Reading Instruction in the Primary Grades
Instructional Materials
The freedom of education implies the autonomy of choosing instructional approaches. The only suggestions regarding materials are in the curricula developed by the educational umbrella organizations. Therefore, schools are free to use any materials the teachers prefer. Most schools use a series of textbooks developed by an educational publishing house. These textbooks generally are written by teachers or educational counselors. Most schools choose one series of textbooks to ensure continuity in all grades. In the first grade, there is an emphasis on technical reading. Most schools use a specific method, including a specific manual to learn the technicalities of letters, words, and sentences.
Generally, Flemish schools are adequately resourced to achieve the final objectives of the core curriculum. In preprimary and primary schools, many tools are available to stimulate the development of reading skills of students. Special education resources can be made available to students with a visual, auditory, or physical disability who attend mainstream preprimary and primary education. These resources include technical equipment, paper or digital transcripts or adaptations of lesson materials, sign language interpreters, and copies of other students’ notes.9
Use of Technology
Information and communications skills are important for children and adults, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is influencing teaching and learning methods. New cross-curricular attainment targets and developmental objectives for ICT have been in use in preprimary and primary school since 2007. All schools are equipped with modern computers and other technological instruments, depending on their own needs and wishes. The tendency toward more inclusive education challenges schools to use gradually more assistive technology tools for reading, such as text to speech technology, audiobooks, optical character recognition software, graphic organizers, and digital schoolboards.
Role of Reading Specialists
Reading specialists are rare in primary schools; typically, the classroom teacher is the only reading specialist. If necessary, he or she can receive additional help from a remedial teacher, a care teacher, or a care coordinator. For a limited time, students with special needs can be helped in regular primary schools by a specialist teacher or a speech therapist inside or outside the classroom. However, the current political emphasis on a language policy in every school leads to increasing attention in schools to improve the quality of language teaching. A 2013 survey of the Flemish Ministry of Education on Dutch reading and listening showed that 91 percent of Flemish students achieved the final objectives of the core curriculum.10 Almost all the teachers involved spend time on reading instruction at least once a week. Generally, school teams do not have a need for language or reading specialists for Dutch instruction.
Second Language Instruction
An increasing number of students has limited or even absent knowledge of Dutch when starting preprimary or primary education. For this reason, attention is paid to monitoring the knowledge of Dutch and to adapting the provision of Dutch language training to the needs of the students. Schools may use the Toolkit of Broad Evaluation Competences Dutch to measure competence in Dutch or set up a language trajectory tailored for each student individually. Remediation within regular classes is possible, but primary schools also may choose to organize language immersion classes that offer intensive training in Dutch.