Exploring teachers’ experiences of teaching creative writing in grade 10: a case of two rural schools at Umbumbulu Circuit.

Abstract

This dissertation presents a research study of four Grade ten English First Additional Language (EFAL) teachers. This study was grounded within the interpretive paradigm with an aim of exploring teachers’ experiences of teaching creative writing in Grade 10 in rural area in the Umbumbulu circuit. Data was generated through reflective activity, one-on-one, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussion. Purposive sampling and convenience sampling were used to select the participants. This study was a qualitative and was framed by ten concepts of the curricular spider web, with an aim of answering the following three questions: 1. What are teachers’ experiences of teaching creative writing in EFAL in grade 10 in CAPS? 2. How do teachers experience the teaching of creative writing in grade 10? 3. Why do grade 10 teachers have a particular experience in teaching creative writing? The poor performance of creative writing in South African schools especially in the Further Education and Training (FET) is in crisis. Insufficient creative writing skills takes place in rural schools in the Umbumbulu circuit resulting in limited language proficiency across Grade 10. It was observed that most learners at grade 10 cannot read and write. Findings indicate that teachers’ experiences’ of teaching creative writing were influenced by a number of factors. Lack of resources for teaching creative writing, poor infrastructure, learning space and time allocation had an impact on the teaching and learning of creative writing. The ten components of the spider web were adopted as the conceptual framework. Themes that emerged from the reflective activity, semi-structured interviews and focus group interview revealed that teachers were not aware of their rationale for teaching creative writing. Four teachers who were interviewed, three showed a lack of understanding of rationale for teaching creative writing and one teacher reveal he has passion for teaching creative writing. For proper implementation, a comprehensive CAPS training and retraining programme for teachers in schools as part of their professional preparation and in-service training should be enforced. The study also provided several recommendations, further research must be conducted to close identified gaps on exploring teachers’ experiences of teaching creative writing in Grade 10 in rural area in the Umbumbulu circuit. They include networking of teachers, improving qualifications, regular support and providing enough resources to schools for good implementation of creative writing. Furthermore, the study recommends that teachers should understand better the rationale for teaching creative writing.