Not many children enjoy reading. They prefer to sit in front of the television set absorbing images without making the slightest effort to open up their imaginations with books. With his new curriculum for primary schools, the minister of Education, Dharam Gokhool has made it clear that he wants the all-round development of the child. Reading is among the most important areas where teachers will have to make an effort to encourage pupils.

When it becomes a habit, reading is not only a source of pleasure and satisfaction, but it also serves as a means to seek information and develop pupils’ culture, knowledge and thinking skills as well as enhance language proficiency. But, to make it a habit, pupils must first be made aware that reading can be fun and that it will bring them a lot of benefits. That’s the role of teachers.

“In today’s world, children are constantly in front of television or video games. As they already have other interests, they may not want to try reading, which makes it even more difficult to lead them to books. It is the role of a language teacher to give pupils this love for books and reading,” comments Paul Randabel, a former French teacher at St-Esprit College. To achieve the objectives, each teacher obviously should have his/her own tricks. But they should all have one common characteristic: “They must love reading themselves!”

<B>Taking the children to the books</B>

Teachers will definitely have to trick pupils into reading and start by getting them into the library. “I used to take my pupils to the library once a week. The reading class can be held in the classroom but I believe it is important to take the children to the books. But here again, teachers must show they are interested in books themselves,” adds Paul Randabel.

As for Shireen Dooreemeeah, a teacher in ZEP schools, who was awarded a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship in Education Leadership in 2005 in the United Kingdom, she recommends “an innovative technique which has been noticeable in the British primary schools. The physical environment has a significant impact on how pupils feel about their learning. When pupils leave their desks and come and sit on the carpet which is a different arrangement setting, it has a significant impact on their learning. This setting which is an important component of the classroom climate is intended mainly to support learning but it can also reflect the teachers’ enthusiasm for literacy and make a dull classroom attractive and exciting”.

The attitude of teachers is indeed very important. They must make sure children do not feel they are forced to read authors like Dickens or Austen – at least at the beginning. They should be given something they will enjoy. Comic strips could be the first step towards more traditional literature. They are fun, contain a lot of pictures and pupils immediately feel they are gaining something out of the activity.

This is not the only genre that pupils may enjoy. However, very few pupils will go and look for books on their own. Usually there are about 40 pupils in a class that will last 40 minutes, which means that the teacher will hardly have one minute to dedicate to each child. But, here again, teachers should be their “guides”; they should be aware of what pupils may find of interest – the kind of films they enjoy for instance – to be able to give them advice and make sure they enjoy the books they are reading.

“If the child is given the love for books at an early age, there is no doubt that he/she will keep it afterwards. The problem is that they might then be caught up in the system with private tuition and no longer have time to read… But I really believe they should reserve half an hour everyday for reading,” Paul Randabel concludes. As soon as the child feels that reading is a pleasurable activity, teachers can congratulate themselves on their success!

<B>Pennac’s ten commandments</B>

In his “Comme un roman”, the French author Daniel Pennac enumerates the ten rights of the reader. A short note by the author at the beginning of the book immediately sets the tone, “Please (I beg you!) do not use these pages as an instrument of pedagogic torture”. In order to awaken a passion for reading, the reader must be left the choice to read or not – and if he/she decides to read, he should be given the right to do it as he wishes!

Here are some of Pennac’s ten commandments that could be of interest for teachers and parents:

● The right not to read

● The right to skip pages

● The right not to finish a book

● The right to read again

● The right to read anything

This was just a taste… For more tips, you may have to go for some reading experience!

TIPS

<B>Do</B>

● Ensure that the school library is integrated with all other departments.

● Encourage motivational reading with the pupil who reads aloud sitting in a ‘special chair’ for instance.

● Give children choices with regard to what they read; only “suggest” a book.

● Set a reading challenge for all the pupils in the library to participate in.

<B>Don’t</B>

● Do not force children into reading.

● Do not send pupils to the library as a form of punishment.

● Do not rely on reading lists.