Congratulations Sir James Chapman
Lifting Literacy Aotearoa warmly congratulates Emeritus Professor James Chapman on being appointed a Knight Companion in the 2026 King's Birthday Honours.
This recognition is richly deserved. Sir James has devoted much of his professional life to understanding why some children learn to read with ease while others struggle.
His work on reading difficulties and dyslexia has deepened New Zealand's understanding of literacy development and helped shape how educators identify and support vulnerable learners. Among his many contributions, Sir James was one of the earliest and most persistent critics of Reading Recovery.
At a time when questioning the programme was deeply unpopular, he continued to highlight the large numbers of struggling readers who were not achieving lasting success through the intervention.
His research and advocacy demonstrated the extent to which the methods used in Reading Recovery had diverged from the growing body of evidence about how children learn to read and what struggling readers need to succeed. Commenting on the reforms now underway across New Zealand schools, Sir James recently said:
"For too long 25-30 percent of kids would fail - almost from day one - because of the teaching approach that was taken for 40 to 50 years. To see that thrown out. To see a different approach research-based - my hope is, and the early results are showing this, that far more kids will benefit."
That focus on the children most at risk of being left behind has been a defining feature of Sir James's work. While Sir James is widely recognised for his academic research, both in New Zealand and internationally, he was equally committed to ensuring that research informed classroom practice.
Through the 2019 Massey Early Literacy Project, he helped demonstrate how findings from literacy research could be translated into effective classroom teaching and improve outcomes for children. Many people working in literacy today would regard this work as a pivotal moment in New Zealand's literacy journey, helping lay the foundations for the structured literacy reforms we are seeing today. In his RNZ interview, Sir James said:
"To actually see this happening has been really worthwhile because it's the kids who will benefit and their parents and their teachers and, in the long term, of course, the country will benefit. Because literacy is a strong foundation for a multicultural democracy."
Those words capture what has always been at the heart of his work: improving outcomes for children and strengthening New Zealand's future.
At Lifting Literacy Aotearoa, we are particularly grateful for the support Sir James has shown our organisation from the very beginning.
He has written many insightful blogs for us, generously shared his expertise with our community, supported our advocacy efforts, and given freely of his time to help educators better support children learning to read. Like so many others across the sector, we have benefited enormously from his wisdom, generosity, and unwavering commitment to helping children succeed.
One of the things we most admire about Sir James is his persistence.
"It's taken 30-plus years for Bill Tunmer and me to really try to get these changes in place. Over many decades we met with almost all ministers of education, almost all opposition spokespeople for education, we met with chairs of the select committee of science and education and - until recently - we got nowhere."
His remarks also reflect the long-standing partnership between Sir James and Emeritus Professor Bill Tunmer, another internationally recognised New Zealand literacy researcher whose contribution Sir James was quick to acknowledge when receiving this honour.
Those words are a powerful reminder that evidence matters, expertise matters, and that children benefit most when those shaping education policy are willing to listen to both.
In recent months we have seen increasing claims that structured literacy is an imported ideology. The career of Sir James Chapman stands as compelling evidence that this is simply not true. Over many years, Sir James has collaborated with fellow New Zealand researchers including Emeritus Professor Bill Tunmer, colleagues at Massey University, and more recently the Better Start Literacy Approach team at the University of Canterbury. Their collective work has made a significant contribution to the evidence base underpinning effective literacy instruction and helped translate that evidence into better outcomes for Kiwi children.
As debates about literacy continue, those involved in shaping education policy — regardless of political affiliation — would do well to engage with this significant body of work.
Thank you, Sir James, for your extraordinary contribution to education in New Zealand. Your research and advocacy have helped shape the national conversation about literacy and, more importantly, have improved the life chances of countless children. Congratulations on this well-deserved honour.
Blog contributions from Professor James Chapman2023
2021
