Literacy is a complex field. Educators with literacy expertise recognise that effective policies and strategies in this field are based on sound principles and medium- and long-term solutions. The National Literacy Strategy for All, launched in 2014, seeks to build on existing good practices and was designed by stakeholders following extensive consultation.
The strategy refers to the first, early, junior and secondary years and also the youth and adult sectors, with great importance given to the first and early years in literacy development.
One of the main challenges for the national strategy, based on what has been shown to be effective and on what had been repeatedly referred to by various practitioners on the ground, is to bring people to work together towards the same goals in a collaborative manner. Another challenge is to ensure continuity between mainstream and after-school programmes intended for the same children.
This concern had been repeatedly pointed out in previous reviews of literacy programmes in Malta. In order to address these issues, literacy teams were set up within each college in the State school system. These teams meet on a regular basis to plan and review policies, strategies and programmes. They seek to ensure better coordinated and more focussed services at the school and classroom levels in order to cater for individual student needs.
More research studies should provide deeper insights into a range of issues which pertain to our specific bilingual situation
The literacy strategy has provided a clearer direction about the literacy teaching methodology in schools. It promotes a balanced literacy teaching and learning approach where the integration of skills is promoted. The old debate about ‘phonics’ or not is somewhat passé. In order to cater for individual literacy needs, teachers need to use all the tools in their tool-box.
Teachers and support staff are encouraged and supported to identify individual needs, design and implement appropriate programmes and to engage in the required assessment. Direct parental involvement and making use of community resources are promoted actively.
The National Literacy Agency has embarked on new programmes while ensuring the effectiveness and sustainability of continuing programmes. The major literacy programmes are: the popular family literacy programme Aqra Miegħi/Read with Me for 0-3 year-olds running in 50 centres and involving over 16, 000 children and their parents; Seħer l-Istejjer/The Magic of Stories for four- to nine year-olds, involving over 5,000 children and their parents and teachers; and the after-school family literacy programme Nwar offered in 10 colleges to about 300 children.
The Reading Ambassadors campaign has reached out to 154 classes with 3,100 students. The drive to put 100 high-appeal readers in each classroom, Aqra Kemm Tiflaħ, has so far involved 135 classes with 2,311 children and will be extended to 426 classes of 7,420 pupils by the end of 2016. The Reading Champions awards have recognised the efforts of 205 secondary students who have promoted reading among their peers.
The Malta Writing Programme trained 650 teachers last year. The Summer Reading campaign Aqra fis-Sajf organised 5,041 reading sessions for 12,000 children participating in SkolaSajf of last year.
An essential element of the strategy is the continuous professional development programme for educators at different levels in literacy learning and teaching. On a regular basis the literacy teams are involved in day-long training seminars conducted by local experts and by specialist staff from the University of London’s International Literacy Centre and partner institutions like the Open University in the UK and other European institutions. Professional development sessions are held also on a regular basis in colleges and schools and for all tutors and parents involved in literacy programmes.
It is important to continuously evaluate and review programmes and to measure literacy outcomes. The literacy teams engage in continuous ‘action research’ of literacy teaching and learning and programmes in conjunction with the people who are directly involved, namely the learners, the teachers and the parents, and with respect to the specific context. Literacy progress is measured on a continuous basis through classroom and school assessments that are monitored by the senior management team of each school and the college literacy team.
School league tables serve no purpose as we believe that each school, and indeed each classroom, has its own specific challenges. The benchmarking assessment, which is held on a national basis, and our involvement in international assessments, allow for the monitoring of literacy progress on the national, European and international levels. Last year, Malta participated in the international PISA assessment for 15 year-olds, and this year we shall participate in the PIRLS assessment for 10-year-olds. We appreciate that a quality improvement in standards of literacy requires a culture change. There are already positive signs, with an increase of 34 per cent in books borrowing from libraries in Gozo.
Future challenges for our literacy strategy lie in further capacity-building and in extending the expertise of practitioners in this area. Increased synergies need to be built among the various school sectors – State, Church and independent – for the exchange of good practices.
More research studies should provide deeper insights into a range of issues that pertain to our specific bilingual situation. The drawing up language polices in education should facilitate this process.
Evarist Bartolo is Minister for Education and Employment.