“Beyond Introducing Phonics: Teacher Preparedness for Structured Early Reading Instruction in Fiji and the Pacific. A Conceptual and Practice-Oriented Framework for Fulton Adventist University’s Teacher-Education Contribution”

Abstract

Concern about early reading achievement in Fiji and the wider Pacific has renewed attention to explicit, systematic, and evidence-based informed approaches to beginning reading instruction. Synthetic and structured phonics can strengthen decoding, spelling, and early wordreading development, but their effectiveness depends on teachers’ professional knowledge, classroom skills, and diagnostic confidence. This conceptual and practice-orientated article argues that Fiji’s early reading challenge is best understood not only as a programme-adoption issue but also as a teacher-preparedness concern. Drawing on Fiji’s Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (LANA) policy context, early reading research, teacher knowledge studies, Pacific multilingual realities, and Fulton Adventist University’s role in teacher education, the article develops a framework to assess and strengthen teacher preparedness for structured phonics instruction. Its contribution is deliberately narrower than broad regional assessment-to-practice discussions: it focuses on the professional knowledge and classroom competence required to teach early word reading systematically. The article proposes that teacher-education institutions can contribute through explicit pre-service coursework, practicum-based diagnostic reading tasks, in-service professional learning, ministry and school partnerships, and regional research. A mixed-methods study is outlined to examine the knowledge, skills, and confidence of lower-primary teachers in Fiji, together with evidence from lesson observations and teacher-education documents. The article concludes that assessment evidence can identify reading difficulties, while teacher education is central to whether teachers know how to respond effectively.