Primary teachers as readers

Key issue addressed by the study  This study set out to explore: –primary teachers’ personal reading habits and their perceptions of the importance of literature –teachers’ knowledge of children’s literature and what governs their choice of titles for classroom use

Key findings  Teachers played a major role in introducing children to books  Teachers’ own reading covered a wide range of books and authors but only a limited number of books for children  Teachers’ reading included global literature not reflected in their choice of books for their pupils  Teachers drew on a narrow range of book authors when selecting books to use in the classroom

Primary teacher’ choices for reading for pleasure  Over 70 percent of primary teachers reported reading for pleasure during the last month  Most popular choices were: –women’s popular literature, thrillers and crime stories –books promoted by the media –autobiographies and biographies –‘crossover’ books e.g. Harry Potter  Teachers would have come across many of the books mentioned when they were at school

Children’s books teachers regarded as significant  Regarding favourite childhood texts: –teachers preferred popular fiction, especially Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl, and 19th and 20th century classics –Only 9% of the most favourite childhood texts for teachers were picture books –very few teachers (1.5%) noted poetry as their favourite childhood reading

Teachers’ knowledge of ‘good’ current children’s literature  Teachers’ knowledge of ‘good’ literature (valuable for children and useful for teaching and learning) was limited: –most teachers (64%) named at least five ‘good’ children’s writers and 46% named six –most (58%) could only name one or two children’s poets and 22% could not name any –the picture for teachers’ knowledge of ‘good’ illustrators was similar

Teachers’ views about the literature in school  Teachers believed that: –the most important role of literature was to develop imagination and emotions –the next most important roles were promoting reading and widening knowledge –the least suggested role was for developing writing

Who were the teachers in the study?  1200 primary teachers from 11 local authorities –Approximately half the teachers worked with Key Stage 1 children and half with Key Stage 2 children –Teachers participating in the survey had varying lengths of teaching experience and diverse school responsibilities

How was the information gathered?  A questionnaire was introduced by local authority coordinators at short CPD courses for classroom teachers  The questionnaire was run during the second half of an autumn term, so teachers’ answers were not affected by their summer holidays, when they might have had more time for reading than at other times

How can teachers use the evidence in this study?  Using libraries could broaden the range of literature you and your pupils use –How could you work with librarians to increase your knowledge and your children’s interest in books?  The findings indicate that primary teachers are not confident about poetry –Could you discuss with colleagues how to promote poetry? –Are there local poets who might help?

How can school leaders use the evidence in this study?  The research suggests there is a need to improve teachers’ knowledge of children’s literature and develop their confidence in using a wider range of books and genres –Could your colleagues better draw on support available from the school literacy coordinator, ASTs, local librarians, etc? –What steps could you take to establish a partnership project between your school and a local library?

Follow-up reading  Study reference: Cremin, T., Bearne, E., Mottram, M. and Goodwin, P. (2008) Primary teachers as readers English in Education, Vol. 42, No1, 2008, pp. 8 – 23  Summary available at: cherreaders/ cherreaders/ cherreaders/

Feedback  Did you find this useful?  What did you like?  What didn’t you like? Any feedback on this Research Bite would be much appreciated. Please your feedback to: