{"id":57475,"date":"2015-11-11T14:48:03","date_gmt":"2015-11-11T12:48:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/2015\/11\/why-textbooks-are-a-crucial-part-of-every-childs-learning-journey-the-conversation\/"},"modified":"2015-11-11T14:48:03","modified_gmt":"2015-11-11T12:48:03","slug":"why-textbooks-are-a-crucial-part-of-every-childs-learning-journey-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/why-textbooks-are-a-crucial-part-of-every-childs-learning-journey-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Why textbooks are a crucial part of every child’s learning journey | The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"
Extensive research shows that textbooks are crucial to children's learning.<\/span> Shutterstock<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

South Africa\u2019s education system is widely accepted to be in crisis. An alarming number of its children are functionally illiterate and innumerate. Many schools lack equipment, infrastructure and even basic necessities like furniture.<\/p>\n

In this context, could improving access to textbooks make any real difference?<\/p>\n

The answer is yes. Textbooks matter. That\u2019s why their absence from one South African province\u2019s classrooms made headlines in 2012. The country\u2019s Department of Basic Education failed to deliver textbooks to learners in the Limpopo province that year.<\/p>\n

This led to a court battle between the organisation I work for, Section27 \u2013 a public interest law centre focusing on health and education rights \u2013 and the government.<\/p>\n

The court found in Section27\u2019s favour, with the judge ordering that the department urgently deliver textbooks to Limpopo\u2019s schools. That wasn\u2019t the end of the matter. In 2014 Section27 launched a new application on behalf our clients \u2013 an organisation called Basic Education for All and a number of Limpopo schools \u2013 because not all the province\u2019s schools had received the textbooks they needed that year.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Thousands of learners in the Limpopo province went without books in 2012, and again in 2014.<\/span> Section27<\/span><\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

In May 2014, judge Neil Tuchten of the North Gauteng High Court ruled that the department had violated children\u2019s rights to a basic education. Tuchten ordered the department to provide a textbook to every learner for every subject by the start of every academic year. The department appealed this ruling, a matter now due before the Supreme Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n

Tuchten in his judgment said:<\/p>\n

\n

Textbooks have been part of the stock in trade of the educator for centuries. There is something special about a book. It has a very long life, far longer than that of the individual reader. It is a low tech (nology) device. It is accessible to anyone who can read the language in which it has been written. During the hours of daylight it can be read (accessed) without any other supporting technology at all. It needs no maintenance except the occasional strip of adhesive tape.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Some of South Africa\u2019s foremost education researchers agree. They have found a positive correlation between access to textbooks and learners’ results. Here\u2019s why, in a country as unequal as South Africa, textbooks matter so much.<\/p>\n

South Africa\u2019s poor educational outcomes<\/h2>\n

Education researchers are reluctant to pinpoint a single cause for a child\u2019s poor performance at school. But many agree that having access to textbooks is an important contributor to improved performance.<\/p>\n

A transnational study involving 15 countries in Africa \u2013 among them South Africa, Kenya, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Malawi and Uganda \u2013 assigned maths and reading tests to Grade 6 learners (who are on average 12-years-old) and to their teachers.<\/p>\n

In an analysis of the results, Stellenbosch University economist Nic Spaull found that 27% of South Africa\u2019s Grade 6 learners were functionally illiterate and 40% functionally innumerate. Figures differed substantially across South Africa\u2019s nine provinces. Limpopo, centre of the textbook crisis and court cases, recorded the lowest reading test results: 49% of the province\u2019s Grade 6 learners were deemed to be functionally illiterate.<\/p>\n

Spaull\u2019s research also measured the impact of access to textbooks on educational performance. He found that learners with their own reading textbooks, or who share with not more than one student, \u201cperform significantly better\u201d than those who have to share textbooks with more than one other classmate.<\/p>\n

Teacher content knowledge<\/h2>\n

In the Limpopo textbook case, the Department of Basic Education argued that teachers can fulfil the function of textbooks. But current research suggests otherwise. In many cases, teachers lack content knowledge in the subjects they are teaching.<\/p>\n

Data from the pan-African study shows that only 32% of South African teachers had the required levels of content knowledge.<\/p>\n

The function of a textbook is essentially to guide the teaching and learning of the curriculum in a particular subject. Against the backdrop of poor teacher context knowledge, textbooks play a fundamental role in supplementing teachers’ knowledge deficits.<\/p>\n

Cultural practices<\/h2>\n

Education researchers have also explored the importance of what\u2019s called \u201ccultural capital\u201d. This relates to family literacy and practices in homes and communities that can help children prepare for school. It also includes exposure and access to books and other printed materials.<\/p>\n

But South Africa is not a reading society: the country\u2019s deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa has said that only 14% of South Africans are active book readers and a mere 5% of parents read to their children.<\/p>\n

Where learners do not have access to books in their own homes textbooks can potentially remedy this \u201ccultural\u201d deficit.<\/p>\n

There is no single \u201cmagic bullet\u201d that will solve South Africa\u2019s educational problems. But there is clear evidence that access to textbooks is an important part of the solution. Textbooks do matter. They play a crucial part in overcoming some of the broader structural deficits to teaching and learning.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

Faranaaz Veriava works for SECTION27.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The Conversation \u2013 Articles (AFRICA)<\/a><\/p>\n

Read more on The Conversation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Join the fun:<\/strong> Add Your event<\/a> | Submit a Press Release<\/a> | Add your listing<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Extensive research shows that textbooks are crucial to children's learning. Shutterstock South Africa\u2019s education system is widely accepted to be in crisis. An alarming number of its children are functionally illiterate and innumerate. Many schools lack equipment, infrastructure and even basic necessities like furniture. In this context, could improving access to textbooks make any real […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[8900,8890,7594,8899,4130,6297,3927,8898],"class_list":{"0":"post-57475","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-africa-news-2","7":"tag-childs","8":"tag-conversation","9":"tag-crucial","10":"tag-every","11":"tag-journey","12":"tag-learning","13":"tag-part","14":"tag-textbooks","15":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57475\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}