Foundation phase teacher professional learning outside the formal programmes and its influence on classroom practice in KwaZulu-Natal Province

Abstract

The Foundation Phase (FP) of schooling is a period when children’s learning readiness is uppermost, given that this is when they grow and thrive – physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, morally, and socially. The need to capitalise on this readiness thus becomes critical, as this is the period when conditions are most conducive to a strong foundation being laid, on which all later learning will rest. However, it has been documented that initial teacher education courses do not address the specifics of classroom/school realities to equip teachers to work optimally in the education sector (Mukeredzi and Samuel 2020; Nasimiyu 2017). Thus, job-embedded on-going professional learning for teachers, including FP teachers, which extends beyond teacher education is an indispensable aspect of the development and enhancement of teachers’ professional knowledge, skills and practice, if meaningful teaching and learning is to take place. Compared to the large amounts of research in other education sectors, there is, and continues to be a dire need for research, and responsiveness to FP, apart from its contribution to children’s early learning. Thus, questions regarding how FP teachers professionally learn and develop beyond formal teacher preparation programmes have not been adequately answered. An understanding of these issues is crucial. This study explored FP teacher professional learning outside formal programmes, the kinds of professional knowledge that the teachers gain and how this learning influences their classroom practice. Through a multiple-site case study situated within an interpretive paradigm, subjective data were generated from 24 FP teachers employed at selected rural, township and urban schools in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, through focus group discussions, individual face-to-face interviews, and photo elicitation interviews. Manual data analysis adopted an eight-step coding process. Two theories: Biggs’ (2003) deep and surface learning theory and Illeris’ (2009) types of learning, complemented by domains of teacher knowledge by Shulman (1987) and Cogill (2008) enabled unpacking, understanding, and explaining study findings. These show that the FP teachers experienced professional learning through both deep and surface learning strategies in non-formal and informal interaction and collaboration, within two sites: restricted (the school) – through grade, phase and school meetings – and wider professional sites (outside the school) – through district, and cluster workshops and social meetings. The teachers experienced assimilative, and accommodative learning within the school, and cumulative learning in wider professional sites. Findings also revealed that FP teachers gained pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, knowledge of context, and knowledge of curriculum through their professional learning. The study found that professional learning influenced teachers’ classroom pedagogical practices around: teaching strategies, assessment, and classroom interaction. While the FP teachers experienced professional learning, under-resourcing in rural school contexts and a general lack of parental support in all the contexts studied, hampered teachers’ learning. This implies a need for more schooling resources as well as support by parents. Professional learning can be supported. Given that some of the teachers work in under resourced and geographically rural contexts where they have ‘to make do’, this has a bearing on laying solid foundations for many children’s later learning within the wider context. In relation to the theoretical frameworks used in this study (deep and surface learning and types of learning), while these theories have been used in isolation to investigate university students’ learning processes, this combination proved effective in studying teacher professional learning. What I found is that deep and surface learning strategies alone cannot adequately help understand teacher professional learning. I needed a theoretical way to understand, describe, and analyse data to establish the actual types of learning within the deep and surface realms. However, this thesis suggests a need for more comprehensive research into FP teacher professional learning outside the formal programmes drawing on this combined framework and developing it further to determine its applicability beyond the context of this particular inquiry.