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| Topic: |
Textbook vs the newspaper: which is the better teaching resource?
Started by: charles
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| Expert's Answer: |
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The Daily Monitor NiE program has been quite successful in carrying the message about the importance of reading to the schools. Whereas the above has been a positive development, I have noticed in today's coverage of the programme very interesting assertions made by Steven Tendo about newspapers vs textbooks as educational resources.Steven Tendo of the Daily Monitor in the story, "NiE standing with the stars" (Daily Monitor, 22 Feb 2010) writes, "... reading newspapers is a far more rewarding experience than that got from other media ..." and "The newspaper is a living 'text book'. Unlike many classroom text books which were printed many years ago and in many cases have unrealistic diagrams drawn not on scale, the newspaper provides fresh news and the photographs give a real sense of what is happening in the world." This gives us the topic for our weekly discussion: Is the newspaper a BETTER ALTERNATIVE TO THE TEXTBOOK? Please join the debate. |
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| COMMENTS POSTED: |
March 17, 2010
Teaching is no longer acceptable as a mode of instruction or imparting knowledge. Rather we should go for learning. I therefore propose that we embress newspapers as a learning resource in its own right. With due respect to all contributions on this topic some of which I have not read due to a bad network, I support the use of any resource materials for learning purposes. We should desist from limiting the interests and capacities of the learners to decide their destiny. A critical thinker will pick lessons and knowledge from any source written or unwritten. Every morning my children read the notices along the road and make comments on them. Neither the newspaper nor the text book old or new, latest or oldest is superior to the other. What matters is the eternal truth called knowledge that the material conveys to the learner or what the learner learns from it.
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Submitted by: Mpolyabigere
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February 23, 2010
Mchachos you are spot on about the language that the newspapers are using to promote their various school products. There is no doubt that the exam-oriented culture is here to stay for a long time. I have in addition noted that the whole question of attribution when it comes to students/pupils who may have excelled is handled selfishly. How possible is it that a newspaper product would be responsible for all the excellent grades in a particular school? Wouldn't teachers, textbooks, storybooks, parents, reading charts etc have contributed to this success?
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Submitted by: charles
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February 23, 2010
I totally agree with Barongo that the text book should be regarded as the main source of info (main course) and the newspaper as a substitute learning material (dessert). The text book contains more detailed information and will therefore provide a more detailed analysis of the concepts learned at school. This will therefore deepen their understanding and enrich their knowledge database, rather than promote cramming just to pass exams. Because of our poor reading culture and the exam oriented nature of learning in schools today, children will obviously find it easier to revise using past papers, pamphlets and newspapers. The authors of these materials particularly newsapapers and pamphlets have also added to the attractiveness of these sources by using the kind of language that suits the majority of Ugandan children. So while dessert may look and taste good, a wider variety of nutrients will be found in the main course.
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Submitted by: Mchachos
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February 23, 2010
Main and accompanied dishes
The grondnut soup can not taste better than the chicken source
The slad will not be regard as a main meal, it is always an aditional dish
The fruits dish is always served after a main meal.
The wedding cake can not be eaten like other dished on any wedding like (matoke)
Main and accompanied dishes are diffirent
Newspapers and textbooks do play a diffirent role and their role cannot be compared
A book contains a given subject while newspapers plays around with daily information
So the main dish is a book and newspaper is an accompanied dish. An accompanied dish cannot be better than a main one.
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Submitted by: Barongo
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February 22, 2010
Whereas newspaper play a vital role in the promotion of the reading culture, comparing them against other media is rather unrealistic! Steven needs to put the definition of a "textbook" in context! His comments about text books being printed many years ago and unrealistic diagrams are not that strong enough! We have seen unreadible newspapers that come to the market with ink spilling over, text running over and blurred photos! Such cases may exist but are not common with textbooks!
That aside there are other factors that we need to examine before making such an assertion.
1. Relevance: For how long does the information in a newspaper remain relevant to a student as compared to a text book?
2. Comprehensiveness and applicability: How much of the newspaper information is applicable to the learning and development of the various categories of readers namely: children below 12, 13-18 as well as 19-25 and above?
3. Cost: How much does it cost to buy a newspaper everyday for 365 days compared to a one time cost of a dictionary for example that has all the words contained in a newspaper?
4. Access: As intimated by one of the colleagues, how accessible are newspapers to the rural folks in Karamoja as compared to the textbooks?
Well in conclusion, promoting the reading culture can best be done through a combination of avenues newspapers being one of them. If we are to analyse the quality of images and freshness of news, I wonder what we shall say for the internet, and television! I thank you
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Submitted by: dwalugembe
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February 22, 2010
I applaud the Daily Monitor’s NiE programme for it has made a great impact towards academics at all levels, but also it’s vital to put it into consideration that there is a bigger difference and contribution rendered by a textbook and a newspaper.
A textbook or coursebook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study, a standard book on a specific subject, which might not necessarily be used in a particular course. Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions, researched by experts in that subject and have a command of the subject matter they represent. While a Newspaper is a publication containing news, information, and advertising; editorial opinions, criticism, persuasion and op-eds; obituaries; entertainment features such as crosswords, sudoku and horoscopes; weather news and forecasts; advice, gossip, food and other columns; critical reviews of movies, plays and restaurants; classified ads; display ads, editorial cartoons and comic strips.
With that background it’s clear that textbooks have an edge over newspapers. What Monitors has been doing was to repackage the information there in textbooks or UNEB question banks with solutions and publishes them to a wider audience for which we should be so grateful; however we cannot say that classroom textbook have become irrelevant. More important to note is that because of the competition for good scores, and Uganda’s (colonial) education system that aims at passing exams, NiE has contributed tremendously, and have improved the parents’ role towards their kid’s education. Actually, NiE is a duplicate of UNEB’s examination book banks, only that they have added some flavors.
From my A level holiday teaching experience in a primary government school in Mubende district, it’s true that the government has done a great job to distribute well-curriculum oriented textbooks to primary school, however the challenge is and continues to be that government did not plan well for the management of these tools. These books are not used because either the teachers do not want too or do not know how to use them because of lack of proper training (except where I was teaching they used to do a good job). The reading culture among Africans and Uganda in particular is very poor, so are the primary teachers; how do you expect them to read these books. The problem is attributed to either not implemented government policies (if they exist) or there (policies) non-existence. We need a policy that establishes school, village/ community, district and National libraries, a policy that institutes librarians as managers of these books who should be competent enough, not those that sit behind the shelves. The Parliament should institute the National Library as government agency with functions to establish, monitor and regulate libraries across the country (if it does, the NLU should start to come up with ways to fully implement them); government provide funds to build such libraries in consultation with the community. Awareness will be high on the agenda given the poor attitude to reading among the population. NABOTU should move its activities across the nation NOT to concentrate in Kampala and eastern Uganda, and if possible should be working hand-in-hand with NLU.
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Submitted by: flugya
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February 22, 2010
Newspaper cannot be a better alternative to textbooks. How could a newspaper teache a child in primary 1 how to count upto hundred or learn how to read and write? what is the frequency and time of arrival of newspapers in Arua town. Now imagine having to send that newspaper to a village almost on the border with Sudan? How does a child in Primary 4 revise before his end of year examination with newspapers? If a textbook in primary 7 may alos have a teachers guide where will the teachers guide be inserted in the newspaper? In the end you will find that books are the only proven, reliable means of imparting education.
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Submitted by: saiwaad
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