This you know: Literacy is a foundational skill that creates opportunities for all students, regardless of their backgrounds. Literacy is essential for equity in education and success in the modern world.
That鈥檚 why we need high-quality, proven literacy instruction strategies鈥攁nd why we need the Science of Reading.
Former school administrator (and mesmerizing speaker) Mitchell Brookins helped us connect all these dots in a recent webinar as part of our . Brookins described why we must get literacy instruction right, why we need to invest more in helping all students, and why鈥攁s he puts it鈥�”literacy is liberty.”
The science of teaching reading.
A core job of education is to deliver literacy instruction to all students. According to Brookins鈥� estimates, though, only half of teacher education programs are equipping teachers with fundamental knowledge about the Science of Reading, such as phonemic awareness. Many educational communities are still informed by knowledge and practices that predate what science tells us now about how the brain learns to read.
For example, says Brookins: 鈥淲e were taught to use strategies that put our students鈥� attention more on pictures than print.鈥� Through no fault of their own, some teachers or systems may not be equipped with the tools they need to serve all their students on their reading journeys.
But the thing is, says Brookins, we have the tools and resources. 鈥淲e have a clearer pathway than we had before. We know that teachers need conscious, specific professional learning. We have the research. We have assessments. We have curriculum,鈥� he says. And we do have a proliferation of opportunities for teachers to .
Opportunity is for everyone.
That鈥檚 why literacy is opportunity鈥攆or teachers, too. An evidence-based approach to teaching reading provides the opportunity for teachers to succeed.
The evidence also reminds us that knowledge matters. We know about the power of knowledge鈥攕pecifically, that prior knowledge supports learning new knowledge. And we know that knowledge comes in many forms鈥攂oth what you learn in school, and what you absorb from the world around you. Those worlds can look very different for students and teachers.
That鈥檚 why, Brookins says, 鈥淵ou have to understand youth culture and their lived experience. You have to understand their knowledge because whatever you are teaching them today has to connect,鈥� he says.
It鈥檚 all challenging, but it鈥檚 all achievable. 鈥淲hen we put text at the center of the classroom, with topics and themes that are critical to helping children navigate the world, that is the way you get to truly culturally relevant pedagogy,鈥� says Brookins.
My greatest hope is that we are now in a moment where we don鈥檛 allow the research that we鈥檝e had for more than 50 years to just be lying on the side,鈥� Brookins adds. 鈥淲e have the opportunity today to fulfill the promise that all of us challenge ourselves to fulfill.
