In an increasingly digitized and often chaotic world, reading provides meaning and guidance to children and young people. However, technology does not eliminate reading, but rather changes its form of presentation and can even be a motivational factor for reading if it is intelligently integrated into the act of reading. The role of motivating students to read, regardless of the form of presentation of the text, and of cultivating their enjoyment of reading, falls to teachers. Teachers can play a very important role in developing motivation to read (Gambrell, 1996; Guthrie, 2008), but in order to motivate students, they themselves should be role models as readers, demonstrating in class that they enjoy reading and sharing their love for it (De Neaghel & Van Keer, 2013). Awareness of the importance of reading in the development of children and young people (Stutz et al., 2016; Wigfield et al., 2016) must begin with initial teacher training programs for primary and preschool education (Chen et al., 2024; Green, 2025).

Future teachers must be educated in the spirit of promoting reading as a formative, attractive experience adapted to contemporary realities, not just as a compulsory teaching tool. They need to understand the role of reading in children's cognitive, emotional, and social development, as well as acquire skills to stimulate intrinsic motivation for reading from an early age. In this way, teachers can become authentic role models for readers, capable of creating an educational climate in which reading is not perceived as an obligation, but as a source of pleasure, knowledge, and personal development. Through such an approach, schools can make a decisive contribution to the development of competent, critical, and autonomous readers who are prepared to face the challenges of a constantly changing society.

Research investigating the motivation and reading practices of teachers or future teachers reveals that reading does not occupy an important place in their lives. Few teachers read frequently for personal and/or professional reasons (Applegate & Applegate, 2004; Benevides & Peterson, 2010; Cremin, Bearne, Mottram & Goodwin, 2008; Tenti-Fanfani, 2005; Larrañaga & Yubero, 2005; Vera Valencia, 2017) and rarely use libraries (Cremin et al., 2008; Marchesi & Miret, 2005; Romero, 2007). In the European context, a study of future Spanish teachers (Granado & Puig, 2014) concluded that 65% of respondents read less than the national average and that 88.6% bought fewer books than the national average. The researchers considered these figures worrying, especially since most participants were between 14 and 24 years old.

Romanian students perform below the OECD average in reading literacy: about 42% fail to reach the baseline level (Level 2), while only ~2% achieve high performance levels (5 or 6) (OECD, 2025). These results highlight persistent challenges in developing functional reading skills compared to other European countries.

Polish students perform above the OECD (2022) average in reading, with about 78% reaching at least Level 2 and ~9% achieving high performance (Levels 5–6), indicating stronger literacy outcomes than many European peers.

In this context, our study aims to investigate the intrinsic reading motivation and reader profiles of pre-service primary and preschool teachers from two universities in Romania and one in Poland, based on the following general research question: Are future primary and preschool teachers intrinsically motivated to read and frequent readers?

Comparing Romania and Poland provides valuable insights into how post-communist countries implement educational reforms and shape literacy outcomes: Poland consistently ranks above the OECD average in PISA assessments, reflecting successful reforms in school structure, teacher training, and equity measures (OECD, 2022), while Romania faces challenges such as low student performance and high early school leaving rates (OECD, 2025). 

Using a quantitative, non-experimental, comparative, and correlation design, we aimed to answer specific research questions and verify the research hypotheses developed: How motivated are future primary and preschool teachers to read? What is the dominant type of reader among future primary and preschool teachers? We asserted the following assumptions: There are significant differences in the motivation to read among pre-service teachers, depending on their year of study. There are significant differences in the motivation to read among pre-service teachers in Romania and Poland. There is a link between the type of reader and the motivation to read among pre-service teachers. There is a link between the age of pre-service teachers and their motivation to read. Instrument A questionnaire was used to assess the reading habits of pre-service teachers, from which we identified the type of reader (Larrañaga & Yubero, 2005) and a scale measuring intrinsic motivation for reading (OECD, 2010), with 11 items and four response points. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient indicated by the authors of the scale is α= .92, which is very good. In the context of applying the instrument in two different countries, its reliability was verified by analyzing internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient). Thus, α= .89 was obtained for the Polish context and α= .77 for the Romanian context, which indicates good consistency of the scale used for both contexts. Procedure The study received approval from the West of University from Timisoara, under approval number UVT2026-003767/26.01.2026. Data collection was carried out using an electronic questionnaire in Google Forms format. A total of 227 students specializing in primary and preschool education from three universities responded to the questionnaire sent via the platform, namely 57 (20.6%) from the West University of Timișoara; 68 (24.5%) from „Babeș-Bolyai” University in Cluj-Napoca, and 152 (54.9%) from Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa, Poland. In total, 125 (45.1%) students from Romania and 152 (54.9%) from Poland participated. The average age of the participants is M= 25.77, and the youngest participant is Min= 18 years old and Max= 54 years old. The statistical analyses performed focused on comparative and correlational analyses, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Spearman's correlation, and Mann-Whitney U.

The results do not show statistically significant differences in intrinsic motivation for reading, depending on the year of study. Differences were found between the two countries, in the sense that future teachers in Romania scored higher on intrinsic motivation for reading than those in Poland. A significant link was also identified between the type of reader and the intrinsic motivation for reading among future teachers. The relationship is positive, highlighting that a frequent reader is more intrinsically motivated than a non-reader. The relationship between age and motivation for reading is negative but statistically insignificant. As a result of interpreting the collected data, we also obtained answers to the research questions: the dominant type of reader is the occasional reader; therefore, most readers are occasional readers, followed by non-readers, and the fewest are frequent readers, which indicates a low level of intrinsic motivation. Given the results of the study, which reveal that there are few frequent readers among pre-service teachers, we consider it appropriate to implement training programs that include modern strategies for motivating reading. Considering the major role of teachers for primary and preschool education in cultivating children's motivation to read, they should be role models for reading, demonstrating in class that they enjoy reading and sharing their love for it. Starting to read early is important for students because it predicts literacy experience throughout life. Students who start reading at an early age are more likely to read more over the years. (Cunningham, Stanovich, 1998) Therefore, it is important for teachers to provide all children with as many reading experiences as possible. In future research, we may consider examining how cultural, institutional, and personal factors influence reading motivation. Such research could provide useful information about effective teacher education practices and support lifelong literacy development in both contexts.

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