Design and Development of a Best Practices Profile for Students’ Reading Habits Based on Local Expert Consensus

Abstract

This study aimed to design and develop a Best Practices Profile of Students’ Reading Habits grounded in the consensus of local literacy experts. Employing a Design and Development Research (DDR) methodology, the study was conducted in three iterative phases involving fifteen (15) literacy experts comprising teacher educators, school leaders, and ministry officers. In the first phase, semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis were used to identify nine (9) core components and 27 subcomponents that reflect effective reading habits. The second phase focused on developing 428 detailed implementation strategies aligned with those components. In the third phase, the Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) was applied to validate and prioritise the strategies based on expert consensus. The findings revealed that components such as "Recognition of Reading Achievement", "Reading Vision and Mission", and "Cultivating a Reading Culture" were given the highest priority. The study contributes both theoretically and practically by offering a structured, expert-validated profile that supports literacy practices in Malaysian schools. This profile is expected to serve as a strategic framework for school leaders and policymakers in fostering sustainable reading cultures through evidence-based practices