Litteraturens præstationsfrie rum: potentialer for Shared Reading i skolen

Recent reports show that fewer and fewer children read books for pleasure, and the decline in children’s reading motivation begins around age 11, due to a multitude of factors. In this chapter, I recount and analyse experiences from a project introducing Shared Reading to a group of Danish children in middle school (11–12 year-olds) over the course of 13 weeks. The aim was to examine whether and how, by applying this dialogic approach as an alternative or supplement to their regular lessons in school, we can influence children’s concrete reading skills as well as their stance and motivation towards the act of reading. The empirical evidence suggests that long-term reading motivation likely requires a longer-term intervention. However, some participants showed situationally contingent reading engagement and experiences of attunement that may affect their stance over time. Other derived effects were improved interrelations, increased empathy, decentering, courage to speak and expressions of creativity.