Reading Instruction in the Primary Grades
The current curriculum guidelines for the Grade 4 home language assert that reading and viewing skills are the foundation on which successful learning takes place. Teachers are encouraged to use a repertoire of reading materials in the classroom, including visual texts. The curriculum also suggests that teachers make use of different reading methods and could start with shared reading at the start of the year to build a bridge from the previous grade. Thereafter, teachers are encouraged to use methods such as reading with or to the whole class, guided reading, and independent and pair reading with the aim of enabling students to become independent readers.15 The curriculum promotes teachersʼ use of different comprehension activities to gauge whether the students understand what they read.
The reading process is a vital part of daily reading instruction and consists of prereading, reading, and post-reading strategies. These strategies should be utilized during any reading activity to guide students through the reading process to ensure learning takes place. The prereading phase entails recognition of prior learning; finding the source, author, and publication date of reading materials; and reading the first and last paragraphs to be able to make predictions. The reading phase is where students check their own comprehension, compare predictions, visualize what they are reading, and keep reading if they are not sure about certain parts of the text. In this phase the students also are encouraged to ask a fellow student or teacher for help to make sense of a text and reflect on what they have read. In the last phase, post-reading, students should draw conclusions and write a summary about the main ideas of the text to ask questions about the topic and confirm they understood the content and to evaluate any bias in the text.
Instructional Materials
The National Curriculum Statement for Grades R to 12 mandates using core materials that include a prescribed language textbook and a dictionary. In addition to the core materials, the policy stipulates using various forms of texts such as folklore, short stories, novels, drama, and poetry to be used in language classrooms. Teachers also are required to make use of media materials (including newspapers, magazines, and television and radio programs) to form part of language and reading instruction.
Use of Technology
In 2004, the Ministry of Education published a report outlining the strategic, pedagogical, and developmental aspects of implementing e-Education in South Africa. The strategic objective of the e-Education policy regarding Information and Communications Technology (ICT) states:
Every South African manager, educator, and student in the general and further education training bands will be ICT capable (that is, use ICT confidently and creatively to help develop the skills and knowledge they need as lifelong students to achieve personal goals and to be full participants in the global community) by 2013.16
The original intention was that schools with ICT were expected to use it to enhance student learning—teachers are encouraged to use ICT to enhance instruction, while management and administration are encouraged to access ICT resources that support curriculum delivery. The policy also stipulates community involvement, entrusting communities with responsibility for supporting, sustaining, and maintaining school computer facilities and allowing after hours community access to these facilities. ICT in the classroom environment is encouraged as technology is developing as a prevailing medium of instruction.17
The extent of ICT use still varies among schools and regions, and less than half of the schools in the country have ICT in the school, let alone use it for pedagogy. For example, the provinces of Gauteng and the Western Cape have established policies and begun implementing ICT into schools, but ICT in schools has not been prioritized in most provinces and security is a problem due to theft. The nonavailability of ICT is not necessarily due to the lack of financial resources. In most cases, schools with ICT are well resourced schools or under-resourced schools that have received ICT resources from donors. Another challenge of ICT in South African schools is the language used: in most instances, ICT and software packages are developed in English.18 Therefore, there is a need for software developers to create programs in other official languages to assist primary school students and teachers in the teaching and learning processes.
Role of Reading Specialists
South Africa has no official policy regarding reading specialists. Occupational therapists, remedial teachers, and speech therapists are employed in some of the more affluent schools or have established links with well resourced schools, particularly in urban areas. Private services exist, but these also are largely available for students from middle class and upper middle class backgrounds. The majority of children in South African schools do not have access to remedial assistance in reading.
Second Language Instruction
The National Curriculum Statement for Grades R to 12 specifically advocates an additive approach to multilingualism in schools. In schools offering the language of instruction in Grades 1 to 3 in a language other than English, English must be introduced as an additional subject in Grade 1 for students who must transition from another language to English as the main language of instruction in Grade 4. In English schools, Afrikaans or another African language must be introduced in Grade 1. The intention was that use of the students’ mother tongue should continue for as long as possible. This policy is based on a transitional bilingual education model in which students make the transition from a bilingual program to English monolingual education. However, the Incremental Introduction of African Languages in South African Schools draft policy of 2013 stipulates that an African language be introduced from Grade 1 onward as a second first additional language. One of the main goals of the policy is to “promote and strengthen the use of African languages.”19 The policy was piloted in 2014 across eight provinces and in 228 schools.20 The implication of this on a national level is that for many schools there will be a third language being introduced in Grade 1. In addition to that representing a significant cognitive load on Grade 1 students, schools will face the logistical challenge of the timetable and provisioning of teachers for the additional language. At this stage, the pilot has not grown to scale nationally.
Accommodation Policies for Instruction and Testing
South Africa has several policies in place to ensure a safe environment conducive to learning for children. The first policy, the South African Schools Act (Act 84 of 1996) mandates that schools must admit students and serve their educational needs. The Quality Education for All report was commissioned to gain a better understanding of the provision of special needs education. The reportʼs findings and recommendations were included in the Education White Paper 6 of 2001. The policy was drafted in order to accommodate students with special needs and to form inclusive educational settings.21 Inclusive classrooms allowed students with a low level of special needs to be part of ordinary classes. Another report, Guidelines for Full Service/Inclusive Schools, is part of the Schooling 2025 Plan to provide additional support for the implementation of inclusive education.