It is very good news to see this piece in 'The Australian':
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nationa ... 7174319349
Teacher training fails on literacy
THE AUSTRALIAN JANUARY 05, 2015
Justine Ferrari
National Education Correspondent
Sydney
MANY primary school teachers are ill-equipped to help students learn to read, with an audit of education degrees revealing the teaching of reading is mired in theory, with too little focus on practical skills.
The nation’s first evaluation of the content covered in teaching degrees identifies “significant concerns” about the skills of many existing teachers in proven methods for teaching reading and questions whether graduating teachers are properly equipped.
The report by the NSW Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards reveals the time spent on the subject and the strategies covered vary considerably between universities.
It calls for guidelines setting out core essential content for the teaching of reading, including a range of evidence-based approaches and the appropriate balance of theory to practice.
“Although research evidence from recent major studies into the teaching of reading unequivocally supports the explicit and systematic teaching of ... phonics in the early years of schooling, it is not apparent that all graduate teachers would be able to do so,” it says.
“While all programs address early literacy learning, the place of phonics in programs is variable. For example, phonics is variously addressed as one teaching strategy that may be used, as a remediation strategy only or as an essential strategy for the teaching of reading.”
The board also recommends school systems identify the gaps in the knowledge of their existing teachers and commission courses to address the shortcomings.
“Many current primary teachers do not have adequate knowledge and skills for best-practice in the teaching of reading and are unable to provide appropriate guidance to (teaching) students,” the report says.
The report is one of the first of a series of rolling annual audits by the board as part of the NSW government’s reforms to improve the quality of teaching.
All teaching degrees must meet national accreditation standards, but NSW is the first state to independently evaluate how universities teach what they are supposed to.
NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli said the audit was the first time universities had been held to account for what they taught, and “I can’t say I’m totally impressed by it”.
“There are accreditation requirements of the things universities must teach, but until recently it’s just been a tick-the-box process. This is the first time the board has had a close look at what they actually do,” Mr Piccoli said.
“Universities have this attitude that nobody tells them what they should do and who to enrol. I just don’t agree with that.
“They enrol students on the understanding they will teach those students how to be a good schoolteacher and it lets down schools and it lets down those students if they don’t deliver that.”
The audit of reading strategies was limited by a reluctance of universities to co-operate, and Mr Piccoli said he hoped the process would be adopted by the federal government, which funds universities. “The commonwealth has more coercive powers through its funding agreements with universities and it’s something I hope it will look into to make sure universities are doing what they’re supposed to,” he said.
BOSTES president Tom Alegounarias said every teacher had to be able to teach phonics — the teaching of sounds that comprise the English language — explicitly and systematically, even if some students learnt to read without requiring being taught the letter-sound relationships.
“Teachers need to be able to teach a great many things, including when they teach reading, and phonics is an essential one of those strategies,” Mr Alegounarias said.
“Teaching phonics isn’t about ideology or philosophy, it’s about evidence. Doctors don’t have a belief in penicillin, penicillin works. Phonics works, full stop.
“It’s disappointing that, after decades of research into the best way of teaching reading, universities still haven’t reached a consensus, and there’s too much variation between teaching degrees.”
The board looked at 68 courses in 14 institutions in NSW, from sandstone universities to small Christian colleges, and found a “lack of clarity” and consensus, with little evidence students were taught the evidence-based approach to the teaching of reading. “The extent to which providers take the integrated, explicit and systematic approach to the teaching of reading as recommended by international and national research evidence remains unclear,” it says.
The board found courses had stronger emphasis on strategies for students in years 3 to 6 rather than children in their first three years of school, focusing on literature and teaching literacy in the context of literature. “In some course outlines, there was no explicit reference to the teaching of phonics ... and in some it appeared to be assumed knowledge,” the report says.
“For the teaching of reading, most providers appeared to emphasise strategies such as modelled, guided, shared and independent reading more than foundational strategies such as phonics ...”
Universities and other institutes have processes to address literacy skills of their teaching students, but little to assess their readiness and ability to teach reading to young children. “In many cases, it would be difficult to make a confident judgment about students’ readiness to teach reading,” it says.
It identifies big shortcomings in practical training provided for teaching students in the teaching of reading, saying many supervising teachers “appear to have little knowledge and understanding of literacy theories/models, and ineffective literacy skills”.
“The emphasis on literacy seems to vary greatly across classrooms, schools and school systems and, in some cases, discredited teaching strategies or strategies not based on research evidence are in use.”