Exploring Teachers' Pedagogical Experiences in Using Local Languages to teach Literacy I: A case study of a selected Primary School in Wakiso Town

Abstract

The study on the exploration of the teachers’ pedagogical experiences in using local language to teach literacy I: a case study of a selected primary school lower classes, Wakiso Town was guided by David Kolbs’ (1984) experiential learning model, the model focused on four critical aspects namely: concrete experience, reflective observation, active experimentation, abstract conceptualization as key pillars in the teaching of Literacy 1 through local language. The study addressed three research questions, which included: What are the lower primary teachers’ experiences on the use of local language in the instruction of Literacy 1 in a selected primary school Wakiso Town? What challenges faced by the teachers while using local language to teach Literacy I in a selected primary school lower classes in Wakiso Town and What are the best practices and classroom strategies used by the lower primary teachers to teach Literacy I at the lower primary classes in Wakiso Town? This qualitative inquiry mainly used interviews, and observation research methods to collect data from lower primary teachers whose Literacy 1 lessons were observed. The findings indicate that teachers valued the use of local language, Luganda in particular in the teaching of Literacy 1. The study also established that despite the value attached to the use of Luganda to teach Literacy 1, the research setting had a number of restrictions against the use of local languages within the school. In a way, this seemed to affect learners masterly of the content learnt in class since they had no chance to practice it. The study recommends that teachers should be exposed to the various techniques of teaching in local language while still at the teacher training colleges to ease their actual practice when they join the field. The study further recommends that primary schools should develop internal systems to retool teachers on the best approaches of enticing learners to use local language as medium of instruction.