32. Reading is learning: Breaking down the artificial barrier with Natalie Wexler

Bedrock Talks from Bedrock Learning

Natalie Wexler joins Andy Sammons to tackle one of education's most persistent challenges: the artificial barrier between reading and learning. This eye-opening conversation dives deep into why traditional approaches to reading comprehension don't work - and what cognitive science tells us actually does.
Wexler, author of The Knowledge Gap and co-author of The Writing Revolution, unpacks how our current methods of teaching reading comprehension - as isolated skills, divorced from content - fundamentally misunderstand how comprehension works. She explains why background knowledge functions as "mental Velcro" for new information, and why simply practicing skills like making inferences without content knowledge, fails to develop proficient readers.
The discussion takes a fascinating turn when exploring how narrative serves as a powerful vehicle for learning across all subjects. Wexler shares compelling research, showing that students who received content through structured narratives demonstrated significantly better understanding than those who participated in seemingly engaging hands-on activities. "The human brain is hardwired to take in information more easily when it's presented in narrative form," Wexler notes, challenging us to reconsider what effective instruction looks like beyond superficial engagement.
Perhaps most valuable for educators are the practical strategies Wexler offers for implementation. From sentence-level writing activities like appositives, to structured retrieval practice, to explicit outlining instruction; she provides concrete techniques that enhance both reading comprehension and content knowledge simultaneously. She emphasises that writing about content powerfully reinforces learning, but requires appropriate scaffolding to avoid cognitive overload for inexperienced writers.
Whether you're a literacy specialist, subject teacher, or education leader, this conversation will transform how you think about reading instruction. Listen now to discover why bridging the gap between reading and learning is essential for developing truly proficient readers and thinkers.

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1. 32. Reading is learning: Breaking down the artificial barrier with Natalie Wexler (00:00:00)

2. Introduction to Natalie Wexler (00:00:16)

3. The Artificial Barrier Between Reading and Learning (00:02:16)

4. Disciplinary Literacy and Knowledge Building (00:06:27)

5. The Power of Narrative in Learning (00:14:51)

6. Evidence-Based Teaching and Cognitive Science (00:18:05)

7. Writing Revolution and Sentence-Level Activities (00:22:25)

8. The Science of Reading-Writing Connection (00:29:05)

9. Beyond Phonics to Reading Comprehension (00:33:37)