The ‘back to basics’ debate over curriculum policy obscures what teachers say they really need: clear guidelines and benchmarks of progress.
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Articles on Spelling
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A new survey of Australian primary teachers found almost 65% of teachers never asked students to write at home with the support of a family member.
Kiwi school kids are not consistently taught letter formation or spelling the way they once were. But these simple skills are part of the foundations of higher learning.
Teaching children how to break down words into their meaning and origin can help them be better spellers.
It was a rocky beginning for English spelling. Then things got worse.
In a language as idiosyncratic as English, linguistic pedantry is futile and misguided.
There are benefits to shared reading long after children can read to themselves, so how long should you read to your children?
Phonics instruction gives children letter-sound knowledge, a skill that is essential for them to read unfamiliar words by themselves.
The latest round of NAPLAN results show Australia’s school systems are not good at reducing the influence of a student’s background on their academic achievement.
New, harder tests for primary school children have raised questions about the purpose of learning grammar.
Spelling bees don’t do much for the self esteem of the rest of the population that struggles with spelling. However, we CAN all be good spellers and if we are not, it is because we haven’t been taught how words work.
Channel Ten’s newly announced show, The Great Australian Spelling Bee, may seem like a great platform for promoting literacy skills. But it is promoting the memorisation of pointless, low-frequency words rather than anything helpful.
According to recent media reports, a new study shows an alarming number of aspiring teachers have lower literacy levels than the school students they will be teaching. This coincides with a series of articles…
While 2013 was all about schools and their funding (remember Gonski, anyone?), 2014 was the year of higher education reform. Or, at least, proposed higher education “reform”. With cuts to higher education…
Looking for a New Year’s resolution? Forget losing weight, exercising more and quitting the bad stuff. How about we all resolve to spell “definitely” correctly … and “separate” … and “lose” … and “you’re…
Children who compete in spelling bees often dazzle with their ability to spell complex words. In this year’s televised Scripps National Spelling Bee, two American teenagers were so good they were crowned…
Here’s the truth, and if you’re British or Australian, you may not like it: when it comes to the suffix ize, as opposed to ise, the American standard is correct. I have no idea what cultural forces made…
A couple of years ago, early one morning, I received an SMS advising “resadents to stay indoors because of a nearby insadent”. I was shocked by the spelling, as much as the message. Surely, I thought…
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Associate Professor in Language, Literacy and TESL, University of Canberra
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Professional Learning and Development Facilitator in Literacy Education, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
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Burke and Elizabeth High Baker Professor of Child Developmental Psychology, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis
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Kate Burridge is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professor of Linguistics, Monash University
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Senior Lecturer, Education Policy and Leadership, The University of Melbourne
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Instructional Coach, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics, The Open University
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Associate Director Student Experience, Monash University
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Senior Lecturer in English Language and Literature, University of Sheffield
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Lecturer, Macquarie University
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Professor, School of Education, University of Southern Queensland
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Professor Susan Ledger, Head of School - Dean of Education, University of Newcastle, NSW., University of Newcastle
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Murdoch University
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Professor in Early Childhood Education and Community, University of Canberra
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Senior Lecturer in Literacy, Edith Cowan University
