Background: Embracing the influential role of music in education, teachers can cultivate an environment that fosters learners' curiosity, creativity, and enthusiasm for acquiring knowledge. The first author, experienced in teaching Intermediate Phase music and mathematics, was keen to explore how to bridge the gap between the educational vision…

Children in their childhood and teenage years can acquire either healthy or unhealthy lifestyles. Without proper guidance, unhealthy lifestyles (e.g. risk-taking, substance abuse, poor family planning) may negatively affect their psychosexual development (i.e. ability to make healthier sexual choices). Male and female teachers can be role models…

Background: There is a concern in South Africa that pre-service teachers do not have the required knowledge to teach mathematics in primary school and to develop learners' number sense. In this study, pre-service teachers taught the mental strategy of bridging through ten through a structured teaching sequence from the Mental Starters Assessment…

Background: As the global landscape of education evolves with digital advancements, the feasibility of integrating digital music skills into primary school curricula has become a subject of exploration, South Africa is no exception. Aim: This study aims to conduct a content analysis of the existing scholarly writings to assess the feasibility of…

Background: South Africa is a country with a reading crisis: 81% of Grade 4 learners are unable to read for meaning in Grade 4. Teaching methods and practices have been identified as a primary cause; there is an over-reliance on choral methods, very little focus on meaning, weak feedback and assessment, and little interaction with books. Aim: This…

Background: The Mental Starters Assessment Project (MSAP) seeks to address poor performance in Grade 3 mathematics. The programme focusses on eliminating inefficient counting methods and promoting strategic mathematical skills, including numerical sense, mental calculation and rapid recall skills. Additionally, MSAP supports teachers' professional…

Students' challenging classroom behaviour remains problematic in some primary schools, causing daily disruptions. In South Africa, alternatives for managing student behaviour have proven ineffective, leaving teachers to grapple in classrooms. To gain insights into "what teachers are doing to curtail the problem," fifteen teachers were…

In this paper, we share details of a South African early grades' number intervention informed by aspects of Davydov's writing on early number teaching and learning. A key part of Davydov's approach to early number teaching involves starting with attention to relationships between quantities rather than with counting. The Structuring Number…

Background: In 2012, the South African government initiated the Integrated School Health Policy (ISHP) to serve as a national guideline on providing school health and support services from key stakeholders such as the Department of Health (DoH), Department of Basic Education (DBE) and Department of Social Development (DSD). However, despite the…

Background: A well-developed proprioceptive system is essential for motor control, muscle tone and voluntary movements. Sound proprioceptive development of young children can positively influence their motor abilities, while adequate movement abilities consequently form a strong foundation for young children entering the formal school setting.…

The aim of the study was to determine from teachers' unique perspectives, the types of adversities young South African children are exposed to. The sample consisted of 135 primary school, foundation phase teachers from six different provinces. The data were collected by using an adversity checklist which also included an open-ended question. An…

In the research reported on here we explored educators' experiences of learners' social functioning in middle childhood in a South African context. Educators are important socialisation agents for learners in middle childhood, and we reasoned that they could offer valuable information to identify those key social skills and competencies that…

In South Africa, progression refers to the elevation of a learner from one grade to the following grade (excluding grade R), in spite of the learner not having achieved all the promotion stipulations (DBE, 2012a). This article is embedded in a social justice theoretical framework that advocates for a just society through fairness, equal access to…

In South Africa, the issue of learning to read is an area of concern. While studies have focused on reading problems in the Foundation Phase, little is known about this issue in full-service schools. In light of this, the aim of this study was to explore how Grade 3 teachers supported learners who experienced reading problems in full-service…

Background: A large number of studies have established that reading for comprehension in South African schools is comparably poor relative to other Southern African states. Some of these studies confirm that learners' competency in reading in English is lacking when contextualised in a learning environment. Various systemic evaluations were…