In response to the whole-language movement, educators developed a pedagogy called Balanced Literacy. It was meant to ameliorate the two sides by embracing phonics and melding it with what was perceived as the best of whole-language theories. One definition goes like this:
“It is where literacy is taught using a balance of teacher-and student-initiated activities, as well as equal attention to phonics skills and whole-language approaches.”[1]
What Is Balanced Literacy?
Basically, balanced literacy is a peace treaty hammered out between warring factions who agreed to take the “best” of both approaches: the best of whole language and the best of traditional methods. But in recent years, as reading scores have steadily dropped, teachers are feeling the pressure of accountability. So many teachers, at least in south Texas, have resorted to teaching students nothing but test passages, presumably so they can raise test scores.
But what does a balanced literacy classroom look like, without the fear of the coming standardized test? Foremost, it has four styles of reading:
- Read-aloud, in which the teacher reads text to students
- Guided reading is what you’ve seen often. Small groups of children sit at a table with the teacher. Each child takes a turn reading a teacher-chosen text to match those children’s reading level. The teacher provides explicit instruction, responding to individual children’s needs.
- Shared reading is a whole-class activity. The teacher reads from a “big book” that is likely too hard for the children to read independently. After the first reading, children take turns helping in the rereading of the text.
- Independent reading involves student-selected texts, read on their own for an extended period of time—sometimes called SSR, or sustained silent reading.
Furthermore, these reading experiences are supported by phonics study (decoding), which leads naturally to spelling (encoding), and word study, including word parts. Balanced literacy also teaches reading comprehension skills:
- finding the main idea,
- drawing conclusions,
- making inferences,
- visualizing,
- summarizing,
- predicting, and so on.
These are taught as distinct skills, attached to reading texts that are used as vehicles to “showcase” the practice of the skills. In other words, the skill is the main point of the lesson—not the content of the story.
Although balanced literacy ideally also includes phonics as a critical piece of the puzzle, Dr. Timothy Shanahan pointed out as early as 2008 that balanced literacy is, in fact, a truce among adults who advocated for their favored pedagogies and assumed that the children would be fine.2
He continues with the assertion that much of the support for so-called “higher-level thinking skills” lacks true research proof. While the phonics advocates have steadily researched and now have proof that systematic, explicit phonics instruction works.
But, you might think, the balanced literacy folks do teach phonics. So aren’t they even-handed? The problem is that “balanced” literacy places an emphasis on individual teacher response to individual student need—not necessarily a bad thing. However, in practice, this constant adjusting has the effect of shunting phonics into lower and lower status. In many classrooms, phonics is in the back seat and is taught somewhat sporadically.
This smattering of phonics arises from many teachers’ fears of the classroom turning into a kill-and-drill experience. They are not wrong to fear this. Yet the science of reading now has proof that it is necessary to teach phonics in a structured sequence that often is not currently present in most balanced literacy classrooms.
According to Shanahan, balanced literacy also implies that so-called critical-thinking skills—like reading comprehension skills taught separately from deep content—is equal in efficacy to other instructional models. When in fact, no evidence supports this claim. He compares this false “balance” to a news show that attempts to be “balanced” in its reporting by interviewing crime victims and the criminal—just to be fair! It’s a false analysis.
As far back as 2008, Dr. Shanahan called for reading instruction that is based on evidence, acquired through research. It took several more years for advocates to assign a name to the body of evidence that had been accruing for decades: The Science of Reading.
[1] Goodman and Spiegel, quoted in Angeli M. Willson and Lori A. Falcon. “Seeking Equilibrium: In What Ways Are Teachers Implementing a Balanced Literacy Approach Amidst the Push for Accountability?” Texas Journal of Literary Education. Volume 6, Issue 2. Winter 2018. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1198870.pdf
[2] Shanahan, Dr. Timothy. “Why Balanced Literacy Is a Problem?” [sic] Shanahan on Literacy. 29 September, 2008. Accessed on 9-15-2023. https://www.shanahanonliteracy.com/blog/why-balanced-literacy-is-a-problem
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