4.3 Interview with the Grade 1 Teacher
4.3.1 Intrinsic factors
Figure 4.1: Classroom library Figure 4.2: Library book
In the Grade 3 classroom, I observed that the black board had a line of cupboards underneath it making it difficult for the teacher, Mrs Snyman (pseudonym), to reach the board. She stood on a chair to write on the board which could be hazardous. During one of her lessons she resorted to an A3 sheet of paper stuck onto the one side of the board rather than having to climb on the chair.
The parents actually took her to get the eyes tested.
A plan was conceived and implemented for this learner to receive glasses. The necessary support was obtained for her to correct the visual impairment after which she could see clearly so there was no barrier to her learning.
There were another two learners, Mrs Coetzee said, experiencing learning difficulties.
Mrs Coetzee: Buhle (pseudonym) couldn’t write his name at the beginning of the year.
The problem is his mother worked in Umthata and then there was a tornado and the school he was at, the roof was blown off and it was damaged, and the mother took him out of school and he never attended school and he was at home for most of the year and the mother never helped him at home.
He would hold a book upside down, without knowing the book was upside down. He did not have the correct pencil grip. He couldn’t count.
Mrs Coetzee mentioned that Buhle could neither understand nor speak any English when he started at Baobab school.
Mrs Coetzee: What happened is that the secretary accidently made a mistake, because he wasn’t accepted and she gave him an acceptance letter, and when the mother came for the orientation, we couldn’t refuse him and so he had to learn from scratch.
Clearly Buhle experienced an extrinsic barrier to learning, when his previous school proved to be unsafe and he could not attend school there. He stayed at home for the rest of the year where there was very little stimulation. In addition, he entered Mrs Coetzee’s class having no English.
Because he was far behind in his learning, Mrs Coetzee stressed that he needed to cathch up.
Buhle had a combination of extrinsic (inappropriate language of teaching and learning) and intrinsic (learning difficulties) barriers to learning. So often intrinsic and extrinsic barriers to learning are seen as separate, but, as in this case, the barriers feed into each other.
Unaware initially of Buhle’s situation when observing Mrs Coetzee’s classroom, I did not focus on any particular learner. Buhle may have been one of the slower learners for whom Mrs Coetzee allowed additional time for them to complete their work.
The other learner Mrs Coetzee identified as experiencing learning difficulties was Liyema (pseudonym).
Mrs Coetzee: Liyema, he will sit and I will explain things, but he is just not interested. He will just do his own thing or he will turn his back, not looking at me.
It is not clear if Liyema actually had learning difficulties or other possible barriers which could have caused his lack of interest. Mrs Coetzee felt he might be ADHD, as he was easily distracted and would do other things rather than follow the lesson. He then fell behind and would miss concepts being taught.
I asked Mrs Coetzee if she had had any children experiencing physical impairments in her class in the past.
Mrs Coetzee: I had a child [Agatha] – she is actually in Grade 3 now with Mrs Snyman.
….. she [has a physical disability/is palsy]
She didn’t do too good because I kept her for two years.
The first year she couldn’t do anything. She couldn’t write her name. She could only count to 6 or 8. She couldn’t write between the lines.
I kept her for the second year and she was in my class again, but you could see there was an improvement.
She could count and all that. She was always by herself and eventually she started interacting and playing with the other kids.
She is very, very slow.
I was informed that Agatha (pseudonym) was thought to have had a stroke at a young age and was affected physically and intellectually. Mrs Coetzee said she had filled in the SNA forms and sent them to the Department of Education, expecting to have the department follow up and provide support for Agatha. Unfortunately, “nobody came”. Agatha is now in Grade 3 in Mrs Snyman’s class (see 5.4.1 Lesson 1) but still there has been no response from the DBST.
Agatha’s mother did manage to organise for her to receive physiotherapy and Mrs Coetzee did see an improvement in her physical movements. Mrs Coetzee gave Agatha additional individual support, both in the classroom and at break time, she repeated her Grade 1 year with her and she attended a literacy programme during aftercare, as another form of support and stimulation. This demonstrates how the school, teachers and parents put a plan in place to provide as much support as they could for Agatha.
I asked Mrs Coetzee if she had had any learners experiencing emotional/behavioural problems.
Mrs Coetzee: I had a child, Lulama (pseudonym). He is in Grade 2 this year.
He had behaviour problems.
He would go under the tables and pinch the children and I would try to get him out from under the table and he would hold onto the leg of the table. Now I have to ask for assistance and ask someone to come and help me, and then he would kick me even, but once he bit me, my leg was blue. When I bring him to the office, we had to carry him to the office, he would kick on the door, bang on the things.
He had a little brother, but the brother was taken away. I don’t know actually what the reason was, but the little brother lives with the grandparents in Port Elizabeth.
The mother said it could be that he misses the brother, that’s why the outbursts and the mother had a very abusive boyfriend and everything happened in front of him.
The children didn’t want to play with him because he had these outbursts or he would hurt them. He couldn’t even sleep at night.
Mrs Coetzee spoke to Lulama’s parents and referred him to a psychologist. She received a report from the psychologist with recommendations. Lulama was placed on Ritalin and sent to a free counselling centre where the psychologist recommended that Mrs Coetzee involve Lulama with the other learners and not seat him separately in the class. Mrs Coetzee said his emotional outbursts subsided. In this case, the successful implementation of a support plan for Lulama was confirmed by a visible improvement in his behaviour.
I asked Mrs Coetzee about having had any children on the autistic spectrum or any children experiencing Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) in her class in the past. She said she had not been aware of any, but mentioned that FAS was prevalent in the Afrikaans medium classes.