scholarly journals Foundation phase educators' knowledge and attitudes towards implementation of the National Reading Strategy

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Prabitha Singh

In response to the alarmingly low literacy rates in South Africa and to improve reading instruction in schools, the National Department of Education introduced the National Reading Strategy (NRS) in primary schools in 2008. The NRS was developed for educators from grades R to 9 to facilitate reading literacy but foundation phase educators are faced with many challenges in implementing the NRS which include among others: teaching or facilitating reading in English in their multicultural, multilingual classrooms where the majority of their learners do not speak English as a first language; catering for different levels of understanding and proficiency in the language of instruction and reading within time-table and resource constraints; and adapting to changing curricula and requirements without receiving training to do so. In the absence of training, educators are left to interpret the NRS on their own. Recognising that the above factors impact on performance in the classroom this study investigated foundation phase educators’ knowledge and attitudes towards implementation of the NRS. Grounded within a social constructivist paradigm and underpinned by Vygotsky’s theory of the zone of proximal development, this study used a mixed methods approach to gather both qualitative and quantitative data from foundation phase educators and learners in the Phoenix-North region in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Questionnaires were administered to foundation phase educators to gather data to determine their knowledge and attitude towards implementing the National Reading Strategy. Focus group discussions were conducted with learners to establish the effect of educators’ implementation of the NRS on their “actual level” of development in terms of reading. Analysis of data revealed that despite a relatively positive attitude towards teaching reading, educators’ level of confidence to implement the NRS was low as many of them were teaching reading in their second language. In the absence of training workshops and professional development, there was conflict between educators’ existing knowledge and the requirements of the NRS. This study also found that educators’ knowledge and attitudes towards implementation of the NRS had a direct impact on learners’ reading progress as they are dependent on the educator for guidance and assistance within their zone of proximal development. Based on the findings, this study developed a training framework towards vi improving foundation phase educators’ knowledge and attitudes in order to facilitate reading and implementation of the NRS.

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Madoda Cekiso

Background: There is a general outcry that too many South African Foundation Phase (Grades 1–3) teachers do not know how to teach reading and are currently teaching reading in an ad hoc, unsystematic way.Objectives: In response to this, this study explored the Foundation Phase teachers’ perceptions of their role in teaching reading. The focus was on the relevance of the initial training, awareness of reading strategies and how these strategies were reflected in their classroom practice.Method: The study was qualitative in nature and a case study design was followed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine teachers who were purposively selected from three public schools. Content analysis was used to analyse the data.Results: Regarding the initial training programme, teachers received at tertiary institutions, the findings of the study showed that the majority of teachers were not adequately prepared to teach reading and to deal with learners who experience problems in reading. Some teachers indicated that they were not even trained to teach in the Foundation Phase. The findings also showed that the majority of respondents doubted if their classroom practice would yield positive results as far as reading instruction is concerned. The findings further indicated that the majority of respondents only paid attention to oral reading (observing punctuation marks and pronunciation), without attending to reading comprehension. There was a general consensus that the new ways of teaching reading were necessary in order to improve the reading ability of learners.Conclusion: Recommendations based on the findings are that institutions of higher learning that train Foundation Phase teachers should do so in ways that adequately equip them to produce student teachers who are knowledgeable about research and theory regarding how individuals learn to read. Workshops on appropriate instruction of reading strategies are recommended for in-service teachers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Syazwani Hassan ◽  
Nur Nabila Zulkifly ◽  
Annapurny Venkiteswaran ◽  
Rohaida Abdul Halim

To ascertain the level of knowledge among primary school teachers towards the management of traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) in school and to determine the preference among teachers regarding the education tools that can be used to increase awareness and knowledge among them. A total of 150 teachers from primary schools in three different districts were included in the study and they were given self-administered questionnaires to be filled. The validated questionnaire was distributed randomly in the selected schools. The questionnaire included two scenarios comprising of tooth fracture and avulsion. Questions regarding awareness and management of these scenarios were asked. All 150 participants answered the questionnaire; of these 74% were females 26% were males. 64% of the participants had received tertiary education. Although 70% of teachers had obtained first aid training, only 9.3% of them had received training regrading dental injuries. About 53% of participants knew the correct answer for the appropriate response to fractured tooth and only 35.3% managed to correctly answer the question related to appropriate response to an avulsed tooth. Only 38.7% knew about appropriate rinsing solution and a mere 4.7% were familiar with proper storage media. Even though the teachers have poor knowledge regarding management of dental injuries, it is reassuring to know that 93% of them are keen on further training and awareness. More educational programmes need to be introduced to empower the teachers with the relevant knowledge required to deal with dental emergencies.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Sugeng Susilo Adi

The composition of English language learning tools for middle schools has often not utilized the instrctional technology approach and only used approaches related to the educational discipline of teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL). English language learning materials in several middle schools in East Java also do not provide audio media-based activities for practice of listening skills. This article is the research results of the Borg & Gall research and development model which aimed to develop, validate, and test textual learning materials aided by audio recordings to develop the English-language competency of middle school students. The results of the development showed that audio media was proven to be e ectively capable as sca olds that play a role as learning aids. Audio media provides sound input that guides students to imitate the audio with accurate pronunciation. In addition, audio media input can also be comprehensible for students in accordance with the Input Hypothesis Theory of Krashen that states that those learning languages at “level i” should obtain comprehensible input at “level i + 1” or slightly higher than the current level, and this theory of Krashen is identical to the zone of proximal development (ZPD) theory of Vygotsky. This development also resulted in a learning design which applied the audio lingual communicative (ALC) strategy which is eclectic in its combination of two language learning strategies, which are the audio lingual method with communicative language teaching (CLT). The application of this method was appropriate with the Indonesian classroom context where the number of students in a classroom is on average 40 pupils or more. AbstrakPengembangan bahan ajar Bahasa Inggris untuk sekolah menengah pertama selama ini sering kali tidak menggunakan pendekatan teknologi pembelajaran dan hanya menggunakan pendekatan disiplin ilmu pendidikan bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa asing atau teaching English as a foreign language/TEFL. Selain bahan ajar bahasa Inggris di beberapa sekolah menengah pertama di Jawa Timur tidak menyediakan bahan penyerta berupa media audio untuk latihan keterampilan menyimak (listening). Penelitian ini adalah penelitian pengembangan (R&D) model Borg & Gall yang bertujuan untuk mengembangan, memvalidasi, dan menguji bahan ajar tekstual berbantuan rekaman audio untuk meningkatkan kompetensi bahasa Inggris siswa sekolah menengah pertama. Hasil pengembangan ini menunjukkan bahwa media audio telah terbukti mampu secara efektif menjadi sca olds yang berperan sebagai bantuan belajar. Media audio menyediakan input suara yang memandu siswa menirukan audio dengan akurasi pelafalan yang tepat. Selain itu, input dari media audio dapat dipahami (comprehensible) bagi siswa, sesuai dengan Input Hyphothesis Theory Krashen yang menyatakan bahwa mereka yang belajar bahasa yang berada pada “tingkat i” seharusnya memperoleh comprehensible input pada “tingkat i + 1” atau sedikit lebih tinggi dari tingkat ia berada yang identik dengan teori zone of proximal development (ZPD) yang dikembangkan Vygotsky. Pengem- bangan ini juga menghasilkan desain pembelajaran yang menerapkan strategi audio lingual communicative (ALC) yang bersifat eklektik yang memadukan dua pendekatan pembelajaran bahasa, yaitu audio lingual method dengan communicative language teaching (CLT). Penerapan metode ini sesuai dengan konteks kelas Indonesia dengan jumlah siswa rata-rata 40 orang atau lebih dalam satu kelas. ia dengan jumlah siswa rata-rata 40 orang atau lebih dalam satu kelas.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 66
Author(s):  
Rahmaini Fitri

Pregnancy causes physiological changes in the body and as well as in the oral cavity. Dental and oral diseases associated with pregnancy that is, gingivitis, periodontitis and pregnancy granuloma. Mouth dental disease during pregnancy is not only influenced by the pregnancy itself but rather the lack of knowledge about dental and oral health maintenance. Efforts to improve the knowledge of pregnant women about oral health is done by providing information, information necessary for health education media. In this case the media is created and used to improve the knowledge of pregnant women is the booklet. This study aimed to analyze the differences in knowledge and attitudes before and after maintenance booklet oral health in pregnant women. This study is a quasi experiment with one group pre  and post test design. The sample is the first trimester pregnant women who come to the health center in Sentosa Baru Medan as many as 34 people. Analysis of the data  forcompare the average difference in scores of knowledge and attitudes before and after the intervention used the Wilcoxon test. The results showed there is an increased knowledge and attitude maintenance of oral health in pregnant women after being given a booklet with a value of p < 0.001, a percentage increase of 30% knowledge and attitudes percentage of 37%. The conclusions of this study is increased knowledge and attitude maintenance of oral health in pregnant women after being given a booklet.


Author(s):  
Joan E. Grusec

This chapter surveys how behavior, affect, and cognition with respect to parenting and moral development have been conceptualized over time. It moves to a discussion of domains of socialization; that is, different contexts in which socialization occurs and where different mechanisms operate. Domains include protection where the child is experiencing negative affect, reciprocity where there is an exchange of favors, group participation or learning through observing others and engaging with them in positive action, guided learning where values are taught in the child’s zone of proximal development, and control where values are learned through discipline and reward. Research using narratives of young adults about value-learning events suggests that inhibition of antisocial behavior is more likely learned in the control domain, and prosocial behavior more likely in the group participation domain. Internalization of values, measured by narrative meaningfulness, is most likely in the group participation domain.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1354067X2110173
Author(s):  
Aruna Wu ◽  
Shuangshuang Xu ◽  
Xiaowen Li

Educational intervention has been narrated for a long time as a battle between two agentive subjects, educators and students. In this article, we introduce two interrelating concepts of SHI (势 in Chinese) and SHUN SHI (顺势 in Chinese) from Chinese philosophy into psychology to provide an alternative perspective to understand students’ development and educational intervention. The concept of SHI sheds light on the propensity of open system’s becoming process toward the future underlying system’s present configuration derived from system’s historical interaction with its environment. SHUN SHI is to grasp the opportunity of SHI evolving into being prominent and to transform the system by alertly following its unfolding process. Understanding and applying SHI and SHUN SHI in the area of developmental and educational psychology is discussed and clarified based on a comparison with the dynamic system theory and zone of proximal development. An empirical research is also provided to respond to the method challenge posed by the two concepts.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 100530
Author(s):  
Maria Nicholas ◽  
Nikolai Veresov ◽  
John Cripps Clark

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bereket Gebremichael ◽  
Biruk Beletew Abate ◽  
Tewodros Tesfaye

Abstract Essential nutrition action (ENA) is one of the most effective preventive actions for combating nutritional problems in young children. There is, however, a paucity of evidence about mother's knowledge and attitude regarding key ENA messages. The objective of the present study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of mothers towards key ENA messages and associated factors. A representative sample of 563 mothers of children from birth up to 24 months in mainly rural North Ethiopia was included in the study. The findings showed that 66⋅4 % of the mothers have a good knowledge and 68⋅9 % have a good attitude. In the multivariable analysis using logistic regression, mothers who attended secondary school or higher education were six times more likely to have a good knowledge (AOR 6⋅1; CI 2⋅945, 12⋅719) compared with those who are illiterate. Besides, women who resided in an urban area (AOR 2⋅2; CI 1⋅14, 4⋅25), attended antenatal care (ANC) visits (AOR 3⋅7; CI 2⋅421, 5⋅742), attended postnatal care (PNC) visits (AOR 2⋅2; CI 1⋅37, 3⋅4) and heard nutritional-related information (AOR 1⋅9; CI 1⋅14, 3⋅49) were found to have a good knowledge. On the other hand, mothers who attended ANC visits were almost four times (AOR 3⋅9; CI 2⋅7, 5⋅8) more likely to have a good attitude towards key ENA. Mothers who delivered at health institutions and who attended PNC visits were also more likely to have a good attitude. In conclusion, the present study determined the level of knowledge and attitudes of mothers about ENA and several factors that influence mother's knowledge and attitude regarding ENA.


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