Teachers as Readers: An Extension of the \u27Impact of Reading\u27 Survey

Do teachers have a responsibility to help students to develop positive attitudes about reading? The idea that teachers can and should play a major role in the development of students\u27 reading habits and interests has never been seriously questioned. In fact, most reading methods texts and many journal articles repeatedly stress this aspect of teachers\u27 responsibilities. Interests do not grow in a vacuum ... the teacher\u27s task, then, is not only to feed the interests the child already possesses but to open up new avenues of interest and opportunity (Strickland, 1957). Developing permanent interests in reading must be the goal of every teacher regardless of the particular subject she (sic) may be teaching (Barbe, 1963)