Abstract
Ph.D.
Story education is a very critical component in primary school literacy programs. Not only is it a curriculum focus which develops the abilities of children to listen and write but it also strengthens the school and community relations. In contexts of diversity, studies of story education become especially relevant and require research into the role teachers play to ensure meaningful story education. This study is an exploration of examples of story education lessons in multicultural classrooms in Masvingo in Zimbabwe.
A qualitative research design was employed and it involved six infant class teachers and three elders who were purposively sampled. Data included classroom observations and structured interviews. The analysis followed a grounded theory methods. In the analysis we described story education practices, how teachers changed and improved their teaching with stories in relation with cultural competence and teaching methods and lesson outcomes. Grounded theory method also allowed us to construct a model of story education in practice which accounts for the role of teacher cultural competence.
The results revealed that teachers draw on their understanding of cultural differences and adjust their story teaching accordingly. While teachers improve in their practice through collaboration they also learn from one another about adapting practices given the diversity in the class they work with. Based on the data the researcher propose that story education in multicultural settings may best be presented in terms of what we call the Zunde model, analogious to how granaries in villages accommodate the needs of all members of a community. The article concludes with reference to the need for policy makers to put in place programs that meet the infant class teachers’ needs in their professional preparation and development in order to improve effectiveness in their story education.