Reading – How to
I clearly remember someone very close to me once telling me that I think too much. Of course at the time I thought you could never think too much.
I now know what was meant. I used to ruminate (go over and over something and not come to any conclusion). Therefore I didn’t take any action because I was unsure of what I needed to do. This can be a complete waste of time.
There are thinking skills that one can learn that can lead towards effective action in whatever a person wants to achieve.
There is such a thing as analysis paralysis. I feel that literacy education is reaching or has reached that stage.
The most researched aspect of education is reading.
Because reading and writing are inter linked and are skills everyone needs in the modern economy the teaching of them is influenced by many powerful vested interests.
Politicians, media, employers, parents, policy makers and academics all seem to know how literacy teaching should be done. Many spear heading the debate have never set foot in a classroom. Teachers in schools are, like the foot soldier in an army, subjected to enormous pressure to win an unnecessary war.
Ilana Snyder an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, has written a book entitled, ‘The Literacy Wars’.
In this thoroughly researched book she sets out to explain the reasons for the often bitter disagreements between the interested factions over how literacy is taught in Australian schools.
Chapter 3 is where she discusses reading. She mentions the battle lines that have been drawn up between the two main approaches to the teaching of reading – phonics and whole language. This battle is totally unnecessary.
The latest formal literacy review here in Australia was brought about by a significant number of psychologists who blamed children’s poor reading skills on the whole-language approach. Intrinsic to their argument was the belief in scientific evidence for literacy policy and teaching. Their assumption was that in most cases where children did not learn to read it was due to ineffective teaching. It has been in my experience so in many cases but certainly not all.
I do not deny the value of an enthusiastic and knowledgable teacher in a student’s life. But literacy involves mastering the Alphabetic Principle.
It is important to listen to what the advocates of phonics are talking about. I am sure they do not have a simplistic view of the reading process. Phonics teaching has never disappeared we are told but is integrated in reading and writing activities. You can’t do either without at least some letter sound relationship knowledge.
I firmly believe that teachers are at a complete disadvantage when they do not understand the purpose of the alphabet. The Alphabetic Principle is ignored because teachers have not been taught it.
Yes! Reading is much more than phonics but without phonics one cannot read.
Professor Snyder in her book discusses phonics versus whole language the two approaches to literacy teaching.
The pertinent points she makes are as follows. These are followed by my comments.
- Learning to read is complex involving both cognitive and social dimensions. It is not as complex as all that if the material and instruction is at a child’s level of development.
- Reading is about meaning making - I thought this was obvious.
- The reality is there is no single way in which to teach children how to read and write. But there are fundamentals that must be mastered.
- Whole language philosophy was introduced to Australian schools in the 1960’s. It involved helping children to develop skills to enable them to take responsibility for their own learning. This was to happen through ‘authentic’ reading and writing. It did not ignore phonics. My experience was that when invented spelling was introduced students could no longer read their work. Neither could I. Many children had no idea that letters represent the sounds that we speak and there is a code that everyone needs to understand and use. Most children looked for guidance in their learning.
- The importance of teaching students how to think critically about what they read, see and hear. Nothing new about this. In my day it was called reading comprehension.
Successful teaching of reading and writing involves a mixture of techniques including phonics and individualised attention. Becoming literate involves a response from the learner and often a lot of focused attention. At times it isn’t fun.
In December 2005 The Teaching Reading Report was released. You can get a copy from
http://www.dest.gov.au/nitl/report.htm
“The report claimed that, according to research evidence, ‘all students learn best when teachers adopt an integrated approach to reading that explicitly teaches phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary knowledge and text comprehension. This approach, coupled with effective support from the child’s home, is critical to success.
There is nothing new here except a lot of ruminating on behalf of the report’s compilers.
The truth is there is no simple single method of teaching reading and writing. Our forefathers/mothers knew that. Why were schools established?
Literacy teaching involves a response from the student, commitment and professional knowledge from the teacher and most importantly input and support from parents.
I think schools are now battle grounds and the war is being lost.
The title of a book by Robert T. Kiyosaki, ‘If You Want to be Rich and Happy –Don’t Go to School’, has a point.
Learning to read is not difficult if you speak the language and you understand how the Alphabetic Code works.
The complexity of the texts read deepen as a student matures.
The book that has been an excellent resource for me is:
The Literacy Wars: Why Teaching Children to Read and Write is a Battleground in Australia by Ilana Snyder, Allen and Unwin, 2008. ISBN 9781 741754 24 7 (pbk.).
As parents your role in your child’s literacy development is crucial and so is the education system equally responsible.
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