«PI had my students read a literature book that explained through history how the economy works. The first thing I was asked was how many pages it has. When I answered 650, I heard only one word: out of the question…”. This answer is instantly given by a professor of Economics to the question “are your students reading “extracurricular” books today?». Of course, when we are talking about students of Science, Mathematics or Economics, it might seem reasonable not to expect to see them with a literary book in hand. But when they study Language, Philosophy, History, or Literature?
«I walked into the freshman class and found that no one had ever read an ancient tragedy. They didn’t know a single ancient tragedy to tell menarrates the Pavlos Kontos, professor at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Patras. “For today’s students, the book is something foreign, they are used to reading on the computer, or on the mobile phone or on the tablet. The book is not a part of their life, it is not something they know, that they desire, something that they lack» he says characteristically.
The fact that students do not buy books is also confirmed by the research of the Organization for the Collective Management of Speech Projects (OSDEL) regarding reading behavior, which was carried out under the scientific direction of the professor of Sociology of the University of Athens Nikos Panagiotopoulos and made public in 2024.”Students are the least intensive book buyers of any other group» is ascertained by him. The survey records an increase in readers among the younger generations, but at the same time a shift towards short-page books.
It’s all connected to the screens
«We have found that students respond well to short stories» adds o Philip Pappas, who teaches Modern Greek Literature – has taught in Ioannina, Thessaloniki, the French and Greek Philosophical School of Athens and Patras. “They read short stories easily. When we “go up” to more words, they start to have trouble. They get bored very easily. They also can’t handle even the mildest cleanser – for example, they struggle to read Vizyenos».
He remembers that as they often discuss with his colleagues, “in our student years, reading was also a way to manage boredom. You borrowed or took a book to read because you had nothing else to do. Now in the multi-distribution of the screen, the condition of absorption by reading becomes almost impossible. This is a story of 6-7 years, since cheap internet on smartphones started. We have moved into the era where everything is now connected to the screen».
Doesn’t the distance of today’s students from books and the inability to concentrate on them also create a problem in their studies? “The problem is huge, especially in demanding schoolssays Mr. Kontos. “If you can’t read a text of literature, how are you going to read Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, which is 400 pages long and you have to read every sentence of it 6 times to understand. It is very difficult».
And he conveys his experience: “I have a lesson on the philosophical concept of evil. One year I got the freshmen to read Euripides’ Medea. But when I gave them Toni Morrison’s Beloved they couldn’t read it. They did it with books of fewer pages. My experience says that it is not enough to tell them to read a book, but to help them read it, to discuss it with them, to form a group. In addition to choosing a suitable book, a context is needed until they discover the beauty of reading». The student reading groups that exist in several HEIs also work in this direction (such as Philosophy at the University of Athens). “There is a critical percentage of 5%-10% of students who organize” emphasizes Mr. Pappas.
Global phenomenon
This is of course a phenomenon that is not only Greek, it is global. It is constantly recorded in the international press with corresponding investigations from the USA and Europe. Mr. Kontos also described it to us: “Professors at Harvard, where I was last year on academic leave, had the same complaint. So are Stanford professors. They told me that they no longer dare to refer their students to the library. They post a pdf of an article instead of sending them to the library to look up a book. In a library that is magical». A professor at the University of Athens tells the same thing, with the finding that her students are not at all familiar with the pleasure of reading and that in order for them to watch something, it must have pictures and be in the form of bullets!
Because it is impossible for them to concentrate. “Concentrating on a book for too long is not easysays Mr. Kontos. “There is no simplistic answer to how to defeat this. Maybe starting with some short text, some short story, maybe even with some discussion».
The roots of the problem are in the school
It is common knowledge that the roots of the problem lie primarily in secondary education (perhaps secondarily in the family – how many families discuss a book they’ve read anymore?). With the omnipotence of the computer that puts the book in second place, the relationship with reading also changes fatally. As Mr. Kontos continues: “Instead of helping kids get back to the book, we subtly encourage them to read on the laptop. And Aristotle, Plato cannot be read on a laptop».
In the US, according to a recent EdWeek Research Center survey of 300 secondary teachers, only 17% said they mainly teach whole texts. Almost half said they combine full texts with anthologies and shorter excerpts.
As far as Greece is concerned, the decision of the Ministry of Education to introduce from this academic year the reading of entire literary works by leading Greek and foreign authors, instead of fragmentary texts (as was the case until now), is perhaps a good start for children to rediscover the reading.
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