The Early Literacy Handbook: Making sense of language and literacy with children birth to seven - a practical guide to the context approach

By Dominic Wyse and Christine Parker

The heart of this book is a new approach to the teaching of language and literacy. Its focus is exemplary classroom practice built on rigorous theory and evidence.The approach combines new theory and dynamic practice in its advocacy for contextualised teaching. This book shows how the teaching of smaller units of language, such as sentences, words, letters and phonemes, follows naturally from the context of whole texts.
The book offers: practical examples, photographs from settings, case studies and action points to help any practitioner working with young children to develop one of the most crucial life skills, advice on how to build on children's motivation using whole texts, clear guidance on phonics teching in an appropriate context and a unique blend of new theory and dynamic practice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mark Allen Group
• Release date: Mar 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781909280120

Book preview

The Early Literacy Handbook

Making sense of language and literacy with children birth to seven - a practical guide to the context approach

by Dominic Wyse and Christine Parker

Originally published by Practical Pre-School Books, A Division of MA Education Ltd, St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road, Herne Hill, London, SE24 0PB.

Tel: [phone]

www.practicalpreschoolbooks.com

© MA Education Ltd 2012

2013 digital version by Andrews UK Limited

www.andrewsuk.com

All images © MA Education Ltd., other than the images listed below. All photos other than the below taken by Lucie Carlier.

Front cover images: Left: © MA Education, top right: © iStockphoto.com/Liza McCorkle, bottom right: © (Mike Booth)/Alamy.

Chapter 4 © MA Education Ltd photo taken by Ben Suri

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Introduction

Experimenting with chalk to communicate meaning

The heart of this book is a new approach to the teaching of language and literacy: its focus is exemplary classroom practice built on rigorous theory and evidence. The writing of the book was made possible by the authors’ combined experience of more than 40 years in education. Christine brings to the book most of all her wealth of experience as a nursery educator, head of early years centre, primary teacher and primary head teacher. Dominic brings his experience as a teacher, as a teacher trainer, as a researcher and, for this book, a new theory on the teaching of English, language and literacy (TELL theory[1]). But even more than these features, we hope we communicate our undimmed excitement and passion for teaching and learning.

There are many very good publications[2] about language and literacy written for early years and primary educators[3]. But the unique contribution of our book is its particular focus on language and literacy pedagogy and the explicit ways it links with research and theory. One important strand of our approach is contextualised teaching. For example this is shown in our explanation of how teaching of letters and phonemes[4] can contribute to children’s reading development. Contextualised teaching begins with whole texts that engage children’s interest and motivation. The most important features of texts, such as the way narrative connects with children’s sense of wonder and with their everyday lives, are emphasised first and foremost. Work on the sentences, words, letters and phonemes then follows naturally because these linguistic building blocks are made naturally meaningful when children experience them in the context of whole texts. Teaching about letters and phonemes is an important component in learning to read, but there are serious risks if it is magnified above all others, especially as the focus of high stakes national testing. This is one reason why educators and parents must fight for a balanced and research-informed approach to literacy teaching.

We wanted the links between theory and practice to be crystal clear. For that reason each chapter begins with a short account of the most relevant theory and research. This is then exemplified and enriched by dynamic guidance and insights into the practice of teaching. Many of the examples were created as Christine drew on the practice of teachers in her school at the time of writing. Although practice sections come after theory sections in the book, during the process of writing we were constantly questioning and revising both to ensure that there was a genuine fit between the two.

The book is divided into three sections on: language and literacy, reading, and writing. Language is at the heart of literacy; in fact as we argue in our chapter on multilingualism, languages are at the heart of literacy in every classroom in the land. But where some otherwise admirable accounts of literacy teaching fail is in their lack of attention to reading and writing processes as important in their own right. Yes, they are connected in literacy, but effective teaching and learning requires an understanding of their distinctness as well as the links between them.

Perhaps the most important chapter in the book is High quality literacy teaching. It is here that we nail our colours to the mast in our description of what we consider to be exemplary practice. But such practice is also underpinned by the thinking demonstrated in all the other chapters in the book. Appropriate knowledge and skills are needed by educators for each of the different phases and elements of any lesson. The sessions shown in the high quality literacy teaching chapter are not meant to suggest a rigid, fixed format (no return to the literacy hour is implied here!) Variation is a necessary part of good teaching, not least to sustain children’s interest. Once again the other chapters of the book reveal the nuances that are necessary, but more important is the need for you to avoid the idea of ‘recipes’ and to release your own creativity and imagination for developing the curriculum. By combining messages from different chapters we hope your ideas will transcend the linear nature of this conventional printed text, just like the ebb and flow of teaching and learning that emerges from real engagement with children’s interests.

The first chapter of the book shows how you can access and use the wealth of language and literacy experiences that all children bring from their homes and communities to inform teaching and learning. This is closely followed by advice on how to motivate children for learning. Language is the driving force of our approach, specifically the languages that children use and the language that you use as part of your interaction with children. Concluding the first section with the chapter on assessment is perhaps misleading, as the importance of learning from observations and assessments of children is a strand that runs through the whole book.

The other parts of the book have both common and distinct elements. Both begin with the use of whole texts, suggest physical and social environments that are most likely to help children learn, and offer typical classroom strategies for teaching reading and writing effectively. As for distinct elements: in the reading section, the rich potential of children’s names is highlighted (relatively insignificant to many adults, yet vital for children’s learning). In the writing section, the final chapter covers handwriting, but this does not imply a lack of importance. In fact, you may be surprised to see one of our rare recommendations for decontextualised teaching!

At the time of writing, phonics teaching is once again high on the political agenda. If there is any political intent behind this book it is to stand firm, argue strongly for evidence and balance, and reclaim the curriculum and its pedagogy for you and your children. We hope you enjoy our book, and we hope it supports you in making a difference in children’s lives.

1 TELL theory was first presented in 2011 at a keynote symposium at the American Literacy Research Association. The theory has been published in the 10,000 word introduction to the four volume set Literacy Teaching and Education: SAGE library of educational thought and practice (Wyse D, ed, 2011. Sage, London, UK). The theory also builds on Teaching English, Language and Literacy (Wyse D, Jones R, 2007. Routledge, London, UK); and The Routledge International Handbook of English, Language and Literacy Teaching (Wyse D, Andrews R, Hoffman J, eds, 2010. Routledge, London, UK).

2 For example: Bruce T, Spratt J (2011) Essentials of Literacy from 0-7. Second Edition. Sage, London, UK; and Whitehead M (2004) Language and Literacy in the Early Years. Third Edition. Sage, London, UK.

3 We use the term ‘educator’ throughout the book to describe all teachers, professionals and practitioners working to help children’s learning.

4 Throughout the book when we refer to phonemes, we use the following format: /a/ (except in Table 12.1 in Chapter 12 where we use symbols from the international phonetic alphabet). When we refer to letter names we identify them like this: A. When referring to a letter we identify it like this: ‘a’.

Language and literacy in the early years

Chapter 1: Building on what children know

Sharing story books at home

Children should be at the centre of decisions made about teaching and learning. In order for this to happen, educators need to build on children’s interests, experiences and understanding. However, it is too easy for what we might call child-centred education to be nothing but a truism; the practical reality takes sensitivity and rigour.

Child-centred learning is a much misunderstood idea, but a careful reading of the more thoughtful theorists reveals its relevance for modern educational environments. John Dewey, one of the leading thinkers in relation to child-centred education, argued that good teaching is built on the educator’s understanding that there should be an interaction between educational aims and children’s experiences and ideas. Less effective learning takes place if, instead of interaction, an opposition is built. Over-emphasis on transmission of facts to be learned from a formal syllabus is one example of such opposition. Dewey was clear that the best knowledge available to society was the appropriate material for children’s learning (hence it is untrue to imply that child-centred education is only about ‘children teaching themselves’), but only through teaching that made a connection with children’s experiences and thoughts. Dewey identified three evils of inappropriate curriculum material: a) material that is not organic to the child; b) material where the connecting links of need and aim are missing; c) lack of logical value.

To Dewey logical value was curriculum organisation that represented the best knowledge in society organised through a natural progression involving authentic hands-on experiences for the child. He said, Guidance [by educators] is not external imposition. It is freeing the life-process for its own most adequate fulfilment[5].

Too often educators make assumptions about children’s experiences and ideas. Consequently there can be a disparity between home settings and formal educational settings[6]. To a certain extent this disparity is natural as formal educational settings are, as the phrase makes clear, formal. But there is much that educators can do to recognise and build on children’s home experiences. One aspect is a particular state of mind rather than direct action. This is an open mind about children’s home experiences, an awareness that deficit models and low expectations of children impact negatively on learning[7], and a genuine interest in understanding the positive features of children’s experiences out of school. This ability to search for and locate the positive in children’s thinking should permeate work in classrooms as well as educators’ reflections on children’s lives outside formal education[8]. An important starting point for building on what children know is a genuine engagement with parents, both before and during their child’s time in the setting. Although many parents may be reticent to share their knowledge with the educator who they will see as the ‘expert’, part of the skill of the educator is to encourage parents to do just that.

It is not only sensitivity and rigour in relation to understanding children’s experiences outside formal education that is required. This also needs to be applied to understanding teaching and learning in the setting. Assuming that all has been done to positively assess children’s understanding, there is a need to decide the experiences and learning that are most likely to help. An influential idea in relation to this is Lev Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development[9]. In the course of his experiments Vygotsky discovered that a child who had a mental age of eight, as measured on a standardised test, was able to solve a test for a 12-year-old child if they were given the first step in a solution, a leading question, or some other form of help (Vygotsky, 1987, p 187). He suggested that the difference between the child’s level working alone and the child’s level with some assistance should be called the zone of proximal development (ZPD). The idea of the ZPD suggests the need for educators to set activities based on prior assessments, then to interact with children in order to assess their development and use this information for the planning of further experiences.

If we accept the importance of the ZPD, it leaves a number of questions about how educator interaction can best support pupils’ learning within it. The term ‘scaffolding’ has become commonplace in discussions about literacy teaching, as in the idea that educators should ‘model’ and scaffold aspects of writing. Unfortunately the didactic context for these recommendations is not the same as the original concept of ‘scaffolding’. David Wood[10] used the term ‘scaffolding’ in his research on the teaching techniques that mothers used with their three- to four-year-old children. The mothers, who were able to help their children complete a task that could normally only be completed by children older than seven, scaffolded their children’s learning in specific ways:

They simplified problems that the child encountered

They removed potential distractions from the central task

They pointed things out that the child had missed.

The less successful parent tutors showed the child how to do the task without letting them have a go themselves or they used verbal instructions too much.

Overall, there were two particularly important aspects. When a child was struggling, immediate help was offered. Then, when help had been given, the mothers gradually removed support, encouraging the child’s independence. We termed this aspect of tutoring ‘contingent’ instruction. Such contingent support helps to ensure that the child is never left alone when he is in difficulty, nor is he ‘held back’ by teaching that is too directive and intrusive.[11] The vital point here is that scaffolding happens in the context of meaningful interaction that is not inappropriately didactic.

Engaging with parents’ knowledge

Before a child starts at a setting educators begin the process of forming a mutually trusting relationship with the child’s parents. This ideally starts with a home visit, because the home setting can put parents at ease and is a context where they are more likely to feel confident to express their knowledge about their child. There is also a benefit for educators because they have an opportunity to observe the child in an environment that is more familiar to them. The main purpose of the home visit is to provide the opportunity for everyone (the child, parents and educators) to get to know each other.

Figures 1.1 and 1.2 reveal the value of a home visit. Figure 1.1 is a record of a home visit made to Billy’s house. The home visit record