Exploring Research, Policy and Practice in Early Literacy: Teach me where I am

Abstract
There is evidence that a complex ‘gap’ exists between early literacy academic research and practice (Vanderlinde and Van Braak, 2010). Boundaries between research, policy and practice have become disjointed due to policymakers’ increasing intervention in the early years curriculum, and the focus on synthetic phonics programmes (Ellis and Moss, 2014). Historic and current ‘reading wars’ have resulted in phonics now taking prime place in policy with the Science of Reading (SoR) movement being used in the public debate to advocate policies and instructional approaches that draw evidence largely from the cognitive perspective and the cognitive processes involved in reading (Shanahan, 2020). The most recent debate centres around how to meet the needs of individual children (Wolf, 2015) to address the ongoing problem of underachievement and issues of equality (Hall, 2003).

Framing the study around the sociopolitics of evidence-based practice (Clegg, 2005), and viewing early literacy through four perspectives (cognitive, psycholinguistic, socio-cultural and socio-political), this study aims to explore the complex relationship between research, policy and practice in relation to the teaching and learning of early literacy in classrooms. Specifically, it aims to gain insight into classroom practice and how far that practice relates to academic educational research and theories of learning. The study also captures the perspectives of children to further understand how they experience literacy in classrooms.

A case study was conducted using a mixed-method approach consisting of both qualitative and quantitative methods. The research took place in a Multi Academy Trust in the north of England where I am employed as a Teacher and Family Literacy Project Lead. 10 Participants took part in the study. A policy analysis of The Reading Framework (DfE, 2021) was conducted using Hyatt’s (2013) Critical Policy Discourse Analysis Frame (CPDAF) in order to explore the evidence-base for this key policy in early literacy teaching. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 4 teachers and structured activities were conducted with 6 children, aged 3 to 7 years. Lesson observations were conducted of reading, phonics and writing lessons and the 6 children were observed in these lessons. Children’s emergent literacy skills and knowledge were assessed using a number of assessment tools. Marking and feedback, and learning objectives were analysed in children’s books.

Thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) was used to analyse data with 4 main themes and sub themes evident in the data set: phonics, teachers’ practices, teachers’ perspectives and children’s literacy experiences. The findings indicate that in policy and practice, there is a heavy focus on the teaching of phonics; therefore, there is a need for a more research-based balanced approach to early literacy teaching, and specifically, for developmentally driven instructional approaches (Bear et al., 2020) which will better meet the needs of all children. The study discusses implications for research and practice and makes recommendations for research to help bridge the research-practice gap as well as making recommendations for teachers’ early literacy practices (Paechter, 2003).