Academic literature on the topic 'Primary school libraries'

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-108)<br>In 2002, a pilot project established school libraries in eleven primary schools in Melani, Fort Beaufort District. The role players in this initiative were South African Partners (an American Non Governmental Organization), the Eastern Cape Department of Education, the University of Fort Hare and the Library and Information Science Association of South Africa (LlASA). Each school nominated one teacher to receive teacher librarianship training to manage and sustain the school libraries. The aim of the project was to develop a model that would lead to the establishment and development of school libraries in other areas of the Eastern Cape. This research project sought to investigate the effectiveness of teacher librarians in primary schools reflecting on the experience of the Melani cluster of schools. The aim was to assess the effects the school libraries have had on teaching and learning. The qualitative and quantitative study involved 110 primary learners, 39 educators, 11 teacher librarians, and an official from the Provincial Department of Education.

This study sets out to determine whether or not a primary school library, managed by a school librarian, makes a contribution to the information literacy development of year 6 students (ages 10-11 years old). The methodological approach to this research was interpretivist, ethnographic case studies. This is a shift from other studies on school library impact because it employs direct observation of students, and studies each school as a whole, where prior studies have relied on assessment data. This study relied on data collected in the natural environment where children were working to develop rich descriptions of the schools chosen, to be written into detailed case studies. In order to determine the contribution of the school library to information literacy development, the researcher spent time in three different schools, which had differing levels of library provision. The researcher spent time with a Year 6 (age 10-11 years) class in each school, and observed their information behaviour during a research task assigned by their classroom teacher. In order to streamline the observations, an observation framework was developed. This also ensured that each class in the three schools was observed in the same way. The researcher was immersed in each class for the duration of the class assignment, and walked around during the research lessons and spoke to the children about their research process. Semi structured interviews were conducted with members of teaching staff and head teachers to gain information about the school, and to determine their attitudes about school library provision, employing a librarian and the instruction of information literacy. Each school was then written into a case study to provide a rich picture of the school, and of the specific events during the observation sessions with the students. From the case studies, themes about the ways that the students experienced information emerged, and the findings from each school was the basis for the creation of an information literacy framework and recommendations of best practice found in each of the three schools. The investigation highlighted the important contribution that a well-managed school library made to the development of students information literacy.

Fewer than 8% of schools in South Africa have functioning libraries. There is no national policy for school libraries which compels School Governing Bodies and principals to have a library in their schools. This qualitative study, based on grounded theory, investigated ten primary schools in Gauteng that had libraries, or were in the process of setting up a library with the intention of providing a rich description of the issues and challenges facing these schools. The schools were chosen on the basis of location (Soweto and Johannesburg), and the school fees that were paid in a continuum from low/no fee paying schools to the fee paying ex Model-C schools. The resourcing of the school library, the operation of the school library and the role of the library were examined. The findings highlight the lack of a national policy, of school library posts, the theft of computers as a result of the lack of security, as well as the lack of understanding by teachers of the role the library in teaching and learning. Furthermore, there appears to be a disjuncture between the trends evident in the international literature on school libraries and what is actually happening in the primary school libraries in my study. Most significantly low/no fee paying schools with libraries were the exception and those that did have libraries were as a result of the enthusiasm and efforts of one or two individuals with the backing of the principal. Ex-Model C schools had the advantage in terms of the provision and staffing of school libraries as they had the funds to support them and, in some cases, a school librarian, provided that the principal supported the idea of a school library. In all the schools, the belief in the importance of the library regarding reading and literacy was the main motivating factor in establishing or maintaining the school library. A growing public awareness of the value of school libraries was an encouraging trend that emerged from my study.

Este relatório de estágio desenvolveu-se no âmbito da unidade curricular de prática de ensino supervisionada, tendo por finalidade a obtenção de grau de mestre em educação pré-escolar e 1º ciclo do ensino básico e é o resultado da observação/intervenção em pré-escolar e em 1º CEB ao longo de 6 meses e meio. A prática de pré-escolar desenvolveu-se com crianças entre os 5 e os 7 anos. A prática de 1º ciclo desenvolveu-se com crianças ente os 8 e os 10 anos. O tema do presente relatório foi escolhido pela importância que as bibliotecas escolares têm no contato das crianças com os livros e no incentivo que estes trazem para a leitura e a escrita. Durante o percurso na PES pude observar o prazer que as crianças demonstravam no contato e exploração dos livros. Deste modo fui direcionando a minha intervenção para o incentivo à leitura e salientando a importância das bibliotecas para este incentivo; ### Report of Supervised Teaching Practice in Pre-school and Primary School: Dynamic Development of School Libraries Abstract: The goal of this report on the Supervised Teaching Practice is to obtain a master's degree in teaching practice of kindergarten and primary school and is the result of observation / training in kindergarten and primary school during 6 and a half months . The teaching practice in kindergarten was done with children between 5 and 7 years old and in primary school with children from 8 to 10 years old. I have chosen this subject because of the important role played by school libraries in the contact of children with books and the help these can give to the development of reading and writing. During the time I trained in the STP I noticed how pleased children were in holding and exploring books. So my role consisted in encouraging children to read stressing the importance school libraries can have.

Dissertação de Mestrado em Educação e Bibliotecas.<br>A leitura ocupa um papel central em toda a atividade educativa e é um bem essencial no desenvolvimento cognitivo do ser humano e no progresso da sociedade. Compete aos professores, encarregados de educação (EE), famílias e bibliotecas assegurar uma eficaz disponibilização e utilização dos livros e outros recursos de informação. O Plano Nacional de Leitura (PNL) destina-se a reforçar esse papel, através dos vários programas que lança nas escolas, bibliotecas e outras entidades. Este trabalho tem como objetivo geral refletir e investigar sobre a promoção da leitura em contexto educacional. Trata-se de um estudo de caso sobre a aplicação do PNL e sobre as práticas de leitura em uma turma do 4º ano do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico de um Agrupamento Vertical de Escolas do Norte de Portugal. No que respeita aos objetivos específicos, pretendemos aferir sobre os hábitos e práticas de leitura de alunos, na escola e no contexto familiar; averiguar se os objetivos do PNL são cumpridos por parte da professora titular e das bibliotecas (escolar e municipal) e verificar se a aplicação do Plano favorece a promoção de hábitos de leitura dos alunos em estudo. No âmbito metodológico, o estudo assenta, primeiramente, numa pesquisa bibliográfica e documental, que permite estabelecer os principais fundamentos teóricos e os aspetos relevantes do tema-problema e, em segundo lugar, sobre uma investigação empírica realizada a uma turma de 4º ano do 1º Ciclo, a partir da qual obtivemos informações sobre práticas de promoção e motivação para a leitura. A investigação realizada é de natureza qualitativa, descritiva e interpretativa. Os instrumentos utilizados na recolha de dados são: observação direta não participativa, inquéritos por questionário e entrevistas semiestruturadas. Através dos dados, somos levados a concluir que a leitura orientada na sala de aula é executada pela professora titular da turma analisada, mas aferimos que as orientações do PNL para este nível de ensino ficam aquém do recomendável. As famílias envolvidas mostram-se pouco informadas sobre o Plano e na sua maioria não participam das atividades que a escola e as bibliotecas (escolar e municipal) desenvolvem nesta área. As bibliotecas (escolar e municipal) cumprem diversas das orientações do Plano, mas, no caso analisado, torna-se claro que estas podem planear e desenvolver atividades mais eficazes neste sentido.<br>Reading does not only play a main role in all the educational activity but it is also essential as far as the human beings’ cognitive development and the society’s progress are concerned. It is up to teachers, parents, families and librarians to guarantee effective access to books and other information, as well as their effectual usage. The National Reading Plan aims to reinforce that role, by means of several programs launched in schools, libraries and other entities. This work’s main goal is to reflect upon and research about the promotion of reading in educational contexts. It is a study case on the implementation of the National Reading Plan and on the reading practices of a 4th form class in a primary school of a group of schools in northern Portugal. As far as the specific goals are regarded, we aim at assessing the students’ reading habits and practices both at school and at home; checking if the objectives of the National Reading Plan are accomplished by both the form teacher and the libraries (school library and town library) and verifying if the Plan implementation both enhances the creation of reading habits and strengthens the ones that already existed. In the methodological realm, the study is primarily based upon research made through reading books and documents, which allows to establish the first theoretical fundamentals as well as the relevant aspects of the theme-problem and, secondly, it is based upon and empirical research conducted with a 4th form class in primary school, which allowed us to gather information on the practices used to promote and motivate reading habits. The research we have conducted is qualitative, descriptive and interpretative. The instruments used for collecting data are: direct and non-participative observation, enquiries through questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The analysis of the data allows us to conclude that the practice of guided reading in the classroom is promoted by the form teacher; however, it is believed that the National Reading Plan guidelines for this school level are far from what is desirable. The families of the children involved in the study seem to be poorly informed about the Plan and most of them do not participate in the activities that both the school and the libraries (school library and town library) promote in this realm. The libraries (school library and town library) obey many of the Plan guidelines, but, in the case analyzed, it is clear that they can plan and promote different activities that can be more effective.<br>Orientação: Prof. Doutora Maria Cristina Vieira de Freitas.

Bibliography: leaves 101-107.<br>An interest in the topic of recreational reading was prompted by the observations and experience of the researcher. The study that followed was intended to confirm or refute the theory of the decline of reading. A perceived decline in reading has concerned teachers and librarians and strategies have been devised to reverse this trend. The strategies used by the researcher were adopted and adapted to meet the pupils' recreational reading needs. Methods that were likely to reverse the trend in the decline of reading were used with the expectation that the reading programme would affect reading behaviour and that pupils would be encouraged to read for pleasure. The case study method which included both a questionnaire and discussion with the pupils was used. Studies of this kind are scarce and out-dated, but this investigation has been of value to the pupils, teachers and the researcher as teacher-librarian, for all have benefitted from the stimulating and interesting input from the interventive strategies. A number of the results proved to be unforeseen, such as a decline in recreational reading generally throughout the group, and also the children's perception of the short amount of time they spend viewing television. These were contrary to the findings of all previous studies and should be treated with circumspection. The role of the school library and the teacher-librarian are essential in schools today as they are of great benefit to the whole school community. The study has proved without a doubt that availability of reading resources and guidance to the pupils in making stimulating and interesting choices should be the aim of all concerned with children's reading so that their needs can be met and the reading habit fostered.

Dissertação de Mestrado em Educação e Bibliotecas.<br>Com este projeto pretendemos demonstrar a importância da biblioteca escolar na aprendizagem de uma nova língua estrangeira, nomeadamente o inglês. O trabalho foi dividido em duas grandes partes em que a pesquisa bibliográfica nos permitiu desenvolver os conteúdos fundamentais para a nossa temática, nomeadamente relacionado com a biblioteca escolar, as atividades lúdico- pedagógicas e o ensino do inglês no 1º CEB. Numa parte mais prática, valendo-nos da metodologia de investigação-ação, elaboramos um conjunto de atividades lúdico-pedagógicas realizadas em contexto de sala de aula e na biblioteca com alunos do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, no Centro Escolar de Seia. Para além das atividades analisámos a influência do papel do professor- bibliotecário e professor de inglês para implementação desse género de atividades. Também foi solicitado a opinião de vários intervenientes que foram importantes para o estudo. Com o projeto conseguimos verificar a importância da biblioteca na aprendizagem de uma língua estrangeira no 1º ciclo do ensino básico.<br>With this project we intend to demonstrate the importance of the school library in learning a new foreign language as English. This project was mostly divided into two major parts: the literature allowed us to develop the fundamental contents of our theme, in particular related to the school library, the playful activities and teaching English in the primary school. In a more practical part drawing upon the action research methodology, we developed a set of playful activities performed in the classroom context and in the library with primary school students in the primary school of Seia. In addition to the activities we examined the influence of the teacher-librarian's role and English teacher’s role for implementation about this kind of activities. It was also requested the opinion of several participants that were important to this study. With the project we can verify the importance of the library in learning a foreign language in the primary school.<br>Orientação: Prof. Doutora Maria Cristina Vieira de Freitas.

1 online resource (xii, 184 leaves) : illustrations<br>A high level of literacy is essential if a child is to be employable and determines the role a person will play in the globalised information age. In South Africa the literacy levels, including reading levels, of school children is extremely low. The study forms part of a longitudinal reading and literacy intervention project undertaken over a five year period in two disadvantaged primary schools in an urban township. The project focused on capacity building and resource building of the school community including the teachers, learners, school librarians and parents. This dissertation describes an action research study that focused specifically on setting up school libraries in each of these schools and the professional development of the teachers in order to contribute to the teaching and learning practices in the schools. It offers critical reflections on the process and findings and contributes to research on school libraries in South Africa.<br>Information Science<br>M. Inf. (Information Science)