Pie Corbett
Literacy expert Pie Corbett tells us more about this year's Talk for Writing conferences and what he thinks of the new reading check at age six.
What area of literacy did you find most difficult as a headteacher? How did you tackle it?
I was only a headteacher for a few years and it was before the National Curriculum began. However, the same old issues were present then – encouraging children to read, parents to read with their children and establishing an atmosphere in which reading and writing were central to school life. It’s always been my inclination to bring reading and writing alive – to enjoy books, share stories and have a strong emphasis on being a writing community so that side came easily enough. The children wrote daily. We made beautiful books full of poems and stories. However, looking back, I wish I had known more about helping children with basic spelling and decoding problems.
2010 key stage 2 literacy results revealed that pupils struggle most with writing. Why do you think this is?
I think that many teachers have been drawn into teaching ‘levels’ rather than teaching writing and sadly that can be very depressing. Indeed, it lowers standards! The language of the SATs marker has crept into the classroom, befuddling the process. The objectives often limit what children can do and if there are too many ‘success criteria’ then it makes writing harder (can you imagine Morpurgo reaching for his success criteria?). Teachers need to focus on teaching reading and writing rather than a jumble of bits called ‘literacy’ – it is about skillful reading and writing and less about defining an adjective. Also, we focus on the writing and forget that for the composition to improve, you have to work on the writer. Writing is about creativity and that is why daily creative games can be so powerful as they develop the child’s imaginative world.
I suspect that we need a rich diet of reading that children draw on as writers. We need to give more of an emphasis to shared and guided writing where the children work collectively as writers with the teacher leading the way. Many schools might well consider running a writing workshop session every day. Ofsted’s ‘Excellence in English’ describes my vision in the first case study at Castle View Primary where children see themselves as writers. They even have nice, hardback writing journals! The key is to be with a teacher who loves writing.
The government has recently announced its decision to go ahead with the reading check. Do you feel that education policy is focusing too much on reading to the neglect of writing?
Yes – we need a balance. Writing lags behind reading – and boys too often behind the girls. If you improve the writing, the reading will also improve because to write well involves the children in reading their writing and thinking about whether it creates an impact. Inside every good writer is a very busy reader.
I’m not too sure how the reading ‘check’ will be carried out. If it is a phonics test this might slow reading progress because by year one children should be reading fairly fluently. However, phonics is crucial for early spelling. If you cannot say a word, hear its sounds and know what letters might represent those sounds then you cannot get going as a young writer. Phonics liberates creative writing.
How early do you think children should be encouraged and supported to read and write?
Reading begins as soon as a parent shares a story with a baby. Writing starts with the earliest of mark making. Ideally, parents should tell stories and rhymes, read books, draw and record with their children virtually from the first few months.
You are well-known for your development of the ‘Talk for Writing’ approach in schools. What is the philosophy behind this approach and what impact have you seen in schools?
‘Talk for Writing’ is the most powerful thing that I have seen in terms of helping children make progress. Linked with effective phonics/spelling, it is the key to making sure that nearly all children become confident writers. Many teachers and schools will tell you how it is transforming attainment, often doubling the rate of progress. However, it is a complex process that needs to become systematic across a school.
‘Talk for Writing’ has many strands to it. ‘Talking the text’ is based on how children acquire language – by ‘hearing it’ and ‘saying it’ – as well as reading. But there is also an emphasis on teachers modeling writing, building up an imaginative world, strengthening creativity, reading both as a reader as well as a writer.
You have been running conferences on Talk for Writing with the National Literacy Trust for several years. What's new about this year's conference?
In this year’s conference we are focusing on looking at the whole process of moving from reading through talk and into writing so that everyone has a clear view of the teaching pattern. It also explores how to write well, you have to create –to bring something new into being that might have an effect on the reader. Good writing is about creating and imagining ideas in the head, as well as crafting the actual writing. It involves ‘judgement’ – the writer constantly ‘testing’ their ideas out and selecting what seems to work.
We’re also starting two new pieces of research that will inform future conferences. First, we are investigating ‘assessment for learning’ and its role in developing writing. Also, I am researching the influence of ‘blogging’ on children’s self-image as writers and the use of the internet to provide ‘writing workshops’ between children and writers.
