A different kind of book club: Invitation from Chile to join others in reading chapters from the book "Reading to Learn"

For the second consecutive year—and growing—we will come together to read Reading to Learn / Leer para Aprender. We already have a Spanish-speaking group, and we are happy to open an English group if there is sufficient interest.

Please share this with anyone who may be interested in this powerful educational approach, which challenges dominant constructivist models and seeks to democratize access to quality education. 

Most importantly, I believe it contributes to ensuring the most neglected human right: the right of students to be taught how to read and write. I am not quoting Article 26—the right to education— as stated in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, because I believe that right has too often been emptied of its meaning. Many states are not guaranteeing it. They settled for coverage and neglected quality. 

Therefore, I believe we need to promote quality education and find alternative ways to support teachers beyond institutional constraints, and to create alternative spaces for professional learning and study from home—or rather, online, so to speak. If education departments rely on fragmented models of language and teaching, it may take years for educators to grasp holistic / systemic ways to mean and provide a quality education for all.

Sea bienvenidos!!

Ingrid Westhoff