and the Educational Assessment sectors, are smaller worlds than you would otherwise think.
Therefore, in the next five years of my career, I would like to be able to work with our partners in each sector – domestically and internationally – to develop and grow joint solutions that can be impactful at systems levels. This involves collaborating on how to grow or replicate or scale good practices, tools and structures that can assist with everyday learning in a whole range of contexts.
What advice would you give to aspiring leaders in literacy and language education who aim to make a meaningful impact in diverse communities?
Form relationships. When working with diverse communities, I often refer to the common principle of “nothing for us, without us.” It is vital to consult with community stakeholders when fostering a plan for impactful literacy and language education within diverse communities. That has been my experience across a wide variety of areas, whether it has been with refugee groups, Indigenous Language communities, education in remote contexts, and so on. The first step is to foster relationships, listen actively, and co-design a vision and a plan with a range of stakeholders, and then pull in the necessary partners for impactful, meaningful change. We often say that the upfront time spent of consultation, co-design and governance is vital for affecting sustainable, impactful literacy and language education initiatives over time.
Build relationships. Bring everyone on the journey. Foster a sense of collective ownership of the aspirations. This is the advice that I aspire to myself. Whilst I don’t always get it right every single time, it is the advice that I would give to others who would like drive positive change within and across communities.