Doug Lemov - What does evidence-based reading instruction look like? - New York
In this episode I am speaking with Doug Lemov. Doug is one of my all time teaching heroes and an incredible person in the world of education. He is the founder and leader of Teach Like a Champion, an organisation that studies exceptional teachers and translates their practice into replicable techniques. Most notably, these are shared via the Teach Like a Champion books which are now on their 3.0 version.
Whilst the TLAC books are an exceptional example of how to improve any teacher’s classroom instruction and curriculum design, Doug has also authored and co-authored the likes of Practice Perfect, The Coach’s Guide to Teaching, Teaching in the Online Classroom, Reading Reconsidered and The Teach Like a Champion Guide to the Science of Reading. It was on the topic of the last two books that I most wanted to speak to Doug. Reading and the associated knowledge students gain from it has always been of great importance within English, but this has never been more prevalent in the age of smartphones, the internet and its associated economy of attention.
We discuss
What the biggest oversights English teachers might have about reading instruction
Why solid advice, effectively communicated, isn’t enough to improve reading instruction in schools
Any prerequisites an internal canon of literature should adhere to
Why engaging with a contiguous, 300 page text is better than a unit filled with diverse extracts exploring a common theme
And finally, when and how we release our level of control and encourage students to read more challenging books at home
Thank you so much to Doug for speaking with me and the legendary support he has given to teachers down the years with his team at Teach Like a Champion.
If you’d like to be kept up to date on when chat like this happens, feel free to subscribe to the podcast and follow me on LinkedIn @chrisjordanhk or X @chrisjordanhk
Additionally, if you would like a head start on learning how to prioritise your middle years English curriculum, head to the bottom of this podcast’s show notes or top of my stream on X to find a beta copy of my forthcoming book: Reinforcing Middle School English You can read as much as you want and even highlight elements that you like, dislike or find confusing to help make it better.
Links:
Beta version of Reinforcing Middle School English
Doug’s books
