Paired Reading: Two questions

Summary

Paired Reading (PR) has been used with apparent success in a range of parent‐ and peer‐tutor applications to teach reading. This article addresses two questions hitherto ignored in the PR literature: (1) to what extent do PR tutors actually use PR?, and (2) is there any relationship between tutor adherence to PR and tutee reading gains?. It is suggested that tutors trained to use PR frequently fail to employ it when tutoring. A summary is offered of a recent Hongkong study which suggests that the problem of aberrant tutors can be a very great one indeed. A report is offered of the results of an analysis of PR training videotapes produced by a Local Authority in England. They reveal a similar tutor adherence problem. Interestingly, it was found in the Hongkong study that no link existed between tutor adherence to PR and tutee gains. There follows a discussion of why this may be. It is suggested that human and organisational factors may be important in determining the success of PR projects.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

S. Winter

Sam Winter worked as a teacher of pupils with learning difficulties in Somerset, then as an educational psychologist in Cleveland County, before moving to Hongkong in 1984 to teach and research in educational psychology at the Department of Education at the University of Hongkong. His article was accepted for publication in October 1989.