READING BETWEEN THE LINES: Tasmania's Statewide Literacy Plan. Is it enough?

Tasmania has rolled out its literacy plan. A big budget and the kind of language that makes it very hard to argue against - explicit teaching, evidence-based practice, best practice frameworks. 

But what happens when the words we use  so accepted, so unquestioned, that teachers stop thinking and stay comfortable with being handed the answers?

Critical thinking isn't just a skill we should be teaching kids. It's a professional obligation teachers owe to the system itself.

And, the uncomfortable question: in a culture that praises teachers for working hard and showing up, are we trading accountability for applause? 

Good intentions don't teach children to read. Critical professionals do.

A conversation with Simon Matthews

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:11

You're listening to the Cheryl Acey Show where curiosity meets courage, and it's terrific to have your company. Joining us now is our guest, Simon Matthews, Executive Director, Independent Schools Tasmania. And Simon is responsible for ensuring that all things operate smoothly in independent schools across the state. And they have been heavily involved in a statewide literacy initiative for the last few years. So Simon is going to be sharing some information on that, and I've got no doubt our conversation will go into other directions as well. Simon, thank you for joining us today.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

It's an absolute pleasure to be joining you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Simon, first of all, your role as Executive Director of Independent Schools in Tasmania, how many schools are under your leadership?

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Yes, so we have 36 schools. All of them, as the name suggests, are independent, so they're all led and governed by uh independent boards and leaders, but uh our job is to support them and to represent them and advocate for them to government.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Well done. One question that I ask a lot of people, and uh likely I've asked you before in conversations that we've had off-air, when we say independent schools, independent of what?

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Yeah, look, that's a that's a really great question, Cheryl. Um they're certainly not independent of regulation and accountability. Uh each school is uh required to be registered by our state's registration uh board, and we are required to meet educational, um, financial and compliance uh requirements uh by our state and obviously by our federal government as well. Uh what they are is that they are uh independent to make choices about uh the vision and mission that they have, and so each of our schools has a very clear understanding about how they see children and how they uh see them and what they think it takes to for a child to flourish. And secondly, they're really um able to say, in right of how we see children, um, this is what we believe education needs to look like. So what they are is they're they're independent to set their own uh philosophy or faith in the area of education and uh equipped to do that. Uh and so um there's a high level of regulation and accountability, but there's also freedom to choose the faith or philosophy that they believe education needs to be guided by.

SPEAKER_00 2:47

It's quite an interesting balance, isn't it, because education itself is something that is not discussed sufficiently to really identify what it is and its purpose and also how we measure its outcomes. All schools are in that position, all societies are in that position. And then you've got that added component of the freedom that also puts us in a in a position to further query the values of independent schools over, say, government schools. What is it that's so unique about independent schools that cannot be obtained in government schools?

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Yeah, look, that's a that that's a big question, but it's also an important one. Um look, at the heart of independent schools is the understanding that parents have the primary responsibility of raising their children and therefore need the choice to identify and pursue education that suits their child. We have a strong belief that each parent knows best what is best for their child. Uh, and so they need the opportunity to say, look, knowing my child, knowing our our family, we believe that this is actually what education needs to look like. So that might be an education that is structured toward a child's particular um needs or abilities, it might be uh uh an education that's structured around a family's faith position, it might be an education that actually suits a child and what they need at this time because they're pursuing a particular passion or ability uh in such an intense way that they need an education that fits around that. So what independent schools do is say to families, we believe you know your child best. This is how we believe education works in our school, and if you feel that this is a good fit for your child, then we welcome you.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

So essentially it it's an an effective business model to say education can be all manner of things. We target our specialism down this path, and if this path works for your child, we will welcome your child with open arms. So you're not trying to be everything to everyone.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

No, and and no school can be. And so I think the richness of the independent sector is that we've got small schools, we've got large schools, uh, we've got schools where there are no fees, we've got schools where there are large fees, we've got schools that operate in all sorts of areas and regions, and what what each school is saying is this is who we are, uh, this is what we believe about your child, this is what we believe about education in the world. Uh come and join us if you think that that is a good fit for your family, for your child, and then obviously that becomes a partnership that is valued by both the school and the family for the benefit of the child.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

This leads us nicely into the literacy component because it was a statewide three-year strategy, or an implementation plan as they they named it, uh, through the Department of Premier and Cabinet uh lifting lifting literacy 2024 to 2026. So we're at the tail end of this literacy initiative. Independent schools took part in this as well as government schools. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_01 6:18

That's right. Um the Premier was really clear on that. He said this is a Tasmanian initiative. Uh, it will be for all students in all schools, and so he was pretty categorical about that. And basically, what he said is that we will ensure that every child in every school will have a minimum schooling guarantee. He said, we will make sure that every child has evidence-based literacy instruction, and they were pretty clear in what that looked like. Uh, and he just didn't say, you know, they may or may not. He said it will be evidence-based, and if current practices are not evidence-based, they will cease. The second thing he said was, every child will have one hour of of evidence-based literacy instruction per day. And thirdly, he said every child will have that instruction delivered through a multi-tier system of support structure. And so there will be this sense that uh tier one, two, and three of support will be in place. So that was for every child, every school in the state.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

If you've got a philosophy that is counter to that, and I'll give you an example, the term evidence-based has been bandied around to the point where it's beyond ridiculous because there is evidence of anything you want to introduce into a school. Whether or not that evidence ultimately leads to a better outcome, is often questionable because we don't have sufficient evidence. We tend to have general broad research that then says, well, all students this when perhaps there's only been 3,000 students that have been through a research initiative, for example. So just the term itself evidence-based. How would a school who did not support this notion of evidence-based manage to negotiate with the government when they are saying no, no, no, no, you must do this, because if it fails, every school in the state fails, not just the government schools.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

Cheryl, I think you you've hit on uh really the core of what has been part of both um challenging but rewarding engagement over the last three years of of our team. Um I think the first thing you you identify is that evidence-based is a contested term. Uh, there's no question about that. Saying that though, um increasingly we have access to understandings um of child development, we have understandings of brain development that actually give us some pretty clear pictures that it that say if we do X, then we believe that children will be able to read uh at a more competent in a more competent way at a at a better rate than if we don't. And so there are some clear things that we can say about that. That's the first thing. The second thing you identify, which is, yeah, but what happens where there's a clash or a or a uh a different priority to our educational philosophy? And that's certainly the case with some of our schools. So uh our team have been really uh humbly and respectfully and wisely engaging with schools around that, and and let me talk about two specific um outcomes of that. The first is that it's led to really rich professional dialogue. And so if I'm a teacher coming from a particular philosophical or ideological position, um, there's an opportunity for me to defend that or to listen to other views, and I think our team um have done that really well to the point where each of our schools have accepted that there is a part uh for intentional and uh direct and explicit instruction to take place within a program. So even if I'm play-based or even if I'm inquiry-based, there is actually an element of the day, there's an element of the week where this actually sits with direct and explicit instruction. So even if I'm looking to explore the world, there are some things that I can explicitly learn that will help me in that exploration, help me in that inquiry. So we've actually got to a point where um all of our schools, to some degree, have said, yep, we can we can see where that fits, and they've worked really hard to fit that in. And the anecdotal evidence we have of that is is teachers and leaders saying, actually, this is really helpful. This has been a really positive and constructive way forward, and the data from uh from the evidence that we've got from, say, the year one phonics test has been clear that students are progressing in that way, in a way that we actually want to see. So that's uh that's one example. Uh the second one is that we've actually, with one group of schools that we have, they've said, look, we think the year one phonics test is actually misaligned according to our uh approved curriculum, and they've got an approved curriculum, as every school has to if you're registered. And so what we've done is we've gone back to the minister in the Premier, and we've said, listen, in line with this philosophy, we think that the year one phonics test is coming in too early. Can we make it a year two phonics test? And we've been able to negotiate that, and that's been passed. So I think there's it it it swings both ways. There's good dialogue and good professional acceptance by teachers and leaders that go, yep, okay, we can see that, let's let's implement it. But where there's a clear rationale to push back against that, we've been able to do that. And the Premier has signed off on that and said, Yep, okay, we accept that, and that's been good. So I think the outcome of that has been good, rich dialogue leading to better understanding all around.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Simon, you've tapped into some quite extraordinary actions there, which is terrific to hear. And if I could just take a step back for our listeners a little bit there, you've you've mentioned two very key outcomes, which is terrific. Explicit teaching, again, we talk about terms and language that we use in the education space that people are familiar with. Our listeners aren't always and parents are not always abreast of what all of that means. Explicit essentially means that you are teaching. It's really quite straightforward. It's almost the opposite, if you will, of when we we talk about child-centered learning and they were free to explore and learn for themselves and you know things would unfold naturally. You're actually literally doing the job of teaching. This has been going on for uh centuries. Why is it now suddenly the thing that everyone's excited about?

SPEAKER_01 13:04

Hmm. Cheryl, you've probably got the wrong person on the show to to talk in great detail about this, but let me give you my understanding. There were certainly people who were smarter uh in this area than me. Look, Cheryl, only, you know, 30 years ago when I trained as a teacher, um, this sort of understanding of um a constructivist mentality that says that the the learner needs to come into your environment, you as a teacher, you need to set up an environment where the where the where the learner can actually construct understanding and meaning and and make sense of the world. So and and and I was taught that. I was taught that through my my undergraduate degree. Um that the world has moved on from that. Now, there's a vast majority of teachers who have received that instruction, and um there are elements to that that are actually quite helpful. It does uh it give me an understanding that the the the learner uh has a place in the learning process that they need to be engaged to. There are good things in that, but there are also challenging things in that as well. Um, if if I am wanting my students to understand number sense, um then there are some things that I actually need to teach them about that, that they don't have to discover, that they don't need to find by um exploring or by osmosis. I can actually say to them, here are some things that you need to learn. Now that learning will actually then lead to further opportunities for them to inquire and explore the world and make their own understandings, but there are some key bits that need to be in place. And so, in the literacy space, an area as I said I'm not an expert in, what they've been able to say is there are some key building blocks in literacy that we need to explicitly teach so that children can and make meaning of language and decode words at a pace and at a fluency that allows them to make meaning and therefore become competent readers. And so we need to be really clear about what those things are.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

Simon Matthews is our guest, executive director of Independent Schools Tasmania. Simon and I are discussing the statewide literacy initiative in Tasmania. Simon, it's great to actually be talking about Tasmania. It's often that the state that doesn't get a lot of media attention and the way in which you've been describing the initiative uh from the Premier uh in Tasmania to ensure our students are literate and the way and the the process that the government has gone through sounds like quite a positive one. Are you uh confident that there will be uh some things that stick, if you will, that will encourage teachers to explore further their own philosophies so that they are making sure that uh what works stays and what hasn't worked, you know, gets put to the side?

SPEAKER_01 15:57

Yeah, look, that's I think that's a great question to ask of any initiative. Um, you know, why why will it stick? Look, I think, Cheryl, we're talking about two things. One's an extrinsic and one's an intrinsic motivation. That the extrinsic is at its heart, this is actually not an educational initiative, this is a social one. Uh Tasmania does not have great outcomes in the area of education, and we can track that right through to life outcomes for our citizens here. And so before we we have any sense of, oh, this is good for education, we've actually got to see this as a social equity issue, that people who are not literate do not have the same opportunities, do not have the same gains, do not have the same lifestyle as those who are. And so if our schooling system does not ensure that every student leaves with a competent level of literacy and numeracy, then we've actually set them up for failure. So I think at its heart this is an uh a social issue. So that's I think the extrinsic motivation of why we need to do this. And there's a lot of conversation around this, there's a lot of uh dialogue about the why. The second bit though is the is the intrinsic, and this is, I suppose, where independent schools Tasmania team get to see a bit of a window in. Um one of the key ideas, I think, for any educator, the reason why m almost every educator joins a profession is because they want to see impact. They want to make a change, they want to make a difference in someone's life. And what we're seeing from the people, the the the colleagues, the professionals we work with, is they're saying this works. So whether what whatever we're talking about, be it a a direct or explicit instruction technique, whether it be uh the opportunity to review learning with a student, the opportunity to give them voice about what they have learnt in a lesson, what we're hearing back from the colleagues that we work with is this works. And so there's that's the intrinsic motivation coming out of a teacher who says, you know what, I've tried this, I've tried that, I've tried that, but suddenly I found something that is actually moving the dial on student learning. So I think both of those working together are big social stories and a powerful, impactful strategy in a classroom give us the best hope that this will stick around and it will actually make a significant difference in TASI.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

Your the way you articulate uh this information is terrific, Simon, and I'm going to throw a curly one at you if I could.

unknown 18:31

Why not?

SPEAKER_00 18:33

So this curly one is you are spot on the information that I was reading regarding this literacy, one in three Tasmanians prior to this initiative starting, one in three Tasmanians suffered from illiteracy. So they weren't even functionally literate. And yet this initiative literacy. So that's essentially pure survival. It's not flourishing. We hear flourishing, it's the latest trend in education that we want everyone to flourish, but we have this minimum standard that the government is saying this is what we want to reach. So here's the curly bit. We are trusting the schools who didn't deliver this in the past to deliver it now. What's been missing in the education sector for teachers not to know their craft, and certainly in defence of teachers as a result, they've not been flourishing. So it's a mess still, because we're still operating on blind faith.

SPEAKER_01 19:55

Look, I I think that that's such a good observation, and I think I would reiterate what you've just said. But can you can we just be really clear that this is not about teacher bashing, it's not about saying teachers haven't been working hard enough, they haven't been doing a good enough job. Not at all. Uh we know teachers work incredibly hard, we know teachers always do what they think is best for their students, and and I'm really confident about that. Um look, there's a really interesting report that you you may have read um uh called uh solving illiteracy in Australia. Um, and it actually identified the the five things that they think will move the dial on illiteracy in Australia, and I think this is the key to what is now different, and and I think it's great. They they basically uh identify five things. Let me talk about three things that um this initiative in Tasmania is doing that I think is really crucial. The first is they the Premier, through his um expert panel, has been able to say, we're gonna talk about what evidence-based high-quality instruction is. Now, as you've already alluded to, that's there'll be people who can test that. But I think the Premier's been courageous enough to say, this is what we believe will work. And so he's named it. He hasn't just said, um, you know, choose your own adventure, you do what you think is best in the four walls of your classroom, away you go. He's actually said this is what it will look like. So I think that's the first time that that's happened in our state where they've actually said this is this is the practice that you will do. The second is they've backed that statement up by throwing money at saying the key of this will be professional learning and development for teachers. And so the vast majority of the work we do at Independent Schools, Tasmania, and I know in our other sectors as well, is working alongside and with teachers to actually grow understanding and practice. Um, and that's not just through professional. Professional learning, that's also by meeting up again, looking at data, providing coaching instruction, those sorts of things. So again, there's a courage to say in order to move the dial for students, we've got to move the dial for teachers. And so they've th they've really committed to that. And the sec the third thing is they they've said we're going to monitor that. So the thing like phonics checks, um, uh kinda checks around literacy um are really important. We're actually going to be able to get a really dig, dig deep uh bit of data and find out actually what's going on from for each child. Now, of course, we've got things like MAPLAN, but they don't give us that, and and some would say they give us it too late in year three, it's too late. Uh, we've got to actually be able to get that data much earlier. So I think those three things, being really courageous about what they say is uh the practice that we need to see, supporting teachers to grow and develop and and implement that, and thirdly, be able to monitor that at a really granular level is pretty crucial and gives me the confidence that we actually will see from a system-wide perspective change.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

Excellent. So the last quick question before we wrap this up. Sure, sure. This initiative is specifically phonics-based, and it is for the lower primary students. What happens to a year ten student who didn't get that, or a year seven student who didn't get that? Does it go right through to all year levels?

SPEAKER_01 23:30

Yes, it does. Okay. This is for every child from PrEP to 10. Um, obviously, there's an initial focus on saying, okay, let's get it right early. That's what we want to do, that makes sense. But no, this is for every child, prep to 10, uh, and the the Premier is really clear in what that will look like right through the school.

SPEAKER_00 23:50

So that's evidence that there's awareness that this hasn't been happening for a long, long time. So all credit to you, Simon, for leading the independent schools through this process and for your total awareness of all things that have been occurring in the past, but also more importantly, what the future holds for independent schools in Tasmania. Fantastic to have you on the show, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 24:13

Thanks, Cheryl. Great to be with you.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

Yep, take care. You're listening to the Cheryl Lacey Show, and that was Simon Matthews from Tasmania discussing the literacy initiative that's been taking place for the last three years.