ABSTRACT
The importance of the ability to read with accuracy and understanding is unchallenged among teachers, parents and others interested in education. Reading can be successfully taught to pupils with an intelligence quotient (IQ) as low as 50–60 – and indeed some pupils with IQs below 50 have established reading skills, though usually later than their more able peers. In secondary schools, work with slow learners also retains reading as an important objective, though sometimes its importance tends to decline as pupils pass through the school. In about half the schools, the schemes and their content constituted the only reading curriculum. In about a quarter, the chosen scheme was supplemented by curriculum papers outlining methods of using the scheme and suggesting supplementary exercises for slow learners. The curricula examined showed good analysis of reading process, competent organization of stages, but organization was rarely based on behavioural objectives. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
