Igniting a passion for reading: what support do parents need to foster a passion for reading in their children?

Igniting a passion for reading: what support do parents need to foster a passion for reading in their children?

Through the collation of parents' experiences, this qualitative research focused on including the voices of parents to promote a passion for reading in their children. The rise of aliteracy, the burgeoning impact of crowded leisure time for children, and the increasingly complex daily lives of parents, all impact on promoting reading for pleasure and require support for parents to be offered in sympathetic and sustainable ways. The research is underpinned by the social constructivism of Dewey's educational and social philosophical interest in experience, situation, interaction, and community (Dewey, 1986; Giles & Eyler, 1994) and the support Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory offers parents. Parents in regional south-east Queensland were interviewed to examine their approach to promoting reading for pleasure with their children and to ascertain their recommendations for supporting other parents. Parents participated in a pre-interview survey, followed by a semi-structured interview, under the challenging circumstances of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The semi-structured approach to interviews enabled flexible conversations with parents informing understanding of their thoughts and ideas pertaining to the phenomena of reading for pleasure. Parents' perspectives are examined using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methodology. Data were analysed and interpreted using Hramiak's (2005) approach in the IPA style. The value of hearing participants' voices (Harreveld, 2004) throughout the study provided the connections other parents can use, and teachers can support, to create a passion for reading in individual situations. This research reveals a range of strategies parents see as useful in supporting a passion for reading and provides the opportunity for a direct contribution of parents to be acknowledged. To effectively support parents, the principles of adult learning and acknowledging parents' unique funds of knowledge are the fuel required to ignite a new approach. The lack of parents' voices is evident in the literature, rendering efforts to promote a passion for reading for children ineffectual. Children's passion for reading will suffer if the significant adults in their lives are not sufficiently supported and empowered to make lasting changes.

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