READING BEHAVIOUR AND PREFERENCES OF NAMIBIAN CHILDREN
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/0027-2639/258Keywords:
reading behaviour, reading preferences, reading proficiency, school library services, socio-economic conditions in NamibiaAbstract
This study was motivated by the observation that most Namibian children have not developed adequate reading habits. The study gauged the percentages of Namibian children who either do or do not read in their free time. It also explored the reasons why some children do not read in their leisure time; the kinds of reading material readers are inclined to choose; whether they prefer to read either in their mother tongue or in English; and the role of traditional storytelling and oral literature as a form of pre-literacy in Namibia. The findings revealed a picture of deprivation in the schools and environment of the majority of Namibian children. Of the 1 402 Grade 6 students in seven regions of Namibia selected for the study, 77.6 per cent do not read in their free time, while 22.4 per cent, most of whom attend well-resourced, mainly urban schools, read in their free time. Many children struggle to read, and reading materials, particularly in their mother tongues are scarce. The study established relationships between the students’ reading behaviour and various other factors, including resource provision in Namibian schools, the availability of reading materials in the environment as well as the socio-economic conditions of Namibian families. Extensive recommendations have been made for government, educators, libraries, publishers and other authorities responsible for the education of children, including ways in which a more concerted effort could be made to promote good reading habits and develop the various Namibian languages.
Metrics
References
Beukes-Amis C. 2014. Personal communication, 10 April.
Black, T. R. 1999, reprinted 2003. Doing quantitative research in the social sciences. London: SAGE.
Coordination of information systems and services in Namibia. 1993. Coordination of information systems and services in Namibia. Papers of the Seminar held in Windhoek, 25 February to 5 March 1993, edited by A-J Tötemeyer, J. Loubser and A.E Marais. Bonn and Windhoek: Deutsche Stiftung für internationale Entwicklung.
Evans, N.D. 2014.Training Teacher-librarians to establish and manage school libraries in Kwazulu-Natal: An empirical study. Mousaion 32 (2), 106 -123. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25159/0027-2639/1692
Ferguson, A.A. 2010. Don’t believe the hype. In Luttrell, W. ed. Qualitative educational research: readings in reflexive methodology and transformational practice. 327 – 342. New York: Routledge.
Gilham, B. 2008. Observation techniques: structured to unstructured. Real World Research Series. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Global Environment Facility. 2010. Methodological note on triangulation analysis in country portfolio evaluations. gef Evaluation Office. 18 June.
Huysamen, G. K. 1996. 5th impression 1998. Methodology for the social and behavioural sciences. Halfway House: International Thomson Publishing (Southern Africa).
Jick, T.D. 1979. Mixing qualitative and quantitative methods: triangulation in action. Administrative Science Quarterly 24 (December): 602-611. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2392366
Kaperu, G.G. n.d. A study to examine learners’, teachers’ and parents’ perceptions of and factors that hinder parental involvement in the education of their children: the case of five primary schools and one combined school in the Windhoek education region. M Ed thesis. University of Namibia.
Kasokonya, S.M. and S.N Kutondukua. 2005. Family literacy programme in Namibia: what ways a family literacy programme can assist parents and other care providers to support their children in the first years of primary school. In Proceedings of the conference Bringing Literacy Home. September 19 – 21, 2005. Pietermaritzburg: Centre for Adult Education, University of Kwazulu-Natal, 96 – 119.
Kirchner, E., S. Alexander and A-J. Tötemeyer, 2014. The reading habits/behaviour and preferences of African children: the Namibian chapter in collaboration with UNISA. Windhoek: University of Namibia.
Kothari, C. R. 2004. Research methodology: methods and techniques. 2nd revised Ed. New Delhi: New Age International.
Lambert, M. 2012. A beginner’s guide to doing your education research project. London: SAGE Publishers.
Makuwa, D. 2005. The SACMEQ II Project in Namibia: a study of the conditions of schooling and the quality of education. Harare, Zimbabwe: SACMEQ Educational Policy Research series Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality [SACMEQ] & Namibian Ministry of Basic Education, Sport and Culture. Retrieved from: http://www.sacmeq.org/download.php?filename=papers/sac2/Namibia.zip&source=/links.htm
Marope, M.T. 2005. Namibia: human capital and knowledge development for economic growth with equity. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Africa Region Human Development Working Paper series World Bank. Retrieved from: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTAFRICA/Resources/No84.pdf
Maxwell, J.S. 2013. Qualitative research design: an interactive approach. 3rd ed. Applied Social Research Methods Series; Vol. 41. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.
Merts, H.W. 2002. Die terapeutiese rol van fiksie in die hantering van sekere lewenskrisisse en ontwikkelingsprobleme van kinders [The therapeutic role of fiction in managing certain life crises and developmental problems of children]. M. Inf. Thesis. Pretoria: University of South Africa.
Mojapelo, M.S. 2014. Library and information resources in rural schools of Limpopo Province: A small study. Mousaion 32 (2).
Muijs, D. 2011. Doing quantitative research in education with SPSS. 2nd ed. London: SAGE. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849203241
Mupupa, S. 2014, March 13. The National Standardised Achievement Tests (SATSs), 2013: the Grade 5 Follow Up Results. Namibia. Ministry of Education. Windhoek.
Mutungi, B., M. Minishi-Majanja, and Mnekeni-Saurombe. 2014. The status of school libraries in Kenya: The case of public secondary schools in Nairobi County. Mousaion 32 (2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.25159/0027-2639/1694
Namibia. Ministry of Education. 2012. Education Statistics in Namibia: Facts and Figures in 2012. Windhoek. Education Management and Information System. EMIS 2012.
Namibia. Ministry of Education. Directorate of Adult Education. 2011. Poverty reduction begins at family level: Lessons from evaluation of Namibia Family Literacy Project. Windhoek.
Namibia. 2010. Namibia Household Income Survey NHIES 2009/10. Windhoek.
Namibia. Office of the President. 2004. Namibia Vision 2030: Policy Framework for Long-Term National Development (Main Document). Windhoek: Namibia.
Ndala, M. 2014. [Personal communication], 25 April.
Namibia Ministry of Education on 24 March 2014.
Republic of Namibia. 2010. The Constitution of the Republic of Namibia. Office of the Ombudsman and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Windhoek: Namibia.
Mojapelo, M.S. and J.A. Fourie, 2014. Library and information resources in rural schools of Limpopo Province: a small study. Mousaion 32 (2), 124-149. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25159/0027-2639/1693
Nederhof, A.J. 1985. Methods of coping with social desirability bias: a review. European Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 15: 263 – 280. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420150303
Punch, K.F. 2011. Research Methods in Education. London: SAGE Publishers.
SACMEQ/IIEP. 2010, September. What are the levels and trends in reading and mathematics achievement? SACMEQ Policy Issues Series. No 2.
Shuumbili, T. 2014. [Personal communication], 9 May.
Siririka, G. 2007. An investigation of parental involvement in the development of their children’s literacy in a rural Namibian school. M Ed. thesis. Rhodes University. Grahamstown.
Smith, J.G., B. Fouché, D. Muirhead, and P. Underwood 2008. Namibia Library and and Archives Information Service Sector Strategic Assessment Baseline Study. Interim Report. Windhoek: Ministry of Education. Directorate Namibia Library and Archives Service.
Southern and Eastern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality. 1998. The quality of education: some policy suggestions based on a survey of schools Namibia. [Compiled] by Friedhelm Voigts. (SACMEQ Policy Research: Report No. 2. Series Editor: Kenneth N. Ross.) Paris: International Institute for Educational Planning.
Southern and Eastern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality. 2005. The SACMEQ II Project in Namibia: A study of the conditions of schooling and the quality of education. [Compiled by] D. Makuwa. Harare: SACMEQ.
Southern and Eastern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality. 2010. SACMEQ III Project Results: Pupil achievement levels in reading and mathematics. (Working document no. 1).
Snyman, M. 2006. Die leesvoorkeure en leesgedrag van Afrikaanse kinders. Mousaion: 24 (1): 145-179.
Thorne, B. 2010. Learning from kids. In W. Luttrell (Ed.), Qualitative educational research: readings in reflexive methodology and transformational practice. 407 – 420. New York: Routledge.
Tötemeyer, A-J and Stander, C. 1990. The state of school libraries/media centres in Namibia and the need for training for school libraries/media centres. Windhoek: Department of Library and Information Science, University of Namibia.
Tötemeyer, A-J. 1991. The state of public libraries in Namibia and the need for training for public/community libraries. Windhoek: Department of Library and Information Science, University of Namibia.
Tötemeyer, A-J. 1996. Focus on Namibia: five years of transformation in the library and information field. Mousaion 14 (2), 3-15.
Tötemeyer, A-J. 2010. Multilingualism and the language policy for Namibian Schools. Project for Alternative Education in South Africa PRAESA Occasional Papers No. 37. Cape Town: University of Cape Town.
Tötemeyer, A-J. 2013. Few books, many languages: Namibian publishing for children. Mousaion 31 (1): 3 - 26.
Tötemeyer, A-J., E. Kirchner, and A.S. Alexander. 2014. Pilot study on children’s reading in Namibia: pitfalls and new strategies. Mousaion 32 (2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.25159/0027-2639/1687
UNAM. 2014. Faculty of Education. Prospectus.
UNICEF Namibia. 2011. Improving quality and equity in education in Namibia: A trend and GAP analysis. [Analyst Peter Ninnes]. Windhoek: UNICEF Namibia.
Wannberg, S.W. 2015. Personal communication, 11 May.
Welman, C., F. Kruger, and B. Mitchell. 2005. Research methodology. 3rd edition. Cape Town: Oxford University Press Southern Africa.
Wikon, G., M.L. Mostert, A.M.V. Danbolt, K. Nes, F. Nyathi, and J. Hengari. 2007. Reading among grade 6 learners in Namibia and Norway: an investigation of reading habits and attitudes of learners in the Khomas and Oshana regions of Namibia and the Hedmark region in Norway. Forfatterene /Høgskolen i Hedmark Rapport ll: 1-77.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Accepted 2015-06-16
Published 2015-11-18
