Teacher Interviews

As mentioned above, interviews were conducted in order to get a better understanding of the teacher’s views about literacy development and practices in Grade 3. Interviews were also conducted in order to investigate the availability of literacy resources and how those resources were used to enhance literacy in the Grade 3 classroom. Unstructured conversations took a form of informal communication, mostly after classroom observations to complement what was unclear during classroom observations.

On the question about how Thandi handled literacy lessons. She gave a synopsis of her typical reading lesson which is captured below:

Sisebenzisa incwadi enkulu, “Big Book”.Abantwana bahlala phantsi emethini enkulu notitshala, siyijonge le ncwadi.Umphandle lo wencwadi siwucazulule.Sityhile ngaphandle sijonge si-analayize umfanekiso, abantwana baxele ukuba babona ntoni emfanekisweni.Before sifunde sibuze njengokuba ubona lo mfanekiso kuza kwenzeka ntoni apha ebalini.Bachaze kuza kwenzeka oku nokuya, sibuye sifunde. Ndiqale ngokubafundela ndakugqiba ukubafundela ndibanike ithuba lokuba bafunde. Ndibabuze imibuzo.

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We use a Big Book. Learners sit on the mat and we first view the book. We then analyse the cover of the book. We then start to page the book and analyse a picture, learners then tell me what they see in the picture. Before we start reading, I ask them to predict what the story is about based on the picture. Then they share their thoughts and then we start reading. I begin by reading and then I give them a chance to read. Then I ask them questions. (Interview with Thandi, 12 March 2013).

Thandi applied different strategies with regard to teaching reading, as shared in the above excerpt. The manner in which Thandi narrated the strategies she applied when she teaches reading suggests that she stimulated learners’ thinking processes as she used pre-reading strategies. These strategies activated learners’ prior knowledge. Alyousef (2006) applauds the activation of prior knowledge as he believes that it motivates learners to read before the actual reading takes place. The pre-reading strategies allow the learners to make connections between the text and their lives. In other words, learners are mentally reading the text without pronouncing the words.

After discussing the pictures, Thandi claimed that she would then first read the text so that the learners would be able to hear how the words were pronounced, before they started reading on their own. Lastly, she would ask some questions to check learners’ understanding of the text. However, according to the reading activities that I observed, she would begin her reading exercise by asking questions based on what she asked learners to read at home. This activity would be followed by short pieces of writing which included dictation or use of blended sounds where learners would be expected to construct their words and sentences. Reading to them was not an act that she would do most of the time, in my presence. The teaching strategies that Thandi mentioned in the interview suggested her knowledge about guided reading strategies where all the learners had to read the same text in a group. However, in Thandi’s case, learners were not divided into groups, but her teaching was focused on the whole class. She made use of text talk in order to inspire discussion which included the analysis of the pictures and discussion that was based on the book cover. She also showed an understanding of the relationship that existed between reading and writing as she concluded her reading lessons by re-writing the story on the chalk board.

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When she was asked if her literacy practices provided learners with access to literacy and how that could be measured, Thandi responded by saying that access to literacy meant exposure to a variety of reading materials. The materials could be hardcopies like books, or exposure to computers. She went on to say that before the school underwent construction, they would take learners to the school library where they would read stories so that they could be exposed to writing activities about a particular story.

The interview illustrated that the teacher’s understanding of measuring reading ability meant reading aloud and using punctuation strategies correctly when reading. This implied that Thandi’s instructional practices were overlapping during the teaching of reading, resulting in the teaching of non-explicit outcomes.

On the question of low literacy performance by learners, the teacher responded by citing lack of parental support due to a variety of reasons. She mentioned that some of the parents did not know how to read or write and that became a barrier as parents were not able to support the children with their homework. Apart from the lack of support by parents, Thandi mentioned that the Department of Education’s policy on promotion and progression made things difficult for them to retain the learner in the same grade, even when they noticed that the learner was not performing to the expectations of that particular grade. This resulted in learners being promoted to the next grade with underdeveloped literacy skills, particularly reading and writing.

Regarding measures of improving literacy practices, the teacher mentioned that the home and school relationship could help to improve literacy performance where learners are given books to read at home.

Abantwana banga-..., njengoba besenditshilo, bangafunda aph’eklasini... then nasekhaya.Umntwana anikwe incwadi afike ekhaya afunde angapheleli apha esikolweni qha ukufunda.Ekhaya afundiswe indlela yokufunda incwadi.

Learners’ can-..., as I have already mentioned, they can read here in class and at home. The learner has to be given a book to read at home and he/she should not justread here at school. He must be taught how to read the book at home (Interview with Thandi, 12 March 2013).

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In this instance, parents or older siblings who are able to read could help the child to read and write at home. This implies that parental support is important in strengthening learners’ literacy development.