Inspiring a love of reading

I read an interesting article in the Telegraph on Monday about how teaching leaves children hating books because the stories are dissected so much that it takes away the magic. Phillip Pullman, author of the award winning series His Dark Materials, believes that children are forced to examine how they feel about stories rather than just being left to use their imaginations. This is what causes them to hate the storylines and the characters, because every angle has been investigated and there are no surprises left.

When you read a book, “you should get magic from it. There should be plenty of books and plenty of time, and teachers should leave children alone” – Phillip Pullman (Telegraph, 2012).

Generally this is an issue that tends to face secondary school pupils more than primary school, as they are the ones that are going to be continually tested on their knowledge of certain books. But often younger children equally claim to dislike reading, often because they have found it difficult in the past or simply claim that it is ‘boring’. I was thinking to myself what a shame this is and then I came across a story in the local paper (the Swansea Evening Post) that I thought was quite interesting…

University Students help to spread the joy of books

Students at Swansea Metropolitan University have been given the opportunity to try and boost the reading skills of young children by going into local primary schools and taking part in activities designed to make literacy fun and exciting. The scheme has been running since 2009 and since then the number of students has increased from 24 to 80 and is open to students studying either educational degrees or performing arts. All those involved have been on a training course run by the council to prepare them for their time in the classroom and it is thought that over 200 pupils will be supported by the initiative in the area.

The main aim of the scheme is to try and make reading enjoyable, rather than just a time in the day when you have to sit down and learn about phonics. The university students involved have been very popular in previous years, especially at St Thomas’ Primary School where the children seem to have genuinely enjoyed the experience.

Emily Coffey, age 10, said: “They made a real effort to make it exciting. We enjoyed the drama with the Snow Dragon and The Whisperer.”

Jamie Brettle, age 10, said: “I normally don’t like reading but it was the way they did it that made it fun. We had small groups and everybody has a real chance of taking part.”

Creating a more exciting environment for reading

It seems to me that other schools and universities could learn a lot from the Young Reading Dragons scheme. It’s a really innovative way of inspiring young children and helping to instil in them a love of reading. I can see how involving students who have a passion for performing arts and / or education to share some of their skills and experience would create a fresh, exciting dynamic in the classroom. It also has the added benefit of giving the students a new experience which could inform their career choice and enhance their cv.