From 0 to 100% – How Raithby Primary turned their literacy performance around
Date
2010
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Bioinfo Publications
Abstract
Recent literacy results show that only 44% of all Grade 3 learners in the Stellenbosch
district, and just over 50% of all Grade 3 learners in the Western Cape, performed at an
appropriate level (WCED, 2009c). According to education specialists, the problem starts in
the Foundation Phase, during which learners fail to acquire the basic skills in literacy
(Heugh, pers. comm.; Webb, pers. comm.). This article reflects on how a previously
disadvantaged school turned around its performance in literacy by changing both its style
and attitude towards teaching reading, after the circuit manager concerned decided to
intervene at the school. In this article, I will argue that low levels of literacy call for a
change of attitude and strategy, and the execution thereof, which should reach deep into the
instructional practices of reading teachers,1 who tend, it is believed, to rely mainly on their
use of the traditional approach. This approach suggests that learners are passive decoders of
graphic-phonetic systems, and that they need to learn letters (sounds) first, before they can
read words (Alderson, 2000). As opposed to the traditional bottom-up or top-down
approaches, an interactive approach is recommended. The framework for the teaching and
assessment of Grade 3 learners at Raithby Primary, in terms of the interactive approach
over a period of three years, is described. The literacy results obtained by the learners over
this period show that, with the interactive approach, the reading ability of learners could
improve, provided that the teachers adopt a positive attitude towards the teaching of
reading.
Description
CITATION: Le Cordeur, M. 2010. From 0 to 100% – How Raithby Primary turned their literacy performance around. Journal of Education, 49:1-30.
Keywords
Language arts (Primary), Literacy
Citation
Le Cordeur, M. 2010. From 0 to 100% – How Raithby Primary turned their literacy performance around. Journal of Education, 49:1-30