Abstract of Research
In this qualitative, case study I uncover the ways in which four, foundation phase teachers (Prek-2) shifted in their knowledge and pedagogical practices of explicit vocabulary instruction while participating in a year-long, co-designed, generative professional development project in rural South Africa. Teachers learned how to integrate explicit vocabulary instruction (Crosson et al., 2019) with shared reading that provided opportunities for their multilingual students to: 1) Develop their conceptual knowledge; 2) Identify word parts and meanings; and 3) Explore new words with others. Qualitative methodology guided the data collection and analysis of this study. I collected eight teacher interviews, two focus group interviews, eight classroom observations, and multiple instructional artifacts (lesson plans, student work) to document teachers’ generative learning and pedagogical practices specifically related to vocabulary instruction. Constant comparative analysis (Glasser & Strauss, 1967) helped me identify emerging themes and document shifts in learning. Findings indicate that teachers’ life stories and knowledge gained from their students shaped their learning and implementation of vocabulary instruction. Teachers made explicit connections to students’ lives outside of school and implemented a variety of language scaffolds such as repeating, visuals, videos, acting out, using students’ mother tongue, and partner share during shared reading time to help students’ build their vocabulary knowledge. They noticed students’ strengths and their own self-efficacy as teachers and leveraged their life experiences to negotiate the curriculum. Noticing students’ abilities, especially retaining, and utilizing new vocabulary words, shaped how the teachers viewed their effectiveness and motivated them to continue learning.
