Conceptions about reading of teachers of public schools in Araucanía, Chile : How are their reading profiles?

Abstract

Reading levels in primary school students are still deficient in Chile and the Araucanía region. Similarly, there is evidence that teachers’ literacy practices are homogenous and their reading habits have an impact on the promotion of student reading. Therefore, the objective of the present investigation is to identify and analyze the conceptions about the reading of teachers in the exercise of the Araucanía region. Regarding the methodology, the design was descriptive and quantitative, the sample was representative and was composed of 18 urban public schools of the most populated cities of the Araucanía, to whose teachers (n = 338) of different disciplines were applied a questionnaire of validated reading conceptions to reveal their reading profiles. Among the results, it was identified that teachers present reproductive and epistemic conceptions simultaneously with the predominance of the latter. Likewise, it was found that teachers with an epistemic profile show greater reading pleasure and are linked to the Language subject, while those with higher reproductive profiles read for practical reasons. Finally, recommendations to the conceptual change of the conceptions are provided, to help raise the quality of the teaching practices.