The present article examines the results of the study on the efficacy of teaching reading strategies to students who major in education. According to the statistics, both young and experienced teachers often do not have enough knowledge of effective strategies for teaching reading (Koch & Spörer, 2017). The research examines the scientifically based method that is called reciprocal teaching (RT) when the students work on the reading material together and alternate in group leading (Koch &Spörer, 2017). This method enables the students not only to read texts and discuss them but also to learn to take responsibility and give feedback on the activities of the members of the group.
The method of reciprocal teaching focuses on the structural organization of the group where the students have shifting roles that enable them to better understand the materials they read throughout the sessions. They will use their competencies in their teaching practices for establishing the implications of the texts and reading them quite fast due to the ability to focus on the most significant elements (Koch &Spörer, 2017). The present study proves the thesis mentioned in the previous sentence by stating that the RT strategy is effective for university students. They not only study the relevant reading methods that they can use for their learning but learn to implement this strategy into their teaching practice. However, the authors pay attention to the fact that the structure of reciprocal teaching in primary schools may be more complicated due to the existence of additional teaching materials such as learning diaries.
The present article is quite useful for both the students of education-related programs and the teachers. It provides them with deep analysis and detailed descriptions of the method that will help the students find out how to read texts and understand the most important parts of them. In addition, the RT strategy is beneficial for the students because they learn not only to read but to analyze the information in the text and transfer it into their personal experiences. Thus, instead of just reading, the students learn to form different opinions about the information from the texts as well as to lead constructive dialogues with their peers who may understand the text differently.
Reference
Koch, H. & Spörer, N. (2017). Students improve in reading comprehension by learning how to teach reading strategies. An evidence-based approach for teacher education. Psychology Learning & Teaching, 16(2). Web.