Experiences of Non-Reading Teachers: A Case Study

Abstract : Academic performance depends heavily on reading ability; however, a sizable number of young learners still face challenges in reading development even after teachers try to work on their basic literacy skills. This paper investigated the practices of teachers who are not specialized in reading as they deliver remedial reading lessons, generated a Guided Reading Program, and assessed its effectiveness. To gain a thorough knowledge of the setting, the qualitative case study method was selected, and interviews, observations, and document analysis were used as data gathering techniques. The results showed that around 80% of the teachers had no formal training in reading instruction, but they exhibited a lot of dedication and determination to help the learners overcome their reading problems. Besides limited teaching resources and a lack of sufficient training, teachers also pointed to low reading skills of learners as some of the issues preventing smooth instructional delivery; nevertheless, they recognized the great joy that came with helping struggling readers. The findings also pointed out that quite a lot of students had such great difficulties with reading that it really was a stumbling block for their academic progress, and these facts were brought out by the study of their reading behavior and analysis of different data sets. The introduction of the Guided Reading Program brought about desirable changes as reflected by learners’ enhanced results on the tests that were conducted before and after the training. Based on the research, the authors are of the opinion that if we want to solve the problem of literacy in a more effective way, then the reading intervention has to be done through a well-organized and directed method.