Foundation Phase teachers’ experiences of compulsory mask wearing on teaching language and literacy in the foundation phase

Abstract

The World Health Organisation (WHO) upgraded the COVID – 19 outbreak to a pandemic status on the 11th of March 2020. In response to this global initiative, the South African Government announced a state of disaster on the 15th of March 2020. This was immediately followed by the closure of South African schools on the 18th of March 2020, to minimise the infection rate in the country. The national closure of schools affected the education sector greatly. The re-opening of schools was agreed on by the Department of Education, under stipulated conditions that all teachers had to adhere to the Standard Operating Procedure guidelines. One of the Standard Operating Procedures guidelines was the compulsory mask wearing in the classroom, which in turn resulted in numerous challenges for the teachers, inclusive of foundation phase teachers, regarding the teaching of language and literacy. This necessitates the desire to investigate the experiences of the teachers regarding teaching of language and literacy, and the pedagogical strategies utilised to addresses these challenges. This research study sought to investigate the foundation phase teachers’ experiences regarding compulsory mask wearing whilst teaching language and literacy. A qualitative case study approach was used, and data collected via semi-structured interviews. Six foundation phase teachers were interviewed, two from each grade ranging from grades 1 – 3. Two primary schools in Johannesburg North were chosen, one government and the other independent, so as to obtain diverse and balanced views pertaining to research participants’ responses. The theoretical framework used to guide this study was the Chomsky LAD theory, which emphasised that language acquisition in children initiates in the brain using what Chomsky (1986) calls a “language acquisition device” LAD. The key findings were grouped into four themes. From theme one, the challenges encountered when teaching phonics revealed how the use of compulsory mask wearing in the classroom obstructed the teachers’ conventional teaching methods regarding language and literacy in the foundation phase. Theme two illustrated the impact on communication and teaching language and literacy during compulsory mask wearing period. Theme three illustrated the importance of facial expression to teaching language and literacy, and theme four illustrated that innovative strategies were essential when teaching during COVID – 19. Overall, the research study findings revealed that the compulsory mask wearing had a negative impact on the foundation phase teachers, with regards to teaching 4 language and literacy pedagogy. It is therefore recommended that the South African Department of Education must consider the inclusion of the teachers in the drafting and compiling of such regulations which need to be implemented in the classrooms with regards to teaching in the future.