What happens when students can decode words perfectly but can't comprehend what they're reading? Dr. Megan Dixon, a literacy expert who bridges the worlds of classroom teaching and cognitive research, unpacks this growing challenge facing schools today.
The conversation dives into what Dixon calls the "elongation of the ability range" - the widening gap in reading proficiency that teachers are encountering, particularly at secondary level. With piercing clarity, she identifies how our digital landscape has fundamentally altered how children engage with text: "Reading is a really active thing. You have to work your brain hard to engage with the text, to question your own understanding." Yet increasingly, students approach reading with the same passive consumption habits they've developed through social media.
Dixon outlines four research-backed pillars that form the foundation of reading comprehension: vocabulary depth, text structure understanding, inferencing abilities, and metacognitive monitoring. Her explanation of inferencing - distinguishing between "locally cohesive inferences" and "globally cohesive inferences" - provides teachers with a practical framework for targeted instruction beyond basic decoding skills.
Particularly valuable is Dixon's nuanced take on the role of prior knowledge in reading. Rather than simply front-loading information before reading, she advocates for "activating" students' existing knowledge and experiences, teaching them to independently extract meaning through questioning and active engagement. This approach empowers students to become independent readers capable of tackling unfamiliar texts with confidence.
The podcast concludes with practical classroom strategies focused on creating environments where students monitor their understanding and feel comfortable admitting confusion - the very behaviours that characterise proficient readers. As Dixon notes, "We need to get away from the idea that there's failing in not understanding everything the first time. That is the process of reading."
Ready to transform how you approach reading instruction in your classroom? Listen now and discover how to develop active, engaged readers who don't just decode words, but truly understand what they read.

Dr. Megan Dixon has just collaborated on the DFE's new work supporting secondary schools with reading, and is a postdoctoral research assistant who collaborates with Professor Jane Oakhill (University of Sussex) and Distinguished Professor Kate Cain (Lancaster University) on research into literacy development. A specialist in both early years and primary education, Megan also brings deep expertise in secondary literacy. She serves as the Early Years and Primary Specialist for a family of international schools and is a globally recognised educational consultant, known for her work supporting literacy development across all phases of education.