Abstract
Currently many children in early childhood education cannot be accommodated in provincial department schools. Consequently, different non-governmental institutions offer Grade R programmes in an attempt to support the DBE. Pre-primary schools that traditionally took responsibility for early childhood education also offer Grade R education. The recent policy decision to include Grade R in the primary school is an innovation, which is still in its infancy. It is against this background that the national South African Curriculum (NCS) has to be implemented. This paper focuses on the teaching of natural science in Grade R and attempts to determine if the teaching and learning of natural science has different outcomes in the different contexts described above. An oral questionnaire was administered to capture children’s understanding of natural science phenomena, while interviews provided data with regard to teachers’ understanding of natural science in the foundation phase. The results show that there are differences in children’s understanding of natural phenomena in the different contexts and these differences are related to teachers’ understanding of the curriculum, as well as their views of the nature of science.
Highlights
Childhood Development (ECD) is a broad term that includes reference to the policies and practices that focus on the development of children from birth to nine years of age
Teachers’ responses with regard to their understanding of science reveal some understanding of the nature of science. They are more aware than the teachers from the rural crèche that science is more a process than a product, some misconceptions are still evident. They have a better sense of the integrative nature of life skills, as well as the fact that the essence of the approach to science in the early years should be an exploration of natural phenomena
The results show that the urban schools scored higher than the rural crèche
Summary
Childhood Development (ECD) is a broad term that includes reference to the policies and practices that focus on the development of children from birth to nine years of age. Early childhood development is an umbrella term that applies to the processes by which children from birth to at least nine years grow and thrive, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, morally and socially. In many countries the provision of primary education during the early years is recognised as a right for all citizens. According to the White Paper Five policy document – With quality ECD provision in South Africa, educational efficiency would improve as children would acquire the basic concepts, skills and attitudes required for successful learning and development (White Paper Five, 2001: 8). All the above-mentioned policies were concerned with an integrated approach to the cognitive, social, emotional and psycho-social development of children (Education White Paper, 2001). In South Africa the Bill of Rights in our Constitution, Act 108, Section 29 (1)(a), (Republic of South Africa, 1996) stipulates that –
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