Putting the jigsaw together: Reading and teaching of phonics in the early years

The teaching of reading has been a source of much debate amongst teachers, policy makers, publishing companies, and the public at large. When commentating on the teaching of reading, some assert the necessity of a skills based phonics-first approach. This approach typically uses commercial phonics resources to determine the content and the sequence and pace of the instruction. Some versions of this approach also promote synthetic phonics where young children are drilled on reading real and pseudo (nonsense) words. However, a large evidence base puts forward another position. This alternative position considers more contemporary understandings of the multiple roles readers need to develop as literate individuals of the new millennia. This position supports what is called the balanced approach. The foundational principle of the balanced approach is that effective readers need an amalgam of practices called code-breaking, meaning making, text user and text analyst skills (Luke & Freebody, 1991). Phonics is a key part of the balanced approach but in a point of difference to the phonics-first approach, early years readers develop their skills across all four practices simultaneously. This latter position aligns with recent reforms in early years curriculum, pedagogy and assessment in Australia