Info for Teachers

Are you a NZ secondary school teacher who is interested in running the programme in your own class(es) and contributing to the study in 2025? Please read on!

I am currently seeking expressions of interest from secondary school teachers who are interested in collaborating and participating in the second cycle of the Learning to Love Reading study in 2025. 

Expression of interest is entirely obligation-free. 

Any participant-collaborator teachers who sign up to the study, and then whose circumstances or minds changed, are free to withdraw from the study at any time before data collection ends (at the end of the programme), without even providing an explanation, if so desired.

• You (the teacher) will implement the programme into your classroom course at your discretion and how fits your professional judgment based on your knowledge of your school and your students.

• The programme will need the approval of the appropriate curriculum leaders in your department/school before we seek permission of the students and their family/whānau.

• I would be available at your convenience for support in development of resources and to discuss progress. (That means, if you know you need a specific resource or activity but don't have time to create it - let me know and I'll make it for you!)

• You are free to adapt the programme structure and resources at any time - I just ask that you advise me of the fact so I can accurately follow the development of the programme in the class, and understand your reasons and the school environmental factors that led to the adjustments. This may take the form of a phone call, an email, or a written reflection - whatever works best for you.

• I will conduct formal observations of the programme in action in your class at least once a term - to be scheduled as suits your timetable. I will be entirely hands-off and as unobtrusive as possible during the observations.

• I will visit you for a semi-structured 30 minute interview in the middle and at the end of the year to get your thoughts and observations on how it's going.

• All data I gather, such a transcripts of interviews and observation reports, will be subject to your approval before inclusion in the study's findings. If there is anything in there you are not comfortable with, it will be removed. (Depending on how influential that information was on the rest of the programme's findings, I may still need to mention in the data summary that there has been a redaction.)

• At the end of the programme (depending on your school's schedule and our agreed programme design, this could be at any point in the year), I will begin the formal analysis and write-up. This is the only 'point of no return' for participation in the study.

TEACHER FAQ

Do all of my students in the class need to consent in order for me to participate?

No - but with the following caveats:

• the programme must be approved as part of your curriculum course in your school; this means all students in the class will experience the activities in the programme, and participate in the reading community as deemed appropriate as part of their learning by you/your school

• data will only be collected from and about those students for whom we have both family/whānau and their own personal permission

• at least 1/3 or so of the students would need to be formal participants to allow relevant data to be gathered (it is hard to make observations of a community if only a small number of the members are involved).

Can I participate if the programme would be implemented in a Year 10 class?

If it suits your school's needs and course, I would love to discuss running the Learning to Love Reading programme in your Year 10 class - please reach out!

Can I participate if the programme would be implemented in a Year 11 / 12 / 13 class?

Again, this is determined by your school's timetable and expectations; if your curriculum leaders and school community would see the programme as a valuable use of your seniors' time, and would support it being run in your class, I would love to discuss it further with you.

I'm not in Auckland - can I still participate?

I'm very willing to travel to visit schools around the country, although I cannot guarantee I'd be able to get there as regularly as I would like; so please consider how often you'd be able to teleconference - and I'll see what I can do.

We don't have a school library. Can this programme help me promote reading with my students?

My condolences! The good news is that there are workarounds with the support of the National Library, who love to get books into schools - see https://natlib.govt.nz/schools/lending-service. Promoting reading for pleasure in a classroom environment is what this programme is all about; if you're prepared to carve out regular time for your students to read in your classroom, I'd love to support you with that. Please reach out.

How often would I have to schedule reading/Learning to Love Reading time?

The school in the 2024 pilot programme has a scheduled library period for their Year 9s once every 6 school days, which theoretically works out to about 1x a week each term. However, in practice this was often disrupted, and sometime classes would only visit the library 5-6x a term. If a student was away on a trip or sick on library day, then this might translate to only 3-4 reading sessions over the whole term for them. The data and observations so far suggest this is not enough. 

However, reading doesn't only have to happen in the library; if you are prepared to commit at least 2 x 20 minutes* of class time each week to reading (e.g. as a Do Now, or immediately after lunch, etc.), in addition to 1x reading community activity (e.g. Book Talk), then please get in touch.

*The number of 20 minutes comes from whole-school case studies, although these programmes implement the 20 minutes across the entire campus (staff and students) every day. See https://www.queenwood.nsw.edu.au/Just-Read-Final-Report for an example.

I have another question - how do I get in touch?

My email is at the bottom of The Researcher or in the documentation embedded above. I look forward to hearing from you!