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IFLA:

Section on Reading and Section of School Libraries and Resource Centres

Literacy for Life: Promoting the Practice of Literacy, Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning

A One-day Pre-Conference Invitational Meeting at Oslo University College in Oslo, Norway, August 12, 2005

PAPERS FOR PRESENTATION AT THE PRECONFERENCE

"Make Space for Reading!" The Norwegian Strategy for Stimulating Love of Reading and Reading Skills, 2003-2007

Ellen Sundt, Senior Adviser, Directorate for Primary and Secondary Education

Brief Introduction to "Make Space for Reading!"

book cover

The Norwegian national strategy plan "Make Space for Reading!" was launched on 23 April 2003. The plan was drawn up and initiated by the Ministry of Education and Research in 2003, and will run until 2007. The background for the plan included the fact that national and international studies indicated that Norwegian pupils' reading skills were unsatisfactory.

The aims of the action plan are:

  • To improve reading skills and the motivation to read among children and youths.
  • To improve teachers' skills at teaching reading, communication of literature and use of school libraries.
  • To increase society's awareness of reading as a basis for other learning, cultural skills, quality of life and participation in working life and a democratic society.

It is hoped that over a five-year period it will be possible to record a measurable improvement in pupils' reading skills and a more positive attitude towards reading. The plan will stimulate the communication of literature. Teachers' skills shall have improved in all of these areas. This will be achieved by encouraging all schools to develop a strategy for teaching reading at all years, at the same time that collaboration with libraries is reinforced.

The action plan presents over 30 specific proposals for measures at primary, lower secondary and upper secondary school, and in libraries and colleges. The measures include activities directed at pupils, teachers and teacher's training and activities at the system level. This includes school strategy work, developing curricula, and following up national and international surveys on reading skills. This process will also include extensive collaboration and network-building between schools, between schools and colleges / research environments, and with actors outside school, like librarians, publishers and authors.

The Directorate for Primary and Secondary Education is responsible for carrying out the action plan, and funds have been allocated for this purpose. Some EUR 10 million were spent during the first three years. The county governors' education departments have been given a key role in conveying the plan's strategy and allocating the funds provided to specific projects in schools and municipalities.

International Surveys of Reading

The PISA surveys [1] in 2001 and 2003 showed that Norwegian pupils' reading skills were poorer than in many countries that it is natural to compare itself with. The studies also showed that a far greater share of Norwegian 15-year-olds than the OECD average did not read for pleasure at all, and that Norway was the country that scored the lowest on the "enjoyment of reading" index. The studies showed that girls score to some extent much better than boys. For Norway, the difference increased in the girl's favour in 2003.

Norway had the greatest variation in results related to reading in Scandinavia. This indicates that, among other things, there are significant differences between schools in Norway in terms of pupils' reading skills, and that there are major differences between the ways in which schools organize their teaching. This is disturbing in a country in which achievement of a unitary school system is a goal.

Other international studies, like PRLS 2001 [2], have presented a similar picture. The same applies to the national mapping of reading skills. These studies have created considerable concern on the part of politicians and the school sector in general. There had been work to improve reading in primary and lower secondary school, in particular, over a long period of time. It therefore was not surprising that also the public administration began to work on plans for a national effort to improve reading skills.

The Genesis of the Plan

There is a clear relationship between the PISA results and the genesis of the strategy plan "Make Space for Reading!". At the same time that the results were made public, both the Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs were aware that it was necessary to get a project going to make pupils use school libraries, and both ministries were concerned with revitalizing the collaboration between school libraries and public libraries that has been laid down in law.

Norway had also initiated a major project to offer culture at school -- Den kulturelle skolesekken (DKS) -- A National Initiative for Professional Art and Culture in Education in Norway [3] http://www.denkulturelleskolesekken.no/oversettelser/english.htm By linking "Make Space for Reading!" to DKS, there was a desire to further reinforce the communication of literature and the use of school libraries.

The ministries began the work by organizing a seminar on enjoyment of reading. Addresses were held by authors, teachers, people in the publishing industry, and other professionals. The political management of the Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs were also represented. The university and college sector, the publishing industry, the bookseller industry, the libraries and authors were widely represented. Representatives of different organizations that had long worked with promoting reading (including the !read association) participated, together with school representatives at different levels, like local authorities, school management, parents and teachers.

The political leadership of the Ministry of Education and Research then decided to draw up a strategy plan for primary and secondary education that covered reading skills, enjoyment of reading, communication of literature, school libraries, and cooperation between school and public libraries. Collaboration with the cultural sector and DKS was a prerequisite, and the Directorate for Primary and Secondary Education was involved in writing the plan, in collaboration with the Norwegian Archive, Library and Museum Authority.

There were no clear international sources of inspiration for "Make Space for Reading!". When the work began, there was knowledge of more specialized reading projects in Denmark, Sweden and the UK, through visits, etc. We do not know of any similar efforts in Europe. It would probably be more correct to say that "Make Space for Reading!" is a more of a product of Norwegian experiences, both from local work with teaching reading and enjoyment of reading, and from corresponding ventures in other fields.

The Three Faces of Reading

Creating enjoyment of reading and learning to read by reading are the key principles of the action plan "Make Space for Reading!". This is why the focus is on increasing people's literacy. This literacy can be divided into three components: reading skills, reading as a tool and reading as a cultural activity. They must all be just as important in the plan and represent "a wheel where the three elements affect each other". The goal is that focusing on all three elements of the phenomenon reading will achieve and push development forward in a mutually-reinforcing interaction.

Good reading skills are a tool for acquiring knowledge. The goal is to read to learn. In order to be able to use reading as a tool, it is important for the pupil to control his/her own reading process and determine whether the text has been understood. Good readers use different strategies when reading, depending on the text they are reading, the prior knowledge they have about the subject they are reading about, and the context of the text. It is necessary for pupils to learn study techniques and to use functional and flexible learning strategies. In our complex society, it is expected that information can be obtained from different written sources. From this perspective, also children and youths are expected to have reading abilities that enable them to participate actively in society. The English word "literacy" is another term for such skills. Information literacy will be a new field where school libraries can play a key role. School libraries and collaboration between school and public libraries will be an important area here.

Reading and use of literature can also be seen as a cultural activity. This can include conveying culture to children and youths through literature, and them participating in the cultural activity that is reading. Part of conveying culture to children and youths entails making them aware of the culture they are part of. In addition, reading in itself is an activity that is part of our culture. The work will focus on both fiction and other literature / other types of texts.

What creates enjoyment of reading? The PISA data may give some answers. First of all, the data shows that it is related to the way people read, what they read, what books and other media are available in the family, the parents' interest in books, the cultural activities parents and/or pupils participate in and, practically obviously, the teachers' role and work. On a whole, the PISA data shows that enjoyment of reading cannot be linked to one single factor – what happens at home, during the pupil's leisure time and at school affects pupils' enjoyment of reading. A key factor is the role of parents and the home. What parents do, the home's collection of books and other items, access to books, from fiction to reference books, how pupils do their homework, etc. are all factors that influence enjoyment of reading. This is an area wher there are many "Make Space for Reading!" measures; one of them specifically targets "promoting increased parental participation".

The School Library

Diagram

The school library is both a learning and cultural arena, and a tool for implementing the strategy plan. Norway is a sparsely-populated country, and primary and lower secondary schools in particular vary greatly in size. Half of the schools have so few pupils (7–80) that pupils in different years are taught together. Most pupils, though, go to schools with over 100 pupils. There are school libraries in almost all schools, and the school librarian is often a teacher. 1/3 of school librarians have completed supplementary education on school libraries. Most of the school librarians in upper secondary education have completed a full degree in library science. The school library infrastructure here is good, and the libraries are well-equipped.

The national school library statistics are part of the national library statistics and are collected by the Norwegian Archive, Museum and Library Authority. They do not provide a clear enough picture of how school libraries work, the pupils' access and how pupils and teachers use school libraries. Recommendations have been made to the ministries to let school library statistics form part of the schools' annual school statistics in order to make the link with schools and education more visible.

School libraries are part of the national and international library system, and have been incorporated into the national library review that will conclude in May 2006. The seamless library service will receive special focus in this review.

(The chapter in "Make Space for Reading!" about school libraries has been translated into English, and will be handed out at the conference. Visit: http://www.skolenettet.no/makespaceforreading

The main strategy of "Make Space for Reading!" is the difference between the sexes, brought to the fore by the general statement that boys must be taken into consideration. Finnish 15-year-olds borrow many books from libraries, but they mainly borrow from libraries other than the one at school. Norwegian 15-year-olds do not borrow many books, but they borrow books from school libraries more often than Finnish 15-year-olds. The strategy plan focuses clearly on libraries. An important question in relation to this is not only library access, but how conditions are created for library use. This is also one of the plan's key measures.

Pupils as the Target Group

The plan covers all pupils in primary and secondary education; i.e. from year 1 to year 3 of upper secondary school. This means 13 years of school. The plan focuses on boys and reading, but all groups, e.g. Sámi pupils, pupils from linguistic minorities, pupils with reading disorders, etc. are otherwise included.

The purpose of the strategy is to promote reading skills and reading motivation among children and youths. This means that pupils need:

  • systematic reading training through their entire time at school
  • help and follow-up with reading problems
  • to work with versatile, current reading material that stimulates reading experiences and reading interests, for the purpose of reflection and aesthetic activity
  • access to school libraries and knowledge of how to use them
  • to work with their own literacy through different perspectives and become aware of their own reading process
  • to help influence the selection of books and reading activities

Measures

The strategy plan contained 35 measures when it was made public in 2003. A number of measures have now been implemented, others are being continued, and several new measures have been added. The plan is dynamic and a revised edition was presented in 2005. Each measure contains specific actions, the names of the parties in charge and timeframes. The Directorate for Primary and Secondary Education will allocate funds to the actors to implement several of the measures.

Measures to Improve Reading Skills and the Motivation To Read among Children and Youths
Under this heading, the plan will directly address local authorities and schools, challenging them to systematic and methodical efforts in every year of school. It must be specified here that it is necessary to train skills systematically in order to become a good reader. There will be a great focus on developing procedures and plans for reading and teaching reading, for measures to increase enjoyment of reading, especially directed towards boys aged 13–16, and different measures to communicate literature and measures to increase the use of school libraries.

The strategic plan has a strong focus on local activity. Schools and municipalities have initiated hundreds of projects of varying size since 2003 to teach reading at all levels, to develop reading routines, to communicate literature, and to stimulate reading and use of school libraries. It is important for schools to develop lasting measures. They are therefore encouraged to draw up a reading plan that includes the pupils in all years. Ideally, not only all schools, but all local authorities should have their own plan for the work with reading.

In order to start projects and measures in this area, NOK 30 million (EUR 3.5 million) was allocated by "Make Space for Reading!" to implement measures by local authorities and at schools. This allocation of funds for local development is an important part of the strategy and will continue. Here are four examples of local work with "Make Space for Reading!" that show how local and regional authorities have taken different measures.

  • "Give Me an A" in Trysil municipality involves all of the inhabitants of Trysil -- from the first visit to the health centre to day care, school and adulthood. The Chief Municipal Officer for Cultural Affairs has gone into the breach. He attends antenatal checkups himself to tell expectant mothers how important it is for them to read to their children. The goal is for all children in Trysil to have read 500 books before they start school.
  • In Østfold county school authorities and the county library collaborate closely. There is more of a focus on boys and reading, and DKS has been brought in through a rap workshop, visiting authors and networks. They are involving the health centres and have projects with day care centres with a literary profile. Brochures on reading have been published for parents of children aged 0–6.
  • Buskerud county has chosen "How to Elevate an Entire School" at six resource schools, in several districts. The County Governor has invited primary schools to become buddy schools for these resource schools. The purpose is to focus on teaching reading at schools. A research project has been linked to this measure, and produced a DVD on enjoyment of reading, to inspire others.
  • In Rogaland county, the school authorities, libraries and DKS have joined forces to draw up a county reading plan that will be reviewed at the political level.

Literature Communication
The plan contains a number of measures related to literature communication. We can mention: "Books for All", a joint venture between the Norwegian Booksellers Association, most of the country's booksellers, and the Directorate for Primary and Secondary Education. For two years, pupils in years 6 and 7 have been given a book on World Book Day. They can choose between several popular books that have been printed especially for the occasion. Blind and visually-impaired pupils can choose an audio version, and deaf pupils a Sign language book. Sámi pupils can pick a Sámi book. The idea came from the UK and Sweden.

The !read association receives support for annual activities that involve pupils with reading and new youth literature. Next year the Young Critics Prize will be awarded. This prize follows the model of the French Prix Goncourt des lycéens, where pupils in upper secondary education read the books nominated for the annual Critics' Prize, and vote for their favourite. A number of schools and teachers are involved in this work. 2006 is Ibsen Year (100th anniversary of Ibsen's death). One of the ways in which it will be commemorated will be a "different" book on Ibsen for all pupils in upper secondary education.

Measures to Improve Teachers' Skills at Teaching Reading, Communication of Literature and Use of School Libraries
The plan outlines a number of measures to increase the use of school libraries. The use of school libraries will be incorporated into the schools' plans for reading and schools will be encouraged to draw up plans for school library development. Emphasis will be placed on activities that increase competency in the use of school libraries, increase collaboration between school and public libraries, promote the use of electronic catalogues for everyone, etc. Focus will be placed on the whole school staff receiving greater skills on library use. Following on this, different measures will also be outlined to improve the skills of teachers. This will include both teachers and preschool teachers having an expanded offer of further education and supplementary education. A study programme related to improving school library skills, with focus on knowledge of literature and communication, information literacy and use of the library in a professional context has been created.

The plan includes measures to reinforce the training of general subject teachers in the field of reading and the use of libraries, and to improve the skills of those who train teachers. Work is further being done to establish new and strengthen existing national and local networks for reading, enjoyment of reading and school libraries. A network has been established in the university and college sector for school library professional development. The network is coordinated by Bergen and Agder university colleges. They are busy bringing in other colleges and universities, sharing existing expertise both within and outside the colleges, and collaborating on curricula and study programmes.

An important measure is the establishment of the National Centre for Reading Education and Research at the University of Stavanger in 2004. The Centre will play a key role in professional development and sharing of expertise under the auspices of the action plan. The Centre will offer local authorities and schools support and guidance on their work. It will also be responsible for measures, including classroom research on the difference between boys' and girls' reading.

In the autumn of 2005 Hedmark University College will start a project to examine pupils' attitudes towards reading and how reading measures and the use of school libraries influence attitudes. The college will also implement the measure "Pupils as Reading Researchers", giving pupils an insight into their own reading practices and reading strategies.

Measures to Increase Society's Awareness of Reading as a Basis for other Learning, Cultural Skills, Quality of Life and Participation in Working Life and a Democratic Society
These include individual measures directed at day care centres and children of preschool age, including related to language development in children of preschool age and among children who speak minority languages. This is an increasingly popular area. It also includes measures to promote increased parental activity. The National Centre for Reading Education and Research will train volunteer communicators of literature, "reading owls" and continue to develop library branches in day care centres.

This area also includes measures to share information, and communication related to enjoyment of reading and the importance of reading, both directed at schools and the school world. Annual brochures, guides and material for pupils will be sent to all schools, a logo has been designed and T-shirts have been made.

Sharing knowledge and experience is an important aspect of the strategy. How do you ensure the necessary exchange of experiences from the local projects and how do the parties involved in the action plan learn from the different distribution strategies that have been chosen? The annual regional discussion and inspiration conferences are important here. A national conference is also held every year. In 2003, some 2,000 school and library workers attended the conferences. These conferences are obviously important arenas for sharing expertise. A Web site on reading has been created, and has separate menus for the plan.

Quality Assurance Measures
The final area of measures covers quality assurance. The SINTEF research environment has been given the task of evaluating the plan, in terms of strategy and measures. Their evaluation, which will follow the plan until 2008, will be drawn into the ongoing revision. SINTEF submitted its first report in May. Norwegian participation in PIRLS 2006 is mentioned, as well as Norwegian participation in PISA phase 3. It also mentions mandatory tests to map reading skills and material to map pupils with minority languages. A national school library survey will be conducted in 2006.

The final measure to be presented is research on boys and reading, an area that became key during production of the action plan, but where empirical knowledge is still lacking.

"Knowledge Promotion" -- The New School Reform

Norway has been working on a new school reform since 2003 -- "Knowledge Promotion" – which will come into force in 2006. New curricula will be introduced in all subjects and the plans will be interrelated from years 1 to 13, and between the different subjects. Reading is defined as a basic skill which can be integrated with every subject, and Norwegian will be strengthened. The expertise of school leaders and teachers will be increased, and substantial funds have been granted to local authorities.

Basic skills:

  • to be able to express oneself orally
  • to be able to read
  • to be able to count
  • to be able to express oneself in writing
  • to be able to use digital tools

"Make Space for Reading!" and "Knowledge Promotion" must be closely linked. Hopefully the strategy plan will create a good basis for implementing and fulfilling the coming reform.

The first national reading tests were held in four years in 2004–2005, an arrangement that will continue, despite a great deal of resistance against the tests.

The Goals of the Plan

The main goal of the plan is to develop and implement projects that can be continued after the action plan comes to an end. The measures outlined must therefore also be perceived as a starting point; a process that will not conclude at the end of the action plan. It is also a point that the action plan provides plenty of space for local creativity. The plan does not present a tight, detailed package of measures that is governed centrally, but outlines areas where measures must be implemented. The final design of these measures, and how they are prioritized, must therefore be a local responsibility.

The "Make Space for Reading!" action plan came into being through initiatives on the part of different actors. The library sector also played an active part during its genesis. These factors are reflected in measures and strategies. Very many of the measures focus on the cultural aspects of reading. This is also mirrored in the measures. The libraries are direct actors in 4 out of 12 measures that do not affect pupils directly.

Private organizations play a key role in the implementation of the plan as well. The !read association is an example of a private organization that was already doing important work in the area before "Make Space for Reading!". This association is currently one of the key actors in the plan.

It is important to include these actors, with their enthusiasm, and the measures that they have developed and carried out for years. They are able to reach out to the primary target group -- pupils -- in a way that schools are unable to.

One question is the extent to which actors outside school are brought into the work related to enjoyment of reading and how much room they have to operate in. How important are external actors to school practices? This is a question that must be studied in further detail.

When it comes to the role of parents, the measures here initially target the role they play on the home arena, not in relation to school.

SINTEF says the following:

"Our impression of "Make Space for Reading!" is that, despite being a plan that was initiated by the government, it has also shown great ability to incorporate feedback "from below", from a broad range of relevant actors in both the public and the private sectors. Through a process characterized by wide-ranging participation, it has managed to include important existing expertise and measures. The plan has incorporated a number of existing measures, and collected different initiatives in the area under a broad umbrella. Another effect of this broad perspective of participation on the design of the plan is that we believe that it, partly because of this, currently has good support from "users" who feel a clear sense of ownership.

What we can already see is that somewhat very different distribution strategies have been chosen in the different counties. Some people have decided to give the entire grant to one or a few large projects, in accordance with what has been perceived as a desire to focus on lighthouse projects. In other counties, a decision has been made to allocate funds to a larger number of projects, but still with focus on achieving "lighthouses" -- large, visible projects in a relatively small number of schools.

In other counties, the project funds are obviously distributed among many, somewhat very small projects, in order to promote increased activity in as many schools in the county as possible. As far as we have been able to see, no one has followed a strategy of equal distribution to all schools, but the "principle of justice" may appear to have been clearer in certain countries than others. In the beginning, the action plan emerged as a plan for primary and lower secondary education. Lower secondary schools, and upper secondary schools in particular, are underrepresented in relation to primary school projects. In many ways this reflects the situation in the field in Norway, where the focus on reading training and promoting reading clearly lies with basic reading training at primary school. It is necessary to be aware of this skewedness in the project profile.

The action plan covers many different measures, and an even larger number of specific projects, in and between schools and in libraries. Many actors on different levels are thus involved in the implementation. Some of them are public organizations and agencies.

The Directorate for Primary and Secondary Education's options for controlling and instructing participants thus vary greatly. Here it will be important to find the right balance between the need for national coordination, governmental signals, etc., and the desire to promote local initiatives and "let a thousand flowers bloom."

Future Key Challenges

  • The profile of the plan
    The focus must be on enjoyment and skills throughout the entire time at school.
  • Reinventing the wheel
    Innovation is important, but one must not be afraid to reinvent the wheel, if it will help create a better wheel.
  • Goals and achieving goals
    Constant reflection and adjustment of goals and success criteria. The main goals are not the only ones. Goal achievement can be assessed in many different ways on the way to the final goal.
  • "The entire school's responsibility"
    Solid support for the work among school management and the teaching staff at each school. Reading is an activity that not only concerns Norwegian teachers and school librarians. "Make Space for Reading!" and reading training and promotion are the responsibility of the whole school, across subjects and years.
  • The school owner's central responsibility
    School owners as inspirers and enthusiasts create structures within which one can work, contribute to building networks between schools and among schools and actors outside school, contribute to transferring expertise between schools, establishing interagency cooperation, and contribute to linking schools and college environments.
  • How to involve other actors who encounter youths in other arenas
    Work to influence attitudes outside school, possibly by other actors than those youths view as "teachers" can be at least as important as that carried out by educators. In many cases youths who talk to youths have for example a different and greater legitimacy than teachers.
  • "School work" and "homework" not as fun for everyone
    Find other "learning arenas" and other actors who can be brought into the work of raising the awareness of youths.

Central Challenges for School Libraries

Through "Make Space for Reading!", school libraries have been focused on as a necessary tool at school in the core area of reading, affecting all classes, pupils and teachers. The plan emphasizes expertise on the use of school libraries, on the part of both teachers and pupils. The professional development network contributes to sharing experience and professional development on many levels. "Make Space for Reading!" has not allocated specific funds for general school library projects. Tight municipal economies can therefore prevent schools from developing school libraries, as outlined in the plan. On the other hand, it has become clear that the development of school libraries is closely linked to the school's use of the library, as integrated into the school's everyday life. School management and teachers play a key role here.

One of the measures in the plan is to carry out a comprehensive study of school libraries in 2006. The last study in 1997 only covered primary and lower secondary school. Together with the evaluation of "Make Space for Reading!", such a study will attract attention and provide a basis for further development of school libraries. The impression is that the strategy plan has attracted more attention and measures related to school libraries and the use of public libraries than ever before. In any case, it is possible to find out about the strategy before beneficial changes have been made, what the changes consist of and if a permanent change may happen. We will have to wait and see.

[1] PISA -- Programme for International Student Assessment under the auspices of the OECD
[2] PIRLS -- Progress in International Reading Literacy Study under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)
[3] DKS is mainly funded by profits from Norsk Tipping A/S (Norway's state-owned gaming company). NOK 120 million will be spent on DKS in the academic year 2004-2005. From 2005-2006 onwards, DKS will receive NOK 160-180 million annually.

Last Updated 3 September 2005 (LAC)