Reading Conditions in Reading Circles: Pilot Project

Are you a secondary English or HASS teacher interested in how reading practices shape engagement with Indigenous authored texts? We invite you to take part in a small, exploratory research pilot that investigates how educators approach reading and interpretive prompts. This pilot is not intended to assess your competence, but instead to learn how educators currently read, what influences their interpretations, and what enables or constrains new ways of reading.

About the pilot

This pilot project examines how secondary English and HASS teachers engage with Indigenous‑authored texts and with different reading invitations.

We are particularly interested in:

How you respond to different reading invitations and prompts
What reading practices, assumptions and interpretive habits shape your engagement with texts
What conditions enable or constrain your willingness to read differently

This is a small-scale, evidence generating study. It is not about implementing a new teaching framework or judging your reading skills. We want to understand educators’ current practice and the support or barriers they are facing. It is an opportunity to reflect on and discuss your own reading practices as well as connect with other educators engaging in similar work.

Eligibility requirements

Secondary English or HASS teachers (any experience level)
Currently teaching, or recently taught, in Australian secondary schools
Willing to engage thoughtfully with new reading approaches
Available to attend in person at the University of Melbourne, Parkville Campus for reading circles.

What participation involves

There are few different commitments that educators need to be able to attend. The reading circles will be held only in-person.

These include:

One pre-reading circle survey (completed before Reading Circle 1). Approximately 15 minutes.
Two in-person research reading circles. Approximately will run for 2–2.5 hours each.
Reading Circle 1: Thursday 29 October 2026, 5:00–7:00 pm.
Reading Circle 2: Wednesday 11 November 2026, 5:00–7:00 pm.
Two post-reading circle surveys (one after each reading circle) about enabling and constraining conditions. Approximately 15 minutes.

Each reading circle will include small-group discussion of texts using selected reading prompts and reflective conversation about reading practices, assumptions and interpretive habits. Catering will also be provided.

A small number of participants may be invited to a voluntary follow-up interview (30–45 minutes) to reflect more deeply on their reading practices and engagement. Participation in a follow-up interview is voluntary and will not affect involvement in the reading circles or surveys.

Confidentiality and ethics

All reading circle discussions will be recorded and transcribed by Outscribe, a professional human transcription service specialising in research and legal transcriptions.

You may withdraw from the project at any time without penalty. Your responses will be anonymised in all reports and publications. Your data will be stored securely and used only for this research; findings will inform future research projects. This project has been approved by the University of Melbourne Human Research Ethics Committee.

If you would like more information on the confidentiality and ethics, please get in touch with the Ngarrngga team.

How to express interest

If you are interested in participating, please complete the expression of interest (EOI) by 14 September 2026: https://q.surveys.unimelb.edu.au/jfe/form/SV_7NU9jnGlVh5T4i2.

We welcome your thoughtful participation; your insights will help shape future research into educator reading conditions and development of reading frameworks.

You can contact Associate Professor Sarah Truman regarding any questions you may have, by emailing sarahe.truman@unimelb.edu.au.

This project has received human research ethics approval from The University of Melbourne, project ID number: 36488.