A case study of teachers' understandings of literacy and its enactment in two Grade R classrooms.

Abstract

Early Childhood Development (ECD) is a time of ‘critical opportunity’ (DOE, 2001) when learning is paramount and when the foundation for lifelong learning and successful living is laid. In South Africa the educational sector in ECD has a history of being marginalized and fragmented and deprived of infrastructure, sufficient educational resources and properly trained educators (Willenberg, 2003). The notable shift to increase access and promote equity for all children has been the foregrounding of the Grade R year in the Foundation Phase of schooling (DOE, 2001). However, the lack of effective management and curriculum and pedagogical changes brought about by this massive restructuring places Grade R in a tenuous position (Phatudi, 2007); greatly affects the quality of education offered. It is in this context that this research explored what two Grade R teachers understand literacy to be and how it is enacted in their classrooms. The sites included a preschool and primary school to compare pedagogical approaches. Using a qualitative framework a case study design was used. Semi-structured interviews were supplemented with video-taped classroom observations and documentation. The findings show that teachers understand literacy in a sophisticated way: literacy is about meaning making and communication. The observations reveal this understanding is enacted in practice. Children have access to multimodal and semiotic resources and learn that literacy has a range of social uses and purposes. The major differences are in approach: the preschool teacher views literacy as an act of creative expression and her pedagogy is more implicit. The teacher in the primary school provides more explicit instruction focusing on how texts and language work. However, all the children gain a knowledge of print, the visual and a range of genres. High-functioning classrooms with qualified teachers prepare children to grow up being literate. Neither approach is totally play-based or ‘a mini-Grade 1’; and while the concern of the formalization of Grade R is valid, neither approach is one-dimensional.