Foundation phase teachers’ philosophies on literacy teaching and learning in rural primary schools : a case study of five rural primary schools in the Western Cape-George district

Abstract

The aim of study was to explore the relationship between teachers’ philosophies and practices in literacy teaching in rural primary schools in South Africa. In this qualitative study, five schools with eight Foundation Phase teachers in a rural area near George in the Western Cape Province of South Africa participated. One-on-one, semi-structured interviews and classroom observations were the methods of gleaning data which were analysed and categorised to reveal dominant patterns of thought, behaviour and pedagogy. The data were thematically analysed in order to isolate certain themes which showed what was actually taught in the literacy classroom. The findings revealed a range of understandings or philosophies of what literacy teaching entails from a highly behaviourist stance to a more constructivist stance. For some teachers, literacy instruction means no more than grammatical and vocabulary exercises, while for other teachers literacy signifies a profound reading of social practice. Congruent with this range of understandings of literacy, teachers’ tuition varied from drill work in class, to imaginative and engaging education that drew upon the inner resources of learners’ own knowledge. In most cases in this study, those teachers who displayed a limited and unreflective philosophy of learning literacy mirrored their limitations in class; while the teachers with a broader understanding of the ethos, ethics and stipulations of literacy requirements demonstrated, even in trying circumstances, to deliver inspiring and quality literacy instruction. It was important in this study to synthesize a conceptual framework; by drawing upon (i) Vygotsky’s pioneering work on mediation pertaining to the teachers’ role, (ii) Freire’s theory on constructivism emphasising learner centred education, and (iii) drawing upon the literature on the meaning of the term literacy itself in the 21st century. This study in its contribution sought to determine the existence and use of teachers’ philosophies on literacy teaching and learning at rural primary schools. It emphasised the understanding of teachers’ philosophies and their beliefs in the teaching of literacy that contributes to the knowledge of how literacy could be taught more effectively by: (i) identifying ways to make literacy teachers critically aware when teaching literacy; (ii) determining ways for teachers to reflect sufficiently on their own socio-political and economic assumptions when teaching. It sought to make teachers aware that in today’s classrooms in South Africa there is a wide diversity of learners, which demands flexibility of literacy instruction.