The teachers' book club : broadening teachers' knowledge and building self-confidence

Abstract

This article reports on how a book club for teachers was used to help build teacher literacy capacity in a disadvantaged primary school in a township near Pretoria. The book club was one component of a larger literacy project that was implemented at the underperforming primary school, namely, the Embedded Literacy Coaching (ELC) project. Models of behavioural change are discussed and linked to literacy reforms. Reports on studies in other countries about teachers as readers and the impact on literacy practices in the classroom are briefly discussed. An outline of the larger ELC project of which the book club was a part, is given, followed by a description of the nature of the book club and how data were collected to ascertain the effects thereof. Data collection for this aspect of the study consisted primarily of qualitative research methods. Various facets of teacher behaviour and response to the book club are discussed, for example teachers' attitudes, their genre knowledge of children's books, and affective factors in reading. Finally, ways in which the book club may or may not have impacted on the teachers' classroom and personal literacy practices are reflected on.