From Policy to Practice: How Grade 2 Teachers’ Perspectives Shape the Enactment of the Reading and Writing Focus Time in South African Foundation Phase Classrooms

Abstract

South African learners continue to experience challenges in reading for meaning, highlighting the need for classroom practices that support early literacy development. The Reading and Writing Focus Time, as prescribed in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), is intended to provide structured opportunities for reading instruction in the Foundation Phase. This study explored grade 2 teachers’ perspectives of that Focus Time and how these shape its enactment in Foundation Phase classrooms. Guided by Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory, the study adopted an interpretivist qualitative case study design. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews with two purposively selected grade 2 teachers from two public primary schools in Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg, and were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that while both teachers recognised the value of the Reading and Writing Focus Time in supporting reading development, they conceptualised and enacted it differently. The teachers adapted the Focus Time to learners’ diverse reading needs, with classroom enactment further shaped by contextual factors such as learner diversity and time constraints. The study concludes that teachers’ perspectives and their teaching contexts influence how the Focus Time is enacted in Foundation Phase classrooms.