Structured Literacy without losing the joy of reading
Erica Stanford recently announced the government’s policy to mandate a structured literacy approach to teaching reading in Aotearoa. Currently, schools can choose which approach to teaching literacy they feel best suits their students. However, 43% of NZ adults' literacy is so low they can't fully participate in everyday life (OECD Survey of Adult Skills 2014). Specialist teachers who work across a range of schools see first-hand how a disparity between school’s approaches only adds to the problem of inequality of access to foundational literacy skills - a fundamental human right.
Structured Literacy is a pedagogical approach to teaching literacy based on the science of reading. It is not a program or a sequence of lessons but it does have specific areas that need to be covered and specific ways to teach them. The term ‘Structured Literacy’ was first coined by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) to describe what dyslexic students needed in order to be successful readers.
According to the IDA, the skills taught cover:
The way that these skills are taught is diagnostically (meeting a child where they are), explicitly (no more ‘reading in the dark’), systematic and cumulative (each lesson builds on the one before), and lessons are hands-on, engaging, and multimodal (think Universal Design for Learning). Access to being able to read and write should not be left to a postcode lottery or based on whether you can afford to pay for a private tutor to fill the gaps.
Many schools have already implemented a Structured Literacy approach while other schools continue to use a Balanced Literacy approach and seem wary of the new mandate for Structured Literacy. This reluctance could be summed up by the fear of giving children ‘death by phonics’. As phonics is only one aspect of literacy education it should not take over – and teachers are understandably cautious about whether it will. In implementing a Structured Literacy approach there needs to be assurance that teachers can focus on all six pillars of literacy and not ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater’.
What to keep – ‘The baby’:
Still having an emphasis on speaking and listening – and not letting an emphasis on the ‘nuts and bolts’ of words detract from listening for the meaning.
Still reading ‘real’ books – This means children will come to enjoy a rich variety of literature and not just their set, decodable texts.
Still using ‘incidental’ teaching moments – Even if it means teaching out of sync with our given scope and sequence.
Still reading aloud to, at a level that suits their comprehension – Focusing on the joy of the story and making connections with what we already know.
Still holding on to children’s creativity – Encouraging children to write stories, even if this means they write words with sounds they haven’t learnt yet - let them have a guess or tell them that word!
Still having fun! – Making sure that we continue to offer new learning in multimodal ways with actions and songs embedded in every phonics lesson.
Still having flexible groups – ‘Meeting them where they are’ does not mean children will be streamed into fixed ‘high’/ ‘low’ reading groups - groups would be changed frequently and include a mixture of abilities.
Still respecting teacher autonomy – While having to teach the core skills for reading and writing, teachers need autonomy to think creatively about how best to deliver content, keeping in mind the needs of particular students.
Still maintaining responsive teaching – Allowing time to be flexible and respond to the innate curiosity of children, for example, not ignoring a child’s question about what ‘sap’ means, during a phonics lesson.
What can go – ‘The bathwater’:
Huge disparity between what and how a child is taught between one school and the next - Not having a consistency between different schools fuels inequality in education.
Guessing words based on context or the picture - This strategy would move to be the second or third thing that we suggest to a child, after trying to decode a word.
Teaching phonics in a non-systematic way - This would be replaced with a systematic approach starting with short vowels (such as the ‘a’ in ‘cat’) and single consonants (such as the ‘c’ and ’t’ in cat).
Teaching larger units of sound such as blends and word families - If children can effectively decode words, they don’t need this as well.
Using predictable, levelled texts for beginner readers - These books are designed to encourage guessing, have non-decodable and tricky words and, therefore, do not align with supporting early readers.
Having low expectations for some children, often those who are neurodivergent, as just not ‘getting it’ – But rather responsibility for making sure all children leave school reading and writing fluently.
In conclusion, the mandate for a Structured Literacy approach in Aotearoa presents a crucial opportunity to address literacy disparities and ensure all students receive effective literacy instruction. By retaining the joy of reading and implementing evidence-based practices, we can create a more equitable education system.
Short Bios:
Maria Wilson is a Specialist Outreach Teacher for Central Auckland Specialist School (CASS). Her work involves supporting students with complex educational needs (CEN) in mainstream schools. Previous to this role, she was a RTLB and primary school teacher both in NZ and the UK. In the UK, she taught Year 1 for several years so is no stranger to the danger of a ‘death-by-phonics’ approach! Maria is also a proud mum of a young, avid reader and is studying towards the Postgraduate Diploma in Specialist Teaching at Massey University.
Shivani Sami has been a RTLB for the last four years, previous to her role as a RTLB she was primary classroom teacher for seven years. Shivani also did a stint as a Reading Recovery teacher so has experience of teaching literacy using a Balanced Literacy approach. Shivani is also a mum and has two young children and the eldest starts school this year. Shivani is studying towards her Postgraduate Diploma in Specialist Teaching at Massey University.
References:
How the Brain Learns to Read - Prof. Stanislas Dehaene
Map of Schools in NZ using a Structured Literacy Approach
TKI Site - Universal Design for Learning
dyslexiaida.org: Structured Literacy Effective Instruction for Students with Dyslexia and Related Reading Difficulties
literacyworldwide.org: Children's Rights to Read
oecd.org: PIAAC - Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies
rnz.co.nz: Watch PM's Pre-Budget Education Announcement for Teaching Reading
gazette.education.govt.nz: A Wellington RTLB's Quest for Literacy Excellence
Further Reading:
Christine Braid has a great table at the bottom of her article ‘Treading Lightly’ that shows what we know to be true about how best to teach reading based on the latest evidence: https://tataiangitu.ac.nz/category/literacymassey/
Emily Hanford is a senior correspondent and producer for American Public Media. For the past several years, Emily has been reporting on early reading instruction. You can find all of her reporting on reading at apmreports.org/reading, including her new podcast, Sold a Story: How teaching kids to read went so wrong (soldastory.org)
https://gazette.education.govt.nz/articles/a-wellington-rtlbs-quest-for-literacy-excellence/ - A recent article in the Education Gazette around Wellington’s RTLB service supporting schools to implement a Structured Literacy approach
rtlbcluster8.ac.nz: Effective Literacy - RTLB Cluster 8 - A fantastic resource with links to free 1 hour sessions on each of the ‘big 6’ - the pillars of literacy as well as information on the Auckland based group -CAPABLE stands for a Collaboration of Auckland Practitioners Advancing Better Literacy for Everyone (one step at a time).