Last week I attended the digital launch of a new research project being carried out by Deakin University and Queensland University of Technology and their reserach partners.
The focus of this research is to find out how Australian teeangers find books they want to read.
In Primary school, students see reading as exciting and a form of pleasure. By the time students are in Secondary school, the rate of reading for pleasure drops off dramatically.
Studies show that in Grade 3, 30% of students would be classed as “good” readers. But by Year 9, this has dropped to 4.5%!
So, the focus of this research is what are the factors keeping teenagers from reading?
This will be a 3 – 4 year project, conducted by an International, inter-disciplinary team.
Phase 1: Book industry interviews (2020 – 2021)
Phase 2: Focus groups, a national survey & interviews (2021 – 2022)
Phase 3: Mapping of the digital ecology of reading (2020 – 2024)
This is exciting research that can only be of benefit to our school community.
Finding out more about the barriers that teenagers experience to spending time on recreational reading and how they do find books they want to read, will be invaluable information to help provide a school library service that best supports our students.
To find out more about this research project, see what Ms Peterson likes to read, and to read a wonderful book review by Year 8 student Lucinda Gatt, take a minute to read this week’s library newsletter.