A comparison of the RNCS 2005 and the CAPS documents

Curriculum 2005, an outcomes-based curriculum, was implemented in the General Education and Training (GET) band in South African schools from 1998, with full implementation scheduled for 2005. This curriculum moved away from a content-based, over-prescriptive syllabus for a number of mainly discipline-based subjects to a more open-ended framework based on eight learning areas, each of which underpin the National Qualification Framework (NQF). Teachers and others were expected to develop learning programmes that integrated learning areas in various combinations and which led learners to the achievement of the outcomes. However, these design features proved too complex. Monitoring and evaluation of the curriculum in action led to widespread expression of concern, which in turn led, to a review. Chisholm found that there were significant criticisms of structure and design of the curriculum (DoE, 2000:20). Other aspects of concern related to the way in which the curriculum itself had been conceptualized with a plethora of terms and their complexity being key points.

Table 2:1 below summarizes some of the key differences in structure and design of the revised RNCS (C2005) and the CAPS document for Literacy in the FP.

Table 2:1 A summary of the key differences between C2005 and the CAPS document

Key differences between the Revised C2005 and CAPS for Literacy in the Foundation Phase Revised RNCS - C2005 (2002) CAPS (2011)

The content was organised around eight Learning Areas (Languages, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Arts and Culture, Life Orientation, economics and Management sciences and Technology.

The content (Knowledge, concepts and skills) contained in the NCS has been organized in the CAPS, per term. Four main (Home Language, First Additional Language, Mathematics and Life Skills) subjects replaced the eight Learning Areas. Languages Learning Area consists of 6

outcomes: Listening; Speaking; Reading and Viewing; Writing; Thinking and Reasoning and Language Structure and Use.

The 3 main skills in Home Language are: Listening and speaking; Reading and phonics and writing and handwriting. Thinking and Reasoning and Language Structure and Use, are incorporated within each of the above skills.

Time allocation for Literacy per week: Language - Grades R-2, 9 hours 10 minutes and for Grade 3, 10 hours.

Time allocation for Literacy per week:

- Home Language - Grades R-3, 6 hours - First Additional Language - Grade R-2, 4 hours, and Grade 3, 5 hours.

Guidelines and Assessment Standards for each grade. Suggestions for recording and reporting assessment.

The requirements for each Formal Assessment task are provided for Grade 1-3. This includes 1 baseline assessment and an Annual National Assessment (ANA).

(Adapted from Cohen and Welch, in Hoadley, 2010:311)

The next section examines the documents, which provide the basis for literacy in the FP: The RNCS document and the current CAPS curriculum.

The RNCS Grades R-9 (RNCS, 2002:17), allocates 40% for formal Literacy teaching in the FP in terms of the National Education Policy Act (1996). One of the most crucial aspects of the teaching and learning process in multi-grade classes concerns the management of time (UNESCO, 2004). How teachers distribute their time between learners is critical in assessing real opportunities to learn (Hargreaves, Montero, Chau, Sibli & Thanh, 2001:499).

The Languages Learning Area contributes to the curriculum by developing Reading and Writing, which is the foundation for much of the other learning in the curriculum, such as Mathematics and the Social Sciences. Language serves a variety of purposes, which further shapes, our identity and knowledge. These purposes are: ‘personal’ – to sustain, develop and transform identities, to sustain relationships in family and community and for personal growth and pleasure; ‘communicative’ - to communicate appropriately and effectively in a variety of social contexts; ‘educational’ - to develop tools for thinking and reasoning and to provide access to information; ‘aesthetic’ - to create interpret and play imaginatively with oral, visual and written texts; ‘cultural’ - to understand and appreciate languages and cultures and the heritage they carry; ‘political’ - to assert oneself and challenge others; and to sustain, develop and transform identities; and ‘critical’ - to understand the relationship between

language, power and identity; to challenge uses of these where necessary; to understand the dynamic nature of culture; and to resist persuasion and positioning where necessary (RNCS, 2002:5).

The RNCS (2002:20) emphasised that learners’ home language should be used for learning and teaching whenever possible. This is particularly important in the FP where children learn to read and write. The Languages Learning Area Statement covered all official languages and comprised five outcomes, namely: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Viewing, Writing, Thinking and Reasoning, and Language Structure and Use. While these outcomes are presented as separate, they should be integrated into teaching and assessments (RNCS 2002:21).

The RNCS further stipulated that reading in the FP should be taught as part of an integrated Reading and Writing focus time. Lessons, which specifically focus on reading instruction, should consist of five main components of teaching reading: phonemic awareness; word recognition (sight words and phonics); comprehension; vocabulary, and fluency. Each of these components had to be taught explicitly as learners’ progress through the FP (RNCS 2002:3). These components will be discussed later in relation to this research project.

To improve implementation, a comprehensive CAPS document was developed and implemented in 2011. The CAPS Foundation Phase Home Language Grade R to 3 (2011), replaced the RNCS Grades R-9 (2002). The purpose of CAPS was to replace the previous Subject Statements, Learning Programme Guidelines and Subject Assessments Guidelines in Grades R to 12.

Although the data collection for this current research project was conducted in 2010, the analysis and writing up of the thesis was completed while the new CAPS document was in use. It was interesting to note how some of the literacy strategies used by the two urban multi-grade teachers were similar to those discussed in the new CAPS document.

In the CAPS document the Languages programme is integrated into all other subject areas. Language is used across the curriculum in all oral work, reading and writing (CAPS, 2011:6). Time allocation for Home Language in the FP is 6 hours and the First Additional Language is 4 hours for Grade R - 2 and 5 hours for Grade 3.

In Grades 1 - 3 reading takes place in the Reading and Writing focus time. It is here, through clear, focused lessons that learners are taught to be effective readers and writers. Daily time is set-aside for lessons covering different strategies for reading: shared reading, group-

In order to teach reading effectively, readers need to be engaged in appropriate-level, high- quality texts that foster enthusiasm and critical thinking (Dreher, 2003:25). Learners need opportunities to read and re-read developmentally appropriate books. These books should capture their interests, address curriculum content, be based on cultural diversity and provide sufficient instructional opportunities (Compton-Lilly, 2008:668). By allowing learners to try to read on their own, offering feedback and assistance as they demonstrate the need for it, teachers will be able to determine what their learners need and at what stage they are (Pearson, 2011:248).