A Unique Chance For All Parties To Do What’s Right for Learners

Download our press release on the National Party’s “Literacy Guarantee Policy” announced 8 September 2023, or read below.

National’s ‘Literacy Guarantee’ Proposal a Unique Chance For All Parties To Do What’s Right for Learners

Lifting Literacy Aotearoa is urging all political parties to put election campaigning aside when it comes to teaching reading and writing, and support the implementation of the body of work known as the science of reading.

The National Party has today indicated it will, if elected, implement an education policy to ensure all children learn to read and write in the same way, using a method backed by more than 40 years of robust science across multi-disciplinary fields.

Labour has said it will mandate teaching reading in some form, but it has not revealed how that would work. Meanwhile the Ministry continues to fund Reading Recovery which includes the disproven three cueing system of teaching children to read, and the Ministry’s Common Practice Model remains under wraps.

“At the moment, different methods are taught in different schools and a postcode lottery of reading instruction exists across the country,” Chair of Lifting Literacy Aotearoa Alice Wilson said, adding this has in large part been because of inconsistencies and inadequacies in teacher training programmes.

“Today’s policy announcement from National is a signal to our universities that they must improve initial teacher education programmes.”

For example at University of Auckland, teacher trainees are taught about the whole language philosophy, more latterly known as balanced literacy, an outdated method of reading that has been debunked by science, and it’s a similar picture in most of the teacher training providers across the country.

The result has been a hodgepodge of qualifications of varying quality, in many cases churning out teachers ill-equipped to teach reading effectively.

According to data collected by Lifting Literacy Aotearoa, a quarter of all primary schools have already moved to science-backed methods of teaching.

“We know teachers work hard, and they deserve the best, and so do our children,” Ms Wilson said.

“But for too long the science has been kept from teachers and children, resulting in a literacy crisis of epic proportions. We hope that whoever wins the election on October 14, New Zealand is heading for a much needed shift in literacy teaching,” Ms Wilson said.

Lifting Literacy Aotearoa says investing in teacher education to ensure teaching qualifications are world-class is an investment in our children, and our country.

“We must change, because we are robbing children of the gift of being literate which hurts not only them, but the whole country. New Zealand cannot be productive to its maximum potential without a literate adult population, which is holding us back at the moment.”

Lifting Literacy Aotearoa are particularly pleased to see a commitment to end Reading Recovery, a non-evidence based reading intervention programme, and instead provide structured literacy reading intervention support for students who need it.

“We formed in 2020 to advocate for evidence-based reading instruction on behalf dyslexic and disadvantaged children and have long advocated, alongside many others like Professor James Chapman of Massey University, to end public funding of Reading Recovery.”

Ms Wilson said National’s plan to progressively implement structured literacy from years 1 to 6 was a good start, but Lifting Literacy Aoteraoa advocates for the approach to be implemented across all years up till year 13 and for the approach to also be mandated and supported in the same way for Māori and Pacific language-medium schools.

“We are increasingly hearing from intermediate and secondary school teachers that they need this approach for their students. There are still many kids that need catching up and structured literacy encompasses learning of subject-specific vocabulary and the teaching of writing skills as well.”

Lifting Literacy Aotearoa is critical of the legacy of educational neglect. Ms Wilson said “The Ministry of Education has failed to lead effective literacy policy across the sector over many years with failed strategy after failed strategy. Now significant funding and upskilling is required and that will need political support.”

“We are thrilled to see a politician finally getting their head around the Science of Reading, and making policy that actively addresses the urgent need for teacher upskilling in Aotearoa New Zealand. Today is the first time one of the major parties has promoted an evidence-based policy that would lift literacy rates and help address inequities in educational achievement.”