Marco de aplicación

The fact of belonging to a group of readers was in itself seen as beneficial, by group leaders and by young people themselves. They commented on the strong sense of community evident in their groups and also, interestingly, on the importance of a ‘safe space’ to talk about books.

8.4.1 A sense of belonging

Shadowing groups were widely seen as relaxed and friendly environments, where young people could meet peers from different classes and/or different years:

They are meeting other kids who they wouldn’t normally meet. (Group leader interview)

It gives you a chance to work with people you probably wouldn’t otherwise, like from different years and that. (Group member interview)

The idea of ‘community’ is reflected more explicitly in the following observation from a student who, whilst he has now left the school, had been a regular shadowing group member for many years and came back one lunchtime to join in the discussions:

It gave a great sense of community because if you read books you often read on your own, and the Carnegie Medal – it gave a sense of community in a group, and we could come along and share ideas and discuss the books, and because we are of different opinions, [whether] we think the books are good and whether they are bad and we can just compare the opinions and chat about them basically.

In some groups, meetings include competitive activities, games etc, and these were seen as motivating by the leaders. However there did not appear to be any element of

competitiveness between the young people in terms of who had read the most books. In most groups it was clear that there were some people who had read a number of the titles but this was not highlighted as a particular strength. A strong sense of collaboration was

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observed within the groups. In one group meeting, for instance, a girl said she had finished a book and did not have anything to read. The group leader did not have any titles available that the girl had not already read – these were all out on loan to others in the group – but a boy in the group, quickly and without any prompting, offered the book he was about to start and took the one the girl had just finished so that she could start reading straight away.

The sense of belonging was strengthened by the use of the shadowing site, where groups posted photos and reviews of books. This afforded a group identity and whilst groups used the website differently, many had a photo of their group and viewed this positively. Group leaders pointed to the wider appeal of belonging to a national scheme that went beyond local school-based activities – for instance:

It is just nice for them to feel that it is something outside of the school – it takes the library a little bit outside of the school in a very loose way, but it is just, it is nice to be part of something that is not just within the Academy, like on the shadowing site it is nice to do the blogs and the reviews.

In addition, the events organized by some groups to meet authors or judges (referred to in Chapter 7) contributed in a very positive way to group members’ sense of connection to a wider community:

…and we got to meet judges, meet – some of the authors came in, guest speakers and it was very enlightening because it’s easy to get drawn in when you read a book and imagine in your head … meeting other people and hear what they have to say about it is fascinating.

8.4.2 A safe environment for reading and readers

An associated theme to feeling a sense of belonging to a group is that of being with fellow readers who enjoy and want to enjoy a discussion of books:

It’s like being with other people that love books as much as me. So yeah, I kinda like fit in.

There was evidence that some of the young people saw themselves as not being part of the ‘in crowd’ in school more widely. They thus welcomed the shadowing group as a space where they could read without being teased or distracted and where they could be open about their pleasure and engagement in reading:

People will judge you if you say ‘Oh have you read this book?’ They will say ‘Oh you are so boring, why are you reading all of these books?’ But coming here, it gives you an opportunity to discuss books that you wouldn’t usually discuss elsewhere.

There was further evidence that reading was not viewed as one of the ‘cool’ activities in some secondary schools, despite the hard work of librarians in trying to create a wider reading culture. Young people commented that reading was sometimes disparaged by their peers in school, as in the following extract from a group interview:

A: I think it is quite hard to find a place to go and read because it gets quite noisy in the library.

B: And if you go and sit on the field people take it as, see it as - C: ‘boffin’

B: Yeah, ‘boffin’.

B: You are being a geek if you sit and read because you are not doing what everyone else is doing, because they promote, round here they like, they like big up all the sports, if you don’t do that then you sit and read, even if you sit and do your

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homework on the field they will call you a ‘boffin’ because you are doing it in school.

I: How do you handle that, because you are readers? A: I just ignore it.

Sev: Yeah

A: I had umm, we were allowed to revise for our exam in English yesterday and umm and I instead sat on the field and read outside, and it was like they try to distract you because they think it is funny that you are reading, because they don’t, because you are –

B: like different

A: Yeah, like a minority

The perception that discussing books was not a ‘cool’ thing to do in school was also recognized by group leaders, who noted that for the young people discussing books with friends outside the shadowing scheme was not always an option unless they were prepared to be seen as ‘geeks’ or ‘boffins’:

Sometimes I think even if you’re in a top set that culture in the classroom might not exist where you can sit and rave on about your favourite books ’cos there’ll always be one or two people in the class who are like – oh that’s a bit geeky em whereas here they’re quite secure and feel quite safe about you know being passionate about something that they’re reading…

Umm I would say generally, I would say there is quite a lot of negativity towards reading and if you are a reader then you are a bit of a boffin – that term ‘boffin’ comes up quite a lot.

Several participants mentioned the idea of shadowing as a ‘safe environment’, where young people had ‘an opportunity to have a voice’ which they might not have in the classroom due to the potential for negative peer reactions and judgments:

… it is very good for them to feel comfortable enough to talk about their feelings about books and reactions to books with their peers, […] and in this sort of sheltered environment where they know nobody is going to be nasty to them, or laugh at them, you know it is very supportive, umm, you can practise it. [talking about books] The reading group is safe, a lot of the time, the students see it as being quite safe. It’s almost like there is no bullying, […] the kids don’t allow each other to speak to each other in an horrendous way and they are very responsible young adults […] so that freedom of speech that we have got in the group I suppose allows students to feel safe, which doesn’t always occur in a classroom.

The supportive nature of the shadowing environment was seen not just in how the young people voiced their opinions, but also though the ways in which they were encouraged by their peers. While there was no formal pressure to finish books fellow-readers often encouraged others wavering over a book they themselves had enjoyed (e.g. ‘it gets better afterwards’, and ‘more and more happens’ – in this case the waverer agreed to continue reading!).

A strong sense of involvement in a community is, then, a significant aspect of shadowing, enhancing young people’s participation and, more generally, their enjoyment of reading.

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