Returning to the schools summit, attendees heard from three school leaders about the benefits of direct instruction.
Kitty Hancock, principal of St Mary's Primary School in Myrtleford, described explicit direct instruction as a game-changer for her school, which she admitted had problems with student behavior when she first arrived as principal.
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Hancock said instructional teaching was a big part of the improvements in student behavior and engagement, but seemingly simple things like turning desks to the teacher had also worked wonders.
“The children are all very focused. They're engaging with teachers, and that's across the school; it's basically the same as in 6th.”
Cranbourne Primary School headteacher Lachlan Yeates said that, like St Mary's in Myrtleford, his school had problems with student behavior before it switched to direct teaching.
“There was violence in the yard [both] towards teachers and students. And learning had faded,” he said. “When we first started, there was a sense of powerlessness among teachers.”
Turning to other schools for advice on resources and approaches, the school introduced the Read to Learn and Write to Learn programs and saw improvements within one term.
Yeates said that in the past three years, the school has seen improvements in NAPLAN performances and student attendance.
He said today's announcement that government schools would teach the same kind of reading lessons based on systematic synthetic phonics is sure to benefit both students and teachers. It is a significant change to the current system, which allows directors to choose their own approach.
Some educators say their schools had problems with student behavior before moving to direct instruction.Credit: iStock
“The strength and weakness of the Victorian education system is the autonomy each school has. But this announcement is going to help a lot of schools, so I really welcome that.”
Yeates said she was surprised at how much direct instruction benefited students with traumatic backgrounds and neurodivergent students.
Kathryn D'Elia, Goulburn Valley Grammar's director of learning, said the school's direct instruction teaching approach was well supported by the school community.
Broadly speaking, however, D'Elia acknowledged that it was difficult to get all teachers on the path to evidence-based teaching.
“Teachers are emotionally invested in their work, and if you've been teaching for 30 or 40 years, being told there's a better way can be very confronting. Some will want to do what they've always done.”
