Reading ‘Basis Of Other Learning’

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30828, 13 August 1965, Page 12

Reading ‘Basis Of Other Learning’

Modern methods of teaching reading in schools were praised by the three speakers at the monthly meeting of the New Zealand Association of Teachers of Speech and Drama last evening.

Mrs J. Collet, who is in charge of the Sydenham Reading Clinic, introduced the subject in a discussion of reading in the infant room. Teaching of reading in infant rooms was in a more healthy state than ever, she said. Reading had been established as a thought process and a means of communication rather than a mere oral exercise. Modern reading primers and the accompanying manual were full of good commonsense and excellent illustrations, said Mrs Collet. They introduced a variety of methods, including picture clues, context clues and phonetic and structural analysis. No method was final; there must be a combination of all methods. Reading was just one of the language arts, which included speaking, listening and writiing, said Mrs Collet. Teaching Aim Mr F. Porter, reading adviser for the southern region, said the aim in teaching reading was to equip children with the necessary skills to make them independent learners. Describing reading in the standards as a process continued from the infant room, he said that in Standard I and II most children made a transition from predominantly oral reading to silent reading. As this skill developed they became able to look for inferences beyond the printed page. Reading in subject areas was another major aspect of reading in the standards. Projects gave opportunity for this, said Mr Porter. Recreational reading was the third aspect of reading that should be developed in the standards. Each standard class had a very large range of reading abilities, which widened as the class continued through school. The class would always be divided into groups so that the children could read at their own level of ability. The wide range of abilities in any one class was accentuated in secondary schools, said Mr C. Mclntosh. Battery Of Tests The former assumption that children should know all the techniques of reading before they reached secondary school had been discarded. As soon as a pupil reached secondary school he was given a battery of reading tests and this im-

mediately conditioned the reading programme. There was no subject on the curriculum called reading; it was called English. But reading conditioned every facet of the school curriculum and was a continuation of the process in the infant room and the primary school. Each class was taken to the library at least once a week and was taught to recognise good and bad reading. Special techniques were required for the reading of drama and poetry and these were taught in the upper forms. Remedial reading programmes were available in some secondary schools and it was possible, through the diagnosis of experts, for the teacher to lift the child to where his attainment ought to be. Reading Clinics Reading clinics usually catered for children of at least average ability, said Mrs Collet. Children were usually referred to the clinic by the parent or headmaster. Before admission they were referred to a psychological clinic to establish that they had average reading ability. The first success was usually of therapeutic value. It was often the first time the child had had someone to sit with him to discuss his difficulties. All children made some kind of progress, but not all made spectacular progress, said Mrs Collet. There were many causes of reading disability, including bad teaching or a bad home situation. Most of the children referred to the clinic were boys Generally children under the age of seven were not admitted. After this age treatment gave better results. Some of the most rewarding results had been with secondary school pupils, said Mrs Collet.