Using the reading to learn methodology to teach isiZulu reading in a grade three class: a teacher’s self-study.
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Date
2023
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Abstract
In this self-study research I examined my teaching of isiZulu home language reading in my Grade 3 class using the Reading to Learn methodology (R2L). Undertaking this self-study emanated from the concerns I had about my learners’ lack of participation in class, resulting in low reading development. Conducting this research assisted me to uncover my behavioural and emotional traits that created a negative atmosphere for learning. That kind of working environment influenced my daily practice and identity. Throughout the 27 years of my teaching I have been a foundation phase teacher who is very passionate about my work and knew myself as effective in developing learners’ knowledge and skills. I was keen to improve my professionalism, and so, after three years in a college of education I decided to pursue further studies. After many years of using the same teaching methods that were used by my teachers when I was a learner, I was introduced to the R2L methodology in 2012. I became one of the trainers training teachers who were keen to use the methodology. I used R2L for six years, perceiving myself as a productive teacher, as the development of my learners’ literacy skills was noticeable. I was happy with my teaching strategies until I moved to another school, where I experienced teaching challenges and therefore decided to explore my teaching practice through the self-study methodology. In this research I used multiple methods, one being life history, which allowed me to revisit my past, my attitudes, and my beliefs so that I could examine myself and change. As much as I was at the centre of the study and potentially an agent in the construction of knowledge, I also worked collaboratively with critical friends to demonstrate its validity and trustworthiness. I used the collage as an arts-based method to represent and reflect on my classroom practice. The collage was also used to stimulate reflection with critical friends and to agree on possible solutions to my problems, thereafter explaining my learnings that emerged from our discussions. Doing this self-study and reflecting on my professional practice has revealed the issues about myself that I was not aware of and released me from being confined by my past personal and professional experiences. I used journal entries to collect data by regularly documenting the events that took place during teaching and learning and recording my feelings about what happened. Another data collection method was video recordings that were done in the first three terms in 2021 to capture my teaching practice and my interaction with learners. I also used the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) which I administered as a baseline test at the beginning of 2021 and again towards the end of the same year to determine my learners’ reading progress. The findings of
this study indicate that through reflecting on my practice and working with critical friends, my teaching and interaction with learners changed and my learners’ achievement demonstrated the significant improvement in reading fluency and comprehension over the year 2021.
Description
Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.