Textbooks socialise and legitimise cultural norms, and therefore, learners' social worlds should find expression in their textbooks. In the study reported on here we examined how Grade 4 English First Additional Language and life skills textbooks reflected learner diversity in South African schools as manifested in their racial, gender,…

Students' challenging behavior has become a serious problem internationally. In South Africa, there are reports highlighting that even primary schools experience serious forms of challenging behavior by students. This article emanates from a case study that utilized the social cognitive theory to understand how primary schools address this…

Background: Studies indicate that difficulties English second language (ESL) learners experience in the classroom may not be attributed to only listening comprehension of the language of learning and teaching (LoLT). ESL learners' performance-related difficulties may increase when linguistic complexity is added to auditory comprehension tasks.…

Background: Early identification of learners in low socio-economic environments with possible developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is important. Although various screening tools are available, it is unclear whether teachers can use the movement assessment battery for children - second edition checklist (MABC-2 checklist) to identify learners…

Educators are one of the stakeholders in the education system working to ensure learner success. According to the "Minimum Requirements For Teacher Education Qualifications," educators must fulfil 7 roles in their quest to impart education. In the study reported on her, we investigated Grade 6 educators' knowledge and use of mediation as…

Background: The spread of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has escalated the need for studying the home learning environment (HLE). With learners spending more time at home, understanding about learning at home, especially in disadvantaged communities, is paramount. Aim: The aim of this research study was to explore the HLE for foundation…

Background: This article describes my exploration of social and emotional learning as a primary school teacher in a Grade 4 classroom. Aim: This article aimed to illuminate how I improved my teaching practice through valuing and listening to children's voices. Setting: I am a teacher at a primary school in the Umlazi education district,…

This study employs the Comprehensive Emergent Literacy Model (CELM) theoretical framework, as it refers to the impact of context on learning early literacy skills. It is relevant to this study as the participants were English second language learners from cultures, communities, and demographics different from those of English first language…

This study draws on focus group discussions to explore how 12- to 14-year-old boys in a low economic township primary school in South Africa construct their hegemonic identity as "real boys" in the school playground during break. Addressing masculinity and boys' investment in power is now a major research development in the country,…

Diversity in education is not about different races only; in the South African context it also refers, for instance, to types of schools or different learning styles. Inclusivity in education thus refers to all learners, regardless of their abilities, being noticed and encouraged to share and learn in the same space. However, the South African…

Background: Children with hearing impairment may be at risk of not achieving the necessary school readiness because of the link between hearing impairment and academic achievement. However, early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) can improve potential outcomes for these children. Aim: As part of a bigger study titled 'Communication and…

In this article, we draw on data from focus group discussions to examine the ways in which some young boys in a South African township primary school construct and negotiate hegemonic masculinity through bullying, and other forms of violence, within the school. Deviating from the simplistic victim-bully binary, we draw from critical masculinity…

While the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still considered as a pandemic in recent human history, evidence from World Health Organization (2021) so far has recorded a total of 116,521,281 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 2,589,548 as a total of deaths from over 215 countries or territories worldwide. Recognizing that COVID-19 is not only…

This paper examines the dominant approach to entrepreneurship education in the South African education system regarding the crisis of youth unemployment. It draws on the case of the public-school sector, in conjunction with the technical vocational education and training (TVET) subsector of the post-school education sector. The comparison of the…

Reading challenges occasioned by the third to fourth grade transition in South Africa's primary schools are well-documented, particularly in content area texts. Grade 4 reading heralds a shift from narrative text to content text reading, the latter credited with greater reading demands than the former. There is, however, dearth of research on how…