Concern about the teaching of phonics at a whole-class
level is not a moot point given the wide range of ability
within the early years classroom and the varied experience
of language and literacy that children have had preschool.
The whole class phonics programme, once it has covered an
introduction to phonics, should facilitate assessment of
individual need to allow interventions to more adequately
address each child’s developmental needs. The emergence
of research on working memory highlights further individual
differences in learning. Research conducted by
Gathercole and Alloway (2008) has drawn attention to the
impact that limitations in working memory can have on
learning generally.Working memory refers to the processes
involved in holding information in short-term (temporary)
storage while receiving incoming information and retrieving
information from long-term storage (Siegel, 2004).
Short-term storage within this working memory model
refers to holding information in memory for ‘seconds’
before it fades away or is discarded. The average adult can
not hold more than six or seven units of information in
short-term memory. Gathercole and Alloway (2008) point
out that a child with limited memory capacity finds it difficult
to hold more than two units in temporary storage
when engaged in a complex processing task. Furthermore,
they point out that a teacher can expect, in a class of 7-year
olds, a 6-year range in working memory capacity. In a class
of 30 seven-year olds, some children will have the working
memory capacity of the average 5-year old and some children
will have the working memory capacity of the average
11-year old. As Gathercole and Alloway (2008) point out,
these differences have a significant impact on learning.
Gathercole and Alloway (2008) advise that children with
high working memory scores typically show excellent
reading skills at all ages. Conversely, children with relatively
poor working memory scores tend to perform below
average levels.