Doctoral Degrees (Educational Psychology)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Educational Psychology) by Author "Bunding, Mark Gordon"

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    Assessing learners' reading skills : a development of an in-service training programme for Junior Primary teachers
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1999-09) Bunding, Mark Gordon; Engelbrecht, P.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Educational Psychology.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY: Most learners in South Africa are only taught knowledge-based skills, and reading skills are assessed according to a prescribed curriculum. The emphasis seems to be on what the learner cannot do, instead of what the learner can do. South African educational system is currently in a transitional phase, where teachers are required to assess learners on their critical outcomes. This transitional phase demands that teachers make a mindshift from the old traditional, deductive teaching approaches to literacy to the more inductive, cognitive, social and sociopolitical constructions of literacy. Against this background, the study investigated first of all the beliefs of teachers concerning their teaching reading approaches and reading assessment. This information was then used as a point of departure in the development of a framework for an in-service training programme in order to provide teachers with the skills and confidence that will enable them not only to identify and assess reading problems in the Junior Primary phase, but also to teach reading effectively. To achieve the objectives, a qualitative research approach was used. Data collection methods included a literature review, a semi-structured questionnaire and three in-depth interviews with Junior Primary teachers at six primary schools (exHOR and ex-model C) in the Bellville area, near Cape Town. Although the results of the semi-structured questionnnaires provide a reasonably clear picture of the beliefs of teachers pertaining to learners reading skills, more information was gathered by means of the in-depth interviews. From the analysis of data, it became apparent that there is a need for further training and support regarding the implementation of Outcomes Based Education; teachers are currently focusing on reductionistic teaching approaches and are not knowledgeable about how to assess and rectify reading problems. In spite of these problems, most teachers expressed a willingness to learn new teaching reading approaches. The framework for an in-service training programme focused, as a result of the literature review and qualitative data analysis of the questionnaire and in-depth interviews, on a holistic teaching and assessment approach to reading within an ecosystemic framework. The active involvement of teachers and learners in the teaching and assessment of reading was stressed.