Further Readings

Contents

Guides for Literacy Tutors and Teachers

Training Sequence for New Tutors Using Free Resources

The Science of Reading

Policy Review of the Science of Reading Debate in the USA

Literacy in the USA, the UK and the English-Speaking World

Inequality, Power, Literacy and Education

Our Influences

Guides for Literacy Tutors and Teachers

We list here some great free resources for adult literacy tutors that can provide essential support for those new to phonics methods and the ideas around the Science of Reading that are becoming increasingly accepted in education. These resources will be very useful to those working in adult literacy education – where support for staff training and development is generally poor. Those who are interested in becoming adult literacy tutors but have no easy access to training will find these resources extremely useful and supportive.

We also provide a broader range of resources about policy, economic and political aspects of adult literacy.

POST-16 PHONICS APPROACHES: A TOOLKIT
Written by some of the leading adult literacy researchers and practitioners in the UK, it published by the Education and Training Foundation. It is an excellent (and free) accompaniment to the Citizen Literacy Tutor Handbooks and our other training materials. It provides clear and detailed guidance on how to use phonics methods with adults and gives examples of practical exercises with learners that put the ideas into real-life contexts. Highly recommended as a supporting text to our Tutor Handbooks the toolkit provides a great developmental pathway for tutors – think of it as a CPD course in phonics for adults in its own right.

It is freely available as a PDF file to download from this web link https://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/content/etf3030

Reading Rockets Resources
https://www.readingrockets.org/
This is the website of a national American public literacy initiative and is a rich goldmine of free resources and information about literacy teaching for younger learners but has a great deal to offer those involved in Adult literacy. It is worth spending time exploring this extraordinarily rich online set of resource. Here we provide what we think is a useful selection.

Print-to-Speech and Speech-to-Print: Mapping Early Literacy (Reading Rockets)
https://www.readingrockets.org/article/print-speech-and-speech-print-mapping-early-literacy
A useful and clear introduction to the reasons for using phonics and the Science of Reading ideas for teachers who have not encountered them before. Written in such a way to take the heat out of the debate and give much needed clarity to what is being proposed. Aimed at elementary / primary teachers but just as useful for those working in adult literacy

Teaching Reading
https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching
A wide-ranging set of set of guides to help teachers develop the skills to teach reading.

Reading 101: A Guide to Teaching Reading and Writing – What every teacher should know
https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading101-course/welcome-reading-101
A really useful and comprehensive self-directed free open and online course of 9 modules – a great resource for beginner tutors in adult literacy. The program provides teachers with an in-depth knowledge of reading and writing. Produced in collaboration with the Center for Effective Reading Instruction and The International Dyslexia Association. After successfully completing each module a student teacher can take an online test and download for an ‘Official Letter of Completion’.

For those students who want to continue their learning and gain a certificate from the Center for Effective Reading Instruction by visiting Becoming a Certified Literacy Teacher.

Training Sequence for New Tutors Using Free Resources

Please see this web page where we provide a suggested training sequence using some of these free resource.

The Science of Reading

Science of Reading: Defining Guide
For those new to the term ‘Science of Reading’ this is a very useful, clear explanation, and definition and is available from the Reading League website at https://www.thereadingleague.org/what-is-the-science-of-reading/ where it can be downloaded as a free PDF document. It also available to download from oir website at this link

Overview: Although the scientific evidence base for effective reading has existed for decades, the term “the science of reading” has gained traction in the last few years, potentially leading to misunderstandings. As a result, we believe that a common definition is useful for the field.

Want to know more about the science of reading? A reading list of 10 sources.
https://www.apmreports.org/story/2022/10/20/science-of-reading-list

Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science,2020: What Expert Teachers of Reading Should Know and Be Able to Do.
https://www.readingrockets.org/sites/default/files/teaching-reading-is-rocket-science-2020.pdf
Produced by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) a member of the AFL-CIO trade union federation. Written by Louisa C. Moats a leading exponent of phonics and Science of Reading approaches to literacy and one of the authors of the popular LETRS programme for teacher development training in literacy in the USA.

Policy Review of the Science of Reading Debate in the USA

The Science of Reading Movement: The Never-Ending Debate and the Need for a Different Approach to Reading Instruction
A useful review of the history of educational policies and debates around the Science of Reading in the USA from the National Education Policy Center (NEPC) at the University of Colorado
https://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/science-of-reading

Literacy in the USA, the UK and the English-Speaking World

This collection of resources and debates about the state of literacy in the USA is applicable to the rest of the English-speaking world as an example of existing and historical trends in the management of public education systems in relation to literacy.

Citizen Literacy White Paper
https://citizenliteracy.com/white-paper/
A discussion about the state of adult literacy in the UK and our response to the situation. Also provides useful information about our approach and background.

National Action Plan for Adult Literacy (USA 2021)
https://www.barbarabush.org/national-action-plan-for-adult-literacy/
Barbara Bush Foundation, Washington DC

Inside the Massive Effort to Change the Way Kids Are Taught to Read
https://time.com/6205084/phonics-science-of-reading-teachers/
A Time Magazine article about efforts to introduce phonics-based instruction into the public education systems of the USA. Despite being recommended by the USA National Reading Panel back in 2000, based on clear research evidence, this had been resisted or diluted in school systems. The article describes how advocates and civil rights activists for dyslexics and Black kids, groups of learners particularly disadvantaged by traditional methods of instruction, have been able to drive forwards the debate and pressure local governments to start to act. Now the subject of a documentary film – The Right to Read (release 2023) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lcfaG3Z1zk

Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong: Podcasts and reading list
From American Public Media covering the changing ideas about teaching reading in the USA
“An investigation into how discredited ideas about how children learn to read came to dominate elementary / primary schools in the USA and the economic”
https://features.apmreports.org/sold-a-story/

Heinemann’s billion-dollar sales have nationwide reach
https://www.apmreports.org/story/2022/11/10/heinemann-sales-by-school-district
“APM Reports found that the controversial educational publishing company has sold instructional materials and professional resources in almost every state, earning at least $1.6 billion over a decade.”

How legislation on reading instruction is changing across the country
https://www.apmreports.org/story/2022/11/17/reading-instruction-legislation-state-map
“More states are now requiring districts to adopt curriculum that adheres to the science of reading.”

A Fifth of American Adults Struggle to Read. Why Are We Failing to Teach Them?
ProPublica Investigative Journalism Article
https://www.propublica.org/article/literacy-adult-education-united-states
A detailed and readable description of the state of the adult education system in the USA and its inability to meet adult literacy needs, with lots of useful information, statistics and illustrative case studies. This article certainly backs up the statements about poor adult literacy support made in the Barbara Bush Foundation publication ‘National Action Plan for Adult Literacy’, also cited in this reference section. Authors: Annie Waldman, Aliyya Swaby and Anna Clark, with additional reporting by Nicole Santa Cruz, photography by Kathleen Flynn,

Inequality, Power, Literacy and Education

Inside the Massive Effort to Change the Way Kids Are Taught to Read
https://time.com/6205084/phonics-science-of-reading-teachers/

A Time Magazine article about efforts to introduce phonics-based instruction into the public education systems of the USA. Despite being recommended by the USA National Reading Panel back in 2000, based on clear research evidence, this had been resisted or diluted in school systems. The article describes how advocates and civil rights activists for dyslexics and Black kids, groups of learners particularly disadvantaged by traditional methods of instruction, have been able to drive forwards the debate and pressure local governments to start to act. Now the subject of a documentary film – The Right to Read (release 2023)

 

Ideology and Curriculum
Fourth Edition (2019), by Michael W. Apple, Routledge, New York

Can Education Change Society?
(2016) Lecture at University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education. English language lecture starts at 13:10

Equality Trust UK 1000% Increase in Billionaire Wealth
A report from the UK Equality Trust highlighting the negative effects of high levels of economic equality on individuals and society

https://equalitytrust.org.uk/news/equality-trust-finds-1000-increase-billionaire-wealth

Our Influences

Paulo Freire
Paulo Freire: Brazilian educator who believed in making adult education directly relevant to learner’s lives, one of his books has become very famous The Pedagogy of the Oppressed He spent time in jail because his success in teaching peasants to read and write upset the military junta. Went into exile worked with the Agrarian Reform Movement in Chile and the United Nations and in educational reform in Africa.

John Comenius
John Comenius: Czech educator who advocated for universal lifelong education. Is in many ways the unsung father of modern educational technology, he introduced instructional textbooks with illustrations written in native languages rather than elitist Latin text – a revolutionary practice in 16th century Europe. The EU has named

Louise Michel
Louise Michel: French revolutionary (literally) teacher who opened a progressive school in Paris, an advocate for women’s rights, member of the Paris Commune, transported to a prison island in the Pacific where she taught the children of prisoners. Opened a school in London with other progressive educationalists to educate the children of refugees.

There are many other influences on our work, especially in the field of design, to find out more please visit out ‘Influences’ web page [in development]