The Four Resources Model

The Four Roles/Resources Model was developed as a means of responding to the complexity of reading and the changing and challenging demands in order to be a successful reader in today's world .Whatever developmental point students are at, all four roles need to be taught systematically and explicitly, and crafted by the professionally well informed teacher making decisions about the emphasis and ways of intertwining these roles based on knowledge of their students.

 

Four Roles/Resources of the Successful Reader

Roles/Resources
What successful readers know and do
Code breaker
decoding the codes and conventions of written, spoken and visual text

Understand

  • the relationship between spoken sounds and written symbols
  • the grammar of texts
  • the structural conventions of texts
Text participant
comprehending written, spoken and visual texts

Make meaning by drawing on

  • own experiences and prior knowledge
  • knowledge of similar texts
Text user
understanding the purposes of different written, spoken and visual texts for different cultural and social functions

Know that

  • different types of texts have different purposes
  • these purposes shape the way texts are structured and formed

Apply this knowledge in using (eg comprehending, creating, transforming) text
Text analyst
understanding how texts position readers, viewers and listeners

Is aware and can identify how

  • texts are not ideologically natural or neutral but are crafted to represent the views and interests of the writer
  • information, ideas and language in texts influence reader perceptions
  • texts empower or disempower certain groups

The Four Resources Model

The four resource model is a way of seeing all the different levels of literacy. Freebody and Luke do no prescribe any particular methods. The model is a map of possible practices (Luke and Freebody, 1999), it is not an instructional panacea and does not have all the answers. Therefore teachers are free to explore how all strategies and materials available to them might be able to be used to build literacy skills at each of the four resource levels. Basically the model can be used as a way to scaffold students towards becoming users of texts rather than simply consumers.

 

Teachers can use the model as a way

" as a way of seeing literacy and conceptualising moving towards a critical literacy
" As a way of planning activities and materials
" To reflect on teaching practice
" To evaluate materials


The theory is that all students should be able to become analysts of text at some level. The aim of the programme is to move towards a "critical" dimension of literacy and to develop literacy skills in each of the four resource areas.

Leve1 1 : Learning to be a code- breaker :- To be a successful reader an individual needs to engage with the written word. At this level the basic skills of reading may be emphasized. Our school's programme generally concentrates on this area.

Level 2 : Learning to be a text -participant :- At this level students may develop genre knowledge , back-ground knowledge and comprehension knowledge.

Level 3 : Learning to be a text - user :- At this level, students use texts to participate in social activities or for further learning. Ie text and reading further the informative processes.

Level 4 :- Learning to be a text analyst :- At this level students critically analysis how the text positions groups and people and have purpose and objectives.

 


An important point is that literacy instruction can cover all four levels and one level is not pre-requisite for the next. For example, although students may not be able to fully read a newspaper article they can "Critically analysis" its meaning by guessing or by using other cues.