Engaging Children in Reading Activity through Collaboration in a Japanese Elementary School: An Activity-Theoretical Case Study

Abstract

In Japanese schools today, efforts to improve teaching and to promote reading involve educators designing and implementing unit-based instruction that will engage children in coherent and purposeful reading activities for problem-solving. This chapter focuses on activity-based reading instruction and strategies to create an engaging context for promoting greater reading engagement and aspiration in a Japanese elementary school. This new form of learning activity is conceptualised using the framework of cultural-historical activity theory. The theory highlights ideas and tools for transforming activities and expanding participants’ agency. In order to determine whether classroom interaction and collaboration can help children in developing reading motivation and engagement, this chapter analyses promising activity-based reading instruction in a Japanese municipal elementary school. In particular, this chapter examines the impact of the Japanese school culture of instruction on the school’s collective activity system. It is an instructional culture wherein children actively participate as they learn to read productively while being assisted by their teachers to work towards deeper reading engagement and higher levels of aspiration.