The effects of the decline in reading literacy among young people and adults in Slovenia, as shown by various surveys (PIRLS, PIAAC), go beyond the level of moral panic that is being expressed. The issue of reading literacy is serious. It requires professional and political reflection and concrete measures to improve the situation. The publication of the first Slovenian book places us alongside much more prominent and more influential nations. Recent surveys, on the other hand, put us in the bottom half of countries where reading and literacy issues receive attention.
What can we do about it in ALE? First, we need to look at adult education and learning practices and face the truth. Have we made reading an important activity in adult learning? What and how do we read in the process of education? Are we creating a stimulating atmosphere that invites and tempts adults to read? Or do we stick to a reading list because it is there since it has to be there, but otherwise, lectures and learning from notes dominate, making them a marketable commodity among learners? Is reading really understood as an archaic practice that modern man no longer needs because of the multitude of other – simpler and more illustrative – sources of knowledge and entertainment? Or can reading be consciously and meaningfully introduced into teaching and learning practices in adult education programmes? Why is reading so important for the individual and the community? What are its effects?
These are just some of the questions we are addressing in our reading texts for adult educators, titled Images of Reading. With it, we aim to highlight and justify the many dimensions and effects of reading. We want to embed a reading culture into the culture of educational organisations and the environment in which they operate. The publication has been prepared by experts who contribute to improving the quality of reading through their work: andragogues, anthropologists, sociologists, linguists, psychologists, filmmakers and architects.
Their thinking broadens our perspective on reading, placing it in different contexts and, above all, inspiring and awakening new ideas. The key message is that reading is an automated practice for the majority of the Slovenian population because it is contextually conditioned. At the same time, it is often an activity in which we are not fully engaged and, above all, it does not lead to deeper reading. As highlighted in the Ljubljana Reading Manifesto, this lack of engagement hinders autonomous judgment, collective reflection and decision-making on important matters.
The publication consists of ten contributions, in total 66 pages of exciting reading. It is available online (in Slovenian) in the SIAE Digital Reading Room and was held in print in the spring. It was created as part of the travelling exhibition Portraits of Reading, which the SIAE organised following the October 2022 Public Idea Competition for the selection of innovative architectural and design solutions for the placement of reading in public space.
As part of the project, two additional outputs were created: a short film titled Images of Reading and an online quiz titled What type of reader are you? Both are available (in Slovenian) on the pismen.si website. The exhibition is on display at the Ljubljana City Library, and on 20 March, it was showcased at the Cultural Bazaar in Cankarjev dom. There, a round table took place on a topic of reading titled Spaces and Images of Reading.
Natalija Žalec, MAEd (UK) (natalija.zalec@acs.si), SIAE
