4.6 Emergent factors from the interviews
4.6.1 Intrinsic factors
Mrs Coetzee had had learners experiencing visual, physical, and intellectual barriers to learning in her class, as well as learners experiencing learning difficulties and behavioural problems.
Support plans had been put in place for some of the learners. This was seen in the one case with the provision of glasses for the learner with a visual impairment; in another case where physiotherapy, counselling, and individual learning support was arranged for Agatha, the learner that had had a possible stroke at a young age; and finally, in the case of Lulama, the learner experiencing behavioural problems, who was provided with medication and received counselling. This support was provided by the school, teacher and the local community. No
support was forthcoming from the Department of Education and the DBST for over a year, and in Agatha’s case almost three years, even though applications had been made by the school by sending through the completed SNA forms.
Bhule had an unfortunate start to his education, when the school he attended became an unsafe environment and was closed down. This was an historical extrinsic barrier to learning for him.
He remained at home, receiving little educational stimulation, until he was fortunate enough to be able to attend Baobab School. When entering the school, he had had no English and was far behind the other learners in Mrs Coetzee’s class. He had developed intrinsic and extrinsic barriers to learning, experiencing learning difficulties in class, as well as having an inappropriate language of teaching and learning. Mrs Coetzee was able to provide him with additional learning support to help him learn English and to catch up and close the gaps he was experiencing in education in her class.
Mrs Coetzee spoke of a learner, Liyema, who did not seem interested in learning. Little was done to investigate the reasons behind his lack of interest, to obtaining feedback from his parents, or to have him psychological and scholastic assessments. There may have been a number of underlying reasons for lack of interest. It is of concern that if the correct support plan is not put in place for this learner, he will fail to be properly educated, and would fall further and further behind the standards of his year.
Mrs Coetzee spoke of a case of a learner’s experiencing behavioural problems who could not be accommodated by the school. The girl was eventually sent to “the school for naughty children”. This is a distressing situation, as the education system is failing to provide the best possible support for young children who are struggling in a broken-down social environment.
Baobab School has a Code of Conduct which is followed in cases of disciplinary issues with their learners. They are not equipped, however, to manage situations of extreme violence and had to let this particular young girl go. There were no structures put in place by the DBST to support Baobab School in this instance.
Ms Miya had learners experiencing visual and emotional barriers to learning in her class, as well as learners experiencing health problems and learning difficulties.
The two learners experiencing visual barriers to learning had not been successfully accommodated, as the parents of the one learner had not responded to Ms Miya’s concerns, so this learner had not had her eyes assessed. The parents may have avoided having their child assessed due to the implications of cost. The second learner had had her eyes assessed and had
received glasses; however, she did not wear them at school. She may have misplaced them, kept on forgetting to bring them to school or did not like wearing them. The possible visual barrier to learning could become of far greater concern in later grades for the learners, when the font would become smaller and more difficult to read. This would in turn affect their ability to read and learn. This difficulty could be remedied by the learners seeing an eye specialist and then wearing their glasses.
A support plan had been put in place for Asanda, the learner experiencing emotional and learning difficulties due to the loss of his mother the previous year. He received support in the form of counselling, individual learning support from Ms Miya, and repeating his Grade 2 year.
Finally, no support plan had been put in place for the learner experiencing health problems and emotional difficulties, who had been diagnosed as H.I.V. positive at birth. The learner was struggling to concentrate at school and was falling behind in class. She was being stigmatised by her peers and there was no support in the form of counselling for her or the education of the teachers, parents and other learners at school regarding her condition. The Department of Education had not arranged for the professional training of teachers for best practice in supporting learners who were H.I.V. positive.
Ms Miya had not approached the SBST concerning any of her learners experiencing barriers to learning, though she had sought advice from her head of department. She had not filled in any SNA forms for the learners during the year, as she felt it was preferable for the school to find its own solutions for assisting learners.
Mrs Snyman had one learner experiencing physical and intellectual barriers to learning and six learners that she felt had ADHD.
It was interesting to observe Agatha’s progress through the grades in the foundation phase at Baobab School. She had started in Grade 1 in Mrs Coetzee’s class, repeated the year there, and was now in Mrs Snyman’s Grade 3 class. It was clear that she needed support throughout the grades. Mrs Snyman was concerned that she had not received sufficient support during her year and was falling further behind. She would have liked her to have repeated another year in Grade 3; this, however, was not possible as the education policy stipulates that a child can only repeat one year within any learning phase, such as, in Agatha’s case, the foundation phase. Mrs Snyman had also had no feedback from or collaboration with Agatha’s mother or the DBST.
She could, therefore, only provide support within the classroom, with one-on-one tuition and by granting extra time to complete her work. It was not clear how Agatha coped with higher
level understanding and learning in the class. This would become more evident as she progressed up the grades.
The learners with ADHD had been accommodated by receiving medication which assisted them with concentration and focus. Mrs Snyman also seated one of these learners in the front of the class, on his own, so that he would not distract, or be distracted by, other learners. I was not able to establish how these learners had been assessed or how the diagnosis of ADHD had been reached. The psychologist had recommended, and the doctor at the clinic across the road, had prescribed, the medication.
Learners having FAS were discussed, but were not experienced by the teachers in the English medium classes. Mrs Coetzee suggested that the teachers in the Afrikaans medium classes may have had learners in their classes who were born with this condition.