‘A good news story’: Australian primary teachers are nailing reading instruction, survey finds

Conducted by the Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA), the survey offers a clear insight into the state of reading instruction in schools across the nation – a contested space of reform the association says has neglected to feature the voice of teachers themselves.

The research canvassed the instructional practices and in-school experiences of 500 teachers, revealing some 82 per cent delivered teacher-led reading lessons multiple times per week.

Notably, 98 per cent of early years teachers reported explicitly teaching all five key pillars of reading instruction during a literacy block (phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension).

“This comprehensive approach continues throughout primary years, with most teachers dedicating up to 20 minutes daily to each component,” the report states.

“However, we note that our survey did not explicitly measure inclusion of Konza’s sixth component of Oral Language.”

Recent studies have included oral language as a foundation for reading: the ability to understand and use vocabulary and produce sentences.

“The addition of oral language … gives us a ‘Big 6’,” AERO previously flagged.

The organisation has also warned that in Australia, approaches to teaching and assessing reading include many that carry weak evidence and stray from the science of reading, a foundation for reading success.

Indeed, some experts have long argued that the widespread adoption of instructional approaches that lack strong scientific support, such as balanced literacy, has created confusion around what best practice entails.

“I think it’s time to shift the conversation from ‘teacher knowledge’ to ‘teacher support’,” Dr Helen Adam, PETAA board president, tells EducationHQ in light of the new data.

Despite the negative rhetoric pushed in the media, the survey confirms that our teachers do in fact have a firm grasp on how to effectively apply evidence-based instructional approaches, Adam argues.

“And this is the thing, when a report is published, people will often go for those things that look like the negative side. 

“And so for years and years and years, we’ve been hearing this voice that ‘teachers don’t know what they’re doing’, and this survey is showing that actually, they do.

“They’re confident, they’re using the approaches that are recommended by up-to-date, current evidence.

“That’s the message that we should be giving, and then [highlighting] what it is that teachers are asking for.”

PETAA nominate the Simple View of Reading and Scarborough’s Reading Rope as two prominent and evidence-based models that illustrate how decoding skills and language comprehension together determine reading success.

Yet some 29 per cent of teachers said they didn’t use – or weren’t sure if they used – a particular reading model to inform their instruction in the classroom.

Among the 350 respondents who answered ‘Yes’ to the question, ‘Are there any key models of the teaching of reading that you base your teaching of reading on?’, there were 10 mentions of the discredited ‘balanced’ approach, one mention of whole language, and 15-20 mentions indicating a variety or combination of approaches.

“The most important thing about this survey is it’s a good news story,” Adam reiterated.  

“The results show that teachers are strategic, they’re using evidence-based pedagogies, they’re up-to date with the current knowledge on the teaching of reading, and they’re implementing that.”

Teachers reported that catering to the wide range of student abilities within a single classroom was the greatest challenge in reading instruction.

However, obvious ‘systemic gaps’ emerged from the findings, she warns.

Namely, just 50 per cent of teachers reported working within a whole-school approach to reading instruction, with 41 per cent having school-created approaches and 9 per cent using commercial programs.

“This suggests potential inconsistency in reading instruction approaches both within and across schools, as well as a lack of guidance or structure for early career teachers,” the report notes.

Professional learning was also found to be largely self-directed, with many teachers turning to online resources and social media over formal training to upskill.

Online blogs, newsletters, and journals were teachers’ most frequently accessed resources on a weekly basis, closely followed by social media.

Engagement with Department or system-wide professional learning events were least commonly reported.

Few teachers were involved in regular professional dialogue about reading instruction, and most (65 per cent) did not use instructional materials provided by their department, opting instead for third-party sourced, self-made or in-house resources.

Adam says this suggests education departments ought to look at reallocating their funds and energies.

“Rather than making resources [they could consider putting] the money into providing what the teachers are asking for, which, as our survey showed, is more access to professional learning, more access to collaborative planning and time for that, more access to having a literacy leader in the school that can mentor and coach them, and the opportunity to visit other people’s classrooms and see what’s happening and have regular conversations.”

Teachers consistently reported that catering to the vast range of student abilities within a single classroom as their greatest challenge in reading instruction.

Some 70 per cent relied on learning support staff for differentiation, a situation that PETAA says potentially creates inequities between well-resourced and under-resourced schools.

“This research highlights that teachers are confidently combining explicit instruction with professional judgement and differentiated practice...,” PETAA CEO Megan Edwards says. 

Despite the systemic challenges, teacher confidence was high.

Some 75 per cent of participants felt confident or very confident in both their pedagogical approaches and content knowledge related to reading instruction.

“Teachers … make thousands of decisions every day,” Adam says.

“They’re catering for extremely diverse and complex classrooms, and they know what they’re doing when it comes to teaching reading, but they need support with differentiations for supporting those kids that do fall behind, and that’s where the conversation needs to be.

“[We need to focus on what] teachers need so that they can do their job even better, and without the stress and anxiety of constantly being promoted as not knowing what they’re doing.”