The theme of this essay is literacy training in pre-school. The theme takes it starting point in a project, where my colleagues and I noticed our children playing with writing and symbols. It leads to an exciting, reflecting and developing project, a project that will go on for six months together with twenty children in the age of five and six. The essay describes how I and the rest of the staff work with the project, and also how we try to find challenges that are meaningful for our children. When we worked with the project I ended up in a dilemma how I as a teacher was to retain the children’s joy and curiosity for writing without making it boring. How shall I as a teacher behave in this matter? Is there any right or wrong here? The research authorities in this field agree on a number of things: They agree about the importance of literacy training in pre-school. The learning should be playful in a meaningful context. The scientists also agree that self-esteem is important for the children when they are writing. If the pre-school works with self-esteem in different ways, and also with a positive reinforcement combined with an inspiring environment, this can prevent difficulties in school with writing and reading. But literacy training in pre-school seems difficulties according the scientists, which I illustrate in my essay. The essay also describes three girls writing in different ways according to the theories of the scientists. I describe literacy training and also place high emphasis on the influence of the pre-school environment. I also place emphasis on the importance of the knowledge and the pedagogical approach of the teacher.

My essay deals with a problem in our society which, in my opinion, has been neglected. Even today in 2011, the quality of schools and preschools is extremely varied. This has been a problem for a long time and not nearly enough attention has been paid to it. In my essay I have tried to understand what it is that causes these differences in quality between preschools. With help from literature and research studies I have examined what quality in preschool really means. My starting point is an account of my own experience at the preschool where I currently work and a description of a study visit I made to another preschool which operates in a very different way to the one where I work. I wanted to investigate what the consequences are for children who grow up attending preschools of different quality. Do they have the same opportunities? My conclusion is that the problem is both more extensive and more complicated than I had first thought. It is high time that this problem received the attention it deserves and that radical changes are made in order to ensure that all children are provided with a learning environment of an equally high standard.

La présente étude traite de la problématique de la réussite scolaire chez les adolescentes âgées de 13 à 18 ans des lycées et collèges du département du Logone et Chari dans la région de l’Extrême-nord du Cameroun. Les filles de cette région font face à un certain nombre de difficultés liées à leur environnement, tant familial que scolaire, ainsi qu’à leurs propres attitudes qui compromettent leurs études. En dépit de ces écueils, certaines adolescentes réussissent à passer en classe supérieure avec des moyennes élevées et à décrocher leurs diplômes. Notre objectif en abordant cette recherche est d’étudier l’influence des facteurs personnels, familiaux et scolaires sur la réussite scolaire des adolescentes. En effet, nous nous sommes posé une question fondamentale, à savoir : quels sont les facteurs personnels, familiaux et scolaires qui prédisent le plus la réussite scolaire chez les adolescentes des lycées et collèges du département du Logone et Chari ? Pour répondre à cette préoccupation, quatre hypothèses nous ont guidé notamment une hypothèse générale intitulée « des facteurs personnels, familiaux et scolaires prédisent le plus la réussite scolaire chez les adolescentes des lycées et collèges d’enseignement général et technique, publics et privés du département du Logone et Chari », et trois hypothèses spécifiques : « les aspirations élevées contribuent à la réussite scolaire chez les adolescentes » ; « les attitudes éducatives parentales positives encouragent la réussite scolaire des adolescentes » et « les attitudes et les pratiques éducatives encourageantes des enseignants expliquent la réussite scolaire chez les adolescentes ». Trois questionnaires préalablement validés ont été administrés à un échantillon de 1031 adolescentes des lycées et collèges, de 1010 parents d’élèves, de 180 enseignants et 36 entretiens ont été conduits auprès de « femmes/filles sorties de l’école après y avoir réussi ». L’analyse des résultats a montré qu’il existe des corrélations significatives entre les différents facteurs personnels, familiaux et scolaires et la réussite scolaire chez les adolescentes. Nous avons suggéré quelques recommandations aux responsables du ministère des enseignements secondaires, aux parents et aux enseignants pour une meilleure implication des uns et des autres dans la réussite scolaire des adolescentes. Enfin, des propositions des recherches complémentaires ont été suggérées dans l’optique de pallier les limites mentionnées à la présente étude / This study focuses on the problem of the school success of the teenage girls between the ages of 13-18 in the secondary and high schools of the Logone and Chari division, in the far-north region of Cameroon. Girls in this region face a number of problems related to their environment, family as well as academic due to their attitude which affect their studies. Inspite of these difficulties some young girls succeed in their studies. Our aim is to study the influence of individual, family and school factors on the school performance of the girl child. In effect we have raised one fundamental question in order to know: what are the individual, family and school factors which have to do with the teenage girl which determine their school success? In answering these question, the following hypotheses guided us: a main hypothese entitles “personal, family and school factors favour school success among the teenage girls in government and private secondary and high school both general and technical of Logone and Chari division” and tree specific hypotheses: “high aspirations contributed to school success among teenage girls”; “the attitudes and parental positives educational encourage school success of teenage girls” and “the attitudes and positives educational practices of teachers explain school success among teenage girls”. Tree questionnaires and a pilotated interview guide were administrated to a sample of 1031 teenage girls of secondary and high school, 1010 parents of students, 180 teachers and 36 “women/girls who succeeded in school before leaving”. The analysis of results showed that there are significant correlations among individual, family and school success factors and the school success teenage girls. In conclusion, we made some suggestions on areas of intervention to the hierarchy of the ministry of secondary education, to parents and to teachers in order to involve each of them in the school success of girls and make them more resilient. At the end some proposal, for further researches were made with the view to amend the limits of research