The National Centre for Reading

Our Vision

The National Centre for Reading works towards a society where everyone has proper and sufficient literacy abilities.

Our Mission

The National Centre for Reading gathers, develops and distributes knowledge about literacy. Accordingly, we collaborate with teachers and other professionals in schools as well as researchers and others developing knowledge about literacy for the benefit of the individual and society.

Focus Areas

Between 2022 and 2026 the centre will be focusing on the three following areas: general literacy skills, specific literacy skills and literacy difficulties.
Our choice of focus areas reflects our aim to secure the development of the centre’s knowledge in professionally relevant fields and to include a wide target audience.
The centre’s strategic objective is to develop and distribute literacy didactics for the benefit of children, adolescents and adults. The centre’s strategic objective is furthermore to focus on how research can support the development of existing literacy practices.

Research and Development Projects

Knowledge is acquired and developed through research and development projects. Our projects have been carried out in cooperation with university colleges, universities, schools, day nurseries, municipalities and information centres in Denmark and other Scandinavian countries. Our projects focus on both young children in day nurseries and students of all ages throughout the entire Danish educational system.

Research

Observations from daily school life form a basis for shaping our project designs. In collaboration with research and established practices, current issues concerning literacy are identified, and projects are developed in a way that prepares the ground for participants to contribute to the collective development of knowledge and new practices.
Our projects are carried out in collaboration with teachers in schools, preschools and after-school programs, advisers, researchers and lecturers.

Communication

The National Centre for Reading disseminates knowledge about literacy widely through various channels, such as www.videnomlaesning.dk, newsletters, social media, YouTube, conferences, courses and our journal, ‘Viden om Literacy’ (Knowledge about Literacy). Knowledge acquired from projects initiated by the centre as well as knowledge obtained through other methodological and theoretical fields is communicated in a way that puts emphasis on the centre’s many different approaches to working with and understanding literacy.

Background

The National Centre for Reading was established in 2006 by initiative of the Danish Ministry of Education, and it now operates in cooperation with all six university colleges in Denmark.
The centre is located in Copenhagen as part of Campus Carlsberg. Part of the centre’s operation costs are funded by the University Colleges Denmark association, while income generated from projects, conferences and consultancy covers the majority of the centre’s costs.

Our Definition of Literacy

Literacy is the human ability to decode, understand and utilise signs such as letters, numbers, diagrams, graphs, drawings and pictures. A basis for literacy is spoken language and pragmatic understanding.

How the Centre Works with Literacy

Signs and their inherent meanings are realised through communication between people, and for that reason, literacy pedagogy emphasises the importance of a communicative environment based on people’s social reality and cultural background. Children, adolescents and adults should feel like communication participants and learn that literacy will give them abilities to express individual ideas and viewpoints, as well as provide them with the competence to interpret and understand the ideas and opinions of others.

Professional Presentations

The National Centre for Reading offers professional presentations in various fields, all of which are mentioned below. Contact Head of Centre, Anna Karlskov Skyggebjerg, by email – aks@kp.dk – if you wish to learn more about the centre.