The transition from the Foundation Phase (FP) to the Intermediate Phase (IP) is a major educational change for learners. This involves language, pedagogy, curriculum demands, classroom organisation, relationships and expectations of learner independence. Teachers are key to guiding this transition, but learners’ experiences are also shaped by the broader ecological contexts in which teaching and learning take place. In this qualitative study, drawing on Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory, we explored teachers’ perceptions and experiences of learners transitioning from the FP to the IP in South African public primary schools. Twenty-four Grade 3 and Grade 4 teachers were selected purposively. The schools were 3 quintile four public primary schools located in a township in the Tshwane district. Data were collected using semi structured interviews, field notes, and document analysis. These were analysed using a combination of deductive and inductive coding, systematic analysis of data from each school and across the 3 schools, following Creswell’s (2009) qualitative data-analysis procedures. The results indicate that the transition from Grade 3 to 4 is threefold: an ecological transition from the FP to the IP, increased academic and pedagogical demands, and the transition from Sepedi to English as the language of learning and teaching (LoLT). These changes were compounded by learners’ weak foundational literacy and numeracy skills, increased workload, language diversity, emotional and behavioural adjustment, overcrowded and under resourced classrooms and teachers’ administrative and instructional workload. Teachers used adaptive strategies to manage the transition in the Grade 4 classes. These included code-switching, simplified texts, cooperative learning, differentiated teaching approaches and improvisation of teaching and learning resources. Data analysed from the 3 schools suggested that transition problems were not confined to learners but arose from the interplay of classroom, family, school, curriculum and wider educational contexts. We conclude that the transition from Grade 3 to 4 should be understood as an ecological, relational and context-dependent process that calls for coordinated support among teachers, families, schools and education systems rather than placing responsibility for successful transition primarily on learners or individual teachers.

https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v46n3a2630

ORCiD iDs of authors:
Eles Moyo – https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9512-7287
Nevensha Sing - https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8798-5161