Exploring student teachers’ reading habitus and the use of picturebooks in the kindergarten setting in Saudi Arabia

Al Najim, Alaa Saad (2024) Exploring student teachers’ reading habitus and the use of picturebooks in the kindergarten setting in Saudi Arabia. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This study is qualitative interpretative research conducted with student teachers at King Faisal University (KFU) in Saudi Arabia. The survey, semi-structured interviews and focus groups were used in the study to investigate student teachers’ reading habitus and the use of picturebooks in the kindergarten classroom. The purpose of this thesis is to explore student teachers’ reading habitus: their attitudes towards reading, their reading habits and preferences, their disposition towards children’s literature and how their reading habitus affects their teaching practices. The research broadly draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and cultural capital in the context of formal education. Drawing on the data from 76 female student teachers who completed the survey, the results revealed that 81.58% of KFU student teachers held positive attitudes towards reading, in contrast to only 18.42% who did not. There was strong evidence that the student teachers had a positive attitude towards reading, which was shown in their justification of the necessity of reading for educational objectives and pleasure. The student teachers discussed how socialisation in both the family and school contributed to the growth of either a positive or negative attitude towards reading to their pupils. Regardless of their perspectives on reading, there was widespread agreement among them regarding the significance of reading in general. It was discovered throughout this investigation that the educational systems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia focus intensely on reading for instruction while ignoring the development of reading for pleasure. As a consequence of this, student teachers make extensive use of books as a component of their educational goals or curriculum since, as the student teachers pointed out, Saudi society has a tradition of fostering an interest in this kind of reading. This embodied belief influenced their teaching methods, and this was obvious in their responses to the picturebooks in the focus groups. This study expands our understanding of student teachers' reading habitus, attitudes towards children's books, the elements that may alter their reading habitus, and how these factors influence their teaching practice. These findings may help teachers understand how habitus, cultural capital, and education prepare children to be engaged readers and how to close the reading gap between children from different families and with different cultural capital. This data can help teachers adjust their reading courses to encourage reading for pleasure. It also emphasises teachers' roles in reading centres and school libraries' children's books.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Due to issues of confidentiality, this thesis is not available for viewing.
• Subjects: L Education > LB Theory and practice of education
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Supervisor's Name: Farrell, Dr. Maureen and McAdam, Dr. Julie E.
• Date of Award: 2024
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2024-84237
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 15 Apr 2024 13:08
• Last Modified: 22 Apr 2024 09:01
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.84237
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/84237