Building a school reading culture: Teacher librarians’ perceptions of enabling and constraining factors

Abstract

A supportive school reading culture is an educative context in which there is availability, opportunity, encouragement and support for reading. Little is known about whether Australian schools actively foster reading cultures that are supportive of reading for pleasure. In their role as reading advocates, teacher librarians may be uniquely situated to provide valuable insights into the factors that enable and constrain the development of a whole school reading culture. Interview data from teacher librarians at 30 Western Australian schools were drawn upon to explore the factors and characteristics that are believed to both enhance and limit school reading cultures. Our research suggests that school leadership may play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of a school reading culture that positions reading as both valuable and pleasurable. More broadly, a school reading culture is supported by numerous additional factors that may be influenced by, but not wholly determined by leadership support.

School leadership and whole-school support of struggling literacy learners in secondary schools

“…With literacy essential for young peoples' opportunity and attainment both at school and beyond, and the Australian curriculum supporting the importance of literacy as a general capability to be taught across the curriculum, greater consideration needs to be given to how leaders' commitment to this goal is realized in order achieve this whole school approach, highlighting a valuable area for future research which is beginning to garner greater attention (e.g. Merga and Gardiner, 2019;Merga and Mason, 2019).…”

“…This paper focuses on leadership and supports and strategies operating at a school level that these leaders may influence. School leaders can be seen as powerful and influential role models in enacting whole-school literacy approaches, with their priorities shaping school priorities and resourcing (Merga and Mason, 2019).…”

Reading for pleasure: exploring reading culture in an Australian early years classroom

“…Students in this classroom were set up to be successful literacy learners by their 'supportive school reading culture' (Merga and Mason, 2019) and their environment (access to quality texts, high socio-economic demographics). However, the teacher's pedagogy remains an integral component in the students' literacy learning, and hence must be acknowledged within measures of student success, as distinct from, yet intertwined with these contextual factors.…”

“Fallen through the cracks”: Teachers’ perceptions of barriers faced by struggling literacy learners in secondary school

“…Whole school literacy concerns were shared by others, such as those who attributed a perceived "lack of reading culture at school" as a barrier. While literacy is situated as a whole school responsibility in the Australian curriculum, this positioning is not always enacted in schools (Merga and Gardiner 2019;Merga and Mason 2019).…”