Thursday 10 January 2019

Motivation needs purpose

The first word that my twenty month old nephew says when he wakes up in the morning is 'book'. 

He climbs over his dad to reach the books on the bedside table, then waves them under his face until he wakes up and reads them to him. The last thing he does at night is cuddle up in bed with my sister while they read some books. He asks for books all day long, and sometimes he sits and looks at books by himself. I bought some 'Paddington' books for him for his first birthday thinking that he would be interested in them when he was older. I thought they would be great for their complex vocab. He has already had them read to him over and over. When we were on holidays they were read in a variety of voices and with a variety of inflections by Mummy, Daddy, Nan Nan, Dad-daddy and Auntie Payee, with Mama and Papa (his great-grandparents, looking on).

It's a familiar story. A parent calls me, asking for help for his or her son or daughter who is struggling with reading. The teacher says that the child is on the low reading level. This is appearing on report cards halfway through prep, when children are up to a year younger than we were when we started reading at school. Other children seem to find reading easy and are flying through the levels. It is easy to feel discouraged, lose confidence, and lose interest in books. Besides, why do we have to read? Because we have to read at school? Do adults read? Do children see adults reading?

Our expectations for children can be so much higher than our expectations for ourselves, but it's strange that so many of us are blind to this. Children are expected to do things - just because. We don't like to do things - just because. We like to feel motivated to do things. This is where we find our energy. Motivation comes from purpose. Without purpose it is very difficult to find motivation. Purpose for a child can be related to fun, or it can come from the desire to emulate adults. Children are in the process of becoming adults, so are looking to adults to see what adults 'do'.

Expecting adults to sit and read in front of children is expecting a lot. Lives are busy, and when we're busy the last thing on our minds is probably reading. Most of the time children are seeing adults using their phones or watching TV. We wonder why they want to use our phones and watch TV. We wonder whether the answer is for children to enjoy reading. Do they see us reading for enjoyment? It's a big ask to expect children to enjoy reading if they don't see us enjoying reading.

It's an issue that's hard to address. Children need to learn to read so that they can read to learn. It's essential for every subject area. Not every child will see his or her father spend every spare moment reading - as I did. Not every child will see his or her parents sitting in bed at night with their matching Kindles - as I do when I'm visiting. My sister's Kindle cover is worn out, probably because she never turns the TV on. She asked me recently, "Do you remember when we felt naked without a book?" As children we never went anywhere without one, just in case.

There's not a lot we can do to stop our rapidly changing world. There are so many demands on our attention, and the way that it is being scattered between tasks is affecting our ability to slow down and focus on things that require more time. Although I am constantly accessing new information, I have to be on holidays for a couple of weeks before being able to slow down enough to read an actual 'book'. The degree of importance that is placed on literacy is a matter of preference. It is our choice. Perhaps it won't even be needed as much in the future when everything is accessible auditorily and visually.

The main issue is that children don't suffer because of this. It is not their fault. They are not responsible for their fast-paced environments, for our priorities, and for our inability to slow down. They don't have to like reading - just because. Their abilities and speeds of learning will most likely be in proportion to how reading has been supported in their environments, particularly at home. Teachers are under a lot of pressure to meet outcomes, this pressure is being passed down to parents, and then onto children.

When we were children we sat around the table after dinner listening to my dad reading 'Danny, the Champion of the World'. I still remember those pheasants as clear as day. We didn't have a TV until I was seventeen. If we want children to be able to read well, we can't reprimand them for preferring to watch TV or run around outside. We need to show them that reading has a purpose, for discovering information, or for 'fun'. The only way to do this is to read in front of them, with them, and to them. We may even discover or rediscover a love of reading, or learn something new, or even learn to slow down a little. It's worth a try.