The study aimed to investigate the reading life histories of two educators, focusing on
how they were taught to read and came to understand reading, and how this
understanding has shaped their teaching of reading in the classroom. Two language
educators teaching English in the Intermediate and Senior Phase in a rural primary
school in KwaZulu-Natal were chosen for this research. A life history approach was
undertaken to gather rich data which was analysed and presented in a life history narrative.
The research revealed that the participants’ educational development was severely
affected by poverty, violence and the repercussions of apartheid, which all had a
negative impact on their education. In spite of this, the participants’ were taught to value
reading from an early age by concerned adults in their lives. These adults, although not
highly educated themselves, actively instilled early reading habits in the participants,
and tried to ensure that they were given the opportunity to be educated so that they
could aspire to a better life. The participants’ experiences of learning to read and
reading in primary school and high school gave them only a limited understanding of
reading and reading practices. The tertiary institutions where they trained as teachers
failed to equip them with adequate skills and strategies to teach reading well in their
own classrooms. As a result, although both educators believe that they were well
trained, they lack adequate strategies for truly effective development of reading in their
classrooms. Consequently, they fail to facilitate sound reading skills in their learners, yet are not fully aware of the shortcomings in their own practice. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/10235 |
| Date | 17 December 2013 |
| Creators | Sivnarain, Rakesh. |
| Contributors | Land, Sandra. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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