Children in a classroom learning. Photo: UnSplash/ Taylor Flowe
- More five-year-olds than ever are starting school with low speaking language skills, research by the Education Review office has found
- Teachers are blaming the Covid-19 pandemic and excessive screen time for the results
- Speech therapists say literacy levels could be improved with more funding and staff in the workforce
- The government has announced a new online curriculum resource for ECE teachers in the wake of the research
A speech therapist believes research by the Education Review Office which found too many children started school unable to speak coherently, highlights the need for supporting a workforce that is "in crisis".
Teachers of new entrant school children and early childhood teachers report seeing more children than ever with poor language skills, research by the Education Review Office published on Thursday had shown.
More than a quarter of teachers in schools in poor neighbourhoods said most of their pupils had oral language below the level expected of them, compared to just 3 percent of new entrant teachers in schools in rich neighbourhoods.
While some teachers have blamed the Covid-19 pandemic and excessive screen time on the declining level of oral language, co-president of the Speech and Language Therapists' Association Emma Quigan, said a "workforce crisis" has had an impact.
"I think the research shows how difficult it can be for parents to access support for their children," Quigan said.
"The worry is there are so few speech therapists in New Zealand and that teaching and help we can provide isn't making it into classrooms as a result."
Photo: Supplied
Quigan said in New Zealand there were 20 speech therapists per 100,000 people, and the sector had been "underfunded for a long time and building to a crisis".
"It's really grim out there," she said.
The ERO study said research showed 80 percent of five-year-olds had good oral language, but a significant group of children were behind and Covid-19 had made this worse.
"Covid-19 has had a significant impact. Nearly two-thirds of teachers (59 percent of ECE teachers and 65 percent of new entrant teachers) report that Covid-19 has impacted children's language development," the report said.
"Teachers told us that social communication was particularly impacted by Covid-19, particularly language skills for social communication. International studies confirm the significant impact of Covid-19 on language development."
Quigan said she was not convinced Covid-19 or excessive screen time was to blame and blaming screen time was "terribly unfair on parents".
"Those are two easy things to blame rather than looking at funding for support services."
Government response
Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER
In response to the ERO research, Education Minister Erica Stanford announced more support would be made available to Early Childhood Education (ECE) teachers to help them drive better literacy outcomes for children.
An online curriculum resource, Kōwhiti Whakapae, would help ECE teachers planning, assessment and teaching in oral language, literacy and maths, Stanford said.
The ERO research recommended putting consistent expectations in place for students and tracking their progress, while supporting parents to develop language at home.
The new online tool would help teachers "adjust their practices", Stanford said, in response to evidence-based judgement on a child's progress.
"It will also give parents an understanding of what their child is learning and where they're at.
"These tools are another step in the right direction in lifting achievement and closing the equity gap in our education system."
The Early Childhood Council said it was concerned by the recommendations made by ERO and that it would increase the unfunded workload on ECE teachers.
The council's chief executive, Simon Laube, said monitoring, measuring and reporting on oral language learning progress would need to happen outside of teachers time working with students, time which was not funded.
Early Childhood Council chief executive Simon Laube, at the centre where the government announced a rollback of regulations for the sector. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
It would lead to significantly increased fees for parents, Laube said, prolonging the cost of living crisis for parents.
"ECE teachers need support and recognition, not constant harrying and interference from the government. Increasing expectations now is unhelpful and unrealistic and makes teaching more unattractive while we face a teacher shortage crisis."
Many children missed out on ECE altogether, Laube said, and that needed to be addressed as a priority.
"We welcome the focus on this issue because children's development is so important. Everyone wants the best oral language development for our children, but it must be funded and delivered more effectively, with support not moral judgement."
How parents can help
Children learn best when they feel listened to, Quigan said and she encouraged parents to have "rich conversations" with their toddlers and children.
"Don't be hard on yourself - just show real interest in what your child is telling you and is interested in discussing. Step into their world and don't worry about how correct the words may sound - get them talking and be present and engaged."
Early intervention worked best, Quigan said, and it worried her hearing anecdotally, that many parents were waiting months for help from a speech therapist for their children.
"We need more speech therapists in classrooms and more in the community to help whānau's with advice if they are struggling with their child's oral language skills.
"Let's work together rather than pointing the finger at teachers or parents or one particular issue," Quigan said.
