Literacy skills: The key to all learning By Naomii Seah, Industry Reporter
Literacy is a foundational component of learning which unlocks the rest of the curriculum. Ensuring students are appropriately literate at each stage of school sets them up for future success in their NCEA years and beyond. Recent changes to the curriculum are designed to help New Zealanders reach literacy goals. The refreshed English learning area leans on the concept of structured literacy, a teaching practice that has both local and international evidence for its efficacy. Research in reading acquisition has demonstrated that reading is a skill that must be explicitly taught to young learners, differentiated from spoken language which can be learned naturally. For young children, literacy begins with spoken language and learning component sounds. Once a
Reading is a skill that must be explicitly taught to young learners
learner can hear component sounds of language — or phonemes — then the learner can be taught phonological decoding. This process is the basis of literacy, and learners can be supported to reading fluency through practise, so word recognition becomes automatic. Once reading is automatised, cognitive space is freed for comprehension. Structured literacy is a teaching practice that aims to guide learners through this process, ensuring students reach high levels of reading fluency.(1) The draft curriculum for primary students is out now, and draft
content for Years 7 to 13 will be released in Term 4. Content for older students will also focus on similar structured literacy principles, though some of this content will be limited to students who require additional support to reach expected standards. The government has signalled that teachers will be supported into these changes with professional development and learning resources. With new funding being poured into the English curriculum and PLD in the area, the hope is that every child can be supported to achieve at the appropriate curriculum level.
In a statement to School News, a Ministry of Education spokesperson said that the updated English learning area is “designed to ensure every student has access to high-quality knowledge, texts, and evidencebased teaching practices. “For students, the aim is to develop literacy skills, critical thinking, and a love for literature. For teachers, the curriculum offers clear guidelines and support to enhance teaching effectiveness and consistency across schools.” The curriculum will include a teaching sequence for teachers designed to support planning and coherent progression for students. The Ministry of Education said that this structured curriculum will still allow for teachers to design engaging lessons which cater to their students’ strengths, needs, experiences and interests without placing undue burden on educators. By supporting students to achieve in the English learning
Image courtesy of Tātai Aho Rau Core Education
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Term 4, 2024 | schoolnews.co.nz