Memorandum submitted by the Association
of Teachers and Lecturers
SUMMARY
The national literacy strategy promotes the
idea that there is one "best" practice for teaching
reading. In the primary years, rigid interpretation of the literacy
hour has led to an emphasis on the mechanics of reading with little
opportunity for children to engage with and to enjoy books. At
key stage 3, an emphasis on interpreting texts means that there
is too little opportunity for young people to read whole novels.
Children and young people no longer see themselves as readers.
ATL believes that guidance, for teachers and for Ofsted inspectors,
must be re-written to encourage teachers to use their professional
judgement to establish the best ways of ensuring that all children
learn to read.
1. The Association of Teachers and Lecturers
(ATL) is a trade union and professional association representing
over 160,000 members, the majority of whom are practising teachers.
It also has a growing number of members who are directly involved
in education, but who are not teachers.
2. We welcome the opportunity to comment
on current guidance and policy regarding teaching children to
read. We believe that the National Literacy Strategy gives cause
for concern from the foundation stage onwards.
3. ATL's research into the reception year
(Inside the Foundation Stage: recreating the reception year, Adams
et al 2004) provides detailed evidence of the problems caused
by over-prescriptive literacy strategies for young children. The
researchers found that much literacy work emphasised the "smallest
building blocks of numeracy and literacy: initial letter sounds,
key words . . ." Many of the activities were of a "low
level of cognitive demand (in that children were being asked to
do little more than recall, label and repeat.)" (Adams et
al 2004: paragraph 8.18).
4. Our researchers found little evidence
that children were regularly given opportunities to engage with
texts as readers. These findings echo those of Browne (1998) "who
found . . . that provision for literacy learning was almost entirely
focused on isolated skill development, and that worksheets and
flashcards were to be found in abundance." (Adams et al
2004: paragraph 8.19).
5. The research shows that "Developmentally
appropriate early literacy activities were few and far between
. . . Stories and narrative, play and representation were far
less common in our sample classrooms than the teaching of isolated,
disembedded literacy and numeracy skills." (Adams et al
2004: paragraph 8.19).
6. Within the National Literacy Strategy,
the focus on reading and writing, and the consequent marginalisation
of speaking and listening has had perverse consequences in terms
of exciting children's interest in language and literature. Even
more importantly, children need to talk and to experience a rich
diet of spoken language, in order to think and learn. Reading,
writing and number may be the acknowledged curriculum "basics",
but talk is "arguably the true foundation of learning"
(Alexander 2004: 5).
7. ATL believes that foundation stage guidance
(and that for key stage 1) needs to be strengthened to ensure
that practitioners are less constrained by the (perceived or real)
prescription of the literacy strategy. Guidance needs to focus
on the role of play, of real engagement with stories, of real-life
experiences of reading, rather than the small building blocks
of literacy. The requirement for the full literacy hour to be
in place by the end of reception should be removed.
8. Many teachers feel pressured because
of their perception (and sometimes the reality) that Ofsted inspectors
will wish to see literacy hours taking place in early years (including
reception) classes. Guidance and training for inspectors must
be strengthened.
9. Many reception teachers feel pressured
because of the need to "prepare" children for literacy
hours in year 1. ATL believes that if the literacy strategy is
used in school, the literacy hour itself should not be introduced
until year 1, and that it should then be introduced gradually
through the key stage. Teachers must be supported to use their
professional judgement to establish the best ways of ensuring
that children view themselves as readers, rather than as people
who have failed at reading.
10. At Key Stage 3, ATL's research into
the literacy and numeracy strategies found that "Teachers
welcomed the emphasis on language but felt the Framework's order
of word level, sentence level and then text level proposed a misguided
approach to the learning of reading and writing" (Barnes
et al 2003:7).
11. Teachers were "unanimous in their
view that the Framework's emphasis on language was undervaluing
the literature entitlement in the national curriculum. There is
widespread regret that covering all the objectives in the time
available would exclude the reading of whole novels and teachers
would prefer to sacrifice some of the objectives rather than lose
this". (Barnes et al 2003: 7).
12. ATL believes that, in a pluralistic
society we must constantly be looking for effective practices,
rather than for a single "best" practice. As Bullock
said, "There is no one method, medium, approach, device or
philosophy that holds the key to the process of learning to read"
(DES 1975).
REFERENCES:
Adams S, Alexander E, Drummond M J, Moyles J (2004)
Inside the Foundation Stage: Recreating the Reception Year
London: Association of Teachers and Lecturers.
Alexander R (2004) Towards Dialogic Teaching:
rethinking classroom talk Cambridge: Dialogos.
Barnes A, Venkatakrishnan H, Brown M (2003) Strategy
or Straightjacket: Teachers' views on the English and mathematics
strands of the Key Stage 3 National Strategy London: Association
of Teachers and Lecturers.
DES (1975) A Language for Life London: HMSO.
December 2004
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