Applying cognitive psychology to educational practice: The mind of the reading teacher

Students learn what they are taught. If a student fails to acquire the skills of reading, then one ought first to examine the program of reading instruction. The foundations of literacy in English require analysis of human cognition, of the formal use of language (the rhetoric), and of the peculiarities of the English language. The materials presently available for training reading teachers and for providing them support in reading instruction give little or no attention to these foundations. Such materials are likely to misdirect the teacher, giving him or her little guidance for presenting an effective program of instruction in reading. A syndrome like dyslexia as a consequence becomes obscured by the many youngsters for whom the problem is a lack of clarity and coherence in the instructional program. Progress in dealing with specific learning disabilities will be hampered until these fundamental problems are resolved.