Jamie Wood In this post, Mitchell Lovewell, a final-year History student at the University of Lincoln, talks us through the findings of a report on reading that he put together for Teaching History a module that he took in the first half of 2022.
Introduction
‘Go throw your TV set away, and in its place you can install a lovely bookshelf on the wall’.[i] This line from Roald Dahl’s poem Television encapsulates the importance of reading and the prevalence it should have in people’s lives. Reading is a crucial life skill and is needed in almost every aspect of life. From basic household tasks to complex situations, the ability to read is key. Without the ability to read to a competent standard, people risk falling behind in terms of job prospects and it can even lead dange, for example if someone is unable to read or understand instructions on the back of a medicine bottle. It is estimated that one in six adults struggle with literacy in the United Kingdom.[ii] In my report, I reflected on my own experience of reading for History, having seen the challenges students faced when I was younger. The government has made improving literacy and numeracy skills a top priority and History is in an advantageous position to take an active role in this. Additionally, the project looked at the problems of reading in History, and identified three potential solutions.
- First, I address the need to ensure that reading is encouraged and focused from a young age and remains consistent.
- Second, I would suggest that history teachers do not assume that every student is well-versed in reading and able to engage with texts and sources easily.
- Finally, I consider the issue of motivation by putting reading into perspective.
Summary
Although it is crucial that we adapt and encourage more people to read and show them its value, reading is not always an appealing activity and for some people it can be especially challenging, for example, due to disabilities such as dyslexia or ADHD.[iii] This is crucial not only because reading is a fundamental life skill, but also because it is often taken for granted by teachers and society. It is easy to assume that people read regularly and are effective when doing so, as when teachers giving out lengthy and complex readings to students.
The National Literacy Trust estimates that roughly one-in-six adults struggles with literacy in the United Kingdom (approximately 7.1 million people).[iv] Although it is important that we promote and nurture effective reading strategies early on in education in order to prevent such issues arising in the first place, there are underlying problems: first and foremost, accessibility and inclusivity. We know that people read in different ways, while those with learning difficulties, particularly dyslexia, require extra literacy support. The British Dyslexia Association estimates that one-in-ten adults in the UK suffers from dyslexia and requires extra support.[v] Many teachers do not have adequate training in dealing with dyslexia, including in how to adapt their teaching to support dyslexic students.[vi] There are examples of good practice though: during my last year in secondary school, all fonts on worksheets and online resources were changed to one that was proven to be more readable and accessible for those with dyslexia.
A further consideration is that the UK is a diverse and multi-cultural society, with many having English as a second language. As of December 2019, it was estimated that 6.2 million people living in the UK were not British citizens, while an estimated 9.5 million people in the UK were born abroad.[vii] Data from the 2011 census shows that roughly 8% of the population of the UK have English as a second language an estimated 4.2 million people with approximately 900,000 of those people non-proficient in English.[viii]
Reflection
In my own experience in primary school, I often felt frustrated when being taught how to read and write and often saw others having similar reactions. It sometimes felt that we were not being pushed and encouraged enough, simply aiming for the target and then stopping, when we were clearly keen to keep on learning and improving. Reading habits also differed greatly; myself and others had been read to at home and brought up with a love of reading, while others had not had the same experience at home.
When I was in secondary school, all students in my year were placed into reading groups for the first year in which we discuss a fiction novel, what was going on and what we liked. While this seems like a good idea, no real purpose was outlined for the activity and students often became disengaged particularly if they were not keen on the book. In my second year of high school this initiative was stopped all together.
There were many people in school whose ability to engage in reading was limited by their socio-economic conditions. Put simply, reading was put far down on the list of priorities. A further issue I experienced was that of parents and family members simply not emphasising reading, with the result that their children lacked the motivation to read, especially outside of school.
Reading was often taken for granted by teachers with the assumption that the fundamentals had been developed in primary school and that all students were capable if they chose to engage. This was simply not the case. Reading in secondary school is fundamental but there are too many assumptions and few solutions in place to support students develop good habits and practices.
The problem of reading in History
Reading is a fundamental skill in History, but there are, unsurprisingly, given what I’ve already said, significant challenges when it comes to reading in the subject. For instance, the way information is presented or the style it is written in can cause students to become disengaged and struggle to read effectively. Martin Loy argues that many History teachers often assume that students are able to read and engage with texts enthusiastically and passionately, which in practice is often not true.[ix] A further issue is that assessments within the subject of History are draw on the results of students’ reading. If students struggle to engage with reading this can have a negative outcome on assessments.[x] Alison Kitson argues that students can often become disengaged with reading, particularly texts that are lengthy and complex in nature, suggesting that in order to overcome these issues students need to read more.[xi] Kitson also argues that teachers should also read more in order to be up to date on their topic and be able to set a positive example for their students.[xii]
The issue of misinformation, particularly on social media, is currently of broad societal interest. Those who are less versed with reading often tend to believe misinformation, therefore by improving reading may be a means of enabling people to make more informed judgements. There have been a number of examples relating to the current war in Ukraine, but the phenomenon is much more widespread.[xiii] It is important that people engage critically with what they are reading online in order to enable them to make informed judgements rather than believing the first thing that they find. With its focus on the ability to read ‘around’ a subject and on the use of evidence to support arguments, History may be especially well-placed to help to address this challenge.
Hellier and Richards suggest that students are often put off by the sheer quantity of reading and writing associated with History and that it is vital that reading is broken down into more manageable chunks.[xiv] Additionally, it is important that reading is set with a purpose and that an outcome is clearly laid out, so the students understand why they are being asked to engage with the text.[xv]
Developing reading in History
Several works have proposed solutions to the issue of reading in history, including how to improve students’ reading skills. Massey and Wiggin discussed the idea of starting a book club for their sixth form students to encourage more reading for pleasure with the added hope that it would assist and prompt students to read around their subjects more and assist in their assessments.[xvi] They found that the book club helped students develop skills such as writing and argumentation, along with grammar skills.[xvii]
Loy suggests that in order for students to be more engaged with reading we need to get them to want to want to learn how to learn, how to read and to read for themselves.[xviii] Loy suggests that a good way to do this is by starting with shorter texts and articles to support students to develop their understanding of smaller blocks of text. Suggested activities include making notes on a specific section, or coming up with questions on the source.[xix]
Paula Worth discussed another activity she undertook with her history class when learning about witches and witchcraft.[xx] Worth turned the sources on witchcraft trials into a play in an attempt to get her students to read more and become more engaged with the aim of making them more intrigued to read further and in more depth.[xxi] Much as been written on the idea of ‘reading with a purpose’, an approach that helps students to focus and become more engaged with the text because they understand why they are being asked to read it.
These are just a few examples put forward but there are various others that would aid students reading in history. Teachers could put students into groups and get them each to read a section of a text and discuss it, breaking the reading down into more manageable chunks. Furthermore, students could be grouped together and instructed to highlight key information such as the author’s argument and use of sources to practice for their exams. When I was studying for my history GCSEs and A-levels, I was taught to break down texts, highlighting key arguments and evidence when revising for exams. This provided me with practical experience and developed my exam technique.
Wider context of reading
As I have reiterated in this report, reading is a vital life skill, and is crucial when engaging critically with potential misinformation. It is a priority for the development of good citizens that reading, and the skills associated are nurtured and encouraged at a young age. Reading is vital across all disciplines and throughout people’s lives. Indeed, the importance of reading is even reflected in the UK government’s ‘levelling up’ program.[xxii] The government is investing in the development of literacy throughout society; its ‘lifetime skills guarantee’ is supported by £3.8 billion of investment.[xxiii] This program mainly seeks to give adults more access to free classes to undertake GCSEs and A-Levels. A National Literacy Trust study shows that children who read more are happier and more successful in life. Those with a poor reading and literacy ability, on the other hand, have greater difficulties in the future, such as in gaining employment.[xxiv] Given the vital role of reading in History, this potentially presents an opportunity for the subject to demonstrate its centrality in developing literacy skills both from a young age and throughout students’ lives.
Conclusion and recommendations
In conclusion, this report has reviewed some key studies on the challenges and opportunities relating to reading in History beyond university, positioning the subject’s potential contribution in a wider context. Reading is a skill that applies in almost every aspect of life. From my own experience reading was taught intensively in primary school but was not a particular focus in secondary school. This was presumably because there was a general assumption that everyone was able to read and write effectively. As I have shown, this is a false assumption. Instead, it is important that reading is fostered throughout a student’s education and crucial to show students the impact of reading not only their schoolwork but also on their lives as a whole because research has repeatedly shown the negative impacts of poor reading and literacy skills on adults.
I hope to go into teaching in the future and the pedagogic solutions presented above could be implemented to promote students’ appreciation for reading and provide them with the skills to succeed when reading and writing in History – and other subjects. There are three key things that could be done to improve reading not just within History but also more broadly.
- First: encourage and foster reading from a young age, and, most crucially, continue to do so consistently through a students’ education. The education system in the UK promotes reading at a young age. However, reading is sometimes deprioritised after primary school. Reading should continue to be a priority during secondary education and students should have its importance to their future prospects spelled out to them.
- Second, it is important that History teachers do not assume that their students are avid readers and are able to engage with texts and sources with ease (because many are not). To develop reading skills and, hopefully, a reading habit, teachers could consider changing the way reading is undertaken in History courses to better engage the students. I have outlined a number of examples of how this might be achieved earlier in the report.
- Finally, a major obstacle to reading is motivation, this is perhaps one of the most challenging issue as there are no obvious or easy solutions. To combat this challenge, I propose putting reading into perspective, not only in terms of its importance for learning History but also in relation to its broader significance.
Bibliography
Coleman, Alistar and Sardarizadeh, Shayan. ‘Ukraine conflict: Many misleading images have been shared online’, 24 February 2022 [online source] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/60513452 accessed on 30 May 2022.
Hellier, David and Richards, Helen. “Do we have to read all of this?’ Encouraging students to read for understanding’ Teaching History 118 (2005), 44-48.
Kitson, Alison. ‘Reading and enquiring in Years 12 and 13: a case study on women in the Third Reich’, Teaching History 111 (2003), 13-19.
Knight, Cathryn. ‘Teachers don’t understand the depth of dyslexia’, 12 December 2018 [online source] https://theconversation.com/teachers-dont-understand-the-depth-of-dyslexia-107384 accessed on 27 May 2022.
Loy, Martin. ‘Learning to read, reading to learn: strategies to move students from ‘keen to learn’ to ‘keen to read’, Teaching History 132 (2008), 25-29.
Massey, Carolyn and Wiggin, Paul. ‘Reading? What reading?’, Teaching History 170 (2018), 38-46.
Peter, Laurence. ‘How Ukraine’s ‘Ghost of Kyiv’ legendary pilot was born’, 1 May 2022 [online source] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-61285833 accessed on 30 May 2022.
Sturge, Georgina. ‘UK Migration’, 27 April 2021[online source] https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06077/#:~:text=715%2C000%20people%20migrated%20into%20the%20UK%20and%20403%2C000,were%20living%20in%20other%20EU%20countries%20excluding%20Ireland accessed on 27 May 2022.
Worth, Paula. ‘Which women were executed for witchcraft? And which pupils cared? Low-attaining Year 8 use fiction to tackle three demons: extended reading, diversity and causation’, Teaching History 144 (2011), 4-14.
‘Television’ by Roald Dahl [online source] https://www.thefreshreads.com/television/ accessed on 27 May 2022.
‘Adult literacy: Information on adult literacy in the UK and our Books Unlocked programme’ [online source] https://literacytrust.org.uk/parents-and-families/adult-literacy/ accessed on 27 May 2022.
‘British Dyslexia Association: What do I need to know as a teacher?’ [online source] https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/advice/educators/what-do-i-need-to-know/reasonable-adjustments accessed on 27 May 2022.
‘Levelling Up the United Kingdom: executive summary’, 2 February 2022 [online source] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/levelling-up-the-united-kingdom/levelling-up-the-united-kingdom-executive-summary accessed on 27 May 2022.
‘The Reading Agency : Reading facts’ [online source] https://readingagency.org.uk/about/impact/002-reading-facts-1/ accessed on 27 May 2022.
‘Mental wellbeing, reading and writing’, 26 September 2018 [online source] https://literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/mental-wellbeing-reading-and-writing/ accessed on 27 May 2022.
‘ADHD and Dyslexia’ [online source] https://dyslexiaida.org/adhd-and-dyslexia/ accessed on 29 June 2022.
‘2011 Census: Detailed analysis- English language proficiency in England and Wales, Main language and general health characteristics’, 30 August 2013 [online source] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/language/articles/detailedanalysisenglishlanguageproficiencyinenglandandwales/2013-08-30 accessed on 29 June 2022.
NOTES:
[i] ‘Television’ by Roald Dahl [online source] https://www.thefreshreads.com/television/ accessed on 27 May 2022.
[ii] ‘Adult literacy: Information on adult literacy in the UK and our Books Unlocked programme’ [online source] https://literacytrust.org.uk/parents-and-families/adult-literacy/ accessed on 27 May 2022.
[iii] ‘ADHD and Dyslexia’ [online source] https://dyslexiaida.org/adhd-and-dyslexia/ accessed on 29 June 2022.
[iv] ‘Adult literacy: Information on adult literacy in the UK and our Books Unlocked programme’ [online source] https://literacytrust.org.uk/parents-and-families/adult-literacy/ accessed on 27 May 2022.
[v] ‘British Dyslexia Association: What do I need to know as a teacher?’ [online source] https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/advice/educators/what-do-i-need-to-know/reasonable-adjustments accessed on 27 May 2022.
[vi] Cathryn Knight, ‘Teachers don’t understand the depth of dyslexia’, 12 December 2018 [online source] https://theconversation.com/teachers-dont-understand-the-depth-of-dyslexia-107384 accessed on 27 May 2022.
[vii] Georgina Sturge, ‘UK Migration’, 27 April 2021[online source] https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06077/#:~:text=715%2C000%20people%20migrated%20into%20the%20UK%20and%20403%2C000,were%20living%20in%20other%20EU%20countries%20excluding%20Ireland accessed on 27 May 2022.
[viii] ‘2011 Census: Detailed analysis- English language proficiency in England and Wales, Main language and general health characteristics’, 30 August 2013 [online source] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/language/articles/detailedanalysisenglishlanguageproficiencyinenglandandwales/2013-08-30 accessed on 29 June 2022.
[ix] Martin Loy, ‘learning to read, reading to learn: strategies to move students from ‘keen to learn’ to ‘keen to read’, Teaching History 132 (2008), 25-29 (25).
[x] Loy, ‘Learning to read, reading to learn’, 25.
[xi] Alison Kitson, ‘Reading and enquiring in Years 12 and 13: a case study on women in the Third Reich’, Teaching History 111 (2003), 13-19 (13).
[xii] Kitson, ‘Reading and enquiring in Years 12 and 13’, 13-15.
[xiii] Laurence Peter, ‘How Ukraine’s ‘Ghost of Kyiv’ legendary pilot was born’, 1 May 2022 [online source] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-61285833 accessed on 30 May 2022; Alistar Coleman & Shayan Sardarizadeh, ‘Ukraine conflict: Many misleading images have been shared online’, 24 February 2022 [online source] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/60513452 accessed on 30 May 2022.
[xiv] David Hellier and Helen Richards, “Do we have to read all of this?’ Encouraging students to read for understanding’ Teaching History 118 (2005), 44-48 (44).
[xv] Hellier and Richards, “Do we have to read all of this?”, 44-48.
[xvi] Carolyn Massey and Paul Wiggin, ‘Reading? What reading?’, Teaching History 170 (2018), 38-46 (38).
[xvii] Massey and Wiggin, ‘Reading? What reading? , 38-40.
[xviii] Loy, ‘Learning to read, reading to learn’, 26.
[xix] Loy, ‘Learning to read, reading to learn’, 26.
[xx] Paula Worth, ‘Which women were executed for witchcraft? And which pupils cared? Low-attaining Year 8 use fiction to tackle three demons: extended reading, diversity and causation’, Teaching History 144 (2011), 4-14 (8).
[xxi] Worth, ‘Which women were executed for witchcraft?’, 8.
[xxii] ‘Levelling Up the United Kingdom: executive summary’, 2 February 2022 [online source] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/levelling-up-the-united-kingdom/levelling-up-the-united-kingdom-executive-summary accessed on 27 May 2022.
[xxiii] ‘Levelling Up the United Kingdom: executive summary’, 2 February 2022 [online source] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/levelling-up-the-united-kingdom/levelling-up-the-united-kingdom-executive-summary accessed on 27 May 2022.
[xxiv] ‘The Reading Agency : Reading facts’ [online source] https://readingagency.org.uk/about/impact/002-reading-facts-1/ accessed on 27 May 2022. ‘Mental wellbeing, reading and writing’, 26 September 2018 [online source] https://literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/mental-wellbeing-reading-and-writing/ accessed on 27 May 2022.