Reading for pleasure: Whose job is it to build lifelong readers in the classroom?

Abstract

A survey questionnaire was administered to 146 MEd students enrolled in a teacher-training institute in Singapore to determine the strategies they use to promote engaged reading in the classroom. The majority of the teacher respondents when asked how they motivate students to read, wrote down Not Applicable, and 38% were unable to write down strategies to promote engaged reading. However, the results further indicate that even the non-devoted readers amongst them were able to identify sound literacy instructional strategies. This paper argues that the desirability of lifelong reading and the need for teachers to be accountable for its promotion should be culturally positioned within locally shaped realities and perceived from within the unique configuration of the results-driven context of the Singaporean educational landscape.