In 2019, the Region of Tuscany made a proposal to INDIRE regarding a scientific collaboration (Renewal agreement of 4.8.2020 with prot. no. 23125) with the Region of Tuscany, the USR [Ufficio Scolastico Regionale – Regional School Department] of Tuscany, the University of Perugia (FISSUF) which has ownership and scientific responsibility, and CEPELL. The scope of the collaboration was to promote a research project aimed at studying the effects of the teacher reading aloud as a daily practice in 0-6 age groups and in each grade of school, and to integrate the practice of reading aloud progressively throughout the Tuscan education system.

Within the framework of the annually renewed agreement, INDIRE carried out an investigation on the effects of the project on teaching, on the skills (linguistic, expressive and relational) and on the attitudes of the class group, in the light of the studies on the effects of reading aloud in relation to the cognitive, emotional, expressive and relational skills of children and adolescents.

Objectives

• To investigate the effects of introducing daily reading – aloud and silently – on the teaching practice and organisation of the school.
• To investigate the effects of introducing daily reading – aloud and silently – on the climate in the classroom, on language-expressive and relational skills and on the attitudes of the class group.
• To have an impact on the quality of the educational experience of students by promoting reading as an educational-didactic practice aimed at improving the cognitive, emotional, expressive and relational skills of children and adolescents.

Research questions

• What impact does introducing daily reading – aloud or silently – have on the educational and didactic practice of teachers of all grades and disciplines?
• How does reading aloud and silently affect the development of language, expressive and relational skills and the attitudes of students?
• How and under what conditions can reading aloud be introduced in the various grades of school?

Recipients

Primary school teachers and educators working in the provinces of the Region of Tuscany.