Elementary Education Pre-Service Teachers' Attitudes Toward Reading

Abstract

This study investigated the self-reported reading attitudes of pre-service teachers enrolled in a children’s literature course at the university level. The Mikulecky Behavioral Reading Attitude Measure (MBRAM) was administered to 136 pre-service teachers enrolled in children’s literature courses in universities in the southeast United States. Their attitudes toward reading were surveyed at the beginning of the course and then again at the end of the course to note changes. The research questions that served to focus the study were: (1) Do preservice teachers become more positive in their attitude toward reading after completing a course in children’s literature? (2) Do preservice teachers become more positive toward reading on the Valuing subscale after completing a course in children’s literature? (3) Do preservice teachers differ in attitude change as a function of sex? (4) Do preservice teachers differ in attitude change as a function of age? The data regarding questions were analyzed using SPSS 12.0.1 and 15.1. Variances and relationships that could cause variance in the scores are discussed in detail. The findings show that completion of a course in children’s literature does increase the reading attitudes of pre-service teachers.