Pedagogy of Early Reading and Writing

The course takes participants through experiences of classroom processes leading to an understanding of the principles and practice of a comprehensive literacy pedagogy.

Children drawing picture

Early reading and writing are the building blocks for further learning in schools. Early reading and writing needs to be seen as a combination of abilities which involves meaning making, oral expression, decoding, phonological and phonemic awareness, prediction and so on. Children who fail to achieve these abilities in the early stage lag behind in all the other subjects. Hence in schools, developing early reading and writing is crucial.

In most schools, early reading and writing is seen as decoding text or copying the written words. This has serious implication on how children view reading and writing – they end up mugging up; have very little ability to generate and express thought both orally and in written. 

This course takes participants through experiences of classroom processes leading to an understanding of the principles and practice of a comprehensive literacy pedagogy.

This course is designed for those who seek to understand the pedagogy of early literacy. It is ideal for educators who teach courses in early literacy, literacy pedagogy or pedagogy of language in District Institute of Education and Training (DIETs), State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs) and Colleges of Teacher Education (CTEs). It is a must for educators from NGOs working in the field, leading interventions in early literacy.

The pedagogy would include small group discussions, reading based discussions and presentations, activities, videos/​film clips.

Course Outline

PartDescription
1It examines the current practices of teaching early reading and writing, the mismatch between the natural processes of learning to read and write and the practices followed in schools. It explores innovative approaches to teaching reading and writing in India.
IIIt explores the comprehensive approach to reading and writing pedagogy. The course takes teacher educators through an experience of the pedagogy of talk, the process of emergent reading and writing, concepts of print, storytelling and story reading. It explores the core processes: the development of phonics, vocabulary and fluency. 

Course Faculty