Basic literacy levels are on the decline due to fad teaching

The former Director of Curriculum at Australia’s School Curriculum Authority has today warned that students are failing to gain basic literacy and numeracy skills due to fads and trends.

Education Program Director at the Centre for Independent Studies, Dr Fiona Mueller, told 3AW Drive the level of literacy in school-leavers has had a dramatic decline.

“In the western world there’s been a trend towards a more creative approach to language,” said Dr Mueller.

“Exposure to high quality literature has also declined – reading excellent literacy has a massive influence on language.

“The quality of assessment tasks is key, if you look at exam papers from decades ago the expectations were much higher.”

Dr Mueller says what is most troubling is the “risk for future generations, as you can’t teach what you don’t know”.

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