Background and context
The central focus of this research project has been the investigation
of causes of weak South African student performance in literacy
and numeracy in the Foundation Phase (Grades 1–3). Many South
African children complete these grades without being able to read
properly in their home-language, with little understanding of the
language in which they will be taught from Grade 4 (English), and
with an inability to move from basic counting to true calculation
using the four operations. Less than half of all students learn to
read for meaning in this critical period. These weak foundations
provided in Grades 1–3 constitute one of the major factors leading
to poor learning outcomes in later grades.
This research project has taken a system view to analyse how these
problems interact to create the low level equilibrium South African
education finds itself in. This research has been undertaken through
the lens of the ‘instructional core’, evaluating what happens in
Foundation Phase classrooms and how this influences learning.
The departure point is the view that any attempt to raise the quality
of education in South Africa must focus on the ‘instructional core’
in Foundation Phase classrooms, i.e. “actual interactions between
teachers, students, and content in the classroom” (City et al., 2009).
All other factors are important only to the extent that they impact
on these three components.
In a parallel research project, the research team has undertaken
work on identifying the binding constraints in school education
in South Africa more broadly, for the Presidency and the
European Union (via the Programme to Support Pro-poor Policy
Development, PSPPD). This work has a wider focus in two ways:
evaluating learning outcomes at all levels of the schooling system
and identifying a broader set of limiting factors, including within
the administrative core of the education system. Nonetheless, a
great deal of synergy exists between these two research projects
(intentionally so), allowing for the delivery of consistent, reinforcing
recommendations.