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Educators' perspectives of the implementation of a classroom based, educator led occupational therapy intervention for fine motor skills
Background Children attending South African low quintile schools are faced with various barriers to learning which impacts academic performance, with handwriting being an aspect with which they experience difficulty. Provision of on-site occupational therapy services to address handwriting at such s...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Division of Occupational Therapy
2022
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| _version_ | 1867613211287617536 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Damonse, Shireen |
| author2 | Gretschel, Pamela |
| author_browse | Damonse, Shireen Gretschel, Pamela |
| author_facet | Gretschel, Pamela Damonse, Shireen |
| author_sort | Damonse, Shireen |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Background Children attending South African low quintile schools are faced with various barriers to learning which impacts academic performance, with handwriting being an aspect with which they experience difficulty. Provision of on-site occupational therapy services to address handwriting at such schools is limited by human resource constraints. To address this, final year occupational therapy students attending University of Cape Town placed in a low quintile school were tasked to collaborate with Grade R educators to train them to implement a classroom-based fine motor programme. Aim This study describes the educators' experiences of the factors impacting on the implementation of a fine motor programme in a low quintile school. Methodology A qualitative, descriptive study was conducted to explore their experiences relating to the programme, which is an emerging area of research in the South African context. Using sampling, three Grade R educators were purposively trained in implementing a fine motor skills programme. They participated in two focus groups to describe their experiences of the training and the implementation of the programme. Data was audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Inductive approach to analysis led to the generation of themes and categories focussing on their experiences, of the hindrances and factors supporting the implementation. Ethical principles were upheld throughout the research process. Findings and Discussion The theme “Them and us” was highlighted throughout the discussion as there was a divide between the educators and the students. The lack of communication and role clarification resulted in both the educators and students missing out on opportunities for collaboration and teamwork, and in turn the learners lost out on intervention albeit on a population basis that could impact learning and development. The process, fraught with challenges, resulted in a difficult partnership and a programme which was not implemented and subsequently not sustained. Conclusion The South African Educational Policy encourages therapists working in schools to integrate their services into the classrooms as well as the homes of learners by means of contextual interventions implemented in partnership with educators and parents. Lack of understanding of how to invest in the initiation of partnerships and consistent attention to grasping roles and responsibilities is a vital component of the collaborative partnership. Power dynamics within the relationship, commitment and spontaneous communication are aspects that stakeholders need to be conscious of to bring about change for positive occupational engagement of learners. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/35706 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:31.718Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateRange | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| publisher | Division of Occupational Therapy |
| publisherStr | Division of Occupational Therapy |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/35706 Educators' perspectives of the implementation of a classroom based, educator led occupational therapy intervention for fine motor skills Damonse, Shireen Gretschel, Pamela Ebrahim, Adele Occupational Therapy Background Children attending South African low quintile schools are faced with various barriers to learning which impacts academic performance, with handwriting being an aspect with which they experience difficulty. Provision of on-site occupational therapy services to address handwriting at such schools is limited by human resource constraints. To address this, final year occupational therapy students attending University of Cape Town placed in a low quintile school were tasked to collaborate with Grade R educators to train them to implement a classroom-based fine motor programme. Aim This study describes the educators' experiences of the factors impacting on the implementation of a fine motor programme in a low quintile school. Methodology A qualitative, descriptive study was conducted to explore their experiences relating to the programme, which is an emerging area of research in the South African context. Using sampling, three Grade R educators were purposively trained in implementing a fine motor skills programme. They participated in two focus groups to describe their experiences of the training and the implementation of the programme. Data was audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Inductive approach to analysis led to the generation of themes and categories focussing on their experiences, of the hindrances and factors supporting the implementation. Ethical principles were upheld throughout the research process. Findings and Discussion The theme “Them and us” was highlighted throughout the discussion as there was a divide between the educators and the students. The lack of communication and role clarification resulted in both the educators and students missing out on opportunities for collaboration and teamwork, and in turn the learners lost out on intervention albeit on a population basis that could impact learning and development. The process, fraught with challenges, resulted in a difficult partnership and a programme which was not implemented and subsequently not sustained. Conclusion The South African Educational Policy encourages therapists working in schools to integrate their services into the classrooms as well as the homes of learners by means of contextual interventions implemented in partnership with educators and parents. Lack of understanding of how to invest in the initiation of partnerships and consistent attention to grasping roles and responsibilities is a vital component of the collaborative partnership. Power dynamics within the relationship, commitment and spontaneous communication are aspects that stakeholders need to be conscious of to bring about change for positive occupational engagement of learners. 2022-02-18T05:00:36Z 2022-02-18T05:00:36Z 2021 2022-02-10T07:16:47Z Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35706 eng application/pdf Division of Occupational Therapy Faculty of Health Sciences |
| spellingShingle | Occupational Therapy Damonse, Shireen Educators' perspectives of the implementation of a classroom based, educator led occupational therapy intervention for fine motor skills |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Educators' perspectives of the implementation of a classroom based, educator led occupational therapy intervention for fine motor skills |
| title_full | Educators' perspectives of the implementation of a classroom based, educator led occupational therapy intervention for fine motor skills |
| title_fullStr | Educators' perspectives of the implementation of a classroom based, educator led occupational therapy intervention for fine motor skills |
| title_full_unstemmed | Educators' perspectives of the implementation of a classroom based, educator led occupational therapy intervention for fine motor skills |
| title_short | Educators' perspectives of the implementation of a classroom based, educator led occupational therapy intervention for fine motor skills |
| title_sort | educators perspectives of the implementation of a classroom based educator led occupational therapy intervention for fine motor skills |
| topic | Occupational Therapy |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35706 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT damonseshireen educatorsperspectivesoftheimplementationofaclassroombasededucatorledoccupationaltherapyinterventionforfinemotorskills |