Readin Philosphy

Reading Philosophies
Shonna Young
Grand Canyon University: EED-470
October 9, 2016
It has been said that first students learn to read then they read to learn. Therefore, Strong
reading skills are essential to the success of students in all aspects of education. They must be
able to read and build comprehension of what they have read to take away the information they
need to master a subject. this can be seen in every subject from math to music. Teaching a
student to read can be very challenging as each student comes to school with their own
experiences and obstacles in the area of reading, but no matter what the center of it all is the
reading teacher. what they know and what they do in class every day has an enormous impact on
student achievement. In this paper we will examine the constructivist and explicit instructional
approaches to reading and make a personal recommendation of which style this author prefers as
a learning and instructor.
Instructional approaches
Constructivist:
The constructivist instructional approach also often called the whole language approach
believes that students construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through
experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. We then have to reconcile it with our
previous ideas and experience, maybe changing what we believe, or maybe discarding the new
information as irrelevant. (Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning. 2004).
Teachers who us this approach in reading encourage discussion and group work as part of
reading instruction and activities that center around social interaction (T. Evangelisto 2012,
January).
Explicit:
Explicit or direct instruction is a structured and systematic, method of teaching. This
approach uses straightforward and direct teaching practices that includes both instructional
design and delivery procedures. In explicit instruction teachers use scaffolding to guided students
through the learning process with precise statements about the purpose and reason for learning
the material. Teachers who use this approach give clear explanations and demonstrations of
instructional goal and provide supported with feedback until independent mastery has been
achieved (Acher, A. L. 2011).
Recommendations
Thinking back on this authors experience as a student all instruction was presented using the
explicit approach and reading was no exception. We focused on learning letters, phonics and then
reading material and some comprehension. Honestly this author does not remember there being
much more to reading instruction than that. Moving up into higher grade levels produced
basically the same type of situation. students were assigned a book to read test on the contents or
have to write a report. However, there was one year in middle school where group projects were
incorporated into reading class and students used different art projects to tell about the book they
had chosen to read. This was the most memorable reading class for the author otherwise the
teacher stood in front of the entire class and presented the material to the class and then we took
turns reading or following along with the teacher as she read to us. Although this method was not
totally ineffective this author believes that explicit instruction alone is not enough and that
students learn and retain more when teachers use a combination of both above define methods. It
is this authors and many other professionals believe, that just like herself, students become more
engaged in education when they are an active part of it. the constructivist method does just that.
This method also appeals to many different types of learners allowing more students to be
reached no matter their learning style. Although this type of learning has some great advantages
it also has some down fall for example it lacks structure leveling some students without the
structure they need to stay on task and focus on the job at hand. It also often uses a more
personalized course of study based on what a student already has knowledge of and could lead to
them falling behind in academic standards expectations (Rhinheart, L. 2012). Explicit instruction
is great for teaching specific concepts or skills which are an important part of early reading as
students learn all the rules and concepts that makeup written language. It also allows teachers to
directly assess whether a students has mastered these rules and concepts but this type of
instruction leaves very little room for a teacher to improvise to meet the needs of students
leveling those students who struggle with the material left without the support they need
(Rhinheart, L. 2012). because of the strengths and weakness of both of these methods it seems
clear to this author that both methods can be more effective when used cooperatively in a
classroom more students will have their needs met and become strong readers. It is also this
authors belief that it would be beneficial for reading instruction to start with a more explicit
method of instruction with early readers to build the foundation of reading such as letter sound
blends and other rules that make the basics of reading. Then as students move to a higher grade
the instruction method should move to a more constructivist type of instruction to build on
comprehension, an understanding of the real world applications of reading and an enjoyment of
reading.
5
References
Acher, A. L. (2011). Effective and Efficient Teaching. Retrieved October 10, 2016, from
http://explicitinstruction.org/download/sample-chapter.pdf
Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning. (2004). Retrieved October 10, 2016,
from http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index.html
Rhinheart, L. (2012). The Pros and Cons of Constructivist Learning Theory. Retrieved October
10, 2016, from http://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-methods-tips/76645-pros-and-consof-constructivist-learning-theory/
Rhinheart, L. (2012). Some Advantages & Disadvantages of Direct Teaching. Retrieved October
10, 2016, from http://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-methods-tips/5487-pros-and-consof-direct-teaching/
T. Evangelisto (2012, January). Strategies for Developing Literacy in Students A Constructivist

Approach. Retrieved October 10, 2016, from http://www.tcnj.edu/~evangeli/constructivism.htm

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Reading Philosophies

T. Evangelisto (2012, January). Strategies for Developing Literacy in Students A Constructivist

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