Liene Jankovska, Primary School Methodologist at the State Education Development Agency, on Reading, Motivation and Support for Teachers
In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the importance of text literacy and its role in students’ academic achievement and their future educational pathways. Today, a text is no longer just a story, fairy tale or poem. We learn to read and understand diagrams, tables, maps, instructions, infographics and many other types of texts.
Although Latvia still ranks relatively high in international reading literacy studies, data from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) show that compared with previous cycles of the study, the results of Latvian students indicate a decline. This trend encourages schools, teachers and policymakers to think more seriously about how to systematically strengthen students’ reading literacy and text literacy at all stages of education.
Primary school methodologist Liene Jankovska emphasises that the development of reading and text literacy does not begin at school – and not even when a child first learns the alphabet.
“It actually starts very early in childhood – even before a child begins to speak, and even while still in the mother’s womb,” she explains.
The foundations of text literacy are laid while listening to sounds and language in the surrounding environment, hearing parents comment on their daily activities, listening to lullabies, looking at picture books, and learning the names of objects.
From Classroom Experience to Supporting Teachers Nationwide
Liene’s path in education began as a primary school teacher at Jūrmala Alternative School. It was there that she developed a belief that continues to guide her work today: learning is a process in which respect, dialogue, cooperation and humanity play a central role.
She worked at the school for more than ten years, teaching several subjects in primary education. Her daily work in the classroom allowed her to see how much effort teachers invest in preparing lessons. At the same time, she realised that there was often a lack of a unified system that could help teachers preserve, structure and share their valuable teaching materials and accumulated knowledge.
“Every teacher invests a huge amount of time preparing lessons and searching for information that would engage students. It seemed logical to create continuity, a system and a structure,” she explains.
This understanding of teachers’ everyday work and the need for meaningful and accessible support encouraged Liene to take the next step and become an education methodologist at her school. In this role, she worked for several years on curriculum planning, shared her experience with colleagues, participated in projects and webinars, and contributed to the development of diagnostic assessments.
Her accumulated experience and her desire to strengthen the support system for teachers on a broader scale eventually led her to apply for the position of national methodologist.
A Support System for Teachers Is Still Developing
Liene points out that the national methodological support system for teachers in Latvia is still in its early stages of development.
“This structure has been created recently – we are truly at the beginning of this journey,” she explains, emphasising that the main goal is to gradually build a clear and practical system of methodological support that is genuinely useful for teachers.
This support is not intended for control or to create additional administrative burdens, but rather to help teachers in their daily work, provide answers to questions, enable the exchange of experience and strengthen professional confidence.
One of the most important support tools, which Liene is particularly proud of, is the digital subject-specific teachers’ rooms created within the learning platform skolo.lv.
These digital spaces bring together relevant information for teachers, including upcoming and recorded seminars, methodological and teaching materials, research, a section with frequently asked questions and a chat feature where teachers can ask questions and receive answers.
“Teachers now have a digital place where they can enter and immediately see the latest information,” Liene explains.
According to her, these digital rooms help save time, reduce fragmented information and promote professional cooperation among teachers.
Three Key Factors Influencing Literacy
When discussing challenges related to text literacy, Liene highlights three key factors: the home environment, the school environment and motivation.
She explains that the foundations of text literacy begin long before children learn letters.
“We do not have to wait until a child starts speaking. Even when they are very small, they are already listening,” she emphasises.
Conversations with children, reading aloud, picture books and vocabulary enrichment are all essential. Liene also encourages parents to consider whether children have age-appropriate books at home and whether adults themselves set an example.
“It is difficult if parents spend their time on their phones and tell their child to go and read a book,” she notes.
Sometimes the challenge is simply that there is no quiet space at home where a child can read comfortably.
Literacy Is Developed Across All Subjects
School is the place where all teachers, not only language teachers, work daily on developing reading and text literacy.
Liene stresses that this work does not take place only during lessons. It also continues outside the classroom by intentionally creating opportunities to interest and motivate children to read.
For example, during the Olympic Games, a classroom might include an information corner where students can read about sports, athletes or competitions. Such texts can easily be found in children’s magazines or on websites and are often engaging because they are relevant and connected to real-life interests.
Referring to findings from the IEA PIRLS international study, Liene emphasises that schools must provide a supportive environment where students feel safe and that they belong. This sense of belonging strongly influences a child’s willingness to participate in learning activities, including working with texts.
She encourages adults to be tolerant and not criticise children’s reading choices, especially in primary school.
“The most important thing is that a child shows interest and reads at all,” she says.
Interest in reading and reading habits develop gradually. Once this interest is established, it becomes possible to gradually increase the complexity of texts and enrich language.
“It is very easy to destroy a child’s desire to read – and much harder to restore it later,” she adds.
A Long-Term Effort
According to Liene, strengthening text literacy is a long-term process without a quick solution or a single responsible party.
It is a shared effort where families, schools and professional support for teachers all come together. She emphasises that it is important not to remain isolated in separate “bubbles,” but to share experiences, learn from each other and use available support tools.
“Teachers themselves also need to feel that they are not alone,” Liene says.
This cooperation, sense of belonging and purposeful work with texts across all subjects create the foundation for children not only to learn how to read, but also to understand, interpret and use texts as tools for learning and life.
The initiatives described in this article and the approach to strengthening methodological support for teachers are implemented with European Union funds. One of the EU-funded projects is “Establishment of a Professional Support System for Teachers,” which aims to create and develop a unified and strategically managed professional support system at national, municipal and school levels.
The project seeks to improve the quality of teaching and learning in general and vocational education, promote student excellence and provide teachers with methodological support.
This story has been created with the support of European Union funds.
