Student Voices on Reading Mediation: Primary Students’ Preferences for Teachers’ Practices and Texts Across Subjects in the South of Chile

Students’ reading preferences and voices are increasingly relevant for informing teaching practices and strengthening students’ motivation and engagement with reading, thus making their reading experiences meaningful. However, in Chile, there is still little evidence regarding the reading preferences and perspectives of primary school students. Therefore, this study analyzes students’ preferences and perceptions of the texts assigned by their teachers, as well as the pedagogical practices for reading mediation applied across various subjects in the La Araucanía Region of southern Chile. To this end, using a qualitative, multiple-case study design, we conducted 9 discussion groups on reading mediation and discourse genres with 96 students in grades 3–6, each connected to one of 6 outstanding teachers. Thus, we applied an inductive content analysis, constructing categories through initial coding, focused coding, and interpretive analysis, all of which underwent triple review and calibration by team members. The findings show that, in general, students value the support and scaffolding their teachers provide to facilitate reading, comprehension, and participation. However, they express a desire for greater agency in selecting texts and for more opportunities to engage in dialogue around these texts, especially in subjects other than Language Arts. These results highlight the importance of reading mediation across subjects, including student text selection and dialogic interaction, to promote motivation and sustained reading practices in primary education.