Foundation phase learners’ view of learning support and self-esteem

South African Journal of Childhood Education

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Foundation phase learners’ view of learning support and self-esteem
 
Creator Kriel, Carike Livingston, Candice
 
Subject special needs education; learning support barriers to learning; learning support; Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale; self-esteem; withdrawal; Foundation phase
Description Background: Learning support in South Africa is a phenomenon where learners who experience barriers to learning are withdrawn from the mainstream class and receive support in their home language and mathematics. A need for learning support surfaced when emphasis was placed on inclusivity in mainstream schools. The efficacy of this withdrawal on self-esteem has however not been investigated.Aim: This study sought to investigate the learners’ experiences of withdrawal for learning support and the relationship with their self-esteem.Setting: A primary school in the Western Cape.Methods: This qualitative design aimed to determine the perspective of the learners. Purposive sampling was used to identify five learners who received learning support. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to analyse data gleaned from the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), which had been adapted into an informal interview schedule.Results: Participants in this study did not report negative experiences of learning support. Learners identified that issues of negative self-esteem were unrelated to learning support, but were attributed to school culture, mainstream teachers’ attitudes, family relationships, peer comparisons and social competencies.Conclusion: Participants reported that learning support rarely caused negative self-esteem, but rather heightened confidence in their academic abilities regardless of their need for learning support, holding social factors responsible for their negative self-esteem. The implications of these findings allude to the fact that withdrawal for learning support continues regardless of popular beliefs reported to the contrary. Schools should however monitor these learners in order to determine individual differences and needs.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor South African National Research Foundation
Date 2019-07-23
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA)
Format text/html application/epub+zip application/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajce.v9i1.679
 
Source South African Journal of Childhood Education; Vol 9, No 1 (2019); 8 pages 2223-7682 2223-7674
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajce.co.za/index.php/sajce/article/view/679/1092 https://sajce.co.za/index.php/sajce/article/view/679/1090 https://sajce.co.za/index.php/sajce/article/view/679/1093 https://sajce.co.za/index.php/sajce/article/view/679/1085
 
Coverage Cape Winelands, Western Cape — foundation phase learners, male and female
Rights Copyright (c) 2019 Carike Kriel, Candice Livingston https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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