How to Create a Culture of Literacy in Schools
It hasn’t been the most straightforward couple of years in education. For educators, support staff and students, there’s been a huge element of disruption to learning, and it’s something that we’ll be feeling the effects of for some time yet. We’re making cautious steps towards recovery, but all over the US and the UK, people are headed back into the classrooms feeling uncertain about their long-term learning – and this isn’t something that’s easily remedied.
Students need time and understanding to overcome the events of the past two years; as do educators and support staff. It’s been a tough one. Yet while the pandemic’s impact on education has been overall, largely negative, the return to in-person learning and the prospect of a much more normal 2022 does give us the opportunity to make some changes, too.
Literacy is one of the core building blocks of a traditional educational experience; however many older students- especially after months remote learning and maybe feeling more than a little detached from their studies- can feel like the last thing they want to do is focus on a critical thinking skills, as opposed to the topics that are going to feature more obviously in their exams. But one of the key things that almost two years of disrupted learning allows us to do is to re-interrogate the building blocks of learning in our educational establishments and build better foundations upon which learning can occur. And a big part of this might be reassessing the role of a culture of literacy can play in a school, and the benefits that establishing a strong literacy foundation can have for each and every student that learns within it.
How to Create a Culture of Literacy in Schools
· Take a look at the current condition of literacy in your school. This could be through a student/parent survey, or even long-form data collection from staff. This provides a baseline from which you can assess your school’s capacity for improving literacy, and perhaps even where your focus needs to be in terms of strengthening the literacy skills of core groups.
· Develop a team to focus on literacy – a literacy leadership team, or something similar. These are the people who’ll be responsible for implementing the changes you decide to make, and getting that new focus across to students and staff alike. And don’t forget to include school counselors and special education teachers too – these are the professionals who can make sure that your literacy plan doesn’t leave students behind if they have different needs from their classmates.
· Develop a schoolwide model that supports additional time to focus on literacy. This could be that a few days a week, assemblies are replaced by reading time; or form activities focused on literacy, or even that the class focus for younger children is tweaked to include more activities that encourage them to read together or individually.
· Develop the idea of literacy as recreation, as well as a building block of learning. Make libraries spaces where students want to spend their recreation time, and develop the reading materials that you have available – are they up to date? Do they cater for all age ranges, and all reading abilities? Do you have a book club, or a structured reading program that introduces interested students to new books and new kinds of reading media? Another good idea is a reading rewards program that encourages students to keep up a continued practice of reading for pleasure.
· Dedicate time and attention to the different reading needs of the student. Some students will be confident readers, some will be reluctant, some will have conditions such as dyslexia and ADHD which can complicate the reading experience for them and make things feel a little more difficult. Make sure that they’re supported in a literacy drive, not left behind. This means having a whole toolbox of literacy support solutions on hand, from reading strips to devices like our very own ReaderPen. And they’re not just for students who have a diagnosed learning difficulty either – they can help strengthen reading skills across the classroom.
· It also means fostering an environment where students feel confident enough to ask for help when it comes to reading – don’t force students to read aloud in front of a class, and don’t assume that everybody in a class is going to be comfortable with the same reading materials. Allow them to customize their reading experience alongside their own strengths and interests, and always be available to talk about where they feel like they are, or if they’re comfortable.
· Involve parents and guardians too – encourage reading at home, and developing a home culture where books and reading represent a part of family time and time spent together.
· Create an environment that fosters sharing and learning. This means encouraging input from everybody, from staff to students, and allowing regular forums where people can share their thoughts and feelings on the place that literacy occupies in the school environment.
· Develop a schoolwide plan to address the professional needs of the educators and support staff who’ll be driving this new literacy initiative. Improving comprehension, strengthening the reading/writing connection and all the other fundamental mechanisms that improve literacy learning require support on both sides of the desk. Create an open environment where staff can request training and skill strengthening, and assess their needs too. Creating a culture of literacy is a holistic effort, and everybody needs to be supported accordingly.