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After the launch of the government’s new literacy strategy last week- and no direct mention of Structured Literacy - several members of the dyslexia advocacy groups I belong to said they were tired, emotionally exhausted and they needed to take a break.
Like the struggling learners we support, there comes a time when - faced with seemingly insurmountable barriers - you just want to crawl back inside your protective shell.
For a while there, we were passionate and loud. We were like the kids, the struggling learners, who get disruptive in class.
Then we tried humour. We all know the ‘class clown’ gets attention. A few memes started being shared around. Perhaps they did not paint the Ministry of Education (or Minister Hipkins) in a good light. But we certainly vented some of our frustrated passion with a laugh or too.
Then the joke fell flat. Some other advocates of SL, teachers not parents, accused us of being bullies. Bullies! That’s right. Parents advocating for their struggling learners, calling the MoE out for not publicly addressing their demands for the widespread adoption of Structured Literacy, were told they were being disrespectful.
For years, many of our students have been labelled by various ill-informed teachers ‘slow’, ‘difficult’, ‘needy’, and ‘disengaged’. So to be told, by a few more teachers, that we were not behaving nicely was difficult to hear.
Some of us have trawled the internet for years to find ways that we could help our learners learn how to read and write, because it wasn’t happening at school, in class time.
Some of us have spent thousands and thousands of dollars paying tutors to teach our children how to read and write.
Some of us gave up our jobs to ‘homeschool’ our children, so they could learn to read and write.
Some of us, years ago, have written long submissions to the government on the inclusive education strategy.
Some of us, years ago, have signed petitions advocating for Structured Literacy.
Some of us got active on Facebook education groups, to advocate for our learners.
Some of us have had meetings, face to face, with the MoE about our concerns.
Some of us have invited education bureaucrats and ministers to visit schools using Structured Literacy, to see it in action.
Some of us have made presentations to our school boards, requesting Structured Literacy.
Some of us have written even longer submissions to the government on the then proposed literacy strategy.
Some of us have signed a new petition advocating for dyslexics' right to an education.
Some of us have built shared drives and websites to advocate for Structured Literacy.
Some of us have been on the radio, interviewed on television and written about in newspapers.
Some of us want to cry: “Why are we and our children being ignored?”
Some of us just want to cry.
Some of us have had successes - our own children got the help they needed or we convinced a local school to make the shift to Structured Literacy.
But we were thinking big, ‘going for gold’…We wanted this not just for our own kids, but ALL kids; not just this generation, but the next one, too!
But we are tired. We need help. Maybe you do not have a child with dyslexia, but chances are you know someone who does. More than 1 in 5 New Zealanders struggle to read and write.
Can we pass the baton on to you in this tiring ‘race for gold’? (Please don’t hit us on the head with it.)
Please ask your school-aged family members how they are getting on at school. How many of their classmates need a hand to read and write?
Can we help them?
Yes, we all can. We can ALL advocate for Structured Literacy and lift NZ’s ‘dire’ literacy rates.
Remember, those ‘dire’ statistics are not just numbers; they are people, they are workmates, they are children, they are classmates, they are yours and mine, and they need our help.
And spare a thought for those passionate - possibly angry - people, those ‘bullies’; after all, ‘acting out’ is a call for help, too.
Some of us are just too tired to remember our best manners.
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