TITLE OF DEVELOPING PRACTICE EXAMPLE
RIC Reciprocal Reading
RIC Reciprocal Reading
Rated as high impact on the Education Endowment Foundation Toolkit, Reciprocal Reading is a structured approach to teaching reading strategies that can be used to improve reading comprehension. This programme enables practitioners to develop a deeper understanding of a pedagogical approach that engages learners and leads to improved outcomes in reading comprehension. The original programme (January 2020) was endorsed by Education Scotland (https://professionallearning.education.gov.scot/learn/programmes/reciprocal-reading/) and involved programme participants attending an introductory session (in person!) for expert/academic training with a Stirling University partner then returning to school to introduce and embed the approach, supported by RIC coaching visits. Thereafter, participants attended a recall day for further collaboration, to share good practice and evaluate progress. Since the first lockdown in 2020, all sessions have been delivered on-line by the RIC Literacy Lead and have included all staff from some FVWL schools and individuals from others.
This is an engaging programme that adheres to the national model of professional learning, encouraging leadership of and for learning. The extended programme involved the RIC Literacy Lead working with individual schools. The programme was tailored to the needs of each school but based around the outline below:
Programme Outline
From June 2020, all RIC Reciprocal Reading sessions and programmes were on line using Teams. Practitioners sign up on CPD Manager and are added to a Team for the webinars. Since January 2021, several smaller Reciprocal Reading Teams have been merged into one so that all practitioners can access the same resources and engage in professional dialogue using Team Chat. Resources include practitioner videos commissioned by the RIC.
For the large meetings on Teams, the introductory sessions explained how to get started, classroom approaches and Improvement Methodology. Subsequent sessions covered metacognition and think-alouds. In May 2021, practitioners from two schools (Knightsridge PS and Drymen PS) shared their experiences of Reciprocal Reading. Next session, plans involve more good practice sharing sessions and further collaboration between schools.
The message about the power of Reciprocal Reading to improve reading comprehension is spreading! In session 202-21, there were seven extended RIC Reciprocal Reading programmes and six separate online sessions. To date, over 300 FVWL practitioners have participated in RIC Reciprocal Reading sessions and 47 West Lothian schools have been working on Reciprocal Reading programmes with their WL Literacy Pedagogy Officers. A range of qualitative and quantitative data is gathered by schools and by the RIC.
An insight into research findings about Reciprocal Reading is provided here:
Learner and practitioner feedback highlighted that the professional learning of the practitioner had a positive impact upon the experiences of learners. This is evidenced, for example, through the comments gathered from a group of S3 pupils who were asked to compare Reciprocal Reading to what they were previously doing:
There is also a great deal of qualitative data from participants – some samples are provided in the slides below.
Clackmannanshire
Dr. Janet Adam
CLjadam@glow.sch.uk
Digitize Pathways in partnership with Tablet academy Scotland and Co.Lab Hub