Primary school children's perceptions of reading

Abstract

This study focused on children's perceptions of reading. Interviews were conducted with each of the ninety-nine 5 year-old children participating in the study. The children were interviewed at the beginning of Year 1 to see what reading perceptions they entered with at school. A second interview conducted at the end of Year 1, sought to discover how these perceptions had changed after a year of formal school instruction. Children's responses were categorised in two ways: a. Each interview was taken as a whole and classified according to the children's perceptions of reading (Glaser & Strauss, 1980, Sollars, 1994); b. Responses to five of the questions were analysed according to a modified version of Weintraub & Denny's (1965) categories. Information about print and literacy opportunities at home was obtained through a parents' questionnaire. Interviews with five teachers were conducted to establish teacher's beliefs on what schooling offers children and how this shapes their reading perceptions. The findings suggest that children enter Year 1 with a concern for the technicalities and meaning of text but by the end of Year 1 these perceptions changed to a greater concern for meaning.