Teachers need to get caught reading, too

After three heady days of rubbing elbows with superstars Junot Diaz and Edward P. Jones, two Pulitzer Prize winners who flew in from the United States to grace the National Book Development Board’s second international literary festival, savoring what they and many other admired and respected homegrown writers led by Cebu-based Resil Mojares had to say about their craft, it seemed imperative to tackle the question of literacy and readership. And to get even more basic, starting our readers young. And continuing to want to read.

Thus, one of the final sessions of the three-day Great Philippine Book Café at the Ayala Museum, after all the discussions on honing the craft of writing and having authors talk about their books, had to be on getting children to read. For this we had a panel of fervent literacy advocates: university professor Ralph Galan, children’s literature blogger Tarie Sabido and digital publisher and book blogger Honeylein Peralta. The three speakers offered practical tips that parents and teachers can use not only in the reading month of November but all year round, no matter the season. And they debunked many prevailing myths about reading and young readers.

Sabido offers a website that she swears by for all kinds of no-fail reading ideas: www.kidlitosphere.org which is administered by the Society of Bloggers in Children’s and Young Adult Literature. Among the staggering wealth of ideas are themes like “Nonfiction Monday,” “Poetry Friday,” “Time Slip Tuesday,” and accompanying writing lessons and arts and crafts for specific titles. Ultimately the best lure for children to read is a good book that will make reading an unforgettable experience.

Learning from the blogs on the site, children can write their own book reviews online and prepare book trailers that their peers can read. Sabido reminds adults to treat the young readers as equals and they will respond accordingly. While blogs are commonplace in the world of the youth, these may sound alien to adults. Thus, the honest query from the audience: How do you start a blog? The consensus was that the topic deserves another workshop all its own.

Galan does not believe that the Internet is the archenemy of reading and the sooner we adults of a different era and learning style and orientation accept that, the better reading models we become. Today’s students, now more accustomed to an audiovisual format, in fact do much reading on online platforms.

He also says that movie adaptations of books can be utilized to awaken interest in their original print versions. Whoever said that when students watch the movie, they will no longer care to read the book? He admits that he himself originally felt that adaptations are a betrayal of the original text.

Teachers need to be performers, Galan says.  That is one successful way to “seduce” our kids to read. He cites two outstanding examples of such teachers: Well loved poet-professor Jimmy Abad would recite poetry in its original text as a way for his classes to appreciate the translated material.  Thus, haikus in Japanese and the Iliad in Greek.  Another professor whose literature classes students look forward to with much anticipation and wonderment is Galan’s colleague, Ferdinand Lopez, who has an extensive wardrobe to suit every literary piece. Teachers need to compete with the glitz of mass media.

Peralta says that the old admonition to start the readers young at home still holds true. But having missed that opportunity, need those children be deemed deprived? A teacher who has taught all levels and is presently a teacher trainer, Peralta says that it is why teachers should step in and do their part to nurture the reading habit. From her experience of tried and tested ideas, she recommends these. After wearying of maintaining classroom libraries and teachers having to inventory and pay for missing books, she encourages the children to bring books from home that they can read in school. It matters little that these are below their expected reading level—that they are reading is good enough. Hopefully, with classroom exposure, their reading tastes will be enriched.

Like Sabido, Peralta strongly advocates building a community of readers and convincing students that reading is a valuable social activity and thus, quite fun. If teachers themselves are not seen reading or talking about books, how will students ever view reading as a worthwhile activity? Peralta, who as a young child so wanted to be a teacher because it meant being able to read all day long (she still nurses no regrets, despite the realization early on of how wrong she was, for paperwork and books compete), emphasizes the value of encouraging the students to express their opinions on books freely. Yes, it is okay not to like a book, not to want to finish it, quoting from a shared favorite, “The Reader’s Bill of Rights.” Give them a voice, we are all reminded.

The best part about this session was the high level of optimism and deep love for books exuded by the panel. All is not lost, all not in vain.

Neni Sta. Romana Cruz ([email protected]) is chair of the National Book Development Board, a trustee of the Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation and a member of the Eggie Apostol Foundation.