- Thursday 11 July 2019
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Literacy development in primary schools
There has been a lot of discussion around the cause of the country’s declining literacy rates. Plenty of the focus has been placed on where it all starts—the teaching of literacy in primary schools. For example, the Education Review Office has recently reported that teachers’ lack of access to professional development is a contributing factor in primary students’ reduced interest in writing.
So, as educators, where would be the best place to start if we’d like to improve? How about looking at those who have found a working approach in improving literacy achievement?
Earlier this year, NZCER released a study which analysed six diverse primary schools that have made and sustained a positive improvement in their literacy achievement. While each of the schools who took part in this study has their own approach, the study has identified common elements they all share.
Each of these factors work together to help schools and students achieve. The following discussion explores each of these factors and real actions that schools, and individual teachers can take to improve conditions within their confines.
Building a solid foundation through a positive school culture
As you will find with any other field, improving literacy achievement in schools does not necessarily have to start with anything specifically about ‘literacy’. As described within the study, many of the interviewees start by describing other aspects of the school that they’re a part of. Things like the school’s culture, philosophy, or the positive interactions that the school fosters between staff and students. All of these sentiments are cited repeatedly.
The study goes through the type of values and factors that generate a positive school culture in more detail. But how does a positive school culture make a difference? Here are a few ways that it can manifest in a school:
- Pride in their work
Teachers who work in a school with a positive culture have an increased sense of belonging, and therefore wants to do the best they can for the benefit of the school and its students. This in turn will promote more participation in delivering a successful literacy program.
- Collaboration to achieve
Research has shown that a positive work environment fosters collaboration. As the study noted, open communications between all members of the school community results in better teamwork for great results.
- Great morale for great performance
Great morale comes from having all the factors that create a positive school culture—from clear standards of behaviour for staff and students to having great leadership that can bring everyone together. Teachers and students who are happier in the school environment will naturally produce better results.
Creating a strategic focus on literacy combined with whole-school PLD
The second common aspect between the six schools that the study has identified is fairly straightforward. Having a plan to tackle a particular issue, and providing the resources that you have with the tools required to execute said plan tends to have a positive impact. So, what are the immediate benefits of having a strategic focus?
- Set direction and priorities
Every organisation has a limited amount of resource, and having a strategic focus is a great way to set the direction on how those resources need to be used. Understanding that literacy is a priority means that the school is not pulled into too many different areas and not generating any impact.
- Get everyone on the same page
There are often silos in organisations, where different parts of the school work to achieve different goals. Setting a strategic focus will help get everyone on the same page and potentially work towards the same things.
- Simplify decision-making
With focus, comes clarity in making a call on what’s important. This will streamline the decision-making process, so that there’s less hold up in making the right decisions.
- Stating the message
Having a strategic focus is a great way to verbalise to the whole school what it is that you’re trying to achieve. Having more people in on the strategy means a higher likelihood that they do their part in getting things into motion.
Once a strategic focus has been implemented, how do you empower the school’s staff to deliver the right results? The study has identified that implementing a whole-school professional learning and development on an aspect of literacy is a key component.
Schools have found that by having a whole-school PLD, staff are encouraged and empowered to take part in the process, it creates a shared sense of progression across different year levels, and the way that the school is approaching the issue remains consistent.
Coherence of purpose where the school community works as a team towards a commonly-understood goal
As we cover the two factors above, it becomes apparent that they don’t work independently, but rather support each other to deliver the improvements in literacy for the schools. This is emphasised further in the last factor mentioned in the study, where it underlines the need for the wider school community to come together and collaborate towards achieving the goal of literacy achievement.
The element of ‘community’ and what that entails is an interesting one to dwell deeper. As one of the eight principles of the NZ curriculum, community engagement is a key part in making sure that any literacy program is successful. Looking at another report by the Ministry of Education, here are just a couple of examples of how the wider community can affect a school’s success:
- Collaboration between parents and teachers
It has been recognised that when parents and teachers work together in affecting their children’s learning, it will usually lead to a positive outcome. Parents can get involved through PT conferences or volunteering, and teachers can establish an open line of communication through parent letters and other methods.
- Connecting to students’ lives
Connecting to student’s lives improves their academic achievements. It’s a fairly straightforward premise: when students know that they have things in common with their teachers, and their teachers are interested in their lives, their perform better.
- Develop an ongoing relationship with the wider community
Coming together with the understanding that the goal of literacy achievement is important for everyone—the school, students, parents and the wider community—can only be established through ongoing work. That means communicating, accepting feedback from the community, and even implementing family and community knowledge into teaching practices.
Getting the help you need
Now that you’ve had a closer look at the common aspects that these successful schools share, it is time to start putting your plan in place and we’re right here to support you through it. Resourcing adequate quality literacy material is a key factor in advancing literacy achievement.
At R.I.C. Publications, our resources work best as supplementary items that can work with any strategy or program. From boxed sets and teacher resource books to student workbooks, we have an extensive range that can help any school. Some of our key bestsellers in literacy include:
- The Literacy box
- The Comprehension box
- Teaching Strategies for Writing
- Teaching Comprehension Strategies
- English Skills Practice
Do you have ideas for teaching and improving literacy? We’d love to read them in the comments! If you’re interested, feel free to check out the full study here to get more details.