Reading for pleasure: A catalyst for connection
8 min read
KELLY ASHLEY, LECTURER IN READING FOR PLEASURE, THE OPEN UNIVERSITY, UK
PROFESSOR TERESA CREMIN, THE OPEN UNIVERSITY, UK
JENNI JEALOUS, VICE PRINCIPAL, CROFT ACADEMY, UK
CURTIS JORDAN, YEAR 2 TEACHER AND ENGLISH LEAD, HORSENDALE PRIMARY SCHOOL, UK
Finding ways to engage students in reading may be one of the most effective ways to leverage social change.
(OECD, 2002. p. 3)
The practicality of achieving this goal, however, is the true challenge. Recent results from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study indicate that, in England, children’s attitudes to reading continue to fall and are very low compared with to their skills (Mullis et al., 2023). While England ranked fourth for reading attainment, only 29 per cent of children reported loving reading, compared to the international median of 46 per cent, and 24 per cent reported not liking reading at all (the median was 18 per cent) (Lindorff et al., 2023). This is underscored by UK-wide data revealing t
Join us or sign in now to view the rest of this page
You're viewing this site as a guest, which only allows you to view a limited amount of content.
To view this page and get access to all our resources, join the Chartered College of Teaching (it's free for trainee teachers and half price for ECTs) or log in if you're already a member.
- British Educational Research Association (BERA) (2018) Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research, 4th ed. Available at: www.bera.ac.uk/researchers-resources/publications/ethical-guidelines-for-educational-research-2018 (accessed 5 December 2023).
- Cole A, Brown A, Clark C and Picton I (2022) Children and young people’s reading engagement in 2022: Continuing insight into the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on reading. London: National Literacy Trust. Available at: https://literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/children-and-young-peoples-reading-engagement-in-2022/ (accessed 12 December 2023).
- Cordingley P, Higgins S, Greany T et al. (2015) Developing great teaching: Lessons from the international reviews into effective professional development. Teacher Development Trust. Available at: https://tdtrust.org/about/dgt (accessed 5 December 2023).
- Cremin T, Mottram M, Collins F et al. (2014) Building Communities of Engaged Readers: Reading for Pleasure. London and NY: Routledge.
- Department for Education (DfE) (2023) The reading framework. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1186732/The_reading_framework.pdf (accessed 5 December 2023).
- Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) (2021) Putting evidence to work: A school’s guide to implementation. Available at: https://d2tic4wvo1iusb.cloudfront.net/production/eef-guidance-reports/implementation/EEF_Implementation_Guidance_Report_2019.pdf?v=1700711460 (accessed 5 December 2023).
- Farrar J (2021) ‘I don’t really have a reason to read children’s literature’: Enquiring into primary student teachers’ knowledge of children’s literature. Journal of Literary Education 4: 217–236.
- Fisher D and Frey N (2018) Raise reading volume through access, choice, discussion, and book talks. Reading Teacher 72(1): 89–97.
- Hargreaves A and O’Connor M (2018) Solidarity with solidity: The case for collaborative professionalism. Phi Delta Kappan 100(1): 20–24.
- Hempel-Jorgensen A, Cremin T, Harris D and Chamberlain L (2018) Pedagogy for reading for pleasure in low socio-economic primary schools: beyond “pedagogy of poverty”? Literacy 52(2): 86-94.
- Hudson AK (2016) Get them talking! Using student-led book talks in the primary grades. Reading Teacher 70(2): 221–225.
- Lindorff A, Stiff J and Kayton H (2023) PIRLS 2021: National report for England: Research report. DfE. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1156633/PIRLS_2021_-_national_report_for_England__May_2023.pdf (accessed 5 December 2023).
- McGeown S, Bonsall J, Andries V et al. (2020) Understanding reading motivation across different text types: Qualitative insights from children. Journal of Research in Reading 43(4): 597–608.
- Moses L and Kelly LB (2018) ‘We’re a little loud. That’s because we like to read!’ Developing positive views of reading in a diverse, urban first grade. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 18(3): 307–337.
- Mullis IVS, von Davier M, Foy P et al. (2023) PIRLS 2021 international results in reading. Boston College. Available at: https://pirls2021.org/results (accessed 5 December 2023).
- OECD (2002) PISA 2000 Results: Reading for Change – Performance and engagement across countries. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/education/school/programmeforinternationalstudentassessmentpisa/33690904.pdf (accessed 12 December 2023).
- Sun Y-J, Sahakian BJ, Langley C et al. (2023) Early initiated childhood reading for pleasure: associations with better cognitive performance, mental well-being and brain structure in young adolescence. Psychological Medicine 2023: 1–15.
- Torppa M, Niemi P, Vasalampi K et al. (2020) Leisure Reading (But Not Any Kind) and Reading Comprehension Support Each Other: A Longitudinal Study Across Grades 1 and 9. Child Development 91(3): 879–900.
- Wenger-Traynor E and Wenger-Traynor B (2015) Introduction to communities of practice: A brief overview of the concept and its uses. In: Wenger-Traynor. Available at: www.wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice (accessed 3 September 2023).
Please login to comment
0 Comments
Oldest
