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

Abstract

Research indicates a powerful correlation between students' reading enjoyment, motivation and achievement. This Australian case study investigates how reading for pleasure (RfP) approaches are demonstrated in the teaching of reading in a Stage 1 (6‐year‐old to 7‐year‐old students) classroom. The methodology was designed to mirror aspects of Cremin's 2014 UK‐based study, Teachers As Readers. Engaging an interpretivist paradigm, the case was analysed through three distinct but intersecting lenses, knowledge, affect and material, to develop a rich and multifaceted insight into the social world of the classroom. The study found that while the teacher's pedagogic practices for teaching reading incorporated many indicators of a RfP approach, this stemmed from personal ideologies rather than explicit knowledge of a RfP pedagogical framework. Hence, while the study indicates the positive impacts of RfP approaches on this classroom's reading culture, the efficacy of this pedagogy could be potentially limited if an explicit understanding of the theoretical framework does not underpin teachers' actions.

Teaching with children's literature in initial teacher education: Developing equitable literacy pedagogy through talk about books

“…Free reading choice has been shown to encourage personal engagement, support the emergence of critical appreciation, seed literary behaviours, and improve literacy skills (Cliff-Hodges, 2010). Therefore, teachers who create inclusive learning opportunities for all may break the cycle of inequitable literacy practices and provide prolonged engagement with reading for every child, not just the 'fast finishers' (Vanden Dool & Simpson, 2021).…”

The roots of reading for pleasure: Recollections of reading and current habits

“…When viewed through the opposite lens, individuals can liberally share what they hold in abundance. From this perspective, teachers who have positive attitudes and pedagogical knowledge are better positioned to nurture leisure reading in their students (Vanden Dool and Simpson, 2021). For example, Garces-Bacsal et al (2018) noted that teachers, who described themselves as being 'devoted' readers, were far more likely to respond to questions about motivating students to read in their classrooms.…”

“…However, it is less clear whether these early reading experiences leave lasting impressions and whether they are associated with the tendency to read for pleasure into adulthood. Here, we examined relations between concurrent reading habits of university students and their most salient memories from learning to read to reading in high school (Garces‐Bacsal et al, 2018; Vanden Dool and Simpson, 2021).…”

Okuma Okuryazarlığı Performansı, Motivasyon Kaynakları ve Öğretmen Desteği Arasındaki İlişkiler: PISA 2018 Türkiye Örneklemi

“…Cox ve Guthrie'ye göre (2001) zevk amacıyla yapılan okumaların miktarı okuma başarısı, dünya bilgisi ve topluma katılım gibi faydalar da dâhil olmak üzere çocukların ve genç yetişkinlerin yaşamında önemli bir rol oynamaktadır. Yapılan çalışmalar okuma zevkinin okuma başarısı (Cheema, 2018;Dool & Simpson, 2021;Flowers 2003;Krashen, 2004;Retali ve diğerleri, 2018;Tavşancıl ve diğerleri, 2019), okuma motivasyonu (Doğaç, 2021;Dool & Simpson, 2021;Ertem, 2020;Schiefele ve diğerleri, 2012), sözcük dağarcığı zenginliği (Krashen, 2004;Sullivan & Brown, 2015), yazma başarısı (Krashen, 2004) ve akademik başarı (Mol & Jolles, 2014;Whitten ve diğerleri, 2016) ile pozitif yönde ilişkili olduğunu ortaya koymuştur.…”