Earlier this year I published a chapter in "Diversity, Inclusion & Engagement". In the chapter I contend that readers process written text at three levels of cognition. Below I have reprinted a copy of the chapter summary.
"Students with learning difficulties in literacy are affected
by a range of factors within themselves and also by other factors outside themselves.
These factors interact in a number of ways that will often lead to
disengagement from literacy learning. This then becomes a cycle of failure that
is often quite difficult to overcome. To reverse this trend students should be
shown how to develop self-regulation strategies leading to independence and
academic success. For this to be effective teachers need to develop broader
assessment practices by looking beyond the notion of learning difficulties
residing solely within the learner. Thus, teachers should also consider other
factors outside the learner such as texts, tasks and instructional practices
within the social context of the classroom and community.
Assessment should acknowledge students’ strengths and
consider their educational needs in response to instructional practices. A
thorough and responsive assessment should lead to appropriate accommodations
and adjustments to the curriculum that focus on three levels of engagement:
surface, cognitive and behavioural. Most accommodations and adjustments not
only help individuals but also benefit the wider community of learners. Literacy
is a social activity and there are cooperative methods that can support students
with learning difficulties within the classroom and beyond. Family-literacy
programs, for example, extend learning beyond the classroom walls and give
impetus to the literacy development of students who may be at risk of academic
failure."
Woolley, G. (2014). Students with Literacy Difficulties. In M. Hyde, L. Carpenter, & R. Conway (Eds.), Diversity, inclusion and engagement (2nd ed., pp. 107-127). Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
He is an Australian super star on the rise. Recently he performed at the Singapore Grad Prix alongside big names like Jennifer Lopez and Robbie Williams. However, this success wasn't indicative of his formative years as a young person at school. He struggled to read, in fact it wasn't until year three that he read his first word. In the article Paul recounts the embarrassment he experienced as a 12 year old being chosen to read aloud in front of his year 7 class at a prestigious school in Melbourne. He recalls the secret inner voice that said, "Please don't pick me, please don't pick me." After reading aloud and laboriously stumbling over the words he sat down to nurse his deflated self-esteem.
In our society it is perceived as a shameful and humiliating thing to be unable to read. Paul's embarrassment echoes the experiences of thousands of our young people today, who struggle with reading. Fortunately, Paul's fortunes changed, he was interested in magic and came across a book about this topic in the library. He was fascinated by the pictures of magic tricks but was reluctant to read. His mother helped him to analyse the words. He reported, "It was a very different approach to the rote learning at school... but I had to do the learning my way."
At this point Paul believed that his motivation to read changed. It wasn't that Paul had not been motivated in the past. All behaviour is motivated and goal oriented. Children generally are not unmotivated. It would seem that Paul was motivated to avoid reading until he found something he was passionate about.
According to Ryan and Deci there are three vital elements to motivation: competence, autonomy and relationship. It is evident that this third element linked to his interest and passion was the basis for building Paul's reading competence and reading autonomy. It would seem evident that the relationship of reading to his interests was the key element while the support of a significant person prepared to invest time and believe in him was also important.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1991).
A motivational approach to self: Integration in personality. In R. A.
Dienstbier (Ed.), Perspectives in
motivation. Nebraska symposium on motivation (pp. 237-288). Lincoln, NB:
University of Nebraska Press.
According to a recent research study by a Schneider et al.(2013) students who were initially engaged in open-ended exploration before reading new information outperformed students who used traditional textbook materials before solving a problem. The researchers found that the students who were first presented with an abstract problem to solve and then engaged in open exploration before reading became more productive. It was assumed they used their prior knowledge and intuitions. Consequently, they were more likely to fully grasp the newer concepts.
The implication for the COR Literacy Framework (or any other instructional program) is that a series of lessons (around a theme or topic) should first start with an open ended question (or a problem to solve). Students problem solving and suggesting possible solutions will help elicit personalised learning goals which will test the sufficiency of their prior knowledge. This process will enable students to determine what else they might need to adequately solve the problem.
In my last blog, 'Equity - the real issue in falling education standards.' I proposed that as our society becomes more unequal we can expect that the standards in education will continue to fall. One simple but ill informed approach is to blame the teachers or the quality of teacher training. An even worse tendency is to blame the learner for the failings in the education system. For example, often a failing student will be labelled as being 'unmotivated', 'lazy' or even 'uninterested'. Many of these students quickly become frustrated and give up trying to achieve in school. They develop self-protective behaviours: they learn that it is better not to expend effort when failure is the expected result. Some students misbehave in class to avoid doing activities that they believe will lead to failure. The disruptive behaviour not only helps them avoid failure but it also protects their self esteem by gaining inappropriate attention from other students. Traditionally a common response was to use corporal punishment in the form of the cane or the strap. Another typical response for continued disruptive behaviour is suspension from school.
Recently Kevin Donnelly, the co-chair of the Australian Federal Government's national curriculum review has suggested the use of corporal punishment for disruptive students as long as the local school and community support it. This view by a prominent educationalist has sent shock waves throughout the community. Most people understand that using the cane does not address root causes or problems and will more than likely reinforce inappropriate behaviours. Donnelly's statement seems to indicate some very outdated views which are not in line with current thinking and research findings. According to Jacqueline Maley, (parliamentary sketch writer for the Sydney Morning Herald) in her newspaper article 'Kevin Donnelly on hiding to nothing' (19th July, 14) Donnelly is "... a
critic of political correctness in schools, and he advocates the restoration of
more traditional ways of learning and curricular subject matter; he is big fan
of Shakespeare, the classic novels and phonics. He is a strong critic of the
post-modern, theory-based lens through which literature and history is
sometimes taught in modern schools." Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/kevin-donnelly-on-a-hiding-to-nothing-20140717-zu81z.html#ixzz37u3X43uS
In terms of suspension, Linda J. Graham, in her commentary in The Conversation entitled"Help disruptive students, don't just suspend them." proposed .".. that academic difficulties lead to task avoidance which leads to teacher-student conflict which leads to the use of time-out, which is followed by an escalation in disruptive behaviour, which is met by repeat long-suspension, leading to further escalation, and eventually referral to special educational settings." Read more: http://theconversation.com/help-disruptive-students-dont-just-suspend-them-28919
Simple responses such as corporal punishment or suspensions tend to blame the victim rather than addressing their complex academic, social and emotional needs. Good teachers who know, understand and spend time interacting with their students can make a difference. Trevor Cairney, in his recent blog Thursday, July 17, 2014), stated that, "Good teachers change children as they develop love and respect for their students and want the best for them. It seems to me that this is the starting point for effective teaching and parenting not corporal punishment. Read more: http://trevorcairney.blogspot.com.au
Are we burying our heads or is equity the real issue in falling standards?
There is an increasing gap in Australia between the rich and the poor. It has been suggested that the recent federal budget will further increase inequality in Australia. In Australia and Britain, as of 2007, the wealthiest 1% of the population earned 20% of all income. In Canada the top 1% earned 37% while America set the bar at an alarming 47%. According to Richard Wilkinson, these advanced societies are not only less equitable but have greater problems, not only in wealth distribution, but also in educational standards, health, substance abuse, social problems, and consequently have have larger prison populations. This situation is typically reflected in the educational performance of the Australian states and territories. It is not surprising that the most equitable states do better on PISA and national tests while the states and territories that have a bigger gap between rich and poor and lower educational opportunity do less well. Despite this inequality, the Australian government's response is the promotion of a market driven approach whereby public schools will be able to have more autonomy in such matters as the hiring and firing of staff and possibly with staff renumeration. However, this can only increase the inequity of our education system and result in the further decline of our educational standards.
The OECD conducts a series of international student surveys in more than 70 countries to assess the knowledge and skills of 15 year olds in Mathematics, Science and Reading. The PISA resultsshow that in the year 2000 Australia performed 2nd only to Finland in reading on the PISA international tests. The Finnish school system has been less affected by family backgrounds than in most other countries and has been considered to be one of the most equitable among the OECD countries. However, even in Finland, there is an increasing inequality and, as a consequence their PISA test scores are slipping. Australia's scores on PISA are also noticeably in decline, in 2012 the reading scores slipped to tenth position. According to Peter Job the performance of Australian education has been put at risk due to a politicisation of education and a declining respect for teacher professionalism. There has been a push for the publishing of league tables for the national testing (NAPLAN) results and also a push for higher performance pay. This is despite international evidence that such schemes are less than productive. There seems to be an assumption that poor teacher quality is the reason for falling standards. The continued promotion of this assumption can only lead teachers to believe that they are not appreciated and deter others from entering the teaching profession. Instead of creating a system that rewards some and punishes others it would be better to remove the inequalities within our society and in the education systems. See the links below for more on the topic:
