tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/direct-instruction-11288/articlesDirect Instruction – The Conversation2018-03-08T03:25:19Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/913212018-03-08T03:25:19Z2018-03-08T03:25:19ZEnjoyment of reading, not mechanics of reading, can improve literacy for boys<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209220/original/file-20180306-146697-tu8lsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Even when teachers are supporting specific learning difficulties (such as dyslexia), it's important to expand boys’ repertoire of positive reading experiences.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Year 3 reading outcomes of <a href="http://www.nap.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/naplan-national-report-2017_final_04dec2017.pdf?sfvrsn=0">2017 NAPLAN</a> testing once again demonstrate a gender gap, with boys underachieving compared to girls. A focus on teaching for the test has not closed the gender gap and only reduced student motivation and <a href="http://www.uws.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/276191/High_Stakes_Testing_Literature_Review.pdf">well-being</a>.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209275/original/file-20180307-146645-b4jstu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209275/original/file-20180307-146645-b4jstu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209275/original/file-20180307-146645-b4jstu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209275/original/file-20180307-146645-b4jstu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209275/original/file-20180307-146645-b4jstu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209275/original/file-20180307-146645-b4jstu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209275/original/file-20180307-146645-b4jstu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Girls outperform boys in Year 3 reading across all states and territories.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ACARA</span></span>
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<p><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-07/naplan-call-review-after-report-reveals-no-change-in-decade/9519840">Calls for a review of NAPLAN</a> ten years on are timely. But as well as looking at how high-stakes testing is narrowing the curriculum and causing student <a href="https://au.educationhq.com/news/45994/experts-slam-naplan-call-for-federal-review/#">stress</a>, we need to consider the testing regime’s influence on boys’ attitudes towards reading. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/naplan-2017-results-have-largely-flat-lined-and-patterns-of-inequality-continue-88132">NAPLAN 2017: results have largely flat-lined, and patterns of inequality continue</a>
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<h2>Attitudes towards reading</h2>
<p><a href="https://literacytrust.org.uk/policy-and-campaigns/all-party-parliamentary-group-literacy/boys-reading-commission/">Reports</a> increasingly highlight how negative attitudes towards reading constrain experiences for some boys. In the United Kingdom, a National Literacy Trust survey of 21,000 children aged eight to 16 found boys were more likely than girls to believe someone who reads is boring and a geek. </p>
<p>This attitude is believed to be related to deep-seated cultural issues that lead many boys to believe reading is feminine and “uncool”. Reluctance to read then translates into less time reading and lower achievement. </p>
<p>There is now a call in the UK for schools to have a policy of promoting <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181204/110118.pdf">enjoyment of reading</a> rather than just a focus on effective teaching of phonics skills. </p>
<p>We have known for a long time that <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/rrq.021/abstract">positive attitudes towards reading influence boys’ engagement with reading</a>. Engagement influences practice, resulting in the <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u81/Stanovich__1986_.pdf">Matthew Effect</a> as cumulative exposure to print accelerates development of reading processes and <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5731ee0840261d67c7155483/t/576c4c4cb8a79bcb10fe8251/1466715218324/Cunningham+and+Stanovich_Early+reading+acquisition+and+its+relation+to+reading+experience+and+ability+10+years+later_1998.pdf">knowledge</a>.</p>
<p>Attitudes towards reading are not innate; they are learned predispositions in response to favourable or unfavourable experiences. In this way, a boys’ attitude towards reading develops over time as the result of beliefs about reading and, importantly, specific reading experiences. </p>
<p>In Australia, the focus on NAPLAN has changed the landscape of teaching and literacy experiences for students. </p>
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<p>As part of this change, didactic teaching of reading for NAPLAN can compound negative attitudes about the nature of reading at school. Reading is seen as a passive (feminine) endeavour associated with boring schoolwork (preparing for the test). </p>
<p>While <a href="http://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=2733">teaching phonics</a> is already embedded in good teaching practice, the introduction of the Year 1 phonics check will potentially further narrow the curriculum as teachers are pressured to teach for yet another test. This initiative could also impact on <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/literacy-wars-the-proposed-reading-test-dividing-schools-20170819-gxzu7d.html">teaching practices</a> for reading in the early years. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-phonics-and-why-is-it-important-70522">Explainer: what is phonics and why is it important?</a>
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<p>If we are interested in enhancing reading outcomes for underachieving boys, we need to foster positive attitudes towards reading that translate into practice. The change needs to be from a focus on teaching reading to helping boys become successful and satisfied readers.</p>
<h2>Enjoyment correlates with NAPLAN outcomes</h2>
<p>My recent survey of 320 Year 3 children from 14 schools in Queensland identified their self-reported enjoyment of story books, non-fiction books, magazines and comics, and self-reported reading frequency. </p>
<p>Students coloured in a box to reflect an emotive face on a Likert scale to indicate their level of enjoyment and their frequency of reading. Students’ Year 3 NAPLAN reading outcomes were also collected.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209414/original/file-20180307-146675-8dor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209414/original/file-20180307-146675-8dor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209414/original/file-20180307-146675-8dor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209414/original/file-20180307-146675-8dor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209414/original/file-20180307-146675-8dor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209414/original/file-20180307-146675-8dor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209414/original/file-20180307-146675-8dor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A Likert scale is a psychometric scale commonly used for research questionnaires to gain a rating.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Findings from the <a href="https://www.discoveringstatistics.com/">Pearson</a> test of correlation between survey variables indicated correlation between higher student NAPLAN reading scores and higher levels of enjoyment for reading story books/non-fiction books and higher reading frequency. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between reading scores and reading frequency, and reading scores and reading enjoyment.</p>
<p>Even when teachers are supporting specific learning difficulties (such as dyslexia), it’s important to expand boys’ repertoire of positive reading experiences. This requires a shift from the exclusive teaching of the mechanics of reading to teaching practices that contextualise experiences and encourage enjoyment of <a href="http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/5400/1/RR636.pdf">reading</a>. </p>
<h2>Some strategies for success for boys (and girls):</h2>
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<span class="caption">Parent mentors can help engage boys in reading.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<ol>
<li><p><strong>Expand school reading cultures.</strong> Directly challenge beliefs about reading being a feminine pursuit. Teachers can select and use texts that challenge what it means to be male and the power structures that exist in school and <a href="https://globalconversationsinliteracy.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/piazza-criticallyrdgtexts.pdf">society</a>. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Focus on the <a href="https://core.ac.uk/display/15151072">arts</a>.</strong> <a href="http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/5400/1/RR636.pdf">Include</a> artists-in-residence schemes, poetry weeks, dance sessions run by professional dancers, and drama productions that allocate lead roles to disengaged boys. Boys often enjoy working with “readers’ theatre” scripts, which allow them to feel like active participants in a story. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Leave reading choices up to students 50% of the time</strong>. Provide a wide range of texts to stimulate interest and build confidence through paired reading schemes and teacher decisions to give students space to talk about and reflect on what was enjoyable. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Promote male mentoring.</strong> Include parent-mentors and vertical mentoring with older boys mentoring younger boys in the school. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Let them talk!</strong> Boys who are reluctant readers need to have successful reading experiences. Use literature circles with mixed-ability grouping, providing boys with the support they need to focus on the “big ideas” in the story, as well as on the words and structure of the texts.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Include variety</strong>. Use interactive classroom activities fit for purpose so that both short, specific focused activities and more sustained, ongoing activities are used, as and when appropriate. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Risk-taking in teacher practice</strong>. Bring more creativity and variety. Expose students to new and novel reading experiences. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Implement teaching practices that encourage discussion.</strong> Based on <a href="http://www.philosophy4children.co.uk/home/p4c/">Philosophy for Children</a>, enhance <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0270271820030306">reading comprehension</a> as students explore different answers, examine the strengths and weaknesses for each, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-improve-naplan-scores-teach-children-philosophy-64536">critically reflect</a> on assumptions along the way. </p></li>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/research-shows-the-importance-of-parents-reading-with-children-even-after-children-can-read-82756">Research shows the importance of parents reading with children – even after children can read</a>
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<p>When the focus is on teaching for the test, direct instruction and an exclusive focus on phonics, there is a narrowing of curriculum and teaching practice. Strategies can be easily implemented in the classroom. We need to move from teaching reading for NAPLAN testing, to teaching boys to enjoy reading to ensure their success.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91321/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Scholes receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is the current recipient of a Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA). </span></em></p>Moving away from direct instruction and teaching to the test and towards making sure boys enjoy reading will improve outcomes.Laura Scholes, Research Fellow, Australian Research Council (DECRA), School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/621752016-07-08T03:23:58Z2016-07-08T03:23:58ZWhat went wrong at Aurukun School?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129778/original/image-20160708-30690-1m98ar6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students at the Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy in Aurukun.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Peter Holmes A Court</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Aurukun School in Cape York, far north Queensland, closed in May this year after <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-25/aurukun-teachers-evacuated-for-second-time/7444630">a series of violent episodes</a> directed at teaching staff. </p>
<p>The school is one of the Cape York Academy schools operating under the stewardship of prominent Indigenous leader Noel Pearson. </p>
<p>Pearson was given state and federal funding to take over the running of the Cape York schools because they weren’t doing as well as Department of Education schools. Attendance was low, behaviour poor and academic results were well below par. </p>
<p>So why not try giving the schools more autonomy to operate a curriculum that responds to local circumstances, rather than a curriculum conceived and managed from a distant and out-of-touch Brisbane or Canberra?</p>
<p>So far so good. </p>
<h2>Direct Instruction</h2>
<p>The Academy schools then imported a curriculum from even more distant Eugene, Oregon in the US. </p>
<p>It is called <a href="https://theconversation.com/direct-instruction-and-the-teaching-of-reading-29157">Direct Instruction</a>, or DI, and it costs Aurukun school close to A$2 million a year. That is a lot of Australian tax payer money going to the US developer, the <a href="http://www.nifdi.org">National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI)</a>.</p>
<p>As a consequence of this year’s turmoil, the Queensland Department of Education conducted a review of Aurukun school and <a href="http://statements.qld.gov.au/Content/MediaAttachments/2016/pdf/Review%20of%20school%20education%20in%20Aurukun.pdf">made numerous recommendations</a>, including the scaling back of DI in the school. </p>
<p>A close reading of the review reveals the many ways in which DI has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/may/27/aurukun-imported-syllabus-partly-to-blame-for-school-closure-says-former-principal">a failed experiment</a> in Aurukun. </p>
<h2>Learning English is not a learning disability</h2>
<p>Direct Instruction is a teaching methodology developed for English speaking children with cognitive dysfunctions that inhibit their capacity to process language.</p>
<p>The children in Aurukun do not have learning disabilities, they are simply learning English as an additional language.</p>
<p>They speak Wik as their first language. Many also speak additional dialects or creoles in their daily lives. <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-kill-languages-and-fail-our-cleverest-children-29137">These children are linguistically proficient</a>, and their language processing capabilities are superior to the majority monolingual English speaking population of Australia. </p>
<p>DI is, quite simply, the wrong intervention for the children of Aurukun. </p>
<h2>What matters more - the teacher or the program?</h2>
<p>A key rationale for implementing DI was to counter the high teacher attrition rates in remote indigenous communities like Aurukun. The program would be constant, even if the teachers weren’t. </p>
<p>DI is fully scripted, and teachers must not diverge from the script. Neither the lesson planning nor the assessment is conducted by the teachers. The program’s selling point is that it “teacher proofs” the curriculum. </p>
<p>Anybody can deliver the script on any given day because it is the program that does the teaching, not the teacher. The data from each week’s teaching is sent to Cairns where it is number crunched by National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) personnel and students are promoted or demoted based on that analysis. </p>
<p>Teachers are completely removed from the learning equation. </p>
<p>It is fortunate, then, that DI is designed to be impervious to high teacher turnover because teacher retention at Aurukun is about 64% compared to 90% in the rest of the state, and teacher morale has dropped from 94% to 40% over the past four years.</p>
<h2>As long as it gets results</h2>
<p>All the criticisms of DI would fade to grey if the results were good, but they are not. </p>
<p>The school’s national literacy and numeracy results (NAPLAN) remain well below the national benchmarks on every measure of reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. </p>
<p>Very modest in-school improvements have been recorded in some areas. However the sample size for those results renders them invalid. The school has one of the lowest NAPLAN participation rates in the state - only 14 of the 28 children in Year 3 sat the test in 2015. And the Department’s report implies that they might have been the “good” students.</p>
<p>For the past five years, every school day, from 8.30am to 2.30pm, has been entirely devoted to teaching literacy and numeracy through the DI program. </p>
<p>But the results indicate an extraordinarily poor return on money and time invested. </p>
<h2>Engagement is key</h2>
<p>DI program material is patriotically North American. It is far removed from the day to day lives of the children of Cape York, or any Australian child. As one teacher told <a href="http://statements.qld.gov.au/Content/MediaAttachments/2016/pdf/Review%20of%20school%20education%20in%20Aurukun.pdf">the review</a>:</p>
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<p>“They learn about July 4 Thanksgiving and the stories they listen to are about American states. The kids know more about American states than Australian.” </p>
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<p>No other curriculum work is done. There is no hands-on solving of mathematical problems, or reading of authentic literature. No exploration of Australian history, or science concepts, and certainly no 21st-century curriculum innovations like coding.</p>
<p>It’s an old, white, American curriculum. No wonder only 50% of the kids turn up for class, and are poorly behaved when they do.</p>
<h2>Direct Instruction versus explicit instruction</h2>
<p>Direct Instruction is <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-28/tony-abbott-didnt-do-homework-on-remote-school/6731542">not to be confused</a> with the educational principle of <a href="https://theconversation.com/ignore-the-fads-teachers-should-teach-and-students-should-listen-39634">explicit teaching</a>. DI is the copyright name of a commercial program. </p>
<p>The children of Aurukun do need explicit teaching, <a href="https://theconversation.com/lost-for-words-why-the-best-literacy-approaches-are-not-reaching-the-classroom-19561">as do most children</a>. </p>
<p>They need to be shown how English works because it is not their first language, and because proficiency in English is crucial to success in Australian society. </p>
<p>They need to be taught by English language specialists who can develop a program that explicitly teaches how the English language works through engaging the children with their local environment, reading real books and nurturing their existing multilingual proficiency. </p>
<h2>A lesson learned?</h2>
<p>What has happened in Aurukun is a lesson. </p>
<p>This is what happens when you out-source education to commercial interests.</p>
<p>This is what happens when you think it is easier and cheaper to buy a program than invest in teacher professional development. </p>
<p>This is what happens when you take a remedy for a specific learning difficulty and apply it to children who don’t have that difficulty.</p>
<p>Let’s hope it’s a lesson well learned.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62175/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<h4 class="border">Disclosure</h4><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Misty Adoniou works for the University of Canberra. She has received funding from government sources to research refugee education, literacy teaching and teacher standards. She is on the Board of Directors of TESOL International, an affiliation of over 100 professional teachers associations. </span></em></p>The lesson to be learned from Aurukun is around the impact of out-sourcing education to commercial interests.Misty Adoniou, Associate Professor in Language, Literacy and TESL, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/396342015-04-08T20:06:08Z2015-04-08T20:06:08ZIgnore the fads: teachers should teach and students should listen<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76756/original/image-20150401-21726-2c3w70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There's no use pretending the teacher doesn't have more knowledge than everyone else in the room; this is the way it should be. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When imagining a teacher at work there’s a good chance you picture someone standing at the front of a classroom, explaining concepts and asking questions. Add to this students independently applying the concepts with some corrective feedback from the teacher and you have a form of teaching known as “explicit instruction”.</p>
<h2>What is explicit instruction?</h2>
<p>It’s as old as the hills and pretty effective; so much so that the New South Wales government’s Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE) <a href="http://www.cese.nsw.gov.au/images/stories/PDF/what_works_best.pdf">recently published a report</a> that stresses explicit teaching as one of its seven evidence-based themes.</p>
<p>You may have heard of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/direct-instruction-and-the-teaching-of-reading-29157">Direct Instruction initiative in Cape York</a> that is being promoted by Noel Pearson. This is a specific form of explicit teaching where lessons are scripted and a clear progression through concepts is mapped out in accordance with the ideas of the American educationalist <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/controversial-teaching-method-brings-hope-and-social-change-to-cape-york/story-fn9hm1pm-1226639388060">Siegfried Engelmann</a>. Although it is too early to say how the program is going in Cape York, Engelmann’s ideas have demonstrated great potential in the US, notably through the huge <a href="http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/%7Eadiep/ft/adams.htm">“Follow Through” project of the 1960s and 1970s</a>.</p>
<p>There is a large body of evidence for explicit teaching more generally. <a href="http://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Rosenshine.pdf">Different types of research</a> examining a range of learning goals support the basic principles. But not all explicit instruction is equally effective.</p>
<p>You might therefore imagine that researchers would be working on ways to fine-tune it. What makes a good explanation? How should concepts be sequenced? How can we ensure students are thinking about the key ideas? What’s the right balance between abstract concepts and concrete examples?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, explicit instruction is unfashionable. While accepting that it has a role to play, educationalists often seem ambivalent towards it, sometimes describing explicit approaches using pejorative terms such as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/biggest-loser-policy-on-literacy-will-not-deliver-long-term-gains-28649">drilling</a>”.</p>
<p>The key principle behind explicit instruction is that the teacher fully explains ideas and concepts. In this sense, its opposite is something that is often called “inquiry learning” where students are asked to pose questions and find out things for themselves. In such programs, teachers are seen as co-learners rather than subject-matter authorities.</p>
<p>There is little evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of inquiry learning for learning new concepts (although it can be effective for those who are <a href="http://www.davidlewisphd.com/courses/EDD8121/readings/2003-Kalyuga_et_al.pdf">more expert</a> in a subject). </p>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s1532690xci0201_3#.VRoeZ_mUd7E">When tested in controlled experiments</a>, features characteristic of inquiry learning such as problem-solving are shown to be less effective than features characteristic of explicit instruction such as the use of worked examples. And a number of attempts to introduce programs similar to inquiry learning have <a href="http://apps.fischlerschool.nova.edu/toolbox/instructionalproducts/8001/EDD8001/SUM12/2004-Mayer.pdf">met with very little success</a> over the past 50 years.</p>
<h2>Why is explicit instruction daggy?</h2>
<p>Despite this, inquiry learning is very much in vogue. Teacher education courses run units on it even though you would struggle to find equivalent units on explicit instruction. A recent report from the OECD on <a href="http://istp2015.org/Documents/ISTP2015_OECD-background-report.pdf">“Schools for 21st-Century Learners”</a> has a whole section on inquiry learning while mentioning explicit instruction only in passing. </p>
<p>New science VCE courses in Victoria have focused on incorporating inquiry learning and will require evidence that it has taken place. <a href="http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/physics/PhysicsSD-2016.pdf">The physics VCE study design</a> explains that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In VCE Physics students develop a range of inquiry skills involving practical experimentation and research, analytical skills including critical and creative thinking, and communication skills.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As the OECD report also suggests, the evidence in favour of inquiry learning may be lacking but it is assumed to be superior in preparing students for the 21st century by developing ill-defined skills such as critical thinking or creativity.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the evidence suggests that such skills are <a href="http://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Crit_Thinking.pdf">highly dependent upon knowing a lot about the subject</a>: if you want to think critically about physics, then first learn a lot of physics.</p>
<p>There may also be philosophical reasons that educationalists choose to privilege inquiry methods over explicit instruction. There is a tradition of questioning teacher-led approaches to education that is at least 200 years old.</p>
<p>Philosophers of education such as John Dewey and Paolo Freire have criticised the notion that a teacher’s role is to impart knowledge. Freire called it the “<a href="https://libcom.org/files/FreirePedagogyoftheOppressed.pdf">banking model</a>” and found that it did not fit his revolutionary principles. Others believe it to be inimical to the spirit of democracy. How can students grow up to ask questions if we expect them to defer to a teacher’s authority in the classroom?</p>
<p>This argument fails on two counts. Firstly, teachers really should know more than their students, so why pretend otherwise? Secondly, it fails to recognise the compassionate and empathetic ways in which contemporary teachers structure explicit instruction in the classroom, providing plenty of time for students to be heard.</p>
<p>Clearly, there are instances where we might choose to use varied approaches to learning for a wide variety of reasons. I am all in favour of balance. Sometimes, we may be seeking to build motivation. At other times, we may simply wish to mix things up a bit. </p>
<p>However, an unbalanced focus on inquiry learning that sidelines the proven practice of explicit instruction should be a matter of serious concern.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/39634/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Greg Ashman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Explicit instruction - where the teacher stands at the front of the class and teaches - is out of vogue with educators who prefer collaborative learning. But it’s really the only teaching style with proven results.Greg Ashman, Experienced teacher and PhD candidate in instructional design, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/344782014-11-23T19:13:22Z2014-11-23T19:13:22Z‘Chalk and talk’ teaching might be the best way after all<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65041/original/image-20141119-31615-1xg7wh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New age ways of teaching where the children guide their learning rather than the teacher are perhaps not as effective.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=110589902&size=medium&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQxNjQ2ODY4MywiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTEwNTg5OTAyIiwicCI6InYxfDEwMTI3NTg4fDExMDU4OTkwMiIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xMTA1ODk5MDIvbWVkaXVtLmpwZyIsIm0iOiIxIiwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCJFSisvTjkydzZSUC9oa09kUTQ0ejRpbjVMdnMiXQ%2Fshutterstock_110589902.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=redownload_standard&license=standard&src=LDRKA_D1-vX1xQYBwVLM0w-2-72">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Seventy teachers from the UK were sent to Shanghai to study classroom methods to investigate why Chinese students perform so well. Upon their return, the teachers reported that <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2836240/Minister-tells-schools-copy-China-ditch-trendy-teaching-chalk-talk-Teachers-speaking-class-effective-independent-learning.html">much of China’s success came from teaching methods</a> the UK has been moving away from for the past 40 years.</p>
<p>The Chinese favour a “chalk and talk” approach, whereas countries such as the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand have been moving away from this direct form of teaching to a more collaborative form of learning where students take greater control. </p>
<p>Given China’s success in international tests such as <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/">PISA</a>, <a href="http://timss.bc.edu/">TIMSS and PIRLS</a>, it seems we have been misguided in abandoning the traditional, teacher-directed method of learning where the teacher spends more time standing at the front of the class, directing learning and controlling classroom activities.</p>
<h2>Direct instruction vs inquiry learning</h2>
<p>Debates about direct instruction versus inquiry learning have been ongoing <a href="http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/631">for many years</a>. Traditionally, classrooms have been organised with children sitting in rows with the teacher at the front of the room, directing learning and ensuring a disciplined classroom environment. This is known as direct instruction. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65151/original/image-20141121-4469-toe4e1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65151/original/image-20141121-4469-toe4e1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65151/original/image-20141121-4469-toe4e1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65151/original/image-20141121-4469-toe4e1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65151/original/image-20141121-4469-toe4e1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65151/original/image-20141121-4469-toe4e1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65151/original/image-20141121-4469-toe4e1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65151/original/image-20141121-4469-toe4e1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Direct instruction is the traditional way of teaching - where a teacher stands at the front of the class and directs the learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Beginning in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, teachers began to experiment with more innovative and experimental styles of teaching. These included basing learning on children’s interests, giving them more control over what happened in the classroom and getting rid of memorising times tables and doing mental arithmetic. This approach is known as inquiry or discovery learning.</p>
<p>Based on <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2836240/Minister-tells-schools-copy-China-ditch-trendy-teaching-chalk-talk-Teachers-speaking-class-effective-independent-learning.html">this recent study of classrooms in the UK and China</a> and a recent UK report titled <a href="http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/great-teaching/">What makes great teaching?</a>, there is increasing evidence that these new-age education techniques, where teachers facilitate instead of teach and praise students on the basis that all must be winners, in open classrooms where what children learn is based on their immediate interests, lead to under-performance.</p>
<p>The UK report concludes that many of the approaches adopted in Australian education are counterproductive:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Enthusiasm for discovery learning is not supported by research evidence, which broadly favours direct instruction.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Especially during the early primary school years in areas like English and mathematics, teachers need to be explicit about what they teach and make better use of whole-class teaching.</p>
<p>As noted by John Sweller, a cognitive psychologist from the University of New South Wales in the recent <a href="http://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/review-australian-curriculum">Final Report of the Review of the Australian National Curriculum</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Initial instruction when dealing with new information should be explicit and direct.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Many in Australian education believe children are only really learning when they are active. As a result, teachers are told it is wrong to sit children at their desks and ask them to listen to what is being taught.</p>
<p>Again, the evidence proves otherwise. <a href="http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/great-teaching/">The UK report suggests</a> that even when sitting and listening children are internalising what is being taught. Learning can occur whether they are “active” or “passive”.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65152/original/image-20141121-4481-elfsfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65152/original/image-20141121-4481-elfsfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65152/original/image-20141121-4481-elfsfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65152/original/image-20141121-4481-elfsfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65152/original/image-20141121-4481-elfsfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65152/original/image-20141121-4481-elfsfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65152/original/image-20141121-4481-elfsfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65152/original/image-20141121-4481-elfsfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New teaching methods involve discussions and enquiries rather than just telling.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/115089924@N02/12212474014/">Flickr/Ilmicrofono Oggiono</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Often derided as “drill and kill” or making children “parrot” what is being taught, the <a href="http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/great-teaching/">UK report</a> and <a href="http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic951140.files/whyMinGuidInstructionDoesNotWork-kirschnerSwellerKlark2006.pdf">other research</a> suggests that memorisation and rote learning are important classroom strategies, which all teachers should be familiar with.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/great-teaching/">UK report</a> states that teachers need to “encourage re-reading and highlighting to memorise key ideas”, while <a href="http://www.joannejacobs.com/tag/automaticity/">research in how children best learn</a> concludes that some things, such as times tables and reciting rhymes, ballads and poems, must be memorised until they can be recalled automatically.</p>
<h2>Trying to cater to everyone has no effect</h2>
<p>One of the education fads prevalent across Australian classrooms, and classrooms in most of the English-speaking world, involves the concept that all children have different levels of intelligence and their own unique learning styles. (For example, some children learn best by looking at pictures, by being physically active, by hands-on, tactile learning or by simply reading the printed page.)</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/great-teaching/">UK report</a> concludes such a teaching and learning strategy is misplaced:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The psychological evidence is clear that there are no benefits for learning from trying to present information to learners in their preferred learning style.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Instead of taking the time, energy and resources to customise what is being taught to the supposed individual learning styles of every child in the classroom, it is more effective to employ more explicit teaching strategies and to spend additional time monitoring and intervening where necessary.</p>
<h2>Lavish praise does no-one any good</h2>
<p>One of the prevailing education orthodoxies for many years is that students must be continually praised and that there is no room for failure. The times when “4 out of 10” or an “E” meant fail are long gone. Supposedly, telling children they are not good enough hurts their self-esteem.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/great-teaching/">UK report</a> says that, while praising students might appear affirming and positive, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>the wrong kinds of praise can be very harmful to learning.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Overly praising students, especially those who under-perform, is especially counterproductive. It conveys the message that teachers have low expectations and reinforces the belief that near enough is good enough, instead of aiming high and expecting strong results.</p>
<h2>There’s not just one way to teach</h2>
<p>To argue that some teaching and learning strategies are ineffective does not mean that there is only one correct way to teach. While research suggests some practices are more effective than others, it also needs to be realised that teaching is a complex business. Teachers need various strategies.</p>
<p>In the early years of primary school, children need to memorise things like times tables and poems and ballads so that they can be recalled easily and automatically. Education is also about curiosity and innovation and there will be other times when rote learning will be unsuitable – for example, when students explore a topic that excites them and where they undertake their own research and analysis.</p>
<p>Depending on what is being taught, what has gone before and what is yet to come, whether students are well versed in a particular area of learning or are novices, and even the time of day, teachers must adapt their teaching to the situation and be flexible.</p>
<p>The problem arises when teachers and teacher education academics privilege one particular approach to the detriment of all others.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34478/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Kevin Donnelly was recently commissioned by the Commonwealth Government to review the Australian national curriculum.</span></em></p>Seventy teachers from the UK were sent to Shanghai to study classroom methods to investigate why Chinese students perform so well. Upon their return, the teachers reported that much of China’s success…Kevin Donnelly, Senior Research Fellow - School of Education, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/291572014-07-17T19:58:34Z2014-07-17T19:58:34ZDirect Instruction and the teaching of reading<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53976/original/8zqbrqkh-1405492271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">We keep hearing about "Direct Instruction" but what does it actually mean?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/5484879">Flickr/Judy Baxter</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Prominent Indigenous Australian <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/controversial-teaching-method-brings-hope-and-social-change-to-cape-york/story-fn9hm1pm-1226639388060">Noel Pearson</a> is promoting <a href="https://theconversation.com/biggest-loser-policy-on-literacy-will-not-deliver-long-term-gains-28649">Direct Instruction in Cape York schools</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/chrissarra/status/64158695491252224">prominent educationalists</a> have dismissed it as “pedagogy for the poor”, and Education Minister <a href="http://www.pyneonline.com.au/media/transcripts/press-conference-james-cook-university">Christopher Pyne</a> has just found $22 million to extend it to other remote schools. But what is Direct Instruction and what has it got to do with good reading teaching?</p>
<h2>The Direct Instruction method</h2>
<p>Direct Instruction is a teaching method developed in the United States in the 1960s, focused particularly on the needs of children with learning difficulties. Building on behaviourist learning theory, Direct Instruction breaks each learning task down into its smallest component and requires mastery of simpler skills before proceeding to more difficult skills. Students are grouped according to their achievement, teachers are provided with closely scripted lesson plans, students respond to the teacher orally and as a group, and the group does not move on until everyone understands the material.</p>
<p>Direct Instruction is a family of approaches, rather than a single approach. What is being trialled in the Cape is a particularly pure form of Direct Instruction, based directly on the work of its originators Englemann and Becker. Other similar and successful approaches have been comprehensive school reform programs such as <a href="http://www.successforall.org/Elementary/Research/">Success for All</a> in the United States and effective remedial reading programs such as <a href="http://www.multilit.com/research/">MultiLit</a> in Australia.</p>
<p>Education researcher <a href="http://visible-learning.org/hattie-ranking-influences-effect-sizes-learning-achievement/hattie-ranking-teaching-effects/">John Hattie’s</a> comprehensive meta-analysis of curriculum reforms rates Direct Instruction among the most effective teaching strategies. Direct Instruction reading programs, however, are nested: Direct Instruction is the approach and reading is the content.</p>
<p>In addition to the Direct Instruction approach of ability grouping, scripting, mastery learning and stimulus response teaching, these programs often include characteristics associated with the “gold standard” for effective reading teaching: relentless attention to the component skills required for understanding the letter-sound relationships in written text, and reinforcement of these components in the context of book reading.</p>
<h2>The gold standard</h2>
<p>The teaching of reading is probably the most researched topic in education. The gold standard consensus, articulated by the US <a href="http://www.nichd.nih.gov/research/supported/Pages/nrp.aspx/">National Reading Panel</a> and supported by the Australian <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/tll_misc/5/">Rowe Review</a>, is that the key components of effective reading teaching are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Phonemic awareness is the capacity to break words down into sound units (phonemes): H/A/T; SH/I/P. Some children learn this before they go to school from book reading with parents and from playing rhyming games. Those who don’t already know this need to practise segmenting words into sounds and identifying rhyming patterns in words.</p></li>
<li><p>Phonics is knowledge about matching these sounds to letters: how graphemes (letters and letter combinations) represent phonemes. This allows readers to decode new written words by sounding out the phonemes rather than memorising whole words. </p></li>
<li><p>Fluency is the capacity to read unfamiliar texts quickly, accurately and automatically. This is often developed by guided oral reading, repeated reading aloud with feedback and guidance from teachers, peers or parents. </p></li>
<li><p>Vocabulary development is essential to skilled reading. It can be taught directly, by introducing and defining new words, as well indirectly by teaching word-learning strategies such as word roots, dictionary use and context clues.</p></li>
<li><p>Comprehension is the goal of reading teaching. It involves making meaning by connecting what the reader already knows with what has been read, using strategies such as answering questions, generating questions and summarising.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Direct Instruction and the gold standard</h2>
<p>Reading programs that deal effectively with all five of the essential components, teaching both skills for decoding (phonemic awareness and phonics) and for reading in context (fluency, vocabulary and comprehension), are likely to be effective in teaching young children to read. What makes Direct Instruction programs incorporating these components attractive is the relative lack of variability in teaching quality that they promise. Rather than requiring a teacher to have the knowledge and wisdom to produce their own individual gold standard program, teachers are trained to follow a published program.</p>
<p>This promise of reduced variability is particularly attractive in schools that have many inexperienced teachers and high levels of teacher transiency. Perhaps that is why <a href="http://www.education.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/36205/Indigenous-Education-Review_DRAFT.pdf">Bruce Wilson’s</a> review of Indigenous education in the Northern Territory has recommended that the use of structured skills-based literacy programs be mandated. Although he has stopped short of recommending universal Direct Instruction in bush schools, he has recommended either Direct Instruction or explicit programs such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jolly_Phonics">Jolly Phonics</a> (where students learn the sounds used in English rather than the letters of the alphabet) or Crack the Code to teach phonics and phonemic awareness.</p>
<h2>What’s not to like?</h2>
<p>Critics of Direct Instruction are concerned about what is lost on the way. Leading Indigenous educator <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/leading-indigenous-educator-chris-sarra-slams-teaching-approach-used-in-772m-cape-york-trial/story-e6freoof-1226490937841?nk=2993794470ec5ee29fcc003e560be8b1">Chris Sarra</a>, chair of the <a href="http://strongersmarter.com.au/">Stronger Smarter Institute</a>, has dismissed Direct Instruction as a remedial program that takes out the human connection between children and teachers and doesn’t allow teachers to be exceptional.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?tag=direct-instruction">Alan Luke</a>, a leading Australian literacy researcher, acknowledges the impact that Direct Instruction has on students’ basic skills test scores, but argues that it is not a complete solution. The scripted lessons leave no space for local cultural knowledge or community contexts and prevent teachers from responding to differences among students or in their learning contexts. </p>
<p>In the Cape, however, it is too soon to tell whether the shift to Direct Instruction will fulfil its promise of better test scores. In the recent evaluation by the <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/indigenous_education/36/">Australian Council for Educational Research</a>, school and community members reported that Direct Instruction was having a positive impact on student outcomes, but the researchers were not yet able to say whether or not the initiative has had an impact on student learning.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29157/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bill Louden was a member of the Rowe Review into the teaching of reading in Australia.</span></em></p>Prominent Indigenous Australian Noel Pearson is promoting Direct Instruction in Cape York schools, prominent educationalists have dismissed it as “pedagogy for the poor”, and Education Minister Christopher…Bill Louden, Emeritus Professor of Education, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/290922014-07-14T20:11:41Z2014-07-14T20:11:41ZIndigenous literacy needs more than ‘sounding out’ words<p>Closing the gap in Indigenous literacy is a problem without a simple solution. But it can be done. <a href="https://theconversation.com/biggest-loser-policy-on-literacy-will-not-deliver-long-term-gains-28649">As I’ve argued previously</a>, we need to give up the search for a one-size-fits-all approach and adopt a range of strategies, such as:</p>
<p>• investing in a rich and diverse <a href="https://theconversation.com/pyne-misses-the-point-in-education-reform-26233">public education</a> system,</p>
<p>• developing <a href="https://theconversation.com/closing-the-gap-on-indigenous-literacy-requires-more-than-increased-attendance-23142">lasting partnerships</a> between schools, governments and families, and</p>
<p>• addressing disadvantage and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-poor-kids-continue-to-do-poorly-in-the-education-game-23500">educational inequity</a> so that all kids have access to a high-quality education.</p>
<p>This multi-strategy approach is hardly controversial. But in a recent article in <a href="https://theconversation.com/biggest-loser-policy-on-literacy-will-not-deliver-long-term-gains-28649">The Conversation</a> I also raised the question of whether our goals in Indigenous literacy need to be broadened. </p>
<p>Will our education focus have better impact if broader and more culturally-relevant perspectives are given to our teaching strategies? With English no longer being the primary language spoken in many Australian households, how appropriate is it to expect our future generations to be taught literacy using a narrowly conceived formula? How relevant is performance in narrowly conceived English tests to a student who speaks three or four languages?</p>
<p>Somehow my thinking has been misinterpreted to imply that I have called for an end to English lessons for Indigenous students. Indeed, over the course of last week, The Australian published no fewer than four pieces (<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/aboriginal-leaders-reject-call-to-halt-english-lessons/story-e6frgcjx-1226983513389#">here</a>, <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/ophinion/editorials/shameful-stupidity-in-academe/story-e6frg71x-1226983461909">here</a>, <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/letting-kids-set-the-standard-is-far-more-likely-to-hinder-than-help/story-e6frg6zo-1226984858614#">here</a> and <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/remote-kids-need-english-to-prosper/story-fn59nlz9-1226984855832#">here</a>) criticising me for things I never actually said. The accusations included claims that I object to improving remote Aboriginal children’s literacy, that I think “Aborigines should be idle and isolated, unable to work in the market economy” and that English lessons for Indigenous students should halt. An <a href="http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/07/11/rundle-anatomy-of-a-beat-up-on-aboriginal-literacy/">analysis</a> of the campaign of misrepresentation was published in Crikey.</p>
<h2>Closing the Gap in literacy</h2>
<p>As I’ve been so misunderstood, it seems important to clarify what I did say, and the strategies that I advocate.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.acer.edu.au/">The Australian Council for Education Research</a> in a <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=policy_analysis_misc">2013 report</a> on literacy learning in the early years made it clear that </p>
<blockquote>
<p>the educational and cultural contexts in which students learn to be literate must be considered in planning for effective teaching and learning.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Arguing that we should have identical teaching materials, curriculum and strategies for all kids in all schools ignores the importance of community, cultural and other contextual factors that impact on learning. We should be cautious of any curriculum or pedagogical approach that limits teaching and learning to lock-step skilling and drilling. </p>
<p>Engaging <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/parent-involvement-in-learning-not-just-fundraising-improves-childrens-achievements-20140526-zro9z.html">parents</a> in the learning of their children is also important. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2014/06/19/peds.2014-1384">American Academy of Pediatrics</a> states that reading to young children has multiple benefits. Home reading programs and other strategies such as outreach, family resource libraries, parent education on reading and writing all contribute to <a href="http://www.aracy.org.au/publications-resources/command/download_file/id/7/filename/Parental_engagement_in_learning_and_schooling_Lessons_from_research_BUREAU_ARACY_August_2012.pdf">increased</a> learning outcomes for children.</p>
<p>Yet too often the debate about how to best teach young children to read is reduced to a simple binary: phonics versus whole language. This reductive approach ignores the weight of evidence to show that both are essential for mastery of written language.</p>
<p>Allan Luke, an Emeritus Professor from the Queensland University of Technology, recently <a href="http://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=439">called for</a> </p>
<blockquote>
<p>a much broader conception and development of the scope and sequence of the literacy curriculum, and an understanding of where, how, all of the ‘language arts’ of oral comprehension, spoken language proficiency, spelling and orthography, writing and genre, and new multiliteracies fit together.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Reading requires the sustained mastery of a repertoire of practices. Decoding strategies, which are the focus of phonics-based approaches, are necessary but not sufficient for understanding.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au">Australian Curriculum</a> has a clear emphasis on literacy skills and the basics of reading. Content to be taught in the early years includes phonics, spelling, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary and comprehension as well as a focus on engaging with literature.</p>
<p>Phonics programs such as <a href="http://www.getreadingright.com.au/literacy-strand-of-australian-national-curriculum">Get Reading Right</a> clearly show the strong phonics emphasis in the early years curriculum. </p>
<p>Critics claiming that the curriculum has been sabotaged by whole language at the expense of the technical aspects of language acquisition are, quite simply, wrong.</p>
<p>While phonemic awareness, blending and alphabetic code breaking are important for mastering the technicalities of language, these are only a small part of the mastery of language that students need. One worrying concern is that students who learn to read through prescribed approaches might be capable at decoding strategies such as “sounding out” words yet lack the contextual and semantic knowledge that would help them to understand what they are reading.</p>
<h2>Literacy is about more than reading words on the page</h2>
<p>What then, is reading? Prominent children’s author Mem Fox <a href="http://memfox.com/for-parents/for-parents-the-folly-of-jolly-old-phonics/">explains</a> reading as </p>
<blockquote>
<p>making meaning, not sound, from the marks we see on the page.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While decoding is important, students also need to develop knowledge of semantics and contextual understanding. Grammar, genre and visual literacy are also important. </p>
<p>This is reflected in the definitions of literacy provided by the <a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001362/136246e.pdf">United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation</a> and the NSW <a href="https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/curriculum/schools/literacy/PD20050288.shtml?query=literacy+policy">Education Department</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.acara.edu.au/default.asp">The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority</a> states that literacy <a href="http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/General%20capabilities.pdf">includes</a> </p>
<blockquote>
<p>the knowledge and skills students need to access, understand, analyse and evaluate information, make meaning, express thoughts and emotions, present ideas and opinions, interact with others and participate in activities at school and in their lives beyond school.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>All of these organisations support a broad view of literacy, one that goes beyond reading words on the page. Critical literacy is also vitally important for our students, where reading moves from reading the “word” to reading the “world”. </p>
<h2>Engaging students in other ways</h2>
<p>My research has been looking at the <a href="http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-04846-8_14">connections</a> between music and literacy. Music is a powerful tool for social communication and has multiple links to language acquisition. </p>
<p>One example of using music as a way to Close the Gap is through the work of <a href="http://www.songroom.org.au/">The Song Room</a> who are working with schools such as <a href="http://www.federationstory.com/the-song-room/">Yipirinya School</a> in Alice Springs. Improved literacy results, attendance, motivation and engagement are some of the <a href="http://www.moremusictoolkit.org.au/parental-engagement/programs-and-approaches/161-the-song-room">outcomes</a>.</p>
<p>Another example is a project I am working on with a remote Aboriginal community school in Western Australia’s Kimberley region where we’re looking at how music works as a “connector” between curriculum, community and culture. The students engage in a wide range of reading activities, involving the use of songs, poems, rhythm and movement. The community have music evenings, where students get to showcase their latest work and celebrate their learning.</p>
<p>While I am not claiming that such programs are a panacea for increasing literacy levels for children in remote communities, there is a clear case to be made for looking beyond one-size-fits-all approaches that teach and test a narrow definition of literacy. </p>
<p>Furthermore, <a href="http://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=439">Professor Luke</a> says</p>
<blockquote>
<p>turning the education of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students will require school-level curriculum planning, ongoing analyses of student progress, a focus on quality teaching and intercultural relationships between students and teachers, and a substantive engagement with elders, parents and communities.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What we do know is that students learn best when they are highly engaged, deeply involved and in control of their own inquiries, regardless of where they live.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29092/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stewart Riddle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Closing the gap in Indigenous literacy is a problem without a simple solution. But it can be done. As I’ve argued previously, we need to give up the search for a one-size-fits-all approach and adopt a…Stewart Riddle, Lecturer in Literacies Education, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/286492014-07-01T19:12:32Z2014-07-01T19:12:32Z‘Biggest Loser’ policy on literacy will not deliver long-term gains<p>Yesterday’s <a href="http://education.gov.au/flexible-literacy-remote-primary-schools-programme">announcement</a> of a $22 million grant for a Direct Instruction program - a direct method of teaching using lectures and demonstrations - to improve literacy outcomes for remote Indigenous children should be regarded with caution.</p>
<p>It seems like a bizarre kind of double-think that the government can <a href="http://www.aeufederal.org.au/Publications/2014/McMorrowjune2014.pdf">abandon</a> the Gonski funding model, which would have most helped disadvantaged students; cut <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-13/budget-2014-534-cut-to-indigenous-programs-and-health/5451144">$534 million</a> in funding for Indigenous community health and education programs; and then turn around and claim that a sparkly new program will somehow “fix” Indigenous literacy.</p>
<p>This program simply takes a “Biggest Loser” approach to literacy teaching, by skilling and drilling students to the point of exhaustion, in order to get the most visible results possible (i.e. increased NAPLAN scores) in the shortest time. Just like the reality television weight-loss show, very little attention is given to long-term improvements and what happens beyond the immediacy of the program itself.</p>
<h2>Does Indigenous literacy need fixing?</h2>
<p>The OECD’s latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results show that there is about a two-and-a-half-year <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-pisa-slump-is-big-news-but-whats-the-real-story-20964">gap</a> between non-Indigenous and Indigenous literacy rates in Australia. There is also a persistent gap in <a href="https://theconversation.com/naplan-improvements-for-indigenous-students-but-not-everyone-is-taking-the-test-21475">NAPLAN</a> results. </p>
<p>There are some concerns about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/abbott-is-quietly-failing-on-his-pm-for-aboriginal-affairs-promise-26948">normalising</a> effect of policies that claim to work towards <a href="https://www.coag.gov.au/closing_the_gap_in_indigenous_disadvantage">“Closing the Gap”</a>. One example might be the assumption that raising Indigenous literacy levels across Australia is inherently a good thing, in and of itself. </p>
<p>It might be argued that such attempts are no better than historic attempts to make Aboriginal kids more “white” by sending them off to missions to be properly educated. In his seminal book, <a href="http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/59691/20060614-0000/stolen.pdf">The Stolen Generations</a>, Peter Read writes: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Missionaries, teachers, government officials have believed that the best way to make black people behave like whites was to get hold of the children who had not yet learned Aboriginal life ways.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There are some resonances with teaching Aboriginal children in remote communities a version of literacy that is more about success in NAPLAN tests than success in life.</p>
<p>Perhaps we should be asking questions about the underlying assumptions that are made about what it actually means to be literate, how this changes over time and how it differs across cultures. Who gets to decide? Are there different literacy demands for students in our major cities and those who live in remote communities? What cultural literacies are valued?</p>
<p>What relevance does sitting for the NAPLAN tests have for a young child, living in a largely oral-language culture in remote communities, where English may be their third or fourth language?</p>
<p>Each time that we reduce the discussion to a simple metric of whether students are meeting a benchmark that is determined by a narrowly devised literacy test, we are missing the opportunity to ask some of these tougher questions.</p>
<h2>What are direct and explicit instruction?</h2>
<p>The $22 million funding package will go the <a href="http://www.goodtogreatschools.org.au/index">Good to Great Schools</a> Direct Instruction-Explicit Instruction literacy program, expanding a <a href="http://www.aare.edu.au/data/publications/2012/McCollow12.pdf">Cape York trial</a> across the country.</p>
<p>So what exactly are direct instruction and explicit instruction, as defined by this <a href="http://education.gov.au/flexible-literacy-remote-primary-schools-programme">program?</a> These definitions are provided:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Direct Instruction provides step-by-step lessons that focus on skill mastery and grouping students by ability rather than age.</p></li>
<li><p>With Explicit Instruction teachers focus on explanations, demonstrations, feedback and practice until the skill is mastered.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>As a literacies education lecturer, I work closely with pre-service teachers on exactly these kinds of teaching strategies. They are an important part of the basic pedagogical arsenal that all teachers have, and it’s really nothing new.</p>
<p>An article in <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/noel-pearson-teaching-model-to-get-22m/story-fn9hm1pm-1226972990901">The Australian</a> heralded the announcement as a triumph of “back-to-basics” schooling. This is <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-should-never-return-to-the-three-rs-13179">troubling</a>, as it is out of step with the lived realities of young people and ignores the importance of thinking about the impacts of <a href="http://www.readingonline.org/newliteracies/leu/">new literacies</a> in favour of outdated understandings of reading and writing.</p>
<p>While a large body of evidence supports the use of direct instruction within a <a href="https://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/nrp/Documents/ch2-II.pdf">balanced</a> approach to literacy teaching and learning, it can be concerning when a narrow concept of “what works” is applied in literacy teaching and learning to the exclusion of all else. We have seen this in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/my-first-ideology-teaching-reading-falls-victim-to-the-culture-wars-187410">obsession with phonics</a>.</p>
<p>Direct and explicit instruction work best when combined with techniques based on experience and observation, giving students opportunities to use and play with language, helping them through the reading and writing process, as well as modelling targeted reading and writing strategies, guiding students through their own writing and co-constructing texts with students.</p>
<h2>Delivering long-term improvements in Indigenous literacy</h2>
<p>The Greens’ spokesperson for schools, Senator Penny Wright, <a href="http://penny-wright.greensmps.org.au/content/media-releases/pyne-picks-wrong-approach-fix-remote-schools">argued</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Mr Pyne’s Direct Instruction plan only looks at one part of the problem and ignores the broader evidence about what makes a difference in schools.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As with Tony Abbott’s call for <a href="https://theconversation.com/closing-the-gap-on-indigenous-literacy-requires-more-than-increased-attendance-23142">increased school attendance</a>, this latest strategy is another attempt to use simple solutions for complex problems.</p>
<p>Anything that is imposed from above simply won’t work in the long term. This was seen clearly in the <a href="http://caepr.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/Publications/topical/Altman_AIATSIS.pdf">failure</a> of the previous Coalition government’s Northern Territory intervention. </p>
<p>When families and communities are not only involved, but also deeply committed and in control, then there is a real chance for lasting change. </p>
<p>While direct instruction itself is not a bad thing, declaring that a narrow-focused top-down literacy intervention is going to “fix” anything is a pipe-dream. Especially when we are simultaneously removing all other hope for equitable educational opportunities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28649/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stewart Riddle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Yesterday’s announcement of a $22 million grant for a Direct Instruction program - a direct method of teaching using lectures and demonstrations - to improve literacy outcomes for remote Indigenous children…Stewart Riddle, Lecturer in Literacies Education, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.