In module 3 and 4 we learnt about something that I find critical for all educators of children, especially teacher librarians. How can we foster a love for reading for our students? Though this question is only 11 words, answering it would require many, many more. 

 

In the discussions Pure offered ideas such as author visits, book fairs and attending book launches as a strategy to “sell” reading which definitely has its merits for teacher librarians. However, from my experience working in a 100% EAL/D school in Western Sydney where there is a dangerous perception that reading is an effeminate activity, the best strategy advocating fiction for me is modelling and time.

With a curriculum that is bursting at its seams, with administrative tasks as high as a skyscraper and managing the aftermath of a global pandemic, how often do our students sit down and listen to a good book? I would put forward the argument, though controversial, that one of the reasons why Australia is slipping its once enviable dominating lead in literacy in the PISA in the 90s, is that we have stopped making reading time as a class or independently a priority in lieu of boosting arbitrary literacy grades. In my opinion, this isn’t a correlation but a causation. I remember quite distinctly in the late 80s and 90s as a child having D.E.A.R. (Drop everything and read) time and sitting in a semicircle with my peers listening to a good story being read enthusiastically by my teacher. As a teacher, I don’t see that happening at my school, being told by so-called commercial “experts” that independent reading is an ineffectual waste of time and should be done as homework instead. The “teacher” should be solely teaching explicit strategies instead.

 

I couldn’t disagree more.

  

A love for reading can only be established if students are given the opportunity to fall in love. Which is why, I am personally an advocate of “read alouds” and sessions where students just read and discuss. Not to comprehend, not to cover a textual concept, not because a commercial product says you HAVE to read this level of book  but purely for the love of reading. It might sound cliche, but that moment where a child has an emotional response to something I have read, whether happy or sad (we read a lot of sad stories in Year 5), is the moment I have succeeded.  

 

Hopefully, the future of reading will be brighter as I step into the new role of a teacher librarian. Yes, there might be new collections to cater for the growing digital needs of our students. Yes, there might be more diversity in the collection to include international literature such as manga and texts which promote diversity. All of which have been discussed at length in the discussions. We might even have robots helping us with reshelving. Who knows?

 

 But at its heart, the future of our students MUST include that intangible but also very visible love for fiction.