Time to Read: A critical review of early grade reading curriculum policy and enactment in South Africa

Abstract

Research shows that children from literate, middle-class homes typically receive up to 1000 hours of joint caregiver-child book reading prior to starting school (Rose, 2006). In contrast, many South African children begin formal schooling not knowing the rudiments of book handling, such as which way to hold a book or how to turn a page (Ramadiro and Porteus, 2018). The school is thus central to supporting children from less literate backgrounds in learning to read and providing sufficient time in which to do this. Differential access to time in school is an important aspect of educational inequality. Despite policy frameworks prescribing, for over a decade, how to teach reading and for how long, most South African children do not achieve reading-for-meaning in their home language by the end of the Foundation Phase. This paper draws on an extensive review of current curriculum policy and research on time allocations for teaching reading in the early years. The review reveals that while the CAPS curriculum allocates adequate time for literacy when compared to other comparable countries, challenges in teacher capacity and complex reading activities limit time spent reading in classrooms. The paper argues for transforming reading activities that accommodate contextual realities, thus addressing tensions between policy intentions and the classroom realities where these are enacted. Structured pedagogic programmes that include scripted lesson plans for teachers, one-on-one material for learners, and teacher assistants may prove essential to optimising time spent reading in Foundation Phase classrooms, alongside meaningful teacher support and greater accountability mechanisms across the system.