Children as photographers : life experiences and the right to be listened to

This article is about an investigation of eight-year-old children’s life experiences as child citizens in democratic South Africa, their right to be listened to and to participate in the democracy. Research indicates that understanding children’s life experiences can influence adults’ understanding of what needs to be done to support their participation in democratic processes. I employed photovoice methodology as primary mode for data generation. The young children took photos of their home environment and interpreted the content of each photo. Despite the fact that they live in a central city environment known for its crime, the findings revealed surprisingly positive life experiences. However, they did take photos of negative aspects that could harm their experiences of an open society and a free democracy. Through their photos these young participants showed their capability of acting as agents for transforming their home environment, provided that their voices are heard and they are granted the opportunity to participate in these matters.http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_educat.htmlgv201

Reaching out with rugby role models to inspire literacy in young children: Informing hybrid pedagogy

Children are exposed to influential role models, such as parents, peers, teachers, fictional characters and humans in virtual and physical environments. Utilising role modelling as a teaching approach or rich teaching resource not only appeals to the social learning preference of a young child but also supports teachers in reaching out to virtual and physical communities to enrich literacy learning experiences. The perspective of role models to promote acceptable social and academic behaviour in young children has progressively introduced scholarly views on the achievability and importance thereof in education and its applicability as a hybrid pedagogy. With rapid technological advancements and increased access to the Internet, an integrated platform is provided which teachers can benefit from when incorporating role models to help cultivate responsible social and academic behaviour. In this study, we implemented a literacy programme – the Reading, Rugby and Responsibility project – as a community project to improve our understanding of how rugby students, as role models, can intentionally inculcate responsible social and reading behaviour in Grade 3 children. We aligned the outcomes of the project with the Community of Inquiry framework to hypothesise the value and feasibility of using role models as a hybrid pedagogy and resource in early childhood education. We utilised a qualitative case study design and purposefully selected five rugby students to interact with 35 Grade 3 children at an inner-city primary school in Pretoria. The data generated from informal discussions with the rugby students and reflections of their experiences, as well as the children’s narrative accounts and drawings, were thematically analysed. The findings revealed that children yearn to engage with role models and be part of a community. Further investigation on how the Community of Inquiry framework can inform and utilise role modelling as a hybrid pedagogy and resource is beckoned and recommended

Disciplinary practices in the early grades: Creating culturally responsive learning environments in South Africa

Discipline is essential to learning, but in culturally diverse groups it could become a challenge for teachers. Positive discipline, respect for human rights and the creation of a sense of belonging promotes culturally responsive and disciplined learners. This study investigated the social and cultural contexts of discipline in early grade South African classrooms from the perspective of the teachers. Nine teachers were interviewed through semi-structured interviews regarding their disciplinary strategies and cultural responsiveness. To ensure the trustworthiness and credibility of the findings, teacher participants provided photographs of the classroom layouts, observation checklists, and field notes of the disciplinary practices implemented in the classrooms. Data was thematically analysed. The findings confirm that diversity is a challenge due to external factors such as parent expectations, as well as internal factors such as the management of differences between the teachers’ beliefs and those of the learners. Another finding relates to the importance of creating a disciplined classroom environment and finding a positive alliance between policy and implementation. New insights emerged regarding the way cultural responsiveness affirms the unique culture of a classroom and thereby supports its management and discipline.Keywords: culturally responsive learning environment; disciplinary practices; early grade classroom

Preserving cultural heritage by teaching idioms to young learners as part of imaginative language in Setwana

Teachers need creative strategies and techniques when teaching idioms in Setswana. However, they do not know what idioms are nor are they aware that through idioms cultural heritage can be preserved and that idioms can be taught as part of imaginative language, especially in Grade 3. As a result, teachers and learners in Grade 3 Setswana classes lack the understanding of the role of idioms and language proficiency in using and writing idioms. The aim of this paper was to show how intervention could help teachers with new strategies for teaching idioms. Constructivism and the five subtheories of decoding idioms were used (Liu 2008). The project consisted of two research-based phases and the findings showed that teachers can now use their own initiative and creativity in language teaching and the learners learned and retained the idioms they have learnt.http://www.sajce.co.zaam2017Early Childhood Educatio

Discovering child citizens'’ understandings and experiences of social justice

Among the contemporary needs of democratic societies are citizens learning to be adaptable, ethical, innovative, literate and aware of socio-scientific issues. To cultivate such citizens requires coherent early childhood civics curricula and teachers who are specialists in teaching and learning civics education. Civics education in the early years is crucial; however, the young child's cognisance is rarely expressed in empirical data. This qualitative inquiry gave voice to 60 (approximately 9 years old) child citizens' understandings and experiences of social justice in a democracy utilizing narratives and artefacts. By inductively analysing and interpreting the data, the findings revealed the intense yearning of children to live in fair and just democratic societies. These child citizens' accounts of lived experiences echo the significance of relevant civic education in schools, governmental policy and acts as well as citizens' active involvement in all facets of civic and social upliftment.The leading author of this article attended a workshop sponsored by the Teaching and Learning Development Capacity Improvement Programme (TLCIP) as part of a capacity-building partnership between the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and the European Union (EU).https://www.intellectbooks.com/citizenship-teaching-learning2020-03-01hj2019Early Childhood Educatio

Self-reflective practices during teaching and learning of an undergraduate literacy module

This paper is based on a field experience project designed as part of the foundation phase literacy programme. In this project, foundation phase teacher education student-teachers selected a teaching site and a learner or group of learners that they would teach to read in the afternoons and over the weekends. The aim of the project was to offer the teacher education student-teachers an opportunity to put theory into practice using self-reflective strategies that included group and individual reflections on instructional strategies presented in DVDs, reflections on microteaching lessons to the class, and reflections on teaching learners in local schools. During the time that they were working with their learners, they were also expected to confer with other teacher education student-teachers to exchange ideas, strategies and their „best practice‟ experiences with others. Three distinct stages emerged as student-teachers taught and reflected on their experiences. Student-teachers were initially unsure of their capability of taking on the project. The second stage was that of determination to grapple with the project and the last stage was resolving to take ownership of the project. This paper recommends that projects of this nature are necessary as they allow undergraduate student-teachers opportunities for authentic learning regarding the teaching of reading.http://www.krepublishers.comhb201

The integration of music and stories as an effective approach to the development of phonological awareness in Afrikaans-speaking grade 1 learners

Volgens internasionale en nasionale statistiek word leesgeletterdheidsvaardighede wêreldwyd as ’n probleem beskou. In Suid-Afrika neem dit kritieke afmetings aan waar leerders in die grondslagfase ernstige probleme ten opsigte van lees toon. ’n Studie wat in 2002 deur die Wes-Kaapse Onderwysdepartement (2006:1) onderneem is ten opsigte van geletterdheid en syfervaardigheid het getoon dat graad 3-leerders twee tot drie jaar swakker as hulle chronologiese leesouderdom vaar. In 2011 toon die TIMMS- en PIRLS-verslag (Howie, Van Staden, Tshele, Dowse en Zimmerman 2012) dat Suid-Afrika se graad 4- en 5-leerders die 330ste plek op die PIRLS-skaal behaal het en dat dit laer as die internasionale maatstaf van die PIRLS is. Die lae vlakke van leesvaardighede het dus dringend aandag nodig. Die navorsers vir hierdie studie beskou leesgeletterdheid as ’n kritieke aspek van skoolsukses. Hulle het dit daarom ten doel gestel om ’n paslike fonologiese musiekprogram saam te stel om leesvaardigheid aan te pak. ’n Verdere doel was om die ingrypingsprogram in ’n graad 1-klas te implementeer en op wetenskaplike wyse die uitwerking daarvan op die leerders se fonologiese bewustheid waar te neem en te monitor. Die doel van hierdie artikel is om te rapporteer oor empiriese navorsing wat gedoen is tydens die implementering van die ingrypingsprogram. Die program is ’n Afrikaanse fonologiese ingrypingsprogram met stories, liedjies en ander musiekaktiwiteite. Die program is ontwerp volgens riglyne wat in die literatuur gevind is oor fonologiese bewuswording van jong leerders, die rol wat musiek hierin kan speel, en persoonlike ondervinding as grondslagfase-onderwysers. ’n Kwalitatiewe, interpretivistiese benadering en ingrypingsnavorsing tydens ’n gevallestudie is gebruik om die integrasie van musiek en stories te verken, te beskryf en te verklaar. Data is ingesamel deur visuele bewysstukke, dokumente, waarneming, onderhoude en die hou van ’n navorsingsjoernaal. Die data-ontleding het plaasgevind deur kodering en identifisering van temas. In hierdie navorsing is daar hoofsaaklik gebruik gemaak van Howard Gardner se multi-intelligensies met die klem op die musikale en linguistiese intelligensies. Die integrasie met die kunste en geletterdheid van Russell-Bowie het ook gedien as teoretiese motivering vir die ontwerp van die program en die navorsing. Nadat die program toegepas is, kon sekere bevindinge saamgestel word. Die finale bevindinge van die navorsing het getoon dat musiek wel ’n positiewe rol speel in die aanleer van fonologiese vaardighede as leesgeletterdheidsvaardigheid by Afrikaanssprekende leerders in graad 1. Die waarde van die program lê daarin dat onderwysers met of sonder musiekkennis of -vaardighede musiek kan gebruik om fonologiese bewuswording te stimuleer. Die meer gespesialiseerde musiekonderrig kan dan gebruik word wanneer leerders in meer gevorderde musiekvaardighede en -konsepte onderrig word.National and international statistics reveal that reading literacy skills are regarded as a global problem. In South Africa this problem is assuming critical proportions, with learners in the foundation phase displaying serious reading problems. A possible reason for this is that phonology is not implemented as a prominent teaching strategy in grade 1. The omission of certain language skills, for instance phonological awareness, leads to poor performance in young learners. Ineffective methods of reading instruction also have a significant negative influence on learners’ reading literacy skills. A literacy and numeracy study conducted by the Department of Education of the Western Cape (Western Cape Department of Education 2006:1) showed that grade 3 learners are performing at a level two or three years below their chronological age. In 2011 the TIMM and PIRLS reports (Howie, Van Staden, Tshele, Dowse and Zimmerman 2012) showed that South Africa’s grade 4 and 5 learners rank 330th on the PIRLS scale, which is lower than the international PIRLS criterion. The low literacy levels therefore require urgent attention. The researchers of this study regard reading literacy as a critical aspect of success at school. They therefore set out to build a phonological music programme suitable for addressing reading literacy. A further objective was to implement the intervention programme in a grade 1 class and to observe and monitor its effects on the learners’ phonological awareness scientifically. The aim of this article is to report on empirical research carried out during the implementation of the intervention programme. The programme is an Afrikaans phonological intervention programme with stories, songs and other musical activities. The programme design was based on guidelines found in the literature on the development of phonological awareness of young learners, the role music can play in this regard, and personal experience gathered by the researchers as foundation phase teachers. The programme equips learners with appropriate phonological skills and enriches the learning experience in an educationally sound manner through the integration of musical activities. The strengthening of phonological awareness is directly linked to the improved literacy skills. During the acquisition of reading skills, learners participated in the lessons by listening to stories, learning songs and taking part in other musical activities. A qualitative, interpretivist approach and intervention research during a case study were used to explore, describe and explain the integration of music and stories. Data was collected by means of visual documentation, observation and interviews and by keeping a research journal. The data was analysed by means of coding and by identifying themes. A grade 1 class in a private school in Mpumalanga was purposively selected for the study. The school is part of a small rural community, and the class consisted of seven boys and girls aged six to seven years. The class was specifically chosen for its small learner numbers, as this made the implementation of the programme easier. The teacher and the learners were Afrikaans speaking. The learners had a basic knowledge of phonology. The study was conducted over a period of seven months. In this study, use was made mainly of Howard Gardner’s multi-intelligences, in particular the musical and linguistic intelligences (Gardner 1983). Russell-Bowie’s (2006) integration of the arts and literacy also served as a theoretical motivation of the design of the programme and the research. He strongly recommends the integration of music into other subjects. Music contributes to the development of effective literary skills through participation in enjoyable activities. Gardner (1983) found that learners benefited when teachers involved different intelligences during presentations. Teachers with or without musical acumen or skills can teach music, but more specialised and experienced teachers are required when advanced music skills and concepts need to be taught. The phonemes were easily instructed through poems, rhythm and rhyme. Interest in phonological awareness was aroused by a range of activities that also tickled learners’ curiosity. The learners were exposed to voice production and pitch as well, as the songs in the KKK programme were written in several keys. The learners enjoyed the songs in the KKK programme. Songs that were matched to the story were composed to emphasise the phonemes in order to accelerate phonemic development. The songs were short and very effective. Phonemes were not simply learned; by dramatising a story or song, the learners were enabled to identify with each phoneme while they were learning the phonemes as they played (Wessels and Van den Berg 1999:162). The learners were able to express themselves in a safe classroom environment, without their sincere efforts being criticised. The researchers noted that learners’ relationships with one another improved during the implementation of the programme. Further findings were that the learners in this study possessed the ability to respond to music, make music and enjoy it. After the application of the programme, some conclusions could be drawn. The main conclusion of the research was that music can play a positive role in the acquisition of phonology as a reading literacy skill in grade 1 Afrikaans-speaking learners.http://www.litnet.co.za/Category/akademies/litnet-akademies OR http://reference.sabinet.co.za/sa_epublication/litnet?am201

Outcomes of an English literacy intervention on non-mother tongue teaching practices of teachers in rural schools

In Suid-Afrika word niemoedertaalonderrig op hoërskoolvlak bemoeilik deur leerders se beperkte vaardigheid in Engels as kognitiewe akademiese taal. Taalonderwysers aan hoërskole beskik nie oor die kundigheid om leerders by te staan wat nie op laerskoolvlak voldoende kerngeletterdheidsvaardighede in Engels verwerf het nie, omdat hulle opgelei is om Engels as skoolvak te onderrig eerder as om Engels as onderrigtaal te gebruik. Hierdie verkennende studie se aanvanklike doel was om hoërskoolonderwysers met dié probleem by te staan. Die versoek van ses taalonderwysers in 'n plattelandse hoërskool om hulle te help om leerders meer effektief te ondersteun het tot hierdie kwalitatiewe gevallestudie aanleiding gegee. Ons het 'n geletterdheidsintervensie gegrond op die teorieë van sosiale leer en sosiale ontwikkeling en gebaseer op fonetiese beginsels ontwikkel en geïmplementeer. Die vloeibaarheid van ons deelnemende aksienavorsingsontwerp binne 'n konstruktivistiese paradigma het ruimte vir uitbreiding gedurende die intervensie gebied. Die groep het deur deelnemergeleide sneeubalseleksie uitgebrei met vyf onderwysers van twee naburige laerskole. Deur die uitgebreide fokus kon ons die aandag vestig op 'n moontlike dieperliggende wortel van die probleem, naamlik dat laerskoolonderwysers eweneens nie toereikend opgelei word vir die uitdagings van niemoedertaal-geletterdheidsonderrig in 'n landelike gebied nie. Tematiese analise voor en na die intervensie van data wat deur fokusgroepe, observasie en deelnemende observasie bekom is, het getoon dat beide hoër- en laerskoolonderwysers hul niemoedertaal-onderrigpraktyke suksesvol kon aanpas, met goeie gevolge vir leerlingdeelname en verbeterde prestasie. Daar bestaan 'n wederkerige interaksie tussen onderwysers se sienings van hulle eie effektiwiteit, motivering en trots enersyds en leerders se entoesiasme en sukses andersyds.In South Africa teachers' and learners' mother tongues are often different from the language of learning and teaching, which is mostly English. Non-mother tongue teaching and learning in high schools are impeded by learners' limited proficiency in English as a cognitive academic language. In addition, secondary school English language teachers lack competency to support learners who have failed to acquire core literacy skills in English during their primary school years, because they have been trained to teach English as a school subject rather than to use English as language of teaching and learning. A request to assist six English language teachers regarding this problem in a rural high school initiated this qualitative case study. Data were obtained by way of focus groups, observation and participant observation and were recorded in field notes and photographs. Pre-intervention thematic analysis of the problem of teachers' experiences and emotional state regarding their language of teaching practices revealed themes of 1) inadequate training; 2) scarce resources; 3) learners' passivity and 4) extremely limited core literacy skills. These limitations were reflected in 1) teachers' feelings of incompetency; 2) powerlessness; 3) confusion and 4) despair regarding learners' inability to read English. We designed and implemented a literacy intervention framed by theories of social learning and social development and based on phonetic principles. In designing the literacy intervention, we took teachers' and learners' previous knowledge of phonics as the baseline of their zone of proximal development. Vygotsky's emancipatory concepts of a more knowledgeable other, as well as teaching by way of instruction and modelling conceptualised as scaffolding, were guiding principles. In addition, we incorporated Bandura's ideas about the value of motivation and self-efficacy expectations into our facilitation of the programme.The fluidity of our participatory action research design, framed by a constructivist paradigm, allowed our sample to snowball by way of participant-driven selection and thus to include five additional teachers from two neighbouring primary schools. Our expanded focus revealed a deeper root of the problem we were attempting to address, namely that the primary school teachers were not adequately trained for the challenges of non-mother tongue literacy education in a rural area either. Post-intervention thematic analysis of the data revealed that both secondary and primary school teachers were able to successfully adjust their non-mother tongue teaching practices, with positive outcomes in terms of learners' participation and achievement. Teachers' new experiences were manifested in 1) their utilisation of new techniques; 2) new resources, 3) learners' more confident participation and 4) academic improvement. Learners' changed interaction with teachers in turn seemed to have a positive effect on teachers' attitudes towards them. Teachers' new emotional state was expressed in 1) feelings of excitement; 2) empowerment; 3) inspiration and 4) pride. There exists a reciprocal interaction between teachers' perceptions of self-efficacy, motivation and pride on the one hand and learners' enthusiasm and success on the other. Pursuant to the results of this study, we recommend that all teachers should be better trained to implement the best strategies for teaching non-mother tongue literacy. In-service training could be provided by way of distance learning. Because cognitive academic language proficiency is inseparable from successful learning in school, all teachers are in fact language teachers. The challenge to provide the circumstances and practices for acquiring core literacy skills in English is particularly daunting in rural schools. Support of teachers and learners should be ecologically sensitive and should build on existing competencies; such as knowledge of the phonetic foundations of English, as a useful basis for a literacy intervention. Adequate resources, empowerment of teachers, strategies that enhance learners' participation and guaranteed success for both teachers and learners by way of simple incremental objectives are important considerations. Our purpose with this study was exploratory. In action research, a new cycle would be initiated at this point. However, we hope that this report serves as a point of departure for further discussion and research. The far-reaching implications of the disadvantage faced by rural learners whose language of learning and teaching is not their mother tongue should be urgently addressed.http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_akgees.htmlam201

The identification of scientifically based criteria for the evaluation of Afrikaans Foundation Phase graded readers

Leesreekse is die bekendste leesmateriaal wat in die klaskamer gebruik word om leesonderrig te ondersteun. Die keuse van geskikte leesreekse is egter problematies, omdat daar 'n gebrek aan wetenskaplik-begronde maatstawwe is aan die hand waarvan onderwysers leesreekse se waarde kan bepaal. Die behoefte aan sulke maatstawwe vir die waardebepaling van Afrikaanse Grondslagfase-leesreekse het aanleiding gegee tot die studie waarop hierdie artikel gebaseer is. Die betrokke ondersoek was verkennend van aard, met die doel om wetenskaplik-begronde maatstawwe vir die waardebepaling van Afrikaanse Grondslagfase-leesreekse vas te stel. Literatuur oor lees en leesreekse deur plaaslike en internasionale kenners is bestudeer. 'n Gevallestudie is onderneem waaraan onderwysers uit verskillende sosio-ekonomiese gebiede deelgeneem het. Waarnemingsnotas van studente in die Vroeë Kinderontwikkeling en Grondslagfase-program van die Universiteit van Pretoria is gebruik om die data aan te vul. Die ondersoek het gelei tot die vasstelling van wetenskaplik-begronde maatstawwe aan die hand waarvan onderwysers die waarde van Afrikaanse Grondslagfase-leesreekse kan bepaal. Hierdie maatstawwe is ook nog bruikbaar in die konteks van die nuwe Nasionale Kurrikulum- en Assesseringbeleidsverklaring (KABV/CAPS).This article is based on research undertaken by Koekemoer (2012) during 2010 and 2011 to determine scientifically based criteria for the selection of Afrikaans graded readers. At that time, the only guideline put forward by the national education department was adherence to the "balanced reading" approach. Only a limited number of readers were available, and since then the Department of Basic Education has formulated criteria by which it evaluates graded readers. The original research question was: What scientifically based criteria can be used to evaluate Afrikaans graded readers in the Foundation Phase? The balanced reading approach was prescribed in the National Curriculum Statement of 2002 and is also incorporated in the new (2011) Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (not yet implemented at the time of the original research). This approach to the choice of graded readers as well as for teaching reading specifies that the development of language skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing must be taught in an integrated manner in the Foundation Phase. This approach also recognises that the abilities of learners differ. It is therefore imperative that teachers take these differences into account when they select graded readers. Since, however, there were no definite criteria for evaluating and selecting graded readers at the time, teachers relied on their personal preferences in this regard. Selecting graded readers on the basis of personal preferences is problematic, because readers selected in this way may not actually help learners to acquire reading skills at different levels.http://www.litnet.co.za/cgi-bin/giga.cgi?cmd=cause_dir_news&cat=201&cause_id=1270am2014gv2014Reading -- Study and teachin

Teaching reading comprehension to Grade 3 Tshivenda-speaking learners

The main objective of the study was to explore how teachers teach reading comprehension to Grade 3 Tshivenda-speaking learners. This qualitative study was prompted by the low levels of reading amongst these Grades 3 learners in South Africa. Three schools, each with two Grade 3 classes, were selected in this study. Data from individual interviews with teachers, focus group interviews and classroom observations revealed that there were a number of factors that contributed to the Grade 3 learners‟ poor performance in reading comprehension. It is recommended that teacher education programmes should be improved and that Tshivenda reading resources be made available, as these are currently extremely limited. The study also indicated that the best way to teach reading comprehension is by teaching learners a variety of strategies that they can use in order to self-regulate their comprehension when reading.http://journals.co.za/content/journal/jedsam2017Early Childhood Educatio