Reading is something very important, because in addition to giving us the possibility of traveling the world and nurturing our mind and our imagination, it also increases our vocabulary, helps us to reflect, to develop our capacity for concentration and empathy or memory … Also, when At the same time, it brings us other great benefits such as minimizing stress and improving our mood, and yet, despite all the benefits it has, we do not always find that time in our lives necessary to do so.
This lack of time has repercussions, unintentionally, in other spaces and other people, such as children, since reality is linked to that need to create in the classroom an ideal space to learn to read and to promote the importance of reading. that the teachers themselves, many times, cannot make this habit a main part of their lives. And in this sense, how is it possible to educate or encourage something that is not practiced?
Many teachers don’t read enough
Many teachers from different parts of the world confess that they do not read or do not read enough, and it is logical that in certain circumstances (such as teaching daily with the stress that it can entail and an excessive amount of work added) it is very difficult manage to transmit a minimum love of reading to the little ones . Social, political, economic, personal and family circumstances … may be other reasons why many teachers do not find that free space to dedicate to reading. However, and although this is understandable, the attitude that teachers have towards this reality and its possible solutions is of vital importance so that a true motivation for reading can function properly at school. And some specialists have dedicated a good part of their work to this reality, such as the psychologist and writer Emilia Ferreiro , who has based a good part of her professional research on this interesting topic. Clearly, Ferreiro is convinced that being a teacher and educating on the importance of reading can be very nice, but that it also entails an important effort and great responsibility.
Consequences of unmotivated teaching
As we have seen, and also according to Ferreiro , many teachers cannot dedicate as much time to reading as they should for a good training in this area, but there are many realities that can influence, as happens in some places in Latin America according to Ferreiro , where many teachers come from disadvantaged social strata and there is a significant level of demotivation in a profession that has almost come to be seen as of low social prestige.
This, unfortunately, has consequences, because if a teacher is teaching something that they never wanted to do or that does not motivate them, then they can feel frustrated and transmit that lack of encouragement to the students . And if there is no love for what is taught, the classrooms are not serving to awaken the curiosity that is needed when climbing on a book, or to convey love for any subject, much less for reading .
If to this are added other political and social realities that can surround the profession of a teacher (such as the usual reality that teachers sometimes have to dedicate more time to the bureaucracy than to the exercise of teaching itself), without a doubt the teaching scenario that students experience every day worsens.
Teachers for motivation and change
It is true that many teachers find themselves in difficult learning situations where there is one book for every 30 or 40 students, for example, or lack of interest or lack of support from parents to further strengthen education. But if to all this is added a constant lack of time and a demotivating work environment , it is possible that an educational failure could occur at a high level of probability and a total absence of education around the benefits of standing up and stopping the world to read.
Teaching to read and write in adverse conditions is not easy, but we must think and bear in mind that it is still very necessary, since it will be difficult for the little ones to be educated in the importance and value of approaching a book if adults do not have of time to do it either. Perhaps this is one of the most important keys in the fight for new educational forms and methods, less accelerated, and a good educational environment and a good dose of personal motivation can make it possible for such changes to exist and for teachers to be in charge. of making us see, to the whole of society, that learning is always possible and is achieved by reading.
