The study operates under the belief that the period of early childhood is a critical time in
the life of every individual; that it is crucial that a sound foundation is laid as far as a childâs
early literacy development is concerned and that the motherâs role in this development is
critical. Using the Vygotskian sociocultural perspective of education as a philosophical
guide, the study addresses two main questions, namely: What are the perspectives of
âstay-at-home mothersâ regarding their role in the in the early literacy development of their
children; and what are the daily practices of these mothers in this regard?
This qualitative, multiple-case study investigates the perspectives and practices of a group
of ten middle-to-high-income âstay-at-home momsâ and mostly âstay-at-home momsâ in
relation to the early literacy development of their young children. Over a period of
approximately seven months, individual and focus-group interviews and observations were
conducted in the homes of participants.
The results show that both similarities and differences exist amongst participating mothers
in terms of their perspectives and practices. The participants generally operate within the
following models (or combinations thereof): facilitator-supporter; companion-teacher; and
role model. The participating mothers find their experience as âstay-at-home momsâ both
rewarding and challenging. They tend to put their challenges, which seem overwhelming
to some of them at times, into perspective by considering the current positive results of
their investment for their children and for themselves and by looking forward to good
results which they expect to see in the future. In spite of the fact that participants are
generally knowledgeable about what early literacy entails and about what they should be
doing as critical role-players in this development, findings in this study indicate that
SAHMs would benefit from both professional and informal support and training.
Finally, the perspectives and practices of âstay-at-home momsâ is an under-researched
area, particularly in South Africa. Educators, parents and the community at large would
benefit from increased research in this area as well from the implementation of specific
programmes to provide support, training and intervention where necessary.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-11192010-151226 |
| Date | 19 November 2010 |
| Creators | Solomon, Belinda André |
| Contributors | Dr AE Ferreira |
| 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-11192010-151226/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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