Dr
Neil Béchervaise
NB
Consulting (Australasia) Pty Ltd
Reading and the Home Culture
House Notes - Random House
© Neil Béchervaise
How do we miss the obvious. And how do we see it so obviously when
it is pointed out to us. What is it ? I hear you ask. Well. Anything.
All things are obvious if we can establish the context we are supposed
to see them in. Cinderella, the Big, Bad Wolf, even Fish and Chips.
But what if operate outside the context that things are obvious in?
A MacDonalds store in Beijing seems strange to most of us. Not
reading seems strange to others.
Recent studies at University of Sydney suggest that many students
find reading difficult and unappealing because it has not been a
real part of their lives from early childhood. We accept that children
should be read to but we seldom stop to think that early reading
establishes a context of acceptance, of comfort and stimulation.
Parents who read to their children often read for themselves so
the value of reading is affirmed.
When school beginners are told that reading is good, fun, interesting,
useful, essential, they check the information against the security
of their family life. Does the home context support the school demand?
Is reading essential among the adults at home? Is it fun to read
the junk mail and the bills? Is it interesting to read the newspaper
when television is more current, more succinct and, superficially
at least, more accessible? Some students accept the requirements
of school reading without ever being convinced, others merely turn
away.
In an increasingly multicultural Australian society, the need
for modelling reading in the pre-school home - in the home language
or in English - is a crucial element in the establishment of the
willing reader. The continuation of reading aloud to students throughout
their school years substantiates the model.
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