‘I can’t read. I don’t know all my letters yet’: why the fixation with systematic synthetic phonics must change
FORUM - ISSN 0963-8253
Volume 67 Number 1 (2025)
‘I can’t read. I don’t know all my letters yet’: why the fixation with systematic synthetic phonics must change
Sue Cox pages 11‑22
DOI: 10.3898/forum.2025.67.1.02
Abstract
The teaching of reading seems to have always generated heated debate about the methods and approaches that should be used. The degree of imposition on teachers of a narrow, exclusive focus on systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) has reached new heights – or perhaps depths – in recent years. It has resulted in constraints being placed on teachers and children in their engagement with books that, I argue, are potentially damaging to children’s development, both as readers and learners. Whether this prescriptive approach has been informed by what is known and understood about child development, and children’s agency in their learning, is doubtful. To illustrate my thoughts I draw on informal observations of and conversations with one young child learning to read.
To cite this article
Sue Cox (2025) ‘I can’t read. I don’t know all my letters yet’: why the fixation with systematic synthetic phonics must change, FORUM, 67(1), 11-22 . https://doi.org/10.3898/forum.2025.67.1.02