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The Young People's Reading Project

'The Young People's Reading Project' is a PhD project led by Charlotte Webber. It seeks to understand the reasons for the drop-off in reading motivation that occurs during the teenage years

Teenagers legs dangling over graffitied wall

About the research project

'The Young People's Reading Project(this link will open in a new window)' seeks to understand why many young people feel less motivated to read for pleasure during their teenage years.

The research project is helping to guide the development of our programmes and resources for teenagers. It is also informing our approach to tackling the teenage reading motivation drop-off and help us encourage young people to continue reading throughout their teenage years and beyond.

We have a panel of young people from three schools in Scotland who have been working with us on the project – Teagan, Harry, Emily, Ava, Hannah and Sofia have been helping us understand the best ways of working directly with young people. Together we conducted interviews with over 45 teens in Scotland, which has helped us gain a more rounded understanding of young people's reading experiences and how these affect their reading habits, attitudes and motivation. This study of teenage reading motivation is one of the first of its kind to use insights from teenagers themselves and will significantly impact this area of academic research.

Partners

The project is a collaboration between Scottish Book Trust, the University of Edinburgh(this link will open in a new window) and the University of Dundee(this link will open in a new window), funded by SGSSS(this link will open in a new window).

Research contacts

Charlotte Webber's headshot'
Charlotte Webber
PhD researcher in teenage reading
Katherine Wilkinson's headshot'
Katherine Wilkinson
Head of Research and Evaluation

Find out more about the project on the University of Edinburgh Literacy Lab website(this link will open in a new window) and in our articles from lead researcher Charlotte Webber.