New Zealand principals are asking the Government to “slow down” on its rollout of new education policies.
Yesterday, the Government announced it would be pledging $67 million to the rollout of structured literacy – which would require schools to use the approach when teaching students to read.
In structured literacy, a teacher explicitly explained and modelled key skills, and children were not expected to develop skills from exposure or incidental learning opportunities. Students used sounds and phonics to understand words.
The Government has embarked on a major revamp of the education system, introducing cell phone bans; a mandatory hour of reading, writing, and maths; and the structured literacy approach.
In a statement this morning, the New Zealand Principals Federation called on the Government to slow down the implementation of its policies.
“The abrupt shift in priorities and expectations is disruptive and undermines the ability of educators to provide quality teaching and support to our students,” federation president Leanne Otene said.
“Principals, staff, and boards have invested significant effort in developing annual strategic plans and consulting their communities. Teaching and learning plans, along with ongoing professional development for this term, are already set,” she said.
Otene said she welcomed the added funding to the system and “having another funded literacy option to consider” but it was more complex than the Government was making out.
“As self-managing schools, however, we know that a single option will not be effective in every context or for every student in our culturally diverse country.”
She said structured literacy was “not a silver bullet” – pointing out that schools had been using it alongside other approaches since 2018.
“That must continue if we want success,” said Otene.
“Mandating a single literacy approach for all schools would be a mistake and would not on its own get the increased achievement rates that we all strive for.
“Meaningful collaboration and thoughtful planning are essential to fostering sustainable improvements in our education system.
“There is no short-term fix. To be successful, we need a carefully crafted, long-term, funded strategy, built in collaboration with the profession,” she said.
Teaching Council appreciates Govt attention
In a statement released on Friday, the Teaching Council said it welcomed the commitment to resourcing professional learning for early years teachers.
“We agree that more prescription in some areas of our curricula would be helpful,” chief executive Lesley Hoskin said.
Hoskin said most teachers were familiar with the strategies that formed part of structured literacy along with other teaching strategies.
“This knowledge is just one factor. Teachers design learning for their class, but also adapt their practice where needed to ensure every child is learning and being successful.”
The Teaching Council chief executive pointed out that challenges for teachers went well beyond the actual teaching strategies.
“Teachers are working with large numbers of children at a time and are asking for more support to manage the behaviour and wellbeing of young children who may not yet have learned to relate to others, that have suffered trauma, or who have neurodiversity, or disabilities that need specialist support.”
Hoskin said the Government should also listen to teachers and the teaching profession about where resourcing could make the most difference.