Lifelong Lovers of Reading
04 Feb 2010 6 Comments
in conversations, education, teaching
There’s an interesting conversation on the EC Ning right now about whether we as English teachers are responsible for creating a lifelong love of reading in our students.
Is it our job to convert our students to become lifelong lovers of reading? I think it is a concept that is popularly heard, but for me, I don’t necessarily see that as part as of my job. I do believe it is part of my job to create strong or skilled readers and writers, because that is a skill they will need for the rest of their lives, as they create technical reports, read mortgage papers or tax code, or want to write a love letter to win a certain heart. I am certainly thrilled when a student tells me that they’ve enjoyed a book for the first time, or that they have finished a book for the first time in years (although I heard this recently from a junior of mine and had to remind her that she was my student as a freshman as well!), because the love of reading has been such a big part of my own life. I hope my love for reading comes across in my classroom, and I think it makes me a better teacher of reading.
Reading can be an escape from a life we wish was different, and it can show us the alternatives. Reading can make us laugh or cry or change how we think, and reading can keep you company when you’re feeling the worst kind of lonely. I want my students to have all of those available to them whenever they need it, and I think reading can bring some of life’s richest gifts. But I would need a strong pair of rose-colored glasses to think that I can make that magic happen for every student, or that if it doesn’t happen, I’ve failed them somehow. I can make them stronger readers and writers (I hope), but I can’t force them to love anything, even if it’s something I love so dearly.
Feb 04, 2010 @ 20:44:46
I find it hard to believe that a teacher alone can make a student a lifelong reader, if there isn’t any parental involvement. Obviously, good teachers are key to helping kids love to read–but if the parent isn’t willing to buy books, or take the kid to the library–and to start doing those kinds of things BEFORE the kid is school-aged, I think it is really difficult for kids to pick up the habit of reading.
Feb 04, 2010 @ 21:38:47
I agree that parental involvement is key. One of the funniest education studies I read recently took place in Tennessee, inspired by Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which send every registered kid (regardless of family income) a free book every month from birth to age 5. So the state decided to study whether it has resulted in better kindergarten readiness. I’ll let you guess what the results were…… I only wish every state could have a similar program!
Feb 04, 2010 @ 21:14:00
I don’t think we can make them be. But I think we should try to inspire them to be. I know most of my students will never be readers but i do my best because of all the reasons you mentioned for reading but also because you really need to be a reader to do well in college when the program you are in is not dumbed down (as many are, unfortunately) and I really, really want my students to go to college, although many – perhaps most – won’t. I am sneaky about encouraging reading. Insidious. Devious…
Feb 04, 2010 @ 21:39:55
I want my students to be good readers too, but to love it? For their entire life? It just doesn’t seem feasible to me, although my own life has been one big love affair with reading.
Feb 04, 2010 @ 23:35:01
I think the people who don’t love it struggle with college-level reading and higher. Of course, there are different kinds to love. My dad loves technical reading, but wouldn’t read a novel…my husband loves comic books…I have a friend who really loves cereal boxes…
Feb 05, 2010 @ 11:48:50
OH yeah, I think it’s great to include all kinds of reading– Lucy is getting into this series of graphic novel-style books about a character named Babymouse, and she just read a Classics Illustrated version of Wind in the Willows. She also likes books on tape, but I’m still torn about whether those build reading skills as well.