What motivates students to read at school? Student views on reading practices in middle and lower‐secondary school
Authors: Tegmark Mats , Alatalo Tarja , Vinterek Monika , Winberg Mikael 
Published: February 2022

Reading amount is decisive for individual students' academic success as well as for the general strength of democratic societies. Still, the amount of both leisure‐time and school‐related reading is decreasing. To reverse this trend, more knowledge of what drives students' school reading is needed. Drawing on Self‐Determination Theory (SDT), the study is based on structured interviews with 259 students in Grades 6 and 9 from 14 different schools. Descriptive statistical analyses were made to map students' perceptions of themselves as readers and their school‐related reading practices and to find out what regulates students' motivation for in‐class reading. Although students express a strong will to become good readers, our data indicate that students are mainly driven by controlled motivation for their school‐related reading; autonomous motivation was only expressed by a minority of students in Grade 6. What would make students read more are mainly text and instruction related factors such as more interesting texts and more time allocated to reading. Our results point to a great potential for more in‐class reading across the curriculum, reading sessions that need to be regularly scheduled using carefully selected texts. In line with SDT, our findings highlight the importance of fulfilling students' need for competence, relatedness, and autonomy in order for them to develop more self‐determined behaviour, such as leisure‐time reading – which in turn will boost their reading self‐concept.

Highlights

What is already known about this topic

Students who practice reading more tend to become more competent readers and therefore develop a more positive relationship with reading and themselves as readers (reading self‐concept).

Autonomous motivation strongly predicts reading achievement, whereas controlled motivation negatively predicts reading outcomes.

The amount of both leisure‐time and school‐related reading is decreasing in many parts of the western world, highlighting the need for schools to find new ways of engaging students in reading practices.

What this paper adds

Students want to be good readers and know that they need to read more to become good readers.

In contrast to leisure‐time reading, students' school‐related reading practices are driven far more by controlled than autonomous motivation, especially by the time they reach secondary school.

Students would read more if they were provided with more interesting texts, the possibility to choose, and if more class time were allocated to reading.

Implications for theory, policy or practice

Autonomy‐supporting reading sessions need to be regularly and amply scheduled across the curriculum to ensure reading practices that can develop reader competence.

Schools need to ensure that students have access to a variety of texts to choose from according to both personal interest and level of difficulty.

Educators need to design reading practices that fulfil students' need for competence, relatedness, and autonomy in order for them to develop more self‐determined behaviour and a more positive perception of themselves as readers.