What we can do to realise our excellence and equity goals in literacy

Abstract

The research, practice and policy communities in Aotearoa New Zealand know a lot about literacy; the what and how of development, and what works for whom, under what conditions. But two issues stand in the way of better meeting the national excellence and equity goals. One is solving system challenges of variability, scalability, sustainability and capability. Solving this requires taking a life course approach to the evidence, including what optimises enjoyment and criticality from early learning through schooling; and guaranteeing collective clarity and accountability for effective practices. Solving the second, too much selective and limited reasoning about what is needed, requires better understanding our histories of practice and outcomes, and the evidence about these; taking seriously the collective need for evidence-based reasoning; better understanding the nature of the sciences involved; and careful and collective reasoning to understand what is robust evidence and what is inaccurate and misleading. Both issues have implications for capability building through resourcing, initial teacher education, and professional learning and development.