“Reading to understand the world”: the Service-Learning project bringing reading closer to the children of El Raval
A Psychology student at the UAB is launching a Bachelor's Degree Final Project to promote the habit of reading in an active and critical way through the Service-Learning methodology.
Learning makes sense when it directly impacts the environment. This is the case of "Reading to understand the world: a project to promote a taste for reading," the Bachelor's Degree Final Project (TFG) by Psychology student Laia Cors Puigdollers, tutored by professor Cristina Zhang Yu during the 2025-2026 academic year. The project stems from a request by the Open Centre of the Associació Educativa Integral del Raval (AEI Raval).
The project was born with the objective of fostering a love of reading among children aged 8 to 10, but it does so by moving away from more normative approaches. As explained in a recently published video summary of the experience, the approach has been based on anti-racist, dialogic, and critical pedagogies.
The "Club of the Geniuses"
The initiative has found an innovative way to connect the little ones with reading. An editorial team formed by the children themselves, named "El club dels genials" (The Club of the Geniuses), has been created and has served as the engine of the project. Through this dynamic, the primary school children have engaged in creative activities far removed from traditional training, ranging from creating reviews and producing comics to conducting interviews and recording audiobooks.
All these creations ended up being compiled in their own magazine, La veu dels mitjans. This methodology sought to replicate real processes of the publishing world, connecting the children with the professional environment. To this end, the editorial team was able to carry out special sessions outside the organization, such as a visit to the neighborhood library where they were able to apply for a library card and an outing to the newsroom of the Ara newspaper.
Service-Learning
This TFG is an ideal example to explain what Service-Learning (ApS) is at the UAB: a tool that makes the knowledge acquired by students at the university produce a change in the education of the future. Laia Cors has managed to respond to a need in the territory, has found a problem, and has known how to reach the little ones to promote reflection and critical thinking. For the organizers, the success of the project is explained, above all, by the great involvement of all the children who have participated. And now the challenge they set for themselves is for this format to take root and stay permanently at the centre, with an eye towards introducing digital tools later on.