Magalí Homs: “If you're a teacher, you should spend your life reading books.”

BarcelonaSince 2010, FLIC, the children's and youth literature and arts festival, has opened its doors each year to a literature-filled haven within Barcelona's Disseny Hub. The Tantágora association team, led by Magalí Homs, is doing everything possible to spread the reading habit with storytelling, shadow puppetry, costumes, and discovery spaces for children. FLIC, which takes place on March 22 and 23 (from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.), seeks to instill a passion for literature in babies, children, and young people, while working with teachers and cultural facilities to promote reading.

This year, FLIC celebrates its 15th anniversary. How has the festival changed?

— In the same way that society has changed. At the festival, we strive to adapt and understand the cultural environments in which we operate, researching and reflecting on them. When we started, virtually the entire audience was families with children between 7 and 9 years old. Now, the audience ranges from 5-month-old babies to 14-year-olds. There's a growing interest in the festival, and we've responded to this by creating three spaces: for children 0 to 5 years old, for children 6 to 11 years old, and for children over 12 years old.

Does literature enter homes earlier?

— Families who now have children and come to FLIC have consumed a lot of culture and are aware of it. On the other hand, there is tremendous pressure regarding the reading situation in our country. Families believe that the earlier reading begins, the better.

Is it a belief or a certainty?

— The truth is that if we've always been around literature at home, whether oral or written, our children will likely enjoy reading more than ever, because the joy of reading is triggered by having fun with books. What's not a certainty is that the earlier they start reading, the better readers they'll be. Decoding the code takes time, and if we rush it, children can end up hating reading.

What is the biggest change you have seen in families in these 15 years?

— There's a significant paradigm shift starting at age seven or eight. It's a time when families are more driven by their children's sports schedules, and this is very noticeable. Previously, the turning point in children's cultural consumption was at age 12. Now, it starts at age 8, because if they play a sport, it's much more difficult to consume cultural content outside the home on weekends.

What impact do new parenting models have on promoting reading habits?

— We're all more polarized. You're either more of a fan of one method, or you're more of a fan of another. There are three broad groups: those who are old-school, those at the extreme where the child chooses everything, and the thick middle, who do what they can. In schools, since the FLIC came into existence, we've moved from the traditional method to project-based methods. Now everything is being reorganized; it's necessary. In reading, there are steps to follow. It's necessary for schools to have a reading practice of decoding the code for a few minutes each day, as well as strategies to promote reading; it's necessary to find a balance between the two. This had been left undone.

What are the keys to fostering the reading habit?

— One of the key elements, both at home and at school, is to constantly have oral and written literature on the table, but without making it mandatory. At school, there should be times to read for the sake of reading. Children should have the right to put down a book halfway through, to read comics or manga by the bucketful if they like. This must coexist with learning, with knowing how to read and understand what we read.

What's up with the manga?

— There's a lot of pushback from parents and teachers. If they have a student who reads manga like crazy, they'll never be encouraged in front of the class. They often let them choose the books, but manga is left out, when perhaps through this genre they could develop a love of reading. Some parents refuse to buy manga for their children when, as with all books, there are good ones, average ones, and bad ones.

What strategy should we follow at home to encourage reading?

— I'm a big believer in always reading for pleasure, although sometimes it's not possible because your child needs someone to review. But it's important that there never be a shortage of books at home and that reading not be forced on them. Just as there's no set time for sums, we shouldn't set a time every Sunday for everyone to pick up a book and read for an hour. This is very counterproductive.

A few years ago, a campaign by the Generalitat (Catalan government) became popular that said, "If you read, they read." Is this true?

— There are parents who are avid readers and are deeply frustrated because their children never read. They think, "What's going on? I'm just doing what I was told to do." First, I recommend they relax and, above all, instead of blaming their children, take the opposite approach. When the child picks up a book, let's ask them what it's about, read it ourselves, and discuss it together. It's not about emphasizing what the children aren't doing, but rather what they are reading. There are also families without avid readers who produce children who are avid readers. There are no exact rules.

There are two storms brewing over schools: the drop in the PISA report (Last year Catalonia obtained the worst results in history) and The discredit of the profession combined with a system under stress due to social realityWhat do we do with all this?

— We're starting to be more demanding at all stages of education. From high school on, young people are very clear that they won't repeat a year, even if they don't try hard. This causes standards to drop. We need to act en masse, which means making many changes at many educational levels. The cut-off mark for the Education degree needs to be raised, and if spelling mistakes are made in the first quarter of the first year of their degree, they're out. Until relatively recently, literature was an optional subject. If you're a teacher, you should spend your life reading books, recommending them, and telling stories. Teachers' salaries and the financial and staffing levels in schools need to be improved. Reception classrooms need to be increased.

How do teachers relate to school libraries?

— At FLIC, we run a program, Literary School, that advises teachers on how to change their daily practice in relation to literary mediation. Many teachers don't use the school library because they feel overwhelmed. They don't know what books exist, they aren't readers, and they don't understand the library's organization system. There's only one teacher in the entire school who knows how to do it.

The content of children's and young adult literature has also evolved. Where are we at?

— I'm worried. In recent years, there has been a dramatic paradigm shift in society, culture, and education. The pendulum has swung from one side to the other. We came from inheriting books with all the -isms. This was rejected, and now a lot of recipe books are being produced.

What is a recipe book?

— "My son's grandmother died. Do you have a book to talk about grief? My daughter fell out of love for the first time. I need a book that talks." Novels, picture books... everything. We had books with very good literary quality and values that we could discuss at length. For example: Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Seven Little Goats and the Wolf, The little mouse who swept the stairs, with the ending of the cat eating the rat. Ideals, never to be told. They are tales that come from tradition and warn society of what they will find, which move you.

And now?

— Nowadays, storybook endings are sugarcoated, and literature is instructive, explaining how you should feel and how you should organize your thoughts. Women have gone from being Cinderella to being a superhero who does everything right. This creates tremendous pressure on young women. And literary quality has taken a backseat or a backseat. Surely, with this literary production, we feel more comfortable when it comes to values. But where is the reality? One of the joys of reading is that it contrasts you with what you experience, with your surroundings. We should find a middle ground: books with literary quality and unsweetened values.