Teacher Perspectives on the Practice of Teacher Read Alouds in Senior Classes of Primary School, to form part of Students’ Literacy Learning Experiences

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation was to explore the extent to which the practice of the teacher reading aloud is evident in senior classes of primary schools in Ireland. It endeavoured to gain an insight into the motivations, benefits, and possible challenges of implementing this practice. A mixed-method data collection approach was applied with online questionnaires (n=27) and semi-structured interviews (n=2). Results indicate that all respondents read aloud to their students at varying levels. Modelling good reading, language development opportunities and fostering a love of reading were the primary benefits, with finding a suitable book as the most prevalent challenge to the practice.