The Peter Effect Revisited: Reading Habits and Attitudes of College Students

Encouraging Critical Thinking and Professional Reading with Literacy Bags

“…Powell-Brown (2003) interviewed graduate students enrolled in a literacy methods course at a large Midwestern university and found aliteracy was prevalent among those students, especially practicing teachers. Powell-Brown's (2003) results were supported by the work of Nathanson et al, (2008) who administered the Literacy Habits Questionnaire, developed by Applegate and Applegate (2004) to 747 graduate students enrolled in a graduate school of education; most (85%) of the participants were in-service teachers, the remainder were prospective teachers. Their findings were alarming; 17% of the total sample indicated they found little or no pleasure in reading, 48% reported they had read two or more books during the summer and 25% reported they had read one book in the summer.…”

“…Interest in the dispositions, behaviors, values and habits characterized by lifelong learning and literacy of education majors spawned a plethora of studies into their literacy habits and beliefs. Mueller's (1973) initial work into the literacy habits and practices of preservice teachers is supported by numerous later studies that indicated typical, undergraduate, preservice teachers possess only moderately positive attitudes about reading and writing, did not consider themselves to be good readers, did not enjoy reading, had not read a book within the last six months, and ranked reading low among choices for leisure activities (Applegate & Applegate 2004;Draper et al, 2000;Frager, 1986;McKool & Gespass, 2009;Mour, 1977;Powell-Brown, 2004;Smith, 1989;Turner et al, 2009;Young, 2006;Worden & Noland, 1983). Applegate and Applegate's (2004) multiyear study of undergraduate education majors at diverse United States universities supported those of earlier studies and coined a phrase, "The Peter Effect" to describe the phenomena of aliteracy among undergraduate education majors.…”

“…Their most recent study (2014) found "strikingly low levels of enthusiasm for reading among undergraduate education majors with only 5.7% of students surveyed (n=1,000) classified as Engaged and Avid readers" (Applegate et al, 2014, p.188). Applegate, et al, (2014) concluded "the Peter Effect still persists among preservice teachers" (p.188).…”

“…Teachers of all levels not only need to be effective readers but they also need a strong foundational knowledge about the literacy process (Applegate & Applegate, 2004;Dobler, 2009). Much has been written about the literacy process; the ways people acquire and develop skills necessary to make meaning either as a reader or a writer and the "stance" readers embrace as they participate in the process.…”

“…Mikulecky (1978) was among the first literacy researchers to differentiate aliteracy from illiteracy. Aliterates are capable of reading and making meaning of text but they suffer from a lack of engagement or intrinsic motivation to read (Applegate & Applegate, 2004;Asselin, 2004;Mikulecky, 1978). Scott (1996) defined aliteracy as a "lack of reading and writing habits especially in capable readers who choose not to read and write" (p.5).…”