Viral Video: A touching video shared by the Turkish classroom teacher Cemil Ülker has gone viral on social media as it demonstrates, with simplicity and effectiveness, a method of instilling a love for reading in kids. Instead of telling his students over and over again to “read books”, Ülker and other teachers decided to give the example themselves: quietly, patiently, without any verbal instruction.
The video, posted on Instagram, shows a school corridor, with teachers sitting on benches and reading calmly. As the students pass by, their curiosity appears to grow. Some of the children slow down, look over at the teachers, and end up taking a seat next to them with books in hand. In minutes, more students assemble, mimicking the adults simply by observation and interest.
Ülker’s caption, originally written in Turkish, reads, "We started reading books without saying anything to our students and just waited. These moments appeared after a while. The most beautiful thing is that we started to see them reading books to themselves in the garden during recess."
The scene shifts outdoors to groups of children standing or walking around the schoolyard, each absorbed in their own book. In the bright sunlight, young readers turning pages independently are a sure sign that silent motivation does its job.
This simple act reveals a deep pedagogical truth: children are far more likely to adopt habits they observe being carried out rather than ones they are merely instructed to follow. Modelling the behaviour they hoped to inspire made the teachers successful in creating an authentic reading culture in their classroom.
Cemil Ülker's approach has found wide resonance because here lies a pointed reminder that sometimes the greatest lessons are those taught, not by lecture, but by example.
Netizens Reaction
As soon as the video went viral on social media, it gained popularity. In the comment section, one user wrote, "The biggest miracle in life is to meet a good teacher when you are young. Thank you for your efforts, Teacher." Another user wrote, "Reading books is a contagious act." A third said, "May spring always be in your heart ." "This is teaching as a role model," a user commented.
