“Why are you rushing this minister?” Imposing an Aotearoa New Zealand strain of the science of reading

Abstract

Publicised claims of young people’s low literacy rates on international assessments concern parents, teachers and policy-makers in Aotearoa New Zealand (ANZ). Policymakers often turn to policy solutions from elsewhere when faced with crisis narratives. In this illustrative case study, we have captured a particular moment in ANZ as the diffusion of international literacy policies informed by the Science of Reading (SOR) has morphed into a particular policy strain: structured literacy. Policy diffusion captures the movement of policy across borders, grounded in assumptions that ‘best practices’ transfer equally from one context to another. Drawing on discourses from the science of reading (SOR) movement, intermediary associations in ANZ wield grey literature in public media spaces to persuade politicians, teachers and the public to take up imposed policy. In this article, we combined a Foucauldian-informed view of discourse with the classic rhetorical tools of persuasion (ethos, pathos, logos and kairos) to analyse a sample of government literacy policy statements, grey literature and media articles to critically consider how the contest was framed for the public and teachers and its potential effects.