Studiebegeleiding aan leerlinge in die seniorprimêreskoolfase met 'n negatiewe studiehouding

Abstract

Under favourable conditions, the child in the senior primary phase (from Grade 5 to Grade 7) should lead a happy and carefree life with few real problems for himlherself or his parents. At this time the child is at his/her most receptive stage, therefore it is very important that the child should acquire good study habits, study attitudes and study methods. Attitude plays a very important role in learning. If the child has a negative attitude towards study, his academic achievement will not be as desired. The child who has a negative attitude also has a negative or poor self esteem. It is important to lead the child in the senior primary phase to develop and adopt a positive attitude and self esteem. The aim for this study is to determine whether the pupils (learners) in the senior primary phase will develop a positive disposition towards learning if they are given guidance. The characteristics of the senior primary child in relation with his physical, social, emotional, moral and personal development is closely scrutenised. The focus is on study attitude and the factors that would influence it such as language, stress, self esteem, hereditary, abilities and environment. Thus the study guidance program for the child in the senior primary phase with a negative study attitude has been set out comprehensively. The focus fell upon study guidelines for study guidance in the form of group guidance and the ten sessions into which the study guidance program was set out. The study guidance program consisted of orientation of the group, aims or objectives, study attitude, self esteem, study habits, study methods, facors which influence learning, facets of the memory, attention and concentration, compiling a works program and study roster, motivation, listening, effective reading, memory aids, memorising, summarising, underlining and preparation and writing of the examination. During the empirical investigation the following steps were followed: • The school guidance teacher selected fifteen pupils (learners) from the senior primary phase (grade 6) who showed a negative study attitude. • Questionnaires about study habits, study attitudes and study methods were completed by the group before and after the study guidance program. The pupils also had to write a General Science test before and after the study guidance. The results of the General Science Tests before and after the study guidance, were compared with each other. The presentation and interpretation of the response of the questionnaire about study methods, study attitudes and study habits regarding the General Science test marks were recorded. The test marks before and after were compared. Furthermore, from the examination it came to light that the questions in the questionnaire showed a marked changed namely a great effect (0,8) except in questions 41, 46 and 49 which showed a medium effect. This improvement or change in the Science Test marks are thus educationally viable. As a result of the positive change in the questionnaire's response and the General Science test marks, it appears that the program was successful. It also shows that a study guidance program can play an important role in cases where the Senior Primary pupil (learner) has a negative study attitude. There is a definite yearning by the child in the senor primary phase to be guided during learning and thus being influenced positively. Guidance implies assistance, Le. during learning/study the child must be assisted so that learning can be effective and the potential of the child be optimally unfolded or developed. If the child's potential is optimally developed, the child will become a happy adult who will be an asset to him/herself and to the community.