Personal information

Websites & social links

https://education.unimelb.edu.au/llrh/experts

Other IDs

Scopus Author ID: 57207928878

Keywords

English teaching, digital literacy, curriculum critical literacy, videogames

Countries

Australia

Biography

Dr Alex Bacalja is a Lecturer in language and literacy, and coordinates the English Method and Literacy subjects within the Master of Teaching (Secondary) program. He has worked for over a decade in secondary schools across Melbourne in both teaching and leadership roles.

Alex’s research focuses on contemporary literacies, including the digital literacies taught and practiced in school and work environments. His recently published PhD studied the place of video game literacies within the context of subject-English teaching.

Activities

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Employment (1)

The University of Melbourne: Melbourne, Victoria, AU

2017-01-01 to present | Lecturer in Literacy and English Teaching (Melbourne Graduate School of Education)
Employment
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

Education and qualifications (5)

University of Melbourne: Melbourne, VIC, AU

2011-01-01 to 2018-04-01 | Doctor of Philosophy (Melbourne Graduate School of Education)
Education
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

University of Melbourne: Melbourne, VIC, AU

2012-01-01 to 2012-12-31 | Graduate Certificate in Advanced Learning and Leadership (Melbourne Graduate School of Education)
Education
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

University of Melbourne: Melbourne, VIC, AU

2008-01-01 to 2010-12-31 | Master of Education (Melbourne Graduate School of Education)
Education
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

University of Melbourne: Melbourne, VIC, AU

2008-01-01 to 2008-12-31 | Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Middle Years Literacy) (Melbourne Graduate School of Education)
Education
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

University of Melbourne: Melbourne, VIC, AU

2002-01-01 to 2006-12-31 | Bachelor of Arts/ Bachelor of Teaching (Hons) (Faculty of Arts/Faculty of Education)
Education
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

Professional activities (4)

Digital Games Research Association: Helsinki, FI

2019-01-01 to present
Service
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

Australian Association for the Teaching for English: Adelaide, South Australia, AU

2018-03-01 to present | National Council Member
Membership
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

Australian Literacy Educator's Association: Adelaide, South Australia, AU

2017-10 to present | Member
Membership
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

Victorian Association for the Teaching of English: Melbourne, Victoria, AU

2016-09-14 to present | Council member, Secretary, National delegate
Membership
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

Funding (3)

Videogames in the Middle Years English Classroom

2018-04 to 2019-07 | Grant
Victorian Association for the Teaching (Melbourne, Victoria, AU)
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

Investigating Subject-English Teachers’ Digital Literacy Knowledge and Attitudes.

2018-03 to 2019-06 | Grant
University of Melbourne (VIC, VIC, AU)
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

Text Selection in the Senior English Curriculum

2018-02 to 2019-06 | Grant
University of Melbourne (VIC, VIC, AU)
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

Works (45)

Designing Game-Centred Curricula: A Critical Inquiry

Ludic Language Pedagogy
2024 | Journal article
DOI: 10.55853/llp_v5art3
SOURCE-WORK-ID:

1855858

Part of ISSN: 2435-2349
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja; Brady Nash; Mark Clutton; Josh De Kruiff; Ben White
Source: check_circle
University of Melbourne

Postdigital Videogames Literacies: Thinking With, Through, and Beyond James Gee’s Learning Principles

Postdigital Science and Education
2024-12 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1007/s42438-024-00510-3
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja; T. Phillip Nichols; Bradley Robinson; Ibrar Bhatt; Stefan Kucharczyk; Chris Zomer; Brady Nash; Bruno Dupont; Rozane De Cock; Bieke Zaman et al.
Source: check_circle
Crossref
grade
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Postdigital Game-Based Learning: Complexity, Continuity, and Contingency

Postdigital Science and Education
2024-09-18 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1007/s42438-024-00506-z
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja
Source: check_circle
Crossref
grade
Preferred source (of 2)‎

Designing Game-Centred Curricula: A Critical Inquiry

Ludic Language Pedagogy
2024-02-01 | Journal article
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

Playful literacies and pedagogical priorities: digital games in the English classroom

English Teaching: Practice Critique
2023-11-27 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1108/etpc-01-2023-0002
Part of ISSN: 1175-8708
Part of ISSN: 1175-8708
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja; Brady L. Nash
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja
grade
Preferred source (of 3)‎

Language Arts Learning through Digital Game Stories

Language Arts
2023-11-01 | Journal article
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

Perspectives on Practice: Language Arts Learning through Digital Game Stories

Language Arts
2023-11-01 | Journal article
DOI: 10.58680/la202332686
SOURCE-WORK-ID:

1843369

Part of ISSN: 0360-9170
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja
Source: check_circle
University of Melbourne

Digital game literacies and school learning: A sociocultural perspective

Ludic Language Pedagogy
2023-03-02 | Journal article
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

Digital game literacies and school learning: A sociocultural perspective

Ludic Language Pedagogy
2023-02-22 | Journal article
DOI: 10.55853/llp_V5Art1
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja
Source: check_circle
Crossref
grade
Preferred source (of 2)‎

Correction to: Shifting landscapes of digital literacy

The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy
2022-11 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1007/s44020-022-00027-x
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja; Catherine Beavis; Annemaree O’Brien
Source: check_circle
Crossref
grade
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Critical Media Literacies and the Digital Game Classroom

Bringing Critical Media Literacy into ELA Classrooms
2022-11 | Book chapter
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

Exploring issues of quality and equity through literacy learning in the time of Covid

Teachers and Teaching
2022-11-28 | Journal article | Author
DOI: 10.1080/13540602.2022.2150160
Part of ISSN: 1354-0602
Part of ISSN: 1470-1278
Contributors: Larissa J. McLean Davies; Alexander Bacalja; Pauline Thompson; Breannon Hurn
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja
grade
Preferred source (of 3)‎

Critical Media Literacies and the Digital Game Classroom

2022-11-15 | Book chapter
SOURCE-WORK-ID:

1726143

Part of ISBN: 9780814144961
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja; William Kist; Mary Christel
Source: check_circle
University of Melbourne

Shifting landscapes of digital literacy

The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy
2022-08 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1007/s44020-022-00019-x
Part of ISSN: 1038-1562
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja; Catherine Beavis; Annemaree O’Brien
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja via Crossref Metadata Search
grade
Preferred source (of 3)‎

A Critical Review of Digital Game Literacies in the English Classroom

L1 – Educational Studies in Language and Literature
2022-07-14 | Journal article
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

Literature, Videogames and Learning

Changing English
2022-04-03 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1080/1358684X.2022.2028546
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja
Source: check_circle
Crossref
grade
Preferred source (of 2)‎

(Re)imagining ambivalent Australia: the curriculum as a tool of nation

Asia Pacific Journal of Education
2021 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1080/02188791.2021.1944057
EID:

2-s2.0-85110818329

Part of ISSN: 17426855 02188791
Contributors: Bacalja, A.; Bliss, L.; Bulfer, M.
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja via Scopus - Elsevier
grade
Preferred source (of 3)‎

Playing with digital game pedagogies

Digital Games and Language Learning
2021 | Other
DOI: 10.5040/9781350133037.ch-006
Contributors: Alex Bacalja; Kate Euphemia Clark
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja via Crossref Metadata Search
grade
Preferred source (of 2)‎

English teacher education in the time of COVID: Australian teacher educators share their experiences

ENGLISH IN AUSTRALIA
2021-12-01 | Journal article
SOURCE-WORK-ID:

1656840

Part of ISSN: 0046-208X
WOSUID:

WOS:000819482900003
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja; G Parr; K McGraw,; J Dutton; F Diamond
Source: check_circle
University of Melbourne

English teacher education in the time of COVID: Australian teacher educators share their experiences

English in Australia
2021-12-01 | Journal article
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

Dissolving the Dichotomies Between Online and Campus-Based Teaching: a Collective Response to The Manifesto for Teaching Online (Bayne et al. 2020)

Postdigital Science and Education
2021-10 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1007/s42438-021-00259-z
Part of ISSN: 2524-485X
Contributors: Alison MacKenzie; Alexander Bacalja; Devisakti Annamali; Argyro Panaretou; Prajakta Girme; Maria Cutajar; Sandra Abegglen; Marshall Evens; Fabian Neuhaus; Kylie Wilson et al.
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja via Crossref Metadata Search
grade
Preferred source (of 3)‎

Dissolving the Dichotomies Between Online and Campus-Based Teaching: a Collective Response to The Manifesto for Teaching Online (Bayne et al. 2020)

OpenAlex
2021-10-29 | Other
DOI: 10.60692/fa4sb-efn74
Contributors: Alison MacKenzie; Alexander Bacalja; Devisakti Annamali; Argyro Panaretou; Prajakta Girme; Maria Cutajar; Sandra Abegglen; Marshall Evens; Fabian Neuhaus; Kylie Wilson et al.
Source: check_circle
DataCite

Dissolving the Dichotomies Between Online and Campus-Based Teaching: a Collective Response to The Manifesto for Teaching Online (Bayne et al. 2020)

OpenAlex
2021-10-29 | Other
DOI: 10.60692/za1p3-s2511
Contributors: Alison MacKenzie; Alexander Bacalja; Devisakti Annamali; Argyro Panaretou; Prajakta Girme; Maria Cutajar; Sandra Abegglen; Marshall Evens; Fabian Neuhaus; Kylie Wilson et al.
Source: check_circle
DataCite

(Re)orientating literacy doxa in the digital age: the discursive practices of new policy actors

Pedagogy, Culture & Society
2021-10-05 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1080/14681366.2021.1983856
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja
grade
Preferred source (of 3)‎

Critical Digital Literacy

The Handbook of Critical Literacies
2021-09-08 | Book chapter
Part of ISBN: 9780367902599
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

“There’s more going on”: Critical digital game literacies and the imperative of praxis

Critical Digital Literacies: Boundary-Crossing Practices
2021-07-01 | Book chapter
DOI: 10.1163/9789004467040_010
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja
grade
Preferred source (of 2)‎

The Struggle with Cultural Consecration in English: Turning Towards Youth Literacies

Changing English
2020 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1080/1358684x.2020.1845122
Part of ISSN: 1358-684X
Contributors: Alex Bacalja
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja via Crossref Metadata Search
grade
Preferred source (of 4)‎

Playing with English: Models for a videogame curriculum

English in Aotearoa
2020-11-01 | Journal article
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

“It’s got that power over you”: Negotiating Projective Identities in the English Classroom

Game Studies: the international journal of computer game research
2020-06-22 | Journal article
SOURCE-WORK-ID:

1454120

Part of ISSN: 1604-7982
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja
Source: check_circle
University of Melbourne

What counts? Inclusion and diversity in the senior English curriculum

The Australian Educational Researcher
2020-03-14 | Journal article
DOI: 10.1007/s13384-020-00384-x
Part of ISSN: 0311-6999
Part of ISSN: 2210-5328
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja
grade
Preferred source (of 4)‎

Representing australian indigenous voices: Text selection in the senior english curriculum

English in Australia
2019 | Journal article
EID:

2-s2.0-85073801846

Part of ISSN: 01552147 0046208X
Contributors: Bacalja, A.; Bliss, L.
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja via Scopus - Elsevier

The Participatory and Collaborative Textual Practices of Fable III

Educational Tales of the Unexpected: Children and Creativity
2019-07-22 | Book chapter
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9781848882942_010
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja
grade
Preferred source (of 2)‎

Resistance and reconciliation – Negotiating videogame play and study through the lens of the English classroom

DIGRA Australia
2019-02-15 | Conference abstract
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

Representing Australian Indigenous Voices: Text Selection in the Senior English Curriculum

ENGLISH IN AUSTRALIA
2019-01-01 | Journal article
SOURCE-WORK-ID:

1418339

Part of ISSN: 0046-208X
WOSUID:

WOS:000489006400006
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja; Lauren Bliss
Source: check_circle
University of Melbourne

What videogames have to teach us (Still) about subject English

English in Australia
2018 | Journal article
EID:

2-s2.0-85063289143

Part of ISSN: 01552147 0046208X
Contributors: Bacalja, A.
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja via Scopus - Elsevier

What Videogames have to Teach Us (Still) about Subject English

ENGLISH IN AUSTRALIA
2018 | Journal article
SOURCE-WORK-ID:

1379733

Part of ISSN: 0155-2147
WOSUID:

WOS:000460205500005
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja
Source: check_circle
University of Melbourne

What Videogames have to Teach Us (Still) about Subject English

English in Australia
2018 | Journal article
ISSN: 0155-2147
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

A Report on Trends in Senior English Text-lists

The University of Melbourne
2018-11-30 | Report
DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.11412.76167
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja
grade
Preferred source (of 2)‎

What critical literacy has to offer the study of video games

Australian Journal of Language and Literacy
2018-10-01 | Journal article
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

Videogames, distinction and subject-English: new paradigms for pedagogy

2017 | Dissertation or Thesis
SOURCE-WORK-ID:

1356488
Contributors: A Bacalja; Lariss McLean Davies; Pamela MacIntyre
Source: check_circle
University of Melbourne

A critical review of digital game literacies in the English classroom

L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature
Journal article
DOI: 10.21248/l1esll.2022.22.2.370
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja via Crossref Metadata Search
grade
Preferred source (of 2)‎

Critical Digital Literacy

The Handbook of Critical Literacies
Book chapter
DOI: 10.4324/9781003023425-43
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja via Crossref Metadata Search
grade
Preferred source (of 2)‎

Shifting landscapes of digital literacy

Australian Journal of Language and Literacy
Journal article
DOI: 10.10071/s44020-022-00019-x
SOURCE-WORK-ID:

1749434

Part of ISSN: 1038-1562
WOSUID:

WOS:000843456900001
Contributors: Alexander Bacalja; Catherine Beavis; Annemaree O'Brien
Source: check_circle
University of Melbourne

Videogames, distinction and subject-English: new paradigms for pedagogy

Dissertation or Thesis
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja

What critical literacy has to offer the study of video games

The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy
Journal article
DOI: 10.1007/bf03652016
Source: Self-asserted source
Alexander Bacalja via Crossref Metadata Search
grade
Preferred source (of 2)‎
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