Reading Habits of Secondary School Teachers: A Study of Selected Secondary Schools in Ado-Odo Ota Local Government Area

摘要

Access to information is crucial to individual advancement as well as corporate educationaluddevelopment. Information is indispensable, and, according to Yusuf (2007), bridges the gap betweenudknowledge and ignorance. One of the major avenues for acquiring information is reading. Reading is theudfoundation upon which other academic skills are built. It offers a productive approach to improvingudvocabulary, word power, and language skills. Tella and Akande (2007) assert that the ability to read is atudthe heart of self-education and lifelong learning and that it is an art capable of transforming life andudsociety. Yani (2003) posits that reading habits of Nigerians are a matter of concern in our educational andudnational development, stating further that in a developing country like Nigeria, the concept of readingudhabits should not be relegated to the background. Nweke (1990) states that it has a real role to play inuddevelopment of the individual. Sangaeo (1999) observes that a reading habit must be promoted from anudearly age. This view is supported by Yusuf (2007), who says that that children imbibe good characterudduring their formative years. The most important factor in student learning in schools is the quality ofudteaching. Teachers are the chief drivers of the education engine. They design the curriculum and theudbehavioral goals that are its products (Olajide, 2008). Since education involves interaction betweenudlearners, learning materials, and teachers, teachers must be avid readers themselves in order to ignite audlifelong reading habit in their students. Students should be motivated to read and know how to useudreading materials to improve themselves and their social environment. Trelease (2006) observes thatudteachers are seldom seen reading. A good teacher must have a broad information base and should notuddepend on their lesson notes, which cannot contain all the information on a given topic. Teachers shouldudprovide reading lists to accompany what is done in class and give assignments that will prompt studentsudto research in the school or public library.