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12/01/2022

How African countries can reform education to get ahead after pandemic school closures
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a historic shock to education, shuttering schools for over 1.6 billion children worldwide. This shock will worsen a pre-existing “learning crisis” in which many students in school were learning very little. The World Bank estimates that the percentage of children who are unable to read a simple sentence by age 10 could rise from 53% before the pandemic to 63% as a result of school closures.

These learning losses could stem from a combination of things: forgetting what was previously known, and missing what would have been learned if schools hadn’t been closed. These learning losses can accumulate in the long run. Students who re-enter school far behind the curriculum expectations might be too far behind to learn anything from daily instruction and fall even further behind.

In a new paper, we looked at how much learning loss might be experienced in Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Tanzania and Uganda as a result of school closures in the pandemic. We used data from early grade reading assessments in these countries. Our model suggests there could be up to a year’s worth of learning loss in the short run. Our estimates suggest learning losses will be distributed unequally, with students who started at lower learning levels falling the farthest behind.

We estimate that these short-term learning deficits could accumulate to 2.8 years of lost learning in the long run. This is if the curriculum – often overambitious and not aligned to students’ learning levels – is not adjusted to allow students to catch up.

Opportunity for reform
But that doesn’t have to be the outcome.

While COVID-19 has held back learning, bold reform is possible and the pandemic presents a historic opportunity to revamp education systems. It could be a time to institute practices and policies that have been needed to address the underlying learning crisis for decades.

Our review of the literature identified two strategies which could help to mitigate learning losses and improve learning even beyond pre-COVID-19 levels. This review builds on a growing evidence base of interventions that have worked at scale in low- and middle-income countries to improve basic numeracy and literacy skills.

The first strategy is to target instruction to a child’s learning level. This can be achieved at little cost by testing the child’s knowledge during the learning process – known as formative assessment – and a menu of activities tailored to each child’s level. This has more potential than teaching prescriptive one-size-fits-all syllabi.

The second strategy is to introduce structured pedagogy programmes, which combine structured lesson plans, teacher coaching and instructional support. Many teachers in the status quo are often left to fend for themselves and write their own daily lesson plans. By providing some structure and ongoing support, big learning gains are possible.
Both approaches in past reviews have been found to improve learning by three years of high-quality schooling gained per US$100. These learning gains are nearly equivalent to the system-level education gap between Zambia, one of the lowest performers in sub-Saharan Africa, and Kenya, one of the highest performers.

Our model suggests that short-term remediation through these strategies can make a sizeable dent on learning losses. More strikingly, ambitious reforms linked to these strategies, such as aligning instruction with children’s learning levels on a long-term basis, can not only mitigate all learning losses, but also improve on pre-COVID-19 learning levels.

Signs of progress
In our study we describe a few examples of countries which are starting to enact such reforms, including Botswana and Madagascar. In Botswana’s second largest region, the North-East, the Ministry of Basic Education’s regional director called for all schools to conduct simple formative assessments and implement targeted instruction immediately as schools reopened in June 2020 following the first wave of COVID-19 induced school closures.

The region updated staff’s roles and responsibilities to formalise this expectation. Training sessions were held with support from one of the largest youth-serving NGOs in the country, Young 1ove, in partnership with USAID and UNICEF. The ministry expected frequent reporting on progress, and the regional director visited schools directly to monitor implementation. Although no causal evidence is available yet, early data suggest learning levels are improving faster than in other regions.

Madagascar provides another example. The government has strengthened the national catch-up programme, called CRAN, which prior to the pandemic had been providing a two-month intensive learning period to children targeted to their level. By the end of 2018, CRAN had been implemented with UNICEF support in seven out of 22 regions of Madagascar. In late 2020, in response to COVID-19 school closures, this approach was accelerated. Although the government and UNICEF are in the early stages of this work, it shows how governments can strengthen existing programmes to shift teaching and learning practices.

These reform efforts are promising. Yet, too few countries have taken bold steps to date. Without urgent action, short-term learning losses could stunt the next generation of students for a lifetime, with potential inter-generational consequences. COVID-19 presents a need to act urgently and an opportunity to think differently. Perhaps some education systems will reform to achieve the long sought-after goal of learning for all.

12/01/2022

Up to 80% of uni students don’t read their assigned readings. Here are 6 helpful tips for teachers
University course readings are pivotal to advance student knowledge and prepare them for class discussions. Despite this, only 20-30% of students read the assigned materials. Drawing on research findings that help explain this alarmingly low rate, this article offers some strategies to help students engage with their required readings.

Over the past two decades educators have raised concerns about changing patterns of student motivation, engagement and comprehension of academic reading. The power of technology, media and apps have affected student reading patterns.

Read more: If you can read this headline, you can read a novel. Here's how to ignore your phone and just do it

Studies indicate that students are reading more slowly and comprehending less. They often struggle to read anything beyond an excerpt.

The challenging statistics on reading show a steep decline in student reading compliance. These trends are emerging not just at primary and secondary education level, but increasingly at a university level.

Students often underestimate the centrality of course readings. They rarely regard textbooks and academic papers as their primary source of information.

This often results in a lack of class participation, rich conversations and, at times, assessment quality.

In our increasingly technological world, new online and application solutions have assisted students with motivation and supported their learning preferences. Digital technology has made access to academic texts more flexible. However, some researchers argue screen-based reading may compromise the quality of the readers’ engagement.

Why are readings so often left unread?
A comprehensive study identifies four main reasons university students don’t engage with course readings:

unpreparedness due to language deficits
time constraints
lack of motivation
underestimating the importance of the readings.
“Unpreparedness” is an alarming finding, as it highlights deficits in language understanding and use. Some students have limited knowledge of technical terms used in courses, which explains why they struggle to understand assigned course literature.

Social and cultural dimensions also influence student engagement (or disengagement) with readings. For example, students’ previous experiences, year in university, and native versus non-native (English) speakers can all play an important role in their perception of, and attitudes to, readings.

Students naturally approach the assigned content with their own unique expectations and strategies. Some may review the reading, take notes and google summaries, while others may translate each unknown word or difficult concept.

Female student sitting at table with laptop takes notes as she reads in a library.
Students vary greatly in how they manage assigned reading material. Shutterstock
Read more: What my students taught me about reading: old books hold new insights for the digital generation

Don’t just blame the problem on students
The engagement with readings is often seen as an exclusively student-centred problem. I urge a move away from this view. Instead, I invite educators, learning designers and educational developers to reconsider the methods we use to integrate assigned academic literature in the course design.

Research indicates that educators struggle to clearly communicate the rationale for why students need to read and how these texts contribute to their learning. We need to recognise different student personalities and anxieties, and to develop flexible ways for students to interact with academic literature.

But don’t students know that reading matters? Isn’t that what being at uni is about? Maybe, but here’s the problem.

Teachers regularly engage with complex papers, books and reports. Over the years they develop effective approaches to tackling the academic content.

Most students, on the other hand, have limited, if any, exposure to such texts. Many have low reading confidence. This results in situations where students face a black box (of readings) and are simply expected to know what to do with it, how to do it and, importantly, why. First-year and international students are particularly familiar with this scenario.

Male student reads a book with a pile of other books next to hhim
Getting through all their required reading can be hard work for students. Shutterstock
How can educators improve engagement with readings?
Educators often use questions and reflections to determine whether students have learned or missed anything in the readings. While it is a good starting point, quite often these sessions are done to test students rather than foster their learning. So, what else can we do?

With the development of blended (in person and online) and technology-rich learning environments, educators can use mixed approaches to engage students with assigned readings. We can divide these into pre-class and in-class strategies.

Read more: Digital learning is real-world learning. That's why blended on-campus and online study is best

Ideas for pre-class strategies:

Students participate in pre-class activities online. Learning management systems and collaborative tools – such as quizzes, polls and collaborative apps – offer multiple interactive options. Invite students to practise different approaches, including unfamiliar reading strategies.

Offer clear expectations and strategies on what, how and why to read. For example, should I skim, review the text or look for best practice? Sometimes a discussion early on is enough.

Gradually introduce technical terms and cognitive load. Don’t assume students know all specific terms from the start.

Ideas for in-class strategies:

Invite students to apply the readings to real-life experience, assignments or projects. Activities with clear longer-term agendas not only engage students but also allow educators to observe how students grasp new information.

Gradually increase informed learning concepts and strategies to help students develop critical and creative academic skills.

Provide a safe space for students to clarify confusing aspects. Weekly reading groups, talking circles or other collaborations enable students to share and ask genuine questions. These conversations can encourage students to tackle complex content.

Various techniques are effective in different contexts. What strategies have you found to meaningfully engage students with readings?

12/01/2022

Yes, audiobooks count as ‘real reading’. Here are 3 top titles to get you started
Audiobook listening has been called a “silent revolution” in the publishing industry over the last decade. The US audiobook market is estimated to be worth US$1.1 billion annually and is growing at a rate of more than 10% each year. Industry insiders say this is a fresh market, with 37% of Australian audiobook listeners only taking up the habit in the last year.

Audiobook downloads (up 15% on the previous year) were part of a pandemic boost for publisher revenues. Some are read by the authors themselves or by famous actors including Elizabeth Moss and Tom Hanks.

But are listeners really reading? If we challenge what we think we know about reading, audiobooks can be seen as not just a cheat’s shortcut for catching up on classics and bestsellers, but a new way to engage more people with stories.

Read more: How reading aloud can be an act of seduction

From vinyl to digital
Audiobooks are not new. The term refers to any authored print book vocalised through a variety of technologies — from records through to cassette players, and CDs. Digitally downloaded or streamed audiobooks have added a new dimension to this heritage technology, traditionally viewed as a compensatory tool for visual impairment or reading difficulties such as dyslexia and the rarer condition of alexia.

The surge in audiobook sales is likely a halo effect of the huge popularity of podcasts. But audiobooks are single-voiced, immersive listening experiences. Audiobooks do not include book-length texts “read” by an automated voice.

Audible (owned by Amazon) dominates the audiobook market and is now getting into the “original audiobook” game, meaning they produce the audio version rather than a book publisher. Other services offer “born audio” productions. Storytel Originals bypass print as the starting point in the traditional book publishing cycle.

Librivox — a site dedicated to making “all books in the public domain available, narrated by real people and distributed for free” emerged from a group of friends reading aloud from Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent. It draws its 15,000 titles from Project Gutenburg’s 60,000 free ebooks.

Unlike the commercial services, with narration and soundscapes on par with radio drama productions, the quality of Librivox audiobooks is highly variable. There are excellent recordings and “readings that sound as if they come from your worst nightmare of community theatre — either monotone or way over the top”, according to one LA Times reviewer.

earbuds on phone and books
Audiobooks are different to podcasts because they are voiced by one person and are immersive listening experiences. Unsplash, CC BY
How we read
Reading is a complex process. Rather than a single cognitive act of decoding, we know from imaging technologies that reading engages several discrete actions within the brain’s visual region. When the reader encounters an irregular letter-sound relationship, neurologist Stanislas Dehaene tells us the auditory brain region fires up as well.

When reading, we engage a bundle of brain skills that have evolved over centuries if not millennia. A recent study used fMRI scans to show people generate word meaning in the same way whether they see it or hear it.

Though reading is still usually thought of as a stationary, silent and solo practice, there is a long tradition of reading communally and aloud. This is not only reading by adults to children, but also among adults.

Streamed audiobooks available through smartphones enable reading-as-listening while mobile. The kinetic dimension of reading-as-listening while moving through space, commuting, walking or while driving is yet to be fully understood.

person with headphones waiting for a bus
How moving while listening affects our reading experience is yet to be fully understood. Unsplash/Henry Be, CC BY
Read more: Books offer a healing retreat for youngsters caught up in a pandemic

New reading, old storytelling
Audiobooks challenge established practices and assumptions about reading, but also remind us of the oral cultures of storytelling from which print cultures developed.

In Australia, streamed audiobook listening might offer a 21st century way of celebrating the affective, imaginative and kinetic dimensions of the Indigenous songlines that criss-cross the continent, either by remediating print books or bypassing the written form altogether.

Listening to audiobooks may help to close the gender gap common with reading literature. The Reading the reader report from Macquarie University found that more than 60% of “frequent readers” are women. Of “non-readers”, three quarters are men. Yet, men and women are equally likely to consume digital format books such as ebooks and audiobooks. Audiobooks may inspire more male readers to participate in bookclubs, which traditionally involve more women than men.

Man on train with phone and headphones
Reading on the tram or train. Shutterstock
Read more: Freud, Nietzsche, Paglia, Fanon: our expert guide to the books of The White Lotus

Audiobooks could also be used more in higher education. Princeton University Press recently announced the release of their PUB audio series, signalling new educational formats for scholars and students.

Rather than being one act for one purpose, literacy researcher Sam Duncan argues reading is a bigger umbrella than we may have previously realised, under which sits a diversity of practices, involving different “skills, challenges and pleasures”.

Listening-as-reading to vocalisations of books enables a level of imaginative and affective engagement that should not be diminished by our traditional assumptions.

book cover Carpentaria
Audible
Here are three great books to listen to:
1. Carpentaria by Alexis Wright
The audiobook of Alexis Wright’s epic Carpentaria, is narrated by Noongar actor and dramaturg Isaac Drandich. Using a range of voices, he offers the reader-as-listener an enhanced experience.

Audible
2. Taboo by Kim Scott
Reading his own book, Kim Scott’s gentle voice animates his sparse prose style beautifully.

The novel dramatises a brutal past event and its present day reckoning.

3. The Odyssey by Homer. Translated by Emily Wilson.
Claire Danes’s vocalising of Emily Wilson’s translation brings this ancient text into the contemporary world through plain speaking and her emphasis on satellite characters.

12/01/2022

12/01/2022