Writing matters: reversing a legacy of policy failure in Australian education - Deidre Clary and Fiona Mueller
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Analysis Paper 23
July 2021
Writing matters:
reversing a legacy of policy
failure in Australian education
Deidre Clary and Fiona Mueller
Writing matters:
reversing a legacy of policy
failure in Australian education
Deidre Clary and Fiona Mueller
Analysis Paper 23
Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................1
National literacy concerns........................................................................................2
NAPLAN writing..............................................................................................3
Documenting policy failure.......................................................................................4
The research deficit................................................................................................6
Searching in the wrong direction.......................................................................7
Loose trends..................................................................................................8
Who is responsible?................................................................................................8
Teacher capacity........................................................................................... 10
A chronology of education theories and trends influencing writing instruction................ 11
Nation-building (1901).................................................................................. 11
Revolution (1960s)....................................................................................... 11
Transformation (1970s)................................................................................. 12
Experimentation (1980s)............................................................................... 13
Progressivism (1990s)................................................................................... 14
Balanced Literacy.......................................................................................... 14
Literacy in freefall (2000s)............................................................................. 16
Conclusions......................................................................................................... 17
Recommendations................................................................................................ 18
Appendix 1. Chronology of Literacy Theories and Practices......................................... 18
Appendix 2. Glossary............................................................................................ 20
Endnotes............................................................................................................. 21
Introduction
Australians are aware that literacy education has unable to achieve maximum benefit from the wider
parallels with economist Thomas Sowell’s summation school curriculum and likely to be disadvantaged in
that “Much of the social history of the Western world, post-school life and work. As with mathematics, young
over the past three decades, has been a history of learners need to master fundamental knowledge
replacing what worked with what sounded good.”1 and skills to the point of automatic recall and
Rather than just three decades, however, Australia application in any context. In the case of English,
has seen at least 60 years of the adoption, variable this means achieving confidence and competence in
implementation and occasional jettisoning of a parade grammar, spelling and punctuation to free the writer
of methodologies including learning styles, multiple to concentrate on the ideas and information to be
intelligences, critical literacy, constructivism, whole communicated in any writing task.
language, process writing, genre theory and text
Beyond the practical gains, an individual’s capacity
types, balanced literacy and learning progressions.
to write is important because it is an enduring
Much of this “bricolage of pedagogies, approaches and manifestation of thought processes and freedom of
resources”2 has been introduced without obvious due expression.
diligence in relation to teacher expertise or objective
The University of Tasmania’s Dr Damon Thomas says
consideration of applicability — and effectiveness — in
declining student performance “affects the quality of
the Australian context. Many of the local proponents
democracy because it’s about the ability of people
remain influential. In part, this is due to this country’s
to question something, make interpretations, [and]
early reliance on — and later fascination with —
argue for what they need or what they want.”7 He
literacy practices developed elsewhere, especially the
concludes that,
United Kingdom and the United States.
A lot of effort has been put into reading and
A major consequence has been the near abandonment
numeracy but writing has received a lot
of consistent, explicit instruction about how the
less attention. The Australian Curriculum is
English language works as a system, juxtaposed with
underpinned by tradition from other countries.
an ideological preoccupation with the socio-cultural
We need Australian research into the teaching of
‘experience’ of students in the classroom.
writing.8
Generational decline in student achievement and
Similarly, the Grattan Institute’s Dr Peter Goss says
teacher expertise in writing — the poor cousin of
that,
reading in Australian educational research — reflects
the policy shifts. Writing is not talked about as much as reading
and numeracy. It’s very hard to get any visibility
The links between these two key elements of English
into how writing is taught in classrooms. What
literacy are under increasing scrutiny. While some
we have here are some alarm bells ringing but
have declared the ‘reading wars’ to be over, there
no visibility through the smoke to understand
is no universal acceptance of the phonics reading
what’s causing the problem.9
method in Australian classrooms or university teacher
education programs.3 The corollary, discussed in The ‘problem’ attracts ongoing philosophical and
recent British research, is that the “limited knowledge practical commentary.
about the nature of writing systems among many
Canadian school principal and award-winning author
practitioners means that they are not equipped
Steven Laffoley has long blamed generational decline
to understand why phonics works for alphabetic
on Whole Language methodologies, claiming these
systems.”4
“blindly trusted a student’s individual intuition and ...
Australians are aware of the decline in students’ encouraged students to write willy-nilly, unfettered by
knowledge and skills as measured by the National rules of grammar or qualitative evaluation.”10
Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy
Decades of work with regional and remote
(NAPLAN). Analysis of 10 years of NAPLAN literacy
communities enable Noel Pearson to speak from
data by the NSW Centre for Statistics and Evaluation
firsthand experience. The Indigenous Australian
(CESE) indicates that high school students “struggle
lawyer, land rights activist and Director of the Cape
with writing more than with reading and numeracy.”5
York Institute for Policy and Leadership argues
Emphasising “the significance of writing ability to that “rather than letting teachers teach, states
overall educational outcomes”, the CESE report and territories are delivering social constructivist
revealed that one in every six Year 9 students in New pedagogies that leave students behind.”11
South Wales fails to achieve “the minimum standard
According to Professor Ken Gannicott, economist and
required to succeed in their final years of school.”6
former head of the Graduate School of Education at
Students who lack sound writing skills are the University of Wollongong, schooling “has become
disadvantaged in almost every academic endeavour, hopelessly ideological, captured by those hostile
1to a content-based curriculum and to any form of Dr Peter Knapp, former Director of Educational
externalised standardised testing.”12 Some academics Assessment Australia at the University of New South
dismiss the concerns. Wales, has found that “in the education faculties
of universities there appears to be a range of not
Referring to “the alleged neglect of grammar, spelling
necessarily complementary philosophies on how to
and punctuation”, among other issues associated with
teach writing. In some cases there is no advice on
progressive methodologies, University of Western
teaching specific writing skills at all.”19
Sydney academics Wayne Sawyer and Susanne
Gannon have asserted that “media-powered moral In a 2015 book published by the Australian Literacy
panics have exacerbated and begun to reframe Educators Association (ALEA), British researcher
literacy pedagogy and public policy in Australia.”13 The Teresa Cremin provided evidence that pre-service
debate has stimulated calls to go ‘back to basics’, a teachers regarded writing as “difficult and potentially
theme that characterised the reviews of both the New exposing; they were anxious about the teaching of
South Wales Curriculum (2020) and the Australian writing, and made negative judgements about their
Curriculum (2021).14 Blogging for the Australian own writing.”20 Cremin’s surveys of current teachers
Association for Research in Education (AARE) in 2020, revealed that those who acknowledged low self-
Dr Naomi Barnes contended that:
esteem as writers lacked confidence when writing and
In 2010, the phrase ‘back to basics’ was sharing their work.21
used to signal a return to the ‘golden age’ of
There is a view that traditional approaches to literacy
grammar. The phrase worked to signal both
education simply “maintain hegemony by producing
nostalgia and reassurance about basic reading
educated subjects, good citizens, logocentric
and writing in the emerging era of social media.
rationality and disciplined bodies.”22 Instead, say
The hearkening back to days where children
Australian Catholic University literacy specialists Kathy
were remembered to be obedient and do their
Mills and Len Unsworth, it is necessary to “incorporate
homework tapped into alluring, if false, white
students’ predilections while extending the range of
Australian cultural memories of the 1950s.15
multimodal literacy practices that are already familiar
Dr Barnes, lecturer in education at Queensland to youth.”23 Formulating literacy education policy on
University of Technology, cites lead writer of the the basis of ‘students’ predilections’ is arguably less
Australian Curriculum: English, prominent Australian likely to inspire a close, voluntary focus on English
academic Professor Peter Freebody, in a claim that grammar as part of the thoughtful production of well-
“literacy levels in Australia had improved since researched written work. Already, the low cognitive
grammar was removed.”16 demands and instant gratification of daily ‘multimodal
A different perspective is offered by Charles Sturt literacy practices’ make expectations of long-form
University’s Russell Daylight and John O’Carroll, who writing seem obsolete.
say “the basic terms of grammar that were lost to Policy instability and pedagogical conflicts are evident
the generations between 1970 and the present are in Australian literacy education, and they do not serve
valuable, provided they are not taught abstractly or in Australian students or the nation well.
absurd detail.”17 Five years of work with hundreds of
aspiring teachers convinced them that: Without the significant resources available to
governments and universities, but in the spirit of the
Since primary school, students have been
official Education Goals for Young Australians, this
starved of information about a subject which
paper explores “how things have become the way
they secretly suspect is very important. When
they are.”24 It focuses on one question: Why can’t
that information is thematised in terms of their
our students write?
own writing, and their own struggles, they pay
even closer attention.18
National literacy concerns
Australian students’ declining achievement in NAPLAN, and the workforce. This concern features in a lengthy
as well as in international test regimes such as stream of reports and inquiries.
the Program for International Student Assessment A report produced by the New South Wales Education
(PISA) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Standards Authority (NESA) — Teaching Writing
Study (PIRLS), is of concern to parents, employer — reminds stakeholders of Australia’s reliance on
groups and tertiary institutions who question the NAPLAN data.25 Administered to Years 3, 5, 7 and
preparedness of many school leavers for adult life 9 each year, the test regime remains Australia’s
2sole national instrument for monitoring students’ produce, for example, a ‘narrative’ or ‘persuasive’
development of English language skills, including text.28 One criticism is that this restrictive approach
writing. There was no testing in 2020 due to the demands “one-shot-perfect productions”,29 with
COVID-19 pandemic. The validity of the 2019 teachers focused on tightly defined criteria and
NAPLAN results remains contested, largely because minimal opportunity for students to demonstrate their
of questions about comparability between the work of linguistic dexterity.
students taking the tests online and those using pen
The ‘text type’ approach to teaching writing may
and paper.
be regarded as the product of tensions between
a comparatively laissez-faire Whole Language
NAPLAN Writing methodology and demands for a return to more
predictable, template-oriented writing. The NAPLAN
In 2018, less than 80% of Year 9 students achieved at
writing test is also controversial because of its
or above the national minimum standard in writing. As
separation from discrete tests of language conventions
Figure 1 reveals, 2019 achievement by Year 7 and 9
students in writing had fallen below the 2011 national (spelling, grammar) and reading comprehension, the
average. In 2019, there was a slight movement latter two consisting mainly of multiple-choice items.
upwards in the percentage of Year 9 students In 2018, former Massachusetts Institute of Technology
achieving at or above the national minimum standard. Professor Les Perelman, an American educator
The results “paint a dismal picture of student progress engaged by the NSW Teachers Federation to evaluate
with writing”, according to Dr Damon Thomas.26 He the NAPLAN writing task, described it as “by far the
cautions that “a nearly 10-year pattern of decline in most absurd and the least valid of any test” he had
NAPLAN writing should be warning enough. We need encountered.30
to pay attention to this.”27 With great diplomacy, the NESA report says “it
A further concern is the gap between male and female is possible that the quality of student writing is
writing scores, which widens with every tested year underappreciated and not properly captured by
level and is equivalent to two years of learning by Year current assessment regimes.”31 The report concludes
9. The pattern for girls’ writing scores is illustrated in that it is “highly probable that much student writing is
Figure 2. Despite a decline starting in 2014, scores for not all that it could be. What is clear from this review
Years 7 and 9 climbed in 2018-2019. is that we could be doing more to embed quality
teaching of writing in our schools.”32
The design and utility of the NAPLAN tests, the extent
to which a limited number of test items can reflect Responsibility for the design and annual publication of
the curriculum, and the national minimum standards the NAPLAN tests lies with the Australian Curriculum,
approved by state and territory authorities, are all Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). That
matters of ongoing debate. organisation claims that “Since 2016, NAPLAN testing
has been aligned to the Australian Curriculum:
With its fixation on ‘text types’, the NAPLAN writing
English.”33
task has become the curriculum by proxy for many
Australian schools. The stand-alone test requires There are obvious implications for this alignment in
students to respond to a stimulus or ‘prompt’ to the 2021 Review of the Australian Curriculum.34
Fig. 1 NAPLAN writing achievement — national Fig. 2 Girls’ writing achievement premium (2011-2019)
average (2011-2019)
3Documenting policy failure
The Australian Productivity Commission recently lack higher order thinking skills, flexibility,
reminded policy makers of the national implications discipline, numeracy, and the ability to communicate
of falling academic achievement, recommending in satisfactorily in speech and writing.”43 That 1992
a 2020 report that “There should be a coordinated report was published by the IPA’s Education Policy
national strategy … to reduce the large number of Unit, which was led by Dame Leonie Kramer, the first
Australians with low language, literacy, numeracy female professor of English in Australia, Chairman of
and digital literacy skills.”35 With an eye to the future, the ABC and Chancellor of the University of Sydney.
special education and reading specialist Dr Robyn The report pointed to “anti-intellectual political
Wheldall asked in 2019: “How can a country remain reformers” whose work “in the name of greater equity,
prosperous and deliver on productivity if one in freedom and relevance” changed the curriculum in
two of its adult citizens cannot read and write at an “ways which have promoted a levelling down instead
acceptable level?”36 of the increased opportunity sought.”44
The 2018 Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Perceptions of the effectiveness of Australian literacy
Australian Schools, led by businessman David Gonski, education policies and practices vary.
revealed that concerns about unsatisfactory literacy
achievement are “borne out in Australia, where total Dr Jan Turbill, a prominent Australian proponent of
government funding for schools has doubled since constructivist approaches, has written that:
1988, yet Australian students’ performance in national For much of this period, at least until the mid-
and international assessments has declined in real and 1990s, there seemed to be relative calm in the
relative terms.”37 An earlier Gonski-led project, the field of literacy teaching (one might argue that
2011 Review of Funding for Schooling, emphasised
such ‘calm’ is synonymous with ‘little political
the need for Australian schooling “to lift the
interference’) and we felt excited about what we
performance of students at all levels of achievement,
and the children were learning and achieving.45
particularly the lowest performers [and to] improve
its international standing by arresting the decline that Within a decade, however, the excitement felt by
has been witnessed over the past decade.”38 these academics did attract ‘political interference’,
due to concerns about the wide variation in literacy
An Australian National University study published in
education programs and teacher preparedness.
2009 by economists Andrew Leigh and Chris Ryan
found that the current generation of Australian In 2005, the Australian government commissioned
students performed less well in key skill areas than a group of Edith Cowan University academics to
their predecessors in the 1960s.39 research the issues. A study involving six universities
and 1500 beginning and experienced teachers resulted
Asserting that “over the past three to four decades,
in the report Prepared to teach: an investigation
neither literacy or numeracy has improved, and may
into the preparation of teachers to teach literacy
even have declined slightly”, the ANU researchers
and numeracy. The ECU report mentioned similar
concluded that even with a significant increase in per-
concerns in the United States and the United Kingdom
student funding from the mid-1960s through to the
and pointed to the “weakness in the empirical base of
early 2000s, Australian school productivity declined by
73 per cent.40 teacher education research”, especially in relation to
teachers’ literacy knowledge and skills.46
In 2005, the National Inquiry into the Teaching of
Literacy found that “a significant minority of children Key findings were that improvements in student
in Australian schools continue to face difficulties outcomes would depend on recruiting teachers with
in acquiring acceptable levels of literacy and demonstrated competence in English language upon
numeracy.”41 entry to initial teacher education (ITE) programs and
requiring all such programs — for both primary and
Less than a decade earlier, a former Australian secondary teachers — to deliver compulsory units on
Minister for Schools, Vocational Education and language and literacy.
Training, had already commissioned a National Plan
to improve levels of literacy. In 1997, Dr David Contemporaneously, concerns were expressed in
Kemp based that decision in part on an ACER report Canada. Award-winning author and Head of Halifax
which found that “while some students are achieving Grammar School, Steven Laffoley, lamented in 2004:
high literacy standards, a disturbingly high number
Even if we had the will to change our course
of Australian school children are failing to meet a
suddenly, we would be left to confront the dark,
minimally acceptable standard in literacy.”42
awful truth that this generation of teachers is the
Just five years before that, an Institute of Public product of New English. Frankly, many teachers
Affairs report titled Educating Australians found that are without the fundamental grammatical
“employers complain that high school graduates knowledge necessary to teach our children.47
4There was a glaring disparity between concerns additional funding might be interpreted as a tacit
about student achievement and teacher capacity and admission that many actually lacked competence and
professional organisations’ claims of high standards confidence in the ‘explicit teaching of English skills and
and achievement. concepts’, and that their university studies were not
On the basis of the results in early PISA tests (2000 preparing them adequately for the classroom.
and 2003), Australian academics such as Susanne By April 2021, unresolved concerns about graduates
Gannon and Wayne Sawyer suggested that “Australian possessing “the necessary knowledge, skills and
teachers of English and literacy ought to be lauded dispositions to be successful teachers in any Australian
as among the world’s very best.”48 Similarly, a former school” caused the federal government to announce
president of the Australian Association of Teachers of
the Quality Initial Teacher Education Review.56
English (AATE) wrote in 2006:
Taxpayers might well ask why the Terms of Reference
Testing indicates that Australian schools are
of the 2021 Review seem to echo the themes of the
producing a nation of highly literate citizens,
2005 Edith Cowan University report, particularly in
with results that have not been bettered at any
relation to literacy:
time in history.
Part A - Attracting and selecting high-quality
Australian English teachers have collectively
candidates into the teaching profession
embraced the highest standards of professional
accountability, are highly accomplished, and Part B - Preparing ITE students to be effective
achieve outstanding results.49 teachers.57
At the time — not long before the introduction of Taxpayers might also ask about the long-term impact
Australia’s national curriculum in 2011 — the AATE of the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group
attributed the alleged successes to the fact that “the (TEMAG). Established in 2014, the TEMAG had already
national Standards for Teachers of English Language
bemoaned inadequate local research and pointed
and Literacy in Australia articulate current best
to the critical importance of addressing “the overall
principles and practice for English Literacy teaching.”50
quality and capabilities of teachers being prepared for
By 2016, concerns about teachers’ expertise had led Australia’s classrooms.”58
to the implementation of a test known as the Literacy
Public interest in the 2021 Review of the Australian
and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education
Curriculum may draw further attention to academic
Students (LANTITE).51 Meeting these standards is
expectations and professional expertise.
a condition of graduation from teacher education
programs; the strategy is designed “to ensure ACARA claims that the current Australian Curriculum:
teachers are well equipped to meet the demands English “is well-regarded with comparable content
of teaching and assist higher education providers, and standards to first language curricula in other
teacher employers and the general public to have countries.”59 The organisation has also stated that
increased confidence in the skills of graduating preparation for the 2021 Review considered “the
teachers.”52 Placing the LANTITE hurdle at the end of
latest research and international developments”
teacher training programs implies that universities
and “involved teachers and curriculum experts from
carry at least some responsibility for the English
all states and territories, the government and non-
literacy knowledge and skills of their graduates.
government sectors, national teacher and principal
The opposite approach applies in high-performing
professional associations, parent groups and subject
Singapore, where applicants are screened in this area
matter experts.”60 However, as is true for the other
before admission to teacher education programs.53
seven learning areas, no overarching intellectual
In 2018, the AATE objected that “Funding for the framework has been developed to guide those
support for the more explicit teaching of English responsible for revising the Australian Curriculum:
skills and concepts is not available. Generic ‘literacy English. Nor was the preparatory work made available
learning’ support is available and this falls short of the to explain the basis for identifying “some key areas
explicit targeted support that teachers need to focus where the English curriculum could be improved.”61
on their students’ English learning.”54
This means no public analysis of past policy success
Given the AATE’s claim in 2006 that “Teachers of and failure — including consideration of current
English and Literacy in Australia are rightly proud teaching methodologies — to assist stakeholders in
of their demonstrated expertise,”55 a request for their feedback on the proposed revisions.
5The research deficit
According to the AATE, “educators need to be ACARA is the self-described “authoritative source
discerning practitioners as they draw on research that of advice on, and delivery of, national curriculum,
is contemporary, valid and rigorously conducted to assessment and reporting for all Australian education
inform their practice.”62 ministers.”68 AITSL summarises its role as “Developing
expertise and empowering teachers and school
However, as this paper argues, it is difficult to identify
leaders to create better education outcomes for
evidence of national success to support the AATE’s
Australian children.”69 ESA’s strategic objective is
claims of “best principles and practice” or of that
to “use our unique combination of education and
organisation’s interest in any relationship between
technology expertise to create and deliver solutions
those and the well-documented decline in teacher
that can be used to improve student outcomes and
capacity and student performance.
enhance performance across all education sectors.”70
Decades of policy instability — particularly in English
Taxpayers might query why the combined resources
literacy — can be attributed to a dearth of rigorous
of ACARA, AITSL and ESA have apparently failed to
Australia-based research material specifically designed
do what is now being asked of fledgling organisation
to justify, inform and evaluate educational change.
AERO; that is, to “generate high-quality evidence,
Nearly 50 years ago, this weakness was identified make high-quality evidence accessible and enhance
in the federal government’s Education Research the use of evidence in Australian education.”71
and Development Committee’s 1975-1976 Report.63 Dr Michele Bruniges, Director-General of the federal
The ERDC concluded that: “Perhaps never before in Department of Education, Skills and Employment,
Australia’s history has there been so much concern says it will “provide practical support to teachers
about education. Some of these concerns represent by translating research and evidence into effective
clashes of values and ideologies.”64 strategies they can use in the classroom.”72
In the 1970s, the hope was “to foster a new approach At least one academic is optimistic. Professor Ken
to education which incorporates an R and D [research Gannicott believes AERO “will be the perfect vehicle
and development] model.”65 Reflecting an official for keeping the work grounded in the practicalities
commitment to “improving the quality of educational of ‘what works’, rather than getting lost chasing the
research in Australia”, the ERDC emphasised that wilder ideas so fashionable in education.”73
“innovations will not be discouraged but be thoroughly
evaluated before being widely promoted; policies will Another eight jurisdictional authorities (state and
be guided by information.”66 territory education departments) also allocate
taxpayer funds to ‘research’.
By the early 2000s, former federal Education Minister
Julia Gillard was promoting a national curriculum Additionally, as discussed in a later section, numerous
that would “harness collective expertise and effort” professional bodies claim responsibility for policy
development, professional learning and resources for
and deliver “economies of scale and a substantial
teachers, and other aspects of literacy education.
reduction in the duplication of time, effort and
resources.”67 Lastly, it is worth considering the role of a high-profile
Australian organisation, which describes itself as “one
By the third decade of the 21st century, taxpayers
of the world’s leading educational research centres.”
were questioning the return on $60 billion per
Founded in 1930, and now boasting over 400 staff
annum in recurrent funding to schooling, including
(including many located overseas), the mission of
the contribution to four organisations known as
the not-for-profit Australian Council for Education
the ‘national education architecture’, each of which
Research (ACER) is “to create and promote research-
is tasked with aspects of curriculum, professional
based knowledge, products and services that can be
learning, digital strategies and services and education
used to improve learning across the lifespan.”74
research.
Yet the ACER, whose CEO led the 2020 Review of
These are:
the New South Wales Curriculum, did not establish a
• Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting critical nexus between the relevant research and high
Authority (ACARA, established in 2008); levels of student literacy.
• Australian Institute for Teaching and School Without detailed reference to the experience of
Leadership (AITSL, 2010); high-performing systems in Europe and Asia, whose
success in developing children’s literacy presupposes
• Education Services Australia (ESA,2010); and
the long-term study of multiple languages, lead
• As of 2021, the Australian Education Research author Professor Geoff Masters made a key policy
Organisation (AERO). recommendation to “require every student to
6commence learning a second language during their workforce to support students’ language and literacy
primary years, making use of technology where development, they can pivot more readily to address
possible.”75 myriad educational challenges.
Professor Masters proposed that priority be “given Even if Australian dependence on other English-
to languages of the region, including Mandarin speaking countries can be attributed to socio-
and Indonesian.”76 The report’s failure to make the cultural and linguistic familiarity, it is difficult to
case on the basis of incontrovertible international understand local researchers’ apparent disinterest
evidence may account, at least in part, for the NSW in the approaches to literacy education in the high-
government’s rejection of the recommendation. performing school systems.
Taxpayers could reasonably have expected that Local efforts to steer English literacy policy in well-
decades of federal and state/territory reviews of researched directions have had little success. An
education — generally led by and drawing on the example is the lack of action following the publication
expertise of the profession and assorted education of Australia’s National Policy on Languages in 1987.
bodies — would deliver detailed explanations of the
origins of problems alongside proposals to improve Responding to an Australian Government request
teaching and learning. for “an overall, coherent and integrated policy … [to
meet] the needs and demands of the society and
For example, a forensic investigation into the decline of particular component groups,”77 Professor Joe Lo
in teacher expertise and student achievement in Bianco cited the Senate Standing Committee’s report
English literacy would almost certainly have identified of October, 1984:
the unsubstantiated implementation and questionable
benefits of ‘inquiry-based’ learning, a derivative of the Language policies should be developed and
constructivist approach. co-ordinated at the national level on the basis
of four guiding principles, namely: competence
Such work might have mitigated ongoing concerns
in English; maintenance and development
raised by stakeholders (including during the 2021
of languages other than English; provision
Review of the Australian Curriculum) regarding the
of services in languages other than English;
value placed on explicit teaching.
opportunities for learning second languages.78
Professor Lo Bianco became the inaugural chief
Searching in the wrong direction
executive of Australia’s National Languages and
Education policy shifts since the middle of last century Literacy Institute in 1990. He argued:
show Australian educators repeatedly looking to
There is persuasive evidence from research
other English-speaking countries for inspiration. It
that individuals, particularly children, who
is perplexing that this occurred even when those
attain a high level of bilingualism, i.e. a high
systems — the United Kingdom and the United
level of proficiency in two languages, often
States, in particular — were themselves experiencing
gain non-linguistic as well as linguistic benefits
significant academic challenges, especially in English
in their intellectual functioning. Specifically
literacy.
these advantages relate to higher levels of
With regard to language acquisition, Australian policy verbal intelligence, a greater capacity to think
instability is in stark contrast to the evidence-based divergently and manifested forms of greater
approach of high-performing European and Asian mental flexibility.79
counterparts.
Taxpayers might have expected this report to inspire
Singapore and Finland are two examples of a meeting of the minds between educators and
education systems whose philosophical and curricular academics in the two key curriculum areas of English
commitment to plurilingual education rests on an and Languages.
appreciation of the benefits for overall academic
progress and intercultural awareness. On the contrary, its influence was so minor that
by 2015, academics from three universities drew
Operating from a set of first principles that attention to the specific problem.80 Contending that
prioritise the rigorous study of both mother tongue
Australia is “facing a slow decline in most educational
and additional languages, these systems remain
standards, and few are aware just how bad the
consistently respectful of longstanding evidence of
situation is getting,” Six Ways Australia’s Education
‘what works’.
System is Failing our Kids compares the monolingual
They are now well placed to consider enhancements to character of schooling in this country with the finding
literacy (and other) education for students in the 21st that “most other industrialised countries have been
century. With confidence in the robustness of their strengthening their students’ knowledge of other
academic curriculum and the capacity of their teacher cultures and languages.”81
7There are indications that young Australians — Fig. 3 NAPLAN writing achievement premium among
particularly those undertaking tertiary programs — LBOTE students (2011-2019)
who study other languages report greater competence
and confidence in English.82
Other evidence includes the NAPLAN writing test,
where Australian students from language backgrounds
other than English (LBOTE) demonstrate a significant
and increasing premium over their monolingual peers
(as seen in Figure 3).
Loose trends
The Australian Constitution’s silence on school
education has long been understood to devolve
responsibility to states and territories. This includes
registering and monitoring schools, training and
accrediting teachers and credentialling students,
especially at Year 12.
gaps and divisions have formed. These include the
The eight jurisdictions remain strongly assertive of so-called ‘literacy wars’ — most closely linked to
their freedom to “implement the Australian Curriculum the teaching of reading and writing — which have
in ways that value teachers’ professional knowledge, underpinned the adoption of fads and trends, many
reflect local contexts and take into account from overseas.84 The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA)
individual students’ family, cultural and community has concluded that much of the generational decline
backgrounds.”83 in literacy could be attributed to such “loose trends.”85
Succumbing to the demands of interest groups,
The net effect is significant variation in education
governments have invested ever increasing amounts
policy and practice across Australia. As with many
of money into education without evidence of resulting
other aspects of school education (and teacher
improvements in quality.86 This is counter-intuitive,
training), this variation helps explain the failure to
says Noel Pearson, because “the evidence has been
implement an evidence-based, nationally agreed
well known about what works for children’s reading
approach to the teaching of writing.
and numeracy and learning generally … it is just
Without clear direction, transparently based on that there has been a concerted effort to impede the
objective, comprehensive research relevant to the known and very effective means by which children
Australian school context, intellectual and pedagogical could learn in Australian schools.”87
Who is responsible?
Notwithstanding any overtly ideological directive Bacalja and Lauren Bliss (University of Melbourne’s
pursued by a minister or within a particular portfolio, Graduate School of Education):
government decisions can only be as good as the
Curriculum is always organised to preserve
advice politicians receive from staffers, subject matter
vested interests and maintain the status quo.
specialists, bureaucrats and lobby groups.
Any attempt to change this curriculum, and
It follows that the primary source of advice in therefore disrupt the status quo, is met with
relation to English literacy education will be fierce resistance by those who perceive that
university academics and the specialist professional such change will undermine the values, relative
organisations claiming leadership in the field. power and privileges of the dominant groups
Academics exert significant influence and autonomy involved.88
in methodologies adopted by schools and teacher
The implication is that conservative political forces
training programs. In general, they are appointed to
control decisions about what and how children will
teaching and leadership roles on the basis of their
learn. In relation to English literacy, this prompts
research interests and pedagogical expertise.
questions about how the profound pedagogical shifts
In the context of the 2021 Review of the Australian of the past 60 years have occurred, particularly in
Curriculum, it is interesting to consider the influences terms of diminishing explicit instruction in English
brought to bear on such work. In the view of Drs Alex language (see Appendix 1).
8Statements from the professional organisations offer relevant to them as well as texts that will stretch
little clarity. their knowledge, understanding and skills.96
According to the Australian Literacy Educators’ If ‘story’ is the vehicle for successful learning — and
Association (ALEA), “Literacies are inextricably linked if the ‘skills’ include sophisticated written expression
with the particular cultures, histories and experiences — it is axiomatic that the telling can only be entrusted
of individuals and groups.”89 The ALEA’s official to those with the requisite expertise. In relation to
Declaration makes no specific reference to English the education of young learners, the professional
as the national language or to mastery of Standard organisations have traditionally led decision-making
Australian English as an overarching goal of the about how students will learn and teachers will teach.
Australian Curriculum.90
With regard to ’story’, Dr Alex Bacalja asserts that “a
Similarly, the Australian Association for the Teaching Critical Literacy lens in education considers all texts
of English says “the student’s self-esteem and to be equally worthy of study insofar as they are all
competence as a language user are nurtured by elements of culture that warrant students’ critical
providing learning experiences which are inclusive of attention.”97 He maintains that “Selected texts … must
the race, gender, cultural and social backgrounds of all be negotiated between teachers and students, and in
students.”91 that negotiation the views and values of individuals
Under a list of General Principles, the AATE states impact upon the way the texts are received.”98
that within the school curriculum, “English is the The Primary English Teachers’ Association Australia
subject which carries the major (though not exclusive) takes the position that the definition of ‘literate’ is
responsibility for fostering students’ language and constantly changing, largely because schools and
literacy development.”92
teachers are now charged with preparing students
The AATE’s Position Statement lobbies for greater for ‘uncertain futures’. As a recent PETAA project
funding for teacher professional development, explained, “In a writing context, this translates to
insisting that “Quality English teaching in Australian students producing texts that matter to them and
schools is a shared community responsibility.”93 The texts that have significance for the ever-changing
“charter for teachers of English” makes few and vague world they live in.”99
references to actual language acquisition, an example
Such approaches are a direct reflection of the
being that “[Students] have access to explicitly stated
globalist 21st century learning agenda promoted by
information about writing and reading processes and
organisations such as the Organisation for Economic
language structures.”94
Cooperation and Development (OECD). Australian
According to the English Teachers Association of NSW, education policy is increasingly influenced by a vision
“Teaching is no longer about the transmission of of a world threatened by volatility, uncertainty,
knowledge, rather it is about developing in students complexity and ambiguity (VUCA). Strategies such
deep understanding, critical questioning and the as the OECD’s Future of Education and Skills Project
application of knowledge.”95 2030 aim “to help education systems determine the
knowledge, skills, attitudes and values students need
In the context of the 2021 Review of the Australian
Curriculum, such statements help to explain to thrive in and shape their future.”100
unresolved concerns about teacher capacity, student However, the VUCA worldview can neither explain nor
achievement and academic expectations and practices address the findings of the 2018 NESA report, cited
across the country. earlier in this paper. The data collected for Teaching
On the basis that knowledge cannot be applied if it is Writing revealed “significant gaps in the knowledge,
not first acquired, it is important to ask who carries preparation, skills and confidence of teachers to teach
ultimate responsibility for ensuring that knowledge is writing across primary and secondary years.”101
transmitted and that students do in fact develop ‘deep One finding deserves particular attention: “With
understanding’? few exceptions, teachers report that their initial
In a response to the 2019 NSW Curriculum Review, teacher education and professional development left
the ETA held that: them minimally prepared in all aspects of teaching
writing.”102
… it is in English that the explicit teaching of
language takes place: how language shapes The NESA report was optimistic in concluding that
meaning and the relationships between while many teachers and university academics
composers of texts and responders to them … “continue to be influenced by more progressive,
[The] study of English, most notably the study child-centred theoretical perspectives … much has
of literature, plays an important role in shaping been learned about teaching writing over the past
our individual and national identities. It is story 40 years.” While the report indicated concern about
[emphasis added] that connects us to others and the shortage of comprehensive, local research, there
other cultures … students study texts that are was evidence of movement “beyond the bifurcated
9theoretical landscape that in the past saw advocates of expectations was quite significant and, in some
of rival approaches talk past each other.”103 cases, “the prospect of successful remediation so late
in their academic career appeared poor.”110
Edith Cowan University researchers Brian Moon,
Barbara Harris and Ann-Maree Hays expressed less However, young learners depend on their teachers
optimism in Can Secondary Teaching Graduates to use and model and teach the English language in
Support Literacy in the Classroom? all areas of the curriculum. In typically cumbersome
style, the Australian Curriculum states that:
Much of the research and policy development
has supposed that outcomes will automatically Success in any learning area depends on being
improve once teachers have been given access able to use significant identifiable and distinctive
to appropriate routines and resources, and literacy that is important for learning and
encouraged in their use. That ignores the representative of the content of that learning
question of whether teachers are capable area.111
of effective support, whatever their level of
commitment.104 Surprisingly, that statement is buried in one of the
seven General Capabilities — that of Literacy —
For students in Foundation to Year 10, the successful rather than embedded as a universal goal across the
implementation of the Australian Curriculum: English Australian Curriculum. It has little presence and is not
depends on teachers having sophisticated knowledge strongly reinforced across the eight learning areas.
of the English language and how to teach it. With
If teachers are to meet that expectation (established
regard to writing instruction in Australian classrooms,
in decades of research in Australia and the United
this includes mastery of a functional approach to
States) then secondary teachers, in particular, must
grammar.105
develop high levels of competence and confidence
in the English language elements relevant to their
Teacher capacity discipline.
Literacy expert Dr Peter Knapp says: “The unpleasant The Australian Catholic University’s Professor Claire
truth is that all students (regardless of background) Wyatt-Smith insists that writing instruction is the
learn to write most effectively through explicit and responsibility of all teachers across the curriculum:
systematic teaching.”106 “Students need to learn grammar, structure,
terminology and what good-quality writing looks like
In a five-year study, Russell Daylight and John
even in things like science and economics. This is
O’Carroll investigated the literacy knowledge and
not just about essays. It’s any written expression.”112
skills of first year undergraduates. Aiming to help the
Both Wyatt-Smith and Christine Jackson, working at
aspiring teachers achieve “a general uplift in literacy”,
the Australian Catholic University’s Learning Sciences
they designed new courses to improve “the ability
to read and interpret complex texts, and to write Institute, believe students’ progress in writing is at
grammatically and fluently.”107 Daylight and O’Carroll risk because Australian schools “drop the focus too
found that while “analysis of students’ reading skills early.”113 Secondary teachers have generally resisted
indicated that many struggle with basic vocabulary taking responsibility for teaching writing in their
and grammar, the same is true of their writing.”108 It subject areas, believing it to be the work of specialist
was evident, they concluded, that the students’ “level English teachers and of primary teachers, and
of literacy at the commencement of their studies expecting students to have developed sound writing
— what we might call ‘matriculating literacy’— is skills before they enter high school.
sometimes not adequate for the demands of their In 2019, a University of Tasmania study emphasised
higher education courses.”109 the importance of all teachers having the capacity to
Based on a study of over 200 teaching students in support their students’ English literacy. The report
their graduating year at an Australian university, Dr submitted to the government — Literacy Teaching in
Brian Moon concluded that the capacity of secondary Tasmania: Teaching Practice and Teacher Learning —
school teachers to support school-based literacy concluded that “Emerging evidence strongly suggests
practices and teach discipline-specific literacy skills that the key to improving literacy in high school is to
is highly dependent on their “personal literacy prioritise ‘disciplinary literacy’ over generic approaches
competence.” The number of graduates who fell short to literacy.”114
10A chronology of theories and trends influencing
writing instruction in Australia
Nation-building (1901) opportunity for teaching English, there being
reason to believe that pupils are inclined to
Australia is a federation of six states and two
regard writing, spelling and clear expression of
territories, founded as a sovereign nation in 1901.
secondary importance in subjects other than
Although the concept of universal education was
English, and that at present there is insufficient
in place in all Australian colonies by the late 19th
check on this tendency.117
century, many children attended school infrequently
and only until the early teenage years, if that long. During the early decades of the 20th century, an
There were distinct differences in school attendance individual’s degree of ‘Englishness’ — as demonstrated
and academic achievement between urban, rural, by accent and word choices — was closely associated
regional and remote students, a phenomenon that with social class. Recognition of the importance of
persists in contemporary Australia. a literate population was influenced by an unofficial
acceptance that “English in Australia was a complex
Instruction in the English language was rigidly
negotiation of ‘Nation’ and ‘Empire’, language and
organised, broadly in line with British pedagogy of the
culture, literacy and identity.”118
early 1900s. Becoming literate involved reading from
a small collection of prescribed texts, including the The expectation that every teacher would become ‘a
Bible. Young learners studied classic English literature teacher of English’ was a feature of teacher training
to gain an appreciation of their linguistic and literary programs in several of the young nation’s Teachers’
heritage. Colleges.119 In the 21st century, as explained earlier,
In Western Australia, for example, the curriculum this remains a controversial expectation.
emphasised English classics and schools used a By the middle of the century, Australian education
standard ‘reader’ (The School Paper) which “pursued was enjoying a degree of calm and order, with
dual projects of constructing a specific Australian governments concentrating on expanding the
identity while defining a British imperial identity from provision of schooling in response to post-war
which it is informed.”115
population growth resulting from immigration and
The concept of Standard Australian English higher birth rates.
(formalised in the Australian Curriculum) was yet
The decades through to the 1950s saw a relatively
to come, although there was growing interest in
conformist approach. English lessons emphasised
Australian slang and local writers.
“reading, recitation, spelling, dictation, writing
Repetition and rote learning were standard in compositions or essays, punctuation, synthesis,
classrooms throughout the nation, with the alphabet analysis, parsing, derivation and handwriting in a copy
and words copied many times in order to perfect book.”120 Teachers drilled parts of speech and spelling,
handwriting and spelling. Grammar instruction was a with students practising in commercially produced
very formal process; mastering the rules of English workbooks or worksheets.
involved parsing exercises in which students broke
Spelling and dictation had priority over composition.
down complex sentence structures into their syntactic
Topics were generally narrow and assigned by the
components, broadening their vocabulary at the same
teacher: reporting on a school excursion, weekend
time.
activities or a favourite holiday.121 Students were
An archaeological study of the role of writing slates rarely afforded opportunities to write fiction and
and pencils in colonial Victoria found that “pupils imaginative pieces.
would normally spend six to eight years in primary
school, without ever having the opportunity to
compose an original expression.”116 Revolution (1960s)
Concerns about the nature and quality of English International challenges to traditional education
language instruction were raised in the early post- methods and institutions were a feature of the 1960s,
Federation years — particularly in relation to teacher with rebellion against elitism and ‘high culture’
quality and what students would learn. expressed through university riots in Europe, the
United States and other countries. Anti-war and
In 1904, the NSW Parliament’s Trade and Commerce
anti-establishment protestors saw politicians and
Committee argued that “Great emphasis should be
bureaucrats, in particular, as targets. This period is
laid on writing, spelling, composition and reading …”
also known for neo-colonial literature, increasing
It is strongly recommended that every subject interest in a ‘green revolution’, and the rise of
in the curriculum should be regarded as an computer technology.
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