Parental capital and children’s reading habits: A case study of two contrasting high- and low-income families
Leisure reading is associated with many advantages such as improving language skills and academic achievement, developing emotional intelligence and supporting social mobility. Children’s dispositions to read are shaped by instrumental and social factors, and the home reading environment is an important factor that encourages the development of leisure reading habits. This study examines how parental cultural capital, in the form of parents’ educational qualifications,identification as readers and ability to provide their children with resources (e.g., books, comfortable reading environments, devices and subscriptions for reading) support children’s development of positive reading habits.
What teens read: A comparison of adolescent reading preferences in 2017 and 2021
Research has shown that adolescents are more likely to read when they find books that are engaging and relevant to them. Fiction remains popular among teens because it meets adolescents’ need for reading something enjoyable with relatable characters and storylines. Furthermore, fiction titles that are popular among teens provide a topic of conversation for adolescents to connect with their peers. Educators and librarians need to know what teens like to read to find engaging and motivating content for them.
The impact of technology use on students' independent reading habits and practices
Challenging texts: Reading nation and world: Cultivating culturally and critically reflexive readers
School library learning commons innovation and educational spaces: How design can revitalize our school libraries and learning
Making space in the library: Considerations for design and furniture choices to support student wellbeing
Chin Ee Loh, Associate Professor and Deputy Head (Research) at the English Language and Literature Academic Group at the National Institute of Education of the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, explores the ways the library space can support reading, student wellbeing and learning.
`Because I'm always moving': A mobile ethnography study of adolescent girls' everyday print and digital reading practices
With increased access to technologies for reading, more understanding is needed about how adolescents engage with print and digital reading across school and out-of-school contexts. In this study, mobile ethnography was used to document the everyday print and digital reading practices of adolescent girls from one all-girls’ school. They responded to real-time researcher prompts about their reading across various timings, locations, and devices over four days, and participated in photo-elicitation interviews. Findings showed that as students moved between locations, they also transited across devices, platforms, and formats, making use of different print and digital resources for varied ways of reading. Their ability to ‘style-shift’ flexibly across the boundaries of school and personal spaces, various devices and platforms allowed them to independently optimise reading as a resource for their everyday leisure, information seeking, and learning purposes. Insights, implications, and challenges for learning in a post-pandemic digital age are discussed.