REGARDING TEACHERS’ LITERARY EDUCATION: THE MISSING LINK BETWEEN NON-READERS AND FUTURE PROFESSIONALS IN SCHOOLS

In recent times, the research on the didactics of literature has opened up a significant area of discussion regarding the literary training of future teachers, particularly after the implementation of the EHEA and the recent new degrees. The importance of this trend seems obvious, since the reading and literary education of those school-aged generations will depend on their future teachers. This is not at all a trivial matter within the context of education in Spain, where scores obtained in reading comprehension tests have not been very positive.

The debate on how to face the training of future trainers in reading and literary education constitutes an area for future research where consensus has not been reached and which is not at all closed. This debate includes: firstly, the analysis of the curriculum design, aimed at understanding the prominent role granted to literary education compared to the number of credits assigned to other subjects; secondly, the delimitation of key contents for the newly created educational guides, and, thirdly, the research about the previous knowledge of learners on literature, children's literature, their conceptions about reading or the characterization of the reader.

Thus, we find ourselves facing the complex task of investigating how to teach literature, specially, children's and youth literature, to a group of learners who present a lack of knowledge in the subject and low levels of personal and voluntary reading.

Nevertheless, educators will have to teach critical reading, and transmit a passion for reading to those generations within the stages of obligatory schooling. A difficult and arduous task is that of the trainer of trainers, who should ensure the acquisition of these objectives through very few hours of university teaching.

For this reason, in this paper, first we analyze the status of literary education within higher education. Then, we provide a critical reflection about how to address the future teachers’ reading and literary education from the approach of current didactics of reading and literature epistemology.