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Published: 07 February 2014

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Dr Kerry Hempenstall, Senior Industry Fellow, School of Education, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.

My blogs can be viewed on-line or downloaded as a Word file or PDF at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/olxpifutwcgvg8j/AABU8YNr4ZxiXPXzvHrrirR8a?dl=0

“The way we went down the road to whole language is really a story of stupidity” (Lyon, 2005).

A history: Then and now

The history of reading instruction has involved considerable and extended disagreement about the optimal approach to ensuring children become literate and thereby capable of participating in our society. As literacy has become fundamental in all facets of life, so it became obvious that students who did not learn to read effectively were greatly disadvantaged throughout their lifespan. For a history of disputes about reading instruction, see http://www.nifdi.org/news-latest-2/blog-hempenstall/396-a-history-of-disputes-about-reading-instruction.

During the 1980’s and 90’s an approach to education with strong philosophical and political underpinnings, whole language (WL), became a (the?) major model for educational practice in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, and Great Britain (Groff, 1997). According to Smith (1992), 46 of the 50 US States reported using WL programs, and 90% of the WL teachers received some form of WL professional development. Australia, too, followed this strong trend (House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Education, and Training, 1992), and most state education departments had in-service training programs to inculcate the model into schools.

However, over time, there arose increasing controversy, both in the research community (Eldredge, 1991; Fields & Kempe, 1992; Gersten & Dimino, 1993; Liberman & Liberman, 1990; Mather, 1992; McCaslin, 1989; Stahl & Miller, 1989; Vellutino, 1991; Weir, 1990), and in the popular press (Hempenstall, 1994, 1995; Prior, 1993) about the impact of the WL approach on the attainments of students educated within this framework. In particular, concern was expressed about the possibly detrimental effects on at-risk students, including those diagnosed with learning disabilities (Bateman, 1991; Blachman, 1991; Liberman, Shankweiler, & Liberman, 1989; Yates, 1988).

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