1. Teacher training in the Zenex Literacy Project
Sarah Murray
Rhodes University

2. 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

3. 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

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

5. WORD WALLS – promote vocabulary
Components of reading

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

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

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

9. PAIRED READING – provides practice opportunities
Components of reading

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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’

13. 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”

14. 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