A study of the factors affecting attitudes towards reading displayed by first to sixth class students in a DEIS band 1 school

Abstract

The goal of this research project was to examine attitudes towards reading amongst Irish primary school students, and to determine whether any particular factors could be seen to correlate with positive or negative attitudes towards reading. A quantitative method of data collection was employed in the form of a questionnaire, and was distributed to students from first class through to sixth class in a Dublin based primary school. Two major themes emerged from the research, namely that of gender and age. Indeed, the findings suggested that gender impacted greatly on attitude towards reading, with girls consistently reporting more positive attitudes towards reading than boys. Furthermore, the findings saw attitudes toward reading generally decline throughout the primary school classes, suggesting that reading attitudes become increasingly negative as children become older. According to the researcher, there is a need for intervention to be implemented in order to promote positive reading attitudes amongst male students and older students. Before this intervention can be implemented however, there is the need for research to be conducted surrounding what methods would be successful in increasing the positivity of the attitudes of these groups. Once these methods have been established, there is a need for time, resources and tools to be allocated to this curricular area, in order to allow teachers the best chance of increasing the positivity of their student’s attitudes towards reading.