The literacy wars: Why teaching children to read and write is a battleground in Australia.

Faulkner, Julie

The literacy wars: Why teaching children to read and write is a battleground in Australia.

Ilana Snyder

2008, Crows Nest NSW: Allen & Unwin

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Ilana Snyder's motivation for writing this book springs from her frustration at the one-sided, unrelenting and often bitter attack on literacy education by the Australian newspaper. While it could be argued that the size of readership of the Australian doesn't merit a sustained response, Snyder argues that the relationship between the newspaper and the conservative Howard government has influenced education policy and funding, eroding confidence in literacy curriculum and teachers. Contrary to encouraging rigorous questioning of educational issues, the Australian's position has, she argues, suppressed debate and created divisiveness. The Howard government has since been superseded, but the debates, understood in any depth by only some of the population, are likely to persist.

With an eye on an interested but general audience, Snyder writes an informed and highly readable book. As a former English teacher and now a teacher educator for over 30 years, she is well placed to canvas what are often emotionally-charged arguments. Should we return to teaching basic grammar and, if so, how can teachers do this if they do not know it themselves? What is critical literacy and is it the same as postmodernism? Should both be part of a literacy curriculum? What is the best method to teach children to read? Does the gender of the teacher affect the learning of the student? Is testing only about assessment or measurement? Should we have a national curriculum? All these questions are historically contextualised and given respectful attention, avoiding simplistic or emotional responses.

Conservative critics accuse current curriculum policy and its exponents of being full of 'edubabble', claiming it now time to counter 'politically-correct old lefties' with 'common sense.' However, what John Howard and Kevin Donnelly, the Australian's spearhead commentator, label 'common sense', Snyder argues is usually a reinforcement of their viewpoints. It is the unanalysed and often unconscious explanation of the way things work in the world that critics of current literacy education would like to recreate. A strength of Snyder's argument is her interrogation of 'common sense' arguments, as she surveys research studies and offers clear explanations of theoretical perspectives. In some detail, she critiques the integrity of the Australian's approach to informing its readership about literacy. The newspaper makes a calculated move to push its own ideological stance by denigrating the position of literacy educators. Abridging opposing views 'to the point of incoherence', the paper then offers a barrage of articles and images to support their attack, taking phrases out of context and ridiculing their targets. It is Kevin Donnelly for whom Snyder reserves most criticism, in his failure to engage with any of the arguments and his resort to derision. Such a position is patently unjustifiable, Snyder maintains, when students are to be prepared for a complex, changing world. Hearkening back to a mythical golden age of literature and back-to-basics grammar approaches is, surely, more about teacher-centred approaches and social control than finding any failsafe approach to improving students' literacy. Arguing that the Australian's agenda was to change literacy curriculum, Snyder sees literacy as far too important to be the subject of media allegation and counter-allegation. It is vital that we understand the complexities of the current debates so that we can critically and responsibly evaluate the politically driven claims of politicians and their supportive media outlets.

No view of teaching literacy is 'neutral'--every choice about what to teach, how to teach it and to whom involves privileging certain perspectives and ignoring others. Snyder's claim is that teachers have never been sponges to particular ideologies, however susceptibly they have been (mis)represented by Julie Bishop, Kevin Donnelly and others over time. Despite increasing demands on their capacities and time, teachers take what theories work for them and adapt what they know to complex classroom situations. The Literacy Wars affirms teachers' work while offering an intelligent and lucid analysis of biased media arguments. Snyder's attention to the cultural contexts within which debates occur and her summary of policy developments help locate issues for both professional and non professional audiences. Her sense of irony over cynical political manoeuvres and her engaging writing style make for a lively and absorbing read. It is not further control of national identity and values that Snyder wants to see advanced. It is the problem of, as Barry McGaw describes, Australia being a 'high quality-low equity' country. Teachers should be valued, she asserts, for taking on the significant social responsibility of educating the next generation of thinkers, consumers and producers. Highly Recommended.

Julie Faulkner is a Lecturer at RMIT University in Secondary English