● “Children in England tended to report reading for pleasure less frequently than their peers in many other countries.” England ranked 23rd out of 29 countries in terms of pupils’ attitudes to reading;
● Just one third of children in England reported reading for fun on a daily basis outside school. England ranked 26th out of 29 countries. This was unchanged from 2001. In addition, 42 per cent of English children said they read for fun outside school every two months or less;
● 15 per cent of children in England gave the most negative response possible to the question on attitude to reading, one of the highest proportions in all of the participating countries;
● “A child who approaches reading confidently is more likely to seek out opportunities to read, to read more frequently and more widely. On average, children in England expressed less confidence about their reading attainment than their peers in most other countries”.
At the secondary phase, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) concluded that “overall close to 40% of students report they do not read for enjoyment in the United Kingdom (OECD average 37%10)”.
It could be argued that the Government’s current approach to teaching reading and recognizing reading achievement reinforces a sense of failure in children which, in turn, affects their achievement and widens the gap between the highest and lowest achievers. However, there is evidence11 that children can be motivated to read for both intrinsic and extrinsic reasons. For example, to satisfy their own reading interests and to comply with school demands, pupils may show intrinsically as well as extrinsically motivated reading behavior. Extrinsic motivation can be harnessed to bring about intrinsic motivation and vice versa.
There has never been a better time, therefore, to consider how to encourage reading for pleasure in schools.