The role of the kindergarten teacher in enhancing kg learners’ proficiency in reading in Akuapem South Municipality

Abstract

There is an increasing body of research about the role that teachers play in early grade literacy however localizing such studies in metropolitan, municipal, district and agencies (MMDAs) within the state of Ghana is a new phenomenon emerging. Further, studies focusing on how jurisdiction-specific-factors influence and shape how these teacher roles are carried out have not received much attention. As a result, the current study explored the factors that influence teachers in their role to enhance reading proficiency among early graders within the Akuapem South municipality. The study which employed qualitative phenomenological design allowed researcher to probe into the lived experiences of how KG teachers discharge their duties in the classroom in the municipality. Twelve participants recruited by purposive and convenient sampling techniques from 105 kindergarten teachers within the ASM education directorate participated in the study. Using, thematic analysis to analyse the interview transcripts, five-fold themes were developed from the dataset. The themes included the use of Jolly Phonics centred teaching approaches, teacher agency (knowledge and skill-set of teachers), improvised teaching, learning resources, general challenges and the impact of teachers; role on reading performance. A checklist to ascertain the instructional skills of KG teachers was also designed to observe participants’ reports. It was found that the parental negligence, community difficulties and inadequate provision of TLRs and other educational materials contributed to the challenges. Also, teaching approaches and the teacher agency of educators are foxed with lots of constraints and challenges that impede the teaching of KG learners in the municipality. However, teachers reported relying on their agency of qualification, experience and teaching philosophy to achieve their goal of enhancing the reading proficiency among KG learners. These results are discussed in the context of provision of teaching and learning resources as well as other stake-holder involvement are recommended in order to develop early-grade education in the municipality.