A Qualitative Study Based on the Reading-life Histories of Future Teachers

Abstract

One of the tools that have been used in research on literary education is what are known as reading-life histories or the reading autobiography. In this paper we will offer an analysis and some reflections on the different ways these can be used, by drawing on a sample of histories collected from students training to be teachers since the implementation of the new university curricula within what is known as the European Bologna process. The findings from this analysis open up a range of possibilities in research and innovation in literary training. Based on their previous experiences and recollections as readers, such narratives provide us with important information not only about their reading habits both in their personal lives and at school, but also about their social and affective conceptions and perceptions regarding reading and literature. The reading experiences of future teachers, together with their capacity to make the contact with literary texts in the classroom more dynamic, are some of the challenges looming on the horizon that they will have to deal with in the near future.