ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Child Well-Being in a Rural Context: Shifting to a Social Sustainability Lens
Author: Naidoo, Jaqueline T.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Access to Education,Barriers,Disadvantaged Youth,Early Childhood Education,Elementary Education,Well Being,Quality of Life,Sustainable Development,Social Development,Rural Areas,Foreign Countries,Semi Structured Interviews,Focus Groups,At Risk Persons,Violence,Resilience (Psychology),Coping,Elementary School Students,Community Involvement,Social Support Groups,Student Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Parent Attitudes

This article is based on findings drawn from a large-scale study aimed at mapping barriers to education in the context of social disadvantage. The research sites focused on in this paper are: one early childhood facility, four primary schools and the communities of these learning centres. Participants included learners, teachers, caregivers and parents and interested community members. Findings from the study were published widely in a research report, book chapters and peer-reviewed publications. In this article an attempt is made to revisit the findings on child well-being and quality of life, drawing on debates on sustainable development, in particular on the concept of social sustainability. The analysis draws attention to the importance of creating cultures of social sustainability within social institutions and communities to enhance the well-being of children. The article highlights the significance of values that are rights based and collective networks in cultures of sustainability.
&apos;I Got Content with Who I Was&apos;: Rural Teachers&apos; Encounters with New Ways of Practising Literacy
Author: Gennrich, Toni
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Elementary School Teachers,Literacy Education,Teacher Attitudes,Rural Schools,Case Studies,Journal Writing,Focus Groups,Bachelors Degrees,Teaching Methods,Reflection,Consciousness Raising,Poetry,Scripts,Drama,Creativity

In a context where Foundation Phase literacy teachers' personal literacy often involves operational and technicist practices rather than creative, this paper argues that it is by exposing teachers to experiences of working with different genres of text for an extended time, in different fields, that teachers are able to imagine the possibilities these genres afford. Using a Bourdieusian framework of habitus, field, capital and doxa and applying imagination to the theorisation of these concepts, I examine the effect on a group of rural teachers from Limpopo province of being removed from their classrooms, and being given the opportunity to complete a 4-year Bachelor of Education degree at the University of the Witwatersrand. This case study used reflective journals and focus groups to trace shifts in the ways these teacher-students enacted literacy and thought about teaching literacy. Findings from this study suggest that teachers of literacy can change deeply entrenched ways of thinking about and valuing literacy by reflecting on the discontinuities between old and new ways of practice and, through anticipatory reflection, to imagine possibilities of teaching and enacting literacy differently. This requires critical imagination, awareness and agency. This paper discusses, in particular, Elela's experience with poetry and Kganya's experience with a drama script, assessing the effect this had on their personal literacy practices and how they imagine teaching literacy in the future.
Now and Then: Revisiting Early Childhood Teachers&apos; Reactions to Curriculum Change
Author: Clasquin-Johnson, Mary G.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Early Childhood Education,Elementary School Teachers,Teacher Attitudes,Educational Change,Curriculum Development,Curriculum Implementation,National Curriculum,Resistance to Change,Professional Isolation,Educational Policy,Fidelity,Communities of Practice,Faculty Development,Educational Resources,Administrator Role,Adoption (Ideas)

This article reports on the findings of a study consisting of two phases. Both phases aimed at investigating how professional development, physical resources and instructional support influenced teachers' responses to curriculum change. Despite more than 90% of Grade R teachers being under-qualified, they have had to implement two radically different curricula over the past decade. The initial study ('Phase 1'), conducted in 2007-2010, investigated teachers' responses to the National Curriculum Statement. The 2015 follow-up study ('Phase 2') focused on the same teachers, but the focus fell on the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements. The latter occurred in a drastically different context because of the improved monitoring and support systems. A qualitative case study design was employed within an interpretive paradigm. The findings of Phase 1 suggested that the teachers ignored, resisted, adopted and adapted curriculum change. Their highly individualised responses could be attributed to their professional isolation. In contrast, the findings of Phase 2 reveal policy fidelity because of their enhanced capacity to adopt curriculum change. Notably, curriculum implementation is presently occurring within a community of practice. This has the potential to be a catalyst for effecting curriculum change.
Languaging in and about Lunyole: African Storybook Materials as a Catalyst for Re-Imagining Literacy Teaching and Learning in Two Ugandan Primary Schools
Author: Tembe, Juliet
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Literacy Education,Teaching Methods,African Languages,Childrens Literature,Action Research,Foreign Countries,Imagination,Faculty Development,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Bilingualism,Literacy,Change Agents,Vocabulary Development,Native Language Instruction,Elementary School Students,Collaborative Writing

Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, many children are not learning to read competently in the first 3 years of primary school; thus, both 'reading to learn' and 'reading for pleasure' in these early years, and in higher grades, are constrained. Two of the many reasons for reading failure are the absence of suitable materials in languages with which learners are familiar and teachers' limited knowledge of pedagogic practices that support reading development. In this article, we describe the African Storybook (ASb) initiative as one imaginative response to the dearth of interesting and accessible stories in local languages and report findings from the first phase of a professional development project in which teacher-researchers in two Ugandan schools are using ASb materials to 'language' in Lunyole at the meetings of their action research group. We argue that their investment in extending their literacy in a language which they speak more fluently than they read or write, and the contestations over written forms of this language that have surfaced in some of the discussions, are likely to be productive for their professional development as teachers and for their participation in ongoing community debates about the orthography of a recently codified and standardised language. By languaging together in Lunyole, with ASb materials as the main object of their conversations and activities, the teacher-researchers have begun to develop capabilities that are likely to benefit the Lunyole/English biliteracy of the learners whom they teach. They are imagining new possibilities for themselves and for the learners.
Imagination, Waldorf, and Critical Literacies: Possibilities for Transformative Education in Mainstream Schools
Author: Shank, Monica
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Imagination,Critical Literacy,Early Childhood Education,Role,Transformative Learning,Teaching Methods,National Curriculum,Elementary School Students,Foreign Countries,Story Telling,Play,Creativity,Poetry,Freehand Drawing,Painting (Visual Arts),Partnerships in Education

In the face of transmission-oriented national curricula, this study explores possibilities for claiming space for imagination, as 'the most powerful and energetic of learning tools' (Egan 1986), in early childhood education in mainstream Kenyan schools. Drawing from Egan's work on imagination and Cummins' Nested Pedagogical Orientations framework, this study interrogates the indispensable role of imagination in transformative education, as well as its utility in the 'transmission' of the government curriculum. This study draws insights from an initiative integrating imaginative, Waldorf-inspired pedagogies into mainstream pre-primary and early primary classrooms to explore how imagination-based pedagogies, including storytelling, creative play, poems and verses, drawing and painting, can support the development of critical literacies in young children.
Interrogating Quality in Early Childhood Development: Working towards a South African Perspective
Author: Excell, Lorayne
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Child Development,Educational Quality,Access to Education,Learning Experience,Communities of Practice,Reflection,Innovation,Action Research,Human Resources,Educational Resources,Values,Educational Administration,Instructional Leadership,Early Childhood Education

Within the South African context, early childhood development (ECD) is receiving increasing attention at both government and civil society levels. This has resulted in children accessing ECD services in increasing numbers. But although access may open the doors to learning, it does not ensure a quality early learning experience for children. The pivotal factor is quality. Quality ECD has the potential to drive redress and realise the promise inherent in the South African Constitution. The study draws on the three dimensions of a community of practice, to explore how new dialogic spaces are emerging, spaces that have the potential to generate innovation, reflection and new understandings of what could constitute quality ECD throughout South Africa. Using an action research design, this study will trace how understandings of what constitutes quality ECD in South Africa have already begun to be interrogated by a number of different stakeholders.
Strategies for the Implementation of Mathematics in Grade R: Teachers&apos; Beliefs and Practices
Author: Barnard, Elna
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Early Childhood Education,Mathematics Instruction,Teacher Attitudes,Preschool Teachers,Focus Groups,Observation,Context Effect,Beliefs,Teaching Methods,Video Technology,Semi Structured Interviews,Teacher Role,Knowledge Base for Teaching

Concerns have been expressed about the quality of teaching and learning in Grade R (reception) classrooms in South Africa. In mathematics, learning outcomes are said to be particularly limited, especially in poorer provinces of the country (Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation [DPME] 2012). The study reported in this article explored the perceptions and beliefs on teaching mathematics in Grade R, compared with actual classroom practices, of selected teachers in a range of schools and Early Childhood Development Centres in the Eastern Cape. Sixteen teachers took part in focus group meetings, and outcomes were analysed according to Northcutt and McCoy's 'Interactive Qualitative Analysis' method (2004). Themes emerging from analysis were used to construct interview questions and guide observations of Grade R mathematics teaching for nine selected teachers. Findings show that teachers from different contexts have similar perceptions and beliefs about teaching mathematics in grade R but that often their observed practices do not match how they perceive and value Grade R teaching. In the analysis of lesson videos, we identify a number of 'silent themes' revealing teachers' true actions, enabling us to comment on development and training needed to reach the goals of the intended mathematics curriculum for Grade R.
Expanding Circle: The Case of Nigerien EFL Teachers&apos; English, Training and Career Satisfaction
Author: Wiens, Peter D.
Date: 2018-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Language Teachers,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Foreign Countries,Teaching Methods,Teacher Attitudes,Language Usage,Preservice Teacher Education,Language Proficiency,Job Satisfaction,Middle School Teachers,Self Efficacy,Program Descriptions

Teaching English as foreign language (EFL) has grown around the world. However, certain regions have experienced little empirical research into the practices and results of these EFL programs. This study looks at English as foreign language teachers in Niger, an Expanding Circle country, to understand their training, instruction, and attitudes. The study surveyed 609 teachers about their level of comfort with English, preservice teacher training, use of English in the classroom, and career satisfaction. Descriptive and correlational statistics shed light into the profession of Nigerien EFL teachers. One in five Nigerien teachers had no preservice teacher training and the more comfortable they were with English, the more satisfied they were with their career. The results also suggest an interesting relationship between teachers' comfort level in English and the nature of their teacher training, which might need further investigation. The research presented in this paper provides information to policy makers, teacher trainers, and researchers in Expanding Circle locations.
&apos;You&apos;re in FunDzaland&apos;: Pre-Service Teachers (Re)Imagine Audience on a Creative Writing Course
Author: Mendelowitz, Belinda
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Collaborative Writing,Creativity,Cooperative Learning,Student Attitudes,Self Concept,Creative Writing,Essays,Reflection,Preservice Teachers,Audiences,Peer Evaluation,Feedback (Response),Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Preservice Teacher Education

This study explores how collaborative writing for a digital platform can enable students to (re) imagine audience. Although in the context of process writing peer feedback is foreground, in practice, its effectiveness is uneven. The digital revolution offers new opportunities for alternative peer feedback through collaborative writing and re-imagining self and other in the process. This study examines data from a creative writing course in which pre-service teachers wrote collaborative short stories for the FunDza digital site and individual reflective essays about the process. The study's research questions are the following: (1) what were the affordances of this multilayered audience for engaging the students' imaginations? (2) How did this process of (re)imagining audience impact on students' conceptions of themselves as writers? The data set comprised 16 collaboratively authored stories (published on the site) and 34 individual reflective essays. Six of the latter were selected for detailed analysis. Hence, the data for this study encompass detailed analysis of two groups' reflective essays on the process of writing their stories. These groups were selected because they exemplified contrasting collaborative, imaginative writing processes. Group 1 was familiar with the FunDza audience and context, while Group 2 struggled to imagine it. Thematic content analysis was used for analysis. Each essay was read first in relation to the entire data set, then in relation to the other reflections in the author's group. The combination of gearing stories towards the FunDza audience and writing stories collaboratively created two sets of audiences that writers needed to hold in mind simultaneously. Analysis indicates that both audiences challenged students to make imaginative leaps into the minds of an unfamiliar audience, deepening their understanding of the writing process. It also highlights students' mastery of writing discourses and increasing awareness of the choices authors make for specific audiences. Theoretically, this study theorises audience in relation to imagination. A number of concepts have emerged from this research that may enable a more fine-tuned analysis of the audience - imagination nexus. Structured freedom is an important thread that connects the central concepts of audience, imagination and collaboration, foregrounding the idea that imaginative freedom needs to be understood and worked with in nuanced ways. While freedom and imagination are closely related, the provision of free pedagogic spaces with specific constraints in creative writing courses can be extremely productive, as illustrated by the data analysed in this study.
Literacy Lessons Learnt from Parents in a Community Programme
Author: Cozett, Dawn
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Parent Role,Early Childhood Education,Low Income Groups,Cultural Influences,Aspiration,Parent Attitudes,Family School Relationship,Partnerships in Education,Literacy Education,Focus Groups,Questionnaires,Community Programs,Young Children,Family Environment,Emergent Literacy,Child Development

The purpose of this study was to find out how parents can contribute to the early reading development of children in a Grade R class. The research was conducted in a low-income area in the Cape Flats. To gain a deeper understanding of the parents' cultural values and aspirations when interacting with the Home-School Partnership Programme (HSPP) literacy programme, I elected to frame my study within the work of Paulo Freire, who argued that the purpose of education, at the time of his writing, was to make oppressed people passive. Qualitative data were gathered in a case study research design, utilising focus group interviews and semi-structured questionnaire tools, as well as footage from a local broadcasting studio. The findings show that the parents, who were previously unable to assist their children with literacy skills at home, were keen to change and to be active partners in their children's early literacy learning. This research is a descriptive example of how the home, the school and the community can collaborate in a meaningful and sustained way, especially in poverty-stricken areas where unemployment is rife.
Learning from Disruptive Classroom Behaviour in a Grade 2 Mathematics Lesson
Author: Roberts, Nicky
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Grade 2,Elementary School Students,Behavior Problems,Student Behavior,Mathematics Instruction,Elementary School Teachers,Intervention,Elementary School Mathematics,Classroom Techniques,Video Technology,Feedback (Response),Reflection,Teaching Methods

In this article, Mason's 'discipline of noticing' is used to theorise a reflective process for changing mathematics teaching in a challenging context. The methodological approach was guided by critical reflective processes that produced, firstly, a descriptive 'account-of' an unsuccessful mathematics lesson, followed by layers of analyses drawing on theory and literature that guided our development of 'accounts-for' the classroom interactions. This example of a South African teacher-researcher's self-study on disruptive learner behaviour in her Foundation Phase mathematics class is useful at the practitioner level, in which it details how increasingly critical layers of pedagogic reflection can be used to transform mathematics teaching, and via this route, to improve access to mathematical learning in a challenging context. At the research and policy levels, our findings question the separation of attention to mathematics and learner behaviour, rather than addressing the two in combination.
Focus on Form and Fun: EFL Learners&apos; Playful Language-Related Episodes (PLREs)
Author: Heidari-Shahreza, Mohammad Ali
Date: 2018-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Play,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Grammar,Teaching Methods,Foreign Countries,Language Usage,Peer Relationship,Language Proficiency,Pragmatics,Humor

This study aimed at bringing together the notions of language play and focus on form (FonF) through a cross-sectional investigation of playful language-related episodes (PLREs). PLREs, as a remarkably under-explored aspect of second language (L2) learners' focus on form, peer interaction and language play, were analyzed in an Iranian EFL context with 86 learners at elementary, intermediate and advanced level of L2 competence. The analysis of 46 hours of the participants' group interaction implied the facilitative role of L2 competence in the linguistic scope of PLREs. Different categories of PLREs also showed (slight) proficiency-based variations. The elementary learners, for instance, seemed more inclined to instigate pragmatic PLREs than formal ones. In this paper, major findings of the study are discussed in light of learners' L2 competence. Elaborating on this pivotal notion, I conclude the paper with a note on the pervasiveness of PLREs, ideas for more investment in L2 play and suggestions for further research.
Teaching Academic Writing through a Process-Genre Approach: A Pedagogical Exploration of an EAP Program in China
Author: Xu, Xiwen
Date: 2018-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English for Academic Purposes,Writing Instruction,Academic Discourse,Teaching Methods,Literary Genres,Graduate Students,Critical Reading,Writing Skills,Critical Thinking,Second Language Learning,Action Research,Reading Instruction,Reading Difficulties,Advanced Students

This paper explores a process-genre approach to teaching academic writing skills to advanced English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students. The 'reading-to-writing' tasks and procedures were designed to examine the feasibility of the approach for a doctoral English-for-academic-purposes (EAP) program in the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 academic years. Data for this action research were drawn from a collection of students' written tasks with peer-feedback and revisions spelled out, onsite researcher's observation notes, and two rounds of interviews with two selected groups of students. The results indicate that the participants benefited significantly through reading and analyzing peer-reviewed journal articles and getting familiar with the peer-review criteria for assessing academic texts. The approach stimulated the participants' interest in employing process writing skills and helped them understand the genre of disciplinary-specific academic writing. Issues with and implications for EAP learning and teaching in the Chinese context are discussed.
Improving South African Third Graders&apos; Reading Skills: Lessons Learnt from the Use of Guided Reading Approach
Author: Makumbila, Mohlanhledi P.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Reading Instruction,Small Group Instruction,Elementary School Students,Phonemic Awareness,Vocabulary Development,Reading Comprehension,Reading Fluency,Faculty Development,Elementary School Teachers,Workshops,Observation,Reading Motivation,Learner Engagement,Reading Materials,Oral Reading

This professional development project, known as Literacy Leadership Project, enabled four Foundation Phase teachers in South Africa to implement the Guided Reading approach. Developed by American researchers Fountas and Pinnell (1996), Guided Reading helps elementary students strengthen their phonemic awareness, vocabulary, reading comprehension and fluency in small group activities. Over an 8-month period, lessons learnt came from data collected from this professional development included workshop activities, classroom observations, teachers' group discussions and students' artefacts. Results indicated improvement in students' literacy engagement and motivation because of the use of levelled books, oral reading and group activities.