In short
- In a reading culture, pupils read by choice because time, books and talk about books are part of every week, not only during events.
- Large studies link reading for pleasure with stronger reading and faster vocabulary growth across family backgrounds, though they show links, not proof of cause.
- Research on reading for pleasure keeps pointing to the same conditions: choice, access to books, time in school, adults who read and informal talk about texts.
- Challenges and competitions help most where reading is already normal, and the test of a culture is what pupils do when nothing is on offer.
Most schools can run a reading event. Fewer can say that their pupils read when no event is running. That second thing is what people mean by a reading culture. This article sets out what research on reading for pleasure and reading communities found. It turns that into practical steps on time, books, the library, adults who read and talk about books. It ends with ways to tell whether the culture is growing. Most of the research comes from first-language classrooms, and the article notes where that limits the advice.
What is a reading culture in a school?
A school has a reading culture when pupils read by choice, and when time to read, books worth reading and talk about books are part of every ordinary week. Events help, but they are not the culture. The test is what pupils do when nothing is on offer.
Clark and Rumbold (2006) define reading for pleasure as reading we do of our own free will, expecting satisfaction from it. It also covers reading begun at someone else's request and continued because we are interested. That second half matters for schools. A teacher can start the reading. The culture decides whether the pupil carries on.
Cremin, Mottram, Collins, Powell and Safford (2014) describe the goal as a community of readers. Their project, Teachers as Readers, found that reading for pleasure is a highly social process. In the participating teachers' classes, reading shifted from a private pursuit to a more shared, social activity.
Why does a reading culture matter?
Two large studies link reading for pleasure with how well pupils read and learn.
- Engagement and background. The OECD (2002) analysed the reading of 15-year-olds in the PISA 2000 survey. Pupils from less advantaged homes who were highly engaged in reading scored better, on average, than advantaged pupils who were not. The report concluded that there is much that schools can do about engagement.
- Progress in adolescence. Sullivan and Brown (2015) studied 3,583 members of a British cohort born in 1970. Reading for pleasure in childhood was linked to substantial progress between the ages of 10 and 16. The link was strongest for vocabulary and weaker, but still substantial, for mathematics. It was stronger than the link with parents' education.
Both studies show links, not proof that reading caused the gains. Keen readers may differ in other ways. Both also looked at reading in the pupils' first language. For an EFL school, the safer conclusion is narrower: a culture is worth building because it changes how much pupils choose to read. The Benefits of Reading for Pleasure: Does It Beat Drills? looks at the language-learning side.
What does research say makes a reading school?
Work on reading for pleasure keeps returning to the same few conditions. Clark and Rumbold (2006) list freedom to choose, a print-rich environment, access to a variety of texts, time for reading in school, encouragement and quiet, comfortable places to read. Gambrell (2011) adds relevance, talk with others about texts, success with challenging texts and incentives that reflect the value of reading.
The Teachers as Readers project reported by Cremin and colleagues (2014) describes a reading for pleasure pedagogy with four strands. They are reading aloud, independent reading time, informal book talk with recommendations, and a social reading environment.
| Condition | What it can look like in an EFL school | Where the research comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Time | Protected reading time every week, and a teacher who reads aloud | Clark and Rumbold (2006); Gambrell (2011); Cremin and colleagues (2014) |
| Books pupils can read | Levelled readers at every CEFR band in the class, not one set at the average level | Clark and Rumbold (2006); Gambrell (2011) |
| Choice | Pupils choose most of what they read, within their level | Clark and Rumbold (2006); Gambrell (2011) |
| Adults who read | Teachers who share what they are reading, in English and in other languages | Cremin and colleagues (2014) |
| Talk about books | Short, informal recommendations between pupils and with teachers | Gambrell (2011); Cremin and colleagues (2014) |
| A place to read | A library or reading corner that is open, comfortable and stocked with pupils' input | Clark and Rumbold (2006) |
Guthrie and Wigfield (2000) help explain why these conditions belong together. They describe engaged reading as motivated, strategic, knowledge-driven and socially interactive. In their account, a reader who is intrinsically motivated, and who believes she is capable, will persist with difficult texts.
Time, books and the library
Time is the condition a school controls most directly. Put reading in the timetable at the same point each day or week, and protect it from other work. Read aloud to pupils too, including older ones. In an EFL class, a fluent reader's voice can carry pupils through a story they could not yet read alone.
Books come next. A pupil can only choose freely among books they can read. For EFL learners, that means levelled stories at every CEFR band present in the class. How to Match Students to the Right Graded Readers explains how.
The library is where time and books meet. Clark and Rumbold (2006) argue that schools should consult pupils about their interests and stock a diverse range of reading materials. They also argue for involving pupils in planning library activities, including choosing and buying books. Some practical steps:
- Open the library at break and lunch, not only in lessons.
- Shelve a section by CEFR level as well as by genre, so pupils can find books they can read.
- Give a small group of pupils a budget to choose new books each term.
- Keep a box of levelled readers in each classroom, and change it every half-term.
Adults who read: the Reading Teacher
Cremin and colleagues (2014) report a year-long project with 43 teachers in 27 schools in five areas of England. An earlier phase had found that many primary teachers knew and used a narrow range of children's books. The project worked to widen that knowledge and to develop 'Reading Teachers', teachers who read and readers who teach. Some participants, though not all, became Reading Teachers. They shared their own responses to books with their classes, which helped build the community.
The study took place in English primary schools, with teachers reading in their first language. The idea transfers to an EFL school with one adjustment. Teachers of every subject can talk about what they read, in any language. English teachers can also show what reading in a second language is like, including the words they had to look up.
Ways to make adult reading visible, from practice rather than research:
- A sign on each classroom door: 'Your teacher is reading ...'.
- Two minutes at the start of a staff meeting for one teacher to recommend a book.
- Teachers reading during independent reading time, not marking.
- The head teacher naming a book in assembly and saying why it mattered to them.
Talk about books, every week
Gambrell (2011) lists talk with others about texts among her rules of engagement. Cremin and colleagues (2014) found that young readers were nurtured through reciprocal communities of readers. The talk they describe is informal: recommendations, quick reactions and swaps. It is not a comprehension test.
In an EFL class, pupils need a little language to start. Sentence frames let lower levels join in.
Classroom example: a ten-minute book talk for A2 readers
Friday, last ten minutes. Pupils sit in fours with the book they read this week.
Frame 1: 'My book is about ...'
Frame 2: 'The best part was when ...'
Frame 3: 'You will like it if you like ...'
Each group chooses one book to recommend to the class. The teacher adds the titles to a 'Read next' list by the door.
No marks. The teacher joins one group and talks about the book they are reading too.
Where challenges and competitions fit
Events have a place. A challenge or competition can give a culture a focus, a deadline and something to celebrate. But an event in a school without time, books and talk is likely to reward mainly the pupils who already read. Gambrell's (2011) rule on incentives applies here: they should reflect the value of reading.
Use events on top of the culture, not instead of it. School Reading Challenge Ideas and How to Run Them lists formats for a class or year group. House Reading Competitions: Running One Inside Your School covers team contests. A short daily routine, as in How to Build a Daily Reading Streak in Your School, gives both something to stand on.
How to tell whether the culture is growing
A culture takes time. Expect a year or more before the change is clear. That timescale is a judgement from practice, since no study we found tests how long it takes. Measure in ways that do not depend on an event.
- Reading when nothing is on offer. How many pupils read in the weeks between challenges?
- Library use. Loans per pupil, and how many different pupils borrow.
- Talk. Do pupils recommend books to each other without being asked?
- Attitudes. A short yearly survey: 'Do you enjoy reading in English? What are you reading now?'
- Spread. Do teachers outside the English department mention what they read?
Collect the same measures at the start, then again each term. A culture is growing when these numbers rise and stay up after the events are over.
How iRead handles this
In iRead, school packs are written by the school's own teachers or content team in iRead's story editor, around the school's own curriculum. The same games and quizzes are attached automatically. Every story is levelled to the CEFR, and many have an audio read-along synced to the text. Students keep a Reading Passport, one record of their reading, and each school can have a public page showing the packs it runs, with aggregate numbers only.
The core principle: A reading culture is what pupils do when nothing is on offer. Build the ordinary week first: time, books, adults who read and talk about books.
See it in iRead: School packs, written by your own teachers around your curriculum, run the same daily game inside one school: class against class, grade against grade.
See the daily competitionKey takeaway
Timetable reading, stock books pupils can read and choose, let adults show that they read, and make talk about books a weekly habit. Then add events, and measure what happens between them.
Frequently asked questions
How do you build a reading culture in a school?
Protect time to read every week, stock books at every level your pupils read at, and let them choose. Have teachers read and talk about what they read. Make informal talk about books a weekly habit. Add challenges and competitions on top, and check whether pupils read when no event is running.
What are some reading culture ideas for a school?
Door signs showing what each teacher is reading, a library open at lunch, pupil book buyers with a small budget, and a weekly ten-minute book talk with sentence frames. Ask pupils what they would like. In one UK survey, pupils chose meeting authors and reading games far more often than writing book reviews.
How long does it take to build a reading culture?
No study we found measures this directly. In practice, expect a year or more of steady work before the change is clear. Track simple measures each term, such as library loans and how many pupils read between events, so you can see whether the culture is moving.
Does reading for pleasure improve attainment?
Large studies link them. Sullivan and Brown (2015) found that childhood reading for pleasure was linked to more progress in vocabulary and mathematics between ages 10 and 16. The OECD (2002) found that engaged readers did well whatever their background. Both show links in first-language reading, not proof of cause.
Do teachers need to be readers themselves?
It helps. Cremin and colleagues (2014) found that teachers who read, and shared their responses to books, helped build communities of readers in their classes. During the project, teachers widened their knowledge of children's books. In an EFL school, any teacher can share what they read, in any language.
Sources
- Clark, C., & Rumbold, K. (2006). Reading for pleasure: A research overview. National Literacy Trust, London. eric.ed.gov/?id=ED496343
- Cremin, T., Mottram, M., Collins, F. M., Powell, S., & Safford, K. (2014). Building communities of engaged readers: Reading for pleasure. Routledge, Abingdon. doi.org/10.4324/9781315772585
- Gambrell, L. B. (2011). Seven rules of engagement: What's most important to know about motivation to read. The Reading Teacher, 65(3), 172-178. doi.org/10.1002/TRTR.01024
- Sullivan, A., & Brown, M. (2015). Reading for pleasure and progress in vocabulary and mathematics. British Educational Research Journal, 41(6), 971-991. doi.org/10.1002/berj.3180
- OECD (2002). Reading for change: Performance and engagement across countries. Results from PISA 2000. OECD Publishing, Paris. doi.org/10.1787/9789264099289-en
- Guthrie, J. T., & Wigfield, A. (2000). Engagement and motivation in reading. In M. L. Kamil, P. B. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of Reading Research, Volume III (pp. 403-422). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. www.routledge.com/Handbook-of-Reading-Research-Volume-III/Kamil-Mosenthal-Pearson-Barr/p/book/9780805823998