South African childrenâs performance in reading, numeracy and writing performance is well below expected levels. In the Quality Improvement, Development, Support and Upliftment Programme Baseline Study (QIDS-UP) conducted in the Free State in March 2008, the results for the Grade 3s in respect of literacy and numeracy were 43,32% and 38,24% respectively. There are a myriad of reasons why learners are unable to read and write, among which educatorsâ knowledge and attitudes could be contributing factors.
A significant conceptual change to the Inclusive Education System is the early identification of learners with barriers, such as developmental delays, and the subsequent support of such learners. Developmental delays can become evident in writing, numeracy and reading deficits in scholastic tasks. Occupational therapists do not remediate the reading or writing delays, but assess a child to determine the underlying performance skills delays that cause the scholastic problem. Currently, there is only one occupational therapist working for the Free State Department of Education at the district level. An effective means of delivering occupational therapy services within this particular context would be to empower educators to identify, manage and support learners who demonstrate poor performance skills. This research attempted to determine educatorsâ knowledge and attitudes regarding the age-appropriate performance skills of a typical Grade 1 learner.
This was a cross-sectional study involving a stratified, randomly selected sample of 48 of the 257 schools in the Motheo District. All the Grade 1 educators at the selected schools were requested to complete a questionnaire designed by the researcher. The questionnaire was developed by considering the age-appropriate performance skills that underlie the scholastic skills of a Grade 1 learner and further by extracting the associated Grade 1 outcomes from the National Curriculum Statement with which educators are familiar. This research focused on the following components: gross-motor, fine-motor and cognitive skills. Educatorsâ attitudes regarding behavioural, cognitive and affective aspects were determined.
The sample comprised 117 educators of whom 47,3% had completed their training more than 20 years before. Only 18,8% had a four-year qualification, the minimum requirement for educators. The mean age of the participants was 46,6 years. The mean for Grade 1 teaching experience was 88 months, while the median for Foundation Phase teaching experience was 16,6 years. The mean number of learners per class was 42 (ranging between 21 and 67).
The medians of the total correct scores for knowledge regarding gross-motor skills, fine-motor skills and cognitive skills were 25,0%, 25% and 28,6% respectively. There were 2,6% who could not answer any questions correctly and 91,5 % of the educators scored below 46,7% on the composite knowledge score. The highest score (66,7%) was obtained by 2,6% of the educators.
Educators were found to have a generally positive attitude in respect of support to learners experiencing performance-skills delays (mean = 80,0%). Relationships were determined between training, experience, knowledge and attitude. It was evident that as the number of years of training increased, so attitude improved (p=0.0321). No relationship was apparent between training and knowledge, nor between experience and knowledge or attitude.
The poor scores for the identification of motor and cognitive skills could indicate that educators will not be able to identify learners with barriers in their classes. The exceptionally positive attitudes found among educators could have resulted from this lack of knowledge, which, in turn, led to skewed perceptions regarding the demands of teaching learners with barriers and developmental delays.
These findings will guide the researcher to develop educator-friendly and purposeful training that will empower educators to identify and support learners who present with delays in development. The important role that the occupational therapist at the district level should play in supporting educators and learners to embrace inclusive practices was also emphasised.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-10192011-123603 |
| Date | 19 October 2011 |
| Creators | Vermaas, Susanna Helena |
| Contributors | Prof G Joubert, Mrs A van Jaarsveld, Mrs DE de Villiers |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-10192011-123603/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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