Teachers' perspectives on factors that influence the teaching of prescriptive literature in Grade 1

Ethical Clearance (EFEC 2-12/2021)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.

伦理审查批准（EFEC 2-12/2021）南非基础阶段（Foundation Phase）的识字率统计数据始终是该国备受关注的核心议题。当前，在参与2016年与2021年国际阅读素养进展研究（Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, PIRLS）的所有国家中，南非的识字水平下滑幅度最为显著。基础阶段的识字能力与阅读技能的习得和养成直接相关，该国本土语言基础阶段课程标准亦明确规定了相关培养目标。然而，课程评估政策声明（Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement, CAPS）仅聚焦于“阅读教学内容范畴”，却未为识字教学教师提供充足的教学实践指导，亦未对用于识字教学的指定读物的实际内容制定相关规范。本研究旨在通过收集数据，探究教师对影响一年级指定文学作品教学方式的各类因素的看法；此外，本研究还旨在厘清一年级指定文学作品的内容呈现与主题内涵，了解教师对这类作品内容的看法，并探究教师在教学中对CAPS的解读与实践路径，以深入理解教师开展一年级指定文学作品教学的真实体验。研究者同时考察了教师个人的识字成长历程如何影响其儿童文学教学实践，以及教师在一年级文学教学领域接受过的培训情况。本研究采用解释主义范式，通过质性内容分析、“生命之河”（River of Life）活动、半结构化访谈与焦点小组访谈四种方式，收集该探索性案例研究所需的全部数据。研究采用萨尔达尼亚（Saldaña）编码法对数据进行编码分析，并以社会正义理论为核心分析视角。本研究发现，指定文学作品中充斥的欧洲中心主义内容，源于西方知识体系在南非教育体系中占据绝对主导地位且不受制约。据此，一年级教师所教授的指定文学作品，不仅无法让学生产生文化共鸣，其主题亦未能帮助学生理解或应对自身所处环境中的现实问题。从受访教师的识字成长历程中可见的西方认知模式，同样影响了其在教学中运用专业知识的方式。本研究同时发现，教师在挑选课堂使用的指定文学作品时被排除在决策流程之外，因此面临诸多现实困境：教师需要向来自社会经济弱势背景、似乎已丧失阅读兴趣的学生教授指定文学作品；教学资源匮乏、教学空间不足、班级规模过大、家长参与度低下、语言壁垒、技术获取受限，以及需自掏腰包制作教学资源等因素，均对一年级指定文学作品的教学产生了显著负面影响。本研究揭示了多重结构性问题：教育不平等、带有社会偏见的课程体系、资源分配不均、课堂中西方知识体系的过度应用，以及儿童指定文学作品中占据霸权地位的欧洲中心主义经典体系，这些问题均不利于非洲知识体系的发展与文化自觉的培育。鉴于南非国家课程纲领已纳入本土知识体系，本研究对未来的课程改革具有重要实践价值：研究建议为一年级课堂公平提供契合本土文化且与时俱进的非洲中心主义儿童文学作品，并尊重开展这类教学的教师的个人识字成长历程。