Implementation of the Beginners Literacy Program: Attitudes and experiences of teachers

Author(s):

Sigríður Margrét Sigurðardóttir(submitting)Eygló Björnsdóttir(presenting)María Steingrímsdóttir(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

11. Educational Improvement and Quality Assurance

Format:

Paper

Session Information

11 SES 02 B, Teacher`s Attitudes and Views towards Programmes and Didactic Materials

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-02

15:15-16:45

Room:

B232A/B Sala de Aulas

Chair:

Lynne Grant

Contribution

Literacy is widely regarded as a cornerstone for citizenship, lifelong learning and academic attainment with great impact on emotional and social wellbeing (Field, 2009). The aim of this paper is to investigate how teachers experience taking part in adopting the Beginning Literacy programme (BL) and to what extent participating in the staff development programme has influenced their professional development. BL is a holistic literacy approach for grade 1 and 2 in primary school in Iceland. The approach was originally authored by Rósa Eggertsdóttir, and then developed further at the Centre of School Development of the University of Akureyri (CSDUA) (Eggertsdóttir, 2013). Since 2006 it has been implemented in approximately 75 out of 170 primary schools in Iceland. The BL approach is different from the traditional literacy approach used in Iceland (the Phonics approach) and requires different teaching styles and methods (Eggertsdóttir, 2013). In the light of the complications of implementing change in schools (Fullan, 2007) a two-year staff development programme was developed simultaneously to strengthen its induction and support the teachers in its adaptation (Eggertsdóttir, Gunnbjörnsdóttir and Geirsdóttir, 2010).The staff development programme is based on the five-step school improvement program of American scholars Joyce and Showers, (Joyce and Showers, 2002) and on the experience and research of Eggertsdóttir, its author. (Eggertsdóttir, 2013). The main emphasis is on introducing the methods and work procedures of the BL approach, followed by purposeful feedback and consultancy (Bartell, 2005; Feiman-Nemser, 2001;Handal and Lauvås, 2002). Each school appoints a BL leader who is also a contact person to the consultant at the CSDUA. That person learns to be a BL leader at the same time as the teachers adapt the program. The leader gets his/her feedback from the CSDUA consultants and guidance on how to guide the teachers through the implementation of the approach. Additionally, the teachers and leaders involved have access to various BL materials developed by its author and the CSDUA (Eggertsdóttir, 2013). As the approach has been taken up by many schools in a short period of time, it is important to research its application, influence and outcome. The research presented is a part of larger study of both the BL approach and the staff development programme the authors of this paper are taking part in. The research question is: How do teachers experience the staff development program of Beginning Literacy and how has their participation influenced their professional development?

Method

The paper builds on analyses of both individual and group evaluation data from 415 teachers in 54 elementary schools implementing BL. The data were collected by CSDUA in the end of each implementing year 2009–2012. The individual evaluation consisted partly of open ended questions and partly of closed questions. In the group evaluation teachers answered open ended questions in small groups. A qualitative approach was applied to analyse the data and two main themes emerged from the teachers’ responses, the first related to teachers’ experience of the program itself, its structure and inbuilt support, and the second on how teachers learned to use different methods within the approach, and these methods’ strengths and weaknesses. The teachers’ answers on the first and second years of implementation were kept separate, and it was possible to discern development in their work with BL between year one and two.

Expected Outcomes

The results highlighted the importance of well-structured implementation programs when teachers are adapting to new teaching approaches. The findings shed light on teachers’ general satisfaction both with the literacy approach and the staff development programme. Teachers liked the CSDUA’s programme management. They claimed that the support provided in the programme, such as workshops, material and mentoring, was well structured and helped them to adapt to the literacy approach. On the other hand, their experience of support from their leaders and headmasters differed, and some teachers wished for more support from both parties. It is important to consider how the BL leaders are chosen and how they qualify to become leaders. How the decision to implement BL is made at a school and to what extent participating teachers take part in that decision appear to differ. In general, teachers expressed increased knowledge in literacy teaching and claimed that they used more variety of teaching methods than before when teaching literacy. They expressed improved job satisfaction, and the approach seemed to stimulate teamwork. Despite this, many teachers expressed insecurity in adopting different methods of the approach at the beginning of implementation. Al -though they expressed and showed more confidence at the end of the second year, the findings raise the question of whether two years is enough time for the approach to become fully integrated into the school. The results should prove useful to teachers, leaders, consultants, policy makers and others involved in the implementation of BL and other innovations. They can be built upon with further research on the implementation of BL and professional development of teachers in general.

References

Bartell, C. A. (2005). Cultivating high-quality teaching through induction and mentoring. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Feiman-Nemser, S. (2001). Helping novices learn to teach: Lessons from exemplary support teacher. Journal of Teacher Education, 52(1), 17–30. Field, J. (2009) Good for your soul? Adult learning and mental well-being. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 28 (2) 175 – 191. Fullan, M. (2007). The new meaning of educational change (4th ed.). New York: Teachers College. Handal, G. and Lauvås, P. (2002). På egna vilkår: En strategi for veiledning med lærere (3rd ed.). Oslo: Capplen Akademisk. Joyce, B. and Showers, B. (2002). Student achievement through staff development (3rd ed.). London: Longman. Eggertsdóttir, R. (2013). Starfsþróun og varanlegar breytingar í skólastarfi: Byrjendalæsi í ljósi fræða um starfsþróun [Professional development and sustained changes in schools: Beginning Literacy in the light of professional development theories]. In R. Sigþórsson, R.Eggertsdóttir and G. H. Frímannsson (editors), Fagmennska í skólastarfi: Skrifað til heiðurs Trausta Þorsteinssyni (bls. 169–190). Akureyri: University of Akureyri and University of Iceland Press. Eggertsdóttir, R., Gunnbjörnsdóttir, J. and Geirsdóttir, Þ. R. (2010). Byrjendalæsi: Lestur eða læsi? [Beginning Literacy: reading or literacy?]. Skíma [Journal of association of mother tongue teachers in Iceland], 33(2), 26–29.

Author Information

Sigríður Margrét Sigurðardóttir (submitting)

University of Akureyri, Iceland

Eygló Björnsdóttir (presenting)

University of Akureyri

Faculty of Education, School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Akureyri

María Steingrímsdóttir (presenting)

Universty ogf Akureyri

Deparment of Education