In this thesis a research is described about the relationship between characteristics of teachers (experience in front of the class) and students in fourth and fifth grade (gender and reading...Show moreIn this thesis a research is described about the relationship between characteristics of teachers (experience in front of the class) and students in fourth and fifth grade (gender and reading ability) and (the knowledge of) the reading preferences of these students, through the analysis of questionnaires. These teachers (n = 11, M age = 47.60, SD = 11.04), and students (M age = 10.47, SD = 2.84), have been recruited through elementary schools, by students of Leiden University. There was no significant difference in reading preferences between boys (n = 49) and girls (n = 49) and between students with a good (n = 46), average (n = 61) or poor reading ability (n = 8). Teachers knew equally much about children with a good as well as average reading ability (29-30% explained variance). Twenty-five percent of the reading preferences of boys were in correspondence with teachers’ predictions. With the girls there was 24% of their reading preferences in correspondence with the knowledge of the teachers. Whether more experience was an influence to the knowledge of the reading preferences with teachers did not show in this study. The results of the analyses show that the teachers have insufficient correspondence with the reading preferences of the students. Spending more time on reading education and the associated activities such as doing book reports and making children read more frequently in class, could enhance the knowledge. Future studies can focus on enhancing the size of the sample, modifying the questionnaires and adding research questions and variables to add to the recent study.Show less
