Exploring an intensivereading pedagogy in adult

literacyDavid Rose

VALBECVALBECMay 2009

•Integrates teaching of reading as part of

normal classroom practice at all levels –

i d t tiprimary, secondary, tertiary

•Teaches writing using skills and knowledge

learnt from reading

•Carefully plans teacher learner interaction

to enable all learners to achieve success atto enable all learners to achieve success at

all points in a lesson

Schools programs~200 schools in NSW DET regions urban, rural, secondary, primary~30 schools in Victorian DEECD regions~60 Catholic Education schools, in Melbourne, rural Victoria, andBrisbane dioceses~30 Independent Schools, in Victoria and WA.•Teacher training programs in South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania,Afghanistan Sweden and DenmarkAfghanistan, Sweden and Denmark

Tertiary and adult education programs•International students, Centre for English Teaching, University ofSydney•Indigenous students, Koori Centre and Yooroang Garang School ofg , g gIndigenous Health, University of Sydney•Anangu Teacher Education Program, University of South Australia•Academic literacy programs in universities in South Africa China•Academic literacy programs in universities in South Africa, China,Indonesia, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Darwin

School students

“…average literacy gains across allh l d l dschools and classes, and among

students from all backgrounds andability ranges was consistentlyability ranges, was consistently…double the expected rate ofliteracy development.literacy development.Furthermore, 20% of studentsmade gains of…four times theexpected rate of literacydevelopment” .

Indigenous tertiary students

Writing assessed using text analysis with 11 criteria (0 9 for each criterion)Writing assessed using text analysis, with 11 criteria (0 9 for each criterion)

Average gain 30 points = junior secondary to matriculation/Yr 1

ALBE student commentsRecently, [our teacher] has been using a new teaching method tohelp us learn English in our class. It’s a brand new experience forhelp us learn English in our class. It s a brand new experience foreverybody. [He] chooses one piece of a little bit harder essay to letus read. He asks us to speak aloud one by one even if we don’tk f d i th d h d h fknow some of words in the essay and he records each of ourreading with a recorder …

What a fantastic teaching method it is! It involves reading, readingaloud pronunciation vocabulary spelling comprehensionaloud, pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling, comprehension,discussion, grammar as well as writing. I think it is very creativeand every member of class gets involved in this procedure.Students can get the biggest benefit from this teaching methodeven if it is run a little bit more slowly than usual lessons.

ALBE teacher commentsMy students and I are both sold on it, so we’re sold. It’s been very successful.In fact it’s kept my students coming to class.

You know it’s only a small TAFE college, we have had historically a problemkeeping people coming to class because of our population. We have olderstudents who usually have family or work pressures, and increasingly workpressures in the government climate these days. Um so, starting off with saya small class of around 12, you’re getting 12 enrolments and it gets whittledf , y g g gback and whittled back.

But they’ve kept coming, primarily because they’re enjoying the readingut t ey e ept co g, p a y because t ey e e joy g t e ead gclasses ... But they have gotten so much out of the reading because quiteoften, you know we've been focusing on media, they get stuck on thevocabulary or with the reference from outside, exophoric reference. Sovocabulary or with the reference from outside, exophoric reference. Sothey’ve appreciated very much the classes and as I said they’ve kept coming.

CSWE level II standard

Generations of genre based pedagogies

2000s reading across thecurriculum

Reading to Learn

1990s writing across thesecondary curriculum

Write it Right

1980s writing in theprimary schoolWriting Project

Generations of scaffolding reading pedagogies

2000s reading across thecurriculum

Reading to Learn

1990s reading stories inmiddle/upper primaryAccelerated Literacy

1980s reading stories inearly primary

Reading Recovery

Closing the gap b ff ldi th h l lby scaffolding the whole class

Scaffolding learning cycle

learning programslearning programs

l ti itilesson activities

classroom discourse

Working with Discourse

Chapter 1 Interpreting social discourse

Chapter 2 APPRAISAL negotiating attitudes

Chapter 3 IDEATION construing experienceChapter 3 IDEATION construing experience

Chapter 4 CONJUNCTION connecting eventsp g

Chapter 5 IDENTIFICATION – tracking participants

Chapter 6 PERIODICITY – information flow

Chapter 7 NEGOTIATION interacting in dialogue

Genre Relations

Chapter 1 Getting going with genre

Chapter 2 Stories

Chapter 3 Histories

Ch t 4 R t d l tiChapter 4 Reports and explanations

Chapter 5 Procedures and procedural recountsChapter 5 Procedures and procedural recounts

Chapter 6 Keeping going with genre

The reading and writing task

Complexity of reading and writing

Approaches to the task

Reading to Learn approach

Reading to Learn lesson cycle

AssessingIndependent

T kTasks

1 Standard academic practice (te ts scaffold learning)

Degrees of scaffolding support1 Standard academic practice (texts scaffold learning)

• Students expected to read set texts independently

• Expected to write assignments without modelling• Expected to write assignments without modelling

2 Preparation before Reading (whole text)

Provide background needed to access field of textProvide background needed to access field of text

Summarise how field unfolds through text

Students read independentlyStudents read independently

3 Paragraph by paragraph reading (eg. section of article)

Teacher prepares meaning of paragraph(s)eac e p epa es ea g o pa ag ap (s)

Student reads

Elaborate key meaningsy g

- define words/ explain concepts/ discuss knowledge

Higher scaffolding support4 Paragraph by paragraph text marking (summarise article)

• Highlight key information in each paragraph • Highlight key information in each paragraph

- Topic, Point, other information

• Joint construction of notes and summary of text

5 Sentence by sentence text marking (short passage)5 Sentence by sentence text marking (short passage)

• Highlight key information in each sentence

• Joint construction of notes and new text

- using field and text patterns from passage

Book 1 Preparing for reading and writingBook 1 Preparing for reading and writingBook 2 Assessing writing

k 3 lBook 3 Lesson cyclesBook 4 Detailed lesson plansBook 5 Selecting and analysing textsBook 6 Patterns in textsBook 7 Intensive strategies and early yearsBook 8 Patterns in sentencesBook 8 Patterns in sentencesBook 9 Maths

Some conclusionsfrom NCVER reportfrom NCVER report

The Reading to Learn pedagogy had positive impacts in the adult literacyclassrooms involved in the project. These included

d h d d•improvement in student achievements in reading and writing•active participation and attendance patterns•growth in professional knowledge, especially knowledge about language•systematic and principled planning and teachingsystematic and principled planning and teaching.

Implementing the Reading to Learn pedagogy required some intensive retrainingof teachers and periodic intervention by experts over an extended period. Themeans by which the pedagogy was introduced to teachers in this study, throughprofessional development workshops interwoven with periods ofimplementation, reflection and classroom observation, proved effective.

Such an introduction to the Reading to Learn approach on a broader scale in theadult literacy sector would require commitment of time and funds and ongoinginstitutional support. For this reason it is predicted that the Reading to Learninstitutional support. For this reason it is predicted that the Reading to Learnpedagogy would be most easily introduced within organisations that already havestrong literacy strategies and supportive senior staff and program managers.

www.readingtolearn.com.au

Writing assessment

Register criteria

FieldIs the story plot imaginative interesting and coherent?Is the story plot imaginative, interesting and coherent?

TenorIs the reader engaged with characters’ reactions and reflections?

ModeIs the creative use of literary descriptive language and metaphors appropriate for the grade level? appropriate for the grade level?

Discourse criteria

LexisAre people, things and places followed through coherently to build up the field?

AppraisalIs the reader engaged through expression of feelings, judgements of people and appreciation of things?people and appreciation of things?

ConjunctionWhat are the logical relations between each step, e.g. shifts back and forward in time?

ReferenceIs it clear who or what is referred to e g in dialogue?Is it clear who or what is referred to, e.g. in dialogue?