Literacy support

It all started in England in the late 1980s and continued in the early 1990s, when a few new governmental initiatives were successfully implemented. These initiatives included numerous fundamental changes of the system itself, such as:

The British Government is looking forward to reform the educational institutions and system. It is not because the British educational system is not good. However, it can be improved and the situation can be much better than it is today. U.K.'s education is considered to be one of the most helpful and diverse ones in the world, but it must be improved from to time to time, because time passes by really quickly.

The research is mainly about predicting and helping children who experience literacy difficulties, and about the governmental initiatives that have serious impact on this specific issue.

The aim of this study is to explore the impact of providing additional literacy support at home to target children that are considered to be in need of extra help during their first years at school. The study is based on the research paper and also on other studies and realities.

The relation of theory with the research. Is it quantitative or qualitative? Methods of collecting data.

The research made one thing clear: it underlined the importance of a liaison between class teachers and literacy supporters. The school is considered to be a working area and inhabited by a working class population. It is known the fact that underachieving in school is specific mostly to boys, rather than girls.

Literacy supporters, supervised by class teachers, worked with a small segment of pupils, in total 10, for half a term. This happened on an individual basis for about 20 minutes, just three times a week. The help consisted of increasing the pupils appreciation of reading, and why not writing, by simply reading to them and discussing the texts. The results were quite spectacular and the children were capable to better achieve at school. There were no problems ever after.

This practical approach resembles a lot to theory. When children are offered extra help, and especially practical one, they tend to be more attentive and think clearer than they have done before. The main factors or aspects that helped them and brought success also to the ones that have developed and promoted the strategy, were the following:

Now, returning back to the question. Is there the research design qualitative or quantitative? Well the right answer is that all is based on different principles and theories. The most reliable and referred to be the synthetic phonics teaching principles, developed to teach the alphabetic code. This is a basic skill instruction, not something too sophisticated or complicated. This method offers the pupils a fast-paced systematic and even comprehensive introduction to letters and sounds. This teaching approach can create a literacy-rich environment, making learning an exciting and creative opportunity. This is why we tend to think that it is more a matter of quality, rather than quantity.

Data for the research was collected using diverse methods, such as:

The effect on pupils. The main findings and interpretations of results.

It was found that FLS program has a beneficial effect on the pupils' abilities and capabilities, being able to develop them in the proper manner. The teacher assessment has shown that over half of all the FLS pupils had develop a better capacity of reading and writing. Actually, the step was huge: The FLS pupils have increased their national curriculum level by one. This shows that it is a pretty reliable method.

The FLS program also showed that it must involve a strong collaboration between the class teacher and teacher assistant, the person who needs to deliver the program. Another important aspect was the fact that the skill and tenacity of teaching assistants must really exist. All the persons involved must take care that the objectives are achieved. Judged by the interviews of children themselves, this educational program has helped a lot of them to become confident and start fluently to read and write.

The strengths of this research

A positive aspect is the fact that the research is made on a vast and diverse segment of pupils. As we all know, through language, people communicate their knowledge, along with their feelings and also their past experiences. Language is a tool designed for both thinking and learning. It is a fact that we learn while we communicate with other people.

The aims, which can be considered as strengths of this research, enable children to do the following:

Literacy hours have greatly improved the knowledge of many pupils. However, some of them still need some support to stop them from actually falling behind. This is why the National Literacy Strategy has introduced separate programs, in order to target to each category of pupils. It is essential to support pupils in the first key stages when they are in primary school.

The weaknesses of this research. Its limitations.

The problem is more complex than presented in the research. Although it is a powerful program, the National Literacy Strategy and its related programs have their limitations. One of them would be the fact that some of the used methods have no kind of relevance. Most consider that direct teaching is essential in the first steps of learning - mostly primary school. Direct teaching has a crucial role in the stage of primary school, as it has in the next levels of education, and also in life.

Formal teaching is not the best way of teaching and it is good to note this fact. This must not be the last reform in the case of the British educational system. The standards must be raised in order to be competitive. The role of education is to supply the work market with experts and specialists in their domains of activity. It may sound a little bit unusual, but it is true.

Currently, there are learning targets that must be respected. The educational system tends to become a more liberal one. Certain talents must be discovered and developed from young ages. This is the actual role of education. Each and every person is capable to be the best in a certain niche, but not in different domain. There are some exceptions you may say, but this is the truth and the governmental authorities must be capable and show their interests in the coming generations.

Information about the research itself

Qualitative, the governmental programs are capable to be useful for the society. Early literacy intervention is important and must be done as quickly as possible. There are numerous studies that are currently in the phase of testing or undergoing. The significance of qualitative information supplied by teachers is valuable and early literacy intervention represents a key factor in the development of our nation. The standard of children's attainment has changed dramatically in the last few years. It is well known that today's children have the potential to get a lot more distracted than 20 or 30 years ago generations.

This research or program was conducted at a school where, according to some school reports the standards of children's attainment have drastically reduced and were below the national average. The main idea was to conduct this study in schools containing mainly disadvantaged pupils, where more than 45% of all the children benefit from free school meals. Children must be helped, especially the ones who come from poor families. Illiteracy can find a proper place to spread if the government doesn't take any actions. Fortunately, it is all going well now thanks to the recent governmental programs and initiatives. However, it must be a constant battle with illiteracy.

Ethical issues

Ethics represents not just a simple subject to asses. However, it is essential to ensure that the research is not harmful for the educational environment. The information of the research must be kept confidentially. It is accessible only to people who need to know, and they use this information to run the service. Some of the statistics must be kept and analyzed by specialists and experts in the domain.

The research must be conducted in a manner than it does not disturb the development of the individual. Children are quite sensitive and they sometimes do not understand well what it happens around them. It must protect the dignity, rights and welfare of the research participants.

Most all of the persons who take part of this research have an increased tolerance for others, along with a developed sense of space. They must be capable to find and reflect smartly on the moral and ethic issues involved in their work.

Alternative methods to carry out this research

The research was carried out in the way it is written in the research's report. The last few years were essential and showed that the accent was earlier put on qualitative methods. However, the use of number is also important, being a quite useful tool. The current research has been written putting accent on both qualitative and quantitative methods. Statistical analysis is also a valuable method used in researches. There are numerous alterative methods to carry out a research, but in this specific case, a balance between qualitative and quantitative was necessary, in order to obtain the correct results.

Any research is based on statistics and statistical concepts. The numbers are the ones that help and provide the researches with answers to their questions.

The advantages and disadvantages over the original method

This type of research must have been done especially in the schools that there are more disadvantaged children. There is a lot of poverty in immigrant groups. Each and every person has its own characteristics, which act as fingertips in activity and life. The same situation can be seen at distinct groups of immigrants. Chinese for example are ambitious and skilled workers, being meticulous in everything they do. There is a tendency of increase of the number of immigrants. This happens not just in Great Britain, but also in the rest of Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. More and more Asians, Latin Americans and Africans come in our country in the quest of a better life. Their children learn here in the UK, and are or will become British citizens. This is why it is important to take care of them.

There must be also taken care of the children with handicaps. It is a real phenomenon and the British government must think of some solutions for them, in the real-life context. The evolution of these children in time must be registered, along with their results at reading and writing.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we must state that illiteracy must be condemned. We live in a modern society. School must be capable to teach the child and help him or her learn as much as possible, only what really helps. The educational system's duty is to fit each individual and help him or her to integrate in collectivity. Knowledge is essential, maybe as important as communication skills and other practical abilities are. The research was valuable and it showed something: Illiteracy is one of the main issues and can compromise the development of any nation. As it says, the sleep of reason brings forth monsters.

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