Teacher training in the Zenex Literacy Project Sarah Murray Rhodes University

Sites of the training Foundation phase teachers and HoDs in 22 low income schools across 3 provinces: KZN: isiZulu HL, English FAL Eastern Cape: isXhosa HL, English FAL Western Cape: English HL; Afrikaans FAL

THE DESIGN OF THE ZENEX LITERACY PROJECT TRAINING PROGRAMME Foundational knowledge and enabling conditions (Year 1) 2014-5: 5 2-day training sessions Teaching reading in HL and FAL (Year 2) 2016: 3 2-day training sessions Assessment and progression (Year 3) 2017: 3 2-day training sessions Understanding how children learn to read in HL and FAL; components of reading and how to teach them (decoding, comprehension, response) Setting up a bilingual, print-rich classroom environment Planning, organising and managing teaching and learning Phonological awareness and phonics Oral reading fluency (ORF) Reading comprehension Vocabulary development Reading aloud Shared reading Group guided reading Paired and independent reading Progression from grade to grade Assessing the different components of reading Planning for assessment Norms, benchmarks and progression Assessment for planning Supporting learners with reading difficulties Coaches continued to work with teachers and their HoDs on these aspects throughout the programme

READING CORNERS – opportunities to read, promote a value system Components of reading

WORD WALLS – promote vocabulary Components of reading

PLANNING AND ORGANISATION – provide structured learning environments, enable learning, create expectations, support self-regulation Components of reading

CLASSROOM ROUTINES - provide boundaries and structure, support self-regulation, raise expectations, enable learning

GROUP GUIDED READING – identifying cracks, modelling good reading, providing practice opportunities Components of reading

PAIRED READING – provides practice opportunities Components of reading

Languages of training Training sessions – mainly English Training materials written in English with glossaries provided in isiZulu, isiXhosa and Afrikaans Coaching in language of learning and teaching (LOLT) Main emphasis in Training was on teaching Literacy in HL but attention was given to FAL

What seemed to work The design of the curriculum: Enabling conditions – quick wins, visible improvements, build self-efficacy Linking the ‘reading process’ to CAPS activities – highlighted purpose of activities Focus on planning and progression which was revisited at different points in the training programme Assessment tackled when teachers understood reading process, nature of CAPS activities and progression Assessment (especially test results) Helped teachers to reflect on the impact of their teaching; And to plan forward

What seemed to work Use of videos in training was powerful, especially those that teachers recorded themselves Combination of training and coaching Training gave coaches a more sophisticated understanding of how children learn to read and enhanced the quality of coaching Gave trainers a better understanding of how new knowledge was integrated into teaching in the classroom Proving a role for HoDs in training sessions: Report backs and reflection Celebrating reading Book prizes Sharing the books trainers and coaches were reading ‘Book club’

What didn’t seem to work Introducing ‘theory’ too early, especially when presented in English Training would have worked better if more of the presentation had been in teachers’ home language Moving too fast for teachers: Limited time made it difficult to balance input and practice in training sessions Few teachers seemed to refer to the written materials once the training sessions had finished If we were to repeat the training, we might employ lesson plans in the early stages of the programme as part of “Enabling conditions”

Gaps in the literacy research agenda Identifying effective literacy teachers (i.e. those whose learners excel in reading) and researching their practice. What constitutes effective practice in large classes? Research on assessment practices – What constitutes effective assessment at different grade levels? What is the impact of assessment on learning? Research on what constitutes effective planning in the Foundation Phase? How do effective teachers plan? Research that helps us to better understand the change process in projects such as the Zenex Literacy Project