Animales problema 2 (Segunda experiencia).

5.2.4.1. Introduction

The quantitative data and the categories of qualitative data presented in Addenda U, V and W were refined, and this produced three themes that cut across all the data sets. Qualitative content analysis, discussed in Section 4.5, was used to refine the data. The themes are presented in Table 5.7 below:

Table 5.7: Themes from the Data Presentation

Data source Categories Themes

Reflective journal Translator Dialogue journals

Culture

Community and support Group-think

Authority/Power Autonomy Voice

Motivation to learn

1. Contextual factors impacting on metacognitive learning

Reflective journal Translator Dialogue journals Focus group interview

Culture (cultural practices) Observations about their communication/language Observations about their reading/comprehension /OralTrad

2. Factors impacting negatively

on reading comprehension mastery

Reflective journal Translator Dialogue journals Focus group interview

Words Improved personal skills /Enj /Com /Res/Deter/Mot /Evi/Q/Conf /Evi/Q/Cnxt /RC/Und /RC/KL /MCA /Trans/Know /Thks

3. Metacognitive awareness and

Each of the themes is explained below. As the focus group interview data were not grouped in categories, I used in-text references with the codes discussed in Addendum T to indicate data stemming from a specific data set.

5.2.4.2. Theme 1: Contextual factors impacting on metacognitive learning The following diagram, Figure 5.7, represents factors that formed part of and influenced the research intervention narrative. I have inserted the three data processes so that the consecutive discovery of these factors is portrayed within the chronological progression of the intervention. All the factors were interrelated and interdependent. Often I could see numerous factors at work in one scenario during a contact session.

Figure 5.7: A concept map of the factors affecting the intervention. a) Community

Many African countries share the understanding of an ubuntu worldview. This worldview has been studied prodigiously for many years, but in this study, it formed the explanatory framework for the factors that influenced my study and will therefore not be discussed in a detailed, nuanced way.

Autonomy

READING COMPREHENSION

PROCESS

OUTCOMES PROBLEM DEMARCATION _Culture

Authority

Voice Motivation to learn

Group think

Other- focused Community Dreams of building a better life Traditional Xhosa masculinity

Learning Support teacher

Metacognitive skills and strategies Status in Xhosa culture

Nevertheless, the Xhosa’s reality is one of communal interconnectedness. The meaning of ubuntu is “I am because you are” or as the Zambians understand it: to be a normal human being who cares (F. K. Kalaba, personal communication, 12 April 2013). This communal interconnectedness can only be inadequately and superficially described in English. Therefore I have turned to other Xhosas for their interpretations: Former president Thabo Mbheki gave one a glimpse of his Xhosa worldview in his 1996 speech on behalf of the African National Congress in Cape Town on 8 May 1996, on the occasion of the passing of the new Constitution of South Africa. At the time Mbeki was the vice president of South Africa under the presidency of Nelson Mandela:

I am an African. I owe my being to the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the glades, the rivers, the deserts, the trees, the flowers, the seas and the ever- changing seasons that define the face of our native land.… I am the grandchild of the men and women … the patriots … the soldiers.… I am born of the peoples of the continent of Africa. (Hadland & Rantao, 1999, p. 153)

In this excerpt, one can see both the importance of land and of community to the amaXhosa. This sense of community among the learners was essential to the formation of “a community of learners”. I consequently planned activities that would enhance a sense of community and mutual support. The learners reported that they experienced a sense of community among one another before the intervention. I assumed that this was a natural manifestation of the ubuntu worldview being lived out. As I drove around in the neighbouring community, I found this assumption to be true. One male learner wrote, “My classmates at school were take care of me” and he added later in his dialogue journal, “I love to stay with my classmates. The [They are] like my family because I

speend [spend] lot of time with them” (P6/Com/DJ). This sense of community was a reoccurring

theme throughout the research process. b) Xhosa culture

During the intervention, my learning about, and understanding of, Xhosa culture was an ongoing process. Culture played a large role in the way that the learners and surrounding community operated. In the Xhosa culture, patriarchal ideology continues to dominate social life. Townsend and Dawes (2004) explain that in the “predominately patriarchal Nguni culture”, children are expected to show “unquestioning obedience and subservience to adults, especially men” (Bray et al., 2010, p. 73). IsiXhosa-speaking adults refer to ukuhlonipha (to respect) as a vital part of their interpersonal, intergenerational relationships and the manner in which children ought to be raised (Bray et al., 2010).

An aspect of the Xhosa culture that is often highlighted by media reports is the practice of initiation whereby boys transition into men. The Xhosa male initiation rite of passage into adulthood, which involves circumcision, metaphorical death and rebirth, and isolation from females, remains a practice shrouded in secrecy (Ragnarsson, Townsend, Ekstrӧm, Chopra, & Thorson, 2010, p. 5). The boys “go to the bush” usually between the ages of 16 and 18. It is considered unacceptable for females to discuss any part of the rituals or be party to knowledge thereof. In this case, I had to be

culturally sensitive as one can easily offend a Xhosa male by addressing him incorrectly. The correct terms of address are dependent on whether the individual has been through the initiation rite or not. Recent literature (Ragnarsson et al., 2010) notes that an increasing number of underage Xhosa males are attending these initiation schools and it was therefore necessary for me to ask the male learners how they preferred to be addressed. Otherwise, I ran the risk of alienating them through disrespect and threatening the success of the study. I asked them which term of address was appropriate, abafana (young men) or amadoda (men), and one learner replied, “Abafana, because we are not men yet.” He quickly added that he would be going to the bush when he turned 18. I thus tried to adhere to the principles of ukuhlonipha throughout the intervention. In my attempts to really understand the learners’ experiences of their reading comprehension in English, it was also necessary for me to remain mindful of how the learners interpreted the world. I was thankful that I had made the effort when P1 commented in her dialogue journal: “You are so special to me because you are careful about people” (P1/Thks).

Even as Xhosa culture changes under the influence of Westernisation through globalism and technology, some of the old traditional beliefs about land, masculinity, and femininity remain firmly ingrained in the youth. Thus, I knew that in order to assert my place among the learners as someone worth respecting and listening to, I had to mention, while wearing a skirt that covered my knees, that I was married and that I originated from the Eastern Cape. I knew this had to be done at the beginning of the intervention phase. The biggest indicator of adulthood for Xhosa females is motherhood but that was something I could not claim. As I had spent time reflecting on their cultural practices, it was not surprising that my introduction was received enthusiastically. I also had prepared an introduction regarding the purpose of the research in isiXhosa, which the learners greatly appreciated.

Researcher’s reflection

Tying my husband (mentioning a husband) and me to the land (the Eastern Cape) as part of the introductory lesson was a good idea. The children immediately related and were visibly interested right off the bat. I also found that using a few Xhosa words during the session kept them engaged and amused and surprised them. I noticed that they became visibly relaxed. It also encouraged questions, which were all land-related and child-related. This interaction allowed us to discuss the differences in cultural practices and introduced an openness that really helped facilitate communication (RC/Cul/RJ).

The scope of this factor’s influence was limitless. The learners’ cultural understandings of the world influenced their thinking, reasoning, and meaning-making.

c) Group-think

Due to the shared nature of the lives of the Xhosa children, collective thinking and a collective identity were also prominent. I found that collective thinking was an obstacle in my attempts to gain

access to the learners’ metacognitive awareness and habits and to gauge their progress with English reading comprehension, and it affected their attendance rates. For example, P6 said that when he didn’t attend the lessons, it was because the group had told him that they, as a group, would not be attending on a given afternoon. In his words, “I disturbed by other learners they say

‘he [it should read ‘she’ and refers to me] will come’ [to the school for the contact sessions], others they say ‘Hayi, we don’t come’ and then I don’t know what to do and then I decide to go home”

(P6/Q1/FG). Similarly, during the contact sessions, I found that one learner would answer for the group without consulting the others first. The most frustrating part of this was when I asked if they understood and one learner would reply, “Yes, we understand”, while others were still be frowning in confusion. Consequently, I decided to work on developing the learners’ individual voices and sense of autonomy.

d) Authority

Aside from culture, the greatest factor that affected the research process was the Xhosa understanding of authority and power. As stated before, in Xhosa culture, respect is not earned; it is taken. This often happens by force and a person’s authority is entrenched over time through physical consequences meted out for disrespect. I was uncomfortable with implementing this as, besides corporal punishment being illegal in South African schools, I wanted to make sure that the learners remained invested in the research process as co-researchers and willing participants and so decided to approach the issue gingerly. In the beginning, a few learners attended the lessons erratically, wrote in their dialogue journals infrequently, or asserted themselves as an authority figure during the contact sessions. Mindful of their understanding of how an authority figure behaves, I enlisted the help of the learning support teacher (a married woman with children) and pleaded with the learners on numerous occasions. Their erratic attendance proved to be problematic throughout the intervention but having the learning support teacher as an ally was helpful. During the contact sessions, I discovered that if I shared my opinion first, I was more likely to get an honest response in return. For example, I would say, “I want to go home now, do you want to go home?” or “I am tired, are you tired?” This approach not only placed me in a position of authority in the learners’ eyes but also gave them a chance to voice their opinions and needs.

Researcher’s reflection

I have spent a lot of time thinking about “voice”—personal voice. The Xhosa culture emphasises collective voice and individual voices are often drowned out. In the beginning of our sessions, I couldn’t get the learners to share their opinions at all. They would either just agree with what I said or they would decide together what they thought I wanted to hear what I said and then answer me. I suppose it is because they saw me as an authority figure and so all their cultural understanding of authority was activated. As a result, I decided to begin sharing my opinion first (modelling) before asking them for their opinions. This worked wonders! I was able to get each learner to respond as an individual. Their “voices” started coming through clearly (RC/Cul/RJ).

During a contact session just before the June holidays, a boy walked into the classroom during one of our sessions. He was not part of the study but was enrolled at the school as a scholar. He ignored me sitting at the front of the classroom and walked straight up to P6 and asked to have an apple from the bag that I had brought for my learners. From when the child had entered the room, I had asked him thrice to leave but had been ignored on all three occasions. P6 then told his peer that he did not own the apples, that they belonged to me, and so he would need to ask me if he wanted one. The child then turned to me and asked for an apple, citing his hunger as a reason why I should have given him something to eat, but I replied in the negative. He left the classroom immediately. I noticed that P6’s face fell at my response. In the following session, I wanted to have a discussion with the learners to ascertain whether I had done the right thing culturally and to institute a new kind of relationship—one of equality between the learners and me, drawing myself into the community of learners. I describe the ensuing discussion in my notes below:

Researcher’s reflection

The more I work with the learners, the more I become aware of the power differential inherent any classroom scenario. I have come to realise that power is definitely communicated through space. When a teacher is standing and the learners are sitting, their upturned faces immediately create the impression that the teacher is in charge and they have to submit. This has been bothering me for a while and I started wondering how a change in the seating arrangements would affect the amount of learning that took place. I therefore decided that I wanted to have discussions with the learners as equals. So I made them sit on their tables so that we could all discuss things at eye level. I wanted to talk about the boy and the apple scenario from the previous week. When questioned, to my surprise, 6 of the 7 agreed that they would not have given him the apple because he was disrespectful, that is, did not speak to me when he entered or when I addressed him (RC/AuthPow/RJ). I realised then that even though I was from a different racial group, one associated with negative connotations among many Africans, they had still extended their understanding of authority and power to me in the contact sessions. I was the authority figure there.

That ‘watershed’ moment was the beginning of a new season for the group as a ‘community of learners’. Even though I was the assumed authority figure, the learners began to take ownership of the group and interacted with me more authentically. I suspected that this was because I had taken the time to seek out their thoughts and opinions and to allow them to develop personal voices. After a difficult lesson one afternoon, I was reminded of an observation made by Denzin and Lincoln (2005) regarding research in traditional communities. Some African communities’ description of their negative research experiences with people from Western cultures, seemed to point out that by being culturally insensitive, numerous white researchers had caused indigenous people to view most them with suspicion and distrust (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005). Relevant to my study, it would seem that white people often try to dictate to Xhosas what their experiences or

answers should be by asking them leading questions during research projects. I made a mental note of this and tried to avoid repeating this mistake. As a result, a community of learners was established and the authority issue moved from being a power struggle to one of communal trust, reliance, and support.

e) The role of autonomy, voice and motivation to learn in reading comprehension

After navigating through the learners’ cultural understanding of authority, described above, my next challenge was motivating the learners to want to learn through reading. Based on my observations, I wanted to strengthen the children’s sense of autonomy, their individual voices (as opposed to thinking collectively for fear of authoritarian figures) and their motivation to learn. All these things would help them access tertiary education.

Researcher’s reflections

Based on my experience, submission plays a huge role in how these children react during learning experiences. It’s almost as though submission to authority or elders dominates and suppresses any natural inclination that Xhosa children have towards inquisitiveness, creativity, or critical thinking. It’s almost as though the idea of “children should be seen and not heard” has silenced them to such an extent that it produces bewildered adults who are trapped in the poverty cycle because they do not possess the necessary skills to rise to the top, reminiscent of the children described by Charles Dickens in Hard Times. They also seem to be lethargic, lazy, and despondent at times. I know that there are many reasons for this, but it is still concerning (RC/AuthPow/RJ).

5.2.4.3. Theme 2: Factors impacting negatively on reading comprehension mastery

I noted in my reflective journal at the beginning of the intervention that I suspected the learners were just reading to pass (RC/RC/RJ). Additionally, they also alerted me to their experiential challenges through their dialogue journals:

I struggle to understand this story because of other word was very difficult (P6/RC/Und/DJ)

During this lesson everybody they understand this story, it was me who was not understand (P6/RC/Und/DJ)

I don’t understand English when you speak, I can hear you (P7/RC/Und/DJ) I later made the following observation, further on into the intervention:

Researcher’s reflection

They cannot communicate what they have understood. A lot of their misunderstanding and confusion seems to be as a result of the language barrier. I am finding it increasingly difficult to determine which problems are reading comprehension problems and which are proficiency

problems … the learners’ vocabulary seems to be their weak point. They are unfamiliar with words such as massive, great, potential, pharmaceutical, critical, decline. Their inferencing is also weak. Academic texts are a real challenge for them. P6 reads word by word with his pen as a guide and mouths each word to himself. I have noticed that P2 does the same thing occasionally. I think that it is very difficult for them (RC/RC/RJ).

Observations during the contact sessions and the research findings helped me ‘tease out’ the barriers to the learners’ development. Question lll in the focus group interview (If you were teaching English reading comprehension [i.e. if you were me] to your peers, what would you do differently?) was particularly insightful in this regard. It revealed more about the learners’ mental activities than I had anticipated.

As the discussion around Question lll in the focus group interview progressed, I began to notice