TY - JOUR
T1 - The rural and urban divide in early literacy acquisition in Tanzania
T2 - the mediating roles of home and school contexts
AU - Ndijuye, Laurent Gabriel
AU - Beatus, Janet
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Recently most sub-Saharan countries have successfully broadened access to basic education. However, empirical and educational reports from this region have consistently documented children not acquiring the foundational literacy skills. This study examined the differences in the level of literacy acquisition between pupils from urban and rural backgrounds in Tanzania. A mixed-method research approach under the concurrent mixed design was employed. A total of 200 early grade children, 120 parents, 20 teachers were recruited. The data were collected by the Early Grades Reading Assessment, semi-structured interviews, parent questionnaires, and documentary analyses. Findings indicated that urban children outperformed rural children when it came to every literacy aspect tested, except reading comprehension. In both areas, girls outperformed boys, although rural boys were generally over-aged. The home learning environments for children from rural areas were found to be limited with less support than even for those from the poor urban areas. Regardless of urbanicity, poor and extremely limited teaching and learning facilities, large class sizes, and curriculum issues were pointed out as the main hindrances for children to acquiring literacy skills. These findings have implications for policymakers, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders in this region calling for joint reform efforts to improve early literacy acquisition.
AB - Recently most sub-Saharan countries have successfully broadened access to basic education. However, empirical and educational reports from this region have consistently documented children not acquiring the foundational literacy skills. This study examined the differences in the level of literacy acquisition between pupils from urban and rural backgrounds in Tanzania. A mixed-method research approach under the concurrent mixed design was employed. A total of 200 early grade children, 120 parents, 20 teachers were recruited. The data were collected by the Early Grades Reading Assessment, semi-structured interviews, parent questionnaires, and documentary analyses. Findings indicated that urban children outperformed rural children when it came to every literacy aspect tested, except reading comprehension. In both areas, girls outperformed boys, although rural boys were generally over-aged. The home learning environments for children from rural areas were found to be limited with less support than even for those from the poor urban areas. Regardless of urbanicity, poor and extremely limited teaching and learning facilities, large class sizes, and curriculum issues were pointed out as the main hindrances for children to acquiring literacy skills. These findings have implications for policymakers, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders in this region calling for joint reform efforts to improve early literacy acquisition.
KW - Early literacy
KW - family socioeconomic status
KW - home learning environment
KW - Tanzania
KW - word reading
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U2 - 10.1080/03004279.2022.2145851
DO - 10.1080/03004279.2022.2145851
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85142273224
SN - 0300-4279
VL - 52
SP - 1267
EP - 1282
JO - Education 3-13
JF - Education 3-13
IS - 8
ER -