Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Shared Reading (SR) is a communal well-being intervention in which a literary text is read aloud and discussed in a group. A form of emotion-centred close reading, SR emerged as a reaction against elitist academic norms and was developed in an attempt to emotionalise and democratise literary study by moving it outside of the confines of the university. This theoretical essay argues that humanities and social science lecturers might benefit from introducing SR praxis into their classes. Each section analyses an aspect of SR through emotionally engaged (hooks, Palmer), relational (Hickey, Riddle, Gravett), and critical (Freire) pedagogical and theoretical lenses, arguing that SR serves many of the aspirations of these pedagogies. I then consider how SR might be implemented in an academic setting and the kind of adaptations that might be necessary. This essay is a thought experiment which I hope will lay the groundwork for a more sustained and applied experiment in SR. Throughout, I argue that infusing SR into university settings has the potential to positively benefit student well-being and academic performance.
DOI: 10.56230/osotl.149
Author: Bert Carlstrom
Institution: Queen Mary University of London
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7224158644