Emergent literacy skills in isiXhosa in selected Early Childhood Development Centres in the Mthatha District
- Authors: Mpondwana, Gloria Nonzukiso
- Date: 2022-06
- Subjects: Literacy , Child development , Language arts (Early childhood)
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27864 , vital:70233
- Description: The study sought to establish how ECD practitioners understood emergent literacy skills in young children, examine how practitioners engage young learners in promoting emergent literacy skills in isiXhosa, document and analyse materials practitioners use to promote emergent literacy skills in young learners, and examine challenges practitioners come across in promoting emergent literacy skills. The study used the interpretivist research paradigm, which seeks a holistic understanding of an issue under investigation. A qualitative research approach was followed, and a case study design was utilised. Six purposefully selected ECD centres in the Mthatha urban district of the Eastern Cape province were studied. Six ECD practitioners, one from each of the selected centres, participated in the study. An in-depth individual interview was carried out with each of the ECD practitioners. Follow-up interviews were made to clarify issues that emanated from the initial interviews. The study found that the practitioners had different ways of how they understood the concept of emergent literacy. The practitioners emphasised the development of four language skills namely reading, writing, speaking, and listening in their understanding of emergent literacy. The study further found that the practitioners also included in their understanding of emergent literacy skills, the importance of dealing with sounds in the isiXhosa language. The study revealed several ways in which the practitioners engaged young learners in promoting emergent literacy skills in IsiXhosa. The storytelling approach was utilised by the practitioners as they used IsiXhosa stories and folktales in class. Picture books and posters were used by the practitioners to assist in developing emergent literacy skills. It was also found that the practitioners engaged the young children using songs and games in developing emergent literacy skills. Drama and role-play were also used to engage the children in promoting emergent literacy skills. The practitioners also made use of different materials to engage the children in the promotion of early literacy skills. They used storybooks, colouring and painting, as well as cartoons. There were many challenges that the practitioners encountered in the promotion of emergent literacy skills in young children, and these ranged from the use of ineffective teaching and learning approaches to the lack of professional development support for the practitioners. The study concludes that the understanding of emergent literacy as a concept varied from ECD practitioner to practitioner. While other practitioners appeared to have a broad and clear understanding of the concept others had a limited one. The promotion of emergent literacy skills varied but there were attempts to utilise different approaches and materials. There were also numerous challenges associated with the promotion of emergent literacy skills in isiXhosa. The study recommends the inclusion of emergent skills development in ECD practitioners' training and professional development programmes. Support programmes should be put in place to assist the ECD practitioners. More appropriate materials should be developed in the isiXhosa language for use in promoting emergent literacy skills. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2022-06
Examining the realisation of the Multisectoral Early Childhood Development Policy short-term goals in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
- Authors: Kula, Nonkqubela Carvie https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0770-919X
- Date: 2022-03
- Subjects: Early childhood education -- South Africa , Child development , Education, Preschool
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21646 , vital:51739
- Description: This study was triggered by global concerns about poor early childhood development (ECD) policy implementation. A similar situation existed in South Africa in respect of the implementation of the National Integrated Early Childhood Development (NIECD) policy. This study was undertaken to examine the realisation of the short-term goals of the NIECD policy in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa. Through this study, the researcher hoped to propose an appropriate framework that can be adopted by the Eastern Cape provincial government to realise the short-term goals. A qualitative study was undertaken using the purposive sampling method to identify managers who are knowledgeable on ECD in the three lead departments (DSD, DOH, DBE) at provincial, district, and local levels. Twelve participants (N=12) were identified: three ECD directors from the provincial departments, three district ECD managers from each municipal district, namely, OR Tambo, Sarah Baartman and Buffalo City. Semi-structured interviews based on the study objectives were carried out on the ECD directors from the provincial departments. Three focus group interviews were carried out on the district ECD managers from each municipal district, also based on the study objectives. Each interview was transcribed verbatim by the researcher. Interviewees were coded to ensure confidentiality. The four study objectives were used as themes for data analysis. The findings of the study showed a poor understanding of the NIECD policy at the district level and a lack of a provincial multisectoral implementation strategy. Staff shortage, lack of multisectoral ECD coordination, fragmentation of ECD services, high numbers of unregistered ECD centres and inadequate ECD funding were the main barriers to policy implementation. The study recommends that the Eastern Cape provincial government uses systems theory to develop its provincial ECD implementation strategy. The framework of the ECD strategy should focus on the inputs, processes, outputs, and feedback process map. In this regard, inputs include human resources, infrastructure, funding, leadership and governance, data management, systems technology, and service delivery. Outputs, on the other hand, comprise service delivery (universally accessible ECD services, universal coverage of ECD services, parent participation, multisectoral ECD services and quality ECD services). Feedback indicates whether all infants, young children and their families are living in environments that are conducive to their optimal development or not. Should the implementation of the policy fail, corrections need to be made in the input or process stage or both stages. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2022-03
Learning organisations: an exploration of the extent to which early childhood development non-government organisations (NGOS) in the Eastern Cape Province are learning organisations
- Authors: Hornby, Diana Scot
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Early childhood education , Child development , Child psychology , Non-governmental organizations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (Community Development)
- Identifier: vital:11843 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/242 , Early childhood education , Child development , Child psychology , Non-governmental organizations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: The first decade of democracy marks a massive transition in the life of South African children. The South African Constitution is perhaps the most assertive affirmation of the rights of children any where in the world. The new Government has highlighted the plight of young children by publishing the first white paper for children under the age of 6 years: Education White Paper (5) on Early Childhood Development (RSA, 2001) as well as other policies to guide an integrated developmental approach to early childhood services. Despite progress, according to Porteus (in Chisholm 2004), the gains have not been strong enough to work against the momentum of inequity facing the nation’s young. Non Government Organisations have played a key role over the past thirty years to establish services that address the developmental needs of disadvantaged young children under the age of 6 years. Their challenge now, is to respond to the changes in a transforming state and provide services that are relevant and appropriate. There has been a ‘realignment’ occurring in the ECD sector where activities have shifted beyond the formal classroom possibilities to pro-child social development. This adjustment is making huge demands on the ECD sector as they grapple with the paradigm shift. The Learning Organisation is a strategy that allows organisations to re-invent themselves and remain relevant. The focus of this study examines five ECD NGO’s in the Eastern Cape Province, to assess the extent to which they meet the characteristics that make a learning organisation, in the current democratic context of South Africa. The research was qualitative in nature and utilizing the case study method and through semi-structured interview schedules and document analysis, the researcher was able to gain insight into the Organisations. The Directors in five organisations formed the core of the research sample. The research findings suggest that although the Directors are grappling with the paradigm shift to an integrated, pro-child social development approach, the human resources within organisations are not being fully mobilised, enhanced and tapped. Practicing a Learning Organisation strategy would assist the ECD NGO’s to re-invent themselves, but the research findings suggest that these characteristics remain under-utilized.
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- Date Issued: 2008
Raging in service of the self: exploring a five-year old boy's aggression within his play therapy
- Authors: Smith, Austin
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Play therapy , Aggressiveness in children , Self-perception in children , Child development , Child psychology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3057 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002566 , Play therapy , Aggressiveness in children , Self-perception in children , Child development , Child psychology
- Description: This thesis takes the form of an in-depth case study within which the play therapy process of an aggressive 5-year-old boy was explored. The aim of the research was to examine the abundant expressions of aggression that were present within his therapy, and in so doing reflect their rich communicative content and their relevance and purpose in the development of his Self. Object relations theory formed the lens and theoretical context for this research with Winnicott’s contributions and Parens' model of aggression being considered in particular. A detailed data resource of the therapy process was compiled and transposed into narrative form. These narratives were reviewed with a reading guide as a means to facilitate a hermeneutic exploration of the data. The emergent themes were considered against the case data and the current theory, which allowed for their further analysis and development. From this the value of using Parens’ model was considered and deemed useful although limited in its contribution. The analysis and the themes which emerged conveyed how within this case the child’s aggression presented as: a significant feature of his ambivalence towards relationships; a powerful and pervasive protective fantasy of omnipotence; inherently linked to his sense of self and self expression; and as actively involved in his True Self’s hope-filled attempts for an alternative experience. This thesis provides a descriptive account of a challenging case, offering insights into the value and meaningful content of aggressive behaviours, with the intention being to reflect that which is often not easily appreciated or readily observable within such a therapy process, a trace of hope.
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- Date Issued: 2006
How policy discourses and contextual realities influence environmental teaching and learning processes in early childhood development: a case study of the Raglan Road child care centre
- Authors: Vallabh, Priya
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Early childhood education -- South Africa , Health education -- South Africa , Environmental education -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Day care centers -- South Africa , Child development
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1559 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003441 , Early childhood education -- South Africa , Health education -- South Africa , Environmental education -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Day care centers -- South Africa , Child development
- Description: This case study considers the relationship between context, school policy and environmental teaching and learning processes at a community-based early childhood development centre in South Africa. The study recognises that educational practices in the early childhood development field are shaped by historical, cultural, economic and political realities at both local and national levels. It is from the understanding that each school is a unique composition of these shaping factors that the research was designed to consider the community-based school participating in this study. By compiling a contextual profile, this study attempts to consider dominant contextual factors affecting the school. Through the critical discourse analysis of a school policy document, this study considers local level policy, and through the literature chapter, national policy. Teacher interviews provide insight into teacher understanding of school policy in response to contextual issues, as well as providing insight into how teachers perceive their translation of policy into teaching practice. Observations of lessons in the centre provided an. opportunity to see how context and policy translated into and influenced environmental teaching and learning processes. This study looks at how environmental education is addressed in the Raglan Road Child Care Centre, and provides insight into how environmental education within the context of the school and in relation to school policy may be strengthened. It comments on the tensions and ambivalences arising from the relationships between context, policy and environmental teaching and learning processes and makes recommendations to address these ambivalences in ways that are contextually relevant. The main recommendations were designed to be practically useful for the school involved in the study and are focused around engaging the ambivalences emerging from this study to open up 'spaces' for deliberating environmental teaching and learning processes and other tensions arising out of the study at an ECD level. Recommendations included: 1) engaging with the strong development focus in school policy and the educational focus in national policy and teacher discourse; 2) deliberating the ways in which school policy and national policy respond to risk; 3) engaging with the ambivalence in the school-parent relationship; 4) the re-alignment of the explicit curriculum and broadening the contextually-based view of whole child development; and 5) engaging the ambivalence in approaches to education at the centre.
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- Date Issued: 2005