Teacher Agency and Reading Competency Development in Students

The research focuses on the development of reading competency in students from the standpoint of teacher agency. The importance of this article is justified by the function of reading as a key learning and academic achievement skill, as well as the fact that Russian pupils continue to do poorly in text reading and comprehension. The authors present a reading competency framework for general education that consists of five components: 1) reading ability; 2) high reading motivation; 3) ability to work with a book, basic reading skills (information search and analysis; text comprehension and interpretation; assessment of content and form); 4) extensive reading experience and desire to read extracurricular books; 5) willingness and ability to discuss what has been read orally and/or in writing. The researchers identify the teacher’s role in the development of each of the five components in general school children. It is demonstrated that a teacher with advanced agency skills shows a consistent interest in the development of students’ reading competency (motivational component); has relevant knowledge about the content of this competency and the methods of its development, teaches students book-working techniques (cognitive component); and enriches the classroom and school life with exciting reading activities (behavioural component).