FACTORS PREVENTING PARENTS FROM SEEKING

LEARNING SUPPORT FOR THEIR CHILDREN

IN THE FOUNDATION PHASE

by

JOYCE NTHABISENG BASANYANE MAILWANE


MINI-DISSERTATION

submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree

MAGISTER EDUCATIONIS

in

EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

in the

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND NURSING

at the

RAND AFRIKAANS UNIVERSITY

SUPERVISOR: MRS H KRIGE
CO-SUPERVISOR: MRS JV FOURIE


OCTOBER 2003

ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to the following
people for their support throughout my period of study:

The parents and guardians who participated in this research project, because
without their contribution, this study would not have been possible.

My daughter, Honey who tirelessly assisted me with the typing of my
assignments and research proposal, even at awkward hours of the night,
sacrificing her sleep!

My husband, Mahlatse, who has been a constant source of encouragement
and a pillar of support throughout my study period.

My sons, Mogale and Tshepang, who never complained in spite of my not
always being there for them when they needed me. Well, it is time to catch up
guys!

Helen Krige, my supervisor for guidance, advice and patience without which I
would not have carried this study to completion.

J ean Fourie, my co-supervisor, for critically reading through my research report
and in turn encouraging vigorous thinking about the research process.

Above all, to the Almighty God for giving me life and health, and sustaining me
throughout my years of study.

Lastly, I wish to dedicate this work to the memory of my late father, Tatae, for
the pride he would have taken in my achievement.

iii
ABSTRACT

The provision of specialised education in South Africa has reflected inequalities
from the previous apartheid regime, particularly among the disadvantaged sectors
of the population. There have been inadequate institutions that cater for
specialised education in some instances and nothing at all in other cases.
However, it has been observed that even where there are institutions that provide
for specialised education or learning support, parents, and in certain instances
educators, do not take timeous advantage thereof.

The review of literature relevant to this study involves: the historical development
and the understanding of the phenomenon of learning difficulties; the role of
parents in the education of their children and in home-school partnerships, both
generally and more specifically with reference to the South African context. The
study was conducted against the theoretical background of systems theory.
Systems theory views the various levels and entities as sub-systems within the
larger system, which is the social context. The functioning of the whole, that is, the
social context, is dependent on the interaction within and between the smaller
systems. The family (parents) and the school (educators) form sub-systems, and
both of them share the membership of the child. These two sub-systems need to
collaborate with each other to ensure maximum development of the child.

This study sets out to explore and describe factors that prevent parents from
seeking learning support for their children early, when they start failing in the
foundation phase. The research question arose from the observation of the
tendency by parents to bring their children for assessment long after the children
had been experiencing repeated failures across the three primary school phases,
namely the foundation, intermediate and senior phases. In most cases, parents
brought the children when they were in the intermediate or senior phase, in spite
of having had several failures in the foundation phase as well. It was this delay by
parents to seek learning support for the children that became a cause for concern
to the researcher and prompted an investigation in order to answer the question:
What factors prevent parents from seeking learning support for their children in the
Foundation Phase?

iv
A case study design was chosen in order to explore answers to the question
posed above. The purpose of using a case study was an endeavour to gain an
understanding of the research question from the participants perspective. The
case study was made up of sub-cases that were parents of children who all went
to a particular school at the time of their referral for assessment of learning
difficulties.

The data collected through unstructured interviews were analysed using the
constant comparative method. The finding that emerged as a major factor that
prevented parents from seeking learning support when children started failing in
the foundation phase was ignorance of the phenomenon of learning difficulties and
what could be done in the face of it. The other factors that were identified related
to parents understanding of their childrens learning difficulties; their being
illiterate; and the belief in cultural issues.

Recommendations were suggested for both the Educational Psychologist and
educators relating to the need for parent education on the learning and
development of their children with specific emphasis on learning difficulties. The
role parents can play in partnership with educators was also highlighted.











v
ABSTRAK

Die voorsiening van gespesialiseerde onderwys in Suid-Afrika het bepaalde
ongelykhede gedurende die apartheid era aangedui- spesifiek wat daardie deel
van die bevolking wat benadeel was, betref. Daar was ontoereikende instansies
wat in sekere gevalle in gespesialiseerde onderwys aangewend is, en in ander
gevalle glad nie. Alhoewel daar instansies bestaan wat voorsiening maak vir
gespesialiseerde onderwys of leerondersteuning, maak ouers en in baie gevalle
onderwysers nie betyds daarvan gebruik nie.

Verbandhoudende literatuuroosig van hierdie studie sluit in: die historiese
verloop of ontwikkeling asook verheldering van die verskynsel van leerprobleme;
die rol van die ouers in die opvoeding van hulle kinders, en die ouer-skool
vennootskap in die algemeen, en met spesifike verwysing na die Suid- Afrikaanse
konteks. Hierdie studie is gedoen teen die teoretiese agtergrond van die
sistemiese teorie. Die sistemiese teorie dui die verskillende vlakke en entiteite as
sub-sisteme wat binne groter sisteem aan wat as die sosiale konteks beskou
word. Die funksionering van die geheel, dit wil s die sosiale konteks, is afhanklik
van die wisselwerking, binne en tussen die kleiner sisteme. Die gesin (ouers) en
die skool (onderwysers) vorm sub-sisteme en beide het deel aan die lidmaatskap
van die kind. Hierdie twee sub-sisteme moet mekaar saamwerk om die optimale
ontwikkeling van die kind te verseker.

Hierdie studie het ten doel om daardie faktore wat ouers daarvan weerhou om
vroegtydige hulpverlening te soek en te verkry waneer hulle kind in die
grondslagfase leerprobleme ondervind, na te vors en te beskryf. Die navorsings-
vraagstelling het ontstaan omdat daar opgemerk is dat daar neiging by ouers
bestaan om hulle kinders vir evaluering te neem nadat dit lankal duidelik geblyk
het dat die kinders leerprobleme ervaar en na herhalende druipings/ mislukkings
gedurende die drie primer skool fases, naamlik, die grondslag, intermedire, en
senior fases. In die meeste gevalle bring die ouers hulle kinders wanneer hulle
reeds in die intermedire of senior fase is, en ten opsigte van herhaalde
mislukkings wat hulle in die grondslaag fase beleef het. Dit is hierdie vertragings
aan die kant van die ouers om tydige hulpverlening vir hulle kinders te bekom wat

vi
kommer by die navorser veroorsaak het, en die rede vir hierdie studie is en tot die
vraag gelei het: Was daar bepaalde faktore wat bydra daartoe dat ouers weerhou
word om hulpverlening vir hulle kinders reeds in die grondslagfase te soek?

Gevallestudie ontwerp is gekies om die vraag hierbo te beantwoord. Die doel
met hierdie gevallestudie is poging om antwoorde op die navorsingsvraag vanuit
die deelnemers se perspektief te vind. Die gevallestudie bestaan uit sub-gevalle,
dit wil s ouers van leerders wat almal spesifike skool bygewoon het tydens hulle
verwysing vir evaluering as gevolg van leerprobleme.

Die navorsingsdata wat verkry deur ongestruktureerde onderhoude is deur middel
van die konstant vergelykende metode gedoen. Daar word bevind dat die grootste
bydraende faktore die volgende is: onkundigheid van die verskynsel van
leerprobleme en wat daaromtrent gedoen kan word. Ander faktore wat
geidentifiseer is, hou verband met die ouers se onbegrip van hulle kinders se
leerprobleme dat hulle ongeletterd is en ook as gevolg van hulle kulturele
agtergrond, geloof en ander vraagstukke wat daarmee verband hou.

Aanbevelings word gedoen aan beide die Opvoedkundige Sielkundige en
onderwysers wat gemoeid is met die leerders wat leerprobleme ervaar. Die rol wat
ouers kan optel in vennootskap met die onderwysers word ook toegelig.


vii
LIST OF TABLES



TABLE 3.1:

TABLE 3.2:


TABLE 3.3:

TABLE 3.4:


Category: Ignorance/Lack of awareness.

Category: Parents understanding of their childrens
learning difficulties

Category: Illiteracy...

Category: Cultural belief.

PAGE

59


60

61

61


viii
TABLE OF CONTENT









1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4

1.5
1.5.1
1.5.2
1.5.3
1.5.3.1
1.5.4
1.5.4.1
1.5.5
1.5.5.1
1.5.5.2
1.5.5.3
1.5.5.4
1.6
1.6.1
1.6.1.1
1.6.1.2
1.6.2
1.6.3
1.7

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
ABSTRACT..
ABSTRAK.
LIST OF TABLES.......

CHAPTER ONE: ORIENTATION TO THE STUDY AND
OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH
BACKGROUND INFORMATION.
THE NEED TO CONDUCT RESEARCH
FORMULATION OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM..
THEORETICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE VALIDITY OF THE
PROBLEM
THE RESEARCH DESIGN
Introduction..
What is qualitative research?......................................................
Case study
Types of case studies....
Data collection.
Types of interviewing..
Sampling..
Criteria for sampling
Types of purposive sampling.
The size of the sample...
The sample in case studies...
VALIDITY, RELIABILITY AND ETHICS..
Validity...
Internal validity.
External validity
Reliability..
Ethical considerations.
CLARIFICATION OF CONCEPTS...
PAGE
ii
iii
v
vii



1
2
3

4
5
5
6
8
9
10
11
12
14
15
15
16
16
17
18
20
21
24
26

ix

1.7.1
1.7.2
1.7.3
1.7.4
1.7.5
1.8


2.1

2.2
2.2.1
2.3

2.3.1
2.3.1.1

2.4

2.4.1
2.5



3.1
3.2
3.2.1
3.2.2
3.2.3
3.2.4
3.2.5
3.3
3.3.1

Parent
Learning support.
Foundation Phase...
Intervention..
Special educational needs
CONCLUSION.

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIELD OF LEARNING
DISABILITIES.
DEFINITION OF THE TERM LEARNING DISABILITIES:.
Definition of learning disabilities in the South African context.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE EDUCATION OF
CHILDREN...
The role of parents in the education of their children
The role of parents of children with learning disabilities/
difficulties..
THE ROLE OF THE PARENTS AND EDUCATORS IN HOME-
SCHOOL COLLABORATION
Home-school partnership in the South African context.
CONCLUSION.

CHAPTER THREE: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF
COLLECTED DATA
INTRODUCTION.
CONTEXTUAL DESCRIPTION
The school
The researcher
Participant A..
Participant B..
Participant C..
DATA ANALYSIS
Definition of data analysis.....
PAGE
26
26
27
27
27
27


29

29
30

33
34

35

37
38
40



42
42
43
44
45
46
46
47
48

x

3.3.2
3.3.2.1
3.3.3
3.3.3.1
3.4
3.4.1
3.4.1.1
3.4.1.2
3.4.1.3
4.3.2
3.4.3
3.5
3.6

3.6.1
3.6.1.1
3.6.1.2
3.6.2
3.6.2.1
3.6.2.2
3.6.2.3
3.6.2.4
3.6.3
3.6.4
3.7


4.1
4.2
4.3

4.4


Data analysis strategies.
Constant comparative method..
Levels of analysis
Levels of analysis in case studies
ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS OF THE RESEARCH STUDY...
Particular description of data collected
Summary of the interview transcript of Participant A..
Summary of the interview transcript of Participant B.
Summary of the interview transcript of Participant C.
General description of data collected..
Coding of data.
SUMMARY OF CATEGORIES AND SUB-CATEGORIES..
DISCUSSION AND INTERPRETATION OF THE MAIN
CATEGORIES AND SUB-CATEGORIES..
Ignorance/Lack of awareness...
Ignorance or lack of awareness about learning difficulties..
Ignorance or lack of awareness about what could be done.
Parents understanding of the childrens learning difficulties...
Developmental factors
The child perceived as playful
The child perceived as negligent
Lack of intelligence.
Illiteracy.
Cultural belief...
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION..

CHAPTER FOUR: SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
INTRODUCTION.
OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH STUDY
RECOMMENDATION FOR THE EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLO-
GIST IN WORKING WITH PARENTS.
RECOMMENDATION FOR THE EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLO-
GIST WITH REGARD TO EDUCATORS
PAGE
50
50
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
56
57
61

63
64
64
65
67
67
69
69
70
71
71
73


75
75

76

78

xi

4.5


4.6

4.7

4.8





RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EDUCATORS IN WORKING
WITH PARENTS.

LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH STUDY.

SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS...

BIBLIOGRAPHY..

APPENDIX A: Interview transcript of Participant A

APPENDIX B: Interview transcript of Participant B

APPENDIX C: Interview transcript of Participant C

APPENDIX D: Observation of aspects of perceptual develop-
ment

APPENDIX E: Observation of problems relating to academic
skills

PAGE

79

84

85

86

88






1
CHAPTER ONE

ORIENTATION TO THE STUDY AND OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH

1.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The area of special needs education or specialised education in South Africa has
reflected the general inequalities in the provision of education during the previous
apartheid regime. These inequalities, which were most prominent among the
disadvantaged sectors of the population, included inadequate or lack of provision
of support to address the special educational needs of learners (DNE.1997:i). The
Limpopo Province Department of Education, as part of the former exclusively
black education system, has also been subjected to these inequalities, as there
are inadequate educational institutions that cater for special educational needs,
including learning difficulties. In some instances there has been no provision for
special educational needs, and this has led to learning breakdown, manifested as
inability to acquire basic academic skills. In my observation, in certain instances
where there are institutions that provide for special educational needs, or where
learning support settings are available, people do not seem to take timeous
advantage thereof.

Since 1998 up until around February 2002, many primary school learners falling
within the jurisdiction of the Mogodumo District Office of the Limpopo Province
Department of Education, (formerly Northern Province Department of Education)
were referred to the Psychological Services of the district office, for psycho-
educational assessment. The learners who were referred for assessment were
experiencing learning difficulties. Most of the learners who were referred for
assessment had experienced numerous failures in the various phases of the
primary school, hence retarding their scholastic progress.

It has not been clear why parents and educators did not seek help in time in order
to address the lack of scholastic progress but who, instead waited for the children
to fail repeatedly before they could be referred for assessment. By the time
parents brought the children for assessment, the childrens ages were beyond the



2
ages appropriate for their grades. Most of them were aged 14 years and in Gr. 6;
16-19 years in Gr. 7. Some of these children ended up dropping out of school
because they could not be placed anywhere. They were over age for primary
school, yet they did not have the minimum qualifications to be at least admitted to
technical colleges. However, even if they were admitted they would still be
confronted with the barrier of lack of basic literacy and numeracy skills (reading,
spelling, writing and mathematics skills).

1.2 THE NEED TO CONDUCT RESEARCH

I have been serving as a psychometrist in the Mogodumo District Office, which
falls under the jurisdiction of the Central region of the Limpopo Province
Department of Education. As it was indicated above there had been an influx of
learners who were referred to the abovementioned office for the assessment of
possible learning difficulties, since 1998 up until the beginning of 2002. The
Mogodumo District has five education circuits that fall under it. It was observed
that most referrals came from certain schools that serve the rural communities in
two of its circuits namely Mphahlele and Sepitsi circuits.

Most referrals were of children who have had repeated failures in the various
primary school grades, i.e. grades 1 through to 7. These children were brought by
their parents for assessment, usually after they have had repeated failures either
in the intermediate or senior phase, in spite of having had repeated failures in the
foundation phase as well. The seriousness of the learning problems appeared to
be realised when the child continued to experience failures in the intermediate and
senior phases. Parents tended to seek intervention for their childrens learning
difficulties only after they (children) continued to have failures, even in the higher
phases of the primary school as well. It was this delay by parents to seek
intervention that became of concern to the researcher. Were there any factors
which caused this delay?

New policies and legislation in South Africa relating to inclusive education
advocate early identification of learning difficulties in order to allow for early
intervention to take place. They also advocate full involvement of parents in the



3
education of their children (Education White Paper No.6, 2001; South African
Schools Act, 1996). In the report released by the National Commission on Special
Needs in Education and Training (NCSNET) and National Committee for
Education Support Services (NCESS), the principle of parental involvement has
been extended to encompass involvement in the assessment of needs, as well as
the provision of support to schools and learners. The implication is that parents
must also be involved in the identification process of special educational needs.
This also refers to the identification of learning difficulties, which are barriers that
can retard or even prevent scholastic progress (Engelbrecht, Green, Naicker &
Engelbrecht, 1999:55).

It has been observed that even some regular class educators are not able to
identify learning problems in time. Hence learners experiencing these difficulties
are not able to receive the support they need. One of the factors that appears to
cause the delay in the identification of learning problems is that most schools still
have a large enrolment, way beyond the recommended educator-learner ratio of
1:40. It is not easy for educators to pick up such difficulties, even if they were
conversant with the identification process.

The view that I have of parents not trying to seek help or advice is that most of
them are not aware that the child probably needs to do more than just repeat the
class. They appear not to be aware that the children could be experiencing
learning difficulties and that until these difficulties receive appropriate attention,
little or no scholastic progress might be achieved. Intervention is sought very late
when the children are no longer at an age that is appropriate for their grades. Most
of the parents have indicated that the peers of their children are already in the
higher classes.

1.3 FORMULATION OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

The purpose of this study is to explore and describe factors that prevent parents
from seeking timeous intervention for their childrens scholastic problems.




4
The research question being investigated here is: What prevents parents from
seeking early intervention for their children with learning problems in the founda-
tion phase? Other specific questions arising from this research problem are:

a) What is the parents understanding of their childrens learning difficulties?
b) To what extent can parents be involved in the early intervention process of the
learning difficulties of their children?

1.4 THEORETICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE VALIDITY OF THE PROBLEM

Man is always perceived within his environment. The interdependence between
the various subsystems plays a role in the development of problems as well as in
their solution. Systems theory has been most relevant in the development of our
understanding of families, classrooms and schools (Donald, Lazarus & Lolwana,
1997:36). Systems theory regards different levels and groupings of the social
context as systems where the functioning of the whole is dependent on the
interaction between all parts. Systems have subsystems within them, which
interact within themselves and with the whole. The system as a whole also
interacts with other systems outside it, for example, the interaction between the
school and the family (Donald et al., 1997:36).

Systems theory is of relevance to this study - the interaction between the
subsystem within the family, i.e. the parents, and the subsystem made up of the
teaching staff in the school, is important in providing holistic knowledge of the
development and learning of the child. The child experiencing learning problems
also forms a subsystem that belongs to both the school and the family. In order for
the intervention process to be set in motion, educators need to communicate and
collaborate with parents.

Communication patterns are established between systems. The functioning and
the interaction between systems are influenced by how clearly and directly
communication patterns have been structured. Communication patterns may be
unclear or inadequate between family and the school, and subsequently adversely
affect how children are dealt with within the two systems (Donald et al., 1997:38).



5
In the study under investigation it is not clear why parents delay in seeking
intervention for their childrens scholastic problems, even though educators take
the initiative of informing them about the learning problems that their children are
experiencing.

Boundaries between subsystems and between systems may affect the functioning
of the systems in various ways. The flexibility or rigidity of these boundaries may
influence the amount of interaction between the school and the parents. A rigid
boundary around any of the two systems may reduce their effectiveness in the
provision of education (Donald et al., 1997:38). With regard to the study in
question the flexibility or rigidity of the boundaries between parents as a sub-
system of the family and educators as a subsystem of the school, will determine
the extent of acceptability of information on the children who are experiencing
learning problems, as well as what steps to take.

1.5 THE RESEARCH DESIGN

1.5.1 Introduction

The introductory section in this chapter seeks to give a brief overview of empirical
research as well as the research approach of this study, i.e. qualitative research.
Punch (2000:3) states that empirical research refers to questions we have about
the world, through direct experience or observation of the world. Thus empirical
research relies on information that is directly experienced and/or observed by
individuals in the world within which they exist, in order to answer these questions.
There are many other ways of answering questions about the world around us, in
addition to empirical research. Punch (2000:3) mentions the following: theoretical
research; analytical research, conceptual-philosophical research and historical
research.

This study will follow the empirical research route, and endeavour to obtain
answers to questions about the world through the direct experience of the
individuals being studied. Punch (2000:3) further indicates that research is broadly
subdivided into two main types, namely qualitative and quantitative research.



6
Quantitative research seeks to obtain data that are presented in the form of
numbers, whereas qualitative research presents information in the form of words
describing the experiences or observations of individuals.

1.5.2 What is qualitative research?

Bryman (1988:61) indicates that the most important feature of qualitative research
is its express commitment to viewing events, actions, norms, values from the
perspective of the people being studied. He further states that qualitative research
involves penetrating the frames of meaning with which they operate. This view is
also shared by Mouton (2001:53) in describing qualitative research as the generic
approach to social research, which takes the insiders perspective on phenomena
as its point of departure. Mouton (2001:53) also mentions that the goal of this type
of research is defined as understanding and describing human action as opposed
to explanations and prediction of human behaviour.

This study will adopt the qualitative approach as indicated above, because the
latter seems consistent with the main aim of the study- i.e. to find out what the
individuals being studied make of the scholastic difficulties of their children. The
research study seeks to explore the understanding that parents have of their
childrens scholastic difficulties. This research approach has been chosen in this
study because the researcher would like to find answers to the research question,
as Bryman (1988:61) puts it, through the eyes of the people being studied.

In this section, a brief description of what a research design entails will be given.
Empirical research in its quest for finding answers to questions needs to have a
strategy through which it will achieve this. It has to espouse relevant strategies of
inquiry. Punch (2000:53) describes a research design as the basic plan to be
followed in empirical inquiry. He further states that the research design includes
four main components, i.e. strategy, conceptual framework, who or what will be
studied, the tools and procedures to be used for collecting and analysing empirical
data. These four components raise questions about the specific procedure that the
study will adopt in collecting and analysing data- i.e. what strategies will be



7
followed and based on what conceptual framework, as well as specifying how and
from whom data will be collected.

According to Mouton (2001:72) the research design seeks to identify relevant and
suitable ways for finding out whatever it is that empirical research wants to find
out. It focuses on planning scientific inquiry, or designing a strategy for finding
out something. Finding out implies gathering information. Mouton (2001:72)
appears to hold a similar view to that of Punch (2000:53) as he sees the research
design as providing the researcher with a plan on how to go about collecting the
information.

According to Merriam (1998:10), a variety of qualitative strategies of inquiry exist.
She further indicates that there appears to be no consensus with regard to the
major types of strategies of inquiry- i.e. research designs. However, Merriam
(1998:11), Denzin and Lincoln (1994) as cited in Merriam (1998:10) appear to
agree on certain common major types: case studies; ethnography; phenome-
nology and grounded theory. Merriam (1998:11) further indicates that all these
types share common features of the qualitative research orientation. Amongst
others she mentions, eliciting understanding and meaning; the researcher as the
primary instrument of data collection and analysis, as well as presenting data that
is highly descriptive.

Patton as cited in Merriam (1998:10), conceives that various types of research
designs are dictated by the kinds of questions a particular researcher will ask.
The view held by this author appears to be relevant to this study. The kinds of
questions that this study seeks to answer need a research strategy that will
maximise the gathering of highly descriptive information on the phenomenon
under study. In order for the researcher to gain a clear understanding of the
research problem being investigated, it is crucial to have such understanding
grounded in the perspectives held by the objects of the study. Such an
understanding could be made possible by a close encounter or engagement with
the objects of the study- i.e. in this instance parents of the children who have had
repeated failures. It is necessary to obtain a detailed account of the understanding
of the problem by the parents concerned. For this reason the type of research



8
strategy or design that this study will adopt is the case study. In the following
section an overview of what a case study design is, as well as types of case
studies, will be given.

1.5.3 Case Study

Mouton (2001:281) describes a case study as an intensive investigation of a
single unit. Whereas the characteristic feature of a case study is the emphasis put
on an individual unit, a case study can nonetheless be made up of an individual
person, a group of individuals forming a single unit (such as a family), learners of a
particular school, a teaching programme. Merriam (1998:19) views a case study
as distinct from other types of qualitative research designs, in that they yield
intensive descriptions of a single unit or a bounded system. She further indicates
that a case study design serves the purpose of gaining an in-depth understanding
of the problem under investigation, as well as the meaning that the objects of the
study attach to it.

However, Merriam (1998:27) points out the confusion that accompanies the view
that most professionals and researchers have about a case study. She indicates
that there appears to be little agreement on what a case study is. In this regard
she identifies two elements in the process of conducting a case study, i.e. 1) the
end product of this type of inquiry, and 2) the unit of study. The definitions given
above of a case study seem to be referring to a case study as the end product.
She herself in a previous publication has defined a qualitative case study as an
intensive, holistic description and analysis of a single instance, phenomenon, or
social unit (Merriam, 1998:27). Her view of a case study and those of others have
led to a better understanding of a case study. However, she acknowledges that
there has been a shift in emphasis regarding the defining feature of a case study,
and believes that the single most defining characteristic of a case study is in
delimiting the object of study, the case itself. She therefore views the case as a
bounded system, a single entity, and a unit around which there are clearly defined
boundaries.




9
However, I see both views of a case study as befitting to give a clear
understanding of a case study. Both the case study as an intensive, holistic
description and analysis of a single social unit, and as the unit of study, assist the
researcher in obtaining a detailed account or understanding of the insiders
perspective. In an attempt to gain a clearer understanding of the factors
contributing to the delay by parents in seeking early intervention for their childrens
scholastic difficulties, focusing attention on a single entity or unit which is
immersed in the problem situation, could contribute in accessing what Merriam
(1998:27) views as an intensive, holistic description of a situation.

1.5.3.1 Types of case studies

Merriam (1998:34) holds that case studies as strategies of inquiry in qualitative
research can be categorised according to disciplinary orientation or intent. With
regard to classifying types of case studies in terms of function or intent, Merriam
(1998:34) cites the following types: 1) descriptive, 2) interpretive and 3) evaluative
case studies. She views a descriptive case study as one that offers a detailed
account of the research problem. Such case studies are descriptive and give basic
information about the phenomenon being studied.

In interpretive case studies, Merriam (1998:38) indicates that they also have
detailed descriptions of the phenomenon being studied, that can be used to shed
more light on theoretical assumptions. Lastly, she sees evaluative case studies as
going beyond description to include explanation and judgement about the
phenomenon under study. In conclusion, Merriam (1998:40) states that these
types of case studies can be used in combination with one another- i.e. a
descriptive interpretive case study or descriptive evaluative case study.

In this study I will use a descriptive case study. I intend to explore and describe the
factors that prevent parents from seeking learning support for their children
timeously. The type of case study I have selected is suitable for this research
study, because it is not guided by established generalisations or hypotheses.
Furthermore, my desire to gain a detailed account of the parents understanding or
perspective of their childrens scholastic difficulties, presently supersedes that of



10
formulating a general hypothesis. Currently there appears to be little evidence of
research that has been done in this area. Merriam (1998:38) maintains that
descriptive case studies are helpful in producing basic information about areas of
education where research has been scanty.

In addition to using a descriptive case study, I have decided to further break it
down into sub-case studies, in an endeavour to maximise the production of
information about factors which prevent parents from seeking intervention for their
childrens scholastic difficulties. This makes the study a single case study with
sub-cases or sub-units of each of three parents of children who were referred for
assessment between J anuary 2000 and February 2002. The use of more than one
sub-case could facilitate gathering of a variety of factors from parents, pertaining
to the delay in seeking intervention for their childrens scholastic difficulties.
Merriam (1998:40) holds that data collected from individual units of analysis could
contribute to bringing in variation across the case(s).

1.5.4 Data collection

Data are described by Merriam (1998:69) as ordinary pieces of information that
are found in the environment. Thus information can be concrete or abstract,
measurable or difficult to measure - as in the case of feelings or perceptions. She
further indicates that the relevance of a piece of information to a research purpose
is determined by the area of interest of the investigator, as well as his/her
perspective. In this research study the purpose is to investigate why parents delay
in seeking learning support for their children. The views or perspectives parents
have about this delay are data that are relevant to this research purpose.

Data can be collected through interviews; observations and analysis of
documents. Wolcott (in Merriam, 1998:69) describes the process of data collection
in ordinary day-to-day language when he says that it is about asking, watching
and reviewing. Interviewing, according to (Merriam, 1998:70) is seemingly the
most widely used method of data collection in qualitative research. She further
argues that in most studies, interviewing is the only form of data collection used.



11
The method that I will use to collect data from participants in this study is
interviewing.

One interview will be conducted with each of the three parents whose children
were referred for assessment. The study will be limited to parents whose children
had failed one grade or more already in the intermediate or senior phases, as well
as in the foundation phase.

1.5.4.1 Types of interviewing

Dexter (in Merriam, 1998:71) defines interviewing as a conversation with a
purpose. Patton (in Merriam,1998:71) indicates that the purpose of an interview is
to collect specific information that is in and on someone elses mind. Interviews
can assume various forms, including person-to-person interview or group interview
(Fontana & Frey in Merriam, 1998:71). In this study I will use the person-to-person
interview and conduct individual interviews with each of the parents participating in
the study, in order to elicit and collect information about parents own individual
understanding of their childrens learning problems as well as their interpretation
thereof.

There are things that we cannot directly observe in the environment, such as
feelings, thoughts and intentions. Interviewing then enables researchers to enter
into the other persons perspective (Patton in Merriam, 1998:72). In this study I
wish to find out what the parents' understanding and perspectives are of their
childrens scholastic difficulties.

Interviewing can also be classified in terms of the degree to which it is structured.
Merriam (1998:74) states that interviews can be highly structured or unstructured.
She further views them as falling on a continuum ranging from highly structured on
the one end, and unstructured on the other end. Half way through the continuum is
a semi-structured interview. The type of interview that has been chosen for this
study is the unstructured interview with open-ended questions. The study I wish to
conduct is of an exploratory nature, hence I would like to give participants the
opportunity to explore and gain insight into the factors that cause the delay in



12
seeking learning support and consequently provide a better understanding of the
research problem.

1.5.5 Sampling

Within most research projects, a large number of possible units of analysis exist.
This makes it difficult or undesirable to include each and every person or whatever
it is that has to be studied in the research study, that is potentially capable of
yielding the information that is being sought. For this reason Burgess (in Merriam,
1998:60) states that the researcher needs to decide on whom, what, where, and
when the study will be conducted. Miles and Huberman (in Punch, 1998:54)
reiterate Burgess view when he says the following: You cannot study everyone
everywhere doing everything. The researcher needs to be engaged in the
process of sampling, as in the words of Punch (1998:54) all research involves
sampling. Burgess (in Merriam, 1998:60) describes sampling as a process that
involves the selection of the site where the study will be conducted, the time at
which it will be conducted as well as the people and events that will be studied.

In the years covered by this study, 1998 to 2002, there were numerous parents
who brought their children for assessment. However, it was not possible to include
every parent whose child was referred for psychoeducational assessment in this
study. I have selected a limited number of parents with whom the study will be
conducted. Criteria for selecting the sample of parents will be discussed in the
following sections.

Merriam (1998:60) identifies two basic types of sampling i.e. probability and non-
probability sampling. She mentions random sampling as the most common
example of probability sampling, in which everybody or each event has an equal
chance of being included in the study. This kind of sampling is ideal for
quantitative research. Non-probability sampling is suitable for qualitative research.
In qualitative research the investigator seeks to answer qualitative questions,
relating to what occurs and the implications thereof.




13
In qualitative research not everybody has an equal chance of being included in a
study. The study is limited to only those occurrences that enable the researcher to
answer the research question, as manifested in a specific context. Since the
objective of qualitative research is not generalisation in a statistical sense, proba-
bilistic sampling cannot be justified in qualitative research (Merriam, 1998:60/61).

The non-probabilistic method of sampling will be used in this study. I am interested
in exploring and finding out if there are any factors, which prevent parents from
seeking early intervention or learning support for their children. The interest is not
in how many of or how often those factors occur. I would like to understand from
the parents of these learners for whom learning support was only sought after
repeated failures, what factors caused the delay. In view of the non-probabilistic
method of sampling that this study will adopt, not all the parents who brought their
children for assessment have a chance of being included in the sample.

Honingmann (in Merriam, 1998:61) holds that qualitative research mainly uses
data to solve qualitative problems by discovering occurrences, the implications
thereof as well as the relationships between them. Patton (in Merriam, 1998:61)
states that the most common form of non-probabilistic sampling is purposive
sampling. This sampling strategy is based on the assumption that the researcher
intends to discover, understand and gain insight from a sample from which the
most and relevant information can be gained about the research problem. He
further adds that through purposeful sampling information-rich samples can be
selected, from which maximum information could be gathered.

Purposive sampling requires that criteria important in selecting the sample be
determined (Merriam, 1998:61). Le Compte and Preissle (in Merriam, 1998:61)
refer to purposive sampling as criterion-based selection. The parents on whom I
will be conducting the study have been selected according to the following criteria.







14
1.5.5.1 Criteria for sampling

Criterion one

Parents whose children were referred for assessment must be from the same
school.

Criterion two

The children of these parents must have failed one grade or more in each of the
three phases of the primary school- foundation, intermediate and the senior phase.

Criterion three

The parents must be those of children who were referred for assessment at the
Psychological and Special Educational Services of the Mogodumo District Office,
in the Limpopo Province Department of Education. In the following paragraphs I
will spell out the reasons for setting these criteria.

I have decided to include parents of children from the same school, because the
principal and her heads of departments take the initiative to alert parents to their
childrens learning problems. It has been the practise to invite parents to the
school in order to inform them about the problems their children are encountering,
and recommend that they take their children for assessment.

With regard to criterion two it is crucial to select parents whose children have had
repeated failures because this represents the delay by these parents before they
could seek help. Seemingly these parents only begin to realise the seriousness of
their childrens problems after they have experienced several scholastic failures.
The parents included in this study brought their children for assessment after they
continued to have scholastic failures in either the intermediate or senior phase in
spite of having had one or more failures in the foundation phase as well.




15
Criterion three is also important for the selection of the sample. Parents, who
finally heed the advice, from the principal or his assistants, to bring their children
for assessment, indicate that they are looking for some kind of intervention. These
parents bring their children with the hope of having their childrens scholastic
problems addressed in one way or another.

1.5.5.2 Types of purposive sampling

Various writers have identified some of the more common types of purposive
sampling - these are typical, unique, maximum variation, convenience, snowball,
chain and network sampling. In this study the type of purposive sampling that is
most appropriate is typical purposive sampling. According to Merriam (1998:62), a
typical sample is that which reflects the average person, situation, or instance of
the phenomenon of interest.

Participants in the selected sample manifest the typical conduct or tendency of the
numerous parents who brought their children for assessment. Most of the parents
brought their children after they have had repeated failures in one grade across
the three primary school phases, or have had to repeat each grade before moving
to the next grade.

1.5.5.3 The size of the sample

Merriam (1998:64) maintains that the question relating to the number of units of
analysis to be included in a sample is determined by a variety of factors, which
include the following: the questions being asked, data that have to be gathered,
the progress of the analysis and available resources. However, what is of
importance with regard to the number of participants in a study is that it should be
adequate to answer the research question. According to Lincoln and Guba (in
Merriam, 1998:64) the process of sampling can continue until a point of saturation
or redundancy is reached. In purposeful sampling the size of the sample depends
upon the amount of information that is desired. If maximum information has been
obtained, sampling can be discontinued. Furthermore, if the information is



16
adequate to meet the research purpose, and no new information is obtainable
sampling can be terminated.

1.5.5.4 The sample in case studies

Qualitative case studies usually involve two levels of sampling. The first level
entails the selection of the actual case to be studied. The second level of sampling
takes place when the researcher does not intend to conduct the study on every
unit of analysis available; hence some sampling within the case will have to be
done (Merriam, 1998:65). Stake (in Merriam, 1998:65) points out that sometimes
selecting a case study turns out to be no choice at all. This implies that in a
case study design the case to be studied is always given.

In relating Stakes view (in Merriam, 1998:65) to this research study, selecting the
three case studies appears to have been no choice at all. The criteria that have
been set spell out very clearly that parents who will be included in this study
should be those of children who went to the same school, and had been referred
for assessment after having experienced repeated failures. A number of children
were referred at different times from a particular school for assessment between
1998 and 2002. Some of the parents that were advised to bring their children
heeded the advice and others did not. From the parents who did bring their
children, three of them were traced and were available for the purpose of this
research study. The implication given by the foregoing statement is that the cases
selected are given.

1.6 VALIDITY, RELIABILITY AND ETHICS

Merriam (1998:198) contends that all research endeavours have the objective of
producing valid and reliable knowledge in an ethical manner. It is particularly
important for research findings to be trustworthy to professionals in applied fields,
where practitioners have to take interventive measures in peoples lives and apply
these findings. Since the practitioners who will be applying these findings, need
some measure of confidence in them (research findings), researchers have to be
in a position to account for the reliability and validity of the research findings. In



17
order to ensure validity and reliability in qualitative research, ethical considerations
have to be firmly upheld.

From the foregoing it becomes clear that the concepts of reliability, validity and
ethics are closely related to one another, and extremely important for any research
findings to be useful in intervening in peoples lives. Merriam (1998:198) further
states that for research to have any effect on either the practical or theoretical
sphere of education, it has to be rigorously conducted in order to sound true to
readers, practitioners and other researchers. The notion held by Merriam
(1998:198) also applies to this research study. If the findings of this study do not
sound true to practitioners in education, there would be no need for any form of
intervention to address the phenomenon of the long delay by parents to seek
learning support for their children.

Kirk and Miller (1986:13) hold that in order to understand any scientific endeavour,
be it of a social or natural kind, its objectivity has to be appreciated. They further
indicated that the objectivity of research is assessed in terms of the reliability and
validity of its observations.

In the following section a brief overview of the concept validity and reliability, as
well as how the challenge of collecting data that are valid and reliable, needs to be
dealt with generally in a qualitative study, and in particular my research study. This
will be followed by a short discussion of ethical issues in general and as they apply
to this research study.

1.6.1 Validity

Validity is defined as the extent to which observations give the correct answer to
the research question (Kirk & Miller, 1986:19). Kirk and Miller (1986:21) further
maintain that validity is about whether the researcher sees what he thinks he sees.
In ordinary language the term validity as understood by these authors is
synonymous with the term true. Bryman (1988:73) goes a step further, beyond
the definition given by these authors and defines validity as the degree to which
the finding (or observation) is interpreted in the correct way. For Bryman (1988:73)



18
it is not only the finding or observation that needs to be valid, but the interpretation
thereof as well.

However, Bryman (1988:73) raises a question with regard to the feasibility of
perceiving as others perceive, which in turn poses a problem relating to how true
then can the investigators interpretations of the findings or observations be. He
further contends that qualitative researchers are not insensitive to the problem
surrounding the interpretation of other peoples perceptions. Ratcliff (in Merriam,
1998:201) acknowledges part of the problem relating to the interpretation of
observations or findings. He points out that data cannot speak for themselves,
hence an interpreter or translator is invariably present to observe or measure a
phenomenon. It is not always possible to do so without changing it. From the
foregoing it does appear that being completely objective in making observations
and findings in a research study, is a huge challenge with which qualitative
researchers are faced.

In the following paragraphs two types of validity (i.e internal and external validity)
will be discussed briefly, as well as what steps could be taken to enhance validity
in a qualitative case study, in particular this case study.

1.6.1.1 Internal validity

According to Merriam (1998:201) internal validity deals with the question of how
research findings match reality. The underlying question asked here relates to
how congruent the findings are with reality or to what extent do the findings
represent the reality out there. Merriam (1998:202) however argues that one of the
assumptions of qualitative research is that reality is holistic, multidimensional, and
ever changing; it is not a single, fixed, objective phenomenon lying out there to be
discovered, observed or even measured as in quantitative research. The fact that
reality is multidimensional and ever changing implies that there cannot be a stage
in the process of data collection and analysis where the researcher can be
completely confident of a total match between his findings and reality.




19
Further to the assumption of qualitative research mentioned above Merriam
(1998:203) states that what is being observed in qualitative research is not reality
itself, but peoples constructions of reality, i.e. how people see the world. She
further emphasises the importance of understanding the perspectives of
participants included in the research study on the phenomenon of interest.
In this study, the factors that participants raise as causing the delay in seeking
intervention for their childrens learning problems, are their own perspectives of the
reality surrounding them. The internal validity of this study should be evaluated in
terms of the match between, the perspectives of the participants, and what I
interpret to be the factors that cause the delay in seeking intervention for their
childrens learning problems.

There are a number of basic strategies that can be used to enhance the internal
validity of a research study. Merriam (1998:204/205) cites the following strategies:

Triangulation- using multiple investigators
Member checks- referring collected data and interpretations thereof back to the
participants, to check if findings are congruent with their perspectives of reality
Long- term observation at the site of research or repeated observations of the
same phenomenon- i.e. collection of data over a long period of time
Peer examination- obtaining colleagues views on the findings as they emerge
Researchers biases- researchers clarification of his biases, assumptions or
worldview and theoretical orientation at the beginning of the study.

In this study the main objective is to explore the factors that cause the delay in
seeking intervention for the childrens learning problems, in order to understand
perspectives of parents underlying this kind of conduct - the delay. In order to
enhance the internal validity in this study, I will employ two of the strategies
mentioned above, and these are: 1) member checks and 2) clarification of the
researchers biases or assumptions.

Member checks: I have conducted unstructured interviews with the selected
parents of children who have experienced repeated failures. The interviews were
recorded on a tape recorder in Northern Sotho and transcribed. Each one of them



20
was then translated into English. During the initial interview I indicated to the
interviewees that I would listen to the interviews on the audio-recorder and if there
was anything that I needed more clarity on I would go back to ask them clarify it.
This would also include checking with them the interpretations I would make of
their perspectives, to see if they were congruent. (However, it was not possible to
do member checks due to time constraints and unavailability of participants for this
purpose.)

Researchers assumptions: With regard to this strategy, I need to refer to the
introductory sections of this chapter. One of the assumptions that I explicitly stated
was that there appears to be ignorance on the part of parents about the existence
of learning disabilities, hence they tend to hope that if their children keep on
repeating the grades, they will eventually overcome their learning problems and
progress. Further to this, parents seem not to be aware that their children need
more than repeating grades several times in order to master basic academic skills.

1.6.1.2 External validity

External validity refers to the extent to which findings in one study can be
generalised to other research studies (Merriam, 1998:207). In order for research
findings to be applicable to other studies, they should first be internally valid. If the
findings of a study are not meaningful, their external validity is therefore out of
question (Guba and Lincoln in Merriam, 1998:207).

Generalisability of findings has been a source of controversy in qualitative
research for some time (Merriam, 1998:207). Qualitative researchers show some
uneasiness about the extent to which their findings can be generalised beyond the
boundaries of a specific case (Bryman, 1988:88). Bryman (1988:88) further states
that in spite of the mentioned uneasiness about generalisability of qualitative
research findings, it is possible to think of a number of solutions to address this
concern. According to him one such solution is to study more than one case. He
also believes that where the overall investigation is based on the examination of
several cases by more than one researcher, the generalisability or external validity
thereof can be enhanced.



21
Merriam (1998:211) cites the following strategies that could be applied to enhance
the generalisablity of qualitative research findings:

1) Providing adequate descriptions of the investigation - this will enable readers to
determine how closely the research study resembles their own situation, as well as
whether the research findings can be applicable to them as well.

2) Typicality or modal category - it is crucial to describe how typical the case is as
compared with others in the same class, so that readers can compare the
research situation with their own situations (LeCompte & Preissle, in
Merriam,1998:211).

3) Multi-site designs - studying many cases, sites or situations, in particular those
that will maximise the diversity of the phenomenon under investigation. This will
increase the transferability of results to a greater range of other situations. In this
regard Merriam (1998:212) agrees with Bryman (1988:88) in conducting the
investigation of the phenomenon of interest with several cases.

An attempt will be made in this research study to enhance external validity by
employing the first and third strategies suggested above. In order to enhance
external validity in this study I have given a description of the situation surrounding
the research problem and a further comprehensive description of the research
situation will be given in the sections dealing with the presentation and analysis of
collected data. This research study has also undertaken to examine more than
one sub-case. This is done to increase variation in the findings so that they could
be applicable in a wider range of other situations.

1.6.2 Reliability

Reliability refers to the extent to which research findings can be replicated
(Merriam, 1998:205). Basically reliability means that if a study is conducted again
it will produce the same findings. Kirk and Miller (1986:19) also have a similar
notion of reliability, as they define it as the extent to which qualitative observations
are made in similar repeated investigations. Bryman (1988:23) states that



22
reliability is concerned with the consistency of a measure. In this context, he
maintains that reliability consists of two aspects, namely, internal consistency,
which is concerned with the coherence of a scale. The second aspect of reliability
is concerned with consistency over time. It is this last aspect of reliability that
presents the same idea of reliability as that held by the aforementioned authors.

However, the challenge that faces social sciences with regard to reliability is the
feasibility of obtaining the same findings in repeated studies when human
behaviour is scarcely static. Findings can be replicated if reliability is conceived
against the backdrop of the assumption that there is a single reality, and that
studying it repeatedly will yield the same results (Merriam, 1998:205).

With human behaviour being dynamic (Merriam, 1998:205) it goes without saying
that this study also faces the challenge of having its findings replicated. This
challenge seems even greater when seen against the background of the tenet
held by Merriam (1998:205) with regard to the researchers self, which she
considers to be the instrument of investigation. She recognises the self in the
world as the best source of knowledge about the social world. She acknowledges
that social reality reflects an emergent property consisting of the interaction
between the researcher and the participant, and is basically subject to change.
The realisation of reliability in the post positivist context is therefore fanciful.

The main objective of qualitative research is to describe and explain the social
world as experienced by those who live in it. Several interpretations may be made
of a single experience. Consequently there is no common standard by which to
obtain repeated findings as in the traditional positivistic sense (Merriam,
1998:205).

It would be desirable to have findings in this study replicated, and have consistent
factors that contribute to the delay by parents of children with learning problems to
seek intervention. However, the emergent nature of social reality, which is defined
by the interacting selves as conceived by Merriam (1998:205), might affect the
reliability of the findings of this study, as well. Lincoln and Guba (in Merriam,
1998:206) suggest that, the term reliability should rather be thought of as the



23
dependability of the results, since it appears to be a misfit, when applied to
qualitative research. The main concern should be that of obtaining findings that
are meaningful, dependable and consistent with the data collected. Hence,
replication of findings should not necessarily be the defining terms of reliability.

Several techniques can be applied to ensure that findings are dependable.
Merriam (1998:207) cites the following techniques:

The investigators position - in this regard the investigator should explain his
assumptions as well as the theoretical underpinnings of his study; his position
in relation to the participants; a description of the participants as well as the
social context in which data collection was made and the basis for the selection
thereof.

Triangulation - using multiple data collection and analysis methods. Madill,
J ordan and Shirley (2000:3) indicate that triangulation also refers to the use of
multiple researchers, sources or theories with a view to assessing the
consistency of findings. Merriam (1998:207) agrees that triangulation raises the
reliability as well as the internal validity of findings.

Audit trail - an audit trail refers to a detailed description of the manner in which
data were collected, how they were categorised and how decisions were
arrived at, throughout the entire investigation (Dey, in Merriam, 1998:207).

In this study I will use two of the techniques mentioned above to strengthen the
reliability of research findings. Basing my endeavour on these techniques (i.e. the
first and last) I will give a comprehensive description of the research situation. This
will include the following: assumptions that I have behind the research study, my
position as an investigator in relation to the cases being studied; the social context
from which data were collected; how data were categorised as well as how
decisions were made. All this information will be discussed in the following
chapters.





24
1.6.3 Ethical considerations

In as much as there are concerns about the validity and reliability in all forms of
research, there is also a great concern about the ethical manner in which the
investigation is conducted. However, early social and natural science researchers
did not pay as much attention to ethical considerations as do present day
researchers. Professionals in the various fields of research have developed codes
of ethics according to which their research activities have to be conducted
(Merriam, 1998:212).

Researchers in qualitative studies have to deal with ethical dilemmas that may
arise with regard to both the collection and dissemination of data. It is in this
regard that their code of ethics will come in handy to guide them as to how they
have to conduct the whole process of investigation, in particular the researcher-
participant relationship. This relationship and the research purpose will determine
how much of the data collected should be revealed as well as how much privacy
and protection from harm the participant can enjoy (Merriam, 1998:213). Denzin
and Lincoln (1994:89) acknowledge that the concern underlying ethical
considerations in research revolves around issues of harm, consent, deception,
privacy and confidentiality of data. They further note that qualitative researchers
are guests in the private spaces of the world. Hence, they contend that
researchers should have good manners and a strict code of ethics.

Merriam (1998:212) maintains that such codes serve as guidelines that alert
researchers to the ethical dimensions of their work. However, she acknowledges
that there may be not practical guidelines for all the situations researchers might
find themselves in. Whereas guidelines are available to researchers, the actual
ethical practice has to take place against the backdrop of the researchers own
values and ethics.

Case study research shares an intense interest in personal views and circum-
stances because of much of the qualitative work involved. In view of the foregoing,
issues surrounding the research situation and reporting of data (i.e. consent,
privacy, identification and confidentiality) should be discussed beforehand with



25
participants. Accessibility of data should be agreed on and rules that serve to
protect human subjects adhered to. Case studies often deal with matters of public
interest. However, that does not presuppose either public or scholarly right to
know.

Denzin and Lincoln (1994:20/21) maintain that social scientists have a respon-
sibility of contributing to the self-understanding of a society. Hence the use of any
method of data collection that can help contribute to this understanding is justified.
They further indicate that social scientists should guard against invading the
privacy of participants as this can cause harm to them (participants). In view of the
quest for protecting the privacy of participants, only those behaviours and
experiences that occur in the public domain should be studied.

It is further stated by Denzin and Lincoln (1994:21) that according to the relativist
stance researchers have absolute freedom to study what they deem necessary.
However they should investigate only those problems that emanate directly from
their own experiences, not from the larger scientific community. In investigating
these problems, the only reasonable ethical standard in terms of the relativist view
is that the researcher should adhere to his own conscience, because there is no
single set of ethical standards that can be developed that would be applicable to
all research situations. Each research situation requires a different set of ethical
standards.

In this study I have taken ethical issues into consideration that are necessary and
relevant to the investigation that I am undertaking. These include issues of
informed consent, privacy, deception and confidentiality of data. Before conducting
the initial interviews, I explained to the head of the school concerned that I would
like to meet with the parents whose children were referred for assessment. I
indicated to her that I intend conducting an investigation with them regarding
factors that contributed in delaying to seek intervention for their childrens
scholastic problems.

In the initial consultation with the parents I explained to them that I would like to do
research, and also indicated the purpose of the research. I requested their



26
participation in the research study and explained to them that I will be conducting
further interviews with them. All three parents agreed to participate in the study.

When the actual interviews for data collection were conducted I asked for the
participants consent to record the interviews on a tape recorder. I explained to
them that I needed to record the interviews on a tape recorder because I would not
be able to record everything that was they said in writing. In addition to that I
explained that I needed to listen carefully to the interviews so that I can come back
for clarification if there was something that I needed more explanation on.

The interviews were conducted with the full informed consent of the participants
and in the privacy of their homes, except in the case of the last participant to be
interviewed, who could not be interviewed in her home. The interview was
conducted at one of her employers home. However, it was also conducted in
privacy. Participants were also assured that the information that they were going to
provide would be treated with confidence. Since the interviews were based on the
personal experiences and perceptions of the participants, it was indicated to them
that they were free to mention things that they felt comfortable with and were not
invading their privacy.


1.7 CLARIFICATION OF CONCEPTS

1.7.1 Parent

Refers to the primary care giver of the child such as the guardian and grandparent
of the child (Engelbrecht et al.,1999:171; DNE,1997:vii).

1.7.2 Learning support

Previously referred to as remedial education and involves the support given to
learners experiencing specific learning difficulties (DNE, 1997:vii).






27
1.7.3 Foundation Phase

This is one of the levels in the South African Education system and it comprises
Grades R to 3 (ELRC, 2003:A-55).

1.7.4 Intervention

Refers to taking action in order to provide help or bring about change (Donald, et
al., 1997:24).

1.7.5 Special educational needs

Individuals have special educational needs when they require additional
educational assistance and support to enable them to access the curriculum and
develop to the full. (DNE, 1997:134)

1.8 CONCLUSION

The need of parents to play an active role in the teaching and learning process of
their children is as important as it is in the intervention process for their childrens
learning difficulties. In this research study I will explore the understanding and
perspectives that parents have of their childrens learning difficulties. As I have
adopted a qualitative approach I would like to find answers to the research
question through the eyes of the these parents, that will shed more light on the
factors that contributed to the delay in seeking early intervention for their childrens
learning problems. The design chosen for this research project is the case study
design, and it will endeavour to make a detailed examination of each of the sub-
cases included in the case study, through unstructured interviews.

The information collected through these interviews with parents should be both
valid and reliable in order to answer the research question. Data should also be
collected and disseminated in an ethical manner.

In the following chapters the following aspects will be discussed:



28
Literature review: review of previous thinking and research found in literature
will be done in this chapter in order to help put the research problem and the
purpose of the study in perspective. Literature review affords the researcher
the opportunity to synthesise and to critique the thinking and research on the
topic under investigation. The most important part of literature is the critical
assessment of research and available literature (Merriam, 1998:55).

Presentation and analysis of collected data: the data collected through
unstructured interviews will be presented and the analysis thereof done in this
section. Although the data collected will be presented and discussed
separately, it should not been seen as a separate process from data analysis.
Merriam (1998:151) maintains that data collection and analysis take place
simultaneously. She further holds that the two processes interact with each
other throughout and enables the researcher to produce trustworthy findings.

Overview, recommendations and limitations: This section will give an overview
of the research study and recommendations drawn from the findings.
Limitations of the study will also be mentioned as well as suggestions for
further research. Conclusions will also be made within the perspectives
presented by the participants.








29
CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIELD OF LEARNING
DISABILITIES

Research conducted on the condition of learning disabilities has provided
evidence on the universality of the problem. It is not confined to a specific nation or
culture. All cultures have experienced the problem of children who have a severe
difficulty in learning. Research reports on learning disabilities have been compiled
from many parts of the world, such as the United States, the United Kingdom,
Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Australia. The offering of courses in
learning disabilities in countries such as South Korea, Thailand and South Africa,
bears evidence that it is a phenomenon that exists in these countries as well
(Lerner, 1993:6).

The International Academy for Research in Learning disabilities was established
with the purpose of fostering research on learning disabilities on the international
plane. Hence, various nations share a common conceptual framework which forms
the context within which learning disabilities can be perceived. In spite of the
common concepts underlying learning disabilities in diverse cultures, the condition
of learning disabilities can be complicated by cultural diversity itself. In this case
children have two concurrent problems, one resulting from cultural issues, and
another stemming from a learning disability (Lerner, 1993:8).

2.2 DEFINITION OF THE TERM LEARNING DISABILITIES

The task of defining the term learning disabilities has proved to be a challenge.
Several definitions have been generated and used over the years, but each one of
them had shortcomings. As the field of learning disabilities gained recognition,
many countries developed their own definitions of learning disabilities. One such
country that took up the task of developing a definition of learning disabilities, is
the United States. Prior to the first introduction of the term in 1963, attempts by



30
various groups of concerned parents and educators were made to identify children
with learning disabilities under different names. The labels they used included the
perceptually handicapped; brain injured and neurological impaired (Lerner,
1993:8).

The introduction of the term, learning disabilities to include the various problems
children had, met with immediate approval and demanded that a definition be
developed. The mostly widely used definition of learning disabilities in the United
States is the one incorporated in the federal Public law 101-476 - the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA (1990). The incorporation of the definition
in the legislation indicates that the United States government has adopted a
decisive role in the education of children experiencing learning disabilities.
According to this definition the term children with learning disabilities means
those children who have a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological
processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written. Such
disorder may manifest itself in imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write,
and spell or to do mathematical calculations. These disorders include conditions
such as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia
and developmental aphasia. However the term does not include children who have
learning problems which are primarily the result of visual, hearing or motor
impairments, or mental retardation, or emotional disturbance or environmental,
cultural or economic disadvantage (Lerner, 1993:9).

Other countries such as England and Canada have had to develop their own
definitions as they had established programs for learning disabilities. In South
Africa as well, the offering of courses has been preceded by the development of a
definition to facilitate the identification of children who present with learning
disabilities (Lerner, 1993:6,10)

2.2.1 Definition of learning disabilities in the South African context

Whereas the field of learning disabilities in South Africa has some features that are
unique to its context, it should be viewed against the backdrop of the broader
academic thinking and research elsewhere in the world (Engelbrecht, Kriegler &



31
Booysen, 1996:p
1
). Cosford (1998:1) holds that the most commonly accepted
definition of a learning disability is that it is present in a child who is not achieving
in school but who at the same time has:

Normal to above average intelligence
Normal motor ability (is not physically disabled)
Normal sensory ability (not deaf, blind or partially sighted)
Normal emotional adjustment (not severely emotionally disturbed- however
emotional problems may present along with the learning disability.

From this definition it can be noted that a child who has a learning disability has
normal intelligence, normal motor and sensory abilities as well as normal
emotional adjustment. Cosford (1998:4) further differentiates between two kinds of
learning disabilities, a specific learning disability and a general learning disability.
A specific learning disability means that a child may be quite good in some
subjects but be extremely poor in others. For instance, a child may be good at
mathematics and be able to read well, but be unable to write down or spell words.
With regard to a general learning disability a child may find all academic tasks
difficult even though his intelligence is normal.

Donald, Lazarus and Lolwana (1999:285) regard a specific learning difficulty as
not primarily due to:

environmental or contextual disadvantage;
sensory disability and/or
intellectual or emotional difficulty

In order to identify specific learning difficulties, the following criteria are con-
sidered:

Scholastic performance or specific areas of this performance that are
significantly below what would be expected from the childs general intelli-
gence.



32
Uneven pattern of intellectual development - this may mean that a child may
show adequate development in one area, and lag behind in the development
of other areas of functioning.

Minor underlying neurological dysfunction however, in most cases no clear
or hard neurological diagnosis can be made. The childs behaviour and
performance may suggest that the central nervous system is not functioning
perfectly in some way. This is a minor underlying neurological dysfunction,
which shows up as problems with co-ordination, attention, impulsiveness and
restlessness, which are difficult for the child to control voluntarily (Donald et
al., 1999:284/285).

Donald et al. (1999:285) differentiate the above-mentioned specific learning
difficulties from those that are a result of poor teaching, frequent changes of
educator or school, or the childs missing out of a period of schooling. They further
indicate that such specific learning difficulties have to be understood as not being
in the children themselves. The difficulty is more of a result of external factors in
the educational context or experience.

Donald et al. (1999:285) use the term specific learning difficulties in a somewhat
different way from Cosford (1998:1). The former authors do not use the term in a
narrow sense as the latter author, who distinguishes a specific learning disability
from a general learning disability. Donald et al. use the term to refer to all the
learning difficulties that the child may present with in spite of having normal or
average intellectual functioning, and they are not the result of external factors.
However these authors acknowledge that specific learning difficulties are difficult
to distinguish from other forms of learning problems. Prevalence has varied in
different societies, at different times and across particular social contexts. This
variation is a result of what people in particular contexts, which include parents,
educators and special educators regard as an acceptable indicator for a difficulty
in learning. Hence, a variety of difficulties ranging from contextual, intellectual or
emotional might be seen as specific learning difficulties, depending on the
prevailing point of view (Donald et al., 1999:285).



33
In spite of the difficulty involved in separating various forms of problems in
learning, it is important for the problem to be identified accurately. According to
Donald et al. (1999:285-288) specific learning difficulties refer to particular
difficulties in certain areas of learning or functioning. Such difficulties include
problems of attention or concentration in the task at hand; restlessness and
impulsiveness; specific perceptual problems, memory; language and hand-eye co-
ordination. These problems in turn affect specific areas of scholastic performance.
Most common problems that are experienced by children involve difficulty with the
acquisition and mastery of basic scholastic skills of spelling, writing and working
with numbers. These problems might be present in isolation or in combination with
one another in the child. For example a child may be an efficient verbal
communicator, give bright ideas and have good comprehension of language cues,
but battle with reading and spelling skills. This is a typical case of specific learning
difficulties.

It should also be noted that most authors (Cosford, 1998; Wenar, 1994; Lerner,
1993; Dane, 1990) in this field prefer to use the term learning disabilities, in spite
of giving slightly varying definitions in terms of comprehensiveness. However, the
authors seem to agree that the difficulties experienced by children manifest
themselves in the understanding and use of literary and numerical concepts.
These difficulties are reflected in the areas of reading, writing (including spelling),
listening, speaking and mathematics. There appears to be no major difference in
either using the term learning disabilities or learning difficulties. In defining the
term learning disabilities authors employ the term difficulties in order to refer to
the various areas where a learning disability is experienced. In this study I will use
the term learning difficulties.

2.3 PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN

The involvement of parents in the education of their children will be considered
both in general as well as it relates specifically to children who have learning
difficulties. Engelbrecht, Green, Naicker and Engelbrecht (1999:171) use the term
parent to refer to the primary caregiver of the child as well as the guardian of the
child. Parent is also used in a broad sense to include guardians and grandparents



34
as defined in the NCSNET/NCESS (DNE, 1997:vii). According to the South African
Schools Act, of 1996, parent means: 1) the parent or guardian of a learner, 2) the
person legally entitled to custody of a learner, or 3) the person who undertakes to
fulfil the obligations of a person referred to in 1) and 2) above. In this study the
term parent will include primary caregivers such as guardians, parents and
grandparents.

2.3.1 The role of parents in the education of their children

Mkwanazi (in Mambane, 2000:1) holds that parents have been marginalised for a
long time in the education of their children. Parental involvement has been largely
erratic. Parents did not get involved in the education of their children, because
they viewed the school as an independent institution. The school was regarded as
consisting of individuals who were qualified and were being paid to educate their
children. Similarly educators and principals regarded schools as their area of
jurisdiction, and were reluctant to accommodate parental participation. Any
semblance of seeking to get involved in the affairs of the school was often viewed
as interference.

Seeley (cited in Mambane, 2000:1) also maintains that education has been
regarded as a service provided by the government, which has to be delivered by
professional people, leaving parents with little say in the education of their
children. Where parental involvement or participation is not recognised, or where
facilities or encouragement for such participation does not exist, effective learning
may be threatened and impeded. Negative attitudes towards parental involvement
or participation, especially in poorer communities, contribute to a lack of parental
involvement in matters relating to the learning process of their children in general
and in monitoring any learning difficulties that might exist.

Parental involvement in the education of their children helps to strengthen the
parent-child relationships, thereby positively influences the academic progress and
behaviour of the children (Squelch in Mambane, 2000:22). If there are problems or
concerns that might threaten the progress of the learner, these might be timeously
picked up and communicated by the parent or educator to each other. Hence De



35
Roche (cited in Mambane, 2000:22) observes that parents need to deal
effectively with the problem of homework, school work, habits . Monitoring the
work of children on a daily basis will therefore promote early identification of a
breakdown in learning or learning difficulties should they exist.

The education process is a joint task of the parent at home, and the educator at
school. The progress of children may be adversely affected if parents are not
embraced as co-educators of their children (Mambane, 2000:24). The educator
with his/her professional training, needs to be complemented by the parent with
the knowledge that he/she has about his/her child, to make the teaching and
learning effective and devoid of difficulties.

2.3.1.1 The role of parents of children with learning difficulties

New policies support optimal involvement of parents in the education of their
children in South Africa. These policies advocate that active involvement of
parents and the broader community in the teaching and learning process is central
to effective learning and development (DoE, 2002:140). Emerging policies also
lay emphasis on the fact that parents must be involved in the processes of
identifying barriers to learning and development, as well as in developing plans of
action to address these barriers (Engelbrecht et al., 1999:55). The concept
barriers to learning and development refers to all factors experienced by the
individual learner, which may be located outside or within the individual, and
prevent the learner from accessing educational provision (DNE, 1997:v).

These barriers to learning and development constitute a diversity of special
educational needs, ranging from physical, sensory disabilities to mild and
moderate learning disabilities. The group with mild and moderate disabilities is
usually the largest and the most difficult to identify. These learners are in most
instances not identified before they start school. Some have learning difficulties in
very specific areas such as fine motor skills that involve handwriting. Others have
less recognisable though pervasive difficulties in reading and conceptualising
other learning material (Engelbrecht et al., 1999:72; Hornby, 1995:55).



36
The role of parents of children with learning difficulties is of paramount importance
in facilitating their childrens learning and development. Engelbrecht, Kriegler and
Booysen (1996:68) hold that the best practice in early intervention is to use the
systems approach to enable and empower families or parents in facilitating the
development of their children with disabilities. This view is supported by Wolfens-
berger and Kurts (in Mercer, 1991:112) who advocate involving parents in
activities that can foster academic and social growth of their children.

Such activities should be determined according to the individual circumstances of
the familys resources and characteristics. One of the activities that they think
could be useful in this regard is parent observation. Parents spend more time with
their children in a wider variety of places than do educators and other
professionals. They are therefore in a better position to develop observational
skills. Parents can be given training to observe or attend to appropriate and
inappropriate behaviour in their children. This could help them to be very accurate
judges of their childrens level of development.

Weiss and Weiss (in Mercer, 1991:112) also view the role of parents of children
with learning difficulties along the same lines. Parents need to be aware of any
behaviour that has educational significance in their children. The educator may
give the parent a checklist to guide home observation of the child. Home
observation can provide important information about the child, as well as help
increase parents sensitivity to the childs strengths and weaknesses. The checklist
can be used to help parents decide if their children have learning problems as it
covers speaking listening, reading, writing and mathematical skills. However,
Weiss and Weiss (in Mercer, 1991:112) acknowledge that a checklist cannot
substitute professional testing, but it can help parents direct their observation in
specific areas.

In the light of the foregoing it is clear that educators and parents need to work
together as a team in the identification of learning difficulties (Gericke: 1998:47).
This process of identification begins when the parent or educator becomes
dissatisfied with the childs performance or notices a change in the childs
behaviour patterns (Silver, Hagin & Kopp in Gericke, 1998:46).



37
2.4 THE ROLE OF THE PARENTS AND EDUCATORS IN HOME-SCHOOL
COLLABORATION

There appears to be evidence that parental involvement in the teaching/learning
process is essential, and promotes close collaboration between the parent and the
educator. It is this close collaboration that can facilitate timeous identification and
early intervention for learning difficulties when they do occur. The involvement of
parents would also imply collaboration with educators in the development of plans
of intervention to address learning difficulties (Engelbrecht et al., 1999:55). Dale
(1996:25/26) maintains that there has been a widespread demand to be more
actively involved in those decisions and activities involving their childs education,
that were traditionally controlled by professionals. This author refers to educator-
parent collaboration as a partnership between the parent and the professional
(educator). She cites various definitions of a partnership offered by various
authors.

In one of these definitions, given by Mittler and Mittler (Dale, 1999:26), a
partnership is viewed as involving a full sharing of knowledge, skills and
experiences. A partnership can assume varying forms, though it should by
definition place emphasis on equality. The implication is that each side possesses
knowledge and skill that it can contribute to the shared responsibility of working
with the child. According to OShea and OShea (OShea, OShea, Algozinne &
Hammite, 2001:12/13) the collaborative approach implies that educators do not
operate in isolation. Further, educators strive to understand the expectations of
parents, as well as what they want and are willing to contribute to the educational
process. In acknowledging the importance of collaboration between educators and
families, these authors cite the following points:

Families provide educators with personal information that may explain why
certain student behaviours are occurring in the classroom.
Families also provide background information and medical histories to
educators and to the school that could assist in understanding why a student
behaves or learns in certain ways.



38
Families relay information to educators about the types of disciplinary
measures and learning strategies that are effective with their children.

OShea and OShea (2001:12) state that educators are also important to parents
because of the following:

Educators provide families with documented evidence of their childrens
progress and success.
Educators can also help parents determine where a students interests lie, so
as to establish long-term goals for the child.
Educators can inform parents about inappropriate behaviour or academic
needs in the classroom.
In providing information about the child, educators can help families become
more actively involved in their childrens education.

Taylor (2000:65) supports the observation made above concerning parental
involvement and adds that individuals with disabilities cannot successfully reach
their optimum level of functioning unless their parents become actively involved in
their education. Henderson (in Taylor, 2000:65) also reiterates the importance of
parental involvement in schools by describing parents as the schools best friend.
Being the schools best friend also implies collaboration between home and
school.

Parental involvement has the benefit of establishing a close partnership with the
school, whereby children can be supported by the parents through their learning
process (Engelbrecht et al., 1999:56). Parents should be empowered to spread
skills and to provide effectively for children with disabilities. Parent involvement
should be stretched to encourage community-based initiatives (Engelbrecht et al.,
1999:56).

2.4.1 Home-school partnerships in the South African context

In South Africa, School Governing Bodies have been identified as the key element
in empowering parents in school communities. It is envisaged that School



39
Governing Bodies can facilitate greater involvement of parents in the education of
their children through capacity-building programmes (Engelbrecht et al.,
1999:177). With the development of democracy in South Africa there has been
increased emphasis placed on parental and community involvement in and control
over their schools. However, parental involvement needs to go beyond parti-
cipation in the school governing bodies and in educator- parent meetings. Parents
can make other numerous contributions to the life of the school, which include
among others: involvement in life-skills education programmes; acting as
educator-aids to help educators address special needs in the classroom or school.
Active parental involvement is also of paramount importance in relation to
individual disabilities and learning difficulties, as the school cannot do everything
that the children need.

In order to ensure that this growth and development process unfolds in a healthy
manner, all parties need to collaborate and co-operate with one another.
Collaboration between school and family is particularly important where children
experience individual disabilities or learning difficulties. In this regard the
collaboration of parents and educators may be an important strategy in addressing
the challenge of giving individual attention to learners. Individual attention is not
always feasible where educators are faced with large classes (Donald et al.,
1997:275).

Parents could assist in the supervision of individualised work programmes
developed by educators, as well as with the general management of resources
and materials in classroom activities. Parents can be of immense help in such
classroom activities, as they might be time-consuming for the educator and not
necessarily require the professional attention of the educator. The assistance
offered by parents can help relieve educators so that they can spend time on
designing and implementing more individualised programmes for all learners,
including those with special needs - such as those with difficulties in learning
(Donald et al., 1997:275).

The home of the child amongst others has a huge influence on fostering the
growth and development of the child. Apart from assisting by supervising class-



40
room activities, parents can collaborate with educators in the development of
home-based programmes for children with learning difficulties. Such programmes
afford the child extra time for supervised homework as well as more practice and
reinforcement of specific skills, which cannot be ideally done in a large class
(Donald et al., 1997:300).

2.5 CONCLUSION

In their article, OShea and Reley (in OShea et al., 2001:2) observe that modern
families are characterised by diversity across households, which in turn has an
effect on school matters. Students homes and communities represent diverse
economic or cultural settings, which also give rise to a variety of social and
religious environments. Hence, educators are faced with this diversity, which
includes home values, family traditions and social-cultural experiences, which
children bring to schools.

In view of this diversity, educators need to take all these issues into consideration
in order to collaborate effectively with families or parents on various aspects of the
childs school life. It is for this reason that OShea et al. (2001:12/13) acknowledge
that when collaborating with families, educators need to be sensitive to family
needs and strengths on the one hand, and to be accepting of home, community
and cultural norms on the other hand.

Though there is an inclination towards a high level of parental involvement,
including collaboration between educators and parents in South Africa, generally
the situation is still far from being ideal. Educators still raise concerns about
battling to get parents involved in the education of their children or any other
school activity (Engelbrecht et. al., 1999:173).

The central role that parent involvement can play in the schooling process cannot
be disputed. The challenge that is facing the present education system in South
Africa is how to encourage parental involvement, as schools were previously
regarded as the domain of educators and principals. The pursuit of strategies that



41
can promote or encourage parental involvement can contribute to the rekindling of
the partnership between the school and parents (Engelbrecht et al., 1999:56).

In the next chapter I will present and analyse the data collected.










42
CHAPTER THREE

PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF COLLECTED DATA

3.1 INTRODUCTION

I indicated in the first chapter that I would conduct a qualitative case study, in order
to find answers to the research question What factors prevent parents from
seeking learning support for their children in the Foundation Phase? In this chapter
data collected from the sub-cases forming the integral part of this case study will
be presented and analysed. I collected the data through unstructured interviews,
for which permission was obtained from the participants, as well as for recording
the interviews on a tape recorder. I conducted interviews with parents or guardians
of children who were referred for assessment to the Psychological and Special
Education Services of the Mogodumo District Office, in the Central Region of the
Limpopo Department of Education. The participants who were selected were those
whose children went to the same school, and were sent for assessment after
experiencing repeated failures in the foundation phase, as well as in subsequent
phases. In the following sections contextual descriptions of the school; the
researcher and each of the participants identified with letters A, B and C
respectively, will be given.

3.2 CONTEXTUAL DESCRIPTION

It was mentioned in sections 1.6.1.2 and 1.6.2 that providing adequate descrip-
tions of: the situation surrounding the research problem; the position of the
researcher in relation to the participants; and the participants, could enhance the
validity and reliability of the study. I will now give contextual descriptions of the
school which the children referred for assessment went to, the researcher and
each of the three participants in this study.






43
3.2.1 The school

The primary school these children went to is situated in a rural village in an area
called Ga-Mphahlele which falls under the jurisdiction of the Thabamoopo
Magisterial District, in the Limpopo Province. The villagers living in this area have
limited access to running water and sanitation. The school draws its population
from children living in the village, which is within walking distance from it, and
serves about 100 families. Most of the families live in abject poverty, as parents
are not employed. The few parents and guardians who are employed work in the
nearby township and industrial area. Some are employed in Polokwane and as far
away as the Gauteng Province. Other households depend on old age welfare
grants, for their daily subsistence and school fees. The school caters for Grade R
up to Grade 7 learners, and each grade has only one class. The enrolment of the
school is made up of about 270 learners. There are seven educators at the school
and none of them are trained in either remedial or special education. The
educator-learner ratio is estimated at 1:35. The assumption that one would draw
on the basis of this seemingly ideal educator-learner ratio is that educators would
be able to identify learners experiencing scholastic problems timeously. The then
acting headmistress advised parents to bring their children for assessment after
observing that they were not progressing scholastically. A number of children from
this school were sent for assessment between 1998 and 2002 to the researcher
who served as a psychometrist in the district office. However, this happened after
the children had experienced repeated failures in the same or various grades.
Presently there is a permanently appointed headmistress at the school and she
has also been advising parents to do the same.

The school has a feeding scheme programme which helps in the alleviation of
starvation, to which most children would be subjected if such a scheme did not
exist. The feeding scheme is funded by the Department of Health and Social
Welfare. Parents help with the preparation of meals for the children. This is
probably the only way a few of the parents involve themselves in the activities of
the school. There is reportedly minimal parental involvement in other activities of
the school, as observed from the poor attendance of meetings by parents.



44
3.2.2 The researcher

Having served as a psychometrist in the abovementioned district office, I was
mainly involved with psychoeducational assessments on children referred for
learning difficulties and possible placement at the remedial school in the nearby
township for learning support. Parents usually brought their children for
assessment at the advice of the then acting headmistress. It came to my notice
that most of the children were only referred after they had failed repeatedly. The
main question that I became concerned about related to the factors that
prevented parents as primary educators from seeking learning support for the
children timeously. The observed tendency among parents to delay in seeking
help to address these repeated failures led to the question posed above. It
became important for me to be aware of any assumptions, beliefs and biases that
might compromise the objectivity and consequently the reliability of the study, in
the course of conducting an inquiry in order to find answers to this question. My
assumptions and biases will be acknowledged in order to clarify my position with
regard to the research problem under investigation.

Firstly, I assumed that parents did not seek learning support early because they
were not aware that their children needed it in order to progress scholastically.
Secondly, I believed that educators with their professional training should be the
ones to facilitate the process of seeking learning support for the children timeously
before children fail repeatedly. However, this did not happen in the case under
consideration and it is not clear either why they did not do so. Thirdly, in the
absence of this initiative being taken by the educators I expected parents to have
taken it upon themselves, to find out from the school authorities what could be
done to help their children. However, it was also important to acknowledge that it
would not have been possible for parents to do that. Given their social
background, characterised by a low literacy level and the assumption that as
parents they do not have a role to play in the learning process of their children,
parents would not approach the school without being encouraged to do so.

I view the whole situation of repeated failure of the children and subsequent
seeking of learning support against the background of the systems theory. The



45
child as a sub-system of his or her family is also a sub-system of the school. The
family and the school are therefore dependent on each other for the learning and
development of the child, whose membership they are sharing. In view of the
foregoing the family is equally responsible to see to the development of the child. It
was from this perspective that I became concerned with the delay on the part of
the parents to seek learning support for their children. I met these parents, who
are participants in this study, for the first time when they brought their children for
assessment.

3.2.3 Participant A

This participant was the first one to be interviewed and the guardian of the child
who was referred to me for the assessment of learning difficulties. She indicated
that she was the elder sister to the biological mother of the child brought for
assessment, and therefore the aunt of the child. The child was borne out of
wedlock. When his biological mother got married to another man, the child went to
stay with her and his step- father in another village. The child failed up to three
times while staying with his mother and stepfather. He failed grade 1 once, and
grade two twice. The participant later on asked the childs mother to let her stay
with him at her place, and attend school in her village. When he went to live with
the participant he was repeating grade two for the second time, which he then
passed and was promoted to grade three. He reportedly repeated grade three
twice or thrice, after which he passed and was promoted to grade four, which he
subsequently failed twice. That was when the participant decided to seek help to
address the problem of repeated failures at the advice of the then acting
headmistress.

This participant comes from a largely socially and economically disadvantaged
rural village, in which there is limited access to running water; electricity and basic
sanitary facilities. Electricity is provided by means of the card system and running
water is provided at common points in the village. She lives with her family not
very far away from the school her nephew went to. Her own children also went to
the same school and did not experience repeated failures. She indicated that she
was not literate and not employed. Her husband is the sole breadwinner and they



46
live in a properly built brick house. She volunteered to stay with her sisters son
when she realised that he was not progressing scholastically. She became
concerned about her nephews repeated failures and thought that her sister did not
really care about her sons performance at school.

3.2.4 Participant B

The second interview was conducted with Participant B, who is also a guardian
of the child referred to me for the assessment of learning difficulties. She indicated
that she was the maternal grandmother of the child, and had been staying with the
grandson ever since he was born. His mother had borne him out of wedlock and
she left him with her parents when she got married. Consequently, both the
grandmother and grandfather have been full-time guardians from his time of birth
up until the time the researcher conducted the interview with Participant B.

This participant lives in the same village as participant A. She lives and spends
most of the time with her grandchildren as her own children are grown up and live
elsewhere. She indicated that the only child of her own who still lived with her was
the last born daughter in the family. Her husband works in the Gauteng Province
and comes home at the end of each month and during festive holidays in March
and December. They live in a properly built brick house with electricity supplied
through the card system as indicated above. The participant also indicated that
she was completely illiterate and has never been to school. She recalled that when
she was young it was not important for girls to go to school, hence she spent part
of her youth looking after livestock. Her house is within walking distance to the
school. She indicated that she would not have approached the school about the
childs repeated failures, unless the educators had invited her.

3.2.5 Participant C

Participant C was the last to be interviewed. She is the biological mother of one
of the three children who were referred to the researcher for the assessment of
learning difficulties from the same school. She indicated that her son had failed
grade 2 quite a number of times (could not remember exactly how many times)



47
and grade 6 once (though she was not quite sure, and thought it could have been
more than once as it had been quite a long time ago). She also indicated that
though her son did not fail other grades, she believed that he was just pushed into
the next grades as his scholastic performance had not been satisfactory. He was
brought for assessment when he was doing grade 6, and his mother could not
remember whether he had or had not passed this grade at the time. (However,
checking through the end of the year promotion mark schedule, it was discovered
that he had failed grade 6 when he was brought for assessment).

Participant C also lives in the same village as the other two participants, in an
environment that is socially and economically disadvantaged. She is a single
parent and consequently the sole breadwinner of her household. She earns a
living by doing part-time jobs as a domestic helper in the nearby township. She
works for different families on alternate days. She acknowledged that she comes
from a financially needy background as she struggles to make ends meet from the
wages she earns from her part-time jobs.

She can read and write; hence she was able to notice when her son was
struggling with scholastic tasks such as reading. She indicated that in certain
instances her son was just pushed into the next classes. The interview with this
participant could not be conducted at her home because she was not always
available at home. An arrangement was therefore made that the interview be
conducted at the house of one of her employers.

3.3 DATA ANALYSIS

The interviews conducted with the parents and guardians of these children were
aimed at extracting factors from them which could have prevented them from
seeking learning support immediately their children started failing at least once or
twice. It is these factors which will constitute the data that I intend to analyse in the
subsequent sections. However, before I can embark on that, it will be necessary to
define and briefly discuss the process of data analysis.




48
3.3.1 Definition of data analysis

Data analysis is defined as a process of making sense out of data. As such, data
analysis goes further to consolidate, reduce and interpret what people have said,
as well as what the researcher has seen and read (Merriam, 1998:178). Miles and
Huberman (1994:10) define data analysis as a process which consists of three
activities: 1) data reduction; 2) data display and 3) conclusion drawing and
verification. The view of the latter authors on data analysis seem to be consistent
with that of Merriam (1998), in that all of them agree on the component of
consolidation and reduction of data, with a view to making interpretations or the
drawing of conclusions on the data possible.

Merriam (1998: 178) contends that data analysis is a complex process that
involves moving back and forth between concrete bits of data and abstract
concepts; between inductive and deductive reasoning; between description and
interpretation. In the previous sections reference was made to the processes of
data collection and data analysis as if they occur separately. The impression that I
might have given was that the process of data collection would be done first and
then data analysis afterwards. Merriam (1998: 155) holds that data collection and
analysis are seen as processes that take place simultaneously, although they are
described separately. Discussing data collection and analysis separately in
qualitative research gives the impression that they occur independent of each
other. One of the features which distinguish qualitative research from the
traditional experimental research, is the integration of data analysis into data
collection. This integration is necessitated by the fact that qualitative research is
emergent. This means the researcher cannot definitely know in advance as to
who may be interviewed, or all the questions that might be asked, or from where
data might be next collected. It is for this reason that the process of data collection
and analysis is also viewed as dynamic. After interviewing the two guardians of the
children i.e. the aunt (participant A) and the grandmother (participant B)
respectively the researcher realised the need to interview the biological mothers of
the children. The one mother (daughter to participant B) was interviewed, but
appeared to know very little about her son as she had not been staying with him
from the time he was doing grade one. She did not provide any relevant answers



49
to the research question. The other mother (younger sister to participant A) was
not available.

Mouton (1996:168) holds that qualitative data analysis, among other things
focuses on the following:

Understanding rather than explaining social actions and events within
specific contexts;
Remaining true to the natural setting of the participants and the concepts
they are using to describe and understand themselves;
Giving contextually valid accounts of social life rather than formally generali-
sable explanations.

It does appear from the foregoing that emphasis in qualitative data analysis is
placed on the integrated, meaningful and contextual nature of social phenomena.
This implies focusing on the individual case in its specific context of meanings and
significance. Analysis of data in such an instance would mean the reconstruction
of inherent structures of significance and self-understanding of the individuals
being studied (Mouton, 1996:168/169).

In view of qualitative research striving to stay closer to the subjects being studied,
it is important that the analysis of data collected through unstructured interviews in
this study should strive to reflect the insiders perspectives and self-understanding
of their views, as indicated by Mouton (1996:169). The analysis of data that I have
collected from the parents of children who were referred to me for assessment,
should reflect their own understanding of factors that prevented them from seeking
learning support in time, instead of waiting for them to repeat grades several
times.

In the following section I will briefly mention various data analysis strategies that
may be suitable for qualitative case studies. I will also give a brief description of
the data analysis strategy that I will use in this study. Later in the chapter I will
present the data that I collected through unstructured interviews with the selected
parents of children who were referred for assessment. In order to organise the



50
data that I have collected, I will identify common categories under which data can
be classified.

3.3.2 Data analysis strategies

Merriam (1998:155-159) identifies various strategies that may be applied in the
analysis of qualitative data. She cites the following data analysis strategies:

Ethnographic analysis, that is used with ethnographic studies.
Narrative analysis, which is applicable to stories reflecting the various ways in
which humans experience the world.
Phenomenological analysis, which is grounded in phenomenology and focuses
on the extraction of the essence or basic structure of a phenomenon.
The constant comparative method, which is most suitable for non-substantive
theory building and has been developed for the purpose of grounded theory.

3.3.2.1 Constant comparative method

In this study I will use the constant comparative method in analysing the data that I
have collected. Merriam (1998:159) holds that the point of departure of this
method is constant comparison of data, in order to identify tentative categories that
are comparable to each other and other instances. The researcher commences
with reading one interview transcript, a set of field notes or document and then
compares it with another in the same set of data or in another set. By comparing
these sets of data, tentative categories are developed and then compared to each
other or other instances.

3.3.3 Levels of analysis

It has been mentioned in the previous paragraphs that in employing the constant
comparative method of data analysis, the objective is to identify tentative
categories that cut across the data. However, the identification of these categories
is just one level of analysis, preceded and followed by other levels. Data analysis
ranges from the arrangement of basic descriptive accounts in a narrative form



51
through to the development of categories, identification of themes or the
establishment of other forms of data classification that can be useful in the
interpretation of the meaning of collected data (Merriam, 1998:178, 192). It is in
the light of the foregoing that Merriam (1998:178) acknowledges that there are
different analytical levels at which data can be analysed.

Merriam (1998:192) further holds that it is the meaning, understanding or insight
that constitutes the findings of the study. Findings can be in the form of organised
descriptive accounts, themes or categories that cut across the data, or in the form
of models and theories that explain the data. These forms of findings also reflect
different analytical levels, which range from concrete, simple descriptions to high-
ordered abstract theory formulations.

The notion held by Miles and Huberman (1994:10) that data analysis consists of
three activities, namely data reduction, data display and conclusion drawing
and verification, is consistent with Merriams (1998:178) view of different
analytical levels. Implied in the activities of data reduction and conclusion
drawing is the arrangement of data so as to sort, focus, discard and organise it to
facilitate Merriams (1998:178) notion of the interpretation of the meaning of
collected data. By data display Miles and Huberman (1994:10) refer to an
organised, compressed assembly of information, which concurs with Merriams
(1998:179) notion of development or identification of categories or themes.
According to Miles and Huberman (1994:10-11) designing a data display involves
deciding on the rows and columns of a matrix in which data will be categorised.
However, Taylor and Bogdan (in Merriam, 1998:179) warn that these categories or
themes are concepts indicated by the data, and not the data itself.

3.3.3.1 Levels of analysis in case studies

A case study is defined as an intensive, holistic description and analysis of a
single, bounded unit. Given these features of a case study, the understanding of
the case as well as its context appears to be of paramount importance. In
analysing the data collected on the case study, the main objective is to establish a
pattern or significance through direct interpretation (Merriam, 1998:187).



52
Before an interpretation of the data can be made, there have to be organised
descriptive accounts of what the participants have said or what the researcher has
observed. Hence, data analysis in case studies ranges from organised descriptive
accounts of the case being studied, through the establishment of patterns, themes
or categories that cut across the data to models and theories that explain the data.
It has been indicated that these descriptive accounts of the case, the
establishment of themes or categories, and the development of models and
theories, constitute the various analytical levels in a case study (Merriam,
1998:178, 192).

In this case study the process of data analysis will take place on two levels only,
i.e. concrete descriptions of the data collected from the parents and the
identification or establishment of themes or categories. The third level of analysis
which involves the development of models or abstract theory formulations will not
be applied, seeing that the study is limited to a very small group of participants
who are in a specific context.

3.4 ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS OF THE RESEARCH STUDY

The various analytical levels, i.e. concrete descriptive accounts, themes or
categories and models and theories, are also viewed as the various forms in which
the findings of a study can be presented. The dilemma which researchers face in
presenting their findings is deciding how much concrete description to include as
opposed to analysis and interpretation. In spite of this dilemma some balance
needs to be established between description and interpretation (Merriam,
1998:235).

In this study I will present and analyse data in accordance with the three units or
components of the process of data analysis as described by Erickson (in Merriam,
1998:235). These are, firstly, particular description, which refers to the
description of the raw data gathered from the participants. Secondly, general
description which involves reporting identified patterns or themes. Thirdly,
interpretative commentary which facilitates connections between the particular
and general description.



53
The particular description is considered to be on the first analytical level in
Merriams (1998) view. This will involve giving the descriptive accounts of each of
the interviews held with the participants. The particular description of the
interviews of each of the three participants will be identified as Participant A;
Participant B and Participant C respectively.

The second component of the data analysis process - general description, which is
implied in the second analytical level, i.e. the identification of patterns, themes or
categories, will be conducted through the constant comparative method as
indicated above. The particular description of each of the three interviews will be
compared with one another in order to establish specific patterns, themes or
categories. These themes or categories will be displayed in matrices. Presenting
categories in matrix format suggests slotting in units of information in holes as
noted by Patton (in Marshall & Rossman, 1999:153). However, he cautions
researchers not to give in to the temptation of allowing the matrices to direct the
analysis. He further argues that matrices can be manipulative and compel the
researcher to force data into categories in an attempt to fill out the holes.

The third element in the analysis of data will involve interpretative commentary.
Merriam (1998:235) holds that such commentary is interpolated between
particular description and general description in order to facilitate making
connections between the concrete details represented by the raw data reported
and the more general themes or patterns representing the collected data. This
third component in a case study report provides a framework for enhancing
understanding of the particular and general descriptions.

3.4.1 Particular description of data collected

Particular description is characterised by quotes from the people interviewed,
quotes from field notes,in which the sights and sounds of what was being said
and done are described in the natural sequence of their occurrence in real time
(Erickson in Merriam, 1998:235). Summaries of interview transcripts of Participant
A; Participant B; and Participant C will now be given in the following section:




54
3.4.1.1 Summary of the interview transcript of Participant A

When Participant A was asked about the factors that prevented her from seeking
help for her nephew, before failing repeatedly, she initially indicated that she had
financial constraints. She would have to incur extra costs for transport and school
fees because the school in which the child would be given learning support is
outside the village in which they are living.

When participant A was asked what she thought of the repeated failures of her
nephew in grades 1, 2, and 3, etc., she indicated that she never thought of
anything. She attributed her ignorance or lack of foresight to the fact that she was
illiterate and had not been to school. She also mentioned that although she had
realised that the child was a block, she thought that his mind would open up as
he grew up. This was expressed as buleha in Northern Sotho, meaning to gain
understanding. She thought this would happen as time progressed, not knowing
there was somewhere he could be helped to improve. This use of the word
block has been borrowed from another English meaning of the word as a lump,
or the similar Afrikaans word blok. It is a term that is used locally to refer to
someone who is unintelligent.

She further explained that the childs mind had not developed enough to
understand quickly what he was taught at school. She went on to explain that she
understood that people do not develop at the same pace - some develop faster
and others much slower. However, she never thought, there was somewhere he
could be treated, so that he can be able to understand quickly.

She further indicated that if the school had not made her aware that the child
needed to be given learning support, she would not have thought of it. She
acknowledged that, as for knowing where he could be taken to, we knew nothing
and that they had wasted the childs time by delaying to seek help for his learning
problems.





55
3.4.1.2 Summary of the interview transcript of Participant B

The introductory questions of the interview included those referring to the grades
which the grandson had failed, as well as the number of times he failed. She
indicated that he failed grades 3 and 4 many times, particularly grade 3 with which
he experienced the greatest difficulty and could not remember exactly how many
times he had failed. (When the grandson was brought for assessment he had
failed Grade 5.)

When I asked Participant B about factors that prevented her from seeking
learning support early, instead of waiting for the child to fail repeatedly, she
indicated that she did not know that there was somewhere else the child could get
help. She expressed being perplexed and did not know what they could do. I also
asked about her understanding of the childs repeated failures and she indicated
that she thought that as the child was still young, his mind would open up in time
and he would be in a position to grasp a few things that he was taught at school.
When the grandson kept on repeating, she thought that he was very playful
(which she figuratively expressed as bapala kudu in Northern Sotho). She also
indicated that his repeated failures were due to being negligent with regard to his
schoolwork (translated from ga a hlokomele in Northern Sotho).

The participant also mentioned that she was beginning to think that if her grandson
continued with repeated failures she would have thought that he was being
bewitched, and hence was unable to understand what he was taught in class. She
indicated that if that had been the case, she would have sought some
prescriptions from her church (Zionist Christian Church). The verbal translation of
prescriptions is ditaelo in Northern Sotho, which means the performance of
certain religious rituals. She thought that such religious rituals would have to be
performed to help the grandsons mind to open up, and remedy his learning
problems.







56
3.4.1.3 Summary of the interview transcript of Participant C

I asked her whether there had been any factors that prevented her from seeking
learning support for her son earlier, when he was still in the lower grades, i.e.
grade 1 and 2. She initially indicated that when the educators first sent a message
to her so that they could discuss her sons learning problems, she could not go to
the school immediately as then she was working far away from home, and did not
have time to go and see the educators.

The question was asked again. This time I specifically asked her, whether there
were any factors that prevented her from seeking help for her son, before she was
advised by the educators to do so. In response to this question she said that she
could not seek help then for her sons learning problems, because of financial
constraints, as there were going to be transport costs and additional school fees
involved.

She was asked whether before she was advised by the educators on what could
be done about her sons problems, she was aware that the child had to be taken
elsewhere to get learning support for his learning problems. She mentioned that, I
had no such idea, I had never come across such an idea that something else
could be done to help her son.

She was also asked what she thought of her sons repeated failures. She said that
she thought her son was a block, meaning that he was unintelligent.
Consequently, he was incapable of understanding what he was taught at school.

3.4.2 General description of data collected

General description as a concept generated by Erickson (in Merriam, 1998:235)
involves the reporting of patterns discovered in the data. He further states that the
general description is needed to tell the reader whether the particular descriptions
of data are typical of the collected data as a whole.




57
In order to discover these patterns, I commenced by reviewing the interview
transcript of participant A, with a view to establishing certain themes or
categories. Le Compte, Preissle and Tesch (in Merriam, 1998:181) hold that the
construction of categories begins with reading the first interview transcript. I then
extracted a number of groupings as I worked through the entire interview
transcript. The list or number of groupings, according to Le Compte et al., (in
Merriam, 1998:181) constitutes a primitive outline or classification system which
reflects the recurring regularities or patterns in the collected data.

I engaged in a task of comparing one unit of information with the next, in an
endeavour to establish regularities. I used a primitive classification system
described above as categories or themes into which subsequent recurrences in
the other two interview transcripts, of participants B and C were sorted out.
Sorting out these bits of information into categories brings them together in a
novel way as Merriam (1998:181) has observed. Strauss and Corbin (in
Marshall & Rossman, 1999:148) share the same view with her when they say that
qualitative data analysis is a search for a general statement about relationships
among categories of data. Merriam (1998:181) further argues that such categories
are abstractions derived from the data, and should not be regarded as data
themselves. Where there appeared to be no such recurrences, the emerging
themes were classified as new categories.

3.4.3 Coding of data

The categories identified will be retrieved from the data collected by means of a
process called coding. Coding constitutes an integral part of the data analysis
process. The process of data analysis may consist of a varying number of steps
with different designations assigned to the procedures (Merriam, 1998; Miles &
Huberman, 1994). However, in spite of that, all of them seem to acknowledge that
coding of data is important in data analysis. Marshall and Rossman (1999:50)
observe that the typical data analytical procedures fall into six phases:

organising the data
generating categories, themes and patterns



58
coding the data
testing the emergent understandings
searching for alternative explanations
writing the report

Coding of data is a step that involves differentiating between parts of data
collected and keeping the relations between the parts intact. This is done by
assigning codes or labels to units of meaning. These codes may be attached to
chunks of varying sizes which, may be words or phrases representing the
identified categories. These authors suggest that such codes can be used to
retrieve and organise the chunks of identifiable themes (Miles & Huberman,
1994:56). Merriam (1998:164) describes coding as the allocation of a shorthand
designation to specific pieces of data which facilitates easy retrieval of data. The
designations can assume various forms. They can be single words; letters,
numbers, phrases or a combination of the various forms of designations.

In this study I have employed a combination of letters which I have used as codes
for the categories that I have identified. I have also used the codes for the same
purpose as cited above, as I read through the interview transcripts. The codes
were useful in the sense that they facilitated the labelling of units of meaning,
which were later formed into categories. Miles and Huberman (1994:56) further
state that codes can take the form of a straightforward category label or a more
complex one such as a metaphor. I have opted for the following straightforward
category codes:

IG: Ignorance
PU: Parental understanding of the childs learning difficulties and subsequent
repeaed failures
CB: Cultural belief
IT: Illiteracy
FC: Financial constraints
TC: Time constraints




59
In the following section I will present matrices displaying the raw data, as
represented by some quotes from each of the interviews relating to the respective
categories or sub-categories that emerged from the data:

TABLE 3.1: CATEGORY: IGNORANCE/LACK OF AWARENESS

Sub-category About learning
difficulties
About what they could do
Participant A We were not aware of
anythinghad we been
aware we would not have
taken such a long
time
We did not know where he
could be taken to

I never thought that there
was somewhere he could
be treated so that he could
be able to understand
quickly.
Participant B we did not know

we were just perplexed

it was just darkness
did not know what to
do
Participant C that we could take him
to another school I never
had that idea, I had never
come across such an idea





60
TABLE 3.2: CATEGORY: PARENTS UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR
CHILDRENS LEARNING DIFFICULTIES

Subcategory Developmental
factors
Playful Negligent

Lack of
intelligence
Participant A We thought he
would open up
as he grew up;
he had not
developed a mind
of understanding
quickly
That was when I
realised that he
was a block.
Participant B We thought that
in time he would
open up where
possible and then
be in a position to
see a bit and
grasp a few
things
We thought he
was very play-
ful, when his
school report
came and he
had failed, we
would repri-
mand him
saying to him he
was playful
He was
negligent

Participant C We had seen
that he is a block






61
TABLE 3.3: CATEGORY: ILLITERACY

CATEGORY PARTICIPANT A PARTICIPANT B PARTICIPANT C
ILLITERACY because if you
have not been to
school yourself, you
dont have foresight
if one has been to
school, one can have
an idea as to how the
child can be helped;

we have not been
to school, we could
have perhaps thought
of what was happening
scholastically


TABLE 3.4: CATEGORY: CULTURAL BELIEF

CATEGORY PARTICIPANT A PARTICIPANT B PARTICIPANT C
CULTURAL
BELIEF
people tend to trouble
one another
would it be possible that
they have stepped ahead
of him(translated from the
Northern Sotho phrase ba
mo etile kapele meaning to
bewitch)


3.5 SUMMARY OF CATEGORIES AND SUB-CATEGORIES

In the following section an overview of categories and sub-categories tabled in the
above matrices will now be given:







62
Ignorance: about learning difficulties and what could be done

The theme of ignorance emerged from all the interviews that I conducted with the
three participants. Parents either explicitly or implicitly reflected on their ignorance
about the whole situation of not seeking learning support in time, when their
children started failing in the lower grades of the foundation phase. Their
ignorance involved not knowing what it was that led to their childrens repeated
failures, as well as what could be done to address the learning difficulties that their
children were experiencing.

Parents understanding: of the childs learning difficulties and subse-
quent failures

It was very clear from the views held by parents about their childrens repeated
failures, that they were ignorant of the phenomenon of learning difficulties. Their
understanding of the repeated failures included playfulness, negligence, develop-
mental issues (that the child was still too young) and lack of intelligence on the
part of the child.

Illiteracy

Two of the parents, i.e Participant A and B alluded to illiteracy as a reason for
not realising what was happening with their children or what could be done to help
them with their learning difficulties. They indicated that they had not been to school
themselves and were still illiterate at the time of the interviews. Consequently, they
could not understand the problems that their children were experiencing, hence
did not know what to do in order to help them.

Cultural belief

Even though this category emerged from the interview with only one parent, I
mention it because of its importance in reflecting some of the cultural beliefs of the
family to which the participant belongs. She indicated that she was beginning to
think that if the childs school failure persisted, she was going to think that there



63
could be a possibility of witchcraft involved. The parent/guardian believed that
such acts of witchcraft would have made her grandson unable to understand what
he was taught at school.

Financial constraints

The theme of financial constraints was noted from the interviews of Participants
A and C. However, it was found not to be the direct factor that contributed to
the delay in seeking learning support. In both instances of interviews, lack of
financial resources was advanced as the reason for not seeking learning support
early. The underlying factor was noted to be ignorance as mentioned above. The
question of financial constraints came up after the parent/guardian had been
called to the school and advised by the educators to take their children for
assessment. This was long after the children had been failing in the lower grades.

Time constraints

One of the participants also raised the question of time constraints as the factor
that led to the delay in seeking learning support for her child. She indicated that
she was working far away from home when she was first invited by the educators
to discuss the learning problems of her child. She consequently did not have time
to see the educators at school. This factor was also found to be secondary to the
main factor, which is ignorance about what could be done to address her sons
learning difficulties, and resultant repeated failure. It had not occurred to her that
her son could be given learning support elsewhere, had she not been advised by
the then acting headmistress.

3.6 DISCUSSION AND INTERPRETATION OF THE MAIN CATEGORIES
AND SUB-CATEGORIES

It was mentioned that data in this study would be presented and analysed
according to the three components of data analysis as described by Erickson (in
Merriam, 1998: 235) above. In this section I will therefore give an interpretative



64
discussion of the main categories and sub-categories as entailed in the third
component of data analysis, interpretative commentary.

The categories and sub-categories that have emerged from the interviews
conducted with the participants constitute the findings of this research study.
Those categories and sub-categories, which directly answer the research question
are discussed and supported by relevant quotes from the interviews. The
discussion and interpretation of the findings will also be linked to relevant
literature.

3.6.1 Ignorance/Lack of awareness

Participants revealed the category of ignorance or lack of awareness in various
ways. They indicated that they did not know or were not aware of anything. This
category was expressed in the following two sub-categories:

3.6.1.1 Ignorance or lack of awareness about learning difficulties

The sub-category of ignorance or lack of awareness was revealed as not knowing
what was happening with the child. Parents said that they were perplexed by the
repeated failures or simply that they did not know what was happening with the
children. One of the parents got her husband to teach the child with learning
problems, together with her own children, who were not experiencing any
problems. However, she was surprised when her children could remember what
they had been taught the previous day, while the child with learning problems
remembered nothing.

As parents found themselves in the state of confusion and ignorance about what
was happening with the children, they thought that repeating grades would
ultimately help the children gradually understand what they were taught at school.
They thought that as months went by in the year, things could improve because
they were repeating the grades, hence be promoted to the next grades. However,
when this did not happen all they could do was to wait for the following year, so
that the children could go and repeat the grade.



65
3.6.1.2 Ignorance or lack of awareness about what could be done

Parents were not aware that something could be done to address their childrens
repeated failures that were the result of learning difficulties. It was established
from the psychoeducational assessment results that these children had learning
problems. Their problems presented primarily as non-acquisition of basic
scholastic skills of reading, spelling and mathematics, in spite of having repeated
grades several times.

One of the parents indicated that she thought the childs performance might
improve after repeating a grade, and never thought that there was somewhere the
child could be treated to address his learning difficulties, and consequently be in a
position to understand quickly when he was taught. This parent acknowledged that
she in fact wasted the childs time by allowing him to repeat grades before she
could seek learning support. However, without the educators advice she would
not have been aware of what support could be offered to the child.

Another parent said that, we did not know what to do and it was just darkness
to them. The child was still too young to leave school, hence the only option she
had was to have the child remain at school in spite of repeated failure. She
expressed a concern that it looked like the child was going to follow in the
footsteps of his uncle as he had experienced the same problem of not progressing
scholastically.

The third parent indicated that had it not been for the educators idea to have the
child assessed and subsequently placed at a remedial school, she would never
have thought of that. She said that she had never come across such an idea
before.

Cutler (1993:3) holds that knowledgeable and active parents are able to make a
difference in the quality and availability of educational services for their children.
He further states that children of parents who are effective advocates enjoy better
services than they would if their parents were not making the effort. Without the
necessary knowledge, participants in this study would not be expected to be active



66
in the education of their children. It was not possible for them to be effective
advocates of appropriate educational services that the children may have needed.

Where parents participation is not facilitated and encouraged, effective learning is
put under threat. Lack of resources to facilitate such participation, lack of parental
empowerment and support for parents, especially in poorer communities,
adversely affects active involvement in the education of their children (DNE,
1997:18). Participants in this study lacked active involvement in the education of
their children. They decided to seek help only after they had been advised to do so
by the headmistress. It was also indicated above that there was minimal
involvement in most activities of the school, other than in the feeding scheme
programme.

New policies and legislation developed during the post-apartheid regime advocate
the right of equal access to education of all citizens residing in South Africa. These
policies guarantee the right of every individual to quality education, which is
responsive to diverse educational needs, including those of individuals with
learning disabilities (NDE, 1997:53/54). Such policies are also seen by Cutler
(1993:3) as a declaration of your childs educational rights and your rights as a
parent to participate in the educational process. In spite of the guaranteed right of
access of every individual to quality education, participants in this study were still
not aware of their rights, hence did not seize the opportunity to exercise them and
be proactive in seeking timeous intervention for the learning difficulties
experienced by their children.

The guarantee given by such policies is something that can be used when the
product or service does not fulfil the claims of the manufacturer or service
provider. The user (the parent) should check out the product or service (the childs
education) to see if it is working (if the child is making progress). If the user
discovers that it is not working as declared in the guarantee, the onus lies with the
user, i.e. the parent to go to the school system. When the product or service that is
accompanied by a guarantee is not satisfactory, people do not wait for the
company to find them, but get their receipts and guarantee and return the item to
the shop or company. All Cutler (1993:3) is trying to bring on board is that parents



67
need to take the initiative, and approach the school system if children are not
making progress as in the instance of children who had experienced repeated
school failure.

The parents who participated in this study would not have been in a position to
take the initiative to approach the school, without the knowledge of what they
could do. They had to depend on the educators who themselves had waited for
the children to fail repeatedly before they advised the parents on the measures
they could take in order to get learning support for the children.

3.6.2 Parents understanding of the childrens learning difficulties

Each of the parents expressed their own understanding of the childs learning
difficulties. There were certain views that were common to the three parents, and
others that were unique to some of them. The views they expressed on their
childrens learning difficulties were seen against the backdrop of repeated failure.
As parents had no knowledge of the concept of learning difficulties, the
phenomenon that they could relate to was that of repeated failure. The following
views were revealed which represented the parents own understanding of the
childrens learning difficulties.

3.6.2.1 Developmental factors

Two of the parents referred to developmental factors in expressing their under-
standing of the childrens repeated failure. When one of the children started failing,
the parent attributed that to his being too young to understand what was being
taught at school. She regarded school failure as the result of a mind that had not
opened up, to enable the child to understand quickly. The parent further
indicated that she understood that people develop at different rates, some develop
at a faster pace, while others develop at a much slower pace. According to her
understanding, she saw the child as falling into the latter category. She hoped that
the childs mind would open up as he grew up, and would subsequently be able
to understand what he was taught at school. This means that delaying to seek
learning support was influenced by this understanding, as it never occurred to her



68
that in spite of the childs developmental stage, he could still benefit from learning
support.

The second parent, who also brought up the issue of the developmental stage of
the child, thought that the child was still too young and his mind would open up
as he repeated the grades. She indicated that she thought that repeating would
afford him the opportunity to gradually grasp what he was taught at school. She
said that she was just confused and did not know what to do, except to let him
remain at school and repeat grades.

In recent years significant efforts have been made to identify subgroups of
students with learning disabilities. Kirk and Gallagher (in Ysseldyke, Algozzine &
Thurlow, 2000:76) differentiate between developmental and academic learning
disabilities. The former subgroup of disabilities consists of attention, memory,
perceptual, perceptual motor, thinking and language disorders. The latter
subgroup is characterised by disorders in reading, spelling, written expression,
handwriting and arithmetic. The fact that parents attributed their childrens learning
problems to developmental factors is consistent with Kirk and Gallaghers (in
Ysseldyke et al., 2000:76) view of developmental and academic learning
difficulties.

One of the parents indicated that her childs mind had not developed enough to
enable him to understand what he was taught at school. By this she referred to
mainly, the academic tasks of reading, spelling, writing and arithmetic. She hoped
that the child could perhaps be able to master such tasks after the mind had
opened up. This parent also mentioned that there was a time when her husband
tried to teach the child experiencing learning difficulties, together with her children,
every evening at home. She noted that the child would not remember any of the
things he was taught the previous evening. In terms of the developmental learning
disabilities mentioned above, this would have implied that the child had poor
memory or a memory disorder.

The second parent expressed her understanding of her childs learning problems
in terms of developmental factors, in a very much similar manner to the one



69
mentioned above. This parent also hoped that in time the childs mind would open
up and consequently be in a position to gradually grasp what he was taught at
school.

In view of Kirk and Gallaghers (in Ysseldyke et al., 2000:76) understanding of
both developmental and academic learning disabilities the parents understanding
was also sound. However, they delayed seeking learning support for the children,
hoping that the learning problems will sort themselves out in time. The parents
thought that as the children repeated grades, they would be growing up as well,
both physically and mentally.

3.6.2.2 The child perceived as playful

Only one parent attributed the childs repeated failure to being playful. She
mentioned that each time the child brought his report home, and he had failed, she
would reprimand him that he was playing. By this she implied that he did not take
his schoolwork in a more serious light, hence, if he was not playful he would have
been able to pass. This was the parents own understanding of the childs learning
difficulties, which is supported by Stewart (1978:77) when he maintains
thatevery parent is an individual, with his concerns and ideas about his child,
the school, educators and the world. At any given moment, the way a parent sees
things represents reality to them at that point and time.

However, the same parent who saw her child as being playful, observed that the
child seemed to like school. She also mentioned that her childs school attendance
was very regular, a fact she could not reconcile with his being playful.

3.6.2.3 The child perceived as negligent

The parent, who thought that the child was playful, also indicated that she
thought that the repeated school failure was the result of being negligent. The
manner in which this parent reacted to the childs learning problems concurs with
what Stewart (1978:122) thinks - a parent who is uninformed and bewildered by it
all is unlikely to keep his own perspective where it should be, and certainly will be



70
unable to help his child to recognise when the problem lies not in himself, but in
others. He adds that parents further make life difficult for children with learning
problems by not appreciating individual differences. The parent could have said
that the child was negligent not realising that the problem did not lie in the child
only, but in others as well, who due to lack of appreciation of diversity could not
give the relevant support that the child needed. A comment such as the one made
by this parent, is according to Stewart (1978;122) not made out of malice, but may
seem malicious, hence has to be viewed against the backdrop of being
uninformed and lacking in the understanding of the problem at hand.

3.6.2.4 Lack of intelligence

Lack of intelligence in the child was described with a derogatory term, i.e. the
child is a block. Two parents used this term to indicate that their children were
unintelligent and could not master their scholastic tasks. The implied meaning of
the term block was that the childs head was so hard that nothing academic could
penetrate it. Parents who understood their childrens repeated failures as a result
of lack of intelligence seem to concur with Quays (in Ysseldyke et al,, 2000:176)
view that there are several educators who believe that the causes of failure reside
within the student.

Stewart (1978:122) acknowledges that a parent who understands his childs
abilities and disabilities, is in a better position to help him function in whatever
conditions life imposes on him. He further added that a parent who fully
comprehends his childs complex situation is able to give him a lot of support in the
event of being called stupid or dumb when he is not running as fast
intellectually, as the others.

As the two parents viewed their children as being unintelligent, they therefore
concluded that, that was the cause for their repeated failure. They delayed seeking
learning support for the children, because they thought their condition was there to
stay and nothing could be done about it. If these parents fully understood their





71
childrens problems, they would have been the ones who offered them support,
instead of them associating their condition with a block.

3.6.3 Illiteracy

The parents who mentioned that they were illiterate, thought this factor also
contributed to the delay in seeking learning support for their children. The one
parent hinted that we have not been to school, if we knew, we would have
perhaps thought of what was happening scholastically. She indicated that she
was completely illiterate. She believed that if one has been to school, one can
have an idea as to how the child could be helped. The second parent who said,
we never thought of anything when her child kept on failing, alluded to the fact
that, if you have not been to school yourself, you do not have foresight. These
parents appear to have experienced underlying feelings of frustration and being
unhelpful in preventing the delay in seeking learning support for their children, as a
result of being illiterate.

Engelbrecht, Green, Naicker and Engelbrecht, (1999:176) acknowledge that
illiterate parents may be unable to give support to their children in literacy and
numeracy tasks. However, this does not mean that the potential contribution of
illiterate parents in the education of their children should be overlooked. These
authors argue that, the fact that parents of learners with special educational needs
(including those with learning disabilities) may be illiterate, should not deny them
the opportunity to offer support in other areas of functioning- such as physical
care, life skills education, musical enrichment, cultural and recreational activities.
They further maintain that involving parents with no formal education in such
school matters will encourage them to be more committed to their childrens
education.

3.6.4 Cultural belief

Various beliefs and views held by parents on disability are likely to influence the
way they react to the child. Such beliefs are closely related with the manner in
which, the wider society or the minority ethnic group to which, the parent belongs



72
views disability (Dale, 1996:48). As I listened to the interview and read through
the interview transcript from which the category, cultural belief emerged, I initially
thought that it would fall under the category, parents understanding of their
childrens learning difficulties as discussed above. However, it emerged as a
category on its own because of its cultural, ethnic context.

The parent who brought up the issue relating to cultural belief indicated that it
does happen that some people in their community practise acts of witchcraft on
other individuals. In relating this belief to her childs learning problems, she
mentioned that when some people had stepped ahead of him, meaning when
such acts had been performed, the child would be unable to understand what he
was taught at school. She indicated that as time went by, she would have thought
of seeking advice, which she described as some prescriptions from her church,
in order to help her sons mind open up. Such prescriptions involve the use of
water that has been blessed by the priest, and has to be used as directed by him.
However, that belief was dispelled after the then acting headmistress advised her
to take her child for assessment and the child was subsequently placed at a
remedial school.

Dale (1996:49) in referring to beliefs held by certain ethnic groups, notes that
within this complexity of available beliefs and models, parents may adopt different
and changing responses to their childs disability. She further warns professionals
not to generalise such beliefs to all parents and assume that an individual parents
views, are not prone to change. These beliefs may change in response to different
events and demands that the family and the child experiencing special educational
needs (including learning difficulties) may face at various times. Parents will be
as individual and heterogeneous in their beliefs; they may hold a variety of
religious and cultural ethnic beliefs (Dale, 1996:49).

The participant who attributed the childs repeated failures to a cultural belief,
adopted her own individual view. She thought that performing religious rituals
could help address the scholastic difficulties that the child was experiencing.
However, her cultural and religious beliefs changed when the headmistress
advised her to take the child for assessment. This is consistent with Dales



73
(1996:49) view that such beliefs may change in response to different events and
demands that the family may face from time to time.

3.7 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

In this chapter a brief account of the context of the research question, What
factors prevent parents from seeking learning support for their children in the
Foundation Phase? was presented. A review of data analysis as a process that
occurs simultaneously with data collection was also made. Data analysis was
described as a process of making sense out of data - through reduction,
consolidation and interpretation of data. Although authors may give various
definitions, Miles and Hubermans (1994:10) definition, with its view of data
analysis as a process that consists of three activities, data reduction, data
display and conclusion drawing and verification, appears to encompass all the
components involved in the process. All the three activities are either explicitly or
implicitly stated in most definitions.

Data analysis was also described in terms of the three levels of analysis-
arrangement of basic descriptive accounts in a narrative form; identification and
development of categories; and the interpretation of the meaning of collected data
in order to develop models and theories. The three levels of analysis were also
linked to the three components of data analysis, which are, particular description,
general description, and interpretative commentary. These components are
regarded as facilitative in resolving the dilemma, the researcher faces in balancing
out the proportion of descriptive accounts as opposed to analysis and
interpretation. Following this format has reduced the uncertainty in the researcher
regarding how to present the collected data, as well as its analysis.

The six categories that have emerged from the unstructured interviews vary in
terms of their relevance in answering the research question. Hence, the
interpretative discussion was based on four of these categories, i.e ignorance,
parents understanding of their childrens learning difficulties, illiteracy and
cultural belief. The observation that I have made was that these categories were
directly related to the factors that prevented parents from seeking early



74
intervention. The other two categories, financial and time constraints appeared
less relevant, hence were only indirectly related to the factors that caused the
delay by parents in seeking learning support in time. However, underlying all the
categories that emerged was the theme of ignorance or lack of awareness of the
whole situation involving repeated failure of their children.

In the next chapter a discussion on the recommendations drawn from the research
findings, limitations of this research study as well as suggestions for future
research will be presented.



75
CHAPTER FOUR

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1 INTRODUCTION

In this chapter an overview of the research study will be given focusing on the
research question; the aim of the study; the research design and the methods
used to collect and analyse data. A summary of the findings discussed in chapter
three will also be presented from which recommendations will be drawn.
Limitations of the study will briefly be discussed with suggestions for further
research.

4.2 OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH STUDY

This research study was an endeavour to answer the research question that arose
from the delay by parents to seek learning support for their children. The research
specifically set out to explore and describe factors that contributed to the delay.
The research design that seemed most appropriate for the kind of information
needed to answer the research question was the case study design. This research
strategy was chosen as it would facilitate understanding of the problem under
investigation from the perspective of the participants. Data was collected through
an unstructured interview with each participant and analysed by means of the
constant comparative method. Of the six categories or themes that emerged from
the data the following four categories were found to be more relevant in terms of
answering the research question:

Ignorance about learning difficulties and what parents could do to get learning
support.
Parents understanding of their childrens learning difficulties.
Illiteracy.
Cultural Belief.




76
In the following sections, three sets of recommendations will be presented that
have been drawn from the above categories which according to Merriam
(1998:192) become the findings of the study. Firstly, recommendations for the
Educational Psychologist in working directly with the parents will be spelled out.
Secondly, recommendations for the Educational Psychologist in working with
educators will be suggested and in the third instance, recommendations for
educators in working with parents will be discussed.

The following recommendations have been drawn from the findings.

4.3 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST IN
WORKING WITH PARENTS

The ignorance expressed by the participants with regard to the phenomenon of
learning difficulties, is a demonstration that parents need to be educated. Parents
thought that the childrens scholastic performance and problems might improve
with time. Repeating grades was for them an opportunity for their childrens minds
to open up, meaning to develop and gain understanding of what they were taught
at school.

The understanding that parents had of their childrens repeated failures is a further
indication that parents need some clarification on the phenomenon of learning
difficulties. Parents attributed repeated failure to playfulness, negligence, lack
of intelligence and developmental factors. Although, parents, were quite correct
in thinking of learning difficulties in terms of developmental factors, the perception
that the children would improve on their own, as they grew up without additional
support, was not helpful to the children. Their condition became worse instead of
improving, because they had still not mastered the basic academic skills when
they came for psychoeducational assessment.

In view of the ignorance and the understanding that parents have of their
childrens learning difficulties, it is recommended that the Educational Psychologist
should contribute to the empowerment of parents by providing parent education or



77
parent training. Such parent education or training could be provided by running
workshops on:

The nature of learning difficulties - Hornby (1995:55) notes that learners
presenting with learning difficulties often form a large percentage of learners
with special educational needs. It is therefore imperative that parents are
provided with information on the nature of learning difficulties. Stewart
(1978:118) reiterates the need for information and says that the most single
factor that is common to the plight of all these children is ignorance, Most
parents love their children, most want to help them if they can. But, they need
information to give them clues to the nature of their childs problems, and a
plan of action for ameliorating it.

The identification, assessment and intervention process- early identification is
the co-responsibility of parents and significant others (DoE, 2002:191). Parents
should be trained to use checklists to conduct home-based observation of their
children. The checklists can be used to alert them to signs of learning problems
relating to mathematics, listening, reading and spelling skills (see Appendix E).

In addition to observing the abovementioned skills, parents can also be given
guidance to observe other areas of functioning that have educational
significance, in order to see if problems exist or not. Such areas include, body
balance; fine and gross motor co-ordination skills; visual-motor co-ordination
skills; body image; laterality; directionality; dominance and position in space.
Functioning in all these areas requires pre-academic skills, which even parents
with a low level of literacy should be able to observe (see Appendix D). In this
regard Stewart (1978:118) asserts that the helpers task is to assist parents
with information that is clear and practical. Hence, the use of technical and
clinical terminology should be avoided. It should be jargon-free information that
will also enable parents to relate it to what is observable in practice in their
children.

The Educational Psychologist should also facilitate the formation of a parent
support group or organisation - this will afford parents the opportunity to share



78
their problems, concerns, frustrations and contributions they can make to the
learning and development of their children. Such groups can be of help to other
parents of children with potential learning difficulties, as they could have someone
to relate to when the problem arises. Engelbrecht et al. (1999:55) advocate that
the involvement of parents in the education of their children should be extended to
include the development of support systems. The effectiveness of these support
groups could be strengthened by regular empowerment programmes conducted
by the Educational Psychologist, or other professionals who have expertise in the
field of special educational needs, including learning difficulties.

4.4 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST
WITH REGARD TO EDUCATORS

There is a serious shortage of registered psychologists in the South African
education system. In view of this shortage, these specialists will have to revisit the
efficacy of their present strategies (DoE, 2002:182) and change their mode of
operation. They have to provide and share their expertise with other professionals,
thus adopting a broad-based approach in an endeavour to address the plight of
learners with learning difficulties.

For this reason, it is important not to exclude educators when making recommen-
dations with regard to how the Educational Psychologist can assist them in
facilitating early intervention of learning difficulties. Educators are indispensable
partners in setting the processes of identification and intervention in motion. It is
recommended that the Educational Psychologist should:

(a) provide his/her expertise and impart relevant skills to educators on:
early identification of learning difficulties;
assessment measures that can be used for the diagnosis of learning
difficulties;
the intervention process.

According to the Department of Education (2002:30) the process of
identifying and addressing barriers to learning includes a process of



79
assessment, which is basically a process of understanding the needs and
problems so that appropriate strategies to address these can be
developed. It is therefore imperative that educators are trained in these
strategies. Educational Psychologists within the education system have the
responsibility of training, developing intervention programmes, and advising
and supporting educators (DoE, 2002:182).

(b) facilitate workshops on the establishment of parent-educator partnerships.
With the limited training in parent education or parent-educator partnerships
in educator training programmes, educators could benefit from such
workshops. Hornby (1995:vii) observes that not much attention is devoted
to working with parents either in the pre-service or in post-experience in-
service training of educators. This is a challenge for the Educational
Psychologist to fill in the gap and offer workshops/courses to educators in
order to enable them to establish partnerships with parents.

(c) conduct needs analysis on aspects of special educational needs, including
learning difficulties and learning support in the various areas of scholastic
functioning.

4.5 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EDUCATORS IN WORKING WITH
PARENTS

It was mentioned in Chapter Two that the role of parents of children with learning
difficulties is of paramount importance in facilitating the development of their
children. According to Engelbrecht et al. (1996:68), there is currently a long
overdue need to review parents role from a systems perspective and make
intervention family-centred and family-focused. Viewing parents as an integral part
within the systems of family, community and culture, and the impact of intervention
within these systems, and empowering parents, should facilitate the shift of focus
to the family. These authors acknowledge that the best strategy for bringing about
early intervention is by using a systems approach whereby families are
empowered in facilitating the development of their children who have difficulties.




80
In view of the foregoing, educators should make parents aware that they are co-
educators of their children, hence they should also actively contribute to their
learning and development. The following recommendations are presented for
educators:

(a) The school should establish a clear policy on the involvement of parents in
the learning and development of their children relating to:

the regularity with which these parents should monitor the work of their
children to see how they are progressing. Checking schoolwork at least
once a week is suggested. Parents could be required to append their
signatures in class/homework exercise books to indicate that they have
checked their childrens work.

the regularity with which these parents can consult educators about their
childrens progress, and problems they could be encountering. This would
benefit particularly those parents who are not literate. Through such
consultations both the educator and the parent are compelled to attend to
anything that might be a cause for concern at that time. This could allow
parents to seek learning support timeously if learning difficulties are
observed.

ways in which parents could assist educators with some activities that
educators may not have time for. Engelbrecht et al. (1999:176) suggest that
such activities could include musical enrichment, cultural and recreational
activities, gardening projects, feeding schemes and life skills education.
Parents may have the opportunity to observe the functioning of their
children in certain aspects of perceptual development, such as co-
ordination skills (gross motor, visual-motor); body image and balance;
laterality; directionality; dominance and spatial perception, while they
(children) are doing these activities. All these perceptual development
aspects are crucial in the development and mastery of academic skills.




81
Engaging parents in this manner could ensure that they do not drift away
from the school, as a result of viewing it as a territory that belongs to
educators and learners only. This could create among parents a feeling of
being recognised as active role players in the education process.
Consequently, parents should be able to take the initiative and approach
the school, if their children are experiencing learning difficulties.

(b) The school should also have a clear policy and procedures for commu-
nication with parents. Hornby (1995:27) states that parents need to be
provided with effective channels of communication with all the professionals
who work with their children, particularly educators. The following communi-
cation guidelines are suggested:

Spell out clearly when, how and for what issues parents can contact the
school.

Indicate when and how often parents meetings will be held, as well as
the purpose of such meetings.

Advise parents with regard to when and how often information giving/
sharing sessions and workshops will be held in any specific year.

Indicate how information about the progress and learning problems of
their children will be conveyed to parents. Use of diaries or newsletters
could be an effective way of communicating.

(c) Educators should run parent education or training workshops on a regular
basis for parents. This could be done once every term. It was mentioned
above that making intervention family-centred and family-focused is the
best strategy that can be employed to deal with the learning difficulties
children could be experiencing. Hence, any efforts to implement this
strategy presuppose education in the processes of identification of learning
difficulties and intervention.




82
Educators should hold or facilitate workshops for parents on the
identification, assessment and intervention processes pertaining to dealing
with learning disabilities. It would also be helpful to invite professionals or
guest speakers who have expertise in the field of learning difficulties and
other related topics.

Training in the identification and subsequent intervention process should be
elementary in order to accommodate all levels of literacy of parents, i.e.
from the least literate to the most literate.

(d) Educators should organise parent-educator interviews. Hornby (1995:117)
holds that this form of contact with parents is widely used by educators.
This is a useful practice for bringing the educator and the parent together to
enable them to focus on the progress or non-progress of the child. Hornby
(1995: 118/119) further suggests that such meetings should be goal-
directed. Both educators and parents should come to the meetings with
specific objectives that they would like to achieve. Some of the goals are
the following:

Educators goals
Establishing good relationships with parents.
Sharing the progress of children with their parents.
Alerting parents to the difficulties their children are experiencing at
school.
Establishing from parents how their children are coping with school.
Obtaining more information about the children from parents perspective.
Identifying ways in which parents can assist their children at home.
Collaboratively making decisions about the childrens education.

Parents goals
Meeting all the educators who teach their children.
Getting information about their childrens progress.
Learning about any difficulty that their children are experiencing at
school.



83
Inquiring from educators any concerns they have about their children.
Discussing any difficulties the child is experiencing at home and ways of
dealing with them.

Even though these suggestions are not new, they are useful for this study
as they will assist both the parent and the educator to focus on relevant
issues, regarding the learning and development of the child.

(e) Educators should also hold information sessions for parents of prospective
school beginners and new learners. It would be advisable to hold such
meetings at the end of the last term of the year, and also at the beginning of
the first term of the year. Such meetings should have the objective of orien-
tating parents of prospective learners in every aspect of the school life
pertaining to the learning and development of learners.

(f) Educators should facilitate the introduction of a family literacy/Adult Basic
Education and Training programme. This would involve parents, particularly
those of learners with learning difficulties, in a literacy programme that
would also help in empowering parents with skills. Such literacy
programmes can facilitate the schools endeavour in introducing Adult Basic
Education and Training and continuing education programmes, from which
parents can benefit. Empowering parents with basic scholastic skills could
in turn enable them to monitor the progress of their children, especially in
the acquisition and mastery of basic skills in reading, spelling and
mathematics. However, in view of the workload that educators might have
already, it might not be possible for them to personally run such
programmes. It would be advisable to enlist the help of volunteers from
unemployed and retired educators to teach literacy and numeracy,
especially to those parents of children with learning difficulties as part of the
family literacy programme.






84
4.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH STUDY

Participation in this research study involved parents and guardians who were
staying with the children at the time of their referral for assessment. However, it
should not have been limited to these participants only. Other individuals such as
the biological mothers of two of the clients, who were staying with their aunt and
grandmother, would have been potential sources of additional answers to the
research question. However, the biological mother of the one child, who was the
daughter of the guardian interviewed, appeared to know very little about the child
as she had not been staying with him from the time when he was in the foundation
phase. The other biological mother could not be reached. Hence, the data
collected was not extensive.

In the second instance, the nature of the study, in terms of which the parents and
guardians could be accommodated constitutes a limitation in itself. This being a
case study, the selection of sub-cases was limited to only those parents and
guardians whose children went to the same school. These parents happened to be
the only ones who were available for participation in this study, and whose children
went to the same school at the time of their referral for assessment. As indicated
in chapter one, when I first noted this problem there had been an influx of learners
who were referred for assessment, after they had failed repeatedly. A variety of
factors could have been unearthed if parents of learners from the various schools
were involved as well.

Thirdly, the size and terms of reference of the research project were limitations
themselves. Seeing that this is a mini-dissertation, it was not desirable to have too
many participants, as this would lead to too much data for the size of the project.
The terms of reference specifically related to parents or guardians. Other
individuals, such as educators, who also worked closely with the children up to the
time of referral for assessment, could not be included. Educators took the initiative
to inform parents about the learning difficulties experienced by the learners.
However, like the parents, they waited for the learners to fail repeatedly - up to five
times in one instance, before advising the parents to seek learning support. This
raises another question relating to the delay on the part of the educators. It would



85
have been both interesting and helpful to conduct a research study into factors
that caused the delay on the part of the educators. It would perhaps shed more
light on the problem of seeking intervention too late.

In the fourth instance, member checks could not be conducted due to time
constraints and the unavailability of participants for this purpose.

Lastly, the research study was conducted by a novice, with no previous
experience in the practical research process. A limitation was noted, particularly in
the interviewing process. Conducting an unstructured interview turned out to be a
somewhat difficult exercise to handle for the researcher. Limited experience in this
type of interviewing resulted in much information that was not really relevant to the
purpose of the study and perhaps, provided fewer answers to the research
question.

4.7 SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

It has been observed that educators in the case of the three parents/guardians in
this study, took the initiative to advise them to take their children for assessment.
All the three parents/guardians indicated that they were invited to the school to
discuss the question of seeking learning support for their children. However, this
was done after the learners had had several failures.

An observation was made in chapter one to the effect that it was not clear why the
educators also waited for the children to fail repeatedly. Educators would be
expected to be the first people to notice if a child were experiencing scholastic
problems when they did occur. However, it did not happen in this instance. Further
research into factors that cause educators to delay in initiating the process of
seeking learning support, would be necessary. This could perhaps give a much
broader picture of this practice of not seeking help for learners in time.






86
4.8 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

This chapter has given an overview of the findings of the research study. These
findings have emerged as factors that prevented parents and guardians from
seeking learning support for their children when they started failing in the
Foundation phase.

Three sets of recommendations that were drawn from the findings were presented.
In the first place recommendations were made for the Educational Psychologist in
working directly with parents. Secondly recommendations were suggested for the
Educational Psychologist with regard to educators and lastly, for educators in
working with parents.

Limitations of the research study were also cited. These included the following:

Being unable to secure more information from the biological mother of one of
the children, whereas the participation of the biological mother of the other
could not be enlisted as she could not be available for the interview.

Limiting the selection of participants to parents of children from the same
school.

Limiting the research study to parents only, in spite of educators having
delayed as well in initiating the process of securing learning support for the
children.

Time constraints and unavailability of participants for member checks.

Being a novice, the researcher had little experience in conducting unstructured
interviews.

A suggestion for further investigation into factors that cause the delay, in initiating
the process of seeking learning support on the part of educators was made. This



87
could perhaps shed more light on the whole question of delaying to seek learning
support for learners.

In conclusion it does appear that the main purpose of the research project has
been realised with the uncovering of factors that prevented parents from seeking
learning support for their children in time. The factors that emerged from the
interviews are, ignorance about what was happening to the children and what
they could do to address the problem; parents understanding of the childrens
learning difficulties, illiteracy and cultural belief. The findings made give a clear
indication that there is a need for parent education.

The recommendations that have been suggested could go a long way in obviating
the obstacles appearing to have hindered the intervention process for the learners
scholastic problems. The suggestions made for educators with regard to involving
parents in the education process, could also promote active and effective parent-
educator partnerships. Consequently, parents could take up their role as proactive
and indispensable partners in helping their children deal with learning difficulties,
and eventually develop to their full potential. The implementation of recom-
mendations with regard to the role parents can play in facilitating early intervention
for learning difficulties could help both parents and educators contribute to taking
early curative measures, or even preventive measures where possible.





88
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92
APPENDICES A - C

TRANSCRIPTS OF INTERVIEW TRANSLATIONS































93
APPENDIX A

PARTICIPANT A

1. I: I am Ms M. Do you remember that I met you sometime ago concerning Neos
2. school matters. I indicated to you that I would come back to discuss the matter
3. further. I am going to ask you to introduce yourself, and tell me briefly about
4. what you know about Neo.
5. PA: I am Mrs L., and I live here in Makurung. I am Neos aunt.
6. I: You can go on and explain how you have come to know him from the
7. beginning.
8. PA: I was staying with Neos mother, who is my younger sister. When I came to
9. stay with my in-laws, my mother, sent her with me so that she could be my
10. helper. I stayed with her until she fell pregnant with Neo. She stayed with me
11. until Neo was born. Neo had just learnt to walk when her mother got married.
12. She took him along when she went to live with her husband. She stayed with
13. Neo until she gave birth to another baby. By that time Neo no longer enjoyed
14. staying with his mother. Then I occasionally took him to my home to visit me. I
15. also tried to find out from Neos mother why the child seemed not to enjoy
16. staying with her anymore. His mother said that there was a bit of a problem
17. with his stepfather, when Neo is eating, he asks him, how are you eating, are
18. you eating like your father?
19. PA: When this child went to school, he started failing repeatedly. Then I asked
20. the mother why Neo had failed the previous year, whilst other children of his
21. age had passed. That year he had not passed. Then she said, I do not know.
22. I then told her that she does not teach the child properlylet the child come
23. and stay with me. When he came to stay with me, my husband would teach
24. him every evening together with my children. I then realised that this child does
25. not seem to understand. He could hardly tell me what he was taught the
26. previous evening. Whereas my children were able to recall the things they
27. were taught even two days before. I then realised for the first time that he was
28. a block. I struggled with him until we got a letter from his school saying that
29. they have been trying to teach Neo but to no avail. They then asked me to go



94
30. to the school to discuss some plan that could help Neo to have a better future.
31. Then when I went school, they
32. explained to me. Seeing that my husband was not employed at the time I
33. realised that I would not have financial resources to take Neo to as Neo
34. mothers was not employed either. However, I told the educators that I would
35. consult the mother because we needed money was to enable him to go to the
36. other school elsewhere
37. PA: When his mother came eventually, we discussed the matter, she then
38. agreed and gave us permission that we could take him thereThat was when
39. I came to your placeand learnt that he had some problems.
40. I: Do you remember how many times he failed when he stayed with his
41. mother. I mean before he came to stay with youhow many times had he
42. failed?
43. PA: When he came to stay with me, he had failed Sub A, and Sub B, and it
44. appears Std. 1 thrice.
45. I: In other words he failed Sub A and B once.
46. PA: I do not remember well, but it seems he failed Sub A once, but I am
47. doubtful about Sub B, as it seems he failed it twice, That was when I started
48. noticing him.
49. I: That was when he came over here, OK.
50. PA: That was when he came here.
51. I: When he came here he was doing
52. PA: When he came here he was doing Std. 1, no when he came here he
53. was in Sub B, then he passed and went to Std. 1. Then in Std. 1, that is where
54. he actually got stuck.
55. I: How many times did he fail in Std. 1?
56. PA: in Std. 1, it could have been twice or thrice
57. I: Ok, then he moved on to Std. 2
58. PA: Then he went to Std. 2
59. I: And then how many times did he fail Std. 2?
60. PA: In Std. 2, it seems he failed twice. Then when he was repeating for the
61. third time, we planned to bring him to you.



95
62. I: If you look back, were there any factors which prevented you from seeking
63. help in time, as you say that he had failed Sub A, Std. 1, Std. 2. I mean all this
64. time were there any factors which prevented you from thinking of seeking help
65. PA: Uhm
66. I: Were there any factors, I mean before the time you went to school.
67. PA: As my husband is not my mothers son, I could not go to him, and explain
68. to him that the way this child was, we have to attend to him. I was scared,
69. thinking that he would say that how do you expect me to shoulder other
70. financial responsibilities, when I am hardly managing with the responsibilities I
71. already have When his mother came I explained to her and eventually I
72. approached my husband, and he said we can take him there.
73. I: You are saying you were supposed to take him to
74. PA: Thats when we had been informed at the school that we are supposed to
75. consult someone who can advice people so that they can go to Mahlasedi
76. so that he can see them, a doctor who deals with people such as this one.
77. I: When he kept on failing Sub A, Sub B, Std. 1, what did you think was
78. happening with him?
79. PA: We never thought of anything, because if you have not been to school
80. yourself, you do not have foresight, as for knowing where he could be taken to,
81. we knew nothing. We thought that he would open up as he grew up, not
82. knowing that there was somewhere he could be helped to improve.
83. I: When you say open up, what do you think could bring that about?
84. PA: When I looked at him I thought that his mind had not developed. I thought
85. that his mind would perhaps develop the following year, as time went by,
86. I: Can you explain to me the mind you are referring to, when you say, you
87. thought that his mind had not developed
88. PA: A mind of understanding quickly when he is told about something.
89. I: When you say something, what kind of things are you referring toare you
90. referring to things at home, at school, or where?
91. PA: I mean things at school. When he could not understand, it meant that his
92. mind was lagging behind. It could happen that as months went by, he could
93. eventually gain understanding, and then pass, when his head had opened up.
94. I thought he would open up in that manner. When we teach a young child



96
95. language, it does not understand what we are saying, and then it imitates us
96. and usually understands that, when we say this we mean this. Now I mean
97. that people not the same, some people may develop faster, others may battle
98. with development. One has to say things over and over again, perhaps they
99. will eventually understand. I never thought that there was somewhere he can
100. be seated, so that he can be able to understand things quickly.
101. So are saying that when he kept on repeating several times, you did not see
102. it problem, as you thought that in time he would improve
103. Then what grade was he in when they told you about
104. PA: inaudible
105. In what standard was he when they told you?
106. PA: Std. 1, that was when he was doing Std. 1.
107. I: He was in Std. 1
108. PA: Then when he failed Std. 1, they came to tell us.
109. I: Yes that was when they told you for the first time, Ok,when they told
110. you for the first time about what you could do, at the time how did you see the
111. matter?
112. PA: I did see it, as they had already explained to me. They called me at the
113. school to tell me that this child does not understand us, when we are
114. teaching him, it does not mean that he is unwilling to understand us, he is
115. willing
116. I: So you do you mean that if the school staff did not make you aware that he
117. needs some sort of help, would you have realised this on your own.
118. PA: No we were not aware of anything.
119. I: You were not aware of anything.
120. I: So in other words, would you say your lack of awareness made you to
121. leave him in the same situation-failing one year, and passing the next year,
122. could it be the reason
123. PA: We were not aware, and it means we wasted his time because of lack
124. awareness. Had we been aware we would not have taken such a long time
125. with him we thought that perhaps he would eventually gain some
126. understanding.





97
APPENDIX B

PARTICIPANT B

1. I: Good day, I am Ms. M
2. PB: I am Ms. Mafa
3. I: Can you tell me whose parent you are.
4. PB: I am Thabos granny
5. I: ThaboDo you still remember the day I came to speak to you about
6. Thabo, I indicated that I would come back some other day to complete
7. our discussion. Today I have come back so that I can complete the discussion.
8. I: As one cannot remember everything that one writes, today I have brought
9. along this tape recorder so that I can tape our conversation.
10. I: We talked about his unsatisfactory performance at school up to
11. the time you brought him to our office. Can you remember how many
12. times he repeated grades and which grades were those?
13. PB: Do I still remember, a standard such as Std. 1, he had great difficulty
14. with. He did not have much difficulty with Sub B. But with regard to Std.2
15. and Std. 1, especially Std. 1 he repeated quite a number of times.
16. I: So as I was at the office, I was asking myself why were these children
17. sent for assessment after repeated failures, instead of sending them
18. immediately it was observed that they had difficulties, so that we can see
19. what to do.
20. I: What I am trying to do is research so that we can find out if there were
21. any factors which prevented parents from bringing their children in time, before
22. they failed repeatedly.
23. I: I would like to ask you as Thabos granny if there were any factors which
24. made you not to seek help for him, even though you saw him repeating grades
25. several times.
26. PB: We did not know, we did not know. We were advised by the Principal.
27. She sent some learners to call me. She said to me I think Thabo should get
28. help at Mahlasedi, because they are able to help if he is battling to understand.
29. In as much as Thabo is not truant, I am taken aback by the fact that there are



98
30. many learners, so educators cannot spend a longer time with a child who is
31. battling to understand.
32. I: In other words you are saying that you were told by the Principal that the
33. way Thabo was, he needed some other kind of help.
34. PB: Yes, we were perplexed, and did not know what to do because we have
35. not been to school, if we knew we would have perhaps thought of what
36. was happening scholastically but we were just perplexed.
37. I: In other words you are saying that if the Principal had not made you aware
38. that there was some other help that was needed, were you thinking of
39. anything?
40. PB: It was just confusion.
41. I: When you say you did not try to get help for him in time, it was because
42. of confusion, you mean confused in what way?
43. PB: We did not know what to do or say, it was just darkness. We just thought
44. it was better if he remained at school, he could not leave school as he was
45. still young.
46. I: Now when he kept on failing repeatedly, what did you think of it?
47. PB: As for me, I do not want to lie, though I did not know what my husband
48. was thinking, I did not know what to say. I was just concerned that this child
49. was going to battle at school like his uncle did.
50. I: In your understanding when you say, he was still young, he cant leave
51. schoolwhat do you mean?
52. PB: We thought that in time he would open up, where possible and then be in
53. a position to see a bit, and grasp a few things.
54. I: How many times did the Principal ask you to bring him?
55. PB: She told us just once.
56. I: During the years he failed repeatedly was there anyone who told you about
57. this matter?
58. PB: No.
59. I: What did you do when he kept on repeating? perhaps went to speak with
60. the school staff.
61. PB: No we never went. We thought he was very playful he was negligent.
62. When his school report came and he had failed, we would reprimand him
63. saying to him, he was playful.



99
64. I: In other words you did not do anything with his problem all these years,
65. thinking that he was playful. Do you mean that not knowing whether there
66. could be some problems made you not to
67. PB: Perhaps as time went by we would have thought of getting some
68. prescriptions, so that he could open up.
69. I: When you say prescriptions what do you mean?
70. PB: We mean, when we go to our church and they give him some water that
71. can help him.
72. I: Do you mean that sometimes it can be used when there is a problem.
73. PB: In case there is a problem in a person, such a problem may disappear
74. (buleha)
75. I: I heard you say that you have never had the opportunity of getting an
76. education, what school standard have you passed?
77.PB: I have never been to school
78. I: Now when you talk of never having been to school, do you think it could be
79. one of the factors that made you not to be aware of his difficulties?
80. PB: Yes, it could be, because if one has been to school, one can have an idea
81. as to how the child might be helped, now because we never went to school
82. I: The main question I wanted to ask you, is what factors do you think
83. prevented you from seeking help early for this child, I mean the kind of help
84. that he was given when he was eventually placed at Mahlasedi actually what
85. I want to know are those factors. You have mentioned some of those, now I
86. would like you to summarise those factors, say the first factor was this one, the
87. second, third and so on
88. PB: You mean summarise in what mannerwhen the principal told us
89. I: Hold on just there, I mean before the Principal told you. Which factors can
90. you say actually prevented you we talked about them. I just wanted to hear
91. you repeat them, saying it was this factor and this one I mean before the
92. Principal called you, when you saw him fail this year, the following year
93. perhaps pass, and then fail again the following year
94. PB: What we actually thought was that he was playful. Though we thought he
95. was playful, he was never truant. Everyday he washed and went to school.
96. Even the Principal, told us the same thing, saying that he does not play truant,



100
97. even when he is at school, he is not naughty. Now we were just surprised as
98. to what was happening.
99. PB: Then asked the Principal, What do you think of him? She said that he is
100. a kind of person who battles to understand things. He needs proper
101. instruction. Hence, she thought I should take him there.
102. I: When you say you thought he was playful how did you put it?
103. PB: As for us, there was nothing we could think about, or what help he would
104. need. We just thought, let him remain at school, because he was still young
105. I: You say perhaps, not having been to school, made you think the way you
106. ended up thinking?
107. PB: as time went by we would have suspected that some people had
108. committed acts of witchcraft.
109. I: I have noted that you said you were also thinking of seeking some
110. prescriptions from your church. In what way do you think that would have
111. helped him?
112. PB: We thought that might help him open up, and be able to grasp a few
113. things(at school)
114. I: What did you think could have made him to be the way he was?
115. PB: The way he was we would have thought thatas people tend to trouble
116. one another, it would be possible than they had stepped ahead of him.
117. I: What do you mean by, having stepped ahead of him.
118. PB: Perhaps made him not to understand (at school).
119. I: Ok.
120. PB: That is what we thought.
121. I: Do such things happen?
122. PB: Amongst people, yes they do happen though then we still thought he
123. was still young










101
APPENDIX C

PARTICIPANT C

1. I: Good day
2. PC: Good day
3. I: I am Ms. M. Can you tell me who you are, and whose parent you are.
4. PC: I am Ms. Mowa, I am Elmons mother. I come from Makurung
5. I: Do you still remember that I met you at the school in Makurung, discussing
6. matters relating to Elmon.
7. PC: I still remember.
8. I: Ok, today I have come back so that we can further our discussion. The reason
9. for coming is that I am doing research into matters relating to Elmon and others.
10. I: Now I am going to ask for your permission to ask you a few questions
11. concerning Elmons difficulties at school, when he was still at Makurung. I am
12. also going to ask for your permission to tape this conversation on this tape
13. recorder.
14. PC: Ok.
15. I: Thank you. The question I want to ask you is whether you still remember
16. how many times he failed?
17. PC: Twice
18. I: He failed twice. In which grade was he?
19. PC: He was in Grade 2, and recently when he was in Grade 6
20. I: So when he was at Makurung, he failed twice
21. PC: I am sureI cant remember.
22. I: You dont remember well.
23. PC: Yes, I dont remember well.
24. I: You do remember that he failed Grade 2 more than once.
25. PC: Yes
26. I: And Grade 1, did he pass Grade 1
27. PC: I dont know maybe he was just pushed
28. I: According to you was he supposed to be promoted to Grade 2?
29. PC: He is slow.



102
30. I: He is slow, so the way you see it, he was just pushed from Grade1 to Grade
31. 2, and you think he failed Grade 2 twice.
32. PC: (Nods)
33. I: Then, thereafter where else did he fail?
34. PC: Uhm
35. I: Then, when you brought him to the office so that we could conduct tests,
36. what grade had he failed?
37. PC: He was supposed to do Std. 4, Grade 6
38. I: Had he passed then?
39. PC: I dont know, whether he was just pushed, in order to do me a favour. I
40. dont really know, because I was also not satisfied with him, as I could see that
41. he still could not read.
42. I: So you dont remember well, whether he had passed or not. That was when
43. he was going to do Grade 6 at the time.
44. I: Ok, what I want to ask you is that you have noted, as far as you can
45. remember that he failed Grade 2 twice, but it could quite a few times more, as
46. you say, sometimes you thought he was just being pushed.
47. PC: I think so.
48. I: That is what you think. Ok. Then after a while you brought him to the office
49. so that we could conduct tests, isnt it, and he was eventually placed at
50. Mahlasedi.
51. PC: Yes.
52. I: Now the question I want to ask you is whether there were any factors which
53. prevented you from seeking help for his problems at school, I mean early when
54. he was still in the lower grades?
55. PC: Yes, a word was sent to me, but at that time I was working in town, far
56. away from home, hence I did not have the time. So later on I took him
57. there (the office).
58. I: Before the school indicate that he was experiencing difficulties, was there
59. anything, I mean before the school alerted you of this matter. Was there
60. anything that prevented you from seeking help on your own?
61. PC: Yes, its because of being needy. I could not foresee how in future, if there
62. could be many more needs, that I might not be able to cater for, because I am
63. on my own.



103
63. I: Can you explain further when you say it was because of being needy
64. needs. I dont understand well what you mean.
65. PC: It is because I do part-time jobs, so I have to carry all the household
66. responsibilities alone, everything, food, the household is my responsibility.
67. I: Ok, let me ask you this question again. What I mean is that, before the
68. school advised you to take the child wherever, were you, yourself aware that
69. he was supposed to be taken somewhere or when he kept on failing that there
70. could be some additional help that could help him, besides going to his school
71. and repeating grades?
72. PC: No, I had never had such an idea
73. I: Yes
74. PC: It is just that the educators were considerate, because they said, the way
75.Elmon was, he might not be able to help you with anything in future. It is better
76. if he goes to a certain school. So that was when I got this idea, and agreed to
77. it.
78. I: In other words, you are saying if the school had not come up with the idea,
79. you would not have had such an idea. That is not considering the question of
80. being financially needy and certain needs you might have had to cater for.
81. When he kept on failing what did you think of the situation?
82. PC: As for me I did not have such an idea.
83. I: What did you think was happening with him, when he kept on failing?
84. PC: We had already seen that he is a block
85. I: When you say he is a block what do you mean?
86. PC: I mean he does not have the ability to understand, but that we could take
87. him to another school I never had that idea. I had never come across such
88. an idea.










104
APPENDICES D - E

CHECKLISTS FOR HOME-BASED OBSERVATION OF LEARNING
DIFFICULTIES

































105
APPENDIX D

OBSERVATION OF ASPECTS OF PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT
(PRE- ACADEMIC SKILLS) - Adapted from perceptual developmental tests
and Remedial education - Module I: The perceptual development of the child
(Department of Education and Training: 1993)

Name of child:.Grade..Age.

1. Balance: The ability to differentiate between and control the two sides of the
body. It also involves the ability to maintain an upright position and balance.

Is the child able to the following: Yes No
Jump on two feet:
Hopping on right foot:
Hopping on left foot:
Walking on heels:
Heel-to-toe-walking:
Walking on a straight line:
Balancing on one foot(with eyes open):
Balancing on one foot(with eyes closed):
Crouching without falling:
Star jumps:



General remarks:
..
...




106

2. Gross motor skills: The ability to use, move and control the big muscles in
the body, for e.g. climbing; skipping; walking; catching/kicking a ball. Develop-
ment of gross motor muscles is important and facilitates good posture and fine
motor skills.

Is the child able to do the following: Yes No
Maintain erect position while sitting:
Maintain erect position while standing:
Maintain erect position while walking:
Imitate movements:
Play ball games:
Do crawling exercises:
Do climbing exercises:
Skipping:
Running:
Does the child have the tendency to the following:
Run or bump into objects:
Overreach:
Underreach:

General remarks:

107

3. Fine motor skills: The ability to use, move and control the small muscles in
the body, which need speed and/or accuracy, as in fastening buttons or tying
bows; cutting with scissors; holding a pen/pencil.

Can the child do the following: Yes No
Fasten his/her own shoe laces:
Fasten his/her own buttons
Tie a bow:
Cut with scissors:
Fold paper:
Grip a pencil / pen in the correct manner when writing:
Connect dots with a straight line:
Draw a straight line:
Colour in pictures/figures within the boundaries of the
picture:

Copy figures:
Copy numbers/letters/words:
Does the child work at a very slow pace:


Remarks:

108

4. Eye-hand co-ordination: The ability to let the eyes, hands and feet work
together. It is the working together of eyes and the small and larger motor
muscles. Important in enabling the child to carry out tasks that require the
combination of these skills, such as in writing, copying figures, numbers, letters
words, catching objects and imitating movements.


Can the child do the following: Yes No
Track the movement of objects with eyes, in for example
a circle:

Trace pictures, letters on numbers on a tracing paper:
Copy figures, designs or patterns :
Throw a ball:
Catch a ball:
Focus on close objects:
Focus on distant objects:
Cut with scissors along straight lines:
Cut out marked geometric shapes, e.g. square, circle:



Remarks:

109

5. Body image: This refers to the image that one has of ones body. This
includes complete awareness of ones own body and its potential performance-
knowledge of the various parts of the body, their relative positions and how much
space the body occupies.


Observing possible body image problems: Yes No
Can the child identify himself/herself (name, sex, I):
Can the child identify the various parts of own body:
Does the child know the function of every body part:
Can the child draw a complete human figure:


Remarks:

110

6. Laterality, directionality and dominance: These aspects refer to the
awareness that the body has two sides; the ability to perceive and discern
direction; and the preference of using one side of the body to another,
respectively.

Laterality: inner awareness of the left and right hand sides. Yes No
Is the child aware of the left and right sides of his own
body, his hands, legs, eyes, ears, feet:

Can the child name the sides of his body:
Is the child aware of the left and right sides of another
person:

Can the child cross over on either side of his body
without changing hands:


Directionality: ability to perceive direction of objects
In the surrounding environment: Yes No
Can the child localise objects in space:
Does the child understand words referring to direction,
e.g. up, down, under in relation to himself and objects in
the environment:

Can the child follow instructions to move in specific
positions:

Left Right
Dominance: preference for one side of the body:
Which hand does the child write, colour or cut with:
Which foot does the child jump or kick with:
Which eye does the child use for focusing:

Remarks:

111
APPENDIX E

OBSERVATION OF PROBLEMS RELATING TO ACADEMIC SKILLS
(Adapted from Gericke, L 1998; Lerner, J 1993)

1. Listening: This forms the foundation of all language development
(Lerner,1993: 367)

Can the child do the following: Yes No
Follow a story told or read to him:
Follow directions, for e.g. give me the red book on the
dressing-table in the bedroom:

Remember and repeat or imitate what he has heard:
Recognise environmental sounds/noises:
Recognise letter sounds represented in the names of
concrete(real)or semi concrete (pictures of objects):

Differentiate between pairs of different word sounds:
Differentiate between pairs of same word sounds:


Remarks:
..
..
..
..












112
2. Reading: A process which involves the recognition of words and
understanding what the words mean in isolation or in context.


The following could be an indication of reading
problems: Yes No
Does the child battle to recognise letter/word sounds:
Does the child read word for word:
Does the child use a finger to keep his place when
reading:

Is there excessive lip movement while the child is
reading:

Whispers in silent reading:
Mispronounces words:
Makes guesses and random substitutions of words:
Omits words and/ or letters:
Inserts words and/ or letters:
Reverses whole parts of words, e.g on as no:
Repeats words or group of words:
Long pauses indicating difficulty in recognition:
Interest in reading:


Remarks:









113

3. Spelling: A form of expression of language in which specific patterns or
arrangements of letters can be acceptable (Gericke, 2000:31 & Lerner, 1993:447).

Does the child have the following problem(s) : Yes No
Adding unnecessary letters in words:
Omitting letters in words:
Faulty pronunciation, e.g. pin instead of pen:
Word reversals, e.g. pot for top:
Reversals of vowels, e.g. braed for bread:
Sequencing of consonants, e.g. brith or birht for birth:
Sequencing of vowels, e.g. sipt for spit:
Reversals of syllables, e.g. telho for hotel:
Faulty sound (letter sound) and symbol (letter) association:

Remarks:.

114
4. Mathematics: Ability in working with numbers involving calculation and reasoning

Can the child do the following:
Yes No
Distinguish numbers from letters:
Recognise numerals by sight or sound:
Identify number of items:
Count from 1 up 20 or beyond :
Count out a number of items:
Identify mathematical signs for the various operations, for
addition, subtraction, multiplication and division:

Do basic operations concretely, semi-concretely and
abstractly, e.g. 1+2; 3+2; 5-2:

Do basic word sums involving basic operations, e.g. If you
have two marbles and your friend gives you another two
marbles, how many marbles do you have altogether:

Can identify missing numerals in a sequence:
Correct the sequence of numbers if mixed up:

Remarks: