John Downing (1922–1987) was a British educational psychologist who started his career as a teacher then worked as an academic from 1960 until his death in 1987. He published over 300 academic papers in his 27-year academic career, specialising in both how children read and how they learn to read. His three main fields of study were the initial teaching alphabet, the psychology of reading and the comparison of reading methods across different languages and cultures. His principle works in each of these fields were Evaluating the Initial Teaching Alphabet, Reading & Reasoning and Comparative Reading. Fundamentally, Downing was an educational psychologist and his main lifetime achievement was the formulation of the cognitive clarity theory of learning to read.
Downing won the award of Doctor of Literature by the University of London near the end of his career. He was elected a fellow of the British, Canadian and American Psychology Learned Societies & Associations and as a fellow to the Royal Society for Arts. In 1963, Downing was the founding president of the United Kingdom Literacy Association, he also served on the board of directors of the International Literacy Association, who awarded him with the International Citation of Merit and inducted him into their Hall of Fame. The government called on Downing to give evidence to both the Plowden and Bullock committees of inquiry.
Personal life Downing was born in England in 1922 and married Marianne Downing who often took on the role of his research assistant. They had three children together: Andrew Downing, Charles Downing and Rupert Downing. He emigrated from England to Canada in 1970 but spent several periods of time working in other parts of the world, especially the United States of America.
Downing was known for his trademark dress code in which he wore bold check jackets with bootlace badge ties, fashion characteristics which contrasted with his kind, quiet and scholarly manner. On initial introduction to new people, he had the uncanny ability to remember their names and where they both lived and worked. He was generous in providing assistance to his colleagues, altogether he was known as someone with a perpetually friendly manner.
After a 3-month struggle with cancer over the spring of 1987, Downing eventually succumbed to his illness and died on June 2, 1987, aged 65.
Education Downing continually improved his education throughout his life, while interspersing his learning with professional and academic work. He attained his teaching certificate in his twenties, his degree in his thirties, his PhD in his forties and was finally awarded the higher doctoral degree of D.Lit (Doctor of Literature) in his sixties as an acknowledgment of his academic successes by the University of London. +PeriodEducational InstituteQualification1947–1948Oakley College of Education, Cheltenham, EnglandTeacher's Certificate1953–1957University of London, EnglandBA in psychology (with distinction)1966University of London, EnglandPhD in Psychology1982University of London, EnglandD.Lit Doctor of Literature
Classroom teaching After starting his teacher training in 1947, Downing spent nearly a decade until 1957 acquiring practical experience in teaching children at elementary, secondary and special schools, in particular, he taught children to read and write from kindergarten age, Downing considered this experience essential in his later works and often stated how he was often baffled by children's difficulties in learning to read. Downing also studied for his degree in Psychology during the later period of his teaching career and only ended his teaching career after successfully completing his degree course.
Professional vocation After graduating Downing left teaching and worked as a communications research officer for Unilever in England between 1958 and 1960. This was a short interlude between his teaching and academic work.
Academic career In 1960, after his time at Unilever, Downing returned to the University of London and joined the Institute of Education where he took-up the newly formed role of director of the reading research unit. The reading research unit was created to run a trial of James Pitman's initial teaching alphabet, a novel approach to teaching children to read where an interim orthography, consisting of an alternative alphabet and regular spelling system were used instead of the irregular traditional English orthography. Downing spent seven years in the role, studying the initial teaching alphabet, he was to credit this key time as providing him with the crucial insights which inspired the majority of his later academic work. It was during this time that Downing attained his PhD and both began to be known as Dr. John Downing and became a senior lecturer of Educational Psychology.
In 1970, Downing took up the post of Professor of Psychological Foundations in Education at Victoria University, British Columbia, Canada, which he held until his death. It was during this time, following his emigration to Canada, that he produced some of his most significant academic works.
Three times during his career, Downing took up positions of some longevity as a visiting professor:-
1967–1968 – Visiting professor, University of California, Berkeley, where he taught the course on the psychology of reading and worked with masters and doctoral students researching this topic. Downing accredited this period of time as when the seeds of the cognitive clarity theory of learning to read were sown in his mind. 1981-1981 – Visiting professor, Ohio State University at Columbus 1986–1987 – Visiting professor, Universite de Toulouse-le-Mirail
In addition, Downing also served as a visiting professor for shorter durations in Australia, China, Finland and the Soviet Union. This was especially important later in his career for his study of comparative reading which also notably took him to Japan & Papua New Guinea as a researcher.
Initial Teaching Alphabet
Reading research unit As the director of the reading research unit, Downing spent seven years studying the initial teaching alphabet designed by James Pitman to teach children to read. He was amply supported by the fourteen colleagues in the reading research unit, in particular his deputy William Latham who was accredited in some of the academic publications. The unit was further supplemented by seven senior lecturers from educational colleges who served one-year secondments on a rotating basis. During his time at the reading research unit, Downing carried out two scientifically controlled, largescale trials of the initial teaching alphabet:
1961 - Twenty four local education authorities participated with 873 pupils being taught over 3 academic years using the i.t.a. compared with the same number of matched pupils who acted as the control. 1963 - Sixteen schools participated with 548 pupils being taught over 3 academic years using the i.t.a. compared with 554 pupils who acted as the control.
Academic works Downing published a large body of academic work related to the initial teaching alphabet both whilst he was the director of the reading research unit and afterwards when he became a professor, this is comprehensively listed in his vitae, the more notable papers are listed below: +i.t.a. papersMthYearArticle TitleJournalRefJan1962New experimental evidence on the role of the unsystematic spelling in reading failureEducational ResearchJun1962Relationship between reading attainment & inconsistency of English spellingEducational PsychologyJan1963Is a 'mental age of six' essential for 'reading' readiness?Educational ResearchMar1963The augmented Roman alphabet for learning to readThe Reading TeacherApr1964Teaching reading with i.t.a. in BritainPhi Delta KappanNov1964The i.t.a. (initial teaching alphabet) reading experimentThe Reading TeacherMay1965Current misconceptions about i.t.a.Elementary EnglishJan1966Some problems of evaluating i.t.a. a second experimentEducational ResearchDec1966The i.t.a. - what next?Paper to Reading ConferenceJan1967How i.t.a. beganElementary EnglishJan1967The effects of the i.t.a. on young children's written compositionEducational ResearchJan1967The effects of the initial teaching alphabet on educationally subnormal pupilsThe Slow Learning ChildFeb1967What's wrong with i.t.a.?Phi Delta KappanJun1967Will i.t.a. copyright prevent improvements? (a response from Downing)Phi Delta KappanJul1967The i.t.a. - past and futurePaper to Reading ConferenceOct1967Methodological problems in the British i.t.a. researchReading Research QuarterlyDec1967Can i.t.a be improved?Elementary EnglishMar1968Educational values and i.t.a.LiteracyApr1968British i.t.a. researchThe Reading TeacherNov1968Alternative teaching methods in i.t.aElementary EnglishDec1969How children think about readingThe Reading TeacherFeb1969Initial teaching alphabet: results after six yearsLiteracyJan1969i.t.a. and slow learners: a reappraisalEducational ResearchOct1969Comparison of failure in i.t.a. and T.OThe Reading TeacherJan1970Cautionary comments on some American i.t.a. reportsEducational ResearchNov1970A psycholinguistic theory for i.t.a.Elementary EnglishMay1971Promising uses of the i..t.a. medium in Britain and MichiganMichigan Reading JournalMar1971i.t.a.: American versus British experiencePhi Delta KappanSep1972i.t.a.'s effectiveness in the prevention and treatment of disabilities in readingLiteracy DiscussionSep1972The orthography factor in literacy acquisition in different languagesLiteracy DiscussionMar1972Slings and arrowsLiteracyApr1972A gap has two sidesThe Reading TeacherJan1973Could you teach i.t.a.?Reading ImprovementJan1973Transfer of grapheme discrimination from cued to traditional orthographyExperimental EducationMay1973Some Reasons for NOT Using i.t.a.Paper to Intl. Literacy AssnJan1976The Bullock commission's judgment of i.t.aThe Reading TeacherMay1976After 15 Years of i.t.a. in England – an official judgmentEnglish in AustraliaDec1977The probability of reading failure in i.t.a. and T.OLiteracyJan1978Sensory handicaps and the initial teaching alphabetThe Exceptional ChildJan1979Results of teaching reading in i.t.a. to children with cognitive defectsReading World In addition, Downing published five books on the initial teaching alphabet:
1962 – The Initial Teaching Alphabet – Explained and Illustrated 1965 – The Initial Teaching Alphabet Reading Experiment – Three Lectures on the Research in Beginning Reading with Sir James Pitman's Initial Teaching Alphabet 1966 – An Experimental Study of Orthography and Reading Attainments in English 1967 – The i.t.a. Symposium: Research Report on the British Experiment with i.t.a. 1967 – Evaluating the Initial Teaching Alphabet – A study of the influence of English orthography on learning to read and write, it was this book which was the final culmination of all his research efforts.
Children's literature The initial teaching alphabet started being taught using existing basal reading schemes transliterated into i.t.a. but originally designed specifically around the nuances of traditional orthography, such as the Janet & John series of reading books. To remediate this, Downing wrote the Downing Readers which were designed specifically for the i.t.a. and these were all published in the 1960s, although eventually, there were several authors for the Downing readers, Downing was the accredited author of the following:
Downing's conclusion By the end of his study, Downing's principle conclusion on the initial teaching alphabet (i.t.a.) was: i.t.a. as a transitional writing-system for beginning reading and writing in English generally produces superior results in traditional orthography reading and spelling by the end of third year of school
Psychology of reading