Learning through play and its influence on basic literacy skills development in the Pre-primary grades in Zambezi region, Namibia

Abstract

Learning through play is key to developing various skills in a pre-primary grade. This is due to the fact that through play a child engages in activities that are beyond his or her average age. This paper therefore investigated how play promotes the development of basic literacy skills in pre-primary classrooms in Zambezi region of Namibia. The study was guided by Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of how children learn. It is a multiple case study and took a qualitative approach. Six (6) pre-primary classes participated in the study. A sample of the schools and a sample of teachers were drawn purposively. Data were gathered by using interviews, observation, and document analysis like lesson plans. Data analysis was done qualitatively through themes. The study established that teachers did not practice learning through play during lessons, and that there was a high level of schoolification of the pre-primary (Grade -0) curriculum. This study thus recommended that teachers should be trained to understand the speciality of pre-primary; support should be given to current teachers to adopt a child-centred, play-based approach to pedagogy; teachers should adopt collaborative teaching and learning, and that they (teachers) should attach learning themes to contextual games.