Tara June Winch talks
Teaching notes
How to use this resource
‘Tara June Winch talks’ is part of the larger resource, Writers talk and aims to stimulate students to read and respond to literature. Tara June Winch was born near Sydney in 1983, where she spent her childhood roaming the shorelines of the NSW south-coast, swimming and surfing.
Winch is of Wiradjuri, Afghan and English heritage. In 2004 she won the David Unaipon Award for an Indigenous Writer for her book Swallow the air. In 2003 she won the Maureen Donahue Award for the State Library of Queensland’s Young Writers Award. Her work is also included in Best Australian stories 2005. She was one of over a hundred authors participating in the 2007 Sydney Writers’ Festival.
This resource contains five videos addressing her ideas about inspiration for writing, the writing process, characterisation and literary techniques. She also reads an excerpt from her book Swallow the air. Each video has a series of questions or comments for students to consider and discuss. Teachers may find it useful to combine this resource with others listed in the Related resources section to extend students’ learning.
‘Tara June Winch talks’ can be used with students working towards achieving outcomes from Stages 4, 5 and 6 of the NESA English syllabuses. The syllabuses can be found at:
Teachers are advised to select the sections of the book to read with students because Swallow the air contains adult issues and adult language.
Stage 4
Students using ‘Tara June Winch talks’ have the opportunity to:
- learn to read and respond to texts for pleasure and enjoyment
- learn to explore real and imagined worlds through engagement with texts
- learn about features of texts including characterisation and setting
- learn about experiences and perspectives that shape texts.
Stage 5
Students using ‘Tara June Winch talks’ have the opportunity to:
- learn to read and respond to texts for pleasure and enjoyment
- learn to explore real and imagined worlds through consideration of different perspectives
- learn about the ways situational and cultural elements of context shape texts
- learn about the way texts explore emotional and moral complexity.
Stage 6
Students using ‘Tara June Winch talks’ have the opportunity to:
- learn to read and respond to texts personally, critically and interpretively
- describe and analyse the ways that language forms influence responses
- learn about the ways situational and cultural elements of context shape texts
- learn about the way relationships between composer, text and context shape meaning.
Quality teaching
This resource, along with study of the texts written by the featured author, can be used to address the elements of Quality teaching in NSW public schools.
The Writers talk resource, and related classroom discussion and learning activities, enable students to:
- explore the features of stories and concepts developed by current writers whose work is acknowledged for its significance (Higher-order thinking)
- use the metalanguage of literary criticism and language use (Metalanguage)
- learn through focusing questions that knowledge is socially constructed with multiple layers and personal interpretations (Problematic knowledge)
- recognise, acknowledge and value substantial cultural knowledge (Cultural knowledge)
- recognise and explore connections to values and attitudes. Through the writers’ narratives, students can reflect on the way stories affect the perception of self in the modern world (Connectedness).