Monday, July 14, 2008

Why do people read? What type of reading is done in school?

Why do people read? People read for very different reasons, I think that is obvious, but I also feel that those reasons can be boiled down to two things: to get information or to be entertained. And yes, at first it seems that you could split that up between non-fiction reading and fiction reading, but, hey, honestly I know a ton of folks who read non-fiction for entertainment (me among them.) There is a social aspect to this as well that can overlap both of the other aspects. This socio-cultural aspect could be the one thing that could get a reluctant reader to get interested.

What type of reading is done in school? I think that in my district, not enough of the right reading for the right reasons is happening... instead of reading for information or to be entertained, folks are reading because they have to and that, in itself, is a block to the other two. Forget the socio-cultural aspect of it, that just isn't emphasized...

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