A tale from the Bronx
Anita Wright
 

Anita Wright, headteacher of Woodmansterne Primary School in London, was part of a London Borough of Lambeth delegation to the Bronx - a part of New York known for its high revels of unemployment and poverty - to look at programmes designed to raise achievement of ethnic minority children. She reflects on the experience.

Over a two-year period a range of academic and pastoral initiatives were launched under the slogan 'Educational Excellence for Everyone' in Community District 8 in the Bronx, an area where 90% of pupils are black, Hispanic, Asian or Native American with 84% eligible for free school meals. Literacy and numeracy projects were at the heart of the plan.

Schools were encouraged to adopt a new, and by American standards, radical methodology for teaching reading and writing entitled Balanced Literacy, which had been developed by leading educationalists over a number of years. As Balanced Literacy was being outlined at the first District briefing session, the Lambeth delegation smiled. Literacy rich classrooms were to be the order of the day. The programme included reading aloud, shared reading and guided reading periods; demonstrating strategies for reading and writing; and children sharing what worked for them that day.

However, unlike our own National Literacy Strategy, this is not a scheme of work. It is essentially pedagogical, focusing on organisation and methodology with the intention of developing a more child-centred approach to teaching and learning. In listening to the District Literacy Team and principals at the various schools, we  began to appreciate that this was radically moving them on from the didactic and undifferentiated practice that had been predominant in the past. It brought back memories of the debates that raged in British schools in the Seventies and Eighties.

We visited six elementary schools where children from 5 to 11 years were being taught using the Balanced Literacy programme. In the classroom, the structure of the literacy hour is less apparent, but many elements are present: big books are used for whole class sessions, and children are grouped for activities according to their ability level. Reading circles were used with older children to encourage them to reflect on text, character and storyline. The pace of lessons was generally much slower and the learning objectives less clearly defined. Without a clearly laid down programme of work, teachers had more freedom to plan in line with the class topic or children's interests. Most lessons had a more workshop feel to them, with teachers concentrating on pupil enjoyment and participation.

There is no centralised training for Balanced Literacy, but school-based and District courses are aimed at developing the teachers' confidence in trialling the programme. Teachers have been encouraged to watch other colleagues and teaching assistants are being widely employed as classroom support.

There is a range of other literacy-based initiatives which the District is promoting, including Reading Recovery and Descubriendo La Lectura, a Spanish language reading recovery programme. The District also receives additional funding to support the development of dual language programmes. The majority of schools, however, have a more inclusive approach and use the additional funding to employ bilingual staff to support the children in the mainstream classrooms.

As we returned to our schools in Lambeth, we reflected on the problem of underachievement. Balanced Literacy was certainly a move in the right direction for District 8 and was having an impact. The
commitment and determination to raise pupil achievement was evident - it was also evident when we spoke to the children. From the youngest first grader to the older middle school students, who performed a scene from Romeo and Juliet for us, we could not but be impressed by their desire to succeed.

But was this all down to literacy programmes? The massive pastoral support provided by the District could not be discounted. This included youth and social workers based in schools, funding for adult education and the development of school leadership teams that include parents. All this support had a profound influence on a community long alienated from the school system.

Every child was given the opportunity to show that they could succeed in something: musical concerts, art exhibitions and sports facilities were part of school life and we were privileged to see some spectacular concerts. It seemed as if every child in the Bronx had a sense of self-worth - but maybe that's an American dream.
 
 

This delegation was funded by the British Council as part of a new series of study-visits to America intended to provide British educationalists with the opportunity to experience successful programmes aimed at raising the achievement of ethnic minority children. Visit www.britishcouncil.org for more information.

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