Literacy hour leaves 'no time for thinking'

Researchers from Durham and Leicester Universities have found that teachers feel under pressure to keep up the pace of the literacy hour and are asking children questions which require only brief and unreflective answers, rather than taking an open-ended approach that allows the children to express their views at length. The study found that just one in ten of the spoken contributions children make during the literacy hour is longer than three words, with only five per cent longer than five.

The Study of Primary Interactive Teaching (SPRINT) project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, found that teachers faced with tough Key Stage 1 targets feel obliged to stick to their lesson plans if children try to explore subjects that do not fit in conveniently. One teacher told a researcher, 'There are no allowances made for the fact that the children are very young... they may come in with something exciting that happened that they are desperate to share with you and sometimes it sounds cruel, but you have to say, "Can we talk about that later?" because you're aware of your timetable.'

Dr Linda Hargreaves from the University of Cambridge, one of the research leadership team, said, 'The approach that is encouraged by the Foundation Stage, with the accent on the children being given a chance to express themselves, is turned on its head by the literacy strategy at KS1.'

The researchers found the literacy strategy at KS1 is taught prescriptively, with teachers 'putting words into children's mouths,' Dr Hargreaves said. 'Teachers are telling children what to do, where previously they asked children how they would like to do it. The Foundation Stage recognises children's personal, social and emotional development, whereas the approach seen in the literacy hour just negates it.

'Teachers need to do much more listening. If you acknowledge that oracy and literacy are related, you need to give children a chance to talk and teachers need to get into the habit of listening. This is the approach taken by good Foundation Stage practitioners.'

The National Literacy Strategy has brought about improvements in standards of reading and writing, but concern has been growing about children's oracy. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has commissioned a study into ways of improving spoken English.