Sub-question two: How will a different approach change the teaching

To change the approach in classroom literacy teaching, I consider three elements, namely (1) the organisation of the classroom (See 2.6.1), (2) the materials used to teach and expose learners to literacy (See 2.9.3 – 2.9.7) and the literacy teacher (See 2.8).

5.2.2.1 Class organisation

The current structure and organisation of classroom literacy does not suit an approach which is governed by research-based practices, such as, guided reading, guided writing and the flexible and dynamic grouping of learners into appropriate reading and writing groups. Presently, basic aspects in many South African classrooms would have to alter to

accommodate change. The aspects identified in my research were (i) learner grouping for reading and writing, (ii) seating and (iii) the literacy time table.

i) Learner grouping for reading and writing

Currently, learners in South African literacy classrooms are identified as either “lower”, “middle” or “higher” groups. Most classes are divided into these three groups without

indicating why each learner is in their specific group. Clay (1991:218) suggests that learners be divided into groups that reflect “similar reading behaviours at a particular point in time”. Therefore it is only by means of careful observation of learners’ behaviours that learners can be placed in a certain group.

Clay (1991:219) also informs educators that regrouping should happen, and that it will not necessarily always be towards a higher reading level. This kind of flexible grouping does not happen in the majority of South African literacy classrooms. Research, such as that of Clay (2002) and Fountas and Pinnell’s (2007), shows that learners may become more

independent because of a change in behaviours, and therefore should be promoted forward to a group reading at higher levels. However, a learner can also show unforeseen

confusions which may lead to regrouping him with a group reading at a lower text-book level. Importantly, whole class activities are still important and can ensure that learners in groups with lower reading levels come into contact with more difficult texts, for example, in shared reading and writing. Therefore the low-progress learners will receive exposure to texts that can enhance their own set of behaviours, which leads to progress.

ii) Seating

Jensen (2005) identifies seating as an important factor to learning. Seats can be grouped together or set in rows, depending on the type of the activity (Jensen, 2005:82, 83). However, the majority of classrooms I have visited prefer rows, without a change of

arrangement according to activities. While class activities at the desks in rows might be more favourable for better focus and concentration on the teacher (Jensen, 2005:83), the teacher should also pay attention to the most successful way to plan seating for a particular activity. For example, a good arrangement for Guided Reading is of a half-circle of desks with the teacher in the middle, which allows for both group and individual interaction .

iii) Literacy timetable

Current timetables in some South African schools do not include reading in the learners’ home language everyday. Learners are not expected to interact with and practise their behaviours on texts at their level on a daily basis. This needs to change. Reading and writing should take place every day (Clay, 1993:9). Therefore the timetable should be planned in a way that will accommodate daily engagements with reading and writing.

Although the three above mentioned organisational features (i, ii and iii) may only require micro-level changes, they nevertheless play an important part in the flow of research-based literacy lessons for classroom application. The next important factor that I recognised as necessary for teaching dynamics to change, was the materials used to teach literacy.

5.2.2.2 Materials

The most important materials in the literacy classroom consist of a variety of texts (see 2.9.3 – 2.9.7). Hornsby (2000:39-47) identifies different texts for different purposes:

• texts for reading aloud;

• texts for shared reading;

• texts for guided reading, and

• texts for independent reading.

A gradient of difficulty is important in each of these texts to assist the teacher to make “informed decisions about materials they select for children to read” (Clay, 1991:201). The type of text and the gradient or level of text assists a teacher’s planning for literacy according to her learners’ individual use of behaviours and strategies.

In contrast to the whole-text approach, ‘fill in the blank’ activities in the South African context do not sustain comprehension throughout a text. Also, these activities make little or no contribution to learners’ accumulation of strategies and behaviours in their development towards a self-extending system. Shorter texts that can be read in their entirety within a lesson that contains aspects of the main focus in a lesson, can be the alternative to decontextualized work-sheets (Hornsby, 2000:44, 45).

Other than the texts used and made available to learners, materials such as wall charts, an alphabet chart and word wall as well as supplementary apparatus, such as magnetic letters, are also important to aid teaching literacy in the classroom (Clay, 1993:24). Teachers should, however, be careful of when and how they implement these extra materials, not to make extra aids more important than the texts they use. Many South African classrooms have a variety of charts on the walls which are either never referred to or else over- emphasised as isolated items of knowledge, for example phonics and phonics charts. In order to use all materials effectively and organise the literacy classroom accordingly, teachers need to be informed about research-based practices.

5.2.2.3 Informed teachers

Educators in the Reading Recovery® programme participate in a year-long training

This programme has led to a shift in teachers’ attention “from teaching for items knowledge …to develop in the child the willingness to use a variety of text-solving strategies” (Clay, 1993:63). As a result, it has focused instruction on the process of reading.

If this is what an appropriate training model can offer literacy teachers in other parts of the world (See 1.4), a similar training model can also be applied in the South African context. Teacher “buy-in” and a supportive educational system is the starting point of an investment in literacy classrooms and ultimately in learners’ lives (Nathanson, 2008:157).