Teachers’ perceptions of their preparedness for supporting struggling literacy learners in secondary English classrooms

Abstract

The initial and ongoing professional education of teachers to prepare them to support students’ literacy development warrants research attention. The importance of meeting the needs of struggling literacy learners in secondary school does not diminish as students move through the years of schooling. This paper reports on data from the 2019 Supporting Struggling Secondary Literacy Learners mixed-methods project, which sought to explore the challenges of meeting the needs of struggling literacy learners in Australian secondary schooling, from the perspectives of teachers of mainstream English classrooms. Adequacy of initial teacher education to support struggling literacy learners seems to have been low for the majority of teachers, and for both recent and earlier graduates. Where gaps were indicated, qualitative data provided valuable insights. Findings can be used to inform initial teacher education programmes and ongoing professional development opportunities, to ensure that such learning experiences are reflective of current teacher needs