By no means within the subject of faculty management has a lot been anticipated, with so little time, because the position of literacy coordinator.
I’ve written earlier than about the literacy coordinator as a Sisyphus determine. Invariably, with an hour or two freed up from educating on their timetable, the coordinator is predicted to work some wonders relating to embedding literacy practices.
Given the skimpy time allotted, some skimming alongside the floor of the literacy problem is inevitable. Maybe it’s an hour on the beleaguered finish of a coaching day, or sporadic celebrations of studying.
Fairly merely, until literacy management is given the time and instruments it requires, it dangers proving a distraction from the shared duty of senior and center leaders. What’s extra, I’d counsel there are most likely a set of lively elements that decide whether or not the position has any success. I reckon time, instruments (monetary or in any other case), and seniority all matter (being on the senior workforce, or with quick access to them).
The place does the varsity chief begin? Literacy has its roots in each classroom, branching out in plans, insurance policies, and an array of practices. My regular recommendation is to try to shrink the problem and achieve some readability on what we really imply by ‘literacy’.
The perfect wager signifies we should always choose a precedence that’s ‘amenable to alter’ (folks prefer it, suppose it’s well timed, and it helps remedy their issues). It the midst of a pandemic, it’s also about being pragmatic and punctiliously exploring what is possible for academics (and pupils) within the time that they’ve.
Shrinking the problem
Any collection of priorities for literacy runs the chance of being reductive, and but, we could must be pragmatic and choose from widespread present issues and areas of predictable promise.
The EEF steering report on Enhancing Literacy in Secondary Faculties gives an evidence-based abstract, with key suggestions.
I’ve recognized the next areas of literacy that really feel salient for secondary literacy proper now. The hyperlinks hopefully provide some helpful prompts, some acquainted and a few new, together with references to discover additional:
Disciplinary literacy:
Seldom does literacy in secondary faculty stick until it’s tailored to the totally different calls for of studying, writing, and extra, within the topic disciplines. Starting with ‘disciplinary literacy’ might show engaging and accessible.
- See EEF Secondary Literacy Steerage Report Advice 1 for an accessible explainer.
- Discover this disciplinary literacy bibliography by the peerless Professor Tim Shanahan.
- Watch this recording of Professor Shanahan clarify disciplinary literacy for a Greenshaw Analysis Faculty recording.
- @KVinceyxx has written a wonderful weblog on creating division literacy reps, which gives a helpful car for disciplinary literacy.
- With a disciplinary literacy lens, I wrote about studying mattering in maths.
Vocabulary Growth:
Prioritising vocabulary improvement constantly seems to be necessary, engaging, and manageable for many academics. I’ve occurred to bang on about it for some time, so listed below are some key sources and assets.
- Busting a couple of vocabulary myths is necessary to determine a shared understanding of the significance of vocabulary instruction.
- I wrote concerning the three pillars of vocabulary educating.
- With disciplinary literacy in thoughts, I wrote about closing the phrase hole in science for OUP.
- Katherine Mortimore has defined a bespoke TA dictionary vocabulary mannequin.
- I’ve recognized a vocabulary improvement studying record to discover additional.
Studying improvement:
Is there something extra important to educational achievement than expert studying? It’s a perennial literacy precedence for good motive.
- I’ve shared some free assets on ‘Closing the Studying Hole’.
- I gave a researchED discuss on ‘Closing the Studying Hole’ (with PPT and references).
- Essa Academy have kindly shared a free ‘disciplinary studying’ booklet on TES.
- Kate McCabe has shared a weblog on ‘disciplinary studying’ (with PPT useful resource) which accounts for the optimistic work undertaken in her faculty.
- DRET’s studying programme gives a radical explainer of a scientific method to complete faculty/Belief studying.
Writing improvement:
Maybe there isn’t any extra advanced ability anticipated of pupils than writing. And but, academics routinely describe themselves as underconfident in learn how to educate writing explicitly. Lecturers must be supported to interrupt down the advanced act of writing into extra manageable chunks.
- Advice 4 and 5 within the EEF Enhancing Literacy in Secondary Faculties provide two key areas to concentrate on for writing: break down advanced writing duties and mix writing instruction with studying.
- I’ve written about vocabulary and writing and the way we assist pupils work phrases into their writing.
- The What Works Clearing Home within the US has produced complete steering on Educating Secondary College students to Write Successfully.
- The irrepressible Cogscisci group of science academics held a useful writing symposium on all issues writing in science.
- The superb Writing Revolution has impressed numerous blogs; significantly the favored ‘as a result of, however, so’ sentence construction. Kristian Shanks explains ‘as a result of, however, so’ as used within the historical past classroom neatly.
Literacy at transition:
Literacy coordinators are routinely requested to easy over studying and literacy on the transition. Sadly, we defer to ‘mild’ approaches, similar to sharing an article or studying, when the fact is that the advanced, altering curriculum throughout key phases must be understood and extra substantive bridges constructed.
- I’ve written concerning the language leap throughout the KS2 and KS3 transition.
- Extra particularly, I write about the ‘studying hole’ at transition.
- The OUP and CfEY have shared an attention-grabbing report on Bridging the Phrase Hole on the Transition (there’s a launch video too).
- This OUP weblog describes Sarah Eggleton’s faculty and their concentrate on educational vocabulary on the transition.
- This EEF Faculty Transitions Instrument summaries the proof of challenges on the transition – together with a scarcity of curriculum continuity.
Curriculum connectedness:
Faculties are grappling with the continuous act of curriculum improvement. Studying, vocabulary, writing, and extra, all must be interwoven into curriculum improvement – not considered as a bolt on. Literacy is just inextricable from curriculum improvement.
- I’ve written about educational vocabulary and schema constructing, which is complemented by a greater and broader weblog by Tom Sherrington on schema constructing.
- I’ve written how curriculum improvement is a instructor improvement problem. As an illustration, academics have to learn about studying challenges that mediate the curriculum, and so forth.
- Ruth Ashbee has written a considerate weblog linking literacy (or language) and curriculum.
- Professor Dan Willingham writes a cogent clarification of why tales are psychologically privileged (and the way they may also help join up our curriculum).
- Mark Miller at Bradford Analysis Faculty has sensitively unpicked the position and language of the information organiser as a software to cohere language within the curriculum.
Placing it into motion – insurance policies {and professional} improvement:
Literacy can’t be a instructor coaching afterthought. If the coordinator is filling the graveyard slot in September, and never a lot else, then we shouldn’t count on a lot optimistic change. So, the place to start out?
- The EEF Enhancing Literacy in Secondary Faculties has a useful literacy RAG self-assessment software to assist appraise the present place with literacy from which to construct on.
- The EEF’s Efficient Skilled Growth steering report identifies a spread of ‘mechanisms’ which can be essential for efficient literacy skilled improvement.
- Alice Visser-Furay has kindly shared her plans, insurance policies and assets created in her position as literacy lead.
- You may carry out a pre-mortem to anticipate the failures and challenges that can beset your finest laid plans.
- Tim Shanahan writes about why it’s so laborious to enhance studying achievement within the US, however it’s his ‘final mile’ downside which is so related to literacy coordinators: we have to persuade colleagues that change and enhancing literacy is critical.
I might have shared a thousand hyperlinks, named a plethora of leaders, academics and consultants, signposted useful books, and extra. Apologies for omissions, however the record was already lengthy, and the literacy lead has an excessive amount of to learn and do already! Any nice hyperlinks for literacy leads are welcomed in feedback.
Preserve pushing!