Children with Literacy Difficulties
The Bigger Picture
Special needs such as literacy difficulties are not due simply to within-child factors. Some aspects of special needs, such as learning and literacy difficulties are compounded by the interplay of within-child factors and societal, cultural, economic, home and school factors. Government figures show that children identified as having special needs are twice as likely to be receiving free school meals – a commonly used indicator of economic disadvantage.
“Poverty of circumstances, and aspirations, puts some individuals at a disadvantage from an early age. Research has shown that children suffer from the social exclusion of their parents; the social and psychological effects start very early on in a child’s life and contribute to their own identity. The difference in achievement can be seen in children as young as 22 months, and the gap gets wider the older they get.” Bird and Akerman, 2005
The current government has attempted to address some of these deep-seated social issues by investing significantly in initiatives to support families with young pre-school children in socially disadvantaged areas. These include family learning programmes, Surestart programmes, Bookstart and, recently, children’s centres which will combine children’s services with child care provision. Some have argued that for these initiatives to be truly effective in addressing low achievement, they must also address real differences between families, taking into account ‘culture, diversity, faith, minority, race, racism, religion…’ (Robin Richardson, 2005).
The role of schools is critical. The National Curriculum Inclusion statement sets out three principles that are essential to developing a more inclusive curriculum:
- setting suitable learning challenges
- responding to children’s diverse learning needs
- overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of children.
Elements of school policy which provide a solid foundation for supporting children with special educational needs and literacy difficulties are:
- the skill, understanding and experience of classroom teachers
- a well organised literacy curriculum
- planned differentiation and access strategies for children’s learning needs
- good record-keeping and monitoring systems
- well organised support from teaching assistants or learning support assistants
- staff training
- good parental home-school policies
- an effective whole school policy for children with special educational needs and/or literacy difficulties
Social and economic disadvantage also affects schools. Some schools in economically disadvantaged areas for example, may find it difficult to recruit and retain teachers, making it more difficult to establish policy and practice.
Activity
Ask students to discuss factors which may contribute to special educational needs or literacy difficulties under three headings:
- Factors outside school eg society and family
- School and classroom factors
- Within child factors
Students may raise some of the points listed below, or the tutor may introduce them.
The bigger picture: some discussion points
Some contributing factors to children’s literacy difficulties might be:
Outside school factors
- economic factors
- a family’s attitudes, experience, and expectations of education
- patterns of literacy within families
- early literacy experiences eg of songs, rhymes and stories, early access to books and libraries
- attitudes to reading within society as a whole, within particular communities
- peer pressures eg boys may be more reluctant to engage in literacy activities
- family pressures such as long hours of work, financial difficulties.
School and classroom factors
- poor management and leadership of the literacy curriculum
- teacher attitudes and expectations
- lack of monitoring
- quality of teacher supply
- teaching not matched to child’s development/ learning needs
- nature of school support
- nature of home/school reading partnerships.
Within child factors
- sensory impairment eg early hearing loss, visual impairment
- language development: from language delay to language and communication difficulties
- generalised learning difficulties
- developmental disorders eg Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Developmental Coordination Disorder (“dyspraxia”), language disorder
- specific learning difficulties in reading, writing and spelling
- general ill health and frequent absences
- personal characteristics eg anxiety which may be due to a potentially wide range of factors.
Further reading
For an interesting discussion of some of these points see
Bird, V. and Akerman, R.(2005) Everywhichway we can, A Literacy and Social Inclusion Discussion Paper, National Literacy Trust and Basic Skills Agency
http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/socialinclusion/Everywhichway.pdf
Richardson, R. (2005) Promoting inclusion through family learning, Notes for a presentation from the United Kingdom, The Falcon Conference on Family Learning, Oslo, 31 August – 3 September 2005
http://www.statvoks.no/falcon/abstract_robin_rich.htm
 
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