Teachers’ Philosophies on Literacy Teaching and Learning in Five Rural Primary Schools in the Western Cape-George District

Cina P.  Mosito; Mzimkulu Samson Honey  Dyasi; Toyin Mary  Adewumi

doi:10.36941/ajis-2022-0100

Authors

Cina P. Mosito Faculty of Education, Nelson Mandela University, University Way, Summerstrand, Gqeberha, 6019, South Africa
Mzimkulu Samson Honey Dyasi Faculty of Education, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, CPUT Bellville Campus Technology way Food Science & Technology Building, Bellville South Industrial, Cape Town, 7530, South Africa
Toyin Mary Adewumi Faculty Education, Nelson Mandela University, University Way, Summerstrand, Gqeberha, 6019, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36941/ajis-2022-0100

Keywords:

Teacher, Literacy, Teaching and Learning, Primary Schools, Western Cape

Abstract

This qualitative study analysed Foundation Phase teachers’ philosophies on literacy teaching and learning. The analysis revealed a range of understandings that 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. Five schools with eight Foundation Phase teachers in a rural area near George in the Western Cape Province of South Africa participated in this study. 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.

Received: 8 July 2021 / Accepted: 18 May 2022 / Published: 5 July 2022