In the present study, the researcher sought to understand student perceptions of themselves as readers compared to their ideal selves as readers. This is in response to personal experience with struggling readers, as well as GADOE data showing the magnitude of the issue surrounding struggling readers at Mountain Middle School (MMS). The data collected included student drawings and accompanying interviews. Findings revealed that students placed their perceptions of self within specific classroom situations and settings, which reveals the complexity and contextual nature of perception of self as a reader. Though individual stories and experiences were unique, six major themes emerged across all narratives, including reading as an (inter)personal experience, perceived roadblocks to reading achievement and enjoyment, social comparisons of reading, student ideal selves and perfect worlds, change of reading enjoyment over time, and motivation increased with texts that participants personally deemed interesting. This study sheds light on the importance of knowing who students are as readers on a deeper level so that we can understand the contextual and self-directed aspects that shape our students’ perceptions of self.
","abstract_html":"<p>In the present study, the researcher sought to understand student perceptions of themselves as readers compared to their ideal selves as readers. This is in response to personal experience with struggling readers, as well as GADOE data showing the magnitude of the issue surrounding struggling readers at Mountain Middle School (MMS). The data collected included student drawings and accompanying interviews. Findings revealed that students placed their perceptions of self within specific classroom situations and settings, which reveals the complexity and contextual nature of perception of self as a reader. Though individual stories and experiences were unique, six major themes emerged across all narratives, including reading as an (inter)personal experience, perceived roadblocks to reading achievement and enjoyment, social comparisons of reading, student ideal selves and perfect worlds, change of reading enjoyment over time, and motivation increased with texts that participants personally deemed interesting. This study sheds light on the importance of knowing who students are as readers on a deeper level so that we can understand the contextual and self-directed aspects that shape our students’ perceptions of self.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["McWhorter, Brittany"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Education in Secondary Education - English (Ed.D)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Rachel Gaines","Dr. Darren Crovitz","Dr. Anete Vasquez"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-12-14T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-12-14T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:44:06Z","subjects":["self-perception","self-concept","struggling readers","image-based research","narrative research","humanistic theory","expectancy-value theory","Language and Literacy Education","Secondary Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/eddsmge/24","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Rachel Gaines","Dr. Darren Crovitz","Dr. Anete Vasquez"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["McWhorter, Brittany"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-01-11T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education in Secondary Education - English (Ed.D)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["self-perception","self-concept","struggling readers","image-based research","narrative research","humanistic theory","expectancy-value theory","Language and Literacy Education","Secondary Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/eddsmge/24"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In the present study, the researcher sought to understand student perceptions of themselves as readers compared to their ideal selves as readers. This is in response to personal experience with struggling readers, as well as GADOE data showing the magnitude of the issue surrounding struggling readers at Mountain Middle School (MMS). The data collected included student drawings and accompanying interviews. Findings revealed that students placed their perceptions of self within specific classroom situations and settings, which reveals the complexity and contextual nature of perception of self as a reader. Though individual stories and experiences were unique, six major themes emerged across all narratives, including reading as an (inter)personal experience, perceived roadblocks to reading achievement and enjoyment, social comparisons of reading, student ideal selves and perfect worlds, change of reading enjoyment over time, and motivation increased with texts that participants personally deemed interesting. This study sheds light on the importance of knowing who students are as readers on a deeper level so that we can understand the contextual and self-directed aspects that shape our students’ perceptions of self.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["“I Forget to Enjoy the Book”: A Narrative Analysis of Adolescents’ Perceptions of Their Real Selves and Ideal Selves as Readers"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Rachel Gaines","Dr. Darren Crovitz","Dr. Anete Vasquez"],"dc:creator":["McWhorter, Brittany"],"dc:date.available":["2024-01-11T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["In the present study, the researcher sought to understand student perceptions of themselves as readers compared to their ideal selves as readers. This is in response to personal experience with struggling readers, as well as GADOE data showing the magnitude of the issue surrounding struggling readers at Mountain Middle School (MMS). The data collected included student drawings and accompanying interviews. Findings revealed that students placed their perceptions of self within specific classroom situations and settings, which reveals the complexity and contextual nature of perception of self as a reader. Though individual stories and experiences were unique, six major themes emerged across all narratives, including reading as an (inter)personal experience, perceived roadblocks to reading achievement and enjoyment, social comparisons of reading, student ideal selves and perfect worlds, change of reading enjoyment over time, and motivation increased with texts that participants personally deemed interesting. This study sheds light on the importance of knowing who students are as readers on a deeper level so that we can understand the contextual and self-directed aspects that shape our students’ perceptions of self.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/eddsmge/24"],"dc:subject":["self-perception","self-concept","struggling readers","image-based research","narrative research","humanistic theory","expectancy-value theory","Language and Literacy Education","Secondary Education"],"dc:title":["“I Forget to Enjoy the Book”: A Narrative Analysis of Adolescents’ Perceptions of Their Real Selves and Ideal Selves as Readers"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education in Secondary Education - English (Ed.D)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:44:06Z"}