Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Learning standards in the vary, but in general they involve a list of statements describing what students should
know and be able to do. There are standards for every subject area and grade in each state; teachers must use
these standards when they develop their lesson plans. The standards are a way of streamlining the educational
process to ensure that a child in Mrs. Smith's class learns the same basic things as a child in Mr. Jones's class.
Rationale
The reason we have standards in schools is to coordinate the educational process from school to school within
a state. A child in a first grade class in one city should learn the same basic things as a child in a first grade
class in another city. Without standards the individual schools or teachers might decide what children should
learn; in the past this led to great discrepancies in education. Having a set of standards for each grade and
subject ensures that teachers all follow the same general path in their classrooms.
Practice
Standards still allow for variety; in theory it may sound like every teacher would have to teach the same thing,
but in practice there are options for differences. Every teacher in a particular subject area or grade level must
teach the same basic skills and concepts when the standards drive their curriculum. But they have the
freedom to choose how they will teach those concepts and skills. This is where teachers have the option to
choose individual teaching methods and materials while still maintaining the standards.
Curriculum Development

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

School districts plan and create curricula for every grade and subject. When they follow the standards for their
state in this process, they ensure that the students in their district receive a standardized education. District
leaders organize the standards for a subject and grade into a curriculum plan for their teachers to follow. A
standard for English in high school, for instance, might state that a student must be able to write a persuasive
essay. The district leaders would use that standard to incorporate a persuasive writing unit into the curriculum.
Lesson Plans
Teachers write lesson plans based on curriculum guidelines. In the example of the persuasive essay, teachers
would use the curriculum guidelines for a persuasive writing unit and plan individual lessons to teach
persuasive writing skills to their students. They can choose how to present that material in a method that will
be best for their individual classes. They may also refer back to the state standards to find out the specific
details required for the persuasive essay that their students must write.
Assessment
Classroom assessments measure what students know and are able to do. The standards should guide the
assessments; the assessment itself measures how well students have achieved the standard. A math standard
might require students to understand and apply the Pythagorean Theorem in a geometry class. The
assessment would give students a variety of questions asking them to use this theorem in order to measure
their success with that standard. So the standards guide the learning process and then become the means of
assessing student progress in a particular grade and subject area.
State standards also factor into the standardized testing process. Each state has a standardized test for
students in particular grades; the questions on those tests come from the list of state standards for that grade.
Teachers know in advance which standards the test will address, so as they follow their curriculum and teach
those standards, they prepare students for the standardized assessments they will take.

Group Activity / Pair Activity 5.3:

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

1. Define national curriculum statement.
2. List and explain the contents of a national curriculum statement.
3. Demonstrate the importance of a national curriculum statement and how it can be implemented in

numeracy for Grade R.

5.4 (ac4) – using Assessment records to check
children progress

Critical Issue: Assessing Young Children's Progress Appropriately

ISSUE: School improvement emphasizes enhanced achievement for all children, but determining young
children's achievement demands special consideration. Assessment of the progress and attainments of young
children, 3 to 8 years of age, requires understanding that they grow and change rapidly, particularly in their
social and emotional development; that they can be easily distracted by assessment procedures; and that they
have little or no personal interest in being assessed. Given these characteristics, how can educators determine
what the youngest children know and can do, and how can they use that information to carry out the aims of
early childhood programs?

OVERVIEW: In recent years, teachers and administrators have recognized the problems unique to assessing
young children. These problems arise from a combination of the developmental characteristics of 3- to 8-year-
olds and the kind of curriculum that is appropriate in early childhood programs. Assessment processes
traditionally accepted for older children are not developmentally appropriate assessment, nor are they
sufficiently informative for assessing young children.

Assessment techniques

The Literacy and Numeracy Checkpoints use a variety of assessment techniques to gather evidence when
developing learning profiles of children’s achievement.

These include:

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

W  ork samples
S  hort responses
 Investigations
 Recounts of stories or performances
P  hotographs with annotations
I nterviews
 Anecdotal notes
 Observations
 Checklists.

Assessing children’s literacy and numeracy learning in Year 1 is an ongoing process. Teachers monitor
children’s learning by gathering and analysing evidence and using this to plan teaching and learning for each
child.

Assessment opportunities need to be authentic and purposeful. Teachers provide opportunities for each child
to demonstrate learning individually, within small groups or within the whole class in everyday situations.

Making judgments: Teachers make judgments by matching evidence in each child’s response to the indicators
being assessed. The indicator is either demonstrated or not demonstrated.

Using data to inform future directions

Teachers record judgments on the Data Analysis Assessment Record (DAAR), ticking each indicator
demonstrated.

They use the DAAR to identify indicators not demonstrated by:

 The whole class — indicators that require explicit teaching using real-life
activities to develop and consolidate the concepts associated with these
indicators
 Small groups of children — indicators that require explicit teaching using
investigations, focused learning and teaching, play, real-life situations,
and routines and transitions
 Individual children — indicators that need explicit teaching across
learning areas.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Advantages & Disadvantages of Informal Assessment in Early Childhood Education

Informal assessment is often used in early childhood classrooms.

Informal assessments are naturalistic assessment types. These assessment procedures take place in the
natural classroom environment during typical early learning situations, making them more authentic than
standardized testing, which must necessarily take place in a controlled setting outside the classroom.

Types of Informal Assessments

Informal assessment methods include: portfolios, anecdotal records, running records, time sampling, event
sampling, checklists, rating scales and parent interviews. Each type of assessment has disadvantages and
advantages.

Portfolios

A portfolio is a collection of a child's work from very specific areas. Two advantages of portfolio assessment are
that it shows student progress over time, and it involves students in the assessment process. Drawbacks to
using portfolios are the large amount of time needed to compile them and the subjective nature of this type of
assessment. Furthermore, like all informal assessments, portfolios may lack reliability and validity.

Anecdotal Records

With an anecdotal record, the observer writes down the child's behaviours she witnesses without making any
judgments. The advantages of anecdotal records are: the observer does not require special training, and the
observation can be used to focus specifically on the behaviours of interest. The disadvantages of this type of
assessment are that the results depend upon the memory of the individual observer, and the observer may
overlook much crucial behaviour to focus on a specific behaviour.

Running Records

A running or descriptive narrative record involves an observer keeping detailed notes of a child's behaviour
during a specific time period. Advantages are that little training is required for the observer, the emphasis is on
all behaviours and the context of the behaviour becomes apparent. Disadvantages of running records are that
the process is extremely time-consuming, it is great for a single child but impossible for a group and the
observer must maintain neutrality, which is difficult for a classroom teacher.

Time Sampling

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

When an observer watches a group or a child for incidences of a specific behaviour over a set time period, this
is known as time sampling. The advantages of time sampling are: the observer can record data for multiple
students at one time, the method provides useful data about the frequency of the behaviour and the method
takes less time than most other informal measures. Disadvantages include: the observer may miss behaviours
outside the limited time frame, the causes and consequences of the behaviour are not tracked and the method
focuses on frequent behaviours rather than those that may rare but problematic.

Event Sampling

With an event sampling method, the observer watches and records specific behaviours. The greatest
advantages of event sampling are that it tracks the antecedents and consequences associated with the
behaviour and are used to record even rarely occurring problem behaviours. The disadvantages of event
sampling are the lack of detail and the narrowness of focus on exclusive behaviours.

Rating Scales and Checklists

Observers use checklists to evaluate a child's ability to perform a specific skill. Observers use rating scales to
express the degree to which a child performs a specific behaviour. Both rating scales and checklists are easy to
use and allow the observer to monitor multiple skills at one time. Scoring is usually very easy for these
instruments. The drawbacks to using checklists and rating scales are the subjectivity involved in the rating
process, the overlooking of behaviours not on the instrument and less detail about the specific behaviours.

Parent Interviews

Parent interviews are usually questionnaires with which the observer collects data from the parents rather than
from directly watching the child. The biggest problem with interviews is the unrealistic views or biases of the
parents in favour or against the child. The primary advantage to a parent interview is a perspective from
outside the classroom -- a view of the child from another environment. The parent may witness behaviours
that are very different from those the teacher sees.

Math Games for 2nd Graders

Play math games to reinforce basic math facts

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

While the curriculum in 2nd grade math covers everything from money to time and estimation skill, 2nd grade
math is predominantly about learning and memorizing basic addition and subtraction facts. Once those skills
are firmly in place, the students can move on to adding and subtracting two and three digit numbers, as well as
learning the concept of multiplication. Help your 2nd grade students learn and memorize their basic addition
and subtraction facts with some fun math games.
Math Bingo: Tell the students to fold a piece of notebook or printer paper in half four times. The paper will then
have four squares across and four squares down. Ask the students to write a number in each square, from 1 to
20, but not in order. For example, they might write a "3" in the first square, a "12" in the second square and so on.
Then, take a stack of addition or subtraction flashcards and hold up the first card. The students must solve the
problem and find the answer on their paper. If the answer is on their paper, they cross it out. If anyone says the
answer aloud, they are out. The first student with four in a row crossed out wins a prize.
Roll the Dice: Divide the students into pairs and have them roll a pair of dice. When the dice come to a stop, the
students must add (or subtract) the two numbers that are showing and say the correct answer. The first student
to say the correct answer wins a point. At the end of a set time amount (perhaps five minutes), add up the
points and see which student has the most points. You can also play this game with a deck of cards. Simply
divide one deck into two equal piles, and give one pile to each student. Then the students will flip over the first
cards in the piles and add them up.
Math Relays: Divide the class into two or three teams. Have them line up in lines facing the board. When the
game starts, hold up a math facts flashcard. The first student in each line must look at the flashcard, race to the
board, write out the problem, and solve it correctly. The first student to solve the problem correctly wins a point
for his or her team. If you don't have flashcards, simply tell the students a math problem to write, which is good
practice for listening skills.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Group Activity / Pair Activity 5.4:
1. Explain how you assess the numeracy level of a Grade R child.
2. List and explain the numeracy assessment methods that you know.

So6: Evaluate the effectiveness of the
Numeracy Learning Programme. 

Learner Tip:
We will improve literacy and numeracy skills
Literacy and Numeracy for Learning and Life is the national strategy to improve literacy and numeracy
standards among children and young people in the education system. This strategy seeks to address
significant concerns about how well our young people are developing the literacy and numeracy skills that
they will need to participate fully in the education system, to live satisfying and rewarding lives, and to
participate as active and informed citizens in our society.
Many people have contributed to this strategy

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

It is very clear that very many people in the education system and beyond care passionately about ensuring
that our young people master the skills of literacy and numeracy. Literacy and Numeracy for Learning and Life
has been shaped by an intensive public consultation about how best we can improve the teaching and
learning of these skills in the Irish education system.

The Department of Education and Skills published a draft national plan for improving literacy and numeracy in
November 2010 and asked for comments from the education system and the public. The publication sparked
an intense debate about literacy and numeracy. Individuals, parents, students, teachers, staff groups in schools,
lecturers, researchers and departments in colleges and other third-level institutions, representatives of
community organisations and public bodies, as well as parents’ associations, trade unions, employers’
associations and school management bodies submitted detailed comments and suggestions on how to get
the strategy right.

Almost 480 written submissions were received as well as a number of comments on a dedicated telephone
line; most of those who submitted written comments agreed to their publication and these documents are
available on the website of the Department of Education and Skills. Several of the submissions include very
valuable reviews and summaries of relevant research and detailed bibliographies regarding the teaching,
learning and assessment of literacy and numeracy skills.

6.1 (ac1) - evaluating The effectiveness of the
Numeracy Programme

Educational Evaluation Methods

Use educational evaluation techniques in the classroom for improving behaviour and learning.

Educational evaluation methods are ideas put into practice as teaching strategies and tools for implementing
effective modes of teaching. Educational evaluation methods give teachers achievable goals in the classroom
and ways to perfect teaching strategies. There are many different educational evaluation methods used across
schools today, but few of them are more effective than the others.

Lesson Plans: Create thorough lesson plans. A good lesson plan includes everything required for teaching a
class. It has a project overview, complete material list, vocabulary list, educational standards covered, required
steps for the lesson, test or project, and conclusion for the lesson. If there is a student with special needs, plan
alternative methods for teaching the material to that student. For example, a student with poor eyesight or
hearing can be moved closer to the teacher. The lesson plan should detail what the teacher does, what the
students does and has a project or evaluation at the end of the lesson. Principals judge a teacher's educational
skills by thoroughness of lesson plans, and their teaching skills.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Engage the Students: Develop engaging lessons. Interesting lessons prevent behaviour problems before they
start. Involve all the students by having them break into small groups. If the teacher is instructing the class as a
whole, have the students take notes or work on solving problem(s) in the activity. Students have short attention
spans, so design the lesson with more active, hands-on learning. A teacher's control over students' behaviour is
essential during an evaluation.
Learner's Ability Level: Challenge the learner's ability level. The brain is a muscle, and it needs exercise just like
any other muscle. Thinking exercises the brain. Start by teaching one concept before moving to a more difficult
task. For example, a student needs to know how to add, subtract, multiply and divide, before solving algebraic
equations. Ask questions that make the brain work. Questions like, "Why is the earth spinning out in space?"
make people try coming up with reasons. Don't expect an answer, but this sparks the brain into thinking. Don't
be surprised if the student can answer this especially after he goes home and looks up the answer on the
Internet, but that's all right as the brain muscle got exercised. Evaluate students on how they work, participate
and understand materials taught during the lesson.
Fair Evaluation Methods: Form a fair evaluation method. Evaluation shows how much knowledge was gained
by teaching the lesson. Evaluation lets the teacher know if the lesson was a success. Common evaluation
methods include tests, quizzes, writing a paper or creating a project. Never test a student on content that
wasn't addressed in the lesson. This wouldn't be fair to the student and may cause undue stress to him.
Reviewing Information: Review information before moving on to new concepts. When developing a lesson
plan, include a review of past lessons that the new lesson builds on. This helps remind students of information
taught earlier. Sometimes reviews take up a lot of class time, but have the students write a daily synopsis of
information learned each day. Check the daily synopsis once a week, and make sure the students understand
the information taught during the week.
How to Evaluate Learning Outcome Tools

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

How to Evaluate Learning Outcome Tools

Learning outcome assessment tools are valuable instruments to determine how well an educational institution
lives up to its mission. Effective tools can demonstrate, with both quantitative and qualitative data, just how
successful a school really is and what it needs to improve.

Compare the measurements of the learning outcomes tool to the core values or mission statement of your
institution. Does this tool address the key beliefs of your institution? For example, if your institution values
"community service," does the assessment tool measure student participation in volunteer groups?

Compare the measurements of the learning outcomes tool to the learning outcomes of the program (if
applicable). For example, if the program values broad familiarity with American government, does the tool ask
basic questions about the principles of the U.S. Constitution? This should be repeated at the course level as
well.

Determine if this tool is a direct measure (for example, standardized questions) or indirect measure
(participation in extra-curricular activities). A good battery of assessment tools should contain both types of
measures.

Determine if this tool is suitable for repetition over several years. Long-term planning is especially useful for
comparing progress in student learning outcomes.

Determine if this tool is easy to administer and evaluate. Computerized scantrons ("bubble cards") are relatively
inexpensive but require specialized equipment and software to operate. Other possibilities include online
surveys and focus groups.

Assessment & Evaluation of Learning

For teachers, assessment of student learning should be an ongoing process. Assessment belongs at the
beginning, middle, and end of any unit of study. There are a variety of types of assessments teachers can use
in order to evaluate student learning and plan for future instruction.

Preliminary Assessments: Before you begin teaching students a new concept, it can be useful to have an
understanding of what they already know. You may wish to do this as a general assessment in the beginning of
the school year to test students' prior knowledge of your subject area. Or you can do a specific assessment for
a particular learning unit at the start of that unit.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Diagnostic tests exist for the purpose of preliminary and ongoing assessment. See if your school or district
personnel can direct you to a diagnostic test that you can use for your subject area. The purpose of the
diagnostic is to figure out what students already know. Then you can compile the data you gather from their
test results to make a plan for what they still need to learn. If you cannot find a diagnostic test, you can also
consider using your end-of-year exam at the beginning of the year. Or consider what you want students to
know by the end of the unit, and give them a test over that material before the unit begins. This way you will
know which areas to focus on during the unit.
Formative Assessments: As your students progress in their learning of a new concept, you can assess their
learning process. Using quizzes or class discussions is a popular way to do this; you can ask questions as you
go along in order to determine whether or not students are learning the material.
If students answer your questions, then you're on the right track and can proceed through your unit. If they
seem to be getting stuck in a particular area, you need to go back and re-focus your instruction in that specific
area or skill until students understand it. Then you can move on with the rest of your unit.
Summative Assessments: You also need to assess students at the end of a unit of study or at the end of a
course. This assessment should demonstrate that the students have learned everything you taught them. You
assign them a grade based on their performance on this assessment.
Summative assessments generally come in the form of an exam, a project, or a portfolio of work. You should
keep in mind that not every student will have fully understood all of the concepts in your unit, but most should
have done fairly well. If every student in your class fails your summative assessment, then you need to go back
and re-teach that material and assess it again.

Group Activity / Pair Activity 6.1:
1. Explain how you evaluate the effectiveness of a learning programme.
2. List and explain how you can use evaluation tools to evaluate a learning programme.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

6.2 (ac2) - strengths and weaknesses in the
planning and facilitation of numeracy
development

How to Find Strengths & Weaknesses in Kids

Each child has unique strengths and weaknesses that can be used to help him through life.
Kids have unique strengths and weaknesses. The things they are interested in and excel at will change as they
grow. Using strengths to their advantage and using their weaknesses to help them learn helps kids feel
confident regardless of what they can and cannot do. It is important to recognize that weaknesses in kids are
not permanent traits, but rather indicators of areas that may need attention. Learning about and helping
children identify their strengths and weaknesses can help you support them as they make decisions about
careers or their life path.
Cultivate Awareness
Consider the various perspectives you may have in relation to the kid's strengths and weaknesses. It is valuable
to be aware of bias when you are trying to find strengths and weaknesses. What you perceive as a strength or
weakness may not feel like that to the child. Be careful not to label a child with a particular strength or
weakness. Ask the child how he feels about a certain trait to determine how he perceives himself.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Get to know and observe the kid in action in various settings to determine strengths and weaknesses. Jim
Burns of Home Word suggests paying attention to what skills come easily to him, what activities he enjoys,
what environments he seems to thrive in, what he finds difficult and what he dislikes. If the child seems to be
having a hard time, pay attention to what may be going on around him. Is there loud noise, or is it very quiet? Is
the environment cluttered, or neat? Some kids can navigate certain settings more easily than others. It is just as
important to make a note about what is going on when he is doing well. Does he seem to work well in groups,
or alone? Does he like to work with his hands, or listen to the teacher describe how to complete a task? Is he
adept at problem-solving, or does he get easily frustrated? Non-judgmental observation can help you hone in
on strengths and weaknesses.
Appreciate both the strengths and weaknesses in kids. Each kid is unique, and we all have strengths and
weaknesses. Help kids appreciate weaknesses as tools for learning more about themselves, make choices
about the direction of their life and interests and be grateful for diversity. Notice how kids relate to their own
strengths and weaknesses. Share ways to view them positively --- the child who doesn't read well has an
opportunity to learn a new skill, using practice to experience achievement. Help kids find the opportunities in
the challenges of having both strengths and weaknesses.
Learn from the observations and help kids learn about their strengths and weaknesses. Share observation tips
and learning styles with kids so they can learn from their experiences. Some kids learn best through listening,
watching or hands-on experience. Use what is learned to help the child change weaknesses into strengths and
use strengths to his advantage --- the child who works well in groups may want to lead group activities or
organize social gatherings and the child who feels shy may want to gradually speak in front of others to gain
confidence.
How to observe your child's strengths and weaknesses

One-on-one time with your child is essential to learning your child's strengths and weaknesses.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Effective parenting requires keen observation of a child's strengths and weaknesses. The tabula rasa theory
popularized by John Locke of the 17th century is replaced in the 21st century by nurture-acting-upon-nature
theories proposed by researchers such as George W. Holden. Whereas the tabula rasa theory placed all the
credit and all the blame for a child's outcome on parenting, today's child development experts encourage
parents to study their child and to provide guidance and encouragement, based upon the child's proclivities
and needs.

Provide your child with a variety of play and learning experiences. It is not necessary to buy certain toys or to
take your child to particular places to observe your child. Everyday activities and simple objects provide ample
opportunity for getting to know your child when observation and discovery are your objectives.

Keep a notebook. Allow your child to have free time, undirected by you. Write your observations in the
notebook. Include information regarding sensory, auditory and visual activities of your child.

Record information regarding your child's moods and attention span Circadian rhythms and peak performance
times vary from individual to individual. Research indicates that a child's internal clock is genetically
predisposed.

Introduce math, reading and writing to your child. Count objects with your child. Introduce the alphabet and
words through age-appropriate books. Provide your child with crayons and paper. Draw pictures with your
child. Do not force your child to engage in either of these activities. Observe how your child reacts to these
learning activities and how she incorporates this new knowledge into her self-directed activities.

Listen to your child. Your child's conversations provide a vast amount of information regarding your child's
interests and cognitive abilities. Can your preschooler relate an event sequentially or give step-by-step
instructions? Does your child demonstrate an understanding of cause and effect? Can your child memorize?

Determine your child's predominant learning style. There are three basic learning styles: auditory, visual and
kinesthetic. Auditory learners remember what they hear. Visual learners remember what they see and
kinesthetic learners remember what they do. Everyone learns through a combination of these styles, yet each
person has a predominant way of learning. Knowledge of your child's predominant learning style provides
clues to your child's strengths and weaknesses.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Group Activity / Pair Activity 6.2:
1. Explain how you observe and record a child’s strengths and weaknesses.
2. Demonstrate the importance of knowing the strengths and weaknesses of a child.

6.3 (ac3) - facilitation techniques modified to
build strengths and deal with weaknesses
facilitation of numeracy. 

How to Facilitate Learning Through Effective Teaching

Improve the ease with which your students can learn.

While some teachers opt to take center stage in their classroom and educate through lecture, others prefer to
take a backseat role and simply work as a facilitator. By facilitating student learning instead of presenting
students with information as is common in the traditional system of education, teachers can encourage their
students to take an active role in learning. As reported by NCVER, changing the educational paradigm and
forcing students to give up the passive roles that they once took on in the classroom can be highly effective
and lead to increased student comprehension.

Present students with questions instead of answers. Trade lectures for open ended questioning. Instead of
telling students how something works, encourage them to work together and seek out an explanation for
themselves. By finding an explanation instead of just listening to the teacher's versions of events, students are
more likely to internalize the information and place it in their long-term memory banks

Create a learning partnership with students. Instead of taking on the standard roles of teacher and subservient
students, set up a partnership with your pupils. Make it clear that you are all working together as a class group
to discover information and enhance group understanding of content material. Avoid setting yourself up as an
expert in a subject, but instead work as a tour guide leading students through the landscape of education.

Provide application opportunities. If students apply information they have learned they are more likely to
commit it to memory. Create projects specifically designed to encourage information application. For example,
if discussing how to convert units in math, create a task that requires unit conversion to complete. By doing
instead of simply seeing, students will more likely retain the content.

Select activities that appeal to an assortment of different learning styles. While some students learn best
through orally presented directions and lessons, others require visual stimuli, and still others learn best through
movement. Determine your students' learning styles by presenting them with a learning styles inventory. When
planning lessons and activities, try to include activities that appeal to as many of the learning styles as
possible.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Encourage students to interact while they learn. Learning does not have to be a solitary pursuit. By allowing
students to work with each other as they build understanding you increase the likelihood that they remain
engaged throughout the lesson and give them the opportunity to benefit from their classmates' knowledge
and skills.

How Do Teachers Facilitate Learning?

Dedicated teachers find ways to help students achieve.

Teachers have the awesome responsibility of helping their students develop to their fullest potential. Although
parents play a major part in their children's education, teachers spend more time with them focusing on
academic skills. As educators, they are compelled to observe and assess to determine learning styles as well
as find ways to meet each child's needs. This is a daunting task and is accomplished only with the help of
supportive administrative staff and classroom assistants. However, the teacher is ultimately accountable for the
academic success and achievement of her students.

Significance: Facilitating involves a concentrated effort by the teacher to gradually release students to learn on
their own. This does not mean that the teacher hands out a worksheet or tells the kids to read the chapter and
answer the questions at the end. Rather, the teacher shows children how to do something, whether it be a
math problem, scientific research or reading skills. Then they practice the skill with them and observe while
they apply what they have learned. If the teacher is the sole source of information, students will not develop
independent learning habits essential either in school or in life.

Function: Teachers must maintain an environment conducive to learning. They should establish and implement
a behavioural plan with clear expectations, rules, rewards and consequences. Students thrive academically
and socially when they feel safe and comfortable enough to ask questions and share concerns. The classroom
setup is also a factor in the learning process. Charts and other visual aids should be clearly visible. Books and
supplemental learning aids and manipulative materials, like blocks, rods and beans, need to be stored in easily
accessible places. This creates a positive learning atmosphere.

Features: Teachers facilitate learning when they motivate students. Although no one can make a student care
about his education, teachers can motivate through their actions. For example, teachers should interact with
students often and encourage them to express their thoughts. When appropriate, teachers can share their own
experiences and struggles. Teachers have to know where to draw the line between being the authoritarian and
a friend, but students need to know that their teacher genuinely cares about them. This will motivate most kids
to try harder.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Types: Teachers also facilitate learning when they find ways to help each child learn. Even teachers with little
experience will soon realize that not all children learn the same way. While it may be extremely difficult to work
one-on-one with each child, teachers can group students by their common learning styles and help each
group with differentiated methods. This takes time and requires support from school officials and classroom
assistants and parents. Hopefully, this will result in almost every child performing better on homework
assignments and tests.
Considerations: Facilitating learning also involves collaborative teaching. Many an educator considers the
classroom as her personal island, where she is isolated from other teachers because of time constraints and
sometimes overwhelming duties. Administrators should make teacher collaboration a priority by having grade
level meetings. These give teachers insight on how to handle students with special needs as well as the
chance to learn from each other. Teachers can discuss ideas, ask for suggestions and give each other support.
The students ultimately benefit when a teacher has a positive outlook and works together with others.

Group Activity / Pair Activity 6.3:
1. Define evaluation
2. List and explain any 5 evaluation techniques used in numeracy facilitation.

Portfolio Activity:

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

1. Describe how numeracy is developed, facilitated and assessed. 
2. Demonstrate how you plan a Numeracy Learning Programme
3. List and explain ways of preparing numeracy learning activities and materials. 
4. Explain how you implement the plan Numeracy Learning Programme
5. Discuss ways of assessing children's progress in the Numeracy Learning Programme
6. Evaluate the effectiveness of the Numeracy Learning Programme. 

Resources:

 http://www.ehow.com/how_6127908_teach-numeracy-primary-
schools.html#ixzz2K6M5DrwX
h  ttp://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/childdevtheory
 http://www.cpa.ca/cpasite/userfiles/documents/publications/cjep/edito_eng
h  ttp://www.readright.co.za/downloads/pdf/Curriculum/RNCS/RNCS_GrR-
3.pdf
 http://www.ehow.com/list_7660869_assessment-tools-special-need-
learners.html#ixzz2K70meeaX
h  ttp://www.ehow.com/how_8699530_assess-secondgrade-students-
addition-subtraction.html#ixzz2K76YI0Ob
h  ttp://www.ehow.com/info_8579347_childcentered-approach-teaching-
preschool.html#ixzz2K7ucSi5o
 http://www.ehow.com/info_8614207_childcentered-approach-early-
childhood-education.html
 http://www.skillsyouneed.co.uk/numeracy_skills.html#ixzz2KCo4XgPu
h  ttp://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/mathematics_principles_practic
540176.pdf
h  ttp://www.virtualsalt.com/crebook1.htm

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Self Assessment

Self Assessment:
You have come to the end of this module – please take the time to review what you have learnt to date, and
conduct a self assessment against the learning outcomes of this module by following the instructions below:
Rate your understanding of each of the outcomes listed below :
Keys: - no understanding
- Some idea
- Completely comfortable

NO OUTCOME SELF RATING

Notes
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MODULE 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

us id: KT0102 - Child Development from conception to school-going age, including brain development in the
first 1000 days 

Learning Outcomes:
1. Describe how literacy is developed, facilitated and assessed. 
2. Plan a Literacy Learning Programme. 
3. Prepare literacy learning activities and materials. 
4. Implement planned Literacy Learning Programme. 
5. Assess children's progress in the Literacy Learning Programme. 
6. Evaluate the effectiveness of the Literacy Learning Programme. 

introduction

Literacy is the ability to read and write one's own name and further for knowledge and interest, write
coherently, and think critically about the written word. Visual literacy includes in addition the ability to
understand all forms of communication, be it body language, pictures, maps, or video. Evolving definitions of
literacy often include all the symbol systems relevant to a particular community. Literacy encompasses a
complex set of abilities to understand and use the dominant symbol systems of a culture for personal and
community development. In a technological society, the concept of literacy is expanding to include the media
and electronic text, in addition to alphabetic and number systems. These abilities vary in different social and
cultural contexts according to need and demand.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

The primary sense of literacy still represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from a critical
interpretation of the written or printed text. Key to all literacy is reading development, a progression of skills
that begins with the ability to understand spoken words and decode written words, and culminates in the deep
understanding of text. Reading development involves a range of complex language underpinnings including
awareness of speech sounds (phonology), spelling patterns (orthography), word meaning (semantics),
grammar (syntax) and patterns of word formation (morphology), all of which provide a necessary platform for
reading fluency and comprehension. Once these skills are acquired the reader can attain full language literacy,
which includes the abilities to approach printed material with critical analysis, inference and synthesis; to write
with accuracy and coherence; and to use information and insights from text as the basis for informed decisions
and creative thought.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines literacy as the "ability to
identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials
associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve
their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider
society."

So1: how literacy is facilitated and
assessed. 

How to Facilitate Children’s Learning

Education is generally a series of adults asking questions – this has been so since the time of Socrates.
Questions are asked with the hope or even expectation that the children will respond with answers that adults
have pre-conceived, either by their own thoughts or based on what a subject-area curriculum tells them the
answer should be. It can also be said that adults don’t ask questions for which they don’t know the answers. For
adults, “sameness” is important – we want children to have the same answers as we do.

Some educators feel it is important for children  to be able to explore their world and come up with their own
reality. For this to happen, in the home or in a classroom, there must be a sense of shared learning – a
perception on the part of both adult and child that curiosity and discovery are fun and have utility for making
sense of the world. Shared learning, especially with young children, occurs when adults limit the number of
direct questions they ask, such as “what’s this called . . . or what colour is that?” When adults ask pointed
questions, there can be a sense on the child’s part that there is only one correct answer – the adult’s “reality”.

We must ask ourselves this question – what can adults do to facilitate but still shape the learning of children?
That question leads to another – is it through adult questioning . . . or is it through curiosity, noticing, wondering
and commenting that children develop their own reality?

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Going back to the premise that children need to be able to explore and come up with their own reality, what
dynamic needs to be in place between adults and children? It seems logical that there needs to be more of an
equality of roles in learning . . . that the adult should not always fulfil the role of “expert” – the one who imparts
knowledge onto children. The dynamic that needs to be in place is a common language for wondering and
thinking, and most important – for expressing.  Having a common “language” provides common “ground” for
both adults and children in the “wondering, thinking and expressing”.

Here are some examples of adult questions that are specific and narrow in scope:

What’s this?                       What colour is this?                           What do you call this?

What do you call this shape?       What letter is this?          What number is this?

What should ___ do?

Observations of young children at play reveal that they do ask questions to find out about the world around
them. However, before they ask questions, they notice things and have curiosity and may comment on what
they see. As an adult, thinking that we can find out what children know by asking a barrage of questions may
seem logical, but the logic is lost on a young mind that begins to feel encroached upon. What makes more
sense is to pretend to be curious about things, notice things and comment – this is much more child-friendly.
Not only that, but the “wondering” will generate many more opportunities to learn what children know and
know about, and open the door to having mini-conversations with the child that involve a very important skill –
conversational turn taking.

In contrast to adult questions, here are examples of child-friendly interactions:

 Curiosity – I wonder what this is called? I wonder what you can do with
this? I wonder if there are any ___ in this picture . . . on this page . . . in this
story.
N  oticing – I noticed ____.;           I see ___.; I see ___ (plus point to what you
see).;  I see + description. ( example – I see an animal that has black and
white spots and is eating hay)
 Commenting – That elephant sure has a long nose. OR That elephant
sure has a long nose – I wonder if that big nose has a special name.
Maybe it will be in the story.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Children use their own schema to investigate the world around them. As well-intentioned adults, we must be
mindful of the schema children are already using and ask ourselves if our notions of learning schema are
proximal to that of the child. Vygotsky addresses this concept in his work on Zone of Proximal Development
(ZPD) – the range of abilities that a person can perform with assistance, but cannot yet perform independently.
Asking a barrage of adult questions makes what is learned completely our choice – our “choices” can limit their
choices when recalling specific information, and could limit their abilities and experiences in exploring and
reasoning. Just consider the choices that curiosity, noticing and commenting bring – the choice to think reason
and discover! Besides, asking questions is not teaching!!

A related child and brain-friendly technique involves the use of “find” or “show me” prompts in replacement of
direct questions. For example, rather than asking “what number is this?”, use a small field of numbers and ask
the child to “find” or “show me” the number 4. In the same vein, rather than asking “what shape is this?”, use a
limited field of shapes and make the request for the child to find or point to a shape. Use of “find”, “show me” or
“point to” verbal prompts does not replace direct questions in the bigger picture of finding out what children
may know, but it certainly provides valuable information when children do not verbally respond and/or appear
not to know.

In a recent conversation with a preschool teacher, a great idea was shared. The teacher was explaining one of
the ways she helps parents understand how to help their children learn the family’s address. Typical adult
thinking would structure the learning to memorize the numbers of the address as a unit and just rehearse
saying them as an adult would. For example, if the numbers on the house were 2417, adults might ask their
preschooler to say it as “twenty-four seventeen”.

Since many preschool children are not aware of what 24 and 17 look like (even though they may be able to say
those numbers), let alone “twenty-four seventeen”, it doesn’t make sense from a child-brain standpoint to
expect them to be able to process the group of numbers as an adult would. What would be appropriate from a
child-brain standpoint is to help them become aware of the individual numbers that are in the address and
then to foster their recognition as a unit by combining them in a meaningful way.

Here is where “finding” and “show me” come into play. Since recognition comes before expression, it makes
sense to ask the child to find or show the number 4 or 2 or 7 or 1 rather than asking them “what number is this . .
. what number is this” . . . etc. A different way of assessing number awareness would be to hold up a number 4,
for example, and ask  “is there a 4 in your address?”  . . . Then later on ask if they have a 4 without giving them a
visual model.

When we consider that knowing what something “is” will be strengthened by knowing equally well what it
“isn’t”, an additional step in cementing the knowledge of the numbers in an address would be to ask the child if
a certain number was in their address, using a number that isn’t in the address. For example, while showing the
number 5, we could ask if 5 were in their address – this gives them a visual referent with which to compare. If
the child confirms that the number isn’t in their address, the opportunity to affirm the child’s thinking arrives, as
well as the opportunity to restate which numbers are in the address.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

A step beyond this last level would be to ask if 5 was in their address without showing a number. A way to build
address unit recognition – the whole number address – would be to print the address on a card and then have
2 other cards with numbers on them . . . one with numbers that are not the address and one with the address.
Show each card and request the child to “find”, “show” or “point to” their address. The flip side of this recognition
activity would be to also request the child to “find”, “show” or “point to” addresses that were not theirs.  Assisting
the child in recognizing the way their address looks and ways it doesn’t will make the learning of their address
stronger.

While education of children does involve questions posed by adults, it also should involve alternative ways of
assessing what children know and have learned. Asking pointed questions that narrowly define the choices
about which to think can limit what adults can really discover about what children are learning or have already
learned. Being sensitive to where children are in their discovery of the world is aided by the use of Vygotsky’s
ZPD. Shared learning via curiosity, wondering and commenting brings a common ground and provides more
opportunities for social interaction – the very medium that helps define each of our realities.

How to facilitate parents’ participation in literacy-enhancing
services

Any way they are defined, any way they are measured, health and literacy are inextricably linked. Parents’
literacy is a determinant of child health. Low literacy is a barrier to delivery of healthcare services and home
visitation services.

Achieving family goals and program goals for health, school readiness, healthy child development, and self-
sufficiency depends on parents’ ability to use information and resources. For these reasons, literacy should be a
priority for all MCH home visiting programs.

I have argued that reading is neither necessary nor sufficient to function in modern society, particularly in
healthcare. Every day, people who read poorly or not at all manage to access healthcare, keep a job, and raise
competent children. But the fact remains, those folks are extraordinary. They have developed other skills to
compensate. For most, inability to read severely restricts options and opportunities.

Literacy has long been framed as a reflection of cognitive ability so that being “low literate” bears a powerful
stigma. This makes reading difficulty one of those hard-to-discuss topics that are easily skipped for fear of
jeopardizing the essential and sometimes fragile visitor/family relationship.

Some of the discomfort comes from our own, perhaps unconscious, beliefs about literacy. In many
communities, everyone “just knows” that low literacy is on the list of Things Too Bad Too Talk About. Home
visitors tell me they do not want to embarrass parents, or insult them, or make them uncomfortable when
everyone is comfortable. Breakthrough happens out of discomfort. And you, Non-judgmental Visitors, have the
capacity to hold a safe space for “your” parents’ to work through discomfort and move toward higher
functioning.  If not you, then who?

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

 Identify parents at high risk for low literacy

The point of identification is to refer them to community-based literacy enhancing services and support their
participation. All this can be accomplished in a positive, self-esteem building way. And that may be the greatest
gift you can offer a family. To start, I offer two non-intrusive tools to identify parents for referral to adult basic
education services, family literacy programs, or English language learning programs. No tests. No
embarrassment.

 1.    Observe how many adult and/or children’s books are in the home. Or ask, How many books do you have?
(They can be library books.) Research shows that parents who have at least 10 adult or children’s books get
satisfactory scores on reading tests – they probably read well enough.  If you see no reading materials, that’s a
signal to have the Literacy Conversation. More on that later

 2.    Use the ELF Literacy Screen. The ELF uses three questions to produce a proxy REALM score. REALM –
Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine – is the most commonly used measure of reading ability in a
healthcare setting. It is a word recognition test using healthcare-related terms (e.g. exercise, menopause,
jaundice). The ELF was designed by a primary care physician to identify poor readers without giving them the
test, which patients have reported is embarrassing and alienating. The ELF was validated with low-income
parents of children to age 6 in primary care. Researchers gave the REALM test to the parents and then asked
them a list of questions. Their responses to the following three questions correlated with scores indicating a
reading level equivalent of < 6 grade or > 7 grade. (The average American reads at a 7 to 8 grade level). You can
identify most poor readers by their response to three questions.  You might already have the info, so you won’t
even need to ask. 

 Here are the ELF questions:  (Note: the name ELF reminds you of the questions)

 How many years of Education did you complete?

The critical answer is > 12 years; high school graduation predicts a reading level equivalent to 7 to 9 grade. No-
diploma predicts lower reading ability. When a parent has not graduated from high school, this really is as far
as you need to go to know that the Literacy Conversation is in order.  A perhaps easier way to ask the question
is: Were you able to finish high school? In most programs, the easiest way to get the answer is to look at the
record.

 Are you currently living with your child’s other parent?

Do not read into this question. It is not to indicate that living with the father of the baby makes a woman
smarter. It probably indicates some level of social support and the wherewithal to maintain a relationship. This
info likely is in the record, too.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

 Do you ever read books for Fun? This relates to observing the number of books in the home as described in #1
above.  

 Interpreting the answers to the ELF Questions

A parent who has graduated from high school (or has a GED) and says Yes to at least one of the other
questions probably has adequate reading skills. Others are at high risk for low literacy and may benefit by
referral, support to participate in a literacy program, and direct assistance to make meaning from information
and apply it in context.

A parents’ limited literacy translates to limited options and opportunities to maintain a healthy lifestyle, obtain
the full benefit of healthcare, and support their child’s development. MCH home visitors, other community
health workers and many clinicians can identify parents with limited basic literacy skills (reading) without
testing, embarrassing or alienating them.  Once you’ve identified a parent at high risk for low reading skill, it is
time for a reflective conversation. For potentially difficult-to-discuss topics like this, it is useful to have a Model
Reflective Conversation as a guide. 

But wait! Before you have this conversation, it is essential to become familiar with the literacy-enhancing
services in your area and establish mutually supportive referral relationships with community partners. Your
partner(s) may be a public library family literacy program, literacy tutors, an adult basic education or English
language learning program. It is not enough to simply have a list of resources. Visit them. Learn just what you
are suggesting parents participate in. Find out how you can collaborate with program staff to support parents’
participation. If you have no literacy services in your community, direct your attention to advocacy.

 Model Reflective Conversation on Literacy

 Home Visitor:  You are going to get a lot of information about pregnancy and babies from your doctor, your
insurance plan, and from me. Most of it will be in writing. Many people have trouble understanding some of the
technical and medical words and ideas. Have you had any problems reading and understanding information
from your doctor or clinic or other places?

Parent: No

Visitor: OK good. (Leave the door open for further discussion) I’m always happy to review information with you
and help figure out what is important and what it means for you and your family

 OR Parent: Yes

Visitor: (Reassure) Don’t worry; lots of people do. (Set up the referral) Is it just the medical terms, or do you think
your reading could be better?  

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

 Parent:  It’s just the medical stuff.

 Visitor: OK good. (Leave the door open) I’m always happy to review information with you and help figure out
what is important and what it means for you and your family. (Give a practical strategy) When the doctor or
nurse, or I use a word you do not understand, you can just repeat the word, like this: “Ultrasound?”  Or “Ultra
what?”

 OR Parent: My reading could be better.

Visitor: (Reflect. Discover motivations, desired outcomes) How would life be different for you and Baby if you
were a good reader? Wait and listen. (Set up the referral) Would you like to get some help with your reading?

Parent: No, not now

Visitor:  (Discover barriers, fears. Plan a baby step toward participation in a literacy program.) OK, on a scale of 1-
10 where 10 is Can’t-wait-to-learn-to-read-well and 1 is not-even-thinking-about-it, where are you now? What
would it take to get to (next number)? How will you know you are ready?

 OR Parent: Yes, I’d like help with reading.

 Visitor: (Offer Information. Keep the learner in charge of the learning.) There are some good programs in the
area that other parents I know have really liked. Shall I bring you information about them?

  You have established referral relationships with literacy enhancing services in your community. You’ve
identified a parent with reading difficulties and had a reflective conversation with her about basic literacy.
You’ve made the referral. Now the task is to support the parent’s enrolment and participation.

 Plan intensive ongoing support

For the parent and family, becoming a skilled reader is going to be life-changing and relationship-altering. The
process can be challenging in many personal and practical ways. Enrolling is a huge step. You can use
Dynamic Tension  with the parent to anticipate and plan how to meet the challenges and manage the
consequences of becoming literate.  Dynamic Tension, from David Emeralds’ Power of TED*, The
Empowerment Dynamic  is a framework for reflective action planning. In its simplest form, the framework
moves through three basic questions: What do you want? What have you got? What’s next?

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

  1.        What do you want? Pick up your earlier reflective conversation about getting some help with reading
where you asked something like, “How would things be different for you and Baby if you were a skilled reader?”
This gets to the foundational planning question, “what do you want?” Remember, literacy skills always are used
for some practical purpose. Continue this discussion until the parent has articulated in detail her best possible
desired outcome – the practical purposes of her reading. In challenging times ahead, you will want to reflect
back to her this primary motivation and her progress toward her vision of her new future as a skilled reader.  

 2.    What have you got? Next, assess current reality. Questions for the parent include, What will help you make
this happen? (social support, especially from family; encouragement, time to practice, money, child care,
transportation). What might get in the way of you participating in the program? (fear, embarrassment,
resistance of partner). What support will you need? Whom can you ask for that support? How will you ask?
Want to practice?  

 3.    What’s next? Now we get to action – and anxiety. The essential question is: What baby step can you (the
parent) take this week? A baby step is a small do-able action that has no previous steps and is the parent’s to
do. (If you do it for her, you rob her of learning, experience, success). You may find there are preliminary steps.
Perhaps the parent needs to get glasses first, or to learn to ride the bus, or find reliable childcare, or all these
things. No matter. Keep her focused on what she wants, and ask which of these prerequisites she wants to start
with. Maybe you’ll decide the first baby step toward being a skilled reader is to arrange a vision test. Offer
assistance (“I know a good optometrist; would you like his contact information?”) but resist the temptation to
speed the process by doing what is hers to do.  

  4.        Hold the tension. The dynamic tension, anxiety, arises as soon as she says out loud what she wants. It
raises the possibility of failure. Tension increases as you assess current reality together because it points to the
distance between reality and the goal. Her natural tendency will be to relieve the tension by letting go of the
goal  (“I don’t really need to read any better”). To support the parent in following through on the referral to
literacy-enhancing services, keep her “eyes on the prize” by reflecting back to her the outcome she wants, her
strengths and supports, and her progress. Keep her taking one baby step after another, building success and
confidence along the way, becoming a problem solver, taking charge of her life. Remind her and yourself that
two steps forward and one step back is still progress; and each baby step has the potential to be a quantum
leap. You will both be amazed by what she can accomplish.  

 Support Enrolment

You’ve referred a parent to a literacy enhancing program. Together you and the parent used Dynamic Tension
to put her focus squarely on her vision of her future as a skilled reader. She has completed preliminary steps
and organized the necessary supports.  Now the day has come and she is ready to enrol. This step is the
scariest.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

 New readers talk about driving around the building for hours; or walking to the door and then back to the car
over and over again before finding the courage to walk in and say out loud, “I need help”. They say the biggest
fear is finding out that they really are stupid. Before they enrol, they can say the school system failed them. But
if they go to the literacy program and don’t succeed; that would prove that their parents and teachers and
others who said they are stupid were right.

  Since many programs rely on volunteers and are underfunded, the parent might encounter an unskilled
teacher, or one who does not recognize a learning disability. So it is important to become familiar with
programs you refer to (literacy programs for non-readers and up to about 5 grade level; adult basic education
beyond that). You will want to know about the intake process and how the program manages learning
disabilities.

  Literacy expert, Audrey Riffenburgh of Plain Language Works, offers these ideas to support a person in the
enrolment process. First, think of ways you can ease the anxiety and build confidence:

C  onsider putting together of group of parents who could attend together
and might evolve to a study group and support group. 
 Whom to call? Just the thought of making an appointment to enrol is
anxiety producing. Offer the contact information along with a picture of a
friendly waving person – ideally the person she will talk with when she
calls, or meet when she enrols.
 How to get there? You can use a Google map and insert photos of
landmarks and places a person might get lost if they cannot read the
road signs.
 What to expect? Make the experience as predictable as possible by
reviewing usual processes, and remind her that it might not happen
exactly as planned.
 Arrange to meet the parent at the enrolment site, if possible. If you go,
and you know the person behind the desk, you can introduce the parent.
But your job is to stand by. Do not speak for her. 
 Congratulate her. Reflect back to her the strengths she demonstrated in
completing
T  his huge baby step.
 Discuss her next baby step toward literacy.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

 Support does not end here. This is the beginning of the beginning. Closely follow her progress. Invite her to
read aloud to you from the Beginnings Guides or information from the doctor or community resources.
Encourage her to read aloud to the Baby who will love hearing her voice and not care about mistakes. As soon
as she becomes discouraged or misses a class, check with the director of the program for help discovering
and addressing the problem. Your continued interest and consistent attention indicates the importance of the
challenge and your belief in her ability to succeed. Your persistent support is a gift that could transform their
lives.  

(ac1) - different kinds of literacies

New literacies

New literacies generally refers to new forms of literacy made possible by digital technology developments,
although new literacies do not necessarily have to involve use of digital technologies to be recognized as such.
The term "new literacies" itself is relatively new within the field of literacy studies (the first documented
mention of it in an academic article title dates to 1993 in a text by David Buckingham). Its definition remains
open, with new literacies being conceptualized in different ways by different groups of scholars.

For example, one group of scholars argues that literacy is now deictic, and sees it as continually and rapidly
changing as new technologies appear and new social practices for literacy emerge. This group aims at
developing a single, overarching theory to help explain new literacies. This orientation towards new literacies is
largely psycholinguistic in nature. Other groups of scholars follow a more sociocultural orientation that focuses
on literacy as a social practice, which emphasizes the role of literacy with a range of socially patterned and
goal-directed ways of getting things done in the world

Accompanying the varying conceptualizations of new literacies, there are a range of terms used by different
researchers when referring to new literacies, including 21st century literacies, internet literacies, digital
literacies, new media literacies, multiliteracies, information literacy, ICT literacies, and computer literacy.

Commonly recognized examples of new literacies include such practices as instant messaging, blogging,
maintaining a website, participating in online social networking spaces, creating and sharing music videos,
podcasting and videocasting, photoshopping images and photo sharing, emailing, shopping online, digital
storytelling, participating in online discussion lists, emailing and using online chat, conducting and collating
online searches, reading, writing and commenting on fan fiction, processing and evaluating online information,
creating and sharing digital mashups, etc.

Definitions: At Least Two 'Camps'

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

The field of new literacies is characterized by two theoretically distinct approaches that overlap to some extent.
One is informed by cognitive and language processing theories such as cognitive psychology,
psycholinguistics, schema theory, metacognition, constructivism, and other similar theories. This orientation
includes a particular focus on examining the cognitive and social processes involved in comprehending online
or digital texts. Donald Leu, a prominent researcher in the field of new literacies, has outlined four defining
characteristics of new literacies, according to a largely psycholinguistic orientation.

First, new technologies (such as the internet) and the novel literacy tasks that pertain to these new
technologies require new skills and strategies to effectively use them. Second, new literacies are a critical
component of full participation—civic, economic, and personal—in our increasingly global society. A third
component to this approach is new literacies are deictic—that is, they change regularly as new technology
emerges and older technologies fade away. With this in mind, “what may be important in reading instruction
and literacy education is not to teach any single set of new literacies, but rather to teach students how to learn
continuously new literacies that will appear during their lifetime.”

Finally, new literacies are “multiple, multimodal, and multifaceted,” and as such, multiple points of view will be
most beneficial in attempting to comprehensively analyze them. This orientation makes a distinction between
"New Literacies" and "new literacies" theories. Lower case theories are better able to keep up with the rapidly
changing nature of literacy in a deictic world since they are closer to the specific types of changes that are
taking place and interest those who study them within a particular heuristic.

Lower case theories also permit the field to maximize the lenses that are used and the technologies and
contexts that are studied. This position argues that every scholar who studies new literacy issues is generating
important insights for everyone else, even if they do not share a particular lens, technology, or context; and that
this requires a second level of theorising.

New Literacies (capitalized), it is argued, is a broader, more inclusive concept, and includes common findings
emerging across multiple, lower case theories. New Literacies theory benefits from work taking place in the
multiple, lower case dimensions of new literacies by looking for what appear to be the most common and
consistent patterns being found in lower case theories and lines of research. This approach permits everyone
to fully explore their unique, lowercase perspective of new literacies, allowing scholars to maintain close focus
on many different aspects of the rapidly shifting landscape of literacy during a period of rapid change.

At the same time, each also benefits from expanding their understanding of other, lowercase, new literacies
perspectives. By assuming change in the model, everyone is open to a continuously changing definition of
literacy, based on the most recent data that emerges consistently, across multiple perspectives, disciplines,
and research traditions.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Moreover, areas in which alternative findings emerge are identified, enabling each to be studied again, from
multiple perspectives. From this process, common patterns emerge and are included in a broader, common,
New Literacies theory. From this orientation, proponents argue, this process enables a particular theorization of
New Literacies to keep up with consistent elements that will always define literacy on the Internet while it also
informs each of the lower case theories of new literacies with patterns that are being regularly found by others.

The second approach to studying new literacies is overtly grounded in a focus on social practices. According to
Colin Lankshear and Michele Knobel from this "social practice" perspectives, "new literacies" can refer to “new
socially recognized ways of generating, communicating and negotiating meaningful content through the
medium of encoded texts within contexts of participation in Discourses.

From this perspective “new” refers to the presence of two dominant features of contemporary literacy
practices. The first is the use of digital technologies as the means of producing, sharing, accessing and
interacting with meaningful content. New literacies typically involve screens and pixels rather than paper and
type, and digital code (that renders texts as image, sound, conventional text, and any combination of these
within a single process) rather than material print. The second defining feature of new literacies is their highly
collaborative, distributed, and participatory nature, as expressions of what Henry Jenkins calls engagement in
participatory culture, and Lankshear and Knobel refer to as a distinctive ethos.

Research in New Literacies: Research within the field of new literacies is also diverse. A wide range of topics
and issues are focused upon, and a broad range of methodologies are used.

Reading and online comprehension: One aspect of new literacies that has attracted researchers’ attention is
school-age children's online reading comprehension. Specifically, researchers are interested in finding the
answers to questions such as how reading online differs from traditional print-based reading. In their research,
Donald Leu and Julie Coiro attempt to understand how students become adept at online reading, and how
students acquire the necessary skills, strategies, and dispositions to comprehend online texts. According to
Leu and colleagues, the new literacies of online reading comprehension are based around five defining
functions: “These new literacies allow us to use the Internet and other ICT to identify important questions,
locate information, critically evaluate the usefulness of that information, synthesize information to answer those
questions, and then communicate the answers to others”

Online fan fiction and adolescents: Recent research in the field of new literacies has focused on fan fiction on
the internet, especially those stories published online by adolescents. Online fan fiction websites, such as
FanFiction.Net, are spaces where fans of all ages, but especially adolescents and younger school-age fans, are
able to use these new information and communication technologies (ICTs) to write and craft fictional stories
based on their favourite characters in popular media such as movies, television, and graphic novels.
Adolescents are participating more and more on these kinds of sites, not only engaging with “pop culture and
media, but also with a broad array of literate activities that are aligned with many school-based literacy
practices”

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Of course, adults are just as able to spend time in such online environments—and they do. However, it is
interesting to consider that young people were born into a digitally rich world, and thus could be seen as
“digital natives,” and therefore interact with the online environment in a fundamentally distinct way than an
older generation of people, so-called “digital immigrants."

As digital natives, adolescents “use the online world to share, evaluate, create, report and program with each
other differently to digital immigrants,” and they engage easily and readily with new digital technologies such
as instant messaging, file sharing songs and videos, and post all kinds of ‘texts,’ stories, photos, and videos
among them. A central characteristic of digital natives is their “desire to create." Digital natives are engaged in
“programming to some extent, whether it be by including a piece of HTML code that personalizes a MySpace
page or creating a Flash animation. They are creating web pages, blogs, avatars and worlds; and, in stark
contrast to digital immigrants, digital natives readily report and share their ideas.”

Video games: James Paul Gee described video gaming as a new literacy “in virtue of the ways game design
involves a multimodal code comprising images, actions, words, sounds, and movements that players interpret
according to gaming conventions”. Gee notes that game players participate in their game’s world as a form of
social practice, especially in real-time strategy games in which players can compete with each other to build
on land masses, for instance, and in which they can shape and convey their virtual identities as a certain kind of
strategist. Video games continue to use new digital technologies to create the symbols players interpret to
encode and decode the meanings that constitute the game.

Other researchers have expanded the body of knowledge about video games as a new literacy, particularly as
they relate to classroom learning In one study, researchers examined how video games, supported by
discussions and dramatic performances in the classroom, can contribute to the development of narrative
thought as demonstrated in written compositions in various contexts.

Namely, the researchers engaged primary school children in activities designed to teach them to tell, play out,
and write stories based on the most popular video game in their classroom, Tomb Raider. Although it was a
challenging process at times, researchers discovered that the use of new digital media such as video games
actually “complements the use of other written or audiovisual methods [in the classroom] and permits the
development of multiple literacies in the classroom.”

New literacies and the classroom: It has become clear to many researchers in the field that new literacies
research has important implications the classroom. Kist (2007), for example, observes how new literacies can
be used in classroom settings—from the use of rap music to anime to digital storytelling, there are already
instances of teachers attempting to blend new literacies with traditional literacy practices in the classroom. Kist
asks: “Can new literacies indeed ‘fit’ into how we currently ‘do’ school?” Kist notes that “the new literacies
instruction that does exist often comes only out of the fortitude of lonely pioneers of new literacies.”

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

In an instructional model known as Internet Reciprocal Teaching, each student has his/her own laptop with
access to the Internet and students work in small groups to facilitate interactive group work and discussions
about strategy use. In addition, Internet Reciprocal Teaching with online informational resources (as opposed to
narrative texts) and strategy instruction on both the common and unique processes by which students
navigate through multiple and different texts, rather than the reading of one common text.

Teachers and students model their choices about which links are most relevant to a group or individual
question through think-aloud. They discuss how to efficiently locate information within different kinds of
websites, how to synthesize ideas across multiple texts and media, how to make judgments about the quality
of the information and the author's level of expertise, and how to best represent the answers to their questions.
Responsibility for monitoring and effectively using these strategies to solve online information problems is
gradually released to the students using an instructional scheme with three phases:

Phase 1 includes direct, whole class instruction of basic skills and strategies of Internet use; Phase 2 includes
group work and the reciprocal exchange of online reading comprehension strategies by students with their
peers; and Phase 3 includes online individual inquiry units, sometimes with collaborative efforts involving other
students in other classes, perhaps even in other parts of the world, and periodic strategy sessions with groups.
Students "are the first generation to be global publishers to access the raw material of information and to
create refined knowledge products for application.

They understand the social skills of working with people who they will never meet face to face. They also
understand that they need to take more responsibility for managing their own learning. They do not see the
boundaries of school as a solid wall. They see school as a global communications center."

Group Activity / Pair Activity 1.1:
1. Define literacy
2. Explain what is meant by new literacy
3. List and explain the different types of literacy.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

1.2 (ac2) - Ways in which literacy is developed
are described in terms of relevant child
development theories

Sigmund Freud

The theories proposed by Sigmund Freud stressed the importance of childhood events and experiences, but
almost exclusively focused on mental disorders rather that normal functioning.

According to Freud, child development is described as a series of 'psychosexual stages.' In "Three Essays on
Sexuality" (1915), Freud outlined these stages as oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital. Each stage involves the
satisfaction of a libidinal desire and can later play a role in adult personality. If a child does not successfully
complete a stage, Freud suggested that he or she would develop a fixation that would later influence adult
personality and behaviour. Learn more in this article on Freud’s stages of psychosexual development.

Erik Erikson

Theorist Erik Erikson also proposed a stage theory of development, but his theory encompassed human
growth throughout the entire human lifespan. Erikson believed that each stage of development was focused
on overcoming a conflict. For example, the primary conflict during the adolescent period involves establishing
a sense of personal identity. Success or failure in dealing with the conflicts at each stage can impact overall
functioning. During the adolescent stage, for example, failure to develop an identity results in role confusion.
Learn more about this theory in this article on Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development.

Cognitive Child Development Theories

Theorist Jean Piaget suggested that children think differently than adults and proposed a stage theory of
cognitive development. He was the first to note that children play an active role in gaining knowledge of the
world. According to his theory, children can be thought of as "little scientists" who actively construct their
knowledge and understanding of the world. Learn more in this article on Piaget’s stages of cognitive
development.

Jean Piaget's Background

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland in 1896. After receiving his doctoral degree at age 22, Piaget formally
began a career that would have a profound impact on both psychology and education. After working with
Alfred Binet, Piaget developed an interest in the intellectual development of children. Based upon his
observations, he concluded that children were not less intelligent than adults, they simply think differently.
Albert Einstein called Piaget's discovery "so simple only a genius could have thought of it."

Piaget's stage theory describes the cognitive development of children. Cognitive development involves
changes in cognitive process and abilities. In Piaget's view, early cognitive development involves processes
based upon actions and later progresses into changes in mental operations.

Key Concepts

Schemas - A schema describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and knowing.
Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand the world.

In Piaget's view, a schema includes both a category of knowledge and the process of obtaining that
knowledge. As experiences happen, this new information is used to modify, add to, or change previously
existing schemas.

For example, a child may have a schema about a type of animal, such as a dog. If the child's sole experience
has been with small dogs, a child might believe that all dogs are small, furry, and have four legs. Suppose then
that the child encounters a very large dog. The child will take in this new information, modifying the previously
existing schema to include this new information.

Assimilation - The process of taking in new information into our previously existing schemas is known as
assimilation. The process is somewhat subjective, because we tend to modify experience or information
somewhat to fit in with our pre-existing beliefs. In the example above, seeing a dog and labelling it "dog" is an
example of assimilating the animal into the child's dog schema.

Accommodation - Another part of adaptation involves changing or altering our existing schemas in light of new
information, a process known as accommodation. Accommodation involves altering existing schemas, or ideas,
as a result of new information or new experiences. New schemas may also be developed during this process.

Equilibration - Piaget believed that all children try to strike a balance between assimilation and
accommodation, which is achieved through a mechanism Piaget called equilibration. As children progress
through the stages of cognitive development, it is important to maintain a balance between applying previous
knowledge (assimilation) and changing behaviour to account for new knowledge (accommodation).
Equilibration helps explain how children are able to move from one stage of thought into the next.

Behavioural Child Development Theories

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Behavioural theories of child development focus on how environmental interaction influences behaviour and
are based upon the theories of theorists such as John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov and B. F. Skinner. These theories
deal only with observable behaviours. Development is considered a reaction to rewards, punishments, stimuli
and reinforcement. This theory differs considerably from other child development theories because it gives no
consideration to internal thoughts or feelings. Instead, it focuses purely on how experience shapes who we are.
Learn more about these behavioural theories in these articles on classical conditioning and operant
conditioning.

Introduction to Classical Conditioning

Behaviourism is a school of thought in psychology based on the assumption that learning occurs through
interactions with the environment. Two other assumptions of this theory are that the environment shapes
behaviour and that taking internal mental states such as thoughts, feelings and emotions into consideration is
useless in explaining behaviour.

One of the best-known aspects of behavioural learning theory is classical conditioning. Discovered by Russian
physiologist Ivan Pavlov, classical conditioning is a learning process that occurs through associations between
an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus.

It's important to note that classical conditioning involves placing a neutral signal before a naturally occurring
reflex. In Pavlov's classic experiment with dogs, the neutral signal was the sound of a tone and the naturally
occurring reflex was salivating in response to food. By associating the neutral stimulus with the environmental
stimulus (the presentation of food), the sound of the tone alone could produce the salivation response.

In order to understand how more about how classical conditioning works, it is important to be familiar with the
basic principles of the process.

The Unconditioned Stimulus

The unconditioned stimulus is one that unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers a response. For
example, when you smell one of your favourite foods, you may immediately feel very hungry. In this example,
the smell of the food is the unconditioned stimulus.

The Unconditioned Response

The unconditioned response is the unlearned response that occurs naturally in response to the unconditioned
stimulus. In our example, the feeling of hunger in response to the smell of food is the unconditioned response.

The Conditioned Stimulus

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

The conditioned stimulus is previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned
stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response. In our earlier example, suppose that when you
smelled your favourite food, you also heard the sound of a whistle. While the whistle is unrelated to the smell
of the food, if the sound of the whistle was paired multiple times with the smell, the sound would eventually
trigger the conditioned response. In this case, the sound of the whistle is the conditioned stimulus.

Social Child Development Theories

John Bowlby

There is a great deal of research on the social development of children. John Bowbly proposed one of the
earliest theories of social development. Bowlby believed that early relationships with caregivers play a major
role in child development and continue to influence social relationships throughout life. Learn more in this
overview of attachment theory.

Albert Bandura

Psychologist Albert Bandura proposed what is known as social learning theory. According to this theory of
child development, children learn new behaviours from observing other people. Unlike behavioural theories,
Bandura believed that external reinforcement was not the only way that people learned new things. Instead,
intrinsic reinforcements such as a sense of pride, satisfaction and accomplishment could also lead to learning.
By observing the actions of others, including parents and peers, children develop new skills and acquire new
information.

Lev Vygotsky

Another psychologist named Lev Vygotsky proposed a seminal learning theory that has gone on to become
very influential, especially in the field of education. Like Piaget, Vygotsky believed that children learn actively
and through hands-on experiences. His sociocultural theory also suggested that parents, caregivers, peers and
the culture at large were responsible for the development of higher order functions.

Group Activity / Pair Activity 1.2:

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

1. List the 3 main categories of child development theories.
2. Explain the theories of child development
3. Compare and contrast the 3 main classes of child development.

1.3 (ac3) - the principles and processes of
literacy acquisition and the importance of
understanding and supporting home and
additional language

How Do Children Acquire Literacy & Language Development?
Parents can encourage language learning and literacy.

Language development and literacy are two separate learning processes. They are entirely different in how the
two embed themselves in a child's brain, but they are significant nonetheless. Literacy is often taught and
encouraged through reinforcement and changes in learning structure as the child is in the beginning stages.
Children acquire language, which is spoken, mostly through sight, sound and experience.
How Children Learn to Read
Introduce the child to letters. Show the child the letter and explain that it has not only a name but also a sound.
The child's brain will start to store this beginning information for literacy.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Teach small words to expand the memorization process outside of letters. In the beginning stages of the
reading process, the child does not yet understand the function of letters. Continue to work with memorization.
Teach the child how to memorize the spelling of small words. In doing so the child will begin to build a
vocabulary before the brain is ready to process the function of letters.

Introduce the child to flashcards with diacritics so the child can begin to learn how to manipulate the sounds of
certain letters. At around 5 years old (although this can vary from child to child) the child can begin to learn the
function of letters. They can begin to understand that letters under different circumstances can have different
sounds.

Utilize phonetics. In order to fully grasp the language the child must eventually learn that the English language
can be broken into different segments. Once the child learns that words can be broken into phonics sounded
out and then reassembled into many different orders, then they will be able to read words that were once
outside of their capability.

Practice. Once the child understands the previous concepts the child can begin to read words that have not
been introduced to them before. The child will get better at reading these new words with speed and sound
accuracy through practice and reinforcement, which we all know can be a lifelong learning process.

How Children Learn a Language

Listening. A child primarily learns the basics of language through listening. They listen to the sounds that a
person makes and then attempts to mimic the sound. Children with hearing impairments or total hearing loss
can experience significant delays in reaching the following steps because of their inability to listen properly.

Mimic the sounds. Children will then mimic the sounds (words) that are expressed to them. This stage may
come at different times for different children, but most children are born with the capability to say over 40
different sounds. After listening to the sounds that are spoken to the children and after the child has processed
through different brain and muscle growth then the child will begin to express the same words or sounds by
mimicking.

Memorize and express. Once a child begins to speak through mimicking he will begin to learn that the words
have meaning. Once the child begins to express the words for things that he needs or wants, he then will be
able to move into the final stages of language learning. Memorization is closely coupled with expression since
the child's vocabulary will grow during the expression process.

Principles and Practices of Language Experience

Oral language and personal experience bridge the gap between spoken and written language.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

When children’s language and experience are accepted as a starting point for literacy, learning to read and
write is easy. When this is not the case, learning to read and write can be difficult.

Language experience exploits the two major resources children possess -- their language and experience. It is
one of the most efficient ways to initiate reading and writing.

Learning to read and write had been difficult for Jamal, a third grader, who came to the Oakland University’s
Reading Clinic able to read only three words on a pre-primer list. He stumbled through a primer passage and
said, "I can’t read this, either." So, I asked Jamal to tell me about something he had done recently. He described
his attendance at a Piston’s basketball game. I recorded his account, and read it back to him. Then we read it
together.

Finally, I said, "Jamal, read your story to me." He read it fluently, though I helped him on two or three words.
Why was this so easy? Why could Jamal read words like basketball, Detroit Pistons, scored, Jerry Stackhouse,
and Grant Hill in the context of his own account and not read a seemingly simple list and passage? There is a
reason.

Words describing personal experiences provide a context of maximum support; words written by someone
else may not. The reception Jamal’s language and experience received was instrumental in turning him into a
reader and writer.

Literacy instruction is organized around the personal experiences of the learner.

The child who sees the Great Mojave Desert from the back seat of an air conditioned Lexus may have a more
luxurious ride than the child who sees that same desert from the bed of a pickup truck. But both children have
their own personal experience of the Mojave Desert.

Why do we persist in thinking that the experience of the Lexus-riding child is somehow richer than the
experience of the pickup-riding child? Actually, the child riding the pickup might, under the right
circumstances, give a more vivid account of the Mojave Desert than the child riding in the Lexus. Personal
experience, when connected to personal language, is much more easily remembered and understood than
someone else’s language and experience. Language experience makes learning to read and write accessible
for nearly any child -- or adult for that matter.

The language arts must be integrated.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Integrated language arts create a corridor for mutual listening and talking. Speaking and listening are present
in nearly every aspect of the language experience approach. Book talks, sharing writing, responding to
literature, comprehension discussions, dictating accounts, and peer discussions lead to an abundance of
opportunities reading and writing. Research supports writers’ intuitive understanding that reading influences
writing (Tierney and Shanahan, 1991).

Katie, a first grader, gave me a lesson in integrated language arts. I’ve always been fascinated by humming-
birds. I’ve watched them hover over a flower, wings beating so rapidly they appear to have no wings at all. Katie
had read a book about hummingbirds, and it was her turn to share her book with the class. She came prepared
with props. She held up a penny and said, "A hummingbird can weigh about as much as this penny." She
continued on, now holding up a thimble: "A baby humming bird can fit into this tiny thimble." Then she read a
page from her book, showed us a picture she had drawn, and read a report she had written. I didn’t realize it at
the time, but I had witnessed a first class demonstration of the integrated curriculum -- art, literature, writing,
reading, and oral language shared with fascinated first grade listeners. A tiny bundle of six-year-old elegance
shared a few vividly illustrated facts about hummingbirds, and I’ve never forgotten them.

Language is for making meaning and is best acquired through meaningful use and practice.

Acquiring language, in all of its subtleties, is the special province of childhood. As children acquire language,
they acquire more than a set of words and sentences. They also acquire thought structures and learning
strategies that aid learning to read and write. As children develop, language becomes instrumental in directing
thinking and learning. The richer language becomes, the more bountiful thinking and learning can be.

The language experience approach involves children in their own language learning, acknowledges the worth
of their language, and organizes the curriculum around their experiences. Children probe language to acquire
its meaning. No one does this better than a young child.

A colleague of mine, Jim Cipielewski, had gone to a local school to read aloud to children. Ann, searching
through Jim’s book bag, expressed definite opinions about certain books as she read off the titles, rejecting first
this one than that one. Surprised, Jim asked this strong-willed kindergartner to read aloud and discovered she
could read books suitable for third and fourth graders. Then this exchange occurred:
Jim: Ann, your mother must be a good teacher.
Ann: My mother is a teacher?
What’s remarkable about this snippet of conversation? Just this: Ann has closely monitored this conversation,
and she is surprised at Jim’s implication that her mother is a teacher. In effect, Ann has said, "I didn’t know my
mother was a teacher." Up to now she has operated on a narrow meaning of the word teacher -- a person who
presides over classrooms in her school. Now she begins the process of acquiring an extended meaning for the
word teacher -- someone who helps you learn, not necessarily one of those folks who preside over classrooms
in her school.

Writing knowledge is acquired most easily in company with the acquisition of reading.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Writing is a fundamental component of language experience, and dictation is a forerunner of independent
writing. Dictation is oral composition, and oral compositions are the language experience child’s first reader.
The step beyond oral composition is independent writing. But independent writing has requirements that
young children are only partly prepared to emulate. For instance, they have only rudimentary knowledge of
spelling. Invented spelling, therefore, must be encouraged because it enables children to write early.

Recording dictated accounts gives children a model of how written language is produced by observing the
teacher recording their accounts. As teachers record speech, they can talk about writing and model writing as
they talk. I’m always amazed at how much children retain from these modeling experiences. They soon begin
incorporating conversation and punctuation into their writing. Sometimes their first efforts are accurate;
sometimes partly accurate. Alisha’s first independently written story provides an example of each: Accurate:
the racoon sayd "non av the anam can halp you"’ Partly accurate: the snail "sayd you are so sad b cas no bdey
lics you y not" sayd the bear

In the first example, Alisha put quotation marks around the raccoon’s exact conversation, and did so correctly.
In the second example, where snail and bear are speaking, Alisha incorrectly incorporates the word said (sayd)
within quotation marks and doesn’t separate the two speakers -- snail and bear. But she is partly accurate; she
knows that quotation marks are used in the context of conversation. She has the concept but not the
refinement. The refinement of writing knowledge results from much authentic writing and reading practice.

Literature models and motivates language arts instruction.

Where literature is a priority, books must be available. Therefore, classroom and school libraries are essential.
Through books, children may meet any person, visit any place, live in any era. Reading books enhances
children’s ability to function well in a literature society. Literature models the kinds of writing we want children
to produce -- expository, narrative, and poetic. Literature helps children think about what writers do and how
they do it. Literature offers meaning on many levels, and enriches lives in many ways. As literacy grows,
children read and write their own books, talk about what they have learned, and create art related to the
literature they have ingested.

A sight vocabulary is derived from dictated accounts to support growth in word recognition.

Word recognition is a means to an end -- comprehension. Until a child can read written words fluently,
meaning cannot be reliably derived from text. An initial sight vocabulary is necessary so that word recognition
can be taught from known words. Language experience is an efficient way to establish a sight vocabulary. After
reading their dictated accounts, students make word cards, choosing only those words they recognize both in
and out of context. Word study activities begin once a child has acquired a few sight words.

Summary of Language Experience Guiding Principles

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

1. Oral language and personal experience bridge the gap between spoken and written language.
2. Literacy instruction is organized around the personal experiences of the learner.
3. The language arts must be integrated.
4. Language is for making meaning and is best acquired through meaningful use.
5. Writing knowledge is acquired most easily in company with the acquisition of reading.
6. Literature models and motivates language arts instruction.
7. A sight vocabulary is derived from dictated accounts to support growth in word recognition.

Practices of Language Experience

Language experience is not limited to dictation. There are other instructional components that are part and
parcel of the language experience approach. They include dictation, comprehension, writing, literature-based
individualized reading, word recognition, talking and listening, art and drama, sharing and publishing, and the
mechanics of literacy -- spelling, handwriting, and punctuation.

Dictation: There are three phases to dictation: recording the account, rereading the account, and drawing words
from accounts for word study. The language experience approach introduces children to reading through
dictated accounts. These dictated accounts are the initial source of reading material. Dictation may be taken
from groups or individuals. Groups typically have seven to nine children. Group dictation accustoms children to
talking about their experiences, and it helps them understand the procedures for rereading dictated accounts.
Individually dictated accounts can be started once children are comfortable talking about their experiences
and are familiar with rereading procedures. Dictation can be gradually phased out as children become fluent
readers. Those who are progressing more slowly continue until they, too, can read fluently. Some children are
less eager to dictate than others; some need the stimulus of a recent class experience: a book read aloud, a
nature walk, a discussion of pets. After a time, children come to class able to discuss their personal
experiences and have less need for a specific classroom stimulus.

Comprehension: Any approach to language arts that does not include a strong comprehension component has
an intolerable weakness. Comprehension instruction must be deliberate, intensive, and direct. It can’t be left to
chance or limited to shallow questioning during or after reading. Comprehension instruction must be planned
and organized. Comprehension strategies can be used with fiction and nonfiction materials. Instruction can
occur in small groups and whole class settings.

Writing: Writing is a crucial component of language experience. Schedule writing for not less than 35 to 40
minutes every day starting on the first day of school. Those who can not write can draw and have their
drawings labeled by the teacher. Writing process and writing workshop are essential in order to develop a
strong writing component. Children need support in their writing, consequently, it is necessary to use invented
spelling, which enables children to use the full range of their oral vocabulary. Writing is valuable in itself, but it
also contributes to comprehension, word recognition, and spelling. Writing also gives multiple opportunities for
developing speaking and listening skills.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Literature-based individualized reading: Individualized reading relies on children self-selecting books as the
primary reading material. Children read at their own pace and keep a record of the books they have read.
Individual and group conferences are held to discuss books and monitor comprehension. When not otherwise
engaged, children read books, write about books, or work on projects related to the books they have read.
Periods of time are set aside to share experiences and projects related to the books children read. Activities,
such as drama and read-alouds, are organized at the teacher’s discretion. A good way to introduce books to
children is to read all or part of them aloud. Reading materials should include short stories, essays, reports,
books, magazines, newspapers --any materials that children find interesting. Since multiple copies of reading
materials may be needed, literature based basal readers provide a convenient source of useful reading
material. However, using the full basal program is counterproductive to a comprehensive language experience
approach. Time will not permit simultaneous use of a complete basal approach and a complete language
experience approach. Furthermore, the two approaches are philosophically incompatible.

Word Recognition: Spend 20 to 25 minutes a day on word recognition activities and continue until word
recognition fluency is achieved. Sight words, learned through language experience accounts, are a starting
point. Auditory and visual discrimination can be taught, using the text of dictated accounts and words drawn
from these accounts. Word study activities are especially valuable. Show children how to categorize words by
meaning, sound, structural pattern, and other word features. After a sufficient number of words have
accumulated in word banks, children can work in groups or individually to construct and exchange short
messages using their word banks.

Talking and listening: Oral and written language are parallel systems for communicating meaning. Talking and
listening sometimes get short shrift in the language arts curriculum since reading and writing tend to dominate
class activities. It is far better when oral and written language work together to create literacy events. Art and
drama projects are excellent vehicles for connecting reading and writing with speaking, listening, and viewing.
Language experience and whole language have an advantage in that their approach to reading and writing
affords multiple opportunities to integrate listening and talking with reading and writing.

Art, drama, and music: Before children are capable of recording their ideas through the more abstract medium
of print, they are able to represent their impressions of the world in the concrete forms of art, drama, and
music. Artistic expression allows children to use their senses and this, in turn, adds substance to experience.
Writing, reading, talking, listening, viewing, and thinking are enhanced when children express themselves with
paint, fabric, clay, drama, and dance.

Sharing and Publishing: Encourage publication and oral sharing of writing. Sharing and publishing experiences
are an essential component of the language experience approach. Book talks, book making, and the author’s
chair are forums for sharing language arts experiences, though they can easily degenerate into routines devoid
of vitality and interest if not monitored closely. Book talks and author’s chair stimulate critical listening when
the format is varied and fresh. If it becomes too routinized, children lose interest.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

Mechanics; spelling, handwriting, and punctuation: Children need to experience the writing process so they
can draft, revise edit their writing, and in the final stages, proofread for. They also need systematic spelling
instruction beginning in first or second grade and continuing until a high level of spelling proficiency is
acquired. Legibility is the key issue in handwriting. It takes time for children to acquire the eye-hand
coordination needed to write legibly. Whether teachers choose to use handwriting materials or teach
handwriting on their own, it does no harm and much good to show children how to form letters and space
them so that their audience can read them. Punctuation becomes increasingly important as children move
from early to later stages of writing. Dictation provides opportunities to informally talk about the symbols we
call punctuation. Casua comments about punctuation can be made now and then as an account is recorded.
Teach punctuation in mini-lessons, as well, aiming at needs observed from analyzing children’s writing.

Summary of Language Experience Practices

1. Comprehension: Crucial goal of reading instruction.
2. Writing: Indispensable companion of reading instruction.
3. Individualized reading: Provides the essential literature base.
4. Word recognition: Necessary means to an end -- comprehension.
5. Talking and listening: Vital counterparts to reading and writing.
6. Art, drama, and music: Expressive and artistic component of literacy.
7. Mechanics, spelling, handwriting, and punctuation: Handmaidens of accomplished literacy.
Criticism of Language Experience

A criticism of language experience has been that the approach is difficult to manage because it is less
structured, for instance, than a basal reader approach. Actually, management is seldom a major problem in
implementing language experience. I have worked with teachers who tried and failed to install language
experience in their classrooms, and I have worked with teachers who have succeeded. The most common
reason teachers fail with language experience is lack of support, not difficulties with management. Support has
two dimensions, both of which are crucial to success: (1) teachers must be grounded in the principles and
practices of language experience, and (2) teachers need the support of administrators and colleagues. To lack
either is to lack something crucial.

Requirements for Success with Language Experience

The first requirement for success with language experience is the need for solid grounding in the principles
and practices that define the approach. If you do not understand the principles and practices of language
experience, you may become discouraged before you have given the approach a chance to work.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

The solution is to acquire a proper grounding. This can be done by reading the works of those who advocate
the approach, seeking the council of teachers who have used the approach successfully, or taking a university
course from someone well acquainted with language experience. Then you have to give it a go, and stick with
it long enough to discover whether it will work for you.

A second requirement for success is that teachers need the support of their administrators and colleagues. If
you work in a school where all teachers are required to use the same materials and approach, opportunities for
experimentation are nil. Lack of administrative support has kept many fine teachers from exploring alternative
instructional approaches. Language experience is not for the faint hearted, nor for those who are content to
drift through the teaching day in a routine way. Language experience requires a strong commitment from
teachers and administrators. When there is commitment, support, and solid grounding in the premises and
practices of language experience, it works.

Group Activity / Pair Activity 1.3:
1. Discuss principles and processes of literacy acquisition.
2. State the advantages and disadvantages of local languages in a learning programme

1.4 (ac4) - The requirements of the national
curriculum in the foundation phase

The development of a national curriculum is a major challenge for any nation. At its broadest level, our
education system and its curriculum express our idea of ourselves as a society and our vision as to how we see
the new form of society being realised through our children and learners. Through its selection of what is to be
in the curriculum, it represents our priorities and assumptions of what constitutes a ‘good education’ at its
deepest level.

This curriculum is written by South Africans for South Africans who hold dear the principles and practices of
democracy. It encapsulates our vision of teachers and learners who are knowledgeable and multi-faceted,
sensitive to environmental issues and able to respond to and act upon the many challenges that will still
confront South Africa in this twenty first century.

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

But we must also be realistic about what a curriculum can and cannot achieve. Inequality and poverty still
plague the educational experience of too many families and their children. The curriculum is and will be
differently interpreted and enacted in diverse contexts. We will improve and implement it to the best of our
ability. We will also make the most strenuous efforts to enable the realisation of its vision through addressing all
those issues which make up teaching and learning.

This requires the commitment and participation of all who work in education. We need the full cooperation of
the Government, parents, teachers, learners and the community at large. I trust this Revised National
Curriculum Statement will embody the ideals which will promote such cooperation.

Curriculum background

South Africa’s democratic government inherited a divided and unequal system of education. Under apartheid,
South Africa had nineteen different educational departments separated by race, geography and ideology. This
education system prepared children in different ways for the positions they were expected to occupy in social,
economic and political life under apartheid. In each department, the curriculum played a powerful role in
reinforcing inequality. What, how and whether children were taught differed according to the roles they were
expected to play in the wider society.

Curriculum change in post-apartheid South Africa started immediately after the election in 1994 when the
National Education and Training Forum began a process of syllabus revision and subject rationalisation. The
purpose of this process was mainly to lay the foundations for a single national core syllabus. In addition to the
rationalisation and consolidation of existing syllabi, the National Education and Training Forum curriculum
developers removed overtly racist and other insensitive language from existing syllabi. For the first time
curriculum decisions were made in a participatory and representative manner. But this process was not, nor did
it intend to be, a curriculum development process.

The Lifelong Learning through a National Curriculum Framework document (1996) was the first major
curriculum statement of a democratic South Africa. It was informed by principles derived from the White Paper
on Education and Training (1995), the South African Qualifications Act (No 58 of 1995) and the National
Education Policy Act (No 27 of 1996). In terms of the White Paper, it emphasised the need for major changes in
education and training in South Africa in order to normalise and transform teaching and learning in South
Africa. It also stressed the need for a shift from the traditional aims-and-objectives approach to outcomes-
based education. It promoted a vision of:

A prosperous, truly united, democratic and internationally competitive country with literate, creative and critical
citizens leading productive, self-fulfilled lives in a country free of violence, discrimination and prejudice.

The National Education Policy Act (No 27 of 1996) provided for the development of the following curriculum
design tools to support an outcomes based approach:

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2

 Critical Cross-Field Outcomes (later to be known as the critical and
developmental outcomes, and first formulated in the South African
Qualifications Authority Act of 1995)
S  pecific Outcomes
R  ange Statements
A  ssessment Criteria
P  erformance Indicators
N  otional Time and Flexi-Time
 Continuous Assessment, Recording and Reporting

Additional curriculum design tools were formulated in succeeding years and included:

P  hase Organisers
P  rogramme Organisers
 Expected Levels of Performance
 Learning Programmes

In October 1997, the Statement of the National Curriculum for Grades R-9 was published in terms of
Government Notice 1445. The Assessment Policy in the General Education and Training band for Grades R-9
and Adult Basic Education and Training, was introduced in December 1998 (Regulation 19640). Introduced into
schools in 1998, Curriculum 2005 and its implementation were reviewed by a Ministerial Committee in 2000.
The brief of the review was the structure and design of the curriculum, teacher orientation, training and
development, learning support materials, provincial support to teachers in schools and implementation time-
frames. The Ministerial Review Committee presented its report on 31 May 2000.

The Review Committee recommended that strengthening the curriculum required streamlining its design
features and simplifying its language through the production of an amended National Curriculum Statement. It
further recommended that this Revised National Curriculum Statement should reduce the curriculum design
features from eight to three: critical and developmental outcomes, learning outcomes and assessment
standards. It should also align curriculum and assessment. In addition, it recommended that implementation
needed to be strengthened by improving teacher orientation and training, learning support materials and
provincial support. It also recommended the relaxation of time-frames for implementation.

In June 2000, the Council of Education Ministers accepted the curriculum recommendations of the Review
Committee. In July 2000, Cabinet resolved that:

ECD NQF 4 - Student Guide Knowledge Module 2