Reading workshops have become a discussed pedagogical model in literature education, particularly in primary schools. Though increasingly popular in practice, their theoretical underpinnings and didactic structure remain insufficiently articulated in the academic literature for lower secondary schools. This paper offers a theoretical analysis of the reading workshop as a complex didactic framework, examining its origins, components, and educational potential through the lens of pedagogical theory and curriculum design.

Building on Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, Dewey’s principles of experiential learning, and Rosenblatt’s transactional model of reading, the study identifies key structural elements of the reading workshop: the evocation of prior knowledge, individual reading time with choice, guided interpretation, reader response, and reflective sharing. These phases are not isolated activities but constitute an integrated model aimed at developing reading comprehension, interpretive skills, and reader identity.

Special attention is given to the Czech educational context, where the recent revision of the Framework Educational Programme for Basic Education emphasizes a competency-based and student-centered approach to literary education. The paper explores how the reading workshop model aligns with the revised Czech curricular goals and how it may serve as a suitable didactic paradigm within this national reform. While rooted in the Czech context, the analysis also offers broader implications for other European systems undergoing similar curriculum transformations.

By analyzing the pedagogical coherence and structural potential of the reading workshop, the study provides a theoretical framework for its integration into teacher education, curriculum development, and future research. It argues that reading workshops should be viewed not only as a teaching method but as a comprehensive approach capable of reshaping the way literature is taught and experienced in contemporary classrooms.

Keywords: Reading workshop, literature education, secondary Education, Czech curriculum, didactic framework, competency-based education, Critical Thinking, reader response.