Teaching Methods

The difference between phonemic awareness, phonological awareness and phonics

Author: Hayley van der Haar It is crucial for teachers of language and literacy to understand the difference between phonological awareness and phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is a subset of phonological awareness in which listeners are able to hear, identify and manipulate phonemes which are the smallest units of sound that can differentiate meaning. Phonemic awareness is the ability …

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The role of museums in learning to teach with a critical lens

Author: Sarita Ramsaroop This study explored how student teachers learnt about apartheid-era history in South Africa when their coursework was combined, or blended, with museum visits. The study also explored how these blended learning experiences helped to prepare student teachers to teach apartheid-era history to learners in the primary school. There is much research that …

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Disentangling the language effect in South African schools: Measuring the impact of ‘language of assessment’ in Grade 3 literacy and numeracy

Author: Nicholas Spaull A great majority of South African students are taught in a language that, for them, is a second or third language. Does this explain the high levels of underperformance in reading and mathematics? This study is based on two tests that were given to 3 402 Grade 3 students from all 11 …

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