Last month, we highlighted the article “Contributions of Reading Support From Teachers, Parents, and Friends to Reading Related Variables in Academic and Recreational Contexts” in our Research Article of the Month series. In this blog post, we interview Daisy Pelletier—one of the co-authors of the article and a lecturer at Laval University—to learn more about her research on how support from teachers, parents, and friends can impact student reading achievement.
Iowa Reading Research Center (IRRC): What is your background in teaching and education?
Daisy Pelletier: My undergraduate education is in teaching French as a first language at the secondary level. For about twelve years, I worked as a substitute teacher in secondary schools while pursuing graduate studies. I first completed a graduate diploma in special education to better support students with learning difficulties. Then, I began my research training with a master’s degree in French didactics (language teaching methods), followed by a doctorate in educational psychology. Since 2016, I have been teaching a university course on reading comprehension instruction designed for undergraduate students training to become secondary school French teachers.
IRRC: What sparked your interest in studying the relationship between reading-related variables and reading support from teachers, parents, and friends?
Daisy Pelletier: As part of my graduate studies in special education, I worked individually with secondary school students experiencing reading difficulties. During this time, I observed how much parental involvement could enhance the interventions implemented by teachers to support adolescents' reading motivation.
Moreover, I deeply believe that teachers can make a significant difference in student success. Several studies in education, including the extensive research by John Hattie, confirm the key role of teachers.
However, considering the special status of reading compared to other school subjects, particularly its dual role as both an academic and recreational activity, the co-authors of the article and I wanted to explore the role of other social agents who are significant in students' lives, both inside and outside of school. Parents and friends were, therefore, essential agents.
IRRC: One finding of your study showed that, outside of school, autonomy and relatedness support from parents and friends contributed the most to maintaining student reading habits and motivation. What considerations should parents keep in mind regarding the reading support they provide to their children?
Daisy Pelletier: Parents should first keep in mind that no highly targeted intervention alone will effectively support their children’s motivation or reading frequency. Rather, it is a set of authentic practices to which children are consistently exposed that is likely to positively contribute to these reading variables.
When it comes to supporting autonomy in reading, parents should try to see things from their child's perspective when intervening (e.g., What does he/she want to read? Why doesn't he/she like a particular reading?). They should avoid any form of control (e.g., forcing a child to finish a book they don't enjoy) and prioritize interventions that allow the child to express their tastes and opinions.
Regarding relatedness support in reading, parents need to be aware that their own attitude toward reading can contribute to their child’s motivation and reading habits. If they read and value reading in different ways, they are contributing to what is called "literary capital," which refers to the set of family reading habits that may be adopted by the child. In other words, parents should make it a point to share reading with their child if they want them to develop a sense of belonging toward this activity.
IRRC: What is unique to the reading support that parents can contribute to their child's reading development? What is unique to the reading support that friends can contribute to their peer's reading development?
Daisy Pelletier: Considering that parents are the most "stable" social agents in students’ lives, their unique contribution lies in the consistent support in reading that they can offer their children throughout their development. This is not the case for teachers and friends, who typically change over time and even from year to year. As for friends, they are the only social agents who are not in a position of authority over their peers. Therefore, they are well-positioned to be effective "influencers" because they usually do not involve any power dynamics.
IRRC: Another finding of your study showed that secondary school students perceived receiving significantly less reading support than elementary school students. What considerations should teachers and parents keep in mind when adjusting the reading support they provide to secondary school students?
Daisy Pelletier: Teachers and parents should keep in mind that students’ needs evolve over time, and the support they provide must be adapted accordingly. To do so, they must accurately assess adolescents’ reading needs, for example, by observing them closely or regularly questioning them. Ultimately, the goal is for the support provided to adolescents in reading to meet their needs as effectively as possible.
IRRC: Have you conducted additional research on the role of teacher and parent support in reading? If so, what were some of the findings?
Daisy Pelletier: Before conducting the study discussed in this blog, we conducted a systematic narrative review of the literature that synthesizes available knowledge about the influence of teachers, parents, and friends on the motivational resources of 9- to 12-year-old students in reading. The results of this study underline the importance of considering students' psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness) to foster their reading motivation. They also highlight certain shortcomings in the literature, including (a) the scarcity of longitudinal studies, which are necessary to verify the causality between the support provided and reading motivation; (b) the scarcity of studies jointly examining the role of the teacher, parents, and friends to understand the added value of each in reading; and (c) the scarcity of studies distinguishing between academic and recreational reading.
Here is the complete reference of this study:
Pelletier, D., Gilbert, W., Guay, F., & Falardeau, É. (2022). Teachers, parents and peers support in reading predicting changes in reading motivation among fourth to sixth graders: A systematic literature review. Reading Psychology, 43(5–6), 317–356. https://doi.org/10.1080/02702711.2022.2106332
IRRC: Are you planning or currently conducting further research on this topic? What are some of the questions you are interested in answering through this research?
Daisy Pelletier: We conducted another study with the general goal of testing two conceptual models that differ based on the reading motivation context examined: academic versus recreational. More specifically, this study aims to: (a) compare the contributions of reading support from teachers, parents, and friends depending on the reading context; (b) examine whether one of the two types of motivation for reading (academic versus recreational) predicts reading success better than the other; and (c) assess whether the contributions of each social agent are equivalent at the elementary and secondary levels (e.g., is the reading support provided by parents and teachers as important for secondary school students as it is for elementary school students?). The results of this study should be published within the next year.
