Literacy Now

This feature is the fourth article in a series that celebrates the accomplishments of National Affiliates of the International Development in Europe Committee (IDEC) of the International Reading Association (IRA). Their member organizations’ activity reports are compiled twice a year (in January and July), and we have summarized excerpts from these reports. Visit www.literacyeurope.org for more information and a list of national websites. 

Israel

The Israel Reading Association has fruitful alliances with the wide range of associations in Israel who have shared interests in literacy and reading: The Associations of Teachers of English, Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, Ethiopian, Yiddish, German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Chinese; The Script Group for Language Tests; and The Center of Educational Technology. They continued to promote the research projects in the content area of “Mother Tongue and Second/Foreign Language Reading” in seven Teachers’ Colleges and five Schools of Education and through their Ministry of Education. The National Committee continued to examine Mother Tongue teachings both in Hebrew and Arabic. The Hebrew-Arabic Bilingual Reading Project (HARP) is developing very well and a new Bulletin of the National Academy for Arabic language was established. The 39th volume of the Journal of Teachers of Arabic in Hebrew-Speaking-Schools came out in January 2011. The 40th volume will be released in October 2011. The Association held many regional in-service conferences in 2011, including a conference on the topic of “Women in the Middle East” in Ramat Rachel in December 2010 with an attendance of about 260 members. They hosted a study tour of International Reading Association (IRA) members in November 2010 and the winter IDEC/FELA meeting in January 2011. (IRA members can read more about the IRA member delegation to Israel in the October/November 2011 issue of Reading Today.)

Latvia 
In the past year, Latvijas Lasīšanas asociācija, or the Latvian Reading Association (LatRA), organized seminars and workshops for teachers, parents, and school librarians on latest developments in children’s and youth literature and the implementation of critical thinking approach in the educational process at school. They participated in the Latvian radio programs on the development of literacy, joined in the Days of Book in March, and cooperated with the Latvian Association of Book publishers. They also participated in the LLP Grundtvig multilateral project “Create—Motivate—Learn” under the umbrella of the Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking International Consortium (www.cremole.eu). The Association partners with the Education Development Centre to organize professional training courses for different target audiences aimed at developing the critical thinking skills and for further development of Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking program in Latvia. Visit www.iac.edu.lv for more information about the Latvian Reading Association.

 

Norway
The Norwegian Reading Association (NoRA) arranged a seminar for teachers in Bergen in April 2011. The theme of the seminar was “English as a second language in dyslexic students,” and the English 2 Dyslexia test was presented. NoRA is planning a seminar for teachers in November 2011 with the theme “Computer writing–learning to read.” They publish the NoRA Bulletin twice a year and have Inter-Nordic cooperation and exchange bulletins. To learn more about NoRA, visit www.nora-les.no.

 

This feature is the third article in a series that celebrates the accomplishments of National Affiliates of the International Development in Europe Committee (IDEC) of the International Reading Association (IRA). Their member organizations’ activity reports are compiled twice a year (in January and July), and we have summarized excerpts from these reports. Visit www.literacyeurope.org for more information and a list of national websites. 

Germany  
In 2011, the German Society for Reading and Writing, or Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Lesen und Schreiben. e.V., published Volume 12 of the series “Beitrage der Deutschen Gesellschaft fur Lesen und Schreiben” with the title Mehrsprachigkeit – Chance oder Hürde beim Schriftspracherwerb? (Multilingualism: chance or risk for literacy?), edited by Sabine Hornberg and Renate Valtin. Their annual congress took place on April 8 and 9, 2011, at Humboldt-University, Berlin, with 120 participants. The topic was “Girls and boys in school. How to develop reading competence, reading motivation, and positive attitudes toward school.” PowerPoint presentations are available at http://www.dgls.de. Member Christine Garbe was successful in getting funding for the Comenius project BACULIT (Basic Curriculum for Teachers' In-service Training in Content Area Literacy in Secondary Schools). Visit www.alinet.eu for details. This project was based on the results of the international ADORE study “Teaching Adolescent Struggling Readers – A Comparative Study of Good Practices in European Countries” funded by the European Socrates Program from 2006 to 2009. View a summary of the project’s results at www.adore-project.eu. Visit www.dgls.de for more information about the German Society for Reading and Writing. 

Greece
The Greek Reading Association is also called the Hellenic Association for Language and Literacy (HALL). In 2011, the Association has continued to expand its various activities. They send a newsletter to all members. The proceedings of the conference titled “Writing and Writings in the 21st Century: The Challenge for Education” were published in a CD-ROM of over 600 pages. They also organized regional in-service seminars promoting literacy in primary education.

Ireland
The Reading Association of Ireland (RAI), or Cumann Léitheoireachtanah Éireann, just held their 35th Annual RAI Conference at the Church of Ireland College of Education in Dublin from September 29 to October 1. The theme was “Creating Multiple Pathways to Powerful Literacy in Challenging Times” and included keynote speakers Prof. P. David Pearson (University of California, Berkeley) and Dr. Bernadette Dwyer (St. Patrick’s College, Dublin). For more information see http://www.reading.ie/conferences. RAI presented five seminars between January and July 2011. The presentations delivered at each seminar are available to download at http://www.reading.ie/seminars. The seminars explored a range of topics including comprehension, spelling and writing instruction, literature circles, and assessment. The spring edition of Reading News, the RAI newsletter, included articles on assessment and reading and writing instruction as well as RAI’s Mission Statement and statement on Key Principles of Effective Literacy Development. The autumn 2010 edition of Reading News is available to download on the website, and the spring 2011 edition will be available shortly. As part of continuing efforts to promote the RAI and literacy education nationally, the RAI is currently establishing a number of regional branches across Ireland. Regional branches of the RAI have been established in Limerick and Cork. Visit their website, redesigned in 2010, at www.reading.ie. 

 

 

This feature is the second article in a series that celebrates the accomplishments of National Affiliates of the International Development in Europe Committee (IDEC) of the International Reading Association (IRA). Their member organizations’ activity reports are compiled twice a year (in January and July), and we have summarized excerpts from these reports. Visit www.literacyeurope.org for more information and a list of national websites. 

Denmark 

Lasepadagogen, the Danish Council of International Reading Association, is one of the oldest reading associations in Europe. It was established in 1950 and is chartered as an IRA affiliate. The Lasepadagogen journal, The Reading Teacher, is published six times a year. They also publish special books written by researchers in fx. dyscalculia (dyslexia) and how to teach and learn with different problems in reading and writing. Lasepadagogen’s annual conference called Munkebjergkonferencen will be held on November 17 and 18, 2011. The theme of the conference is “Evaluation of reading and writing in practice teaching.” On November 16, Lasepadagogen will host a conference with the theme “How to see the pupil behind the diagnosis?” for local consult reading teachers from public schools in Denmark. Read more about Lasepadagogen at www.laesepaed.dk.

Estonia 
The Estonian Reading Association, also know as EstRA and Eesti Lugemisühing, held their annual conference with the theme “Picture and Text” on June 8 through 10, 2011. The conference in Tallinn attracted more than 200 participants from different countries.  The conference included an awards ceremony for winners of the “Picture and Text” essay competition for teachers. Their “Reading Nest” project, now in its seventh year, continues to train mentors how to create new reading nests in schools, kindergartens, and libraries. The “Schools Where Literacy Thrives” collection about the results of three years of the project activities was published in 2010 and presented in EstRA conference. This publication is in its fourth year. The “Reading is Fun” initiative is in its 10th year in 13 schools from all over Estonia including schools for children with hearing disabilities. Visit www.lugemisyhing.ee for more information about EstRA. 

Finland
The Finnish Reading Association (FinRA) has played an important role for educators who have benefited from the quarterly journal Kielikukko. FinRA is planning a one-day cruise seminar with workshops for its members on October 15, 2011. Themes for the workshops will be “Multiculturalism in today’s schools” and “Students’ need of web literacy.” The work on the peer reviewed publication based on articles from the Second Baltic Sea –15th Nordic Reading Conference is at its final stage. The editorial group of Dr. Vuokko Kaartinen, chair, Carita Kiili, and Dr. Marita Makela wish to thank writers, reviewers, and editors for their professional work and assistance. The publication will contain 13 articles; nine in English and four in Finnish. The authors represent Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, and Finland. Conference presentations can be found online at http://www.parnet.fi/~finra/?page=1. In June, 40 years of FinRA documents: projects, protocols/minutes and communication gathered from the founding years until 2004 have been deposited in the provincial archives in the city of Jyvaskyla, the home town of FinRA. The next step is to gather photographs to include. The material is available for research purposes. Go to http://www.parnet.fi/~finra/

 for more details about FinRA. 

 

This feature is the first article in a series that celebrates the accomplishments of National Affiliates of the International Development in Europe Committee (IDEC) of the International Reading Association (IRA). Their member organizations’ activity reports are compiled twice a year (in January and July), and we have summarized excerpts from these reports. Visit www.literacyeurope.org for more information and a list of national websites.

Austria 

The Austrian Literacy Association’s President, Dr. Margit Böck, reports that they launched their new website this year: www.lesenundschreiben.at. They are planning a national conference on literacy on October 5 and 6, 2011 in Innsbruck with keynote speakers Franz Billmayer, Gunther Kress, and Jennifer Rowsell. The title of the conference is “Kulturen des Lesens und Schreibens. Brücken schlagen zwischen literalen Praktiken innerhalb und außerhalb von Kindergarten und Schule” which translates as “Cultures of reading and writing. Building bridges between literacy practices inside and outside of kindergarten and school.” Their projects for 2011 include membership and literacy projects as well as active cooperation with IDEC and the Federation of European Literacy Associations (FELA). 

Bulgaria 

The Bulgarian Reading Association (BulRA) is proud of their High School Exchange Program (HSE) which offers one-year study abroad programs for students in the United States and United Kindgom. Chair of the Board Lydia Dachkova  shares that they partner with partners Articulation System Stimulating Interinstitutional Student Transfer (ASSIST) in the U.S. and the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) in the U.K. The Association hosts informational meetings and discussions about living and studying abroad—the cross-cultural, multicultural, and academic issues—with parents, students, and teachers in three Bulgarian cities. They also organize reading sessions in community libraries in Sofia and American Corner, Sofia City Library, and American Council.

The Czech Republic
PhDr. Marie Ernestová, Vice President of the Czech Reading Association (CzechRA), reports that they held a half-day convention, jointly organized by the CzechRA and the Czech Dyslexia Society, in Prague on April 20, 2011. The program included Lenka Krejčová and Zuzana Pospíšilová “It´s not beyond me,”a program focusing on developing learning strategies for secondary school pupils with dyslexia. Kateřina Nevřalová presented “Project DYS2.0: supporting gaming activities for young people with dyslexia” and Jitka Topičová discussed “Little but smart: an example of good practice” about inclusive education in primary schools and kindergartens in the Karlsbad vernacular region of Sadov. Karel Šmídmajer shared facts about “Fatty acids and special learning and behavioural disorders.” The program also included recent information on implementation of the Comenia Script pilot study and an update on practical experience gained from the nation-wide project “Reading literacy development in the inclusive school environment.” In the field of research, CzechRA members have been involved with the research project “Analytical, synthetic, and genetic methods of teaching reading,” funded by the CR Grant Agency, since 2009. The study has been working with 600 six- to seven-year-olds in primary schools throughout the country and is due to be completed this autumn, with the release of a book and a series of lectures. Read more about CzechRA at www.czechra.czweb.org. 

 

by Cheryl Jeffers