High five! School teams working on reading comprehension through sustainable school development

What are we working on?

In this two-year process we work together on:

• the improvement of reading comprehension skills of all students;
• the reinforcement of classroom practice for reading comprehension through five subject didactic keys and the powerful language learning environment;
• the power of a learning line listening comprehension and reading from pre-school to primary education;
• the sustainability of a strong language policy for reading comprehension;
• expertise exchange within the own school team and beyond.

Who is this reading comprehension course for?

A maximum of 20 primary schools can participate in this priority in-service training project. The school is putting together a core team for this project. Download the info sheet at the bottom of this page for more information.

What are you learning?

In this two-year program you will get started with:

• the powerful language learning environment: You work on the competences for a powerful language learning environment, namely: a safe climate, meaningful tasks and quality interaction (see image below; Frijns, 2019, p. 118).
• the five keys for reading comprehension: You will work with the 5 effective subject teaching keys for reading comprehension in your practice (see image below; Gobyn et al., 2019, p. 23).
• vision development: You develop a vision of a powerful language learning environment, reading comprehension and reading motivation.
• learning line: You work out a continuous learning line listening comprehension and reading from pre-primary education to primary education.
• language policy: You write a supported and sustainable language policy for reading comprehension.
• learning together: You exchange expertise and material with colleagues and external partners to strengthen the pedagogical offer of reading comprehension.
• school development: You apply insights from school development to work on language policy in a sustainable way. You work on the growth potential of your school by working together on change processes.

How do you learn?

• Your core team has a personal project coach who supports the school for two years, in close consultation with one of the colleagues from the core team.
• You start from practical examples, cases and learning questions.
• You learn from and with each other according to methodologies of school development in which we focus on guidance and sustainability of change processes.
• You exchange expertise with other schools.
• You support each other in the translation to your own classroom and school practice, e.g. through peer consultation, coaching, intervision, observing each other, team teaching, ...

Who is your coach?

The project team consists of coaches working in the following courses at Artevelde University College: Educational Bachelor Pre-school Education, Educational Bachelor Primary Education, Bachelor Speech Therapy, Bachelor-after-Bachelor Care Extension and Remedial Learning and Bachelor-after-Bachelor School Development.

In addition, we actively collaborate with the Center for Language and Education (KU Leuven) during this process. Together we organize two networking days.

What does the trajectory look like?

The program runs for two school years, from September 2020 to July 2022.

Year 1 includes 7 guided sessions with the core team at the school. On April 29, 2021, the first cross-school network day will take place entitled 'Together towards effective reading education'.

On April 28, 2022, the second networking day will take place entitled 'Effective language and reading policy: Looking ahead'. In addition, not only all schools of this trajectory, but also the schools that follow the trajectory join the Center for Language and Education (KU Leuven). Do you want to view the timeline? Download the info sheet at the bottom of this page. We expect that the participating schools go through the entire process.

What are the costs of this route?

This trajectory is free thanks to the subsidy 'further training at the initiative of the Flemish Government'. We expect each participating school to make a two-year commitment to go through the process together. You can participate in a maximum of one trajectory. Consult the overview of all providers. It is best to base your choice on the content of the programmes.

Do you have any questions?

• Would you like more detailed information about this process (timeline, application, ...)? Download the info sheet at the bottom of this page.
• Do you want to test a few things personally? Please contact Carolien Frijns and Mieke Meirsschaut.