Books in the lives of future teachers: The relationship between professional value attitudes toward reading and actual reading practices of Education undergraduates

Introduction. Despite the recognition of books and reading as significant means of personal and professional development, the actual reading practices of students at pedagogical universities are characterized by insufficient intensity, which underscores the need to study the relationship between the professional and value‑based attitude of future teachers towards reading and their actual reading practices. The goal of the study is to identify the relationship between the professional and value‑based attitude of future teachers towards books and reading and the characteristics of their actual reading practices. Materials and Methods. The research methodology is based on examining the reading culture of future teachers as a combination of a value‑based attitude towards books and reading and the actual characteristics of reading practices. An empirical study was conducted using the online survey among undergraduates majoring in Education at Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University (n = 123), which included an assessment of the professional significance of reading, the frequency and intensity of reading, the preferred book format, genre preferences, motives and goals of reading, as well as factors hindering regular engagement with literature. Descriptive statistics methods were used to process the data: calculating absolute and relative frequencies, determining average values on a five‑point Likert scale, and conducting a comparative analysis of the results from various thematic blocks of the questionnaire. The interpretation of open‑ended responses was carried out using qualitative analysis. Results. The authors identified a discrepancy between the high professional and value‑based assessment of reading and the insufficient intensity of students’ actual reading practices. The statement that reading fiction is an integral part of a teacher’s professional self‑development received an average rating of 4.2 out of 5; however, 53.1% of respondents read between 1 and 4 books per year, while only 8.2% read daily. A strong preference for the printed format has been identified: 55.8% of students choose exclusively paper books, and another 22.1% use printed publications more often than electronic ones. The main motives for reading are entertainment and relaxation (61.1%) and self‑education and broadening one’s horizons (30.1%), while the main obstacle is the lack of time due to the academic workload (50%). Conclusions. The authors conclude that there is a discrepancy between future teachers’ awareness of the professional significance of books and reading and the regularity of their own reading practices. The identified discrepancy allows us to consider the development of sustainable reading practices as an important area of teacher education.