Did your school encourage a life-long love of reading?
Children who identify as readers are three times more likely to have good mental wellbeing. A reading culture that permeates a school can transform it into a space where reading is supported, encouraged, normalised and valued. Creating a Reading Culture in Primary and Secondary Schools will help teachers and librarians to:
- advocate for the importance of a whole-school reading culture with recent research in this field
- select from a number of research-supported strategies underpinning a whole-school reading culture to tailor your school's approach according to resourcing and priorities
- develop a clear trajectory for building and sustaining stakeholder engagement and resourcing, including securing external funding for related initiatives
- plan and manage a multi-faceted approach to enable real change within your school
Drawing on the author's internationally-recognised experience in this field, this book will be essential reading for anyone looking to develop reading in schools.
Drawing on the author's internationally-recognised experience in this field, this book will be essential reading for anyone looking to develop reading in schools.
Arvustused
'Overall, the biggest strength of this book is the very current and relevant research base Merga cites combining international perspectives and research in addition to Australian-focused studies, including many of her own from the last decade which have really targeted reading in Australia. With its broad focus on the whole school community, this book presents a strategic opportunity for teacher librarians and other school library professionals to begin (or continue) critical schoolwide conversations about the importance of reading and how they can work together to develop a school reading culture.' -- Kasey Garrison * Synergy, the research journal of the School Library Association of Victoria. * "This new publication from Margaret Merga is a timely and essential manual for anyone wanting to create or reinvigorate the reading culture in schools. Reading is a skill about which schools cannot afford to be complacent. This book directly addresses this issue by providing a practical research framed guide for teachers, librarians and principals." -- Catherine Ryan * Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association * "This book is essential because those setting up programs need research to back their arguments with stakeholders and Merga will be the benchmark for some years. Her reference list brings together the current data on everything including reading by gender (yes, boys do read), graphic novels and eBooks versus paper books. She implores users to publish, seek academic partnerships and add to the miniscule amount of useful research out there." -- Catherine Ryan * Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association * "This book is the must-have for school librarians, teachers and principals wanting to change the reading culture. At a time when the How we teach reading is being debated at curriculum level, the idea of reading as a pleasurable life-skill needs to be discussed. Merga has both set the challenge and provided a useful framework." -- Catherine Ryan * Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association * This practical, eminently readable book empowers educators in primary and secondary schools (teachers, senior leaders, school librarians) to embed a whole school reading culture. It is judiciously supported by extensive research undertaken by the author whilst working with schools, professional associations and government departments to develop schools literacy culture. * Journal of Information Literacy *
Introduction
1. Why a whole school reading culture?
2. Research-supported practices to choose from
3. Stakeholder engagement and resourcing
4. Implementation planning and change management
5. Monitor and strengthen the change process over time
6. Reporting Conclusions
Margaret Merga is Founder and Lead Consultant at Merga Consulting, working with schools, professional associations and government departments on a range of literacy-related projects. She also holds the position of Honorary Adjunct at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales. Margaret is author of over 100 peer-reviewed and research-informed publications, with six non-fiction books on literacy, libraries, research methods and research communications. Her research has been cited more than 2,500 times and translated into many languages. She is an experienced educator and has taught in Australia, India, Thailand, Turkey and the US, across the age spectrum from kindergarten to adult education contexts. Her recent publications include 'School Libraries Supporting Literacy and Wellbeing' (2022) which highlights her research on the relationship between libraries, reading and wellbeing and 'Creating an Australian School Literacy Policy' (2023) which details how to design and implement a whole school literacy policy. Committed to sharing research knowledge beyond academia so that professionals can use research findings in practical ways, Margaret has won numerous awards for public engagement while her work has been featured widely in the media.
Lisainfo e-raamatute kohta