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In this the National Year of Reading, business, industry leaders and educators agree that literacy among school leavers must be improved if Australia is to remain competitive. Researchers and teachers in the UWA Graduate School of Education are working on ways to help teachers address a critical problem. Literacy is the cornerstone of student achievement, underpinning success across the disciplines. Educators agree that it is as vital in science and mathematics as it is in producing an English literature text, but UWA researchers believe that some teachers do not recognise their critical role in helping students to "think, learn and communicate through texts, which may be written, spoken or multimodal".

While there is a wealth of literature on how teachers might integrate literacy into their subject, in Australia there has been a lack of emphasis on literacy across the curriculum in the crucial ‘middle years' of schooling (Years 6-9).

Two researchers in UWA's Graduate School of Education, Associate Professor Valerie Faulkner and Associate Professor Grace Oakley, were part of a UWA research team commissioned to study literacy in Years 7 to 9. Funded by the Federal Government's Smarter Schools National Partnership initiative and the Catholic Education Office of WA, the project tried to unravel just why some students struggle with literacy as they move from upper primary to secondary school and what teachers might do to help them.

The researchers define literacy as the ability to understand and create a range of texts in spoken, written, visual and multimedia modes. They observed the lack of literacy integration in learning areas and noted that secondary school teachers are seldom educated in literacy teaching.

"There has been an international call for all teachers to do more to assist students in reading and writing texts," says A/Professor Faulkner. "In Australia, the National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy in 2006 recommended that literacy teaching should continue throughout school and across the curriculum."

The researchers also noted a prevalent attitude that students ‘learn to read' in early primary school and ‘read to learn' in secondary school.

"There's often a perception that students no longer need reading and literacy instruction from the middle years and that the main responsibility lies with English teachers. This could be at the root of the problem," says A/Professor Oakley. "There may also be limited awareness about the developmental nature of literacy and about research findings that subject specialists can increase student learning greatly by building literacy instruction into their teaching. The Australian Curriculum, which is now being implemented in schools, requires that literacy across the curriculum is taught. Teachers will require considerable support in doing this.

"The literature indicates that learning area teachers need strategies to develop students' literacy across the curriculum. There also need to be changes in pre-service and in-service education for secondary teachers and in the way the curriculum is organised across the middle years of schooling. It's important that a whole school approach is adopted, with a common language and shared strategies. The right kind of professional development also has an important role in this.

"We are convinced that when teachers see better student outcomes, they will get behind initiatives like this."

It is also crucial to ensure that children have excellent literacy teaching in the early years as this serves as a solid foundation for learning. A/Professor Oakley is the co-author (with Janet Fellowes of Edith Cowan University) of a comprehensive and widely used textbook for pre-service and practising educators. Language, Literacy and Early Childhood Education, published by Oxford University Press, brings together the latest research and provides practical strategies for teachers.

"Oral language is a skill acquired naturally but the importance of its development in early childhood cannot be overemphasised," says the UWA researcher. "It is the platform on which reading and writing are built.

"Young children have an extraordinary capacity to master the language around them; however, with many of Australia's 22 million people having an alternative home language, it's important that this diversity is recognised and that teachers encourage children to build on their strengths. To do that, teachers need to understand the different ways of knowing and doing things that children bring from home."

The UWA researcher says that there is no simple recipe for highly effective literacy teaching, but strategies including designing a literate classroom environment, creating extensive and diverse reading opportunities, providing support for struggling children and literacy activities that all can participate in, regardless of ability and cultural and linguistic background, are important.

The Australian National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy recommended that teachers provide "systematic, direct and explicit phonics instruction so that children master the essential alphabetic code-breaking skills" for reading. It also advocated an integrated approach to reading that supports the development of oral language, vocabulary, grammar, reading fluency, comprehension and familiarity with new technologies.

"Research shows that children learn in different ways so it is essential that teachers use a broad range of strategies - in some situations the focus may be on letters and sounds, in others on the meaning," says A/Professor Oakley.

While debates about the most effective methods for teaching reading will continue, in today's world, children also need to make sense of the bewildering array of electronic and visual texts that surround them.

A whole new world of literacy has opened up - and is stirring its own debates.

"While research evidence is inconclusive, there is some evidence that the use of information and communication technologies can be beneficial to learning in early childhood. However, much more research in this area is needed," says A/Professor Oakley. The use of mobile technologies, such as iPads, and how they can be used to teach literacy, is an area that A/Professor Oakley and A/Professor Pegrum are currently researching.

Related link: Technology in teaching .

Published in Uniview Vol. 31 No. 2 Winter 2012