Read my mind

naomidowen
Apr 22, 2022
2 min read

Our first lecture for English. I loved this!

After an introduction to the course, we spent the lesson reflecting on our experiences of reading at school and now.

The key is reading for pleasure. I watched a webinar all about reading for pleasure not long ago (annoyingly I can't remember who ran it!) but this was stressing it is not about WHAT the children are reading, but just that they ARE reading!

Reading for pleasure is children choosing to read, not being told to. The National Curriculum even highlights that it feeds imagination and curiosity.

We talked about what books we remember reading as a child. I remember Judy Blume books and getting Nancy Drew out of the library! We talked about how reading encommpasses so much more now - audio books, kindle, reading on an electronic devise. In our group we were quite scathing of this, but the tutor made the point that it is still reading! So maybe we need to change our (outdated) mindset and embrace the technology.

We discussed how teachers often have a (frighteningly) narrow range of books which they are familiar with. This can really limit the children as a teacher won't be able to recommend books.

Children’s literature needs to be more inclusive and representative. We must make sure that the books in the classroom represent the children within the class. When children read about people like themselves, this boosts self esteem and they feel more accepted. If you only see yourself represented if makes you think that’s all there is and this leads to prejudice.

Techniques for the classroom: