Learning to Love Reading:
PhD Research for Improving Teen Engagement with Reading for Pleasure
Jessica Pawley Copping | Massey University | 2022-present
5 years of teaching + 18 months of background research + 2 years of testing in an Auckland high school = 1 classroom-ready, evidence-based programme for English teachers
As reported in conference workshops for:
The International Boys' Schools Coalition (2023)
The NZ Literacy Association (2023)
The School Library Association of NZ Aotearoa (2024)
NZ Association for the Teaching of English (2025)
Auckland Association for Teachers of the English Language (2025)
What teachers & researchers already knew about literacy, reading, and teenagers; why it's super important for teens to be reading for pleasure, and the evidence that guided the development of the Learning to Love Reading programme.
An overview of the resources, activities, and schedule that helped over 100 teenage boys realise that reading wasn't actually so bad - yes, even the super sporty / "I hate reading" ones! - without an enormous investment of time, money, or a large specialist team.
What worked, what didn't, and why; what that suggests about teenagers, their brain development in the digital era. Also: Tips for teacher & parents to (re)engage your own teens with books!
About the Project
Literacy rates, especially among teenagers have been declining for years. At the same time, the number of teenagers who avoid reading has been increasing. Evidence strongly shows that students and adults who read for pleasure have higher rates of general literacy and which helps them achieve better academically, as well as a host of other benefits.
However, as many parents know, it seems almost impossible to convince teenagers to put down the smartphone and pick up a book. How can secondary school English teachers, who see them for barely an hour once a day during term time, help change teens' perceptions of reading for pleasure while keeping up with the rest of the curriculum and assessment demands?
While there are plenty of case studies that describe ways to foster a reading community across an entire school, it can be difficult to sell the idea of regular "Drop Everything And Read" sessions to science, PE, art, language, maths, and other non-English teachers. This is especially disruptive during the post-pandemic era, when teachers are trying to catch up on lost learning time, as well as adjust to the new curriculum in their own subjects.
Therefore, my doctoral thesis project used the most up-to-date evidence around learning, literacy practice, reading, and reading communities to develop a Reading For Pleasure classroom programme for NZ high school English classes. By merging the best academic research practices with the invaluable experience and knowledge of teachers in their own classrooms, the project tested, refined, and re-tested the programme to reveal what works and why.
The outcome is a set of guidelines, design principles, and examples of learning activities that other teachers and schools can use to help their teens (re)engage with reading.
The project was reviewed and approved by the Massey University Human Ethics Ohu Matatika 2, Application OM2 23/46.
What happened
2022-2023
Background research
In consultation with other English teachers, evidence and potential solutions were gathered in a literature review and research proposal was approved
2024-2025
Learning to Love Reading: The Programme
2024: The pilot programme ran in 2 x Year 9 English classes in an Auckland boys' high school
2025: The refined programme ran in 3 x Year 9 English classes in the same high school
2026
Evidence analysed & thesis written
The evidence and adjustments that were made over the 2 years are being analysed & the report is being written int he form of a doctoral thesis.
Submission for examination currently scheduled for mid-2026.
