Setting up a Reading Motivator in the Digital Age: Introducing New Approaches of Reading for Pleasure Pedagogy in Primary School (MORE)

Reading literacy and reading motivation are declining (see, e.g., PISA, PIRLS). This among others translates into lower learning achievement and increasing disparities among reading achievement. Students perceive reading as something related to learning and grades, not pleasure. Reading is too often taken as something compulsory and not as a joyful leisure activity. This needs to be changed by putting more emphasis on reading for pleasure  as this is the most important factor in enhancing reading skills and motivation. Reading for pleasure ensures a positive attitude and self-concept towards reading. It is a prerequisite for high learning achievement, lifelong learning, and sociocultural participation. There is a positive relationship between reading frequency, reading enjoyment, and reading achievement. Students who enjoy reading have higher academic  attainment than those who do not (see, e.g., PISA 2016). Reading for pleasure also has emotional and social effects and is more important for educational success than family socioeconomic status (OECD, 2002). Reading for pleasure also leads to better text comprehension, and grammar skills,, and increases general knowledge. Despite the fact that the benefits of reading for pleasure are difficult to dispute, in most countries the number of students who read daily or almost daily for pleasure outside school has declined significantly. Another challenge in enhancing reading for pleasure is that it is usually implemented in family settings, but these   can differ considerably and therefore present unequal conditions. In primary school environments it would be possible to target children and ensure positive reading experiences for everybody. In our project, we will develop a model that will make it possible to systematically implement the pedagogy of reading for pleasure in school contexts, adapting the activities for  different reading profiles of students, aged 9 to 11. To connect school environments with voluntary, recreational, independent  reading is not easy. According to students, important advantage in implementing reading for pleasure in schools may be that the person leading the reading activities is not school-related. If the teachers themselves act as reading motivators, the students  quickly feel that the activity is being assessed  and become stressed. This is especially true for students who are not confident readers. Therefore, we aim to (1) develop a curriculum, (2) educate, and (3) set up  a profile of a reading motivator, who would then carry out prearranged reading-related activities in selected schools Reading motivators will all be professional librarians, specialized in children’s and youth literature, and trained to conduct workshops on reading for pleasure pedagogy, based on the analysis of students’ manifold reading identities. Primarily, the reading motivator is intended for students, but it will also offer classes for teachers and others who may work with students on reading for pleasure. The goal is to establish a permanent service and create materials that will allow the concept to be easily implemented in other countries. We hope that the project will help  students experience reading as a relaxed and enjoyable practice and as a part of school curriculuma.

Objectives: What do you want to achieve by implementing the project
The project creates pedagogy for enhancing the reading of diverse readers. The idea is to set up a profile of a reading motivator to work with students and also teachers. The model is based on reading for pleasure pedagogy (RfP), reading profiles and motivation as well as research implemented in the project. As a result, there will a training package for reading motivators, tools for implementing the reading profiles, a model of individualized RfP and research on different tools of the project.

Implementation: What activities are you going to implement?
First, previous research on reading for pleasure and motivation is investigated and the content for training the reading motivators is formed. The reading profiles and reading pathways of students are created and the motivators trained. Next, the motivators scaffold the model in workshops. The effects are tested pre- and post-test. Lastly, the research results and the guidelines for the reading motivators are published, together with the country-specific good practices in RfP pedagogy.

Results: What project results and other outcomes do you expect your project to have?
The result will be a set of reading profiles and reading-pathways, a course curriculum on RfP, trained reading motivators and a selection of good practices with country-specific differentiation. Reading motivation of the students in the project will increase and the teachers will gain tools for implementing RfP pedagogy in their practice. Tools for forming reading profiles of students will be provided as well as a model of individualised RfP pedagogy and guidelines based on the project findings.

Project coordinator
Assist. Prof. Ana Vogrinčič Čepič (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Sociology, Department of Library and Information Science and Book Studies, Slovenia)

Slovenian Team

Project leader
Assist. Prof. Ana Vogrinčič Čepič (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Sociology, Department of Library and Information Science and Book Studies)

Project members
Assistant Veronika Rot Gabrovec (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of English)
Prof. Sonja Pečjak (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Psychology)
Assist. Prof. Tina Pirc (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Psychology)
Senior Bibl. Mojca Žaberl (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Sociology)
and
Senior Bibl. Mateja Lesar (City Library Ljubljana, Professional associate for education)

Finish team

Project leader
Adjunct Prof./Senior Lect. Juli-Anna Aerila (University of Turku, Faculty of Educational Sciences, Department Teacher Education)

Project members
Service Manager Sanna Hernelahti (Turku City Library)

Italian team

Project leader
Adjunct Prof./Senior Lect. Tiziana Mascia (Associazione Literacy Italia)

Project members
Adjunct Prof./Senior Ugo Guidolin (Associazione Literacy Italia)
Senior Bibl. Francesco Grande (Associazione Literacy Italia)
Senior Bibl. Valentina Bondesan (CSBNO)

Introductory meetings on February 2 and February 14, 2023

In February, we successfully held an introductory meeting with partner organisations. We are pleased to collaborate with the University of Turku, Italian Literacy Association, Turku City Library and Ljubljana City Library.

Assist. Prof. Ana Vogrinčič Čepič

VOGRINČIČ ČEPIČ, Ana. Kako lahko zapeljujemo v branje skozi pogovor in poučevanje. Otrok in knjiga : revija za vprašanja mladinske književnosti, književne vzgoje in s knjigo povezanih medijev. 2021, letn. 48, št. 112, str. 95-107. ISSN 0351-5141. [COBISS.SI-ID 96440835] 

VOGRINČIČ ČEPIČ, Ana. Branje kot prostorska praksa : odnos bralcev do neposrednega fizičnega prostora branja. V: SAMIDE, Irena (ur.), VIRANT, Špela (ur.). Prostor = Space. Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete: = University Press, Faculty of Arts, 2019. 13, [št.] 2, str. 163-183. Ars & humanitas, 13, 2. ISBN 978-961-06-0283-5. ISSN 1854-9632. https://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/arshumanitas/article/view/8982/8828, DOI: 10.4312/ars.13.2.163-183. [COBISS.SI-ID 70932322]

VOGRINČIČ ČEPIČ, Ana, KOTRLA TOPIĆ, Marina. If you read at home, it's more relaxed, there are no limits : insights into domestic reading practices of Croatian and Slovenian university students. Literacy. 2021, vol. 55, no. 3, str. 181-190. ISSN 1741-4350. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/lit.12251, DOI: 10.1111/lit.12251. [COBISS.SI-ID 62495491], [JCR, SNIP]

VOGRINČIČ ČEPIČ, Ana, KUZMIČOVÁ, Anežka, DIAS, Patrícia. Vpliv fizičnega prostora in družbenega okolja na bralno izkušnjo : izsledki študije šestih fokusnih skupin = Reading experience and the impact of physical and social environment : a study of six focus groups. Knjižnica : revija za področje bibliotekarstva in informacijske znanosti. [Tiskana izd.]. okt. 2018, 62, [št.] 3, str. 51-67. ISSN 0023-2424. https://knjiznica.zbds-zveza.si/knjiznica/article/view/7140. [COBISS.SI-ID 68560738]

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Assistant Veronika Rot Gabrovec

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Prof. Sonja Pečjak

PEČJAK, Sonja, BUCIK, Nataša, GRADIŠAR, Ana, PEKLAJ, Cirila (2006). Bralna motivacija v šoli : merjenje in razvijanje [Reading motivation in school: measurement and development]. 1.izdaja. Ljubljana: Zavod Republike Slovenije za šolstvo. ISBN 961-234-578-3, ISBN 978-961-234-578-5. [COBISS.SI-ID 229401344]

PEČJAK, Sonja (2012). Psihološki vidiki bralne pismenosti : od teorije k praksi  [Psychological aspects of reading literacy: from theory to practice]. 1. izd. Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete,  Zbirka Razprave FF. ISBN 978-961-237-401-3. [COBISS.SI-ID 261427456]

PEČJAK, Sonja, KOLIĆ-VEHOVEC, Svjetlana, PODLESEK, Anja (2014). Models of reading comprehension for primary school students. V: GALMONTE, Alessandra (ur.), ACTIS-GROSSO, Rossana (ur.). Different psychological perspectives on cognitive processes : current research trends in Alps-Adria region. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, ISBN 978-1-4438-5628-7, ISBN 1-4438-5628-2. [COBISS.SI-ID 56792418]

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Assist. Prof. Tina Pirc

PEČJAK, Sonja, PODLESEK, Anja, PIRC, Tina. Model of reading comprehension for 5th grade students. Studia psychologica. 2011, vol. 53, no. 1, str. 53-67, ilustr. ISSN 0039-3320. [COBISS.SI-ID 45449314]

PEČJAK, Sonja, PIRC, Tina. Ali se oblikuje bralno razumevanje pri dekletih drugače kot pri fantih?. Pedagoška obzorja : časopis za didaktiko in metodiko. 2010, letn. 25, št. 2, str. 51-66. ISSN 0353-1392. [COBISS.SI-ID 42951010]

PEČJAK, Sonja, BUCIK, Nataša, PEŠTAJ, Martina, PODLESEK, Anja, PIRC, Tina. Bralna pismenost ob koncu osnovne šole : ali fantje berejo drugače kot dekleta?. Sodobna pedagogika. mar. 2010, letn. 61, št. 1, str. 86-102. ISSN 0038-0474. [COBISS.SI-ID 247712]

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Adjunct Prof./Senior Lect. Juli-Anna Aerila

Edited book (peer-reviewed)

Moran, K. J. K. & Aerila, J.-A. (2019) Story in the Lives of Children: Contributions of the Narrative Mode.  New York: Springer.

Chapters in edited peer-reviewed book

Aerila, J.-A., Lähteelä, J., Kauppinen, M., & Siipola, M. 2021. Holistic Literature Education as an Effective Tool for Social-Emotional Learning. In J. Tussey & L. Haas (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Supporting Social-Emotional Learning Through Literacy Education. Pennsylvania, USA: IGI-Global, 26–49.

Aerila, J.-A. & Kauppinen, M. (2020). StoRe – Stories make readers. Enhancing the Use of Fictional Literature with Multilingual Students. In G. Neuokleous, A. Krulatz. & R. Farelly (Eds.) Handbook of Research on Cultivating Literacy in Diverse and Multilingual Classrooms. Hersley, P.: IGI-Global.

Merisuo-Storm, T. & Aerila, J.-A. (2018). Boys’ reading skills and attitudes during the first six school years. In Baldwin, P. & García, P. O. (Eds.) Reading motivation and achievement differences between boys and girls. New York: Springer

Articles

Aerila, J.-A., Lähteelä, J., Mäkelä, T. & Kauppinen, M. (2020). Enhancing the Readership of Teacher Students with Digital Book Subscription Services. International Journal of Digital Literacy 11(2).

Aerila, J.-A. & Merisuo-Storm (2017) Emergent Readers and the Joy of Reading: A Finnish Perspective. Creative Education 8(15) 2485-2500.        

Merisuo-Storm, T. & Aerila, J.-A. (2016). Providing skills and support to primary school pupils in content-area reading. International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education, 7(3).

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Adjunct Prof./Senior Lect. Tiziana Mascia

Mascia, T. (2023). MEL: Model for Literacy Education: Teacher education and professional development in literacy teaching. In P. Falzetti (Ed.), The school and its protagonists: the teachers. V Seminar “INVALSI data: a tool for teaching and scientific research” (Invalsi per la ricerca. Studi e Ricerche, pp. 41–61). Franco Angeli. Available from: https://series.francoangeli.it/index.php/oa/catalog/view/940/792/5403

Todaro L., Mascia T. (2022), Libri per ragazzi: formazione della coscienza ecologica e trasformazioni correnti negli ambiti della non-fiction, Italica Wratislaviensia, 13(2), 131–148. Available from: https://czasopisma.marszalek.com.pl/images/pliki/iw/13_2/iw13206.pdf

Mascia, T. (2021). Sviluppi della letteratura di divulgazione scientifica giovanile e prospettive attuali, in L’evoluzione della letteratura giovanile dal secondo dopoguerra a oggi, Numero monografico Pagine Giovani, 2–3 (178). Available from: https://www.morcelliana.net/img/cms/rassegna%20stampa/2021-12-NOBILE-STORIA-LETTERATURA-GIOVANILE-SCHOLE-PAGINE-GIOVANI1.pdf 

Mascia, T. (2020). Percorsi del lettore. Teorie e buone pratiche per la formazione. Avellino: Edizioni Sinestesie. ISBN: 978-88-31925-60-0 ebook. Available from: https://www.edizionisinestesie.it/libri/i-percorsi-del-lettore-teoria-e-buone-pratiche-per-la-formazione/

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