The attribution of value to reading by first-year undergraduate pedagogy students: reflections for the teaching practice

The study analyses how first-year undergraduate students of a Pedagogy course value reading, by means of a scale which was collectively applied to 135 students, divided into 64 pupils enrolled in the daytime course and 71 pupils registered in the nighttime course. The results indicated high value attribution to reading functions, as assessed by the scale. However, differences were observed regarding both shifts: more nighttime shift participants attributed high value to functions of Escape, Stimulus, Flexibility and Utility; whereas the records of daytime shift students informed that these attribute higher value to functions of Learning, Leisure, Defined Social Targets and Self-respect. Data suggest the need for the value which is attributed to reading to be worked on by teachers' education courses, in particular by those who, by profession, will be the responsible actors for the initial education of new readers at school.