This
research project began in January 2003 and is sponsored by
the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, a charity with a special interest
in social and educational development in challenging urban
schools. In this project, CLPE will build on the issues and
insights raised in the The Reader in the Writer and
Boys and Writing.
The project
involves eight Year 4 and 5 classes in 5 schools where pupils
are scoring below the national average in literacy and where
boys are performing worse than girls. In one project school,
the gap between girls and boys reaching Level 4 in reading
is 15%, and in writing is 25%.
The project
is concentrating on Years 4 and 5 because children in these
year groups have usually acquired basic literacy skills but
vary greatly in how far they go to practise these skills at
school or at home. Many of the 32 case study boys are identified
as “can-but-don’t” readers and writers in
that they do not regularly engage in literacy activities and
are not consolidating or extending their knowledge and skills.
Teacher
training is a major component of this project. The eight teachers
will receive 3 days of in-service training at CLPE to become
familiar with current issues in gender and literacy. The teachers
will develop observation and assessment skills and will also
undertake specific teaching approaches through the school
year. These whole-class approaches include embedding the role
of talk and collaboration in literacy lessons through activities
such as oral rehearsal for writing, writing partners for re-drafting
and editing, drama and extended discussions about whole texts.
Project
interventions also highlight the role of ICT in literacy to
motivate children and give them an audience for writing and
discussion. CLPE is creating interactive software based on
the texts that project schools will work with, project teachers
and children will exchange ideas and writing on a CLPE web-based
discussion board, and children will be able to email a character
in a poem or story and receive a response in role from the
project research officer.
The results
of this research project were published at the end of 2003.
Click
here for research
summary report.
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