Children's perspectives on structured literacy teaching and their emerging perceptions of themselves as readers and writers

Abstract

This study focused on the methodological imperative of listening to children's voices in educational research, specifically in the context of structured literacy teaching. Adopting a qualitative, descriptive, multiple case study design, the research explored the experiences of five children (aged 5–6) engaged in structured literacy teaching through the Better Start Literacy Approach (BSLA) and their emerging perceptions of themselves as readers and writers. Aligning with a child-centred methodology, data collection measures included drawings, an emoji-based survey and individual interviews. Analysis involved exploration of focal points and key features in children's drawings, qualitative analysis of emoji survey ratings and deductive content analysis of children's interview transcripts. Overall, children's experiences of the BSLA reading and spelling lessons, as well as shared story time, were positive. Aspects most enjoyed included phonological awareness activities, decodable readers, and shared storybooks. All children could clearly articulate their literacy learning goals, most with a high level of specificity. Drawings by strong readers more often depicted themselves in positions of authority or leadership during reading and writing activities, while emergent readers tended to portray themselves as peers or in supported roles with a teacher. Children's emerging self-perceptions as readers and writers did not always align with literacy assessment data, highlighting how engaging children through multiple expressive modalities can reveal complex, relational, and affective dimensions of learning and self-perception. This study contributes to the growing call for child-inclusive methodologies in education research and highlights how educators and researchers can more meaningfully incorporate children's voices in the evaluation and refinement of structured literacy approaches.