How schools ruin reading and how to fix it
Schools are forcing students to read books they don’t want to, which stops them from reading on their own; for some, it even ruins reading thoroughly. A student’s perspective on how to change that.
Ever since I was little, I liked reading. It was what brought me to writing, and I still enjoy reading today. As a matter of fact, I am currently reading through “The room where it happened,” written by John Bolton.
However, a lot of my classmates did not like reading at all. They would never read a book on their own, let alone something like “The room where it happened” or Nelson Mandela’s autobiography “Long walk to freedom.”
When asked what deters them from reading, their answer is: “School.” They state that they have never read an exciting book, and after being forced to read unentertaining books, it ruined reading for them.
I live in Switzerland and went to school here. In Switzerland, high school isn’t mandatory but rather for those students who are sure that they want to attend university. Hence, high school is filled with promising students from secondary school and has quite a high level.
I understand that (Swiss) high schools hold themselves to a certain standard, and hence some literary classics must be read. Nevertheless, most of the books I had to read during my four years in high school weren’t classics. They were books that appealed to the teacher or made it easy to integrate them into an ongoing class topic. Some of the times they were books the teacher chose some years ago and never changed because it is convenient for him.
Of the over 25 books we read in class, only two or three books that we read stuck with me or appealed to me. The rest wasn’t entertaining or insightful. They led to me seeing reading as a chore rather than something amazing.
Not only I saw reading like this, but most of my classmates also weren’t amazed at what we had to read. And discouraging people to read, especially young people, leads to a more significant long-term problem.
The problem
Written content like books, articles, magazines, and so much more is a whole world of its own. Whether you are reading books that give you productivity advice, the latest news on the New York Times website, or a medium article, the value you can derive from reading is immense. Also, written content can be so condensed that the information in a two-minute article can far exceed the information in a five-minute video covering the same topic.
However, to access the world of written content, people first have to like to read. Maybe they don’t even have to like to read, but they have to desire to read. Unfortunately, in my experience, schools more often than to ruin people’s desire to read.
Hence, when the students are out of school and free to read whatever they want, they don’t read because schools ruined reading for them.
A majority of my fellow students felt that reading was not enjoyable, and it is very disheartening to see young people not care about books and written content. Even they admitted that there is useful content out there, but they were not ready to take the step and read it due to their previous, unspectacular reading experiences.
The root of the problem
The problem has it’s root in the school system. Over the course of the 12 years I have been going to school, I just once had the option to pick a book. Even at that time, there was a list of different books from which we could choose.
The current standard is that students can’t choose the books they want to read. Even though I admit that some books are just must-reads in school, no matter how entertaining they may be, most books don’t fall in that category. Nevertheless, teachers often choose books without speaking to students about their interests. The books which are chosen then are boring and unentertaining for the students. Students are then left with the option to torture themselves through a boring read, or they opt out before and try to achieve a passing grade with online summaries.
Either way, the fun of reading is taken away from them. Repeating the said process, it keeps getting harder for students who don’t read on their own to find something they’ll actually enjoy reading because reading can’t be enjoyable in their minds.
It’s a vicious cycle because even if the teacher decides to ask the class about a book they would like to read, there aren’t many propositions. After all, not many students read for their own. Hence only a few proposals are made. This leads to the teacher thinking there is a lack of initiative in the class, and he then goes back to selecting the books on his own.
The solution
To find a solution to the problem, you have to go to the origin of the problem. In my option, the root is in the schools. Rather than deciding what books students have to read, let students select the books they want to read.
In my opinion, one of the main goals of reading assignments is not only to get students to read but also to keep them reading afterward. Of course, there are also other goals, like highlighting a particular style of an author or the various symbols used.
Most of the time, though, we read had to read books because the main goal was to get us reading something.
With that in mind, the obvious step is to let the students choose what they read. Obviously, it wouldn’t be completely free of choice but within parameters that were previously defined.
There are several advantages of letting the students select the book for their reading assignment. Most importantly, the students’ motivation will be much higher because they chose a book they want to read. This leads the chance of them enjoying the book and further enjoying reading. While this is also a possible scenario with a book selected by the teacher, the students’ opportunity to enjoy the book is way smaller.
Furthermore, students could read something within their interests. While this naturally also leads to more involvement, it could also provide them with some knowledge useful for their personal lives. I never read a book in school that had anything to do with my personal interest, and I can’t remember a message that stuck with me.
However, most of the books I personally read have a take away I can carry into my day to day life.
If a book students read in school could provide such a message, it would further increase the student’s motivation to read on their own.
Applying the solution
I am aware that it sounds easy just to let students choose their books, but implementing the system into the classroom poses a big challenge. Teachers would be forced to read an enormous amount of books and prepare many new materials for different lessons.
However, there are some options on how teachers could apply my solution to their classes. While looking at these, it is essential to keep the goal of the reading assignment in mind. Should students mainly read, is the goal to explain symbols in a book, or are there any other project goals? Assess what the target of the specific assignment and then determine an appropriate option.
Additionally, the following options are by no means a complete list. In my “career” as a student, I had various reading assignments, and there were a lot of different ways they got graded. Some tasks ended in presentations or oral exams, where others had a written test or an essay to evaluate my knowledge of the book.
Hence, the following list is more a guideline than an actual complete list of how to implement the system of students choosing a book.
Option 1
The first option leads to two grades and one new book for the whole class. The basic premise is to have small presentations from every student in the class where they present a book. Not one they have read but one they can imagine too. A presentation can only last between 3–5 minutes, so in a 45-minute lesson, there can be eight presentations while the five spare minutes serve as a buffer. After the presentations, the class votes on a book to read. That book then gets read by the whole course and an exam on it will be arranged.
This method’s benefits are that all the students actively think about a book they would like to read, and they’ll probably be somewhat motivated to present it decently, so the class chooses their book. Also, the teacher gets two grades out of this, so the time cost has added value. Additionally, even though the teacher has to read the book, the lessons can be planned for the whole class, which is less work than preparing classes for reading assignments where every student has their own book.
The disadvantages of said option are that the teacher is required to create tasks for the lessons rather quickly. Because the class chooses a book and the teacher has to read it too, preferably before the course begins to read that book, the effort required is quite large. Also, this option does not provide the option to use the same materials again the following year. So every time a new book is chosen, the teacher has to do the work again.
Option 2
Rather than the whole class voting on a book to read as a class, in this option, every student reads an individually chosen book. The tasks during the lessons are unified questions for everyone. The answers to the questions (for example, what symbols appear in the book? Name three) are collected by the teacher and make up a part of the grade. The final exam would be an essay where students have to answer one of three questions, specifically about their book in-depth.
The benefits of this option are a completely individual choice of books, which improves the students’ motivation. Furthermore, the teacher can read online summaries of the books and combine that with the tasks’ answers during the class to get a decent understanding of the book. That way, the time cost for the teacher can be kept reasonable.
The disadvantage of option 2 is that individual help, tailored to the student, is difficult. Because every student reads a different book, the teacher must have a vague idea who reads what and the story of each title. While it is manageable, it poses a severe challenge. Additionally, different books have different levels of difficulty. While hopefully, students choose something they want to read, some could be tempted to choose something they know is an easy read in order to get a better grade.
Option 3
The last option I am going to present is one that is more tailored for the teachers. Instead of letting the students choose the books on their own, in this option, the teacher provides a list of books students can choose. Depending on the assignment, either every individual student or small groups read a book from the list. Again the tasks during the lesson would be generalized. That way, even though different books are read, the tasks remain the same for every student/group, and the teacher can have a generalized lesson plan. In my opinion, the most suitable way to grade this option is a presentation about the book. While presentations take up a lot of time, they are a way to test the student’s knowledge about the book with questions no exam could. Also presentations are the best way to see if someone enjoyed a book and present every student’s individuality. Someone’s energy while presenting something he liked is entirely different compared to somebody who clearly was unhappy with his choice.
The advantage of this option is the framework that keeps everything in check. The list makes it easier for the teacher to prepare because many books that are included can be ones the teacher has already read. Also, the presentation is not only an excellent way to find out if someone liked a book, but it is also a way for the teacher to see what his list of books is worth. If most of the presenters had a good time reading their book, the teacher should be pleased about the list.
The disadvantage of Option 3 sadly also has to do with the presentation. Some students are terrified of doing presentations, and hence their grades would be considerably worse. An excellent alternative to that would be to have oral exams face to face with the students. However, this would eliminate the possibility of small groups covering one book.
I am a student and by no means an educational advisor. My background is purely based on experience, and my solutions are the way I would approach the issue.
However, I believe that currently, schools are really ruining reading for a lot of young people. While this certainly is nobody’s goal, it is happening, and it is a matter that is close to my heart because I want everyone to be able to indulge in the world of written content. When schools, the place where most people have their first real experiences with reading act as a deterring factor to reading, entering the world of written content that is crucial in these modern times gets more challenging than it could be, and that should not be.
If you have any comments, ideas, or disagree with me on the matter, don’t hesitate to tell me. As previously stated, my expertise comes from experience, and it is only the point of view of a student. To find solutions for this problem I am happy to discuss and come up with better concepts.
That way, everyone who wants can dive deep into the beautiful and fantastic world of books, magazines, and much more.
Stay safe
Raffael
