Literacy Project team members (from left) Rebekah Wells, Felicity Butchart-Smyth, Nicky Collins and Jade Wakeling. Photo / Supplied
Literacy Project team members (from left) Rebekah Wells, Felicity Butchart-Smyth, Nicky Collins and Jade Wakeling. Photo / Supplied
A new initiative is helping educators across the Whanganui region upskill in the teaching of literacy.
The Literacy Project was developed by Resource Teachers Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) in Cluster 25 and the Whanganui Resource Teacher of Literacy (RTLit).
Cluster 25 covers schools in Whanganui, Feilding and Ruapehu.
Its manager, Jade Wakeling, said the initiative came about as a response to requests for support of children falling behind in literacy, and a concern that a whole language approach to teaching was not effective for all students.
"The aim of the project is to align teaching practices in schools in the Whanganui region with a structured literacy approach," Wakeling said.
"The training we have undertaken as a cluster in structured literacy is really extensive but we see it as an investment in children's futures."
Structured literacy was scientifically-based and challenged older methods of reading instruction, and supported teachers to use a systematic, cumulative, explicit and diagnostic approach, Wakeling said.
Nicky Collins of Whanganui RTLit said having an understanding of the science behind how children learned to read enabled teachers to use an evidence-based approach to teaching.
It was backed by decades of data by "hundreds of literacy researchers from around the world".
The project provided support to teachers through professional learning workshops and coaching.
"You're explicitly teaching children to read words and the code of English," Collins said.
"They have to systematically learn all the letters and the sounds they make, then learn how to blend those sounds together for reading and segment them for spelling.
"That builds fluency and fluency builds comprehension."
In the "old" teaching way, when students were stuck on a word they were encouraged to read the sentence back and get more information from it, Collins said.
"It really was a guessing game."
Tawhero School literacy coach Nigel Jones said the opportunity to participate in the Literacy Project allowed the school's teachers to extend their foundational knowledge and to "drill down a little deeper".
"It will be crucial for all those on the structured literacy journey to understand that it is not a 'pick-and-mix' option," Jones said.
"Currently, there are teachers and principals who believe that we can borrow from both concepts - whole language and structured literacy - and deliver effective programmes.
"This shows a lack of knowledge. Let's hope the [Government's] five-year plan firstly addresses what it is, why it is so powerful, and why it is a game changer."
Teachers from the Cluster 25 region during a structured literacy workshop. Photo / Supplied
The RTLB Service and RTLit are Ministry of Education-funded services and support to schools is free.
The Literacy Project was first run as a pilot in 2021, with five schools taking part.
"That was really successful, and we had a huge number of schools who felt like they were missing out on this great learning experience," Wakeling said.
"Thirteen more applied [for 2022] and they have all joined us. We've taken a flexible approach and have many schools Zooming in to join us, and also lots of teachers who attend the workshops in person. This is so our rural schools can join in."
Tawhero School Principal Karleen Marshall said in the past, the trajectory for Māori achievement in literacy had been on a downward spiral.
"Structured literacy has been a game-changer in providing tamariki with an opportunity to turn that around, so the current trajectory is an upward spiral where 80 per cent of the students in our kura are at or above in their literacy achievement," Marshall said.
Teachers at Keith Street School felt empowered to meet the literacy learning needs of every student in their class, including those with the greatest needs, principal Linda Ireton said.
"Learning to read and write is now accessible to all students with the building of the foundations of reading and writing through a systematic and deliberate scope and sequence."
Ireton said she had seen a huge increase in student confidence with their learning.
"Students are able to read and write confidently with the range of skills they need at each year level," Ireton said.
"There has been an increase in student self-efficacy where they believe they are competent learners".
RTLB's Literacy Project lead Rebekah Wells said it had been incredibly rewarding working alongside teachers who were passionate about delivering an approach aimed to meet the needs of all their learners.
Workshops began by looking at the theory that underpinned structured literacy - the science of reading: a body of research that includes developmental psychology, educational psychology, cognitive science, and cognitive neuroscience.
"Teachers need that understanding of what they're teaching and why," Wells said.
"Then it built to things like phonological awareness and its importance, and the role of oral language.
"It was important not too overload them because it is a huge amount to learn and it is a journey. This isn't a 'one-and-done'."
Not all schools would adopt this new method, Collins said.
