The Reading Instruction Show – Details, episodes & analysis

The thing about research is that it doesn’t prove anything, at least not in the social sciences. There is no single research that conclusively proves anything once and for all about reading instruction. Research may support a hypothesis. It may provide evidence for something, show something, indicate something, or demonstrate something, but in the social sciences, research doesn’t prove things. The results may indicate, implicate, or illustrate, but educational research doesn’t prove things.

SoR advocates often claim that there is a “proven science” of reading. But when working with variable human beings interacting in variable social situations there are simply too many variables to say that something proves something else conclusively. Instead, research provides evidence for things. A lot of research provides strong evidence. A little research provides weak evidence. There are evidence-based practices (see Chapter *) but there is no “proven science” of reading. But even saying something is evidence-based says nothing about the quality of the evidence or the validity of the evidence.

Words are always encountered in the context of a sign, product, or sentence. In the same way, to be understood, data must be understood and evaluated in the context in which it was collected. Reading research can only be fully understood in the context of a wider array of research studies within a theoretical perspective. And theories must be understood in the context of a paradigm. The Science of Reading movement must be understood in the greater social and political context and in the context of past educational reform movements (NCLB).

There are conditions that tip the scale in favor of some groups and restrict or disadvantage others. There are communities, that seem to get the economic opportunities, good schools, good teachers, health care, good nutrition, housing opportunities, small class sizes, community libraries, well-stocked school and classroom libraries … Go to a 3rd-grade classroom in a poor, inner-city school, or poor rural district. Now go to a 3rd grade classroom in a weather suburb. It's like going to a different planet.

Not everybody has the same opportunities. A person is privileged because of their environment and station in life. Communities that are predominantly white seem to have disproportionately more of these privileges and more opportunities. Communities that are predominantly black seem to have more restrictions and fewer opportunities.

Teachers exist in a school context which exists within a systems context. A system is an interacting and interdependent set of elements working together to form a unified whole. To fully understand the obstacles teachers face and why some are leaving education, one must first understand the system in which they exist. Arthur Combs (1999) described two common types of systems used in organizations: top-down closed systems and person-centered open systems. This podcast describes the top-down closed system.

I am writing a book about teaching writing. This book is based on the premise that human beings have an innate desire to communicate with other human beings. They naturally want the ideas to leak out of their head. Humans have an inherent inclination to express themselves and to share their ideas and experiences with other humans. Good writing instruction is built upon this natural inclination. Ineffective (bad) writing instruction stymies this natural impulse. And if students have been stymied for years, it may take a bit of work to un-stymie them. This podcast addresses the “un-stymie-i-zation” process.

So why should educators be concerned about educational research? What relevance does it have to our everyday practice?

Educational research is used to create the theories upon which we design educational policies and practices. Theories help to organize relevant empirical facts (empirical means they can be observed or measured) in order to create a context for understanding phenomena. Sometimes people try to dismiss an idea or practice with which they do not agree by saying it is just a bunch of theory, meaning I guess that the theoretical realm is somehow far removed from the practical realm, perhaps even having a different set of laws that govern it. But this would be a misunderstanding of what a theory is.

A theory is a way to explain a set of facts. Put another way, if reality were a dot-to-dot picture, a theory would be a way to connect a set of data dots (see Figure 1.2.) However, varying theories connect different data dots in different ways resulting in a wide variety of pictures and practices. Thus, varying theoretical perspectives, while based on a set of empirical data, can often advocate different practices or practical notions. An example would be behavioral learning theory and cognitive learning theory, both of which are based on solid empirical evidence.

• Educational research is used to create the theories that are used to design educational policies and practices.

• A theory is a way of explaining a set of facts.

• A hypothesis is an untested conjecture.

• Research-based theory can be used to justify practices or policies.

• Educational research helps teachers and school administrators to make good decisions.

Sigmund Freud (1856 to 1939) is considered to be one of the pioneers of modern psychology. His theory of personality states that (a) the human psyche (personality) has more than one aspect (see below) and (b) the unconscious mind can be highly influential in directing human behavior. His contribution to the field of psychology was in describing how impulses and ideas contained in the unconscious were sometimes blocked from becoming conscious (Tuckett, 2019). These blocks contributed to the suffering of his patients.

It is recognized that his ideas related to the impact of childhood sexuality on human development and personality are uncomfortable for many. These are not widely adopted today. But many of his other ideas still contribute to our understanding of the human entity. Thus, any book about understanding human beings should include some of Freud’s ideas.

There are three things to keep in mind when evaluating Freud’s theory of personality. First, theories are not meant to be permanent. Theories, by their very nature, are temporary structures used to explain a set of facts and to understand phenomena. As the facts change, the theories continue to evolve until they eventually become obsolete and are replaced by new theories. Second, Freud’s thinking kept evolving throughout his lifetime. If he were still alive today it is most likely that his thinking would be much different than it was in the early 1900s. And third, theories (like Freud’s) do not predict human behavior; they help us understand human behavior.

Like Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers was a humanistic psychologist who also described humans as naturally good and evolving entities. He pioneered a client-centered approach to psychotherapy that translated directly into a student-centered approach to teaching. This chapter describes some of his seminal ideas as they relate to human growth, teaching, and being a human being. As you listen to this podcoast you will notice that these ideas are interconnected such that the borders between teaching and psychology are often indistinguishable. This is as it should be. Rogers believed that teaching, psychotherapy, and being a fully functioning person all came from the same place

Self-actualization is the term used to describe the natural unfolding and realization of one’s full potential. Put another way, within every acorn there is a mighty oak tree. To actualize is to enable the taproot to sprout from the acorn and the seedling to come forth and begin to grow to be the oak tree. Self-actualization is when the acorn recognizes the oak tree within, embraces oak-tree-ness, and begins the journey toward being and becoming an oak tree. This podcast describes some of the conditions necessary to enable students to self-actualize.

At one time it was thought that smaller class sizes and additional adult resources found in a segregated special education classroom would enable teachers here to provide individualized instruction that would meet the special needs of each student. It was thought as well that this would lead to improved learning outcomes for these students. This is not the case. It turns out that educational outcomes are more often diminished rather than enhanced in segregated settings. This is because students in segregated special education settings frequently do not receive the same quality of education as students in a general education classroom. Also, the instruction here often is neither individualized nor appropriate.