Literacy lessons learnt from parents in a community programme

The purpose of this study was to find out how parents can contribute to the early reading development of children in a Grade R class. The research was conducted in a low-income area in the Cape Flats. To gain a deeper understanding of the parents’ cultural values and aspirations when interacting with the Home-School Partnership Programme (HSPP) literacy programme, I elected to frame my study within the work of Paulo Freire, who argued that the purpose of education, at the time of his writing, was to make oppressed people passive. Qualitative data were gathered in a case study research design, utilising focus group interviews and semistructured questionnaire tools, as well as footage from a local broadcasting studio. The findings show that the parents, who were previously unable to assist their children with literacy skills at home, were keen to change and to be active partners in their children’s early literacy learning. This research is a descriptive example of how the home, the school and the community can collaborate in a meaningful and sustained way, especially in poverty-stricken areas where unemployment is rife. Keywords: case study, Grade R, literacy, parents; Paulo Freire; poverty; qualitative