Best Practice

Literacy: A moral right

Literacy and numeracy
In a challenging article, literacy expert Debbie Hepplewhite bemoans the conflicting and often strongly held views on how we should teach children to read – and calls for the moral rights of the child to be placed above the professional rights of the teacher

Do teachers share the same professional understanding of phonics provision and reading instruction? No.

This is what I note in every context nationally and internationally (through wider reading, first-hand observations in schools and of video footage, via forums, blogs, networks and the media). Does this matter? Yes, it certainly does.

What children receive should not be left to chance where literacy is concerned. Some schools in England consistently achieve 95 to 100 per cent literacy. All teachers need to be fully informed regarding what the most successful schools do. We need to work collaboratively nationally and internationally in sharing information and we could do this with modern technology.

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