THEMATIC CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION IN LOWER PRIMARY CLASSES IN NAMAYINGO DISTRICT, UGANDA
BY OUMA GEOFFREy REG NO: MED/39986/151/DU.TR
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, OPEN DISTANCE AND E-LEARNING IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTERS DEGREE ON EDUCATION MANAGEMENT AND ADMINJSTPATION OF KAMPALA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
APRIL 2019 DECLARATION I, Ouma Geoffrey certi t~y that this research work of challenges of thematic curriculum implementation in lower primaiy classes in Namayingo District Uganda was conducted, written and compiled by me. I also certify the best of my knowledge that this research work has not been written partially or wholly presented for the award of any form of degree or for publication elsewhere. STUDENT
OUMA GEOFFREY APPROVAL This research report that is a result of study undertaken by Ouma Geoffrey has been under my supervision and is now ready for submission to the academic board of Kampala International University. Supervisor:
DR.YAKUB BRAHIM WUNTI
Signature.
Date..~ ~.!L7 DEDICATION I dedicate this piece of work to my beloved Mother Lyaka Margret for the support and advice that she rendered me to this research proposal successful.
iv ACKNOWJjD GEMENTS The researcher thanks the Almighty Allah for the mercy and grace upon the successful completion of this thesis. His debt of gratitude goes to his supervisor Dr. Yakubu Ibrahim Wunti and the entire management of Kampala International University towards the achievement of this Thesis.
The researcher also extends his much thanks and .support to the lecturers of Kampala International University specifically Madam Akamputira Patience, Dr. Kamulegeya, Dr. Yakubu. Ibrahim Wunti, Dr. Quo and Dr. Tamale
Above all, the researcher extends his gratitude to the panelists for the assistance during his Viva voice i.e. Dr. Kamulegeya and others for the incredible guidance and perfection of this work.
The researcher also extends his appreciation to his clear mother Lyaka Margret for the love and support by his brothers, sisters and friends.
The researcher also extends his sincere thanks to head teachers and staff ofthe selected primary schools
~n Buhemba Sub - county Namayingo District.
Ehe researcher also acknowledges the efforts of his beloved wife Akumu Evelyn and the children ~specially Kyaterekera Lynda for their constant encouragement and financial support during the [ard times. vlay the Almighty be with you all.
V LIST OF TABLES Table 4. 1: Demographic characteristics of the teachers 38 Table 4. 2: Teaching phonemic sounds 40 Table 4. 3: Provide materials for creative expressions 40 Table 4. 4: Teaching learners the use of varied syntactic structures 41 Table 4. 5: Teaching how to write short stories 41 Table 4. 6: Carrying out shared reading with the pupils 42 Table 4. 7: Teachers do give learners spelling exercises 42 Table 4, 8: Class environments arranged into centers of learning and play 43 Table 4. 9: Learners are taught picture description and writing 43 Table 4. 10: Teachers do engage learners in role play activities 44 Table 4. 11: Teachers do teach their pupils’ familiar sounds 44 Table 4. 12: Pupils Comprehension of Thematic Lessons 45 Table 4. 13: AlTangement of the classroom enVironi~ent into centers for learning and play .48 Table 4. 14: Encourage learners to spell words 48 Table 4. 15: Carry out shared reading with pupils 49 Table 4. 16: Encourage learners to write full sentences 49 Table 4. 17: Give learners reading games 50 Table 4. 18: Respond and interact with learners in their mother tongue 50 Table 4. 19: Teach learners phonemic sounds 51 Table 4. 20: Encourage learners to use varied syntactic structures 51 Table 4. 21: Engage learners in imaginative writing 52 Table 4. 22: Ask learners to narrate and write interesting stories 52
vi TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION APPROVAL DEDICATiON ACKNOWLDGEMENTS v LIST OF TABLES TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT
CHAPTER ONE 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 1.0 Introductioir 1 1.1 Background of the study 1 1.1.1 Historical perspective 2 1.1.2 The Contextual Perspective~ 4 1.1.3 Conceptual Perspective 1.1.3.1 Definitions of the Key Terms 6 1.1.4 Theoretical Perspective 7 1.2 Statement of the problem 7 1.3 Main objective 8 1.3.1 Specific Objectixres 8 1.3.2 Research Qiiestjoi~s 8 1.4. Scope of the study 8 1.4.1. Geographical Scope 8 1.4.2. Content Scope 8 1.5. Significance of the study
CHAPTER TWO 10 LITERATURE REVIEW 10 2.0 Introduction 10 2.1 Theoretical Framework 10 2.2. Conceptual Frame Work 11
vu 2.3 THEMATIC CURRICULUM .12 2.3.1 KEY FEATURES OF THE THEMATIC CURRICULUM 12 2.4 Thematic Approach to Teaching and Learning 13 2.5 Variation in the Implementation of Thematic Curriculum in Lower Primary Classrooms’ 17 2.6 Challenges of thematic curriculum implementation in lower primary c1asses~ 20 2,6.1 SAMPLE OF OPINION OF SOME STAKEHOLDERS ON THE CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING THEMATIC CURRICULUM IN UGANDA FROM ‘VISION DAILY NEWS PAPER KAMPALA UGANDA 22 2.7 Possible ways of enhancing thematic curriculum in lower primary classes 23 2.7.1 Teacher’s Role in Lower Classes 23 2.7.2 Children’s ability in acquiring language 26 2.7.3 Literacy promotion in lower primary classes 27 2.7.4 SUGESTIONS OF ENHANCING THEMATIC CURRICULUM 31
CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.0 Introduction 33 3.1 Research desigu 3.2 Target population of the study 33 3.3 Sample size 33 3.4 Sampling strategy 3.5 Source of data 35 3.5.1 Primary data 35 3.5.2 Secondary data 35 3.6 Instruments of the study 35 3.6.1 Questjom~ajre 35 3.6.2 Structured Interview Guide 35 3.6.3 Experimental test 36 3.7 Validity of the instrninei~ts 36 3.8 Reliability of the instrni~ej~ts 36 3.9 Documentary analysis 36 3.10 Procedure for data co1Jectjoi~ 37 3.11 Ethical considerations 37
VI I I 3.12 Limitations of the study ~ 3.13 Delimitations
CHAPTER FOUR 38 PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS 38 4.0 Introduction 38 4.1 Demographic characteristics of the teachers 38 4.2 Analysis: 39 4.3 Research question one~ 4.4 RESEARCH QUESTION TWO• 47 4.5 RESEARCH QUESTION THREE• 48
CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 54 5.1 Findings 54 5.1.1 To determine the extent to which thematic curriculum is implemented 54 5.2 Challenges of thematic curriculum implementatjoi~ in lower primary classes 56 5.3 Possible ways of enhancing the implementation of thematic curriculum 58 5.4 CONCLUSIONS 60 5.6 Area for further research 61
REFERENCES• 62
APPENDIX A: QUESTION~JAIRE FOR TEACHERS 65 APPENDIX B: STRUCTURED INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR HEAD TEACHERS 68 APPENDIX C: EXPERIMENTAL TEST QUESTIONS FOR THE PUPILS 69 APPENDIX D: CHECKLIST FOR THE LEARNERS 71 APPENDIX E: FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION FOR PARENTS 72 APPENDIX F: PUPILS TEST MARKS 73
ix ABSTRACT The study’s investigation was “challenges of thematic curriculum implementation in lower primary classes in Narnayingo District, Uganda? The study objectives were to establish the extent of the implementation of thematic learning in lower primary classes from primary one to three to find out the challenges facing the implementation of thematic curriculum in lower primary classes in Namayingo district and to determine the possible ways of enhancing thematic learning in lower primary classes in Namayingo district. The total population of 225 pupils with 60 teachers was used to determine the study. Only 144 was sampled from the total
number of pupils and only 60 which comprised of both teachers , head teachers and parents
were used as respondents to fill the self - designed questionnaj~~es. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected. In addition, a structured questionnaire was administered to the teachers, head teachers and parents to obtain their opinions about the challenges affecting the
implementation of Buhemba sub - county, Namayingo district. Data obtained was analyzed using the statistical package for social services (SPSS) and presented in tables. The study sampled 40 teachers, 20 parents who gave their views according to the questions asked, The study found out that due to multilingualjsn~ inter marriage and the location of the district, it was to take time to implement the thematic curriculum implementation in lower primary classes in Namayingo district. Findings showed that some teachers were trying to implement the policy but on still on a small scale. The findings also showed that even the few who were implementing face challenges like letter and word sounds, scheming and lesson planning and even assessment is quite hard for them. The researcher concluded that if teachers emphasizes team scheming, attend refresher courses, develop competition reading among pupils and other classroom activities, there would be improvement in the pupils’ performance in lower primary classes in Narnayingo district.
x CHAPTER ONE GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction: The ministry of Education and sports (MOEs) in 2003-2004 embarked on the review of the primary cumculum to address the gaps identified in pupils in literacy and numeracy skills in both English and local languages at the end of the primary cycle. This followed studies carried out by some educational agencies in Uganda in 1999 and 2003, which revealed that the majority of the school pupils at the end of the primary level did not have adequate literacy and numeracy skills in their local language and English. The studies recommended the review of the primary curriculum using the thematic approach which puts greater concentration on the development of key skills in Lower Classes especially literacy and numeracy skills valued by the community. Therefore thematic curriculum is a curriculum whose content is organized around themes that are familiar to the child’s environment. This is based on the fact that a child learns from the immediate environment, progressing from known to unknown, from the simple to complex in developing his/her personality. (MoES, 2008) 1.1 Background of the study Although literacy skills among primary school pupils continue to be registered, many studies have been conducted in examining children’s developmental progress while attending lower classes which indicate that pre-school education in a variety of forms can play a significant role in helping children develop essential language and literacy skills (Krogh 2008). If such programs appear to be influenced by a variety of factors including the child enviromrlent, teacher training and effectiveness, social economic status of the family, level of parental involvement, and amount of time spent during the program. In recent years, several efforts have been attempted in research bordering on children’s emergent literacy development with the aim of providing educators and parents with research based instructional strategies for enhancing children’s. literacy experience during their lower primary class level. Strategies that have been shown to be effective at promoting children’s early literacy development include reading in children’s early literacy development style, fostering children’s inderstanding of print concepts (IRA/NAEYC, 1998) arranging the classroom environment so hat children have an opportunity to interact with books and other print materials providing )pportunities for children to experiment with writing, familiarizing children with letter of
1 alphabets and their corresponding sounds and involving children in activities that promote children’s phonological skills development (Eva L. Essa 1999) The vehicle ofmany kinds of learning is language. Children’s ability to communicate helps them to relate and reflect upon their daily educational experiences in order to extend their learning.
Omara the UNEB statistician, in the daily monitor of Thursday 23id April 2015, noted that, only 38.8 percent of the pupils were rated proficient in literacy and English. He lamented further that, a learner is what a teacher is and his study is a reflection of who teaches them. The background of the study is divided into four sections; historical perspective, contextual perspective, conceptual perspective and theoretical perspective 1.1.1 Historical perspective Early childhood play is an activity that benefits young children by encouraging growth in the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain dedicated to the development of higher mental functions. Children beginning their formal education at a later age maintain the ability to learn important skills, such as literacy, at the same rate as their peers. Children beginning their formal education later also maintain a more positive attitude toward learning and towards the educational experience. In the past, teachers attempted as much as possible to give knowledge to pupils and these pupils learnt with a lot of difficulties. The method and the system of learning did not encourage pupil’s participation. It lefl the child as a mere spectator, however, the teachers put much commitment because of their interest for teaching. They were just following the curriculum, which was very narrow in scope, and hence knowledge was expected to flow from the teacher to the child and not vice-versa. Also, the curriculum then did not have the basis to give the ideal and holistic way of learning the steps in learning then did not cater for thematic instructions. Thematic learning thus, is a new concept in pedagogy; it is provided to be the instrumental instructional method for integrating various concepts in the curriculum, using the local language. For example, the study of social studies had been traditionally known as the study of man and his surroundings. The integrative nature of the surroundings was not well elaborated. In the elaborative nature of the surroundings. Okoro (2005) argued that, social studies is an inter disciplinary approach to the study of human beings in group inter action. Hence, social studies, aims at providing citizens with skills, competence, moral values and reasonable judgments to ~ffectively interact and contribute positively to the development of the society on a broader erspective, this new learning approach was applicable to all disciplines. vloving away from the traditional teacher- centered methods of teaching, the learner is supposed o be the dominant participant during the learning process. In the child centered method, Pupils
2 are expected to carry out a lot of activities using the learning aids to conceptualize the topic of the study. The major aim is that the learner should be able to discover the reality of life by himself or herself. This implies that conventional methods of teaching cannot bring the needed change in the learner. For example, Okarn, (2014) opined that, social studies represents one of the curriculum arrangements which capitalize largely on the use of methods to sustain the reason for its existence as an important subject in the school system where there was need to broaden this in order for the learners to achieve an integrated concept of the subject. This could apply to any learning discipline. To achieve this, Mezieobi (2013) posits that, an effective and committed teacher prepares thoroughly in advance for teaching and learning interaction. In particular this study is about challenges of thematic curriculum implementation in lower primary classes in Namayingo District Uganda. It has been observed that education professionals in the area of early childhood are today increasingly emphasizing on early literacy and numeracy in planning of early childhood instructional programmes. Research also supports that language and writing play as a vital role in children’s development. Reutzed (1977) explains that, research conducted over the past two decades on emergent literacy describes several assumptions of early literacy as follow;
o Reading and writing are closely related processes and should not be artificially isolated for instruction o Leaiu to read and write is essentially a social process and is influenced by a search for iTleaning. o Most pre-school children already know a great deal about printed language without exposure to formal instruction o Becoming literate is a continuous development process o Children need to act like reactors and writers to become readers and writers o Children need to read authentic and natural texts o Children need to write for personal reasons
Reutzej (1977) advises that, teachers must establish print rich environments to provide children Dpportunities for language learning and development which stimulate and support literacy earning. He further explains that by integrating reading and writing with other curriculmu )rocess using theme—based unit’s teachers can help children find meaningful reading and writing. )n the other hand, Lefeure (2000) explains in his review of several research studies on early iteracy and numeracy, states that there is limited research on early numeracy compared to that n early literacy. Furthennore, research has shown that transition between pre—school numeracy
3 which is basically arithmetic has received very little attention in literature. One of the reasons given for this negligence is that traditionally literacy (language—listening, speaking, reading and writing) has seems to be more important than numeracy (mathematics). The author further explains that lack of attention to each nurneracy may have been as a result of perspective that children’s quantitative abilities before the age of 6 and 7 are rudimentary and therefore have little interest. However, the author points out that neglects in research on numeracy is beginning to change both experimental and developmental processes which are important in children’s numeracy skills. 1.1.2 The Contextual Perspective: This is the curriculum used for P1 -P3 classes. It is called Thematic Curriculum because its content is arranged around themes that are familiar to the learners. The recommended medium of instruction is Local Language for the learners whose first language is not English. English, however, is taught in English, and as a strand right from Primary One. Thematic Curriculum is a curriculum whose content is organized around themes that are familiar to the child’s envirom~ent. It is also an approach that has been used to organize principals for arranging the competences and knowledge content in primary one to primary three. Thematic instruction is the organization of a curriculum around macro “themes.” Thematic instruction integrate basic disciplines like reading, math, and science with the exploration of a broad subject, such as communities, rain forests, river basins, the use of energy, and so on. Basic Elements. Thematic instruction is based on the idea that people acquire knowledge best when learning in the context of a coherent “whole,” and when they can connect what they’re learning to the real world. Thematic instruction seeks to put the teaching of cognitive skills such as reading, mathematics, science, and writing in the context of a real-world subject that is both specific enough to be practical, and broad enough to allow creative exploration. Thematic instruction usually occurs within an entire grade level of students. Teachers of all the different subjects taught in that particular grade work together as a team to design curriculum, instruction methods, and assessment around a preselected theme. (Rogan, J.M., Grayson, D.J., 2003). Thematic learning is based on the idea that knowledge acquisition is efficient among students when they learn in the context of a coherent and holistic way and when they can associate whatever they learn in their surrounding and real examples, learning of pupils through thematic tpproach can still be a mere dream in Namayingo District. Namayingo district is faced with a lot )f challenges ranging from the teacher’s capability, children’s ability and sustainability to the earning environment. In addition Namayingo is a new district which was formed in 2010, is a ural district in which education system and activities are facing a lot of challenges, some ofthese
4 challenges are; Lack of qualified teachers, poor rural infrastructure, distance from one school to another, among other things. Since Namayingo became a district, there has been little achievement in obtaining first grades in some schools at primary seven level within the district. Also, multilingualism is yet another challenge where the district accommodate many people from different ethnic groups. These has greatly affected the implementation of the thematic curriculum. It seems to be a challenge to the District Academic Board when setting examinations and the district is in Bologna region, Lusoga text books are supplied to schools but majority of the teachers and learners in Samias, thus becoming a challenge to manage the teaching effectively. The situation in Namayingo district might therefore be very challenging for the determinants of thematic learning. 1.1.3 Conceptual Perspective
Thematic learning (often Synonymous with thematic instruction) is an instructional method of teaching in which emphasis is given on choosing a specific theme for teaching one or many concepts. Thematic learning takes place when different disciplines are all centered towards one definite concept. This is a creative and exciting form for learners, enabling them to notice the inter-relatedness of various subjects. It is based on integrating variety of information and using it to demonstrate the topic. Pedagogy of thematic learning is based on its exploration of broad areas in one theme together with topic-based learning, which is similar but with a focus on a specific event or topic, it is a form of phenomenon~based learning. (Robin, Fogarty, 1997). Thematic learning is based on the idea that knowledge acquisition is efficient among students when they learn in the context of a coherent and holistic way and when they can associate whatever they leani to their surrounding and real life examples. Thematic instruction seeks to put the cognitive skills such as reading, thinking, memorizing, and writing in the context of a real-life situation under the broad aim to allow creative exploration. (David Booth, 1998). Differentiating thematic learning from child-centered learning ‘night seems to be difficult to the teachers and learners in primary schools in Namayingo district. This assumption ‘night be a reality because of the situations on the ground and putting into consideratjo~~5 the basic for determinants of thematic learning. Hence the conceptualization of thematic learning and its determinants might not be concentrated only in Namayingo district but the entire Uganda. To be ;incere, for thematic learning to be successful among learners, a curriculum that is integrated is .mportant. Thematic learning as an integrated learning method, implies that it needs to have ~ertain objectives in framing curriculum and plan of proceedings. This requires vast technical )reparations involving a well versed people to spearhead the process to enable board and efficient inderstanding of thematic learning.
5 Theme base integrated learning approach aims at preparing children for lifelong learning. According to (n.d) schools are expected to look at education as a process for developing abilities required for life in twenty first century rather than discrete, departmentalized subject matter. It is further explains that this brings various aspects of the curriculum together in a meaningful association to focus on broad areas of study. Furthermore, theme based integrated approach views learning and teaching in a holistic way that reflects the real world, which is interactive according to the author then based integrated curriculum has the characteristic that include a combination of subjects, an emphasis on projects sources that go beyond text books, relationship among concepts, thematic, units as organizing principals, flexible schedules and flexible students groups. Lipson et al cited in Ritter (1990) tried the idea of curriculum integration to Dewey’s l930’s reforms on meaningful learning. Ritter views integration as the interrelatedness of the four language skills and mentions that integration may also be understood as inclusion of other subjects’ content areas into the already integrated language curriculum. Lipson provided support for the rationale for thematic teaching and they include providing valuable focus to learners, they help students understand why they are doing what they are doing, demonstrating coherent connections among disciplines that allow a transfer of learning from one content to another, helping students to group the relation of content process and facilitating the acquisition of an integrated knowledge based. This study finds theme—based integrated learning well described by Hurnphreys (1981) cited by Lake (n.d) who says that “an integrated study is one in which children explore knowledge in various subjects related to aspects of their enviromnent. 1.1.3.1 Definitions of the Key Terms. Thematic learning (often synonymous with thematic instruction) is an instructional method of teaching in which emphasis is given on choosing a specific theme for teaching one or many concepts. Thematic learning takes place when different disciplines are all centered towards one definite concept. This is a creative and exciting form for learners, enabling them to notice the inter-relatedness of various subjects. It is based on integrating variety of information and using it tc demonstrate the topic. Pedagogy of thematic learning is based on its exploration of broad areas in one theme. Together with topic-based learning, which is similar but with a focus on a specific event or topic, it is a form of Phenomenon~based learning.
6 o Thematic Curriculum is a curriculum whose content is organized around themes that are familiar to the child’s environment. It is also an approach that has been used to organize principals for arranging the competences and knowledge content in primary one to primary three.
o Teaching is an act of imparting knowledge and skills to a learner or an individual for a change. It is also the process of creating awareness to the learner or an individual. o Learning is the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills. Learning is also relatively permanent change in behavior as a result of experiencer, potentiality which occurs as a result of reinforced practice. 1.1.4 Theoretical Perspective Thematic learning is a pedagogical model based on the selection of a theme or topic of the study from which the pupils explore them and understand the world around them through integration of disciplines, this study can be explained by a variety of theories. One of the theories can be Nel Nuddings theory of value. This study can also be guided by Jean Piagetis theory of cognitive development. And as Montessori (1870-1952) noted, never help a child with a tack at which he feels he can succeed. This observation has got strong relevance with child centered learning and more so with thematic learning approaches. 1.2 Statement of the problem Districts such as Narnayingo and Bullisa that are composed of multilingual communities are facing a unique challenge to the implementation of the thematic curriculum. In Namayingo for instance, Lusoga has been designated as the local language in the district and yet many teachers cannot çven construct a sentence in Lusoga. Many people in the district cannot understand the language. The District Academic Board in Namayingo cannot even set examinations in Lusoga, English is the medium used to set examination. There is also an issue ofmultilingual families because of intermarriages between tribes and ethnicity. There is also an observed mass failure in Primary School Leaving Examination by pupils as reported by the District Academic Board as a result of the system. The observed issues highlighted above motivated the researcher to conduct an investigation on some of these challenges facing thematic curriculum implementation in lower classes from Primary 1 (P.1) to Primary 3 (P.3) in Namayingo District.
7 1.3 Main objective The main objective of the study was to investigate the implementation of ‘thematic curriculum’ and the challenges facing thematic curriculum implementation in lower classes in Namayingo District Uganda and proffer possible enhancement measures.
1.3.1 Specific Objectives 1. To find out if thematic curriculum is impl~mented in lower primary classes in Narnayingo district. 2. To assess the challenges facing the implementation of thematic curriculum implementation in lower primary classes in Namayingo district. 3. To determine the possible ways of enhancing thematic learning in lower primary classes in Narnayingo district 1.3.2 Research Questions I. Is thematic curriculum implemented in lower primary classes in Namayingo district? 2. What are the challenges in thematic curriculum implementation in lower classes in Namayingo District? 3. What are the possible ways of enhancing thematic curriculum implementation in lower primary classes in Namayingo District? 1.4. Scope of the study The scope of the study is divided into Geographical scope, content scope. 1.4.1. Geographical Scope Namayingo district is about 120 km south-East of Kampala, the capital City of Uganda. It is boarded by Busia district in the North-East, North-West by Bugiri district and to the south is bordered by Lake Victoria. Namayingo district is made up of nine Sub-Counties. The study is carried out in Buhemba Sub-County. 1.4.2. Content Scope The study focused the implementation of thematic learning and its challenges in lower
primary classes (P1 — P3) as well as exploring the possible ways of enhancing thematic curriculum implementation in Namayingo district. The study is therefore concerned with lower primary schools (P1-P3) in public schools that is government controlled and managed in the district.
8 1.5. Significance of the study The findings of this study will be useful to the govenu~nent educational policy makers at all levels towards the implementation ofrelevant policies that will advance knowledge and skills in Uganda, the entire East Africa region and the world over. Generally, most rural schools in Uganda have not been performing well in plimary leaving examinations One of the reasons which have been established is that children do not know how to read and write even by the time they reach primary seven. This further meant that the foundation of learning at the lower primary and upper primary is very poor, yet the teaching of handwriting, and reading in upper primary is antagonistic. The study on the challenges of thematic curriculum implementing and the possible ways of enhancing it would assist the parents and students in lower primary classes in Namayingo district.
9 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction This section reviewed literature concerning thematic curriculum implementation in lower primary classes. It presents a review of related literature on thematic learning, challenges of thematic curriculum implementation in lower primary classes and possible ways of enhancing thematic learning in lower primary classes. 2.1 Theoretical Framework This study is guided by two major theories, the theory of value by Nd Noddings and the theory of cognitive development of Jean Piaget (1896-1980). Nd Noddings born in 1929, in New Jersey-USA who contended that, knowledge and skills are worthwhile learning. He emphasized that students should learn knowledge and skills necessary to help them navigate the world around them; this theory of value is relevant to thematic learning; on the other hand Jean Piaget (1896-1980), in his theory of cognitive development, which emphasis is put on how the child constructs a mental model of the world. In other words how knowledge grows. Specifically, Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is more relevant in guiding this study because the idea of cognitive development is very much linked to young children in lower primary classes. Children are good adaptors such that whatever is taught to them in this early stage shapes their future destiny. They learn once and for all and keep on practicing what they have learnt at the infant stage. This process of cognitive development can either make or contribute towards the determinants of thematic learning. According to Nd Nodding’s theory of value, the knowledge and skills that the child learns could make the foundation of his future academic progress, and hence thematic learning in lower primary classes is very important. In general terms these theories can explain further why there is poor academic performance at primary leaving examinations. it could be so because children in lower primary classes in Namayingo district lack strong and good foundation at lower primary classes
10 2.2. Conceptual Frame Work For the conceptual frame work, the researcher attempt to relate the variables that were used in the study Independent Variable Dependent Variable
Challenges facing thematic Thematic implementation curriculum implementation a Theme based integrated o Multilingualism learning approach o Teachers capability
e Text book supply in Lusoga o Children’s ability
o Teachers’ Professional o Learning environment
e Parents attitude Development.
o Thematically organized
curriculum
~i~ervening Variables
H: location of the distr~
SOURCE: Researcher’s Designed 2018 From the conceptual framework above, the researcher identified the challenges of thematic curriculum implementations as multilingualism, multi-lingual families will always be there because of intermarriages between communities that are posing a unique challenge to the implementation of the thematic curriculum. ique challenge to the implementation of the thematic curriculum. Teachers capability depends on ability of the teacher to implement the program in the classroom effectively, learning environment may not be conducive, teacher’s knowledge about the language (mother tongue) may be lacking because may not know how to speak the language. children’s ability depends on how well they can assimilate, understand and learn effectively, approach to pupil’s assessment depends on how well the teacher program and assess the pupils during the program and parents attitude toward the implementation of thematic curriculum is negative. Theme based integrated learning approach as dependents variables are adequate text book supply in Lusoga, setting examinations in Lusoga language, teachers’
11 professional development and training in thematic curriculum and its implementation; thematically organized programs/instructions is a well-planned structure of thematic implementation. The researcher also identified the interviewing variables as intermarriages between ethnicity and the location of the district as it bordered to another country having a different languages.
2.3 THEMATIC CURRICULUM Thematic curriculum is the type of curriculum taught in lower primary classes (P.1 -P.3) It consists of disciplines such as mathematics, English, local language, Literacy one, Literacy two, Physical Education, Religious education, Library, Art and Craft, Music and oral Literature and it began in 2009. The failure by a high proportion of children to attain acceptable levels of proficiency in reading and writing at primary three level is considered to be a barrier to the children’s full enjoyment of their right to education sector. Wide reflection on this phenomenon has led to identification of challenges which need urgent attention to make school more beneficial and interesting to the children. The ministry commissioned a study in 2008 which carried out a situational analysis which showed that one of the factors causing poor / learner performance in literacy, numeracy and life skills were the structure of the primary school curriculum. (Altinyelken, 2010) The curriculum emphasis on the acquisition oi~ facts in various subjects studied at primary schools influenced teaching to focus mainly on recall and other low order cognitive skills. This orientation was further reinforced by learner assessment techniques that aimed at grading learners rather than discovering variety in talents to be nurtured and weakness to be remedied.
2.3.1 KEY FEATURES OF THE THEMATIC CURRICULUM Altinyelken, 2010 highlighted some of the key features, purposes and benefits of thematic curriculum as follows:
CHARACTERISTICS.
1. The need to focus on rapid development of literacy, numeracy and life skills at lower primary. 2. The treatment of concepts holistically, under terms of immediate meaning and relevance to the learner
12 3. The presentation of learning experiences .hrough the media, especially languages in which the learners were already proficient.
PURPOSE OF THEMATIC CURRICULUM
1. To enable the learners to have an early breakthrough to literacy. 2. To make the learners have mastery of numeracy skills. 3. To help learners to have empowerment in the use of life skills. 4. To provide learners a head start to acquisition of higher order thinking skills, and 5. To make the learners have the development of basic language skills for lifelong learning.
BENEFITS OF THE THEMATIC CURRICULUM
1. Learners are equipped with lifelong skills at an early stage like nurneracy, literacy etc. 2. Learners have permanent mastery of language one depending on the locality. 3. Culture is promoted amongst the learners 4. Makes learning process interesting becomes easier to go from complex or unknown to known. 5. Thematic curriculum advocates for the local enviromnent and thus protecting it as well.
2.4 Thematic Approach to Teaching and Leaining
A thematic approach to teaching and learning is an approach where many different areas of the required curriculum are connected using a Common theme. For example, a kindergarten class focusing on a beach theme might learn vocabulary for common objects on the beach, read books about the beach and do beach themed artwork. One advantage of this system is that it allows teachers to teach multiple things at one time. By constantly making connections in the classroom, students learn how to make connections and understand how things they experience at school relate to the real world. Because students may switch between activities centered on a theme or even switch between themes, this type of curriculum provides variety and keeps students engaged. This teaching style is more student-centered than teacher-centered, and the students ~ollectively have some choice of what they learn, which fosters community among students. Rogan, et al 2005)
13 Rogan, et al (2005) opined that, One disadvantage of this approach is that students may not be interested in the subject and may refuse to participate in the classroom community. In addition, if students miss a day they may find it very hard to make the connections that they missed. Finally, connections may be difficult to make for some students based on different cultural or academic ability. For example a child from Kampala who has never seen snow will have a hard time relating to a snow-themed unit.
The ‘child-centered’ approach of thematic curriculum is further emphasized in teaching and learning methodologies. By child-centered, the new curriculum particularly refers to the following ~NCDC, 2006b): Children should have a chance to interact with each other and with the teacher during the lesson; Class activities should be organized so that children learn by doing. They should be able to move around from time to time, and to use their hands; Activities should be organized around a variety of learning materials, and children should be able to handle the materials. Children should have an opportunity, from time to time, to have influence in the direction that the lesson (or day) takes. Allow the lesson to reflect the interests, abilities and concerns of the children.
The recommended teaching methodology focvses on the child’s activities rather than the activities of teachers. It encourages the participation and performance of children, including those with special needs. Rather than being passive receivers and doing only what they are told, children are expected to be active participants in their learning by way of exploring, observing, experimenting and practicing. It suggests activities that are enjoyable for children, such as songs, games, acting and drawing. Teachers are encouraged to organize a variety of activities that keep all children involved.
Moreover, the new curriculum aims at providing children with a rich and varied literate environment. For this purpose, utilization of a range of learning resources is recommended including flash cards, sentence cards, wall charts, work cards, simple readers and the children’s own written work. In addition, group or pair work is advocated by thematic curriculum as it is Donsidered to provide Opportunities for children to learn cooperatively, to direct their own earning rather than depending on the teacher all the time, and to allow for a variety of learning ~xperiences and styles (NCDC, 2006a).
~urthermore, the new curriculum adopts continuous assessment and requires teachers to assess heir students on a daily basis. The purpose of such assessment is considered to be diagnostic and
14 remedial. It is assumed that frequent assessment would facilitate appropriate feedback and corrective action on the part of teachers. For instance, it would enable teachers to identify individual problems and provide adequate help so that the child would catch up with the rest of the class. Likewise, high achievers can be identified and given more challenging tasks to stimulate their learning (NCDC, 2006a). H.K. Altinyelken I International Journal of Educational Development 30 (2010) 151—~61154
The new curriculum was introduced into each grade level one year at a time. It was first piloted at P1 in 90 selected schools in 11 districts staring from February 2006. Afier the pilot phase, thematic curriculum was launched nationwide in February 2007. In the same year, it was piloted at P2 at the same 90 schools. The implementation of the new curriculum will be completed through P1 to P7 in 2013 over a period of seven years (Read, Enyutu, 2005). This approach helps frame teacher and student thinking while offering a helpful “glue” to bond all of the learning activities.
Lower Primary I Thematic Curriculun1
Below is the curriculum used for Pl-P3 classes which is culled from National Curriculum Development Centre Kampala, Uganda. It is called Thematic Curriculum because its content is arranged around themes that are familiar to the learners. The recommended medium of instruction is Local Language for the learners whose first language is not English. English, however, is taught in English, and as a strand right from Primary One.
Thematic Curriculum is hinged on five pillars namely:
1. The use of themes that interest children 2. Use of local language as a medium of instruction 3. The class-teacher system 4. Use of non-text book materials 5. Continuous assessment of learners’ achievements
15 There are twelve themes per class, namely:
Primary One ~Primary Two ~Primary Three
I 1. Our School and 1. Our School 1. Our Sub-County/Division ~NTeighbourhood 12. Our Home and 2. Our Home 2. Livelihood in Our Sub-County/Division fComrnunity
3. Our Community 13. Human Body and.13.Health OurEnvironment in Our Sub County/Division 4. The Human Body 4. Environment and Weather in Our Sub frt. Food and Nutrition and Health I County/Division
5. Weather 15. Our Environment r5. Living Things: Plants in Our Sub County/Division
:6. Accidents and Safety Things we Make Living Things: Animals in Our Sub- :y/Division 7. Transpoi~ in Our 17. Managing Resources J~ 7. Living Together I Community County/Division
8. Food and Nutrition 8. Accidents and Safety 18. Keeping Peace in Our Sub- County/Division
). Transport 9~ Peace and Security 9. Culture and Gender in Our Sub
V ‘County/Division [0. Things we Make 10. Child Protection 110. Health in Our Sub-County/Division
1. Our Environment ii. Measures I 11. Basic Technology in Our Sub- I jCounty/Division 12. Recreation, Festivals and 2. Peace and Security j 12. Energy in Our Sub-County/Divisj0~ Holidays I — *~ —*- ~-~-
Source: National Curriculum Development Centre, Uganda Kampala 2018
16 2.5 Variation in the Implementation of Thematic Curriculum in Lower Primary Classrooms: The need to promote the development of literacy, numeracy and life skills in lower primary classes motivated the introduction of mother tongue education in Uganda in 2006/2007 (Kateeba 2009) NCDC 2006b), Read and Enyutu (2004) reviewed the quality of education in Uganda and made recommendations which, inter alia, required the revision of the curriculum and changing the LoLT particularly in the early primary school years. Following Read Enyutu’ s (2004) recommendations the subject curriculum for the lower classes was revised by NCDC and replaced with a thematically_organized curriculum ~NCDC 2006a, 2006b), The new curriculum is supposed to be delivered through MT for the first three years in rural (government and private) schools. Kateeba (2009) posits that, a thematically organized curriculum was preferred to subject-based curriculum because children at an early age cannot differentiate one subject from another and that through thematic curriculum children learn all the content in a holistic manner. Nevertheless, this curriculum has been contested by teachers who argue that it is shallow, overloaded, poorly structured and that they received hurried and superficial training prior to its implementation (Altinyelken, 2010; Ssentanda, 2013) The curriculum guidelines also stipulate that children should have an hour each day in which reading and writing is taught (for P1 to P3). This hour is divided up into two strands; “Literacy hour 1 and Literacy hour II” (NCDC 2007:31). The guidelines for implementing these literacy hours are as follow; “The first hour focuses on reading, with presentations, practice, pre-reading activities and an emphasis on the sight words. The second —half focuses on pre writing activities drawing, labeling and developing handwriting”. Teachers are asked to ensure that the last 20 minutes of every literacy hour is devoted to writing or what NCDC (2007:31) calls” pattern practice” NCDC (2007:31-38) recommends six strategies or teaching procedures (TPs) for literacy development. The researcher focused just on the teaching procedure for reading. This strategy aims at helping learners to recognize sounds, letters and pictures. Children can do this by matching shapes or letters that are the same, finding the odd ones, and recognizing and describing pictures and shapes. Learners are also expected to match letters to words starting, for example, with the letter, writing that letter on a chalkboard, and saying the sound, then writing it out on heir slates and drawing a picture of an object whose name starts with that letter. It is assumed hat all these activities can enable learners to become fluent in reading in three years. The
17 researcher provides some examples of how guidelines are actually translated into practice in different kinds of schools and classrooms. Pre-primary education in Uganda is not compulsory (Ejuu 2012; Uganda Child Rights NGO Network 2006), but the elective nature of ire-school education has made the process of introducing children to reading rather complex. Government schools in rural areas do not have pre-primary classes while their counterpart in private schools do have. Childrenjoin government schools in P1 at the age of six (the official age for entry to P1) and they learn through mother tongue for the first three years while those who attend private schools join school at the age of three or four in pre-primary. Children in private schools attend pre-primary for two or three years before they join P1 at the age of six. Learning in private schools is introduced in English in many pre-primary classes, while those in government schools are introduced to reading in P1, in their mother tongue and they learn English as subject. Private schools teach mother tongue as subject in P1 to P3 and in these three years, reading in mother tongue is also included. In short, there is considerable variation, across in respect to the timing for the introduction of early grade reading and with respect to the language used fo~ teaching and learning at this crucial stage in a child’s education. Piper (2010) reported on EGRA assessments (Early Grade Reading Assessment) involving both mother tongue and English. The assessment covered, letter naming fluency, letter sound fluency, syllable reading fluency, phonological awareness, oral reading, familiar word fluency, connected text oral reading, familiar word fluency, connected text oral reading fluency and reading comprehension in connected text. This report shows that children in the central region are quicker at identifying sounds in their mother tongue than in English. However, when placed in an international context, the level ofperformance of learners’ in Uganda was below the regional level for East Africa and below international levels. In addition, comprehension levels were reported to be close to zero in English. Two reports produced by a private NGO (Uwezo 2010, 2011) presented a review of the English literacy skills of children in East Africa. It also revealed low levels of literacy in the Ugandan context; “Overall at least one out of every five (21 %) of all the class P3 children sampled across the country could not even recognize letters of the English alphabet; and only 7% could read and understand an English story text of class P2 level was difficulty. Almost one out of every five ~17%) of all the class P7 children could not read and understand an English story text of class P2 ~evel difficulty” (Uwezo 2011:14). ~nother report by UNEB (Uganda National Examinations Board 2010) also confirmed the low evels of literacy acquisition among primary school children, not only in local languages but also
18 in English. Similar findings were reported by the (Mango Tree Lano literacy project (Mango Tree Lano literacy Project 2010) this study was carried out in the Lano sub—region (Northern part of Uganda) in both urban and rural schools. The study found that, by end ofPl, pupils were not able to identify the alphabet and neither could they read a simple text with minimal fluency. Looking at this situation, Uwezo (2011). Queried that, “Are our children learning?” Clearly, these communicate that, there is a problem with the teaching of reading in Uganda. It also appears that the situation is not getting better, even after introducing mother tongue education. It is based on the report that emphasis was placed on children’s reading and counting skills presumably because “reading and mathematics are normally considered the most fundamental of the basic skills to be taught and mastered in early basis education” (Walter & Dekker 2011). Wren (2000:7) stresses that “If children are still struggling with reading skills in the third grade, odds are, they will be struggling the rest of their lives” He goes on to refer to the “Mathew effect;
in reading (this term is adapted from The bible, Mathew 25:29) which , when loosely paraphrased, means “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” (Wren 2000:8). As is the case elsewhere, some children in Uganda join school with already developed skills depending on their parental socio-economic and/or educational st~tus while others, particularly those from rural areas, do not have any, Wren (2000:8) argues that; “Children who lack the foundational skills do not develop those skills early on, their peers leave them behind. At kindergarten and first grade, the gap is surmountable, and teachers can help all children gain foundational skills for reading success. Beyond the first grade, however, the gap becomes increasingly larger. By fourth grade, helping children to gain these foundational skills is time—consuming and usually very frnsfrafing for the child. Worse than that, however, it is also usually unsuccessful”. Wren’s challenging remarks have particular resonance in the case of some rural children in Uganda who attend govenm~ent schools and who do not have a chance to attend pre-school. Bridging the two year gap of their counterparts in private schools is very challenging and in many cases impossible. The assessments alluded to above usually indicate that children from private schools perform better than those in government schools. lie challenges related to reading are not only faced by learners but also by some teachers. In ~0l I assessment by the Uganda National Examinations found that “pupils” weak performance n literacy could have been due to the deficiency in the teachers’ skills to teach, particularly eading, reflected by the teachers’ weak performance in Oral Reading; implying that they ~emselves might not have been taught reading skills. “This remark implies that there are teachers ~ Uganda who are not fully prepared to handle the challenges involved in the teaching ofreading
19 (cf. kyeyune 2012). As the UNEB report suggests, it is difficult for the teachers to properly manage reading when they themselves have some difficulties with reading tests. 2.6 Challenges of thematic curriculum implementation in lower primary classes: Implementation of thematic curriculum requires a lot of endeavors and a thorough survey before it is done, unlike other methods of teaching and learning whereby technical experts is required. Among other things required include teachers with sufficient knowledge, instructional materials, and classroom or school environment. Nevertheless the problems in Uganda may not be planning educational programs or reforming the existing ones but effective implementation to achieve desired income. Effective implementation of the curriculum and competent teachers who understand the inter-disciplinary and thematic arrangements of the subject and moreover the pedagogies to include desirable learning outcomes. Research indicates that, the challenges related to reading hinged on two critical issues; one is that of not making pre-primary schooling compulsory as pointed out earlier, and secondly, the language in education policy which is unevenly implemented. As indicated earlier, the mother tongue policy of 2006/7 allowed rural school to select a dominant local language in the community to be used as language oflearning and teaching (LoLT). However, since then, private schools have faced a problem of “complex multilingualjsi~” within the educational system, in that they teach through English and teach mother tongue as a subject, while government schools teach and use mother tongue in the first three years of primary schooling as required by the national policy (Ssentanda, 2013) schools have found ways of manipulating policy by switching between languages (mother tongues and English). This variation in practice poses a considerable challenge for learners, also possible that this challenge can spill over when it comes to reading words, sentences and, later on, whole texts. One of the first steps to reading is letter and sound identification and naming, (cf. I Hoover & Gough 2000), this is the point at which the challenge of teaching reading in Uganda starts. Traditionally, letters and sounds have been taught differently in Luganda and English. Luganda shares an alphabet with English except for two letters, which Luganda employs in its orthography. In English, sounds, letters have names e.g. bi, for, b, em, for m, ke, for, k, etc. in etc. In sum, all letter names in Luganda have, a, added on to every consonant. Therefore, as ~eachers teach Luganda and English, names, even though the letter looks the same in the )rthography. Che govenrn~ent handbook on NCDC (2016) pages 5, 6, 7 and 8 gives an over view on some of he challenges that may affect the implementat~ion of the thematic curriculum. Comments by takeholders (especially parents) in the curriculum Review recommended Prioritizing literacy
20 and mathematics skills and rejected the use of local language. These basic skills have therefore been brought out within the thematic approach in the lower primary curriculum. The content arrangement in a matrix form where the themes are presented horizontally and crucial learning areas are presented as vertical strands. The matrix also shows how the competences relate and learners, learn more from one another. These becomes a challenge to some teachers to implement such a curriculum. Since the content to cover is too big and wide. The first or familiar language. Wherever possible, the learner should learn in his or her home language or at least a language that is familiar to the pupil. But with the case of Namayingo District, there are people of different ethnicity so they speak different languages and as a result, it affects the thematic curriculum implementation The thematic curriculum is based on evidence that literacy is achieved at a much faster speed when it is acquired in a language in which the pupil already has a strong oral command. For learners with hearing impairment, this should be in sign language. The approach to assessment is one of the most challenges to the implementation of the thematic curriculum. Most teachers have not yet learnt how to assess pupils. Assessment is built into the thematic curriculum. Since the thematic curriculum is based on competences, it is essential that all competences, whatever oral, written or practical, are assessed. This assessment is prima~ for the teacher and other stakeholders to know whether pupils are generally learning and what action needs to be taken to support the pupils. The approach to assessment is “Continuous” and pupils should have as much opportunity as possible to show that they have achieved the competences which is quite tiresome for teachers to carry out continuous assessrnem~t. In comparison of assessment with children’s ability both are narrow based and limited to the original definition of literacy which was meant to be just the ability of knowing to read yet thematic curriculum requires a lot beyond this in broader sense. The national primary school curriculum for Uganda (Teacher’s guide—primary 1 pg2S defines literacy to be the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, use printed and written interest. The handbook further asserts that children should be fully involved in the learning process than is intended to develop nor only their ability to read but also their cognitive and social abilities. This clearly implies integration with other content areas such as science, mathematics, social studies, life skills and values. In addition literacy includes developing a strong conunand of the anguage, children will only become fluent readers if they have first become fluent language isers. This, where a school uses English as the medium, children need to develop story of ~nglish before they can start learning to read in English.
21 In view of choice of language it has not been the practice that the most effective language in the area be used in teaching and learning yet this is very important as it is part of environment. In an area where there is multi—ethnicity there is also multi linguistic. It would then be a thorough scrutiny ofdifferent language used in the area be carried out and choice ofmost popular language be done. It is also out of this that the role of the children is to make choice of the language to be used in the learning which could be given a chance. It is therefore a big challenge on the size of children as well as teachers. 2.6.1 SAMPLE OF OPINION OF SOME STAKEHOLDERS ON THE CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING THEMATIC CURRICULJJM IN UGANDA FROM ‘VISION DAILY NEWS PAPER KAMPALA UGANDA Opportunities Opinion Special Edition Paper Home Education Multilingualism: “A challenge in implementing the thematic curriculum Multilingualism: A challenge in implementing the thematic curriculum By Billy Rwothungeyo Added that many districts are home to people who speak different languages. Wambui Munge, addressing participants during the workshop. Ten years ago, stz~ulated that, Ministry ofEducation introduced the thematic curriculum to enhance learning in lower primajy school (F] to P3). This curriculum provides for the use of local indigenous languages. Public primary schools in urban settings such as Kampala howevei’ are allowed to use English as a medium of instruction because of such areas attract people from different ethnicities and tribes. Districts such as Kiryandongo, Namayingo, Buliisa that are composed of multilingual communities are however posing a unique challenge to the implementation ofthe thematic curriculum. Buliisa distric4 for example, is home to people who speak Lugungu, Alur, Lunyoro, Lunyarwunda among others. In Namayingo, he lamented that “Lusoga has been designated as the local language in Namayingo district and yet many teachers cannot even construct a sentence in Lusoga. Many pupils in the district also do not understand the language,” laments Kibira Amisi, the head teacher of K~iyo Primary School in Namayingo district. Kibiri was speaking last week at workshop on how to improve early learning outcomes for primary and pre-primamy pupils organized by the Center for Education Innovations, an initiative of Results For Development Institute. “The district academic board in Namayingo cannot even set exams in the lusoga, so they end up setting the exams in English. “Elizabeth Bakahuuna, a language tutor at Nakasero Core Primary Teachers’ College shared a similar experience. “When Luruuli had not yet been 2pproved as a language in Nakasongola, we went and tried to teach the children in Luganda. When I went to a school near the lake in Zengebe, I stood to teach and the children could not inderstand me.” “Do not give up” Stella Tumwebaze, the executive director Literacy ai~d Adult
22 Basic Education (LABE) argued that despite a community having d~fferent language speakers, there is usually that one language spoken amongst children in a particular school. It may not necessarily be the mother tongue of a particular child, but the most commonly spoken local language. “When children get out of class, and they are interacting with each othe~~ what language do they use? That should be used (in teachingpupils), “she advised. Tumwebaza urged particzpants to think ofsolutions to the issue. “There is the issue of multi-lingual families will always be there because of intermarriages between tribes and ethnicities, but parents still have to promote the use of at least one local language. “Bakahuuna concurred on the issue ofchildren have a common language duringplay time. “I once went to Murchison Bay Primary Schoo4 a school that is made up qfmainly children ofLuzira prison ~ staff The staff members are from different tribes, but I noticed that during break time, the children communicated with each other in Luganda. At Bombo Barracks Primary
School, the children ofthe soldiers speak Kiswahilj amongst themselves, “ she explained. “It is not a matter offorcingpeople to use a language, but we should have a common understanding. If we the implementers have that attitude offeeling this is d~fflcult, then we are doomed.” Why use oflocal languages is important? At the workshop, particz~ants were given firsthand experience on an early learning tool ki~ which has resources that can be used to aid pupils learn in their local lan~iages. Wambuj Munge, the communications cfflcer at the Resultsfor Development explained why the use oflocal languages was adopted in the early learning tool kits. “The early learning toolkit was developed because we recognized that children are in school but they are not learning. There is a push in the developing world to get more children in schooi but are children getting quality education?” she said during an early learning toolkit workshop organized in Kampala. Research and studies indicate that children learn best in their mother tongue as a prelude to and complement of bilingual and multilingual education. “As measured by test scores and se~f~esteem, children who learn in their mother tongue when they are 6 to S years oldperform better than those instructed in the official language earlier or exclusively. Once a child can read and write in his or her mother tongue, the skills are transferable to other languages.” says a UNICEF report titled
“School Readiness and Transit “. (New Vision, 2018) 2.7 Possible ways of enhancing thematic curriculum in lower primary classes 2.7.1 Teacher’s Role in Lower Classes What educators know about children and how they learn to read and write has changed drastically wer the last few years. Educators consider children to be “blank slates” when they came to ;chool, knowing nothing about reading or writing. They understand that children know a great
23 deal about literacy and have had numerous experiences with literacy events long before they come to school. (Wortharn (1998) has, in fact included among the four roles she delineates a functions of teachers of young children; caretaking, providing emotional support and guidance, instructing and facilitating the care giving role, similar in many ways to the role of the mother, this diminishes as the child gets older. Teachers’ possess advanced knowledge in child development and lower primary classes that they apply when they have to make judgment decisions on a moment. A moment by moment basis and at same time they also share with other professionals the commitment to maintain the high standards set by professionals through its organizations. Clearly, how well you teach children in lower primary classes to read and write in their mother tongue and how you communicate to parents what you’re doing in terms of literacy development of their children in mother tongue will be critical to your success as a teacher. The teacher’s responsibility is to determine what the child knows and then choose the experience that will help the child move along the continuum towards becoming on ever more skilled reader. Several studies have found that adding selected materials to the play environment and guiding their use can encourage children to participate in more literacy activities in their play. Teachers must also intervene to promote literacy activities. Perhaps thinking about what literacy materials could be added to play areas, encouraging children to lay in theme centers where literacy is a natural response to a theme or modeling literacy behaviour in play areas. Anderson (2009) recommended using real literacy objects rather than presented objects, the materials selected should be familiar to the children from their real world experiences Morrow et al (1991) suggest that literacy materials should be kept in clearly marked place that they be changed frequently to keep children’s interest in them high, that teachers model the uses of materials as needed or suggest possible uses when appropriate, and that all levels of development be accepted for the most positive results. The teacher who wanted children to feel successful as literacy learners would provide many opportunities for them to choose their own literacy activities and will help individual children choose tasks that are appropriate. The key was to find the interest of each child and build literacy experiences in mother tongue around it for example if the child is interested in playing trucks in the sand box but shows no interest in words or, books, the teacher should choose some books about trucks construction, vehicles and sand to share with that child and make available for Drowsing in the mother tongue. ~nother option was for the teacher to take dictation as the child tells what he had done that day vith the blocks. The teacher should be sure to read narrative back to the child so he can agree
24 that it says what he said. Teachers should also include this dictation experience in notes to the child’s parent or in completions of class activities in the mother tongue or local language. It was also important that the teacher should not treat reading and writing as the only important activities in which children are involved. Children need to be involved in play, art and music, dance and drama, in the language they know, the teachers must value this experiences for themselves without always taking on a reading or writing component to legitimize the experience. Shared reading as an instructional strategy in which teacher takes primary responsibility for the reading but involves the children actively in the process of using the local language is another important experience that supports young children developing literacy. Shared reading is ofien done with books in a large format and print, which all the group can see in shared reading, the teacher introduces the book by reading the title, showing the children the front of the book and asking them to predict what the story will be about. Ideally, all children would learn to read in their first languages and then to be taught to extend their skills in English. Hadaway et al (2004) urges teachers to be very careful when planning step by step instruction in literacy for bilingual speakers. The concerned teacher will also learn enough about a child’s native language to recognize where the child might have particular difficulties with English. According to Krogh Suzan Suzanne (2008) creativity in lower classes is a major aspect teachers should process. He further asserts that it takes creativity to teach in a physical envirom~ent that is less than ideal or when resources are limited. It takes creativity to teach children from diverse back grounds that might not approach education in the same way. Aiid most of all, it takes creativity to make learning fun. Creativity is a hall mark of an effective lower class teacher. It is the teacher’s role to facilitate and encourage pro-social behaviours, provide necessary assistance and develop social network that supports children in their efforts. Teachers must provide activities that help them understand why the skill is needed (wortham 2000) Teachers should help children make choices and deal with the consequences of their decisions, the teacher’s role is to plan activities that help childrer1 think through a problem. It is also necessary to repeat the learning activity or similar activity several times. Through this repeated step—by step process; children can learn how to identif~r the different choices, apply reasoning Lo the process, and formulate a decision. Teachers need to help children develop negotiating skills :o handle conflict situations. hildren must use social problem solving skills to resolve issues in a matter that benefits them md is acceptable to others. Peer mediation is another strategy used by teachers to negotiate onflicts. Peer leaders are seen by other children as being credible and serve as role models in an
25 enabling environment, children can engage in health literacy activities like regular interaction with information through reading and writing, and through recitation and other forms of expression, in doing so they will pick healthy literacy habits from adult modals to whom they are always apprenticed. 2.7.2 Children’s ability in acquiring language Although we do not have all the answers about language acquisition, there are many theories that help explain how babies learn to speak. Knowing how language is acquired has strong implications for providing environments that promote language and writing skills development. The behaviourist assisted us in understanding how language is acquired. Although behaviourjsin does not present the total picture, it still offers id~as about language acquisition that ought to be considered for instruction. B. F. Skinner (1957) defined language as the observed and produced speech that occurs in the interaction of speaker and listeners. Thinking, he said, is the internal process of language, both language and thought are initiated through interactions in the enviromilent, such interactions a between parent which provide a language model that children learn through imitation. The child’s acquisition of languag.~ is enhanced and encouraged by the positive reinforcement of an adult. As a child builds an oral vocabulary, he or she tries words more frequently; children will point to a toy and name it. While playing with a “ball”, a child may say the word ball over and over again. The attentive parent now reinforces the child’s words by extending and expanding the original language. According to Piaget, Children develop through their activity. Children realization of the word is tried to their actions or their sensory experiences in the environjnent~ According to this theory, children’s first words are egocentric or centered in their own actions. Children talk about themselves and about what they do, their early languages as well as their general development relates to action, objects and events they have experienced through touching, hearing, seeing, tasting and smelling. Research indicates that reading to a child benefits the child’s acquisition of reading ability. It aids development of literacy skills, increases interest in books and in learning to read, enhances background information sense of story structure, and familiarizes children with language of books as opposed to oral language. [n recent time, a greater improvement of language development has been achieved. Children ~vho demonstrate most of the development traits are ready for language acquisition in nstructional settings. They should continue to hear good models of language. They need
26 continued opportunities to use language in social situations with adults and other children. Their oral language production must be reinforced positively. They must be actively involved in meaningful experiences that will expand their knowledge and interest in the world around them. Lower primary school teachers should provide an environment in which language will flourished. They should organize centers of learning for each content area that include materials for encouraging language as a science center, for instance, can include animals, plants and many others activities for fun to children watch and handle, Children need opportunities to use such areas for interacting with each other and the teacher should give them enough time to touch, smell, taste, listen, talk about what they are doing. Exploring and experimenting with the materials in the centers are creative, imaginative, problem solving and decision making experiences in which children use language development of different content provide sources for language use and development. The literacy center is devoted primarily to language development. Each new unit of instruction offers specific language experiences that extend vocabulary, syntax, pronunciation, and ability to understand others and to be understood. The suggestions that follow each time a new unit of instruction is initiated reflect or describe activities designed to aid language growth in early childhood classrooms. The teacher acts as facilitators, instructor and model for language development, the teacher facilitates language development through setting up the indoor and outdoor environments to support children’s play. Opportunities to develop oral and written literacy are encouraged through the availability of materials for creative expression, construction play, motor play and dramatic play and these opportunities to extend play and language are afforded through observation of children’s language during play. The teacher suggests ways to extend dramatic play themes, and the teacher models how to increase language and written literacy experiences into play episodes.
2.7.3 Literacy promotion in lower primary classes Literacy has been defined as the ability to use language in written as opposed to Roal Mode Parry 2000 (0:59). The term emergent literacy acknowledges, that learning to read and write (in other words, to become literate) is a dynamic, ongoing, emerging process. Children develop this understanding of reading and writing through a supportive literate environment, starting at home and furthered in the classroom programme. For decades, many researchers, educators and Darents operate under the assumption that learning to read and write were processes that began ~‘ith formal school —based instruction, in kindergarten or first grade (Hammon L. et al (1997), oday however, there is broad consensus among researchers that the development precursors of
27 formal reading and writing (i.e. emergent literacy) emerge during the preschool years, Unfortunately, millions of children grow up in home environment which fail to provide the support needed to foster children’s early literacy development (Brewer 2004). Children who do not receive adequate support from parents and other adults in the home environment must depend on outside sources as lower primary classes to fill the gap. Emergent literacy skills are early skills developed before a child enters formal schooling which are precursors to the development of conventional literacy skills; emergent literacy in gradual process that takes place over time from birth until a child can read and write. Numerous short and long term studies examining children’s developmental progress while attending lessons in lower classes indicates that preschool education in a variety of forms can in fact play a significant role in helping children develop essential language and literacy skills. However the impact of such programmes appears to be influenced by a variety of factors including the quality of the child care environment, teacher training, effectiveness, socioeconomic status of the child’s family, level of parental involvement, amount of time spent each day and week in the programme and overall length of enrollment in the programme. The centers are alTanged with materials that permit children to work on projects which express well as in dramatic play including puppetry and story reenactment. Some of the activities that can be experienced in learning centers are selected by children in their own, planned by the teacher and may involve the teacher’s direction or indirect facilitation. When considering use of the environment for language development, steps are taken to make the total area “print rich”
According to Leu et al (1999) , the term print rich environment implies that print should be everywhere in the fonn of labels, lists, signs, charts and posters, print materials are avail. Literacy like oral language emerges in a natural way that does not require formal teaching to prompt interests. What it needs is a language rich in the environment to encourage its development. Literacy is best promoted in the context of a whole language approach, one in which high quality oral and print language surrounds children. Children can observe others using literacy skills and they are encouraged to experience with forms of language. Such an approach integrates all forms of communication including speaking, listening, writing, reading, art, music and math. (International Reading Association, 1986) In recent years, several efforts have been undertaken to synthesize important research on Dhildren’s emergent literacy development, with the goal ofproviding educators and parents with ~esearch based instructional strategies for enhancing children’s literacy experiences during their )reschool years. Two of the most comprehensive syntheses were released in 1998 that is, the ~Jational Research council’s in 1998 presenting Reading Difficulties in young children (SNOW
28 Burns and Graffin, 1998) and the Joint Position Statement of IRA and the NAEY on early literacy. In both of the above syntheses, the authors recommended that educators employ a range of strategies to facilitate children’s early literacy development strategies that have been shown to be effective at promoting children’s early literacy development which include reading aloud to children in an interactive style (Brewer 2001) fostering children’s understanding of print concepts. ~.A/hi1e all of the above strategies have been shown to be effective, many experts contend that the simple most important teaching strategy for promoting children’s early literacy development across multiple domains (e.g. vocabulary growth, print awareness) is reading aloud to children in an interactive style that engages them as ac~tive learners when children are encouraged to become active participants rather than passive listeners, they are more likely to experience improvements in their vocabularies and comprehension abilities (Karen Menke 2012) Despite the availability of the learning framework, teachers of nursery do not use it. The researcher expects that each learning center to use the general learning framework. In addition, the learning environment is not conducive for promoting literacy development. That is, teachers are required to design and make the learning centers that enhance literacy development with an interaction of pupils with learning materials like textbooks, print media and any other non-text book reading materials which aid learning. The contribution of thematic learning towards broad achievement of knowledge and skills depends on the advantages it has over other learning methods. For example, the inter-dependency of disciplines and their roles in bringing about the understanding of life and the real world. Borrowing from Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development, the adults or other parents in a child’s world provide scaffolding to help children learn new information and develop more complex abilities. For example a child who cannot solve a mathematical problem might do it with little help or guidance from his teacher. The zone of proximal development is the distance between a child being able to do it all by himself and doing it with some scaffolding or help from outside. Thematic learning bridges the gap as they work in groups and at the same time learning from one another. The zone of proximal development, which is the distance between a child being able to do it all by himself can also come about as the result of anxiety, hence having negative attitude, and (Hembere, 1990) observed that children with negative attitudes towards mathematics have performance problems because they develop anxiety. The same can happen with any other $ubject. Fear and negative attitudes towards subject occur in learning process because children ire not part and parcel of what is being learnt and entirely the learning environment.
29 As for thematic learning, a child owns the learning process as what is to be learnt is developed or generated by them. It then follows that curriculum should be flexible enough in order to meet the need of the individual child, however, the existing practice ofpreparation of curriculum does not allow teachers to involve and participate in the preparation. In every class there must be a need for high degree of flexibility in order to adapt the learning environment to all pupils’ level of mastery, learning possibilities and barriers (Johnsen, 2001). The thematic learning is not like the old fashioned method of teaching which was teacher centered, that is teachers are expected to explain, demonstrate, illustrate, give detailed notes and the students have minimal participation in the teaching and learning process (Dean, 1982). Whereas thematic learning engages children in the learning process. Engagement and motivation are critical elements in student success and learning. Engaged pupils learn more and retain more, and enjoy learning activities more than pupils who are not engaged (Akey, 2006). Thematic learning gives extraordinary training to children, not only academically but also how to become good public speakers. Old fashioned ofteaching and learning does not attract students. Now as leaders through thematic curriculum, can implement a combination or various teaching styles to attract their students and make them understand the subject with interest. Contrary to this, teacher in general place heavy reliance on the books and regular testing, which makes the pupils value only those activities that would contribute to their end of year grade (Barne, 2001) The major theme in learning is planning and choosing activity. It has been established that when children plan to curry out and review their non-learning activities, their behaviour is more purposeful and they perform better on language and other intellectual measures (Sylva, 1992 and them Rodered, and leserran, 2000) planning and carrying out the review of learning by children themselves, has been found to be an effective strategy for conflict resolution hence clearing the doubts about what has been learnt and what has not been learnt. The children become judges of their own and can suggest ways forward. Engaging children in planning and reflection makes them more actors following prescribed roles which turns them more than mere artists and scientists who make things happen and create meaning for themselves and others. As you implement the strategies suggested here, you will discover that the complexity of children’s planning and reflection parallels the development of their play. Young children play in simple ways for short periods of time. As the school year progress, the play become more elaborative in its use of materials, the language and range of 3ocial interactions it also last longer and is more likely to be resumed at a later point. Similarly thildren’ s plans reflect the growing depth and range of their interactions. In fact sometimes just elling the story of what they intend to do is as satisfying as actually carrying it out.
30 L1~L39’c~S Likewise children’s’ ability to remember and explain what happened during play becomes increasing intricate. Their speculation may not even be limited to what occurred during class but may extend to related events on people at home or in other settings. Observing and tracking these changes allows teachers a window into how children think about their surroundings. The impact of their actions and the implications of the past and present for their subsequent behavior (Beyoing the Journal, 2003) Planning and reflection thus involves decision making and problem solving. They encourage children to take the initiative in pursuing their interests’ causing a sense of control over the environment and one’s ability to transform it. As children make plans and review the experiences they enhance their predictive and analytical abilities, harness, self-regulatory mechanisms and develop a sense of responsibility for themselves and the choice they make. By encouragi~g these twin process expressing intentions and evaluating actions can equip young children with the thinking skills they need for later schooling and adult life. 2.7.4 SUGESTIONS OF ENHANCING THEMATIC CURRICULUM
“Do not give up”
Stella Tumwebaze, the executive directo, Literacy and Adult Basic Education (LABE) argued that despite a community having different language speakers, there is usually that one language spoken amongst children in a particular school. It may not necessarily be the mother tongue ofa particular chilc~ but the most commonly spoken local language. “When children get out ofclass, and they are interacting with each othei~ what language do
they use? That should be used (in teachingpupils), “she advised. Tumwebaza urgedparticzpants to think ofsolutions to the issue. “There is the issue of multi-lingual families will always be there because of intermarriages be~veen tribes and ethnicities, but parents still have to promote the use of at least one local language. “Bakahuuna concurred on the issue qfchildren have a common language duringplay time. “I once went to Murchison Bay Primamy SchOo~ a school that is made up ofmainly children of Luzira prison ~ staff The staffmembers arefrom d~erent tribes, but I noticed that during break time, the children communicated with each other in Luganda. At Bombo Barracks Primary ~chool~ the children of the soldiers speak Kiswahili amongst themselves,” she explained. “It is wt a matter offorcingpeople to use a language, but we should have a common understanding.
31 Ifwe the implementers have that attitude offeeling this is d~fJicult, then we are doomed.” (New Vision, 2018) The above suggestions proper by the stakeholders if adopted can enhance thematic curriculum implementation in the lower primary schools in Uganda.
32 CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGy
3.0 Introduction This chapter presents the methodology of the study which includes; research design, population of the study, sampling strategy, sample size, study instruments, data processing and analysis among others. 3.1 Research design The research design used in this study was Descriptive Survey involving both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Qualitative and quantitative approaches deal with facts, figures and measurements and produce data that can readily be analyzed. The facts and figures were entirely illustrating the challenges of the thematic curriculum implementation in lower primary classes. 3.2 Target population of the study The population of the study was 355 comprising of 225 pupils, 100 teachers, 10 head teachers and 20 parents from Buhemba Sub County, Namayingo district. 3.3 Sample size To determine the sample size the researcher used slovin’s formula that is cited by Altares (2003) in his book, Elementary Statistics. A modern approach as shown below:
N Where N = study population 1 ± N (e)2
n = sample size
(e)2 = constant figure (0.05)2 Hence, 355 n 1+3 55 (0.05)2
355 — 1+355 (0.0025)
355 n = 1+0.888
355 1.888
33 n= 188 Thus, the sample size of the study was 188 respondents. To obtain the sample size proportion for the study, the fon-nula below was used: N1 N nj= sample size proportion N1~ population size proportion N= population size n= sample size 1- 225/355x188= 119 2- 100/355x188=53 3- lO/355x188~=5 4- 2O/355x188=11 Thus, the sample size proportions of the study were 119 pupils, 53 teachers, 5 Head teachers and 11 parents. 3.4 Sampling strategy In order to do away with bias, the Systematic Random Sampling was used to select pupils and teachers for the study from a list obtained from the school autho~tjes while the Pu~osive sampling technique was also used to select the head teachers and parents who participated in the study. Purposive was used because for any parent to participate in the study he or she had to have a child attending schools while the head teachers were selected pui~osely because of their positions as heads of their schools.
34 3.5 Source of data The researcher employed both primary and secondary data sources 3.5.1 Primary data Primary data is data gathered for the first time by the researcher; or is originated and is collected specifically for the problem under investigation. According to Roston (2001), primary data is that kind of data that has been g~thered for the first time, it has never been reported anywhere. Primary data for this study was collected using questionnaires. 3.5.2 Secondary data Secondary data is data taken by the researcher from secondary sources, internal or external. Roston (2001) defines secondary data as that kind of data that is available, already reported by some other scholars. Secondary sources of data for this study were textbooks and articles in which other similar researchers reported the results of their research based on their primary data. Secondary data was collected from existing literature by authors who have written about the variables of the as well as policy documents, abstracts of various scholars and archived reports. 3.6 Instruments of the study Self-designed closed ended questionnaire, Structured Interview Guide as well as experimental tests were the instruments for data collection used for the study. 3.6.1 Questionnaire Self-designed closed ended questionnaire involving Likert’s scale of Strongly Agree (SA) value 4, Agree (A) value 3, Disagree (D) value 2 and Strongly Disagree (SD) having the value of 1 as well options of Always, Sometimes and Never was used to gather quantitative data from the teachers. The questionnaire questions concentrated on the extent to which thematic curriculum was implemented (see appendix A). 3.6.2 Structured Interview Guide One on One interview using the Structured Interview Guide designed was conducted with some selected teachers, parents and head teachers. The interviews concentrated mainly on the challenges facing the implementation of thematic curriculum in schools. This tool was used because of its advantages over the other instruments especially to probe for particular responses, on-spot clarification, and gathering deeper and personal information from the respondents (see appendix B).
35 3.6.3 Experimental test Experimental test was also conducted on the pupils in order to determine the extent of their comprehension of thematic lessons. The test was comprised of questions designed mainly for the study (see appendix C). 3.7 Validity of the instruments To ensure validity of the research instruments, Content Validity was used where by the questionnaire was subjected to scrutiny by 3 academics in the field to rate the validity of the questions after which the Content Validity Index (CVI) was calculated as follows: ~øtal n~’mber of questions declared valid Total number of questions in the questionnaire
l6/20~ 0.8
Hence the CVI was 0.8
According to Amin (2005), CVI of up to 0.7 and above are considered valid thus, the questionnaire was considered valid.
Similarly, all the experimental test questions were also subjected to scrutiny by academics In the field before implementatjo~~
3.8 Reliability of the instruments In order to ensure reliability of the research instruments, the Test Retest method was used. For the study questionnaires, 20 sets were administered on 20 teachers and the responses were recorded. After 10 days, 20 sets of the questionnaire were administered for the second time on the same teachers whose responses were also recorded. Comparison of the responses showed significant similarities hence, the instrument was considered reliable. In case of the experiment test questions, the test was administered on 40 pupils prior to the actual study exercise whose marks were recorded. Same pupils were tested for the second after two weeks with the same questions and their marks recorded which on comparison with the marks recorded during the first test were found to very much similar thus, the test questions were considered to be reliable.
3.9 Documentary analysis Relevant documents with the study were reviewed purposely to collect additional information to help beef-up the findings of the study. Such documents can be newspapers, university magazines md journals, researched information and published
36 3.10 Procedure for data collection All questionnaires, One on One interview, Experimental tests as well as focus group discussions were self-administered To administer the experimental test, the pupils were divided into four different groups in order to ensure a valid examination. Some members of staff assisted in the administration of the tests and invigilation. 3.11 Ethical considerations To ensure ethical conduct, the letter of introduction obtained from the University was presented at all places necessary. Consents of all respondent who participated in the study were sought first and data collected was used only for the purpose of the study. Similarly, to avoid plagiarism, all quoted works were properly cited and well referenced. 3.12 Limitations of the study It was anticipated that the study may be affected by some problems. Hence being a new phenomenon Also in rural schools, children in lower primary do not have any foundation to be able to suggest what topic to study about. In addition, the language to be used may also be a problem. Learning in local language have not yield any results as in primary seven children write the Primary Leaving Examination in English. Other limitations of this study included the costs of movement and hardships in location for reaching the respondents; among others 3.13 Delimitations The success of the study depended on the strnctu~e of the questionnaire and the interview guide as instruments of the study. It also depended on the approach that will be applied by the researchers and his assistants. As a foundation to establish good primary classes, in the future, the government is concerned and other interested parties were advised to establish nursery schools in rural areas. With the costs of the research the researcher made prior budget before commencing the research from one school to the other and the change of the environment when it rains, the researcher made sire that he carries out research activity during the dry season.
37 CHAPTER FOUR PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND iNTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS 4.0 Introduction This chapter presents an analysis of the data gathered from both qualitative and quantitative approaches using questionnaire, interviews, experimental test and focus group discussions. 4.1 Demographic characteristics of the teachers These findings were described in terms of age, gender, marital status, level of education and working experience as shown below: Table 4. 1: Demographic characteristics of the teachers
e~j~nden~ Responses 2O-29yrs
3O-39yrs
38 The findings in the table above indicates the age of respondents, sex of respondents, Marital status of the respondents, Educational level of the respondents and level of experience of respondents given in frequency and percentage 4.2 Analysis: In line with the objectives of the study, the analysis will be presented in three parts and according to the research questions viz; thematic curriculum implemented in lower primary classes in Namayingo district, challenges facing the implementation of thematic curriculum in lower classes in Namayingo District and possible ways of enhancing thematic curriculum implementation in lower primary classes in Namayingo District. 4.3 Research question one: Is thematic curriculum impleniented in lower primary classes in Namayingo district? To find out if thematic curriculum is implemented in lower primary classes in Naniayingo district. The first objective was to establish if thematic curriculum is implemented in lower primary classes from P.1 — P.3 in Namayingo district. To measure this, the respondents (teachers) were asked to indicate the activities they carry out to promote early literacy in the lower classes based on the self-designed questionnaire. The result is indicated in the table below.
39 Table 4. 2: Teaching phonemic sounds
As regard to table 4.2, results indicate that the respondents strongly agreed that they teach phonemic sounds to the learners with a percentage of 18.9% while the remaining 45.3% just agreed with the fact. However, 18.9% and 17.0% of them disagreed with the fact. The possible cause why the teachers teach phonemic sounds could be because sounds enable the learners to read and write correctly. The findings revealed that there are a number of activities done to promote language and literacy in lower classes. These include teaching phonemic sounds, writing short stories; shared reading, spelling exercises, arranging classroom environments into centers of learning, play, and role play activities. Table 4. 3: Provide materials for creative expressions
~ SA 16 30.2
D 10 18.9
Total 53 100.0
For provision of materials in creative expression, the findings revealed that majority of the teachers provide materials for creative expressions; 30.2% strongly agreed, 37.7% agreed. However, 18.9% and 13.2% of the respondent disagreed. The possible cause for the provision of materials for creative expression could be attributed to the cost of materials which are not very expensive and are readily available.
40 Table 4. 4: Teaching learners the use of varied syntactic structures
The above table revealed that majority with 28.3% and 47.2% strongly agreed and agreed respectively while 13.2% and 11.3% disagreed while the 10.0% strongly disagreed. The possible cause of this could be due to their level of education (certificate level) which minimizes their varied syntactic structure use. Table 4. 5: Teaching how to write short stories
~ SA 19 35.8
D 13 24.5 _~i3 Total 53 100.0
Table 4.5 showed indicated how learners are taught how to write short stories. Findings about that activity revealed that the majority of the respondents (40%) agreed that they teach learners how to write stories while 35.8% strongly agreed that they so. Only 24.5% of the teachers disagreed.
41 Table 4. 6: Carrying out shared reading with the pupils
Table 4.6 shows the respondents’ responses on carrying out shared reading with the pupils. The results indicated that majority of the respondents carry out shared reading with their pupils (45.35) while another 40.0% also strongly agreed. However, 11.3% and 1.9% of the teachers disagreed that they do carry out shared reading with their pupils. Table 4. 7: Teachers do give learners spelling exercises ~
Total 100.0
The above table indicates responses on whether teachers give spelling exercises to the learners. The findings of that activity revealed that 45.3% of the respondents strongly agreed that they do give spelling exercises to their pupils while 54.7% also agreed that they do so. The possible reason for this could be that spelling exercises help learners to read and also write words easily.
42 Table 4. 8: Class environments arranged into centers of learning and play
Table 4.8 shows whether respondents arrange the classroom enviromylent in centers of learning and play. As far as that is concerned, the findings showed that 45.30% of the respondents strongly agreed about arranging classes into learning centers and play while the 43.40% agreed, only 11.3% disagreed. The could be attributed to the fact that the centers of learning and play enable learners to interact a lot more with the concrete materials in those around them. Table 4. 9: Learners are taught picture description and writing
~ SA 28 52.8 A
_i5~ -~
Total 53 100.0
Table 4.9 indicates whether the learners are taught picture description and writing in the class room. The results showed that all the respondents agreed that they teach learners picture description and writing with 52.8% SA and 47.2% A. No responded disagree.
4~ Table 4. 10: Teachers do engage learners in role play activities
~
The above table shows whether learners are engaged in role play activities by their teachers. The findings about this activity revealed that all the respondents 51.0% and 49.0% strongly agreed or just agreed with the fact that they do engage their pupils in role paly activities. None of the respondents disagreed. Table 4. 11: Teachers do teach their pupils’ familiar sounds ~
Total
Table 4.11 shows responses on whether learners are taught familiar sounds by their teachers. The
findings showed that the majority of the respondents (51.0%) strongly agreed that they do so while 43.4% of them just agreed. Only 5.7% of the teachers disagreed. The possible reason for teaching familiar sounds could be that such sounds accelerated reading and writing of words and sounds. According to the activities identified above, the results showed that the most commonly used activities included shared reading, story writing, spelling exercises and role play. Similarly, the respondents were also asked this question: What measures do you take to ensure that thematic curriculum is fully implemented? For convenience, the responses of the head teachers were summarized as follows: we make sure that teachers always follow the curriculum as expectea~ teachers make use of the relevant teaching aids in teaching thematic lessons, teachers always write their lesson plans correctly and the right teaching methods are employed ~n teaching the young kids. Since bulk of the responsibility of ensuring that thematic curriculum
.5 well implemented in schools, the head teachers were asked the question; how do you ensure
44 that teachers abide by the curriculum spelt out for their subjects? Reactions ofthe particzpants to this question were summarized as follows: We as managers of the schools make sure that teachers abide by the laid down syllabusfor every subject and write lesson plans before teaching,
we t.’y to see that all the teaching and materials required in the school were supplied by the government. Besides, teachers were only allowed to teach subjects they specialize in and effective learners’ evaluation methods were always ensured.
Pupils Comprehension of Thematic Lessons
This activity was conducted in order to assess the extent to which the pupils comprehend thematic lessons taught to them. To achieve this, an experimental test comprising of 10 questions was administered on them. The test was marked over 100% for every participant. Scores from the marked papers indicated that, the level of the comprehension was found to be average because the majority of the pupils (69, 57.9%) scored less than 50% while 50, 42.0% scored more than 50% (see appendix F). The mean value and standard deviation of the pupils’ marks was computed in SPSS Version 20 and found to be 44.18 ±16.16.
Valid 119 Missing 0 Mean 44.1849 Std. Deviation 16.16125
Table 4. 12: Pupils Comprehension of Thematic Lessons
45 Parents Participation in assisting their Children towards Comprehension of Thematic Lesson
To achieve this, a focus group discussion was organized for the parents selected to participate in this study. They were assembled at place to conduct the discussions. Firstly, they were asked the, do you attend Parents Teachers Association meetings at schools where your kids study? In response, 7 out of the 11 parents stated that they do attend PTA meetings whenever they were invited but the remaining 4 stated that they had never attended such meetings. Secondly, the parents were asked the question, are you able to provide your children with the basic learning materials required in school? In response, 66% of them stated that they hardly provide their kids with all the learning materials required in school but do some times give them money to buy exercise books. However, a good number of them claimed that they always provided their kids with school materials whenever they were instructed to do so.
Meanwhile, in order to assess how the parents keep track of the movements of their kids, they were asked the question, how do you make sure that your children attend schools regularly and stay throughout school hours at the school? Witl~ respect to this, it was found that only 34.8% of the parents stated that were always concerned about the movement of their kids in and out of schools to the extent that they even go to the schools themselves to check if the kids wer~present in the schools. The remaining parents stated that they were so busy to monitor the performance of their kids at schools saying that they spent most of their times at working places. Besides, in order to find out if the parents were concerned about the performance of their kids at schools, they were askeed the question, do you care to find out from schools the progress of your children? In response to this question, the majority of them 56.5% stated that yes they do track the progress of their children in schools especially by checking their exercise books and making sure that they always do their home works. ~ addition, they stated that they care to check their children’s’ examination reports at the end of every term or semester.
When asked how do you assist your children in doing their homework? The majority of the parents 56.5% stated that they normally don’t assist the kids in doing their home works but instruct their senior brothers and sisters to assist them. ‘While some stated that they don’t do so because they were illiterates, few claimed that they always assist their kids in doing home works given to them at school especially at nights. However, when asked do you take measures to ensure that your children are taught what the need to be taught? An overwhelming response of ~O was given by 88.5% of the parents stating that they normally make that they enroll their kids
46 into good schools where they were expected to be taught well but don’t normally take any measures to ensure that the schools teach the kids what they were supposed to be taught. Based on the analysis above, it is established that, thematic curriculum is being implemented in Namayingo District. Teachers and pupils are already committed to teaching and learning using thematically curriculum instructions. 4.4 RESEARCH QUESTION TWO: Is there any challenge facing the implementation of thematic curriculum in lower classes in Namayingo District? Challenges facing the implementation of thematic curriculum in lower classes in Namayingo District. In order to answers the second objective of the study which was to determine the challenges militating against the full implementation of thematic curriculum in lower primary schools, the head teachers were subjected to one on one inteiyiew. It was believed that head teachers being the managers of activities in these schools were in a better position to provide the required information on the challenges being faced in the implementation of thematic curriculum in lower primary schools.
To solicit answers to this study objective, the KITs were also asked the question, what are the challenges facing the effective implementation of thematic curriculum in schools? To answer this question, the participants’ responses were summarized as follows: although the teachers do their possible bests to make sure that thematic curriculum were well implemente~ their efforts were being obstacle by some challenges such as lack ofsufficient learning materials such as textbooks and teaching aids, socioeconomic status oft/ic learners, poor subject mastery on the part of the teachers, use ofpoor teaching methods by teachers, lukewarm attitudes of school Management among intermarriages from different ethnicity were among the challenges facing thematic implementatiomi
Based on the analysis above, it is revealed that, teachers do their possible bests to make sure that thematic curriculum were well implemented, their efforts were being obstacle by some challenges such as lack of sufficient learning materials, textbooks and teaching aids, socioeconomic status of the learners, poor subject mastery on the part of the teachers, use ofpoor teaching methods by teachers, lukewarm attitudes of school Management and lack of adequate facilities for teaching and learning of thematic curriculum as identified by the respondents,
47 4.5 RESEARc~j QUESTION THREE: What are the possible ways of enhancing thematic curriculum implementation in lower primary classes in Namayingo District? Determining strategies for enhancing implementation of thematic curriculum in lower classes To measure this, the respondents, were asked to indicate how often they carry out literacy activities to promote language and literacy in the tables below: Table 4. 13: Arrangement of the classroom environment into centers for learning and play
Table 4.13 indicates how often the classroom enviromnents are arranged into centers for learning by the teachers and results of that activity showed that the majority of the respondents 64.2% stated that they sometin-ies arrange the classroom environments into centers of learning and play while 22.6% stated that they always do so. Only 13.2% of them claimed that they never arrange the classroom into centers of learning. Table 4. 14: Encourage learners to spell words
Table 4.14 indicates whether the respondents encourage learners to spell words correctly. As regard to the activity, the majority of the respondents (58.5%) stated that they sometimes encourages the learners while 41.5% of the teachers stated that they always do so. None responded by the option of Never. The possible reason for that could be that spelling exercise ~elps learners to the reading and writing of word.
48 Table 4. 15: Carry out shared reading with pupils
Table 4.15 showed whether teacher’s carryout shared reading with pupils. The result about that activity revealed that the majority of the respondents (56.6%) stated that they do that sometimes while another 35.8% stated that they always do that in their classes. Only 7.5% of the teachers stated that they never do that. This could be attributed to the fact that reason why some never carryout shared reading could be because the teachers see it as wastage of time. Table 4. 16: Encourage learners to write full sentences
Responses Frequency Percent Always 30 56.6 Sometimes 4
The table above is about how often respondents encourage learners to write full sentences. The findings indicated that the majority of them (56.6%) stated that they always do it while 43.4% stated that they sometimes do it. None responded by statin never. This could be as a result that writing full sentences promotes language and literacy faster since reading and writing are identical because as children write, they integrate knowledge of reading with that of writing.
49 Table 4. 17: Give learners reading games
Table 4.17 is about how often the respondents give learners reading games. The results about that activity showed that the majority of the respondents (56.6%) sometimes do it while 28.3% stated that they always do that in their classes. Only 15.1% stated that they never do that in their classes, Major reason for that could be due to the fewer materials for the reading games and also, some teachers say that reading games are just a waste of time. Table 4. 18: Respond and interact with learn~rs in their mother tongue
Responses Frequency Ti~~nt Always 6 1L3 Sometimes 16 30.2 Never 31 58.5 Total 53 100.0
Table 4.18 indicates how often respondents interact with learners in English and mother tongue. The results about this activity showed that the majority of the respondents (58.5%) stated that they never interact with their pupils in their mother tongues while another 30.2% stated that they sometimes do that. However, 11.3% of the teachers stated that they always interact with the pupils in their mother tongues.
50 Table 4. 19: Teach learners phonemic sounds
Table 4.19 above shows how ofien the respondents teach phonemic sounds to their pupils. The findings showed that the biggest percentage (71.7%) sometimes teach phonemic sounds while (28.3%) stated that they always do so. None of the teachers was found not teaching phonemic sounds to the learners. Teaching of sounds helps learners to read even difficult more difficult words and also how to write them. Table 4. 20: Encourage learners to use varied syntactic structures
Responses Frequency Percent Always 23 43.4
52.8
Table 4.20 above shows how often the teachers encourage learners to use varied syntactic structures. The findings revealed that the majority of the respondents (52.8%) stated that they sometimes do that while 43.4% claimed that they do always encourage learners to use varied syntactic structhres. However, 3.8% of the teachers stated that they never encouraged learners to use the varied syntactic structures.
51 Table 4. 21: Engage learners in imaginative writing
Table 4.21 indicates how often the respondents engage learners in imaginative writing. The findings showed that a good number of the respondents (22.6%) stated that they sometimes engage learners in that activity, while another 22.6% stated that they do always do that in their classes. However, the majority of them 54.7% never engage the learners in such activities. The possible cause for the highest percentage of the respondents failing to engage learners in the imaginative writing could be attributed to the nature and method of teaching. The teachers assume that imaginative writing is a waste of time for the people. Table 4. 22: Ask learners to narrate and write interesting stories Responses Frequency ~ Always 18 34.0 Sometimes 30 56.6 Never 5 9.4 Total 53 100.0
From the table 22 above, it can be seen that the majority ofthe respondents (56.6%) do sometimes ask learners to narrate and write interesting stores while those teachers who always do that constituted 34.0%. Besides, 9.4% of them never do that. The possible reason and cause for the big percentages in agreement with that fact could be because kids enjoy and attend to narrative stories being told in the classroom more. Furthermore, the interview participants were as asked the question: what strategies can be used to enhance the implementation of thematic curriculum in lower primary classes? In their responses to the question which were summarized here, the head teachers who were the participants in the One on One interview stated that: In order to enhance the good implementatjon of thematic curriculum in schools, these strategies could be employed: recruitment of only qualified teachers, provision of sufficient teaching and learning materials, effective supervision
52 of teaching and learning processes, proper use of teaching methods and aids, provision of training, capacity building as well as sensitization workshops for teachers and so on.
Based on the analysis above, it is revealed that, the possible ways of enhancing thematic curriculum implemented in Namayingo District are through the effective method of thematically curriculum instructions analysed in the tables above as activities oriented in the areas of spelling exercises, shared reading, teaching phonemic sounds, interacting with learners in English as well as encouraging the learners to write full sentences. Other ways were that, managers of the schools make sure that teachers abide by the laid down syllabus for every subject and write lesson plans before teaching, teaching and materials required in the school were supplied by the government, teachers were only allowed to teach subjects they specialize in and that effective learners’ evaluation methods were always ensured.
53 CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Findings 5.1.1 To determine the extent to which thematic curriculum is implemented Findings made by this study particularly in respect of the first objective which was to determine the extent to which thematic curriculum in lower primary schools is implemented showed that, at the schools level, the teachers did employ of activities to achieve that. Since the sole responsibility of implementing the said curriculum largely rests with the teachers so, the extent to which it is implemented will also be determined by the extent to which stipulations of the curriculum are executed by the teachers in their classes. In fact, this study revealed a number of activities employed by teachers with regards to thematic lessons through the promotion of
language and literacy promotion. These included shared reading, spelling exercise, role — play activities arranging centers into learning and play as well as teaching phonemic sounds. The majority of the teachers stated that they make use of the ten activities slated in the questionj-~ajr~~ It should be noted that thematic lessons especially at lower primary classes can sei~e as the foundation for better academic performance in upper classes. Kateeba (2009), posits that, a thematically organized curriculum was preferred to subject-based curriculum because children at an early age cannot differentiate one subject from another and that through thematic curriculum children learn all the content in a holistic manner. However, in spite its numerous advantages, some teachers do oppose it. Nevertheless, this curriculum has been contested by teachers who argue that it is shallow, overloaded, poorly structured and that they received hurried and superficial training prior to its implementation (Altinyelken, 2010; Ssentanda, 2013). Mother tongue plays a major role in the success of thematic lessons hence; the respondents (teachers) were asked in the questionnaire on whether they interact with their pupils in their mother tongues, the majority of them stated that they don’t. The scores obtained by the respondents (pupils) in the experimental test administered on them was found to be low mean value (44.1849±16.16125); this could be attributable to failure of the teachers to consider factors such as the use of pupils mother as essential factors in the success of thematic lessons in primary schools. Piper (2010), reported on Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) assessments involving both mother tongue and English. The assessment covered, letter naming fluency, letter sound fluency, syllable reading fluency, phonological awareness, oral reading, familiar word fluency, connected text oral reading, familiar word fluency, connected text oral reading fluency and reading ~omprehension in connected text. This report shows that children in the central region are
54 quicker at identifying sounds in their mother tongue than in English. However, when placed in an international context, the level of performance of learners’ in Uganda was below the regional level for East Africa and below international levels. In addition, comprehension levels were reported to be close to zero in English. The low performance of the pupils might not be only obtainable in the district where this study was conducted. Two reports produced by a private NGO (Uwezo 2010, 2011) presented a review of the English literacy skills of children in East Africa. It also revealed low levels of literacy in the Ugandan context; “Overall at least one out of every five (21%) of all the class P3 children sampled across the country could not even recognize letters of the English alphabet; and only 7% could read and understand an English story text of class P2 level was difficulty. Almost one out of every five (17%) of all the class P7 children could not read and understand an English story text of class P2 level difficulty.” (Uwezo 2011:14). Another report by UNEB (Uganda National Examinations Board 2010) also confirmed the low levels ofliteracy acquisition among primary school children, not only in local languages but also in English. Similar findings were reported by the (Mango Tree Lano literacy project (Mango Tree Lano literacy Project 2010) this study was carried out in the Lano sub—region (Northern part of Uganda) in both urban and rural schools. The study found that, by end ofPl, pupils were not able to identif~’ the alphabet and neither could they read a simple text with minimal fluency. Meanwhile, the consequences of pupils’ poor performance in reading skills can have a live long impact on their future academic endeavors because if children are still struggling with reading skills in the third grade, odds are, they will be struggling the rest of their lives (Wren, 2000:7). However, it should be noted that children’s performance in schools are determined by a number of factors such as socio economic status and as is the case elsewhere, some children in Uganda join school with already developed skills depending on their parental socio-economic and/or educational status while others, particularly those from rural areas, do not have any (Wren (2000:8). In addition, some of the reasons for poor reading skills among learners rest with the teachers themselves. In 2011 assessment by tne Uganda National Examinations found that “pupils” weak performance in literacy could have been due to the deficiency in the teachers’ skills to teach, particularly reading, reflected by the teachers’ weak performance in Oral Reading; implying that they themselves might not have been taught reading skills. “This remark implies that there are teachers in Uganda who are not fully prepared to handle the challenges involved in the teaching of reading (cf. kyeyune 2012). As the UNEB report suggests, it is difficult for the teachers to properly manage reading when they themselves have some difficulties with reading tests.
55 5.2 Challenges of theniatic curriculum implementation in lower primary classes The second specific objective of this study was to assess the challenges facing the smooth implementation of thematic curriculum in lower primary schools; to achieve this, One on One interviews with head teachers of primary schools using Structured Interview Guide was conducted. It was gathered from these interviews that, though according to the head teachers the implementation of thematic curriculum was satisfactory, there were some obstacles militating against its successful implementation. Some of these challenges as identified by the participants of the interviews were lack of sufficient learning materials such as textbooks and teaching aids, socioeconomic status of the learners, poor subject mastery on the part of the teachers, use ofpoor teaching methods by teachers, lukewarm attitudes of school Management among others, lack of experience among the teachers, lack of good commitment to work on the side of some of the teachers, lukewarm attitudes of parents towards the education of their kids and so on. The above mentioned challenges facing the implementation of thematic curriculum as revealed by the study indicate that different stakeholders share the blame as some of the problems were human while others were institutional. The human problems were those problems emanating from the teachers as well as the parents while those emanating from the schools such as lack of sufficient teaching and learning materials were considered to be institutional. However, bulk of these problems seemed to rest with the teachers who were the implementers of all learning materials and managers of the whole teaching and learning process in the class room. Furthermore, some studies have confirmed that the challenges facing thematic lessons especially those relating to reading are not only faced by learners but also by some teachers. In 2011 assessment by the Uganda National Examinations found that “pupils” weak performance in literacy could have been due to the deficiency in the teachers’ skills to teach, particularly reading, reflected by the teachers’ weak performance in Oral Reading; implying that they themselves might not have been taught reading skills. “This remark implies that there are teachers in JJganda who are not fully prepared to handle the challenges involved in the teaching of reading (cf. kyeyune 2012). As the UNEB report suggests, it is difficult for the teachers to properly manage reading when they themselves have some difficulties with reading tests. Similarly, implementation of thematic curriculum requires a lot of things and a thorough survey before it is done, unlike other methods of teaching and learning whereby technical experts is required. Among other things required include teachers with sufficient knowledge, instructional materials, class room or school environment. Nevertheless the problems in Uganda may not be planning educational programs or reforming the existing ones but effective implementation to
56 achieve desired income. Effective implementation of the curriculum and competent teachers who understand the inter-disciplinary and thematic arrangements of the subject and moreover the pedagogies to include desirable learning outcomes. One of the first steps to reading is letter and sound identification and naming, (cf. I Hoover & Gough 2000), this is the point at which the challenge of teaching reading in Uganda starts. Sometimes, some of the challenges faced in the implementation of thematic curriculum were inherent with the curriculum itself. For instance, the content arrangements in a matrix form where the themes emerge are presented horizontally and crucial learning areas are presented as vertical strands. The matrix also shows how the competences relate and learners learn more from one another. These become a challenge to some teachers to implement such a curriculum. Since the content to cover is too big and wide. Sometimes, the challenges relate the pupils’ first language which is considered as the first or familiar language. Wherever possible, the learner should learn in his or her home language or at least a language that is familiar to the pupil. But with the case of Namayingo District, there are people of different ethnicity so they speak different languages and as a result, it affects the thematic curriculum implementation The thematic curriculum is based on evidence that literacy is achieved at a much faster speed when it is acquired in a language in which the pupil already has a strong oral command. For learners with hearing impairment, this should be in sign language. The approach to assessment is one of the most challenges to the implementation of the thematic curriculum. Most teachers have not yet learnt how to assess pupils. Assessment is built into the thematic curriculum. Since the thematic curriculum is based on competences, it is essential that all competences, whatever oral, written or practical, are assessed. This assessment is primary for the teacher and other stakeholders to know whether pupils are generally learning and what action needs to be taken to support the pupils. The approach to assessment is “Continuous” and pupils should have as much opportunity as possible to show that they have achieved the competences which is quite tiresome for teachers to carry out continuous assessment.
57 5.3 Possible ways of enhancing the implementation of thematic curriculum In fact the most important strategy that can be employed to enhance the implementation of not only thematic curriculum but of any other curriculum are those strategies employed by the teachers themselves. This is because teachers are the most important role players in any educational system whose relevance and importance cannot be over emphasized. From the finding made by this study in respect of the strategies used for the enhancement of thematic curriculum implementation in lower primary schools, it was revealed that the respondents (teachers) make use of several activities towards the achievement ofthat objective. Although few among the respondent rejected the strategies, the majority of the stated that they employ the strategies in teaching their pupils for the purpose of achieving effective comprehension of thematic lessons. Some of these strategies which the teachers were asked to respond to in the questionnaire were arrangement of the classroom environment into centers for learning and play, encouraging learners to spell words, carrying out shared reading with pupils, encouraging learners to write full sentences and giving learners reading games. Other teaching strategies employed by the teachers as revealed by the study include teaching learners phonemic sounds, encouraging learners to use varied syntactic structures as well as the use of encouraging the learners to narrate and write interesting stories. However, the majority of the respondents 58.5% stated that they do not interact with learners in their mother tongue. It should be noted that interacting with learners in their mother tongue especially those at the lower class levels is very essential. This could be one of the reasons that led to poor performance of the pupils especially in writing and reading skills as revealed by this study. Clearly, how well a teacher teaches children in lower primary classes to read and write in their mother tongue and he communicates to pare1its what they’re doing in terms of literacy development of their children in mother tongue will be critical to the teacher’s success. The teacher’s responsibility is to determine what the child knows and then choose the experience that will help the child move along the continuum towards becoming on ever more skilled reader. Several studies have found that adding selected materials to the play environment and guiding their use can encourage children to participate in more literacy activities in their play. Also disagreed with by the respondents was the issue of engaging the learners in imaginative writing claiming the activity was usually time consuming and stressful considering the age of the pupils they teach while others called it time wasting. Anderson (2009) recommended using real literacy objects rather than presented objects, the materials selected should be familiar to the children from their real world experiences. Morrow et al (1991) suggest that literacy materials should be kept in clearly marked place that they be changed frequently to keep children’s interest
58 in them high, that teachers model the uses of materials as needed or suggest possible uses when appropriate, and that all levels of development be accepted for the most positive results. Another option was for the teacher to take dictation as the child tells what he had done that day with the blocks. The teacher should be sure to read narrative back to the child so he can agree that it says what he said. Teachers should also include this d~ctation experience in notes to the child’s parent or in completions of class activities in the mother tongue or local language. It was also important that the teacher should not treat reading and writing as the only important activities in which children are involved. Children need to be involved in play, art and music, dance and drama, in the language they know, the teachers must value this experiences for themselves without always taking on a reading or writing component to legitimize the experience. Shared reading as an instructional strategy in which teacher takes primary responsibility for the reading but involves the children actively in the process of using the local language is another important experience that supports young children developing literacy. Findings made by the study indicate that the teachers who participated in the study employed different strategies at their disposal to encourage learners to develop skills in reading and writing. This was necessary because language development is indispensable factor in the education of children in order to prepare the learners for more difficult tasks ahead of them more than mere reading and writing. B. F. Skinner (1957) defined language as the observed and produced speech that occurs in the interaction of speaker and listeners. Thinking, he said, is the internal process of language, both language and thought are initiated through interactions in the environment, such interactions a between parent which provide a language model that children learn through imitation. The child’s acquisition of language is enhanced and encouraged by the positive reinforcement of an adult. Research indicates that reading to a child benefits the child’s acquisition of reading ability. It aids development of literacy skills, increases interest in books and in learning to read, enhances background information sense of story structure, and familiarizes children with language of books as opposed to oral language. Oral and written literacy are encouraged through the availability of materials for creative expression, construction play, motor play and dramatic play and these opportunities to extend play and language are afforded through observation of children’s language during play. The teacher suggests ways to extend dramatic play themes, and the teacher models how to increase language and written literacy experiences into play episodes. Numerous short and long term studies examining children’s developmental progress while attending lessons in lower classes indicates that preschool education in a variety of forms can in fact play a significant role in helping children develop essential language and literacy skills. However the impact of such
59 programmes appears to be influenced by a variety of factors including the quality of the child care environment, teacher training, effectiveness, socioeconomic status of the child’s family, level of parental involvement, amount of time spent each day and week in the programme and overall length of enrollment in the programme. While all of the above strategies have been shown to be effective, many experts contend that the simple most important teaching strategy for promoting children’s early literacy development across multiple domains (e.g. vocabulary growth, print awareness) is reading aloud to children in an interactive style that engages them as active learners when children are encouraged to become active participants rather than passive listeners, they are more likely to experience improvements in their vocabularies and comprehension abilities (Menke, 2012). 5.4 Conclusions Based on the findings made by the study, it is concluded that considering the numerous educational challenges (human and institutional) affecting the educational system in the district which can militate against effective teaching and learning processes, the effective implementation of thematic curriculum in Namayingo district will be very difficult to achieved. This was further conflrn~ed by the low performance recorded in the experimental tests given to the pupil respondents. Thus, based on this development, it can be rightly concluded that the future academic performances of these young learners can be seriously affected with resultant consequences on the development of the area as well as its educational status. Reading and writing are identical simply because as children write, they integrate knowledge of reading with that knowledge of writing. Reading aloud to children on a frequent basis is one of the most effective ways to promote early literacy development among growing children. Through interactions with adults children develop their understanding of the rules of the rules and function of language. The study was guided by the “Basic learning” theory of Vygotskyl (1975) and Hilliday’s theory of language development (1975) which describes a zonal of proximal development, arrangement of social interaction between an adult and the child. The teacher therefore have a great role to promote language development interact with children, encouraging, motivating and supporting them (Sulzby 1986). There are a number of activities carried out in the lower class to promote language and early literacy.
60 5.6 Recommendation Based on the findings, the researcher recommends the following; The Ministry of Education, Sports and Technology together with the National Curriculum Development Center (NCDC) should ensure that the curriculum for early child education can be organized into activities that will promote the child’s expressive and receptive language. There is a need for the Ministry of Education still to ensure provision of adequate reading materials for the early childhood centers. Teachers in lower classes should be given adequate motivation and training in the area of thematic curriculum instructions so that they would acquire experience in handling the delicate pupils in the class. Teachers should be fully mod~ls for language development through interactions with children. Teachers should support the development ofvocabulary by reading daily to children, transcribing their language and selecting materials that expand children’s knowledge and language development. Parents should support their children’s specific hobby of interest with reading materials and references. 5.7 Area for further research Further research can be conducted on the same topic and in the same area as a follow up study of this nature at least five years later to establish the extent of improvement on the present situation.
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64 APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIp~ FOR TEACHERS Dear Respondent,
I am Ouma Geoffrey a student of Kampala International University pursuing a Master of education degree in Education Management and Administration. I am carrying out a research on the challenges facing thematic curriculum iniplementation in lower classes in Namayingo District Uganda. This questionnaire was designed to assist the researcher complete the academic research project which is in partial fulfillment of the award of Master of education degree in Education Management and Administration. The results of this study will be treated with all confidentiality and only for the research purpose.
Jiistitictions about the qyestionnajre
This research questionnaire is made up of two sections, section A is about demographic characteristics of the respondents while section b are questions aimed at detem~ining level of thematic curriculum implementation
• You are therefore kindly requested to tick the options according to your views.
SECTION A: PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENT (THE TEACHER)
1. Age 20— 29yrs ~ 30— 39~s ~ 40— 49yrs ~ 50yrs and aboveLl 2. Sex Male [1 Female 3. Marital status
Single ____ Married Widowed fl Divorced 4. Educational Level Certificate [] Diploma 1 Degree [J] Masters 5. Level of experience
1-5 years 6— 10 years ii — 15 years 16 years and above
65 SECTION B: to deternzine level of thematic curriculum implementation In this section tick the most appropriate option of your choice 1. You teach learners phonemic sound? Strongly Agree Agree ~ Disagree [ 7 Strongly Disagree
2. You provide materials for creative expressions?
Strongly Agree [] Agree [] Disagree L 7 Strongly Disagree
3. You teach learners the use of varied syntactic structures?
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
4. Learners are taught how to write short stories?
Strongly Agree L 7 Agree El Disagree Strongly Disagree El
5. You carry out shared reading with learners?
Strongly Agree [~] Agree [] Disagree Strongly Disagree
6. You give learners spelling exercises? Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
8. Learners are taught picture description and writing?
Strongly Agree [] Agree ~] Disagree El Strongly Disagree [7
9. You engage learners in role play activities?
Strongly Agree [7 Agree [7 Disagree [7 Strongly Disagree
10. Learners are taught familiar sounds?
Strongly Agree [7 Agree [7 Disagree [7 Strongly Disagree [7
SECTION C: To determine the extent to which early literacy activities are promoted in lower classes
11. You arrange the classroom environment into centers for learning and play
Always ( ) Sometimes ( ) Never ( )
66 14. You encourage learners to spell words
Always ( ) Sometimes ( ) Never ( )
14. You encourage learners to write full sentences
Always ( ) Sometimes ( ) Never ( )
15. You give learners reading games
Always ( ) Sometimes ( ) Never ( )
16. You respond and interact with learners in English
Always ( ) Sometimes ( ) Never ( )
18. You encourage learners to use varied syntactic structures
Always ( ) Sometimes ( ) Never ( )
19. You engage learners in imaginative writing
Always ( ) Sometimes ( ) Never ( )
20. You ask learners to narrate and write stories on things around them
Always ( ) Sometimes ( ) Never ( )
67 APPENDIX B: STRUCTUR]~D INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR HEAD TEACHERS To deterniine the challenges facing thematic curriculum implementation in schools as well as the strategies for enhancement
1. How do you assess the level of thematic curriculum implementation in your school? 2. What measures do you take to ensure that thematic curriculum is fully implemented? 3. What are the challenges facing the effective implementation of thematic curriculum in schools? 4. What strategies can be used to enhance the implementation of thematic curriculum in lower primary classes? 5. How do you ensure that teachers abide by the curriculum spelt out for their subjects?
68 APPENDIX C: EXPERIMENTAL TEST QUESTIONS FOR THE PUPILS (Assessment work on language and Literacy)
Name Class
School:
Age
SECTION A
1. Circle the correct answer
Bag abg gab
Tni tin nit
Cpu puc cup
Box oxb xob
2. Fill in the missing sounds
ha hi bu
fa fo
3. Read the words of “00” sound Book foot room Look took doom Noon food zoom
4. Read and draw The ball is on the table
The bird is flying over the tree The flower is in the pot
69 SECTION B
5. Write 3 sentences using “This is....”
SECTION C
Read the story and answer the questions: Mary is a good girl. She lives at Kanyanya. She goes to Good Hope Nursery School. Her teacher’s name is Mr. Kato. She likes English and Mathematics. She loves mummy and dad Questions 1. What is the name of the pupil in the story?
2. Where does Mary live?
3. What is the name of her teacher?
4. To which school does Maiy go?
5. What subject does Mary like?
70 APPENDIX D: CHECKLIST FOR THE LEARNERS 1. Form letters in conventional ways 2. Relate sounds to letters 3. Space words correctly; 4. Write legibly 5. Write short sentences 6. Sequence written ideas logically 7. Enjoy shared reading experiences 8. Construct meaning from texts 9. Decode new words 10. Use expressive words 11. Write for a particular audience
71 APPENDIX E: FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION FOR PARENTS 1. Do you attend Parents Teachers Association meetings? 2. Are you able to provide your children with the basic learning materials required in school? 3. How do you make sure that your children attend schools regularly and stay throughout school hours at the school? 4. Do you find out from schools the progress of your children? 5. How do you assist your children in doing their home works? 6. Do you take measures to ensure that your children are taught what the need to be taught?
72 APPENDIX F: PUPILS TEST MARKS
~- Frequen Percent Cumulative
C~ Percent
15.00 I .8 .8 16.00 I .8 1.7 19.00 4 3.4 5.0 20.00 2 1.7 6.7 21.00 1 .8 7.6 22.00 7 5.9 13.4 23.00 I .8 14.3 26.00 3 2.5 16.8 27.00 2 1.7 18.5 28.00 2 1.7 20.2 29.00 3 2.5 22.7 30.00 3 2.5 25.2 31.00 5 4.2 Valid 29.4 32.00 3 2.5 31.9 33.00 1 .8 32.8 36.00 5 4.2 37.0 37.00 I .8 37.8 38.00 2 1.7 39.5 39.00 5 4.2 43.7 40.00 4 3.4 47.1 41.00 2 1.7 48.7 42.00 1 .8 49.6 44.00 1 .8 50.4 46.00 5 4.2 54.6 47.00 1 .8 55.5 48.00 1 .8 56.3
73 49.00 3 2.5 58.8 50.00 3 2.5 61.3 51.00 2 1.7 63.0 52.00 4 3.4 66.4 53.00 1 .8 67.2 55.00 1 .8 68.1 56.00 2 1.7 69.7 58.00 3 2.5 72.3 59.00 3 2.5 74.8 60.00 3 2.5 77.3 61.00 1 .8 78.2 62.00 8 6.7 84.9 63.00 4 3.4 88.2 65.00 4 3.4 91.6 66.00 2 1.7 93.3 67.00 1 .8 94.1 69.00 1 .8 95.0 70.00 2 1.7 96.6 71.00 3 2.5 99.2 75.00 1 .8 100.0 Total 119 100.01
.o9~