Ah, the Reading Wars — it sounds dramatic, and honestly, it is. Still. Decades later, the battle over how to teach reading rages on in classrooms, policy rooms, and parent forums. What began as a pedagogical disagreement in education circles has become a decades-long debate about how children should be taught to read — and it’s a debate that matters more than ever.
Let’s unpack what it’s all about.
What are the Reading Wars?
The Reading Wars refer to the long-standing conflict between two opposing philosophies of reading instruction:
- Phonics-based instruction
- Whole language approach
The educational clash became especially prominent in the late 20th century in English-speaking countries like the U.S., U.K., and Australia — but the ripple effects have gone global. At the heart of the debate is this question: Should children be taught to decode words using systematic phonics, or should reading be approached more holistically and naturally?
History of the Reading Wars
By the 1950s, most American children were receiving whole language instruction. The Reading Wars ignited after Rudolf Flesch’s 1955 bestseller, Why Johnny Can’t Read—And What You Can Do About It. He blamed American schools’ failure to teach reading on their rejection of phonics. Flesch argued that without explicit instruction in decoding, most children couldn’t recognize even the words they already knew from speech. He called for a return to structured phonics instruction to fix what he saw as a national reading crisis.
By the 1960s, research was mounting against the whole language approach. In 1967, Harvard researcher Jeanne Chall published Learning to Read: The Great Debate, concluding — like Flesch before her — that explicit, systematic phonics outperformed whole language. Her work emphasized that children must first learn to read before they can read to learn and that strong phonics instruction boosts both decoding and comprehension.
Although Chall, Flesch, and others pushed schools toward phonics in the 1960s, whole language regained dominance in the 1970s and 80s — and literacy rates remained flat. Influential advocates like Kenneth Goodman, who famously called reading a “psycholinguistic guessing game,” and Frank Smith, who argued that reading was as natural as speaking and insisted that phonics rules were too complex and unnecessary, kept phonics on the sidelines.
Phonics vs. whole language instruction
Phonics is the structured teaching of how letters and combinations of letters represent sounds (phonemes). Children learn to “crack the code” of English spelling by sounding out words.
Supporters say:
- It’s backed by decades of cognitive science and neuroscience.
- It’s especially effective for early readers, struggling readers, and students with dyslexia.
- It builds strong decoding skills — the foundation of fluent reading.
Phonics teaches that reading is not guessing from context; it’s a step-by-step, teachable process. Kids learn that letters map to sounds — and that this is how we unlock written language.
Whole language, on the other hand, treats reading as a natural process — something children can absorb the way they learn to speak. The focus is on exposure to rich literature, making meaning, and context-based understanding.
Supporters say:
- It fosters a love of books and reading.
- It encourages students to see reading as meaningful and enjoyable.
- It treats language as a complete, living system — not a set of disconnected sounds.
Here’s the sticking point: English isn’t a perfectly phonetic language. Words like colonel, yacht, and enough defy typical sound-spelling patterns. That messiness helped the whole language approach gain traction, with advocates arguing that phonics rules alone couldn’t handle English’s complexity.
Balanced literacy: The compromise (sort of)
To bridge the gap, many schools adopted a hybrid model known as balanced literacy.
Balanced literacy aims to expose children to reading through multiple methods, blending some phonics with broader reading experiences. While it includes small-group activities like guided reading, the phonics instruction is often inconsistent and lacks a structured sequence.
As frustration grew over balanced literacy’s inconsistent results, educators and researchers turned to a more evidence-based framework: the Science of Reading.
The ‘Science of Reading’
Over the past two decades, a vast body of research from cognitive psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience has come together under the umbrella of the Science of Reading.
Key findings include:
- Reading is not a natural process like speaking.
- The brain is not prewired to read — we must be explicitly taught.
- Children need to map letters to sounds to become fluent readers.
The Science of Reading emphasizes explicit, systematic instruction based on decades of research. It equips educators and curriculum designers with tools to build decoding skills intentionally. This “bottom-up” strategy contrasts balanced literacy’s looser, top-down nature.
Once decoding becomes automatic, comprehension and enjoyment can flourish. In other words, students must first lift the words off the page before they can make sense of what they’re reading.
The current state of the Reading Wars
The debate has moved far beyond staff rooms and college lecture halls.
Today, the conversation includes:
- Parents of children who couldn’t learn to read under whole language methods
- Journalists, especially Emily Hanford, whose investigative reporting reignited national interest
- Scientists advocating for research-backed instruction
- Policymakers reshaping literacy curricula based on hard evidence
Many schools, districts, and even entire countries are now shifting toward Science of Reading-aligned practices.
What does that mean in practice?
It means an emphasis on:
- Systematic phonics
- Explicit instruction (not left to chance)
- Oral language development
- Vocabulary building
- Comprehension strategies — once decoding is solid
This isn’t just about reading skills. It’s about educational equity. Children who don’t receive solid foundational instruction in how to read fall behind in every subject — and often never catch up.
The short version
| Approach | Focus | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phonics | Sound-letter decoding | Strong evidence base | Can be dry or mechanical if overemphasized |
| Whole Language | Meaning, context, enjoyment | Builds confidence and love for books | Skips essential decoding skills |
| Balanced Literacy | A mix of both | Flexible in theory | Often lacks structured phonics |
| Science of Reading | Structured, research-based | Comprehensive, aligns with brain science | Requires teacher training overhaul |
The takeaway
If you’re working with kids, teaching in the classroom, or designing reading curricula, here’s the simple but powerful truth:
✅ Start with phonics.
✅ Make it systematic and explicit.
✅ Then, build vocabulary, comprehension, and a love of literature on top of that solid base.
Reading doesn’t come naturally — but with the right instruction, every child can master it.
At Edublox, we specialize in cognitive training and live online tutoring for students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and other learning challenges. Our students span the globe — from the United States and Canada to Australia and beyond. Book a free consultation to explore how we can support your child’s learning needs.
The Reading Wars Explained: Why How We Teach Reading Still Sparks Fire was authored by Sue du Plessis (B.A. Hons Psychology; B.D.), an educational and reading specialist with 30+ years of experience in the learning disabilities field.
Edublox is a member of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), a leading organization dedicated to evidence-based research and advocacy in dyslexia and related learning difficulties.
