This system was developed in New Zealand in the 70s in order to support 6-year-olds struggling with literacy. It's been used around the world but now due to new research into how the brain works and learns, it's no longer as popular as it used to be, with less than 40% of schools now offering the programme.
There is no doubt the debate as to how to teach young kids the basics of reading has become more heated over the years, especially considering our literacy figures. A 2020 UNICEF report found over a third of our 15-year-olds did not have the basic proficiency in literacy and maths. This is one of the many reports that shows New Zealand kids are falling behind in core subjects of reading, writing, maths, and science.
So when it comes to reading, the debate has been around two different approaches to teaching reading: what we currently do now, which is whole language learning, learning through words and context, and structured literacy, a phonics-based system, where words are decoded by sounding out letters.
If you’re around my age and was at school in the seventies, then that was probably the system you use. You learned through phonics.
Even though Reading Recovery has undergone a massive overhaul recently and has, I do believe, pulled in some of the structural literacy approaches. If you talk to schools which have implemented structural literacy as their way of teaching, you will hear about positive results and how their tale of non-achieving is reducing.
It's working for slow readers as well as the one-in-five children who are neurodivergent and often have learning disabilities like dyslexia. It's 20% of our kids, so talk to those who work in this field, and they'll tell you about the success of structured literacy.
So I think it's a good thing that National plans to mandate structured literacy in primary schools and offer this as a solution to those who need extra support. There are differing views as to why Reading Recovery is dropping, why it is less popular. Potentially teacher shortages, of course, it requires one-on-one work, more children needing help, and the politicisation of Reading Recovery has influenced parents, and these are all issues which are not going to go away.
They're still going to have to be addressed, but teaching our children shouldn't be led by politics. It should be led by what is best for our children, the latest research into neuroscience and an evidence-based approach, and all that points to structured learning.
So in your eyes, is it about how we teach our children to read? Is it about access to professional support when needed, or is it about parents picking up the slack at home and participating in their children's education? Quite frankly, it's all these things.
Francesca is a well known film reviewer, writes for NZ Herald's Timeout magazine, and contributes to Jack Tame's Newstalk show. This article was first published HERE
So when it comes to reading, the debate has been around two different approaches to teaching reading: what we currently do now, which is whole language learning, learning through words and context, and structured literacy, a phonics-based system, where words are decoded by sounding out letters.
If you’re around my age and was at school in the seventies, then that was probably the system you use. You learned through phonics.
Even though Reading Recovery has undergone a massive overhaul recently and has, I do believe, pulled in some of the structural literacy approaches. If you talk to schools which have implemented structural literacy as their way of teaching, you will hear about positive results and how their tale of non-achieving is reducing.
It's working for slow readers as well as the one-in-five children who are neurodivergent and often have learning disabilities like dyslexia. It's 20% of our kids, so talk to those who work in this field, and they'll tell you about the success of structured literacy.
So I think it's a good thing that National plans to mandate structured literacy in primary schools and offer this as a solution to those who need extra support. There are differing views as to why Reading Recovery is dropping, why it is less popular. Potentially teacher shortages, of course, it requires one-on-one work, more children needing help, and the politicisation of Reading Recovery has influenced parents, and these are all issues which are not going to go away.
They're still going to have to be addressed, but teaching our children shouldn't be led by politics. It should be led by what is best for our children, the latest research into neuroscience and an evidence-based approach, and all that points to structured learning.
So in your eyes, is it about how we teach our children to read? Is it about access to professional support when needed, or is it about parents picking up the slack at home and participating in their children's education? Quite frankly, it's all these things.
Francesca is a well known film reviewer, writes for NZ Herald's Timeout magazine, and contributes to Jack Tame's Newstalk show. This article was first published HERE
4 comments:
May it be recognized the greatest tragedy in NZ literacy and hence our educational history is that. we in 1970 were tops in international ratings in reading COMPREHENSION for 15 year olds. Note these students were taught to read in the 1960s when teachers still knew a considerable amount of traditional phonics, since many of them had taught that before 1950. It was the Fraser government and Beeby who phased phonics out beginning with' Janet and John 'readers. That is when the decline very gradually began.
I have capitalized the word above because the catch-call of whole language in the 1970s was 'Reading for Meaning', as if we had never had it! It was academia who foisted this nonsense on us following predominantly American trends of Progressive ideology which insists the new must always be better.
Despite Marie Clay's blatantly dishonest research and profligate but always unfulfilled promises she became a sacred cow for 40 years with her new fangled Reading Recovery(RR)
Almost everything in RR is wrong not the least is its tremendous expense. The three -cueing and the predictable texts work against developing fluency and automatically which are the keys to comprehension. Structured literacy aka traditional phonics both aim for this. Context in phonics instruction is used to confirm you have the correct word NOT the means of discovering an unknown word.
The sooner NZ learns That we need a whole ideological change in education the better, This means judiciously selecting out what qualifies as effective in all of teaching and dumping the junk like RR. Our educational history is important as well. I consider traditional phonics and the comprehension of the past is still better than modern Structured Literacy.
We had structured group learning from day one at school. There were alphabet letters all around the top of the classroom walls and we recited the letters and sounded the phonics one by one through the 26 letters for a few minutes every day. The teacher would point at the letters with a long pointer as we went along.
It's so simple yet it's an activity that can be easily done by 5-year-olds and forms a great basis for reading.
I believe it is not PC to have the periodic table of elements any longer so maybe it's not PC to have the alphabet either?
MC
The dogged opposition to phonics is unbelievable. Pre war and after 3Rs abilties were acheived remarkable by modern standards. For reading/writing phonics was the basis. Quite apart from anything else the very limited applicatuon of the Marie Clay osmosis method to writing should have condemned it. Thephonics method is far more simple and so less demanding of teachers. And even the most simple of parents can grasp and apply.
I have seen 100s of children as young as three years old being satisfactorily taught the alphabet and the corresponding sounds and be taught to read. Stick up an alphabet poster, and learn the alphabet song as well which is the names of the letters. The sounds with the NZ pronunciation are on U tube with Yolanda Sonyl. Have the three year old match the letters to each other so they become aware of the shape. Make flash cards of family names including pets and toys to learn by sight. Once a child knows how to identify and sound out all the alphabet you then have at least 250 three letter words you can sound out and read eg dad , cut,son get,@ sit. Have the child practise writing all the letters then all the three letter words.
There are a number of sites that have free phonic books on line . One free complete infant programme is the Queensland Historical readers which were used in Queensland schools for about 50 years.
The message I wish to put across is anyone can teach their own or any child to read using phonics. Get them reading before they start school. It is so much fun and stop worrying about what the school does or doesn't do. They have in the past completely failed and many still do..'Do it yourself' is part of the NZ identity. Patience is the only requirement.
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