Research School Network: The Virtues of Reading for Pleasure Our Research Associate, Claire Bennett, takes us through the evidence-informed benefits of encouraging ​‘reading for pleasure’

Reading for pleasure is a topic that is currently at the forefront of educational policy within the UK, as seen by the recent high profile review of the synthetic phonics programs used to teach early reading (Weale, 2022); the new aspirational end of Key Stage 2 attainment targets for reading (Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities, 2022); and the recently released Department for Education guidance introducing a new reading framework for schools. This final publication included a significant section on reading culture in schools and reading for pleasure (DfE, 2023).

Benefits of Reading for Pleasure

The reported benefits of reading for pleasure amongst school age children are wide reaching and numerous. It is not only that evidence backs up the theory that children who read more often become better at it (Morgan and Fuchs, 2007), there is also a significant body of evidence that suggests that reading for pleasure in childhood is one of the most reliable and important indicators of that child’s future academic success (Sullivan and Brown, 2015). Additionally, it is believed that reading for pleasure may be one of the most effective ways of closing the attainment gap between advantaged and disadvantaged pupils (Gibb, 2021) and has the potential to benefit them not only in terms of cognitive ability but also in regards to well-being and social considerations (Hempel‐​Jorgensen, A. et al, 2018; Cunningham, A.E. and Stanovich, K.E., 1998). 

Theorists also believe that it can aid in the development of skills such as empathy (Merga, 2017) as well as digital literacies (Loh, Gan and Mounsey, 2022).These benefits may even persist regardless of the reading ability or education level of parents and family members (Hempel‐​Jorgensen, A. et al. 2018) which would make the prioritisation of reading for pleasure in our schools vital when it comes to ensuring an equality of opportunity across the education system. Cunnigham and Stanovich (1998) actually suggest that vocabulary development in children is far more likely to be as a result of exposure to written language than oral as there is a far greater chance of children coming across unfamiliar words in this context.

Partaking in regular reading for pleasure is also thought to help to guard against a drop in ability over long periods without engaging in reading, for example over the school holidays (Merga, 2017). This is a problem which particularly affects children from less advantaged backgrounds (Merga, 2017) as they are less likely to have books or effective academic support at home.

Strategies to encourage Reading for PleasureDeveloping an environment that supports and encourages reading is a key facet of successfully instilling within children the desire to read for pleasure (Loh et al, 2022). Key within this is a real dedication of time, space and money for texts within a school environment that is focussed on children participating in, enjoying and discussing reading. Cremin et al (2009) recommend using strategies such as gaining knowledge of pupils’ preferences and habits in terms of reading, reading aloud to children regularly, revealing your own reading preferences to the children and encouraging students to participate in informal book talk with adults as well as their peers. Merga (2017) recommends not only taking into consideration preferences and ability but also the level of challenge each student is willing to take on. They go on to cite the importance of explicitly teaching choosing strategies and make the whole experience of reading in school very much child led and child centred.

Reading aloud can be considered as vital in supporting reading progress amongst children of all ages as it fosters enjoyment, makes the experience social and allows the children to see an adult’s enthusiasm for reading (Mahasneh et al, 2021). Loh et al (2022) claim that reading is an inherently social experience and should therefore be treated as such in schools and that teachers should arm themselves with knowledge of a wide range of literature for any attainment level and organise this with the needs and interests of their students in mind. This idea of reading not being a solo pursuit can be a difficult one for people to accept (Boyask et al, 2022) but some interventions where paired reading or peer reading have been used have shown an increase in the pupils’ involved in terms of not only reading ability but also confidence and willingness to engage (Warrington and George, 2014).In the Warrington and George study (2014), the peer tutoring approach was taken where older tutors read with younger tutees who were allowed to choose the books they brought to the sessions. 

The teachers in the study noticed that the action of sharing books was enjoyed by all of the children involved even where the academic impact was negligible. There are also a number of studies advocating for the use of digital books as a tool to engage children in reading for pleasure. These fulfil some of what has been termed as the facets of reading for pleasure such as interactivity and playfulness; possibility awareness in that there is a far greater number of books instantly available for children to use; and personalised recommendations being instantly available (Kucirkova et al, 2017).

References

Boyask, R. Harrington, C, Milne, J and Smith, B. (2023) ​‘Reading Enjoyment’ is Ready for School: Foregrounding Affect and Sociality in Children’s Reading for Pleasure. New Zealandjournal of educational studies. 58 (1), 169 – 182.

Cremin, T, Mottram, M, Powell, S, Safford, K and Collins, F.. (2009) Teachers as readers: building communities of readers. Literacy (Oxford, England). 43 (1), 11 – 19.

Cunningham, A.E. and Stanovich, K.E., 1998. What reading does for the mind. American educator, 22, pp.8 – 17.

Department for Education (DfE) (2023). Schools, Pupils and Their characteristics, Academic Year 2022/23. explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk. Available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics

Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities (2022) Levelling up the United Kingdom London: Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities.

Gibb, N., 2021. Gibb: ​‘Teaching early reading well avoids demotivation’. Times Educational Supplement, Available at: https://www.tes.com/magazine/teaching-learning/primary/gibb-teaching-early-reading-well-avoids-demotivation

Hempel‐​Jorgensen, A, Cremin, T, Harris, D and Chamberlain, L. (2018) Pedagogy for reading for pleasure in low socio‐​economic primary schools: beyond ​‘pedagogy of poverty’?Literacy 52 (2), 86 – 94. 

Loh, C, Gan, S & Mounsey, S (2022) What Do Children Want to Read? A Case Study of How One Primary School Library Supported Reading for Pleasure, Journal of Library Administration, 62:7, 931 – 945.

Mahasneh, R, von Suchodoletz, A, Larsen, R and Dajani, R. (2021) Reading for pleasure among Jordanian children: a community‐​based reading intervention. Journal of research inreading. 44 (2), 360 – 378.

Merga, M (2017) What would make children read for pleasure more frequently? English in Education, 51:2,207 – 223.

Morgan, P. L., & Fuchs, D. (2007). Is There a Bidirectional Relationship between Children’s Reading Skills and Reading Motivation? Exceptional Children, 73(2), 165 – 183.

Sullivan, A. & Brown, M. (2015) Reading for pleasure and progress in vocabulary and mathematics. British educational research journal. 41 (6), 971 – 991.

Warrington, M and George, P. (2014) Reading for Pleasure in Paradise: Paired Reading in Antigua and Barbuda: Reading for Pleasure in Paradise. Literacy (Oxford, England) 48.2, 66 – 71.

Weale, S. (2022). Focus on phonics to teach reading is ​‘failing children’, says landmark study. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/jan/19/focus-on-phonics-to-teach-reading-is-failing-children-says-landmark-study