– Reading books is part of my free time, so it means quite a lot in my life, says Jinan Kanaan. She moved to Norway when she was 4 years old and represents a new trend: Norwegian children with a multicultural background who read the most books in their free time. This is shown in the report “Media use among people with an immigrant background”. – I read around 30 minutes a day, in addition to the reading homework. But I’m probably more happy to read in the winter than in the summer. When it’s warm, it’s fun to be outside and play with friends, says Jinan. The report shows that half of children aged 9 to 15 who have moved to Norway read paper books in their spare time every day. Children with a multicultural background and reading The report “Media use among people with an immigrant background” says that half of children aged 9 to 15 who have moved to Norway, on average, read paper books in their spare time every day. Among the 9-15 year olds in the entire population, only 3 out of 10 children read paper books every day. The report also shows that Norwegian-born children with immigrant parents read more books than the population as a whole. – Culture for learning and achievement – This is very positive, says associate professor Olaug Strand at the reading center at the University of Stavanger. Olaug Strand is associate professor at the reading center at the University of Stavanger. Photo: UIS She has, among other things, worked with the international reading survey PIRLS, which shows a significant decline in the reading skills of Norwegian ten-year-olds. – Reading a lot and in a varied way is positive for creativity, social interest, language development and not least an important competence for learning in all subjects, says Strand. – What could be behind the figures that show that multicultural children read the most? – It is not easy to speculate, but we know that in many immigrant homes there is a culture of learning and achievement that is perhaps stronger than in Norwegian homes, so it is perhaps not so unexpected. – This can manifest itself in higher achievements and better work ethic with homework and school work. We see, for example, that girls with an immigrant background are overrepresented in higher education, says Strand. – There is a book for everyone Elisabeth Jensen Lombnæs is a library teacher at Gamlebyen School in Oslo, which has many students with multicultural backgrounds. She believes that having a school library is the key to getting young people to read books, and she believes she has found the formula that awakens the desire to read in young people. Library teacher Elisabeth Jensen Lombnæs. Photo: Kai Rune Kvitstein / news – It is to start with something they are interested in, which could be a cartoon. And then we get them to read more complicated texts eventually, in many cases. – It is important to have a relationship with the children, respect for the children and find out what they like. Our motto is that there is a book for everyone, says Lombnæs. In the autumn, Jinan Kanaan started secondary school. She reveals that she hasn’t always read as much as she has in the past year. – I think you sometimes have to force your way through the book, at least at the beginning. It often gets better eventually, says Kanaan, who has read a total of 20 books this school year. Jinan Kanaan starts secondary school in the autumn. During her last year at primary school, she read 20 books. Photo: Kai Rune Kvitstein / news
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Multicultural children on the book reading list – news Culture and entertainment
