Jenny Holder, Reading Coordinator – Liverpool Learning Partnership
Student voice and participation should be at the heart of Reading for Pleasure. Professor Teresa Cremin’s research and the Reading for Pleasure initiative at The Open University highlight the importance of having a deep understanding of the children you work with and their reading habits. One way to find more information about children’s reading practices is by encouraging pupil voice.
In 2007, Professor Laura Lundy introduced a model for children to express their views, aligning with Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Lundy’s model identifies four key factors for pupil participation:
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Space: Children must be given safe, inclusive opportunities to form and express their views.
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Voice: Children must be facilitated to share their views.
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Audience: The view must be listened to.
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Influence: The view must be acted on, as appropriate.
In the context of Reading for Pleasure, schools can use Lundy’s model to create welcoming environments where students feel comfortable sharing their views on books. Possible strategies include forming small reading groups, using suggestion boxes or boards, and conducting regular reading surveys. However, what should be underlying all these opportunities is an understanding that the children’s views will not only be listened to, but will be valued and acted upon in a meaningful way.
A school that understands its pupils' reading habits can better tailor library stock and reading options to their needs. Conducting surveys, focus groups, or even taking pupils to a local bookshop to choose and purchase the books for themselves increases their investment in reading and enthusiasm for new titles and genres. Engaging students in book selection gives them a sense of ownership and acknowledges them as active participants in their education.
For this to have a real impact, teachers and senior leaders must actively listen to students and integrate their input into decisions. Children should be able to see tangible results of their feedback, such as new book purchases tailored to their preferences, more reading groups, or author events. This process should be cyclical, allowing pupils to evaluate changes and suggest future improvements.
To capture pupil voice on diversity in children’s literature, Liverpool Learning Partnership organised a Representations Mini-Conference. This event aimed to gather student feedback on whether the books in their school libraries reflected the realities of modern life and to help students to talk to the staff attending the conference with them about the types of texts they want to see featured in their school.
The children enjoyed the opportunity to meet and listen to two authors talk about their work in terms of Dr Rudine Sims Bishop’s analogy of books as ‘mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors’. This had a particular impact on the young people’s awareness of the representation of marginalised groups in books, with one pupil stating, “Today really made me think.”
The children carried out a Book Blanket activity, exploring a wide range of diverse texts. By the end of this workshop, the teachers had developed long lists of books or types of texts that the children wanted to get for the libraries. Children expressed a desire for stories that they could see themselves in, as well as stories that introduced them to different perspectives, stating that they wanted their schools to feature a more diverse range of texts. One child said, “I’ve never seen a same-sex family in our library books” whilst another said, “We should have more books written by Black authors in our school”.
More Than Minutes created a wonderful reflection of the day that captured the voice of the young participants and allowed their views to be shared with senior leaders and decision-makers following the event.
We used Lundy’s model to try and maximise opportunities for students to express their views and to facilitate conversations around books and reading practices. The event effectively addressed all four elements of Lundy’s Model:
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Space: Provided safe and inclusive group settings for expression.
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Voice: Facilitated opportunities for students to share their views through discussions and creative workshops.
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Audience: Ensured that feedback was presented to school librarians, teachers and senior leaders in schools.
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Influence: Led to actionable changes in book selections, with new diverse titles added to school libraries, directly reflecting student input.
Lundy's model focuses on the importance of providing safe spaces for expression, facilitating student voices, and ensuring that their view is relayed to the decision-makers and acted upon. This model can be used by schools and other organisations to effectively develop environments where students are empowered to share their perspectives on book choice, their own reading journey and the reading offer available in the setting. This will establish a culture where students feel valued and respected as active participants in shaping their reading experiences.