Reading Instruction in the Primary Grades
Instructional Materials
Belgium currently does not have any compulsory didactic methods or support for teaching reading. The selection of textbooks varies according to the teachers. They typically use materials from a variety of sources, including exercises and texts from books, newsletters, reviews, and documents provided by the school system.
A 2006 official directive emphasizes the use of school textbooks, software, and other educational tools in classrooms.7 The use of these materials is intended to support students throughout their learning and help teachers plan and implement teaching activities. This directive is part of the Contract for Schools (Contrat pour l’école), which aims for better resourced teachers, better structured teaching methods, and more efficient and equitable schools.
The government of the Wallonia‑Brussels Federation has granted schools financial aid for textbook and software purchases. As of 2007, these funds are to be used to purchase textbooks that have received approval based on ethical criteria (i.e., respect for equality and nondiscrimination principles) and educational criteria (i.e., conformity with the core skills and other decrees).
Use of Technology
Since the 1998–1999 school year, primary and secondary schools have undergone a major effort to provide primary and secondary schools with computers. Unfortunately, especially in primary schools, computer rooms are largely underused. Many teachers are not trained to use these kinds of tools to support their teaching. However, computer technology is not imperative to the process of teaching reading; rather, its use depends on teachers’ preferences and educational staff initiatives. Computer technology most often is used to search for information and documentation during activities aimed at increasing reading speed, lexical and syntactic knowledge, or comprehension of texts.
Role of Reading Specialists
Reading specialists play a minor role in schools. Specialized researchers in education—usually with the cooperation of primary school teachers—develop and disseminate tools aimed at helping teachers with reading instruction. However, the literary climate was recently found to be less favorable in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation than in other countries. As a result, a team of university researchers initiated a project aimed at fostering more collaboration between primary education classrooms and public libraries. The researchers have provided some suggestions for collaboration among teachers of Grades 1 to 6, including a school library partnership that is expected to motivate teachers to take their students to school and public libraries more frequently.
Second Language Instruction
Three language instruction lessons per week are available for students who do not know French well enough to participate in classroom activities. In addition to teaching students French, the goal of these lessons is to integrate them into the school system.
Accommodation Policies for Instruction and Testing
While the main role of the Ministry of Education is to execute ministerial decisions, it also is involved in the study of new regulations such as laws and decrees. The implementation of the regulations by the administration necessarily involves inspection, but there also is an aspect of service to school heads and other controlling authorities: the Ministry provides administrators with the information and tools needed for smooth, timely organization of their schools with full assurance of compliance with the law by students and staff members. This service is provided via pamphlets that present the content of decrees and regulatory provisions initiated by the legislative powers and the Wallonia‑Brussels Federation executive. Everyone who is responsible for administering the educational structures that are part of the Ministry of the Wallonia‑Brussels Federation or who is concerned by its actions is in receipt of this information.
School administrations at all levels of education are responsible for:
- General characteristics of schools
- Structure of education at each school, (e.g., , number of years of study, streams, options, courses, programs) in compliance with the standards and rules in effect
- Compliance of class schedules (i.e., the combination of courses students attend each week)
- Regularity of student enrollment
- School population flows (particularly from the standpoint of meeting standards, the calculations of teacher-pupil ratios, statistics, etc.)
- Calculation of administrative and auxiliary education staffing needs
- Collection and distribution of operating subsidies and grants
- Determination of which positions are eligible for subsidies and the allocation of resources in compliance with statutory rules