This book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 LicenseViewing learning as dependent on sequencing and readiness
The distinction between teaching and learning creates a secondary issue for teachers, that of educational
readiness. Traditionally the concept referred to students’ preparedness to cope with or profit from the activities
and expectations of school. A kindergarten child was “ready” to start school, for example, if he or she was in good
health, showed moderately good social skills, could take care of personal physical needs (like eating lunch or going
to the bathroom unsupervised), could use a pencil to make simple drawings, and so on. Table 3 shows a similar set
of criteria for determining whether a child is “ready” to learn to read (Copple & Bredekamp, 2006). At older ages
(such as in high school or university), the term readiness is often replaced by a more specific term, prerequisites. To
take a course in physics, for example, a student must first have certain prerequisite experiences, such as studying
advanced algebra or calculus. To begin work as a public school teacher, a person must first engage in practice
teaching for a period of time (not to mention also studying educational psychology!).
Table 2: Reading readiness in students vs in teachers
Signs of readiness in the child or student Signs of readiness to teach reading- productive (speaking) vocabulary of 5,000-
8,000 words - child understands and uses complete sentences
- child’s questions tend to be relevant to the task
at hand - child’s correctly using most common
grammatical constructions - child can match some letters to some sounds
- child can string a few letters together to make a
few simple words - child can tell and retell stories, poems, and
songs - teacher answers children’s questions when
possible - teacher encourages child to find out more
through other means in addition to asking teacher - teacher asks questions designed to elaborate or
expand child’s thinking - teacher highlights letters and sounds in the
classroom - teacher provides lots of paper and marking
tools - teacher assists child with initial writing of
letters - teacher encourages children to enact stories,
poems, and songs
Source: Copple & Bredekamp, 2006.
Note that this traditional meaning, of readiness as preparedness, focuses attention on students’ adjustment to
school and away from the reverse: the possibility that schools and teachers also have a responsibility for adjusting
to students. But the latter idea is in fact a legitimate, second meaning for readiness: If 5-year-old children
normally need to play a lot and keep active, then it is fair to say that their kindergarten teacher needs to be “ready”
for this behavior by planning for a program that allows a lot of play and physical activity. If she cannot or will not
Educational Psychology 22 A Global Text