Literacy wars resurfacing around the globe

What is it about literacy education that gets people’s adrenalin going?

Whether it’s a misplaced apostrophe in a student’s essay, or an exam question inviting a feminist interpretation of Othello, the teaching of reading and writing is the subject of fierce debates in the media. The debates have reached such intensity in recent years that public confidence in literacy teachers has been undermined and many believe we have a literacy crisis in our schools.

Literacy crises have been declared at other points in Australian history but the pattern is the same. Claims are made that standards are slipping and young people are leaving school without basic literacy skills. Next come the reports in the press, letters to the editor and discussion on talkback radio as parents, teachers, union officials, leaders of professional organisations and academics respond. The effect is always powerful, with the public assuming that there is a literacy problem and that teachers are to blame.

Not surprisingly, concern about literacy education is not exclusive to Australia. In the United States, George Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act, with its narrow focus on maths and reading test scores, has provoked deep division in the education community. Read more by Ilana Snyder, associate professor in the faculty of education, Monash University, about the challenges of literacy education in The Age online.