The Balancing Act initiative
The Balancing Act initiative is a series of linked research projects that are working to create a paradigm shift in the teaching of reading and writing.
The initiative is part-funded by the Helen Hamlyn Trust.
Mission statement
The Balancing Act initiative aims to have a positive impact on how reading and writing are taught in early years settings and primary schools, hence improving children’s learning and life chances. The work also seeks to illuminate the unique expertise that teachers and education researchers, in partnership, can bring to questions about effective primary and early years education.
Background
The Balancing Act initiative emerged from research on reading and writing done over many years. One of the recent starting points for the initiative was a survey of teachers in England. This noted a dramatic shift in the approach to teaching reading in England linked with the Conservative government policies from 2010 to 2024.
In addition to reporting the survey outcomes, the research paper also contained:
- new analyses of robust research studies about what works in the teaching of reading, and
- comparisons of performance by a selection of countries where English is a main language in primary schools.
The Guardian newspaper described the research as “a landmark study”. Subsequent research developed a new theory: The Double Helix of Reading and Writing.
The Balancing Act: An evidence-based approach to teaching phonics, reading and writing, by Dominic Wyse and Charlotte Hacking, is a book that arose from the collaboration between the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy (HHCP) and the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE).
'The Double Helix of Reading and Writing', published in the book, is a new theory and model of teaching. It offers an alternative to models such as ‘The Simple View of Reading’ and ‘The Reading Rope’. A research paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Literacy provides further background to the theory.
The book dismantles polarised debates about the teaching of phonics. Furthermore, it analyses the latest scientific evidence of what really works. It shows in vivid detail how phonics, reading and writing should be taught through the creativity of some of the best authors of books for children.
By describing lessons inspired by ‘real books’, it showcases why the new approach is more effective than narrow phonics approaches.
The authors call for a paradigm shift in literacy education. It is a book of hope for the future, in the context of powerful elites influencing narrow curricula, narrow pedagogy and high-stakes assessments.
The Balancing Act will be of interest to anyone who is invested in young children’s development, particularly:
- teachers
- trainee teachers
- lecturers
- researchers, and
- policymakers.
It is suitable for everyone who wants to improve the teaching of reading and writing in the English language worldwide.
Image information
Image description
Title: The Double Helix of Reading and Writing.
Text at the top of the image: The child and their languages.
Main body of the image: a double helix intertwining strands with the labels ‘writing’ and ‘reading’. Inside each space made by the intertwining strands of the double helix is a list of words and phrases. These are the main components for teaching reading and writing:
- sound
- phonological awareness
- phonemes
- letters
- morphemes
- comprehension
- motivation and meaning
- composition
- text structures
- sentences
- words
- making marks, and
- objects.
Text at bottom of image: The children and their environment, including texts.
Image copyright
The image has a creative commons license CC-BY-NC-LO. It can be copied and used provided the following citation is included: Dominic Wyse and Charlotte Hacking: The Balancing Act: An evidence-based approach to teaching phonics, reading, and writing. Routledge Publishers, 2024.
Related links
- Prof Dominic Wyse
- Charlotte Hacking
- Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy (0–11 years)
- Centre for Literacy in Primary Education
- The Balancing Act – Routledge
- Reading wars or reading reconciliation? A critical examination of robust research evidence, curriculum policy and teachers' practices for teaching phonics and reading
- The teaching of reading is called into question
- Decoding, reading and writing: the double helix theory of teaching
- The Tale of the Century: Teaching phonics, reading and writing, an international hybrid seminar organised by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy (0 to 11 Years) (HHCP) and the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) on 2nd July 2024