Inequities and lack of professionalisation of early childhood development practice hinder opportunities for mathematics stimulation and realisation of South African policy on quality education for all

Self-Regulation in Early Years of Learning Mathematics: Grade R Observed Self-Efficacy Skills Shared and Aligned

“…Self-efficacy means independence and self-driven individual. Feza [15] synthesized a number of strategies to nurture mathematics stimulation of young children form the literature on early childhood mathematics. These strategies align in allowing children to use their intuitions to guide learning and instruction, hence they nurture self-driven learning.…”

Grade R educators voluntarily share their mathematics practices: Authentic realities in South Africa showcased

“…The educator is a critical collaborator who provides the scaffolding knowledge that enables the learner to complete a task. However, currently, competencies of Grade R educators in the non-affluent, low socioeconomic sector schools fall far short of such expertise (Feza 2012a(Feza , 2013Siyepu 2013). Vygotsky (1978) mentions that the cultural tools learners bring into the learning process are important building blocks for learning.…”

“…Evaluations and research have pointed to the generally poor mathematics early learning experiences of South African learners (Feza 2013). In addition, studies have revealed that Grade R (the reception year) is subjected to disturbing, multifaceted challenges that are a cause for concern among stakeholders, who view current practices as being out of step with policy guidelines (Artmore, Van Niekerk & Ashley-Cooper 2012;Excell & Linington 2011;Hoadley 2013;Samuels et al 2015).…”

“…In addition, studies have revealed that Grade R (the reception year) is subjected to disturbing, multifaceted challenges that are a cause for concern among stakeholders, who view current practices as being out of step with policy guidelines (Artmore, Van Niekerk & Ashley-Cooper 2012;Excell & Linington 2011;Hoadley 2013;Samuels et al 2015). Among the challenges facing this sector are poorly trained educators who have a minimum of content knowledge of mathematics (Spaull 2013), have poor classroom practices (Feza 2013) and are inept at the use of technology (Mdlongwa 2012). Another documented concern is poor or inadequate infrastructure, which results in learners being packed into overcrowded classrooms (Artmore et al 2012;Biersteker 2010).…”

Learning affordances and participation enablers within a primary mathematics in-service community of practice

“…Ubiquitous departmentally organised 'workshops' focused on short-term information dissemination, with little opportunity for teacher engagement, have been largely ineffective for the past two decades (Taylor 2011). There is thus a need for new forms of professional development (Brodie & Borko 2016;Ndlovu 2014) that foreground more actively participating teachers in collaborative long-term partnerships (Graven 2012) and include early childhood teachers (Feza 2014). The recent national teacher development strategy promotes the establishment of professional teacher communities, 'based on the vision that learning is more effective when it takes place within a community of professionals' (DBE 2015:6).…”