October 4, 2023 5:36pm by Alwyn Poole

To Solve New Zealand’s Reading Problem a deeper magic is needed.

The National Party have just released a policy that, should they become the government, all children will be taught to read under a Structured Literacy programme and have to set aside what is now called Balanced Literacy. Without going into detail many people familiar with theories of learning to read will be able to associate Structured Literacy with “phonics” and Balanced Literacy with whole word recognition. There is more detail to it than that but it is adequate for the points I want to make.

Recent research does favour Structured Literacy as a learning methodology in schools. One of the challenges to its more widespread adoption is that New Zealand has heavily invested in Balanced Literacy and Reading Recovery through the significant influence of the late Dame Marie Clay who was, no doubt, an incredible New Zealander with international influence.

In terms of the policy, then, I largely agree with National designating Structured Literacy as the primary method for teaching reading. There are a couple of caveats on that. Firstly, some children come to school and are already well on the pathway to be good readers and the last thing many of them would enjoy is having to sound out basic words they already have mastered. Give them an opportunity to show their proficiency and them just let them read. Secondly, the quality of professional development around this must be brilliant and the day-to-day must not be dour. To generate life-long readers you don’t only require functionality – there must also be inspiration. They must not only learn to read but love reading and adore story. Functional success only goes part of the way…..

It will also be the case that this policy will only have a very marginal effect if families are not seen as paramount and carried with it – that is the deeper magic. In an inspirational book called The Smartest Kids in the World (Amanda Ripley) New Zealand was only noted once. That was as the country in the world where parents reading to their children makes the greatest difference.

The imperative partner policy for Structured Literacy is a Crown Entity for Parenting that has at its hub that parents are recognised and enhanced and the first and most important teachers of their children. A parent reading to their children every night in a skilled and passionate way will make more difference than the right method in school in nearly every situation. Having parents who are readers themselves, who speak many and positive words, and who are knowledgably and passionately aspirational for their children will make the world of difference. For many parents these are skills and habits that they have to have, and take, opportunities to learn themselves so they can pass them on.

Go to the private sector experts too. Dame Wendy Pye of Sunshine Books is renowned the world over for the quality of the readers her and her team produce and yet, often treated like a pariah by our Ministry of Education. Every school and every home should have her books for young readers.

Add to that; having the right teaching method in school will make very little difference to the 10,000 not enrolled anywhere or the, approximately, 50% of students not fully attending.

Over the last six years Labour, and the two Minister’s of Education have a very poor record. Whoever is in leadership at the end of October needs an expert and comprehensive plan to radically improve our education system. However, there will be no solver bullets at all unless you carry the families along with those changes. Banning smart phones and changing aspects of reading instruction are starters. What is the comprehensive plan that takes in the whole child and brings remarkable change to provide the education that children growing up in a small, wealthy and beautiful county deserve?

Maybe the best book I have ever read: