Motivation to explicitly teach reading comprehension strategies after a workshop

Abstract

Background: Teachers are important role players in improving literacy; however, they lack the expertise to explicitly teach reading comprehension strategies. Studies have showed that when teachers are motivated to explicitly teach reading comprehension strategies in their classrooms, learners’ comprehension is improved. Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate what motivates teachers to explicitly teach reading comprehension strategies in their classrooms after a workshop. Method: Purposive sampling was used and 20 teachers took part in this study. The research followed a qualitative approach, and the data were obtained from teachers’ responses to an open-ended questionnaire. Thematic analysis using concepts from Shulman’s ‘Pedagogical Content Knowledge’, Vygotsky’s ‘Social Constructivism’, Bundura’s ‘Self-efficacy’ and Chalmers and Gardiner’s ‘Academic Professional Development Effectiveness Framework’ was conducted. Results: One key finding was that teachers developed competence through effective pedagogical practices used by facilitators of the workshop; this boosted their confidence. Conclusion: The findings suggest that professional development training plays an important role in making teachers aware of reading comprehension strategies, equipping them with skills that will enable them to guide learners to become proficient readers. Contribution: The uniqueness of this study is that it hinged on collecting empirical evidence, within a South African context, on what motivates teachers to explicitly teach reading comprehension in their professional practice after being exposed to a repertoire of reading comprehension strategies during a workshop.

Keywords

• explicit strategies
• professional development
• reading comprehension strategies
• reading motivation, reading problems
• reading proficiency
• self-efficacy
• teacher development