Literacy: A Lifelong Process Through a Balanced Literacy Approach

Preschool Education: Global Trends (2023), Vol. 3, 44–68
44 preschool-journal.com
https://doi.org/10.31470/2786-703X-2023-3-44-68 UDC 372
Literacy: A Lifelong Process Through
a Balanced Literacy Approach
Грамотність: процес, що триває все життя
завдяки збалансованому підходу до грамотності
Zoi T. Apostolou
PhD in Educational Studies
Зої Т. Апостолу
кандидат педагогічних наук
E-mail: apostolo@upatras.gr
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4359-397X
University of Patras (Greece)
 University Campus, GR26504
Rion, Achaia (Greece)
Університет Патри (Греція)
 Університетське містечко,
GR26504 Ріон, Ахайя (Греція)
Original manuscript received, February 10, 2023
Revised manuscript accepted May 23, 2023
ABSTRACT
Introduction. This paper attempts a critical analysis of literacy acquisition by
preschool children through a balanced literacy approach, a mixed method which
brings together elements from methods with an emphasis on code and from methods
with an emphasis on meaning. In particular, visuals of a balanced literacy approach,
as it takes place (or not) in Greek preschool education classes, are presented.
Goal. Individual issues, challenges and perspectives which are introduced by this
method are explored in comparison and in correspondence with the traditional and
outdated understanding of literacy, which links it to learning to read and write.
Emphasis is made on the strengths and weaknesses of a balanced literacy approach
in order to highlight the prospects for its application in early childhood education on
a larger scale.
The Results. Questions and concerns are raised regarding the expansion and application
of the method and its acceptance by Greek kindergarten teachers. However, the need
for the application of a balanced literacy approach in early childhood education
classes is reflected, as the only method that combines, adopts and utilizes elements
of many methods, able to offer young students sufficient resources in the course

Literacy: A Lifelong Process Through a Balanced...
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of mastering literacy. Summarizing and with clear reference to all of the above,
literacy balancing as a mix of language teaching traditions for the enhancement of
natural literacy and the teaching of school literacy must be understood in Greek early
childhood classes and adopted by preschool teachers. We could state that teachers, by
way of exception or deviation from what is indicated through the official texts, they
carries out their own educational act in dialogue with their teaching identity but also
with the identities of their students (Apostolou et al., 2020). In this context, the need
for continuous, substantial, systematic and targeted training of kindergarten teachers
in literacy issues arises (Apostolou, 2021). It also highlights the need to clarify and
enrich the theoretical principles and methodological guidelines of the official texts
with clear references to the balanced approach to literacy.
Conclusions. Based on the assumption that for the strengthening of literacy and the
teaching of the language, a decisive role is played by the school environment, the
teacher is recognized as the most important of all factors for language teaching.
As school environment and teacher’s role is co-shaped by a series of socio-cultural
factors of varying strength that influence and determine the type of literacy that is
promoted in a school classroom (educational, student identity, family, locality, syllabus,
school textbooks, etc.), during the last years an attempt was made to make visible the
way in which they shape their teaching choices.
Key words: early childhood education, language, balanced literacy, reading, writing.
Introduction
Literacy as a Lifelong Process
Today, more than ever before, the concept of literacy is intertwined
and identified with the participation of the individual in social processes,
leaving behind, as a traditional and outdated concept, its connection
with learning to read and write.
The term literacy is used to denote one’s effective participation
in social processes and as a social practice constitutes one of the
most important practices of ensuring personal and social integration.
In this context, the path to literacy is not a matter of a few years of
school attendance, but it is a lifelong process that begins in preschool
(UNESCO, 2016; UNICEF, 2019). As the most important foundations
are built and laid at early age in such a way that will help the child
succeed in later school life and in other dimensions of his life (OECD,
2010; UNICEF, 2019), a child’s literacy experiences in preschool are
crucial for all children. Early childhood education is the first direction
of building strong academic and social foundations and plays a key

Грамотність: процес, що триває все життя...
46 © Апостолоу З.
role as the foundational phase in the literacy pathway (UNESCO, 2016;
ELINET, 2016). It has a multiplier effect as it “empowers people”,
makes them “able to participate fully in society” and contributes to
the improvement of life in an ever-increasing digital, text-mediated,
information-rich, rapidly changing world (Eurydice, 2011).
In recent years the value of childhood literacy, linked to the
subsequent school success or failure of the child and contributing in
the long term to social well-being, social justice and the development
of democracy, has been of increasing interest to the international
community (UNESCO, 2017). Development is directly linked to
high-quality experiences provided to the child at this age (Heath, 1983;
European Commission, 2008; UNESCO, 2015; Djonov et al., 2018),
which in some part mean the practices of strengthening natural literacy
in the family and school context and/or teaching school literacy into
a school context (Hanemann, 2015).
According to Hasans’ approach, natural literacy develops and
evolves into school literacy, following two lines of development.
Specifically, Hasan states that:
“Young children’s acquisition of emergent literacy follows a natural
course of development, which is called the natural or everyday line
of literacy development and develops in the context of everyday
activities, in the unstructured context of primary socialization of
the child” (Hasan, 1996: 143).
In parallel, of course, with this natural line of literacy development,
and as the child enters compulsory kindergarten education, the child also
enters in what Hasan (1996) defines as an exotic line. This line follows
and builds on what has been mastered in the context of daily activities,
thus in the context of the natural/daily line of literacy development.
The exotic line concerns the development of literacy in a structured
context (school environment), in the formal educational context.
Its development, which works alongside physics, is largely determined
by pre-existing knowledge acquired from the wider family environment
(Hasan, 1996). These two lines coexist in order for literacy to emerge
in the family environment, in the wider social context, and also in the
formal school/educational context.
In this context, the pedagogy of multiliteracies was also developed,
according to which literacy is a social practice, a way of developing

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critical thinking. According to multiliteracies the function of reading and
writing is not enough and the function of other modes of representation
(written, visual, oral, etc.) should also be studied (Cope & Kalantzis,
2000). Within this context, there is a need to develop those abilities
and skills that will make the person capable of understanding texts
that combine different semiotic means for the production of meaning
(linguistic, visual, audio) and discourses produced in polymorphic and
multicultural social environments (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000; Kress, 2003;
Hatzisavidis, 2005). According to Knobel and Lankshear (2007):
“We understand literacies from a socio-cultural perspective, which
means that reading and writing can be understood in the context of
social, cultural, political, historical and economic practices, of which
they are an integral part” (Knobel & Lankshear, 2007: 1).
For the theory of multiliteracies, we could say that there is no
single phenomenon that constitutes literacy, but instead there are as
many literacies as there are “social practices and conceptions about
writing and reading” (Street, 1984: 1 in Knobel & Lankshear, 2007).
According to Dinas and Goti (2016: 30) the pedagogy of multiliteracies
as the most modern approach to literacy “does not negate any of
the didactic practices of literacy, but complements them by trying to
immerse students in everyday practices of meaningful production using
various means and methods”.
Literature Review
Balanced Literacy Approach
Within this framework of viewing literacy, a new method has
emerged and promoted as the most effective for enhancing literacy in
preschool classrooms, Balanced Literacy Approach. Basic principles
of earlier theoretical approaches are combined and expanded towards
a broader conceptual framework.
Balanced literacy method brings together elements from methods
with an emphasis on code and from methods with an emphasis on
meaning. According to researchers (Hannon, 2000; Smith, 2006) the
acquisition of literacy is not one or the other and full understanding of
literacy in education requires an awareness of both. Reading and writing
based on their socio-historical dimension and can be understood within

each social, political, economic and historical context (Baynham, 2002;
Gee, 2002; Snyder, 2008). Referring to abilities without considering
the social context in which they are cultivated would be out of place
(Baynham, 2002), just as it would be out of place to emphasize the
social context without considering abilities.
Furthermore, Xue and Meisels (2004) stated that:
“For a child to learn to read effectively, he needs a balanced teaching
method which will include on the one hand learning to break the
code (decoding-learning to break the code) and on the other hand his
involvement in meaningful reading and writing activities (engaging
in meaningful reading and writing activities) for the child himself”
(Xue & Meisels, 2004: 222).
It is about the synthesis of a coherent, operational, scientific
and well-structured theoretical body and not a random amalgam of
methodological elements (Pearson et al., 2007). The balanced approach
includes a variety of reading and writing experiences, from which
teachers can choose depending on classroom conditions, needs, and
children's developmental stages (Tracey & Morrow, 2007).
Review: How Balanced Literacy Approach Came About
The transition of the child from the use of the spoken word to
the effective use of the written word was and is an issue of major
importance for the educational process, with the conflict between the
psychological/cognitive and the social dimensions of literacy beginning
several years before it significantly subsided. It appeared, therefore,
after the mid-1990s and was created outside of what the scientific
community calls the Great Debate (Reading War) a tendency towards
the adoption of a mixed method model or a balanced approach of
literacy in preschool and first school age. The Great Debate refers
to a “controversy” between supporters of the cognitive approach to
language teaching (phonemic approach or direct teaching) and those
who support the holistic approach (reading and writing are learned
through actual reading and writing). Proponents of the holistic approach
consider phonics teaching and direct instruction to be rigid, pointless,
arbitrary and unnecessary procedures. Proponents of direct instruction
characterize the holistic approach as unrealistic, unscientific, romantic,
and anarchistic idealism (Chall, 1967; Smith, 2006).

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Within this context of controversy and opposition, Bentolila and
Germain (2005) were reported to the following categories:
1. Code-focused methods (bottom-up model).
2. Meaning-focused methods (top-down model).
The methods of teaching first reading and writing (Code-focused
methods) which follow the bottom-up teaching model emphasize the
learning of the code, the knowledge, that is the functioning of the
alphabetic system, and are strictly structured from the previous steps.
The methodology for teaching early reading and writing includes
a variety of methods with different goals and different value for each
alphabetic language. Code-focused methods that follow the bottom-up
teaching model have been heavily criticized mainly for distancing
themselves from the understanding and meaning of the text, since
decoding the code does not automatically lead to understanding and
critical reading of the text.
The methods that aim at reading comprehension and the way
it will be taught (Meaning-focused methods) correspond to the
top-down teaching model. These methods emphasize meaning and
address the functions of reading and writing in the context of social
practice. Literacy, that is understood in relation to the social, cultural,
political and ideological contexts in which it is embedded (Baynham,
2002), take various forms and produce various forms of linguistic
behaviour (Aidinis & Kostouli, 2001) that are shaped by the social
environment. The teaching practice, with the application of the methods
included in the top-down model, seems to shift from the traditional
and systematized form it had in the past (methods with an emphasis
on code) to a student-centred form of teaching (methods with
an emphasis on meaning).
The above categorization was made based on the assumption that
these are fundamental literacy skills that during primary school age are
developed in an interactive way and must be taught in combination
and not individually.
From this categorization, a third category emerged, which
compares and combines elements of the two categories. It is a mixed
method (balanced program), which is not described as equal teaching of
phonics and texts, but the complex teaching of reading comprehension,
development of decoding skills, whole word recognition, vocabulary

enrichment, specific comprehension skills and use of reading in
a sociocultural context (Aidinis, introduction to Smith, 2006).
Although in the Greek reality, according to Aidinis (introduction
to Smith, 2006), there has never been a strong controversy between
the methods of teaching reading, as was cultivated in many English-
speaking countries, nevertheless the application of a balanced approach
to literacy in preschool and primary school age has emerged.
One finds, then, that the conflict between procedural traditional
methods that focus on understanding the code and holistic approaches
that centre and focus on meaning is receding and being replaced by the
balanced method of teaching literacy. It is essentially a proposal that is
not described as equal teaching of phonemes and texts, but according to
which the teaching aimed at developing reading comprehension must be
complex as it contains the development of decoding skills, whole word
recognition, vocabulary enrichment, specific reading comprehension
skills and use in a sociocultural context (Aidinis, introduction to Smith,
2006). The tendency to balance the basic principles of earlier theoretical
approaches is not accidental today (Apostolou, 2022), as the content
of the concept of literacy has expanded towards a broader conceptual
framework, with reading and writing being studied based on their
socio-historical dimension and being able to be understood within the
respective social, political, economic and historical context (Baynham,
2002; Gee, 2002; Snyder, 2008).
Results
Balanced Literacy Approach in Early Childhood Education
Tracey and Morrow (2007) note that in order for teachers to
choose a method of enhancing literacy, they must first of all take into
account that:
(a) literacy includes reading and writing,
(b) reading is not only word recognition, but word recognition is
part of reading,
(c) readers must be able to take different stances when reading,
(d) the purpose for which children write something must be clear, and
(e) writing is not just about grammar, letter recognition and
pronunciation, but these are all parts of effective writing.

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Reading is part of general language development and not
a distinct skill isolated from listening, speaking and writing. It is,
therefore, important in the context of language teaching that these
abilities are developed simultaneously and in interaction and not serially
one after the other. Specifically, reading practices include read-aloud,
participatory reading, guided reading, independent reading, while for
writing they include participatory writing, interactive writing, writing
workshop, and independent writing (Fountas & Pinnell, 1996, as ref. in
Kennedy et al., 2012).
Based on the above conceptualizations, we could say that in the
context of the balanced approach to literacy, preschool teachers combine
a repertoire of strategies based on the cultivation of technical skills and
a repertoire of strategies based on meaning-making strategies’ that most
respond to the requirements of students and the educational framework
(Apostolou, 2021). According to Cowen (Cowen, 2003, as cited in
Eurydice, 2011: 34):
“Designing a balanced program for early reading instruction
requires teachers to have a thorough knowledge of literacy research
on emergent literacy, assessment-based pedagogy, phonological and
phonemic awareness, the alphabetic principle, phonics and word
study, selecting readers at the appropriate level, reader response, the
writing process, and constructivist learning” (ibid.).
In particular, with regard to reading, the literacy skills that are
cultivated in the context of the balanced approach are those that fall
under the learning of the writing and reading code (constrained skills),
i.e., phonological awareness, phonology (for reading/syllabification),
fluency, as well as those that are part of more emergent and
communicative approaches (unconstrained skills), such as vocabulary,
comprehension and syntax (Eurydice, 2011; Paris, 2005; Tracey &
Morrow, 2007). Mastering the reading skill is the result of long-term
practice and is based on two basic independent but interrelated
processes, decoding and linguistic/listening comprehension (see ind.
Eurydice, 2011; Porpodas, 2001; Paris, 2005, 2008; Torgerson et al.,
2006; Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998).
Decoding is the first necessary cognitive function and includes
the recognition of visual-written symbols and their translation into
a phonological code. Necessary conditions for decoding are the

knowledge of phoneme-graph correspondence as well as the spelling
system of a language (Porpodas, 2001). According to the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHHD,
2000: 189) decoding refers to the translation or decoding of written
language into spoken language and in alphabetic systems it depends on:
• phonological awareness: the ability to perceive and receive the
sounds/voices in words;
• the phonemes: the awareness of the sound/sound-letter
correspondence;
• fluency: “the ability to read with speed, accuracy and the
appropriate style”.
Linguistic/listening comprehension refers to the process of
understanding and interpreting what is read and depends on:
• the vocabulary: which can be distinguished between the words
one knows and understands (receptive vocabulary) and the
words one uses to express oneself (expressive vocabulary);
• spoken language: understanding the grammatical function of
the words of a sentence and their syntactic structure;
• the cognitive background for the natural and biological world,
social relations, behaviours, social structures. This knowledge
is important for translating and using the right words and
provides a background for vocabulary building.
According to Porpodas (2001) “basic reading ability can be
determined based on the level of decoding function and the ability to
understand spoken language” (ibid.: 44). The decoding of the written
word, according to this view, is a cognitive function that includes the
recognition of the visual (written) symbols that make up the written
code, as well as their translation into a phonological representation.
It presupposes the correct functioning of the perception and memory of
graphic and phonological information, in order to be able to recognize
the letters and their phonemic determination, based on the knowledge of
the correspondence between letters and phonemes, as well as the basic
rules that govern it. Comprehension is the second and necessary cognitive
function (after decoding) in order to complete the reading process.
Reading Comprehension = Decoding x Language Comprehension

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Reading is the result of the successful operation of the above two
processes, their product or sum. In alphabetic language systems, words
can be recognized – read and understood both on the basis of their
semantic and syntactic parts and through the mediation of phonological
awareness, i.e., children’s ability to perceive the word as a unit of
speech, to manipulate its phonological structural elements at will and to
be able to analyse and synthesize these elements (Porpodas, 2001).
Phonological awareness has a major impact on reading
development and includes: (a) the segmentation and composition of
phonemes into syllables and words, (b) knowledge and recognition of
the letters of the alphabet, and (c) visual memory.
Decoding is critical to reading comprehension. Without decoding,
there can be no understanding, since only then is it possible to understand
the meaning of a written word, but also without understanding,
successful reading cannot be achieved (Porpodas, 2001). If a child
cannot decode, then it may become impossible to make sense of the
written word. However, once the words have been decoded, the child
must rely on understanding spoken language to understand the writer’s
message. The effective reader has good listening and comprehension
skills. Some factors related to comprehension are vocabulary and
syntax development, recognition of important ideas, sensitivity to the
hierarchical structure of the text, understanding the logical structure of
the text, making inferences, prior knowledge, guiding comprehension,
the reading experience and the goal and motivation for reading
(Aidinis, 2006).
The processes of decoding and comprehension interact in many
ways in the two phases of reading development:
(a) learning to read, which mainly concerns decoding and
(b) reading to learn, which mainly concerns understanding
(Chall, 1983).
In various alphabetic systems, as in Greek, the first phase of
reading “learning to read” focuses on encoding and teaching reading
is related to building phonemic awareness, phonemes and fluency,
recognition of frequently used words. These practices, known as
“de/encoding techniques” to be learned effectively require clear and
systematic guidance (Adams, 1990, as cited in: Djonov et al., 2018).
Teachers to support children involve them in processes of decoding
texts with simple/familiar vocabulary, repeating words, grammar and

syntactic structures. These processes require low levels of understanding.
A recent study (Suggate, 2016) revealed that these practices have
high levels of success, but fail to target high-level reading skills such
as comprehension.
The second phase of reading “reading to learn” (reading to learn)
is related to the transition from encoding to understanding, which
takes place in middle school age (“fourth-grade slump”). The child
in this phase begins to acquire skills and knowledge without direct
guidance and restriction that develop from birth throughout life.
Unlike learning-to-read skills that are faster and more immediate, the
development of comprehension is a slow and gradual process that
requires extensive exposure to words and repeated immersion in rich
verbal experiences in a variety of ways (Hirsch, 2003, as cited in:
Djonov et al., 2018). Research has shown that children who come from
environments with poor vocabulary, limited exposure to written language
and few opportunities to develop oral language face problems both in
preschool age and later, in the phase “reading to learn” (reading to
learn) (9–10 years) with difficulties in vocabulary, language and reading
comprehension (Hart & Risley, 1995, as cited in: Djonov et al., 2018).
The language achievement gap is found at a very early age and reflects
differences in learning opportunities. Training aimed at bridging this gap
with compensatory reading comprehension interventions has not yet had
the expected results, according to Konza et al. (2010). On the contrary,
according to Suggate (2016), these interventions have very significant
effects on skills such as phonemic awareness. Recent research has also
shown that if the systematic teaching of reading begins later (at the age
of 7 rather than 5) there is a greater chance that the child will understand
better what he reads, since by the age of 11 he is now beginning to
understand and not just names letters and words (skills that continue
to be used exclusively by children exposed to systematic instruction at
age 5) (Suggate, Schaughency, & Reese, 2013).
Morris (2015) refers specifically to writing, noting:
“A balanced literacy program for a school context, in addition to
actively listening to challenging stories, must therefore also include
writing, through which the child learns and reads... opportunities
are given for the written word for play, for emergent writing, for
participatory and interactive writing workshops. Early skills of
children related to the written word, such as e.g., picture explanation,

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single sentences, short notes, help them understand that sentences
are made up of words and that words are made up of phonemes that
correspond to letters” (Morris, 2015: 507‒509).
Additionally, and according to De Silva Joyce and Feez (2016) the
written word allows children to tell a story or make an agreement, giving
them opportunities to read and re-read texts written by themselves,
individually or in groups. Through the approaches of Morris (2015) and
De Silva Joyce and Feez (2016) the correlation between reading and
writing is seen, which is strengthened and promoted significantly with
the balanced teaching method.
This method is typically illustrated in Scarborough’s (2001)
“Reading Rope” figure below (Figure 1).
Figure 1
Reading Rope, Scarborough’s, 2001
There seem to be two “threads” that intertwine to create a skilled
reader who can read fluently. The “thread” of word recognition that
includes sight recognition of familiar words, decoding (alphabetic
principles, spelling-sound correspondences) and phonological awareness
(syllables, phonemes, etc.) and the “thread” of understanding (language
comprehension) which includes the cognitive background (background
knowledge: facts, concepts, etc.), the vocabulary (vocabulary: breadth,
precision, links, etc.), the structure of the language (language structures:
syntaxes, semantics, etc.), verbal reasoning (verbal reasoning: inference,

metaphor, etc.) and literacy knowledge (print concepts, genres, etc.)
(Figure 2).
Figure 2
Simple View of Reading, Gough and Tunmer, 1986
Within this context, early readers need to be exposed to more
“challenging texts”, as Morris (2015: 509) typically states, “texts that
they cannot read on their own. They also need time to actively listen to
“challenging” stories through a program that also includes exposure to
written language”.
All these promote the social dimension of literacy (Kennedy et al.,
2012). The development of decoding and meaning-making strategies
within a specific context should be encouraged simultaneously and in
parallel for reading and writing (Tracey & Morrow, 2007). Students’
language acquisitions are clearly “better” when teachers use combined
(simultaneous and balanced) elements and practices of the two strategies,
decoding and comprehension.
Furthermore, according to Pearson et al. (2007), the basic elements
on which a balanced approach to language teaching should focus
are the following:
The authenticity that concerns what is taught in school. The reading
and writing, oral and written activities in which the students participate
should be authentic and have real goals;

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(a) The pedagogical discourse (classroom discourse) to which
the students are exposed in the classroom. Depending on
the type and goal of the literacy event, different patterns of
school discourse are presented and underline the diversity of
children’s out-of-school language experience in relation to the
“official” pedagogical discourse of the classroom and school.
Balancing must take into account not only how teachers
control discussion, dialogue and interaction, but also which
language(s) and discourses fit into the school context;
(b) Teachers’ roles within the class, as it is completely connected
to the type of pedagogical speech of the class, and finally;
(c) The control exercised by the curriculum and which is exercised
on teachers through the mandatory use and application of
textbooks and is checked daily by the family through student
performance.
Teachers must adhere to the principles of the curriculum and at
the same time adapt the program to the specific needs of their students,
so that they can successfully move between them. Teachers must be
flexible, as there may be children in the class who are already fluent
readers and need “higher” quality and more difficult texts. As the ability
to read fluently requires the combination of various skills and abilities,
such as phonemic awareness, alphabetic principles, rich vocabulary,
knowledge of the world, knowledge of grammatical elements of different
techniques, e.g., narration, explanation, narration, argumentation, etc.
(Campbell et al., 2014; Tracey & Morrow, 2007), teachers’ concern
cannot be to master these skills required for fluent reading, only through
textbooks, but also mainly to offer a variety of authentic texts that
cultivate on the one hand the love of reading and on the other they
promote and strengthen reading ability (Heydon et al., 2004; Tracey &
Morrow, 2007; Tracey, 2016).
Furthermore, creating a culture of reading and writing for pleasure
and information is important for cultivating a positive attitude to literacy.
This can be enhanced by making available a wide range of reading
materials (print and digital) which children can take home to share with
the family, offering opportunities for children to collaborate and engage
in high-level discussions about books and the texts they create (Shaw &
Hurst, 2012; Tracey, 2016; Tracey & Morrow, 2007).

A balanced literacy program should give equal weight to the
different dimensions of literacy by building children's motivation,
engagement (Clark & Rumbold, 2006; Eurydice, 2011) and self-efficacy,
with practices, as shown in the figure titled A Model for Literacy
Development shown in Figure 3 (Credit from Leslee Allenm, 2018):
Figure 3
A Model for Literacy Development (Credit from Leslee Allenm, 2018)
Studying the characteristics of a balanced approach to literacy,
as shown in the figure above, one could say that teaching aimed at
developing reading comprehension must be complex and contain on the
one hand the development of decoding skills, overall word recognition,
the enrichment of the vocabulary, and on the other hand the cultivation
of specific abilities to understand and use reading in a socio-cultural
context. In this context, reading is associated with the cognitive function
of decoding but also the complex-higher function of understanding
and writing. Furthermore, reading is correspondingly associated with
encoding and the production of written language. Reading and writing
function as interrelated cognitive and social processes characteristics and

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they develop in parallel and reinforce each other. Thus, the phonological
skills that children acquire through writing improve their reading
skills and vice versa.
Within an environment, where children are offered opportunities
for self-expression and their creativity is enhanced, according to the
balanced approach to teaching the written language, the mastery of
reading and writing focuses on the social dimension and nature of the
written language (Tracey, 2016). The text is recognized as a basic unit of
communication and teaching of reading and writing, the understanding
and production of written language is achieved by reading and writing
texts that have interest, meaning, value and purpose for children.
When children have a goal, they acquire skills and produce
speech, oral and written, that in other cases they fail to put into practice.
Children’s participation in targeted learning practices of different
discourses, mediated by note-taking systems involving the written word,
significantly enhances and supports literacy (Tracey & Morrow, 2007).
The practices with which the teachers implement (more or less) the
theoretical principles and teaching approaches of literacy are described
as practices for strengthening and/or teaching early literacy. Enhancing
literacy and teaching it are complex and demanding processes.
According to NICHHD (2000: 15):
“Teaching reading comprehension strategies to students at all grade
levels is complex. Teachers not only must have a firm grasp of the
content presented in text, but also must have substantial knowledge
of the strategies themselves, of which strategies are most effective for
different students and types of content and of how best to teach and
model strategy use”.
It is also important that teachers stay up-to-date on research on
effective teaching strategies. Therefore, teaching reading and enhancing
literacy require a wide range of skills and abilities that must be
acquired during initial teacher education and continuously improved
through training programs in the context of Continuing Professional
Development (CPD) (Eurydice, 2011).
In summary, in the context of a balanced program the
communicative dimension of the language is enabled to function as a
transition process from the ability to write and read to a higher level of
meaning through targeted practices, such as:

• a rich printed language environment;
• opportunities to choose and control what they want to read enhance
children’s motivation, creativity, autonomy and self-concept;
• opportunities for participatory reading and writing;
• challenges to improve children’s self-esteem by completing
a challenge;
• opportunities for collaboration and social interaction within
a social context enhance knowledge, strengthen motivation
and increase achievement;
• opportunities for reflection and metacognitive approaches,
children are empowered with processes of self-control,
independence, self-esteem, etc.) (Apostolou, 2021).
• Within such a pedagogical framework, students can function
seamlessly in mastering literacy, overcoming difficulties
and obstacles that may arise from the adoption of incorrect
practices.
Based on the above and attempting an overview of literacy
pedagogy, in conclusion, it could be said that students' language
acquisitions seem to be clearly better when they are integrated into the
context of a balanced approach to literacy.
Balanced Literacy Approach in Greek Early Childhood
Education Classes
With regard to the adoption of the balanced literacy approach
in early childhood education classes, recent research by Apostolou
(2021) demonstrates that kindergarten teachers at the level of recording
perceptions deposit (unconsciously) the knowledge of the principles
of balancing as very important for enhancing literacy and language
teaching. However, at the level of recording their practices, the adoption
of one and only one teaching approach at a time is highlighted as the
most suitable for their classes.
Trying to define literacy practices, language, reading, and writing
are generally considered to be interrelated processes that correspond to
emergent literacy in children ages 0 to 6 (National Early Literacy Panel,
2008). Through quality educational practices and a well-structured
and organized educational environment of the classroom the child's
engagement in emergent literacy development and learning situations
can be supported (Baroody & Diamond, 2016). In this context,

61
© Apostolou Z.
the educational environment includes the physical dimension (classroom
layout, resources, books, writing materials) as well as the interactive
dimension (teacher and child interactions) (Guo et al., 2010). Child
engagement refers to interactions with the teacher, peers and his or her
involvement within tasks and activities (Downer et al., 2010).
Teaching approach based on the use of authentic communication
situations and utilizing a variety of authentic texts emerges as the
most prevalent, theoretically and practically, for kindergarten teachers.
Practices based on learning to code and cultivating technical skills to
master literacy emerged as those that can function adjunctively or on
a case-by-case basis to strengthen, consolidate and assess literacy in
their classrooms. At this point, research data from the international
field should be mentioned that show that kindergarten students who
are introduced to code learning practices systematically succeed later
in primary school and their transition to it is facilitated (see in Aram,
2005; Shatil & Share, 2003; Zhang et al., 2013). Kindergarten teachers
who systematically adopt in their classrooms learning practices based
on authentic communicative situations combined with “breaking the
code” practices seem to be aware of and aware of the findings of these
investigations (Apostolou, 2021).
Literature review (e.g., Apostolou, 2021; Campana et al., 2016;
Kondylis & Stellakis, 2006; Paris, 2005; Scull et al., 2013; Tracey &
Morrow, 2007; Xefteris, 2017; Xue & Meisels, 2004) mention that
preschool teachers adopt, in such a way, a combination of approaches
related on the one hand to practices, such as taking into account
children’s interests and knowledge (emergent literacy), extracting and
rendering meaning from a text, etc. (communicative approach) and
on the other hand technical skills, such as phonological awareness,
decoding, etc. (conventional literacy). Spoken and written language
are placed on a continuum, within which they take various forms and
produce various forms of linguistic behavior that are shaped by the social
environment. The strengthening of natural literacy in early childhood
education classes and the teaching of school literacy in elementary
school are related to where, by whom, to whom and why they are
applied. Teachers, as mediators of literacy (Baynham, 1995; Kucer,
2009) and at the same time performing many other roles of varying
intensity and power, undertake to support the difficult task of language
teaching by making the right choices (Apostolou & Stellakis, 2019).

Summarizing and with clear reference to all of the above, literacy
balancing as a mix of language teaching traditions for the enhancement
of natural literacy and the teaching of school literacy must be understood
in Greek early childhood classes and adopted by preschool teachers.
We could state that teachers, by way of exception or deviation from
what is indicated through the official texts, they carries out their own
educational act in dialogue with their teaching identity but also with the
identities of their students (Apostolou et al., 2020).
In this context, the need for continuous, substantial, systematic
and targeted training of kindergarten teachers in literacy issues arises
(Apostolou, 2021). It also highlights the need to clarify and enrich the
theoretical principles and methodological guidelines of the official texts
with clear references to the balanced approach to literacy.
Discussion and Conclusion
Teaching aimed at developing reading comprehension must be
complex and contain the development of decoding skills, whole word
recognition, vocabulary enrichment, specific reading comprehension
skills and use in a sociocultural context (Aidinis, introduction to Smith,
2006). A balanced literacy program includes various reading and writing
experiences, of which teachers can choose according to classroom
conditions, needs and developmental stages of children (Tracey &
Morrow, 2007).
Based on the assumption that for the strengthening of literacy and
the teaching of the language, a decisive role is played by the school
environment, the teacher is recognized as the most important of all
factors for language teaching. As school environment and teacher’s role
is co-shaped by a series of socio-cultural factors of varying strength that
influence and determine the type of literacy that is promoted in a school
classroom (educational, student identity, family, locality, syllabus, school
textbooks, etc.), during the last years an attempt was made to make
visible the way in which they shape their teaching choices.
It is expected, therefore, that the teachers have realized the
common lines and directions of the two programs and have adopted
the principles of balancing in the strengthening of literacy and in the
teaching of the language, aligning the different social paths, the different
identities that meet and interact within school classes (Apostolou, 2021).

63
© Apostolou Z.
Although, balanced literacy is accepted and highlighted as the most
appropriate method for literacy cultivation, the strong locality of Greek
education (analytical and synthetic method, obsession with traditional
teaching methods, school textbook, educational identity, student identity)
still seem to be in some way an obstacle for its application.
However, in recent years a lot of effort, collaborations, training
and new educational policies and regulations taking place in order to
make balanced literacy known to all teachers as the most modern and
appropriate method. It seems to be accepted that this method compensates
for inequalities, inadequacies and bridge the gap that exists between
pre-school and primary school education. All these requirements, sought
and realized, seem able to contribute to the prevalence of the balanced
literacy approach in early childhood education.
ADHERENCE TO ETHICAL STANDARDS
Ethics Declarations. All procedures performed with the permission of the
teachers who participated in the research for the processing and analysis of their data.
Funding. No funding was received to conduct this research.
Conflict of Interest. The author does not have any potential conflict of interests
that may influence the decision to publish this article.
Author’s Contribution. Zoi Apostolou: Conceptualization, Formal analysis and
investigation; Writing – original draft preparation, Writing – review and editing; Zoi
Apostolou: Funding acquisition, Management activities to annotate (produce metadata),
scrub data and maintain research data; Zoi Apostolou: Resources, Supervision,
Preparation of figures; Zoi Apostolou: Programming, Software development,
Verification, whether as a part of the activity or separate, of the overall replication/
reproducibility of results/experiments and other research outputs, Submission of a data
set to the international repository.
Consent for publication. The authors approve of this submission and,
conditional upon the decision made by the editorial board from the peer-review
process, consent to the publication of the current work. The work has not been, nor
has it been submitted to other journals in consideration for publication.
Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (CC BY 4.0).
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1364.12022

АНОТАЦІЯ
Вступ. У статті зроблено спробу критичного аналізу проблеми набуття
грамотності дітьми дошкільного віку за допомогою збалансованого підходу до
навчання грамоти – змішаного методу, який поєднує в собі елементи методу
з акцентом на код та методів з акцентом на значенні. Зокрема, представлено
наочні приклади збалансованого підходу до навчання грамотності, як це
відбувається (або не відбувається) на заняттях у грецьких дошкільних
освітніх закладах.
Мета. Окремі питання, виклики та перспективи, які відкриває цей метод,
розглядаються у порівнянні та відповідно до традиційного і застарілого
розуміння поняття “грамотність”, яке пов'язане з навчанням читання та
письма. Акцент зроблено на сильних і слабких сторонах збалансованого підходу
до навчання грамотності, щоб висвітлити перспективи його застосування в
освіті дітей раннього віку в більш широкому масштабі.
Результати. Піднімаються питання і висловлюється занепокоєння
щодо розширення і застосування методу та його прийняття грецькими
вихователями дитячих садків. Однак відображено необхідність застосування
збалансованого підходу до навчання грамоти на заняттях з дошкільної освіти,
як єдиного методу, що поєднує, приймає і використовує елементи багатьох
методів, здатного запропонувати маленьким дітям достатні ресурси в
процесі оволодіння грамотністю. Підсумовуючи та чітко посилаючись на
вищесказане, можна зазначити, що балансування грамотності як поєднання
традицій викладання мови для підвищення природної грамотності та
викладання шкільної грамотності має бути зрозумілим у грецьких класах для
дітей раннього віку та прийнятим педагогами дошкільних закладів. Можна
стверджувати, що педагоги, виключаючи або відхиляючись від того, що
зазначено в офіційних текстах, здійснюють власний освітній акт у діалозі
зі своєю педагогічною ідентичністю, а також з ідентичностями своїх дітей
(Apostolou et al., 2020).
У цьому контексті виникає потреба в безперервній, ґрунтовній, систематичній
і цілеспрямованій підготовці вихователів дитячих садків з питань грамотності
(Apostolou, 2021). Це також підкреслює необхідність уточнення та збагачення
теоретичних засад і методичних рекомендацій офіційних текстів чіткими
посиланнями на збалансований підхід до грамотності.
Висновки. Виходячи з припущення, що для зміцнення грамотності та навчання
мови вирішальну роль відіграє дошкільне середовище, педагог визнається
найважливішим з усіх факторів навчання мови. Оскільки навчальне середовище
і роль педагога формуються під впливом низки соціокультурних чинників
різної сили, які впливають і визначають тип грамотності, що пропагується
в шкільному класі (освіта, особистість учня, сім'я, місцевість, навчальна
програма, шкільні підручники тощо), протягом останніх років була зроблена
спроба простежити, яким чином вони впливають на вибір вчителем
методів викладання.
Ключові слова: дошкільна освіта, мова, збалансована грамотність,
читання, письмо.

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