Over the past few years, education institutes have debated best practices to address the decline in literacy rates across Canada.
Follow this two-part segment that explores literacy at schools within the Winnipeg School Division (WSD). How are staff and educators working to inspire and engage students in reading and writing, and how students are motivating themselves to become better readers?
On a normal day at Wolseley School, students engage in their lessons and head outside to enjoy the spring air. Principal Brian Rogowsky helps lead the goal of fostering a love of reading and writing for all students at the nursery to Grade 6 school. He says engaging that love of literacy is important, as it’s a fundamental element of the human experience.
“Literacy, reading, writing, viewing, speaking, listening, all of it, is really communication. And that’s what we do with each other, with our families, and with our students. It’s all about communication.”
Developing these skills early sets students up for success in their academic careers. In the available provincial data, in the Grade 3 Reading in English competency from Fall 2023, 44.6 per cent of students met expectations. In Grade 8 Reading Comprehension in English from January 2024, 51.8 percent of students met mid-grade performance.
For younger students, Rogowsky says one thing they’ve identified is the level of skills students retain by the following school year.
“When kids have a two-month break from school, we’re not guaranteed that kids are reading every day in the summer. There’s lots of other activities that kids are involved with. You know, they’re going camping with their families, they’re going on trips. They’re, you know, they have lots of fun activities planned. So we do expect that maybe some strategies will be forgotten and that they will need reminders in the fall.”
Looking at data from Statistics Canada, the 2022 Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) found Canadians ranked in the top 10 among 27 OECD countries in all three skill areas: literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving. However, between 2018 and 2022, math scores declined by 15 points, reading scores of Canadian students dropped by 13 points, and science by three. A drop of 20 points is the equivalent of losing out on a full year of learning.
Summer isn’t the only barrier that students may face. R.B. Russell Vocational School in Winnipeg’s inner city has noticed that COVID and other life circumstances can cause students to fall behind. Teacher and acting librarian Andrew Crawford has built R.B. Russell’s library as a gathering place, increasing literacy in his school community to help address disparities in student education.
“I think we have to be realistic of meeting students where they are. That may sound like a cliche in some ways, but it’s actually quite true. And it has to be true, and you have to believe it if you’re going to work in a school in the inner city. You have to meet students where they are. And so that means, if their literacy is quite low, it does no good to bemoan it and say, oh, I’m going to give them something that’s appropriate, their age level anyway. Well, the age of maybe what it be biologically, but where their mind is and where their reading capability is, that’s where you’re going to find them.”
One’s ability to read and write significantly impacts goals in life. In another study from Statistics Canada, 96 per cent of the gap in university attendance between high- and low-income Canadian students is due to measurable factors, with 84 percent linked to long-term influences like reading scores at age 15, grades, parental support, and school quality—while only 12 per cent is due to financial barriers. Reading skills have the greatest impact. Disparities in literacy often stem from unequal access to resources, early education, parental involvement, school quality, and language barriers, all of which affect students’ learning environments and future opportunities.
Crawford says the library space acts as a launch pad for a lot of extracurricular activities and helps students get back on track academically.
“This is a place that happens. And finally, it’s a soft space, a soft landing for many students that maybe don’t start in September right away. They need to get started somewhere to catch up.”
Crawford says that if you want to help students reach an expected reading level, you must first foster a culture where students identify as readers. He says that long-term literacy and engagement will follow by promoting critical reading and writing through natural conversations and allowing students to explore themselves.
“You can go anywhere from that foundation if they consider themselves a reader. Then, you start building them up in any way you want. For me, the way I would build them up from, say, a lower reading level to whatever I want to get them to the reading level I imagine they should be at. It would be through engagement, it’d be through suggestions. It’s through being just present.”
He notes that as pragmatic thinkers, the students often ask for books on self-help, relationships, or stories about diverse experiences. All of which have been added to the library’s collection. These stories reflect the students themselves, with stories that explore Indigenous and 2SLGBTQIA+ experiences.
Mulvey School, an elementary in Wolseley, has found that students will want to learn by creating a space where they feel excited to go. Sarah Jane Heke, a library technician trainee, has turned the library around in less than a year, updating the collection. Since revamping the space into a dedicated, welcoming destination, students have shown enthusiasm and a sense of ownership.
“They love the autonomy and the independence. And then as well, when they’re congratulated on their choice, you can tell the pride that they’ve taken it all in being recognized for a good selection.”
The variety of literature is also important, says Heke, with stories exploring diverse histories and experiences.
“A big concept for the library world librarians is open windows and sliding doors, which give kids an opportunity to see themselves in the books that are represented in their libraries so that they’re connecting with the literature that’s on the shelf. And, knowing that it validates them, they know that if they’re in a book and they are visible there, they are a value to this community.”
For their efforts, when looking at data at Mulvey School with a dedicated staff member in the library, the number of circulated books students are taking out has gone from 188 to over 1,000 in the past year alone.
At Wolseley School, Rogowsky advocates for parental modelling of reading habits. He says this helps encourage students and can help them maintain their reading momentum outside the classroom.
“So we don’t have to be the perfect reader, but we can still enjoy reading, and we can show that to our kids. Our kids are constantly watching us, and they will parrot what we do. So if we’re enjoying a book, you know, for maybe half an hour, an hour in the evening, your kids are going to notice that, and they’re going to see that you’re enjoying reading, and then they’re going to want to enjoy it as well.”
Rogowsky notes that encouraging youth to read also fosters their ability to write and gives them confidence, preparing them for the future.
“Often, we forget about the writing aspect of literacy, and we focus on reading, but I really think that writing needs to be highlighted in this as well. Because that’s how we give our kids voice as well.”
From these three schools, a picture has been painted of the efforts taken to foster literacy in students, efforts to engage them early, and for those who may be struggling, giving them an opportunity to find joy in it again. In the second part of this series, we’ll explore how students perceive these experiences and what drives them.
– Ryan Funk, U Multicultural
