Pre-primary School Teachers’ Perspectives on the Characteristics and Quality of Materials for Teaching Literacy and Numeracy in Tanzania Preschools

Pam Tandika

Abstract


Characteristics and quality of teaching and learning materials facilitating early literacy and numeracy skills acquisition has had hardly attracted focused research in Tanzania. Yet it is recognised that the success young children’s learning is engendered by their access to high quality materials, which are essential for active learning and serve as a prerequisite for successful teaching and learning of literacy and numeracy in early childhood settings. It is against this backdrop that this study was conducted by involving four experienced female teachers as key informants to share their rich experiences in establishing characteristics and quality of literacy and numeracy materials. These key informants engaged through face-to face semi-structured interviews were purposively sampled using homogenous sampling. Although quality in education is not a cross-border concept, quality materials for teaching and learning literacy and numeracy skills should generally be safe, clean, age-appropriate, engaging for the learners, complete and meaningful, locally available, and culturally sensitive. Therefore, Early Childhood Practitioners (ECP), education planners and decision- makers should ensure that materials are properly selected, are readily available, accessible and utilised for the best results in learning to be attained. 

 

Keywords: Quality, Literacy, Numeracy, Active Learning, Materials.


Full Text:

PDF

References


Anders, Y., Rossbach, H-G., Weinert, S., Ebert, S., Kuger, S., Lehrl, S., & Maurice, J. V. (2011). Home and preschool learning environments and their relationship to the development of early numeracy skills. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 27, 231-244.

Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a theory of practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C. (Eds.) (1997). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs (Revised edition). Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Chabbott, C. (2006). Accelerating early grades reading in High Priority EFA Countries: A desk review. American Institutes for Research under the EQUIP1 LWA. Accessed at http://www.equip123.net/docs/E1-EGRinEFACountriesDeskStudy.pdf on 21/6/2015

Department of Education and Skills. (2011). Literacy and numeracy for learning and life: The National strategy to improve literacy and numeracy among children and young people 2011- 2020. Dublin: Department of Education and Skills. Accessed at http://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Information/Literacy-and- Numeracy/Literacy-and-Numeracy-Learning-For-Life.pdf on 21/6/2015

Doolittle, P. E. (1991). Vygotsky and the socialization of literacy. Hammond, LA: Southeastern Louisiana University.

EFA Global Monitoring Report. (2006). Education for all: Literacy for life. Paris, France: UNESCO.

Doig, B., McCrae, B. & Rowe, K. (2003). A good start to numeracy: Effective numeracy strategies from research and practice in early childhood. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

Elder, J., & Peterson, D. (1978). Preschool children’s use of objects in symbolic play. Child Development, 49, 500-504

Fernie, D. (1985). The promotion of play in the indoor play environment. In: J. L. Frost & S. Sunderlin (Eds.), When children play (pp, 285-290). Wheatson, MD: Association for Childhood Education Information

Frigo, T. (1999). Resources and teaching strategies to support Aboriginal children’s numeracy learning: A review of the literature. Sydney, NSW: NSW Board of Studies.

Gandini, L. (2002). The story and foundations of the Reggio Emilia approach. In V.R. Fu, A.J. Stremmel, & L. T. Hill (Eds.), Teaching and learning: Collaborative exploration of the ReggioEmilia approach (pp.13-21). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Merrill.

Gill, P., Stewart, K., Treasure, E., & Chadwick, B. (2008). Methods of data collection in qualitative research: Interviews and focus groups. British Dental Journal, 204 (6), 291- 295.

Government of South Australia. (2004). Choosing and using teaching and learning materials: Guideline for preschools and schools. Hindmarsh, SA: Department of Education and Children’s Services, The State of South Australia.

Hall, C. (2013). Implementing a Reggio Emilia inspired approach in a mainstream Western Australian context: The impact on early childhood teachers’ professional role. A publishedMasters Dissertation, Edith Cowan University.

Hohmann, M., & Weikart, D. P. (1995). Educating young children: Active learning practices for preschool and child care programs. A curriculum guide from High/Scope Educational Research Foundation. Michigan: Ypsilanti.

Irwin, G., Siddiqi, A., & Hertzman, C. (2007). Early childhood development: A powerful equalizer. A report for the World Health Organization’s commission on the social determinants of health. HELP. University of British Columbia.

Kostelnik, M. J., Soderman, A. K., & Whiren, A. P. (2007). Developmentally appropriate curriculum: Best practices in early childhood education (4th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Lilly, E., & Green, C. (2004). Developing partnerships with parents through children’s literature. New Jersey: Pearson Merrill/Prentice Hall.

Lovejoy, C. (2014). Literacy instruction in three preschool programs: A multiple case study. A published doctoral dissertation, Walden University.

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2005). A guide for effective instruction in mathematics: Kindergarten to Grade 3: Geometry and spatial sense Ontario: Queen’s Printer for Ontario. Accessed at http://www.eworkshop.on.ca/edu/resources/guides/Guide_Math_K_3_GSS.pdf

Montessori, M. (1967). The discovery of the child. New York: Ballantine.

Moss, B., & Fawcett, G. (1995). Bringing the curriculum of the World of the home to the school. Reading and Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 11, 247- 256.

Morrow, M. L. (2007). Developing literacy in preschool. New York: The Guilford Press

Morrow, L. M. (1990). Preparing the classroom environment to promote literacy during play. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 5: 537-554

Neuman, S. B., & Roskos, K. (1992). Literacy objects as cultural tools: Effects on children's literacy behaviors in play. Reading Research Quarterly, 27, 202-225. Accessed at https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/scmsAdmin/media/users/sn1150/LiteracyObjects.pdf on 28/6/2015

Pairman, A., & Terreni, L. (2001). If the environment is the third teacher what language does she speak? Accessed at http://www.educate.ece.govt.nz/~/media/Educate/Files/Reference%20Downloads/oldEC E/environmentsconference.pdf on 29/6/2015

Reutzel, D., Oda, L., & Moore, B. (1989). Developing print awareness: The effect of three instructional approaches on kindergartener's print awareness, reading readiness, and word reading. Journal of Reading Behavior, 21: 197-217.

Serpell, R. (2005). Optimising the developmental consequences of education: Reflections on issues by Michael Cole. Human Development, 48, 217-222.

Shukia, R. (2014). Learning and teaching to read in Kiswahili in pre-primary classes in Tanzania: Teachers’ beliefs and instructional practices. Published PhD thesis, Department of pedagogy Linnaeus University. Sweden

Soares, B. M. (1992). Literacy assessment and its implications for statistical measurement: Current surveys and research in statistics. Brazil: The Federal University of Minas Gerais. Accessed at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0009/000928/092880EB.pdf on 21/6/2015

Stretch, L. (2009). The effects of cognitive stimulation in the development of mathematics, literacy and life skills concepts in early childhood. A published Masters’ of Science Dissertation, University of South Africa.

Touhill, L. (2013). Play-based approaches to literacy and numeracy. Early Childhood Australia. NQS PLP e-Newsletter Number 66, 1-3.

Trudell, B., Dowd, J. A., Piper, B., & Bloch, C. (2012). Early grade literacy in African classrooms: Lessons learned and future directions. Tunisia: Triannale on Education and Training in Africa-ADEA

UNESCO. (2008). International literacy statistics: A review of concepts, methodology and current data. Montreal, Canada: UNESCO Institute of Statistics. Accessed at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0016/001628/162808e.pdf on 21/6/2015

Worthington, E. (2008). Effective learning environments in preschools. A published Masters’ of Science Dissertation, Iowa State University. Accessed at http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1567&context=etd on 27/6/2015.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.