Developmentally Appropriate Practice and a National Literacy Strategy

This paper questions the introduction of national teaching strategy for all ages from five to eleven. It is proposed that the lack of developmentally appropriate practice in the early teaching of literacy is inappropriate and may be counter-productive to the long term goals of high literacy standards.     

Pedagogical Dilemmas in the National Literacy Strategy: Primary teachers' perceptions,reflections and classroom behaviour

This paper argues that the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) offers contradictory pedagogical advice to teachers on 'interactive teaching'. It reports research on teachers' perceptions of and responses to this advice and focuses particularly on NLS demands for teaching which is 'well paced with a sense of urgency'. Evidence from case studies and systematic observations of classroom interaction is used to show that whilst teachers vary in their sensitivity to the dilemmas posed by NLS demands, their classroom discourse in the Literacy Hour is quantitatively and qualitatively different from pre-NLS discourse. It is suggested that opportunities for critical reflection on practice are needed to help teachers articulate and resolve the dilemmas created by the imposition of prescribed programmes on personal educational principles.     

Shaping Literacy in the Secondary School: Policy, Practice and Agency in the Age of the National Literacy Strategy

This article examines the definitions of literacy in operation in secondary schools, and the relationship between official literacy policy and the practices of the agents responsible for implementing this policy. We trace the history of national 'policy' back to the Language Across the Curriculum movement of the 1970s as it provides an illustrative point of comparison with the first five years of the National Literacy Strategy. Drawing on empirical data which illuminate the views, perceptions and practices of key agents on a number of levels, we critically review the concept of 'school literacy' promoted in government policy, defining it as 'school–centric literacy' and question its ability to facilitate participation in the practices associated with the media and technological literacies which are increasingly a feature of school life. There is evidence of some unplanned effects of the current national policy but also that levels of agency, for literacy teachers in particular, may be rapidly diminishing.     

Improvisations around the National Literacy Strategy

This article is an account of how a group of Year 1 children (age 5/6 years) responded to and appropriated aspects of the National Literacy Strategy. In each of the three episodes of the account they worked with a different aspect of the Strategy. Displaying increasing literacy and collaborative skills they worked with consonant blends, alphabetical order and spelling. Led by a child who disliked the discourse of public display, the children collaborated over extended periods of time, transforming the style of the NLS to achieve their own literacy purposes and showing that the NLS is not the whole story when it comes to learning about literacy.     

Research and the National Literacy Strategy

This paper outlines the research evidence underpinning the National Literacy Strategy that was implemented in England in 1998. The paper summarises what the Strategy comprises and identifies several 'predisposing' influences. These were the international data on primary school pupils' reading performance, school effectiveness research and the findings from literacy programmes with underachieving pupils in the USA and Australia. School inspections provided additional evidence. The early success of the National Literacy Project provided a 'precipitating' influence, as it reflected much of what was implied in the other sources of research evidence. The main aspects of the National Literacy Strategy are discussed and the relevant research findings are indicated. The broadly complementary nature of these sources is noted and the paper concludes by suggesting that the Strategy offers the promise of significantly raising standards and of improving the life-chances of thousands of children.     

Hourwatch: monitoring the inception of the National Literacy Strategy

This article outlines the preliminary findings from a small scale research project set up by a group of UKRA members to monitor teachers’ views of the literacy hour in its first year. The research draws on questionnaires, interviews and video data to reveal issues which concerned those teachers taking part in the survey and provides a snapshot of what it was like for some teachers coping with this initiative.     

'Interactive Whole Class Teaching' in the National Literacy Strategy

Building on evidence from an earlier small-scale study of the discourse of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) in England, the findings of a more extensive investigation (n=70) into interactive and discourse styles of a nationally representative sample of primary teachers are presented. Using a computerised observation schedule and discourse analysis system, the paper explores the impact of the official endorsement of 'interactive whole class teaching' in the teaching of the NLS to see whether it is promoting higher levels of interaction and cognitive engagement by pupils. The findings support our earlier study and suggest that the NLS is encouraging teachers to use more directive forms of teaching with little opportunities for pupils to explore and elaborate on their ideas. The implications of the findings are considered in the light of their impact on classroom pedagogy and the professional development of teachers who are charged with implementing the national policy-led initiatives like the NLS.     

Progress and performance in National Literacy Strategy classrooms

This paper presents evidence from an ESRC funded research study into the implementation of the Literacy Hour in small rural schools in England. It supports evidence from national UK data that progress in literacy was made during the first year in which the Literacy Hour was operative. However, evidence from this small‐scale study shows progress being different in each class. Evidence is also presented to show that reading scores provide only a partial picture and that progress in writing may be evident in different classes. It is argued that following the Literacy Hour is not enough but that how teachers teach and the tasks they set during this classroom time have implications for the kind of progress made.     

The National Literacy Strategy and individual differences

This is a discussion paper reflecting on the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) after one year of operation. It is argued that, despite claims that it has already had an effect on KS2 SAT (Standardised Assessment Test) performance, it is too soon to make such a judgement. Questions are raised about whether it is wise to use a non‐professional group of assistants to provide the Additional Literacy Support for at risk children in Key Stage 2 or the Key Stage 1 Intervention Programme. It is argued that those children who show atypical development need the most qualified and highly skilled teachers. Finally, it is argued that once the NLS becomes established it will be necessary for all teachers to engage with the research literature so that they teach from a position of professional understanding of the processes involved in reading and writing development.     

Too Much,Too Young? An Analysis of the Key Stage 3 National Literacy Strategy in Practice

This article was first drafted after I worked for 14 weeks last year in a school that was piloting the National Literacy Strategy at Key Stage 3. I now work in another school delivering the full published Strategy to Year 7. In this article, I explore the contradictions inherent in the Strategy in attempting to develop the English and literacy skills of Key Stage 3 pupils. Ultimately, my argument is that the educational benefits of this teaching to objectives is at odds with some of the deeper aims of the Strategy and of English teaching, and that the constant assessment involved puts too much pressure on our youngsters at an age when they should be concentrating on social development as people.     

Evaluating the Effectiveness of the National Literacy Strategy: Identifying indicators of success

In 1998, the Government introduced the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) in all primary schools in England in a bid to raise literacy standards. The first cohort of primary schools in the northern Local Education Authority ( n = 19) implemented the project in January 1997, the second cohort ( n = 20) began in September 1997. Each cohort consisted of three different year groups (Year 2, Year 4 and Year 6). The aim of this project was to focus upon exam results from these schools and thereby identify possible predictors of success (e.g. socio-economic status, age of pupils, teaching and learning style). We looked at differences within and between each cohort. We also carried out in-depth case studies of three northern schools. Each case-study involved interviews with key staff. The wider implications of the findings for the implementation of the NLS and for the training needs of teachers are considered.     

The National Literacy Strategy and setting: an investigation in one school

This article investigates the policy of setting that is commonly being seen as an organizational tool for effective delivery of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS). It is suggested that teachers are finding the increased amount of whole-class teaching to a diverse range of abilities, as prescribed by the NLS, problematic. This case-study researches both teachers' and children's perspectives on the Literacy Hour as taught in mixed-ability classes and in sets. Reflective commentaries and pupil questionnaires were used to collect data over two years. The results indicate a complex range of issues, both pedagogical and organizational, which need be considered before setting can be promoted as a strategy for literacy delivery. I conclude that there is a need for urgent research into the effectiveness of setting as a means of teaching the Literacy Hour.     

Long overdue? Another look at the National Literacy Strategy

This paper discusses the teaching approaches which English primary schools are encouraged to use as part of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) and the ways in which the case for their increased use is supported by research and inspection evidence. This evidence suggests that, in the years immediately before the NLS was implemented, early reading in English primary schools was largely taught by individualised methods. The skills for dealing with information texts were taught rather patchily. Links between reading and writing were often not directly made. The paper argues that the reasons for this individualised pedagogy can be traced back to the influence of the Plowden Report of 1967. The limitations of individualised teaching with whole classes have subsequently been highlighted by school effectiveness research. The paper outlines the studies which have influenced the NLS in promoting greater direct interactive teaching of literacy and notes some critical issues which are still to be resolved.     

Changing practice: The National Literacy Strategy and the politics of literacy policy

Drawing on a recent ESRC‐funded research project, 1 this paper will explore some of the contradictory structural features of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS), which have helped shape its evolution over time, and reflect on some of the tension points which have arisen at different levels of implementation as the Strategy unfolds. In the process, the paper will consider NLS not so much as a neutral means of transferring ‘what works’ from one site to another, but rather as itself constituting a new social context in which literacy teaching and learning take place. It will pay particular attention to the new pace of teaching that NLS has ushered in and the way in which this is driven by the kind of planning regime that NLS introduced.     

Can You See the Difference? Early Impacts of the Primary National Literacy Strategy on Four Secondary English Departments

As schools adapt to the Key Stage 3 Literacy Strategy, this paper looks at early impacts upon secondary English departments of the primary National Literacy Strategy (NLS). Since 1999, pupils with increasing experience of the primary NLS have been entering secondary schools. This paper focuses upon four secondary English departments at three points in time: early in the first year in which secondary schools received Y7 students who had experienced the NLS (autumn 1999), towards the end of the same school year (July 2000) and five terms later (spring 2002). The paper looks for shifts over time in departmental policy and practice across the primary/secondary transfer that may relate to the impact of the primary NLS. Of the two major findings from rounds one and two of interviews, one was confirmed by the third round of interviews and one was not. The persistent finding was that greater success with post-NLS students in Y7 was experienced by the English department that already practised high levels of liaison with feeder primary schools and worked positively to publicise their literacy practices across their own school's other subject departments. However, over the three years, the four departments grew more varied in their preparation for, and responses to, receiving students from the primary NLS. This suggests that English departments are operating their responses to the primary NLS with a fair degree of autonomy.     

汉语识字策略对英语词汇学习的启示

汉语对英语学习的影响并非只有负迁移,它们在许多层面上会发生正迁移。就汉语汉字学习与英语单词学习而言,汉语同音字与英语同音词、汉语形近字与英语形近词以及汉语形声字与英语派生词之间都可以发生正迁移。合理利用汉字学习与英语词汇学习之间的正迁移,可以事半功倍地学习英语词汇。