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The Rhythm for Reading blog

Connectedness in the Rhythm for Reading programme

16 July 2015

At this time of year it’s good to feel that much has been accomplished. Reading programmes have been completed, training delivered, progress measured, reports read, certificates received and so on. However, educating children and young people is about so much more than ticking lists of to dos.

I’m so grateful to work with fabulous teachers in the schools that I visit on my travels with the Rhythm for Reading programme and I’ve experienced close-up their boundless enthusiasm, interest in trying new things and dedication to supporting their pupils in every possible way. Accelerating progress and boosting wellbeing are important educational goals of course, but equally prominent should be the development of a very profound sense of social connectedness in our group teaching. A ten-year old boy explained this very clearly to me recently,

“It made me feel welcome to the group because everyone was doing the same thing. Everybody knew it. I didn’t feel left out because usually I feel left out in a group.”

For me, this suggests that some children respond particularly positively to the highly structured group activities of the reading intervention. The phrase, ‘Everybody knew it’ mirrors the emotional security that develops when the certainty of knowing exactly what to do and say, is complemented by knowing how to contribute with confidence. When the barrier of uncertainty has been eliminated, learning can be experienced as a limitless, virtuous cycle.

In this particular instance, the virtuous cycle was achieved through highly structured Rhythm for Reading programme group sessions in which the synchronised response of the group was an intrinsic element of the pedagogy. The group grew in confidence week by week, as the tasks that they accomplished together during the reading programme became increasingly intricate, fast-paced and complex; consequently they enjoyed a profoundly social experience of learning.

I’m reminded by Hall, Curtin & Rutherford to mention Lave’s pertinent advice – which is so relevant here and now: Learning is not something in itself, it is part of social life. (Hall et al., 2014, p.166)

Hall, K., Curtin, A. and Rutherford, V. (2014). Networks of Minds: Learning, Culture and Neuroscience, London and New York, Routledge

Lave, J. (1996). Teaching, as learning, in practice. Mind, Culture and Activity 3(3): 149-164

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