Teachers’ perspectives on factors that influence the teaching of prescriptive literature in grade 1

Abstract

The current literacy statistics in the Foundation Phase remain a matter of great concern in South Africa. The country is currently experiencing the largest decline in literacy levels among the countries that participated in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) in both 2016 and 2021. In the Foundation Phase, literacy is directly linked to acquiring and developing reading skills and the Foundation Phase curriculum for Home Language clearly outlines these outcomes. However, the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) focuses on ‘what to teach during reading’ but provides limited directives on the pedagogical practices for literacy teachers. Moreover, the policy statement lacks guidelines on the actual content of the books that must be used to develop literacy. This study aimed to collect data to determine what teachers’ perspectives were of the factors that influenced the way that they teach prescriptive literature in Grade 1. Furthermore, this study aimed to discover what the depictions and content of prescriptive literature in Grade 1 were and the teachers’ perspectives of such content, as well as how they interpret and implement CAPS in their teaching to gain a deeper understanding of the teachers’ lived experiences of teaching prescriptive literature in Grade 1. The researcher also explored how the teachers’ personal literacy journeys reflect how they teach children’s literature and how much training they had received in teaching literature in Grade 1. The study employed an interpretivist paradigm and data for this exploratory case study was collected through qualitative content analysis, a River of Life activity, a semi-structured interview, and a focus group interview. The data was analysed using Saldaña’s Coding method and was viewed through the lens of Social Justice. This study found that the Eurocentric content found in the prescriptive literature can be attributed to the dominance of Western knowledge systems that are enjoying carte blanche in the South African schooling system. As a result, Grade 1 teachers are teaching prescriptive literature that their learners cannot relate to culturally, nor does this literature consist of themes that can help them understand or confront issues in their current circumstances. The Western way of knowing, which is evident from the participants’ literacy journeys, has influenced the way that they apply their knowledge in pedagogy. This study has also found that teachers encounter several challenges as they are omitted from the decision-making process of selecting prescriptive literature for their classrooms. They are teaching prescriptive literature to learners from poor socio-economic circumstances who seem to have lost a passion for reading. A lack of resources, sufficient space, overcrowded classrooms, poor parental involvement, language barriers, limited access to technology, and the fact that they need to use their personal funds to create resources, are factors that influence teaching prescriptive literature in Grade 1. This study highlighted educational inequalities, a socially biased curriculum, an unequal distribution of resources, the application of Western knowledge systems in the classroom, and a hegemonic Eurocentric canon in children's prescriptive literature, which is detrimental to the development of African knowledge systems and cultural consciousness. Since Indigenous knowledge systems are included in South Africa's National Curriculum Statements, this study is critical for future curriculum development as it recommends the equitable provision of relevant and updated Afrocentric children’s literature for Grade 1 classrooms and the honouring of the literacy journeys of the teachers who teach this literature.