Investigating grade 6 teachers’ experiences of english first additional language systemic literacy evaluations in the Western Cape

Abstract

South Africa’s poor performance in local, regional and international benchmark literacy assessments is well documented and has implications for teachers. Both the Progress in International Reading and Literacy Studies (PIRLS) and the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit (NEEDU) reports and research argue that South African teachers lack both the content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of their subjects. Although the studies refer to teachers, their voices are not heard in the studies and their opinions are not known. Investigation was required to examine teachers’ experiences of the literacy assessment and thus bring teachers’ voices into this hotly debated topic.