Search

South Africa participated in the electronic version of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (ePIRLS) in 2016 but faced many challenges during implementation. Accurate databases on information and communication technologies (ICT) capacity of schools were not available for sampling in Gauteng, many schools had old and/or non-functional hardware and half of the schools had not used their computer laboratories in the last 3 years. Consequently, South Africa was excluded from the international report as the study requirements could not be met. In this paper we examine the implications of the problems experienced in the ePIRLS multiple case study, conducted in 9 schools (n = 277) in Gauteng. Multilevel models were built using data from the nationally representative Grade 4 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) data from 2011 (n = 15,744) and 2016 (n = 12,810). In the 2016 national study, principals and teachers reported fewer computers and libraries being available for learners than were reported in 2011. Computers and paper-based libraries being available were not significant predictors of reading literacy. Instead, the medium of instruction in the Foundation Phase, school location, gender, and socioeconomic composition of the school predicted reading literacy achievement. The ePIRLS results show no significant difference between paper-based and online reading. While issues of poverty, gender inequality, and historical disadvantage persist, Grade 4 learners may lack adequate opportunities to acquire paper and digital reading skills. We conclude that the most disadvantaged learners have increasingly insufficient opportunities and resources available to attain basic reading skills and this will have negative long-term consequences for South Africa's educational sector and economy.

Background: The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), and similar international assessments, have consistently shown South African intermediate phase learners' performance to be among the lowest worldwide. Of particular concern is the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Home Language in the Intermediate Phase and, specifically, the document's treatment of the assessment of reading comprehension. Objectives: In this study, the CAPS requirements for assessing reading comprehension were examined, with the aim of laying the groundwork for an improved policy framework. Method: The research design of the study involved evaluating the assessment of reading comprehension in the CAPS document, using a social realist approach to uncover its underlying structures and mechanisms. Results: The study found that a principled approach to the assessment of reading comprehension was lacking, which had a cumulative effect across the CAPS document, resulting in random, yet highly prescriptive, requirements. Conclusion: The study concluded that CAPS does not provide adequate guidance for improving reading comprehension and, moreover, that the prescribed programme of assessment is not supported by the research literature on reading comprehension. The study recommends that better, more evidence-informed and consultative policies and guidelines be introduced to support teachers in the assessment -- and, ultimately, the improvement -- of intermediate phase learners' reading comprehension.

This paper explored the factors influencing the leadership strategies of school principals in rural primary schools regarding the integration of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the process of teaching and learning in their schools. School principals are responsible for ensuring that there is ICTs integration in their schools' teaching and learning processes. Embedded within the theory of learning-centred leadership (LCL), school principals have a responsibility to lead, foster, manage, and support the learning process for teachers and learners in their schools. Thus, school principals need to be well acquainted with innovative technologies for teaching and learning amidst the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), which is global, complex, and fast-paced, to lead learning through ICT integration. Underpinned by the interpretive qualitative approach and using a multiple case study as a research design, this study generated data from three selected South African rural primary schools through face-to-face interviews with the three school principals. Data were analysed thematically. Findings revealed that school principals' leadership strategies are influenced by their attitudes towards ICT integration into teaching and learning, their exposure to ICT workshops, and their own judgements of their abilities in using ICT. The paper recommends customised in-service training for school principals and teachers to alter and improve their exposure to, attitudes, perceptions toward ICT integration in teaching and learning.

This article critically examines how selected schools in Qwaqwa (a remote town in the eastern Free State province of South Africa) imagine and "image" schooling through mission and vision statements, mottos, and emblems. We use the word "image" to refer to the way in which schools often use images to represent particular views about schooling and what it entails. Visual architecture of schools in the forms of vision and mission statements, mottos, and emblems communicate specific ways of thinking about schooling that resonate with the cultures and beliefs of the communities where the schools are located. Therefore, a critical analysis of such symbolic representations can reveal philosophies and views about schooling held and promoted not only by schools but also by the communities in which they are located. How do specific communities come to associate education with certain symbols, catchphrases, and idiomatic expressions? Is there a correlation between the ways of imagining and imaging schooling and the sociocultural and ecological landscape of the surrounding communities? The article is based on empirical data collected from 20 primary schools in Qwaqwa. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews administered to 10 principals and 10 members of school governing bodies of selected schools. We also took photographs of visions and missions, mottos, and emblems of selected schools, which we later coded and themed for content analysis. Findings of the study revealed that schools in Qwaqwa viewed education as a public good and as a tool for individual and community development.

Against the background of the low mathematical performance of South African learners in international panel studies, there is an urgent need to improve mathematical education. In particular, the curriculum and its structure raise questions. It is logical that the prescribed curricula should align with learners' developmental trajectories. Given the hierarchical structure of mathematics, the curricular requirements should pay attention to learners' current knowledge of mathematical concepts. The aim of this study was to compare the curricular requirements as defined by the CAPS with the conceptual current knowledge of South African learners. South African Grade 1 learners (N = 602) were assessed on a test of numeracy concepts, based on a theoretically informed and empirically validated model of developing mathematical proficiency. The content of the CAPS for Grade 1 was aligned to the model levels by two experts (Cohen's [kappa] = 0.753, p < 0.001). Results show that the curricular requirements go far beyond the current knowledge required to engage with these new concepts of the vast majority of South African Grade 1 learners. The mismatch may to some extent be responsible for the unsatisfactory results in international comparison studies. These results show that the intended curriculum is beyond the grasp of most South African Grade 1 learners. These children are unlikely to develop new arithmetic concepts based on their lack of required foundation knowledge. We therefore argue that the intended curriculum for Grade 1 should focus more on counting skills, ordinal relations between numbers and--most importantly--set-based number representations and part-part-whole relations.

This paper draws from a broad study that explored mathematics teachers' engagement with textbooks within the Lesson Study context. In the current paper, we report on teachers' use of mathematics textbook activities to inform their instructional decisions during collaborative lesson planning of numeric and geometric patterns. The study took place within the Lesson Study (LS) context -- a teacher development practice that emphasises, inter alia, collaborative lesson planning. Data was collected by observing teachers during collaborative lesson planning and through interviews. Data analysis was informed by the Mathematics Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) framework and Modes of teacher engagement with the textbook. Findings suggest that teachers' instructional decisions are mainly stimulated by the textbooks, teachers use textbook activities with fidelity, and they seldom adapt the activities drawn from the textbooks. However, where adaptation occurs teachers do it superficially. We contend that the capacity to conduct in-depth interrogation of the text is a derivative of mathematics subject matter knowledge (SMK) as well as pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Therefore, the widespread adoption of text without interrogation could be indicative of the lack of requisite content knowledge and pedagogical skills.

This paper report on first-year student teachers' reflections on the difficulty levels of mathematics concepts in the senior phase baseline assessments. This paper emanated after first year student teachers completed the baseline assessments for each of the three grades in the senior phase, Grades 7, 8, and 9. One hundred and sixteen (116) first year mathematics student teachers were included in this study. Data were collected using purposive and convenience sampling methods. This qualitative research adopted a case-study design, using an interpretivist paradigm. Data was collected using an open-ended questionnaire as the research instrument. The questionnaire was designed to determine student teachers' thoughts about the difficulty levels of concepts of the mathematical content in the baseline assessments. The results of the study revealed that Algebra; Number Pattern; Statistics; Shapes; Geometry; Simplification; Sequences and Series; and Addition and Subtraction of numbers as easy topics to answer, Fractions, Mixed fractions, Factorisation, Probability, and Measurement were topics that were very difficult. The study recommended that teacher educators design instructions that will assist student teachers in constructing senior phase mathematical concepts to improve their understanding of these complex topics in higher education institutions.

This paper is an analysis of Francophone immigrant parents' experiences of child language brokering in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Using a qualitative research design, data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews from nine immigrant parents who were selected through a convenience and snowball sampling technique. Through the lens of sociocultural theory and acculturation, the key findings indicate that the Francophone immigrant parents displayed positive feelings and had optimistic expectations concerning their children's language brokering skills in English and their future prospects in South Africa. The paper concludes that Francophone immigrant parents' experiences of child language brokering are complex and dynamic and are influenced by the context and purpose of communication.

Background: A global move towards inclusivity has made inclusive education (IE) a necessity. The education of the learner with hearing loss (HL) in an IE setting remains challenging and scarcely researched. Despite government's clear position on IE, the extent to which the recommendations in the Education White Paper 6 (2001) (EWP6) are implemented, and the educator's related experiences, remains limited, which inspired this study. Aim: To explore the educators' experiences of teaching learners with HL and the extent to which their current teaching practices incorporate the inclusive education model (IEM) and the EWP6. Setting: Public primary schools, practicing IE in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa. Method: An explorative descriptive, qualitative approach within a phenomenology design was utilised. An interview schedule guided the semi-structured interviews, conducted with six purposively sampled educators. Post thematic analysis, data were organised within four organising themes, adopted from the IEM. Results: The experienced practical implementation of IE comprised the adaptation of curriculum, teaching practices and assessment procedures to accommodate learners with HL. Educators experienced support from relevant stakeholders and policies. Facilitators included the availability of some resources and the learner's access to an appropriate school. Challenges included insufficient guidance from policies and guidelines. Conclusion: Educators experience difficulties in practically implementing IE with learners with HL. They incorporate the EWP6 and the IEM to a limited extent. Contribution: The study contributed to the limited information regarding the experiences of educators in an IE context, with learners with HL, at least within the studied or similar context.

Children in their childhood and teenage years can acquire either healthy or unhealthy lifestyles. Without proper guidance, unhealthy lifestyles (e.g. risk-taking, substance abuse, poor family planning) may negatively affect their psychosexual development (i.e. ability to make healthier sexual choices). Male and female teachers can be role models for learners to acquire healthy sexual lifestyles. Historically, the Foundation Phase (FP) has been a highly feminine teaching space. Lately, however, the space has seen an increasing presence and participation of FP male teachers. This paper shares FP male teachers' reflections in teaching comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) content within the Life Skills curriculum in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Five FP male teachers were engaged in a focus group conversation; data were thematically analysed, underpinned by a feminist post-structural lens. Although the teachers reported a restriction of FP male teachers in teaching CSE-related content, they also indicated that learners showed increased self-exposure to CSE-related content. To counter the censorship of FP male teachers in teaching CSE-related content, the study recommends explicit incorporation of feminist pedagogies to enable FP male teachers to be part of the delivery of SE content as equal stakeholders.

This paper is based on an argument that the disruption of school spaces can demerit the myth that Mathematics is difficult and a struggle for learners in some contexts. Combining spatial theories and the phenomenon of disruption, the paper reports from a qualitative research project that analyzed the dynamics of space and place in South African schools. From a sample of two secondary schools and three primary schools in Tshwane South, the paper reports on the data from one school where the theme of disruption of school spaces for the teaching of mathematics was drawn. Two Mathematics teachers and one Head of Department (HoD) were interviewed in the school and one classroom was observed. The findings indicate that the disruption of school spaces leads to collaboration across post levels in terms of teaching, management, and personal professional development. Such collaboration disrupts the representations of space and improves teachers' spatial practices and a potential for better learning. The paper concludes by recommending research that will explore the applicability of the conclusions it makes to the enhancement of Mathematics learners' results.

Background: South African schooling is caught in a vicious cycle, characterised by weak initial teacher education (ITE) and weaker-than-average learning outcomes, resulting in low teacher status and attempts to reform schooling by means of continuous professional development (CPD). Aim: The paper attempts to understand the reasons for poor performance in mathematics and to explore avenues for improvement. Setting: Teaching in South African schools. Method: Three mechanisms for improving teaching and learning are identified: ITE, CPD and the management of and support to teachers. Drawing on the research literature, the paper examines the potential of each for reforming the system. Results: Tests based on the school curriculum indicate that final-year BEd students are quite unprepared to teach mathematics in primary schools, revealing very significant shortcomings in ITE curricula. CPD, where it is well designed and rigorously evaluated, has been shown to have small effects on both teacher knowledge and learner performance. However, unless ITE is reformed at the same time, CPD becomes a never ending task of making marginal differences to the shortcomings of each successive cohort of qualified but incompetent teachers emerging from the universities. Conclusion: While the weak state of governance in the civil service remains a major obstacle to improved schooling, and while every effort must be made to raise the capacity of inservice teachers, maximal leverage in boosting teacher capacity sits firmly with the universities. While CPD has, at most a few hours a month to bridge huge gaps in teacher knowledge, ITE has at its disposal four years of full-time study with young, plastic minds.

COVID-19 has caused a change in the demography of the Early Childhood Education (ECE) teaching fraternity. This paper problematizes the ECE curriculum delivery gap created by the influence of COVID-19. Central to this paper is the assumption that online learning might limit the stimulation of children's holistic development. Reflecting on their experiences, the authors examine the influence of COVID-19 on pedagogy for ECE preservice and kindergarten curriculum through the lens of design thinking theory. The reflections are based on one open and distance learning institution in South Africa and one kindergarten program in Canada. The findings reveal challenges, such as digital inequality brought on by socioeconomic imbalances and opportunities. The authors suggest the digital literacy skills needed to mitigate the influence of COVID-19 in the ECE preservice and kindergarten curriculum delivery.

The majority of children in mainstream (no fee, poorly resourced, African language dominant) public schools in South Africa fall significantly behind curricular norms in mathematics by Grade 3; the early learning gap grows across time. The provision of "quality" instructional materials is a well-recognised component of effective strategies to improve early grade mathematics in low- and middle-income contexts. However, there has been little explication of what constitutes quality instructional materials, nor long-term design work to contribute theory to this instructional design challenge. Across 15 years, the author has been working in an education design hub with teacher educators and teachers in the rural Eastern Cape, with the goal of improving early grade mathematics. The gains in mathematics performance have been among the most significant reported in research literature. This paper presents the design principles emerging from the work. Engaging the theoretical layers discussed by diSessa and Cobb, the paper contributes to design theory by emphasising the relationship between explicit instructional assumptions and design principles, integrating four ontological categories (motive, pedagogy, language use and mathematical meaning-making). Since 2011, the Department of Basic Education has provided learner workbooks to support teaching and learning in foundation phase mathematics at system scale. It is hoped that this paper will contribute to the ongoing development of this vital national resource. The paper makes explicit instructional assumptions and design principles (available for critique, adaptation, and refinement), and provides a more nuanced framework through which to assess and improve materials across time.

This paper focuses on the Southern African Association for Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education's (SAARMSTE's) role as a platform supporting research dissemination and connecting researchers in early grades mathematics (EGM) in the Southern African region. A review of the Long Papers in SAARMSTE over the last 20 years supports the finding of the other review papers in this Special Issue: that there has been substantial growth of attention to EGM since 2013. However, two distinctions are marked when looking at conference papers rather than journal papers. Firstly, there is a particularly large expansion of work in the last 5 years, with a broadening base of participation in this work. Second, looking across all the formats of conference presentations indicates SAARMSTE's role in supporting and building EGM as a key focus of research attention, and bringing together regional and international groups with interests in this area. Given that conference proceedings usually offer a broader picture of emerging interests than journal papers, we reflect on the range of foci of attention within EGM in the SAARMSTE Proceedings, and trends within this. These trends also help us to point to areas that are likely to be of key interest in the next decade.

Today's learner population is diverse and replete with situational, personal, emotional, and learning challenges that inevitably find their way into the mathematics classroom. This paper draws from a project intended to investigate issues of classroom practice in mathematics used, extrapolate, or improve on them for the better development of teachers and learners' meaningful understanding of intermediate and senior phase mathematics in a district in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa during the COVID-19 lockdown period. A qualitative approach in which three teachers were interviewed has been used. Results indicated that teachers benefited from technology informed collaborations with other teachers on WhatsApp groups and used those experiences to promote learning in their own environments. Moreover, it was observed that teachers modified their instructional strategies, shared mathematics teaching practices through WhatsApp, and engagements using online tools easily accessible to their learners.

The study reported in this paper was conducted to examine four South African grades 7 teachers' understanding of the importance of instructional time as a teaching resource to develop learners' relational understanding in mathematics. A constructivist philosophical approach, document analysis, lesson observations and interviews were used to collect data. The findings indicate that the four teachers faced, to varying degrees, challenges in using instructional time as expected. Two did not help learners understand the relationship between the concepts taught and the examples selected to scaffold learning. They prioritised drawing learners' attention to correct responses to questions posed. Only two teachers used strategies that encouraged the learners to share experience, collectively reflect on individual taken-for granted conceptions, probe and identify how they could be used to explain mathematical concepts. The conclusion is that the teachers' lack of understanding the pedagogical significance of instructional time as social time highlighted inadequate curriculum and subject content expertise and supported the general concern about the quality of mathematics teaching within the country.

Background: Internationally, the teaching of division has noted that the use of sharing situations with sharing actions (one-by-one distribution) is the predominant division model at the beginning of schooling. In South Africa, research suggests a sharing situation with sharing actions is also preferred in the early grades. Aim: This paper aims to look at the predominant approaches to the use of division actions that teachers offer in teaching division tasks. Setting: The study is set in three government schools in Gauteng, South Africa. Methods: In this qualitative study, the teachers were observed through video recording, and then the video recording was transcribed, and semiotics was used to make sense of their teaching. Results: The findings of this article suggest that grouping actions and group-based approaches to teaching division tasks are more prevalent than sharing through one-by-one distribution actions, even when sharing situations are used. Conclusion: This study concludes that grouping actions and group-based approaches are part of how teachers solve sharing situations. Contribution: This study concludes that in a South African context, identifying the grouping actions and group-based approaches linked to sharing situations is a more efficient way of solving sharing situations and will assist teachers in explaining division tasks more coherently.

The intervention programmes have a direct influence on teachers' knowledge of teaching different topics. This paper focuses on how Grade 8 natural science teachers' knowledge developed during an intervention programme. Eight schools were selected to participate, and 25 Grade 8 Natural Sciences teachers from Gauteng province participated. Data were collected during the intervention sessions, and participants completed a written TSPCK test and content representation tool. Quantitative data were analysed using the Rasch analysis model, and qualitative data were analysed using content analysis of TSPCK episodes using the TSPCK rubric. The episode was a response segment, where TSPCK components were used to transform the topic content. The findings showed that teachers' pedagogical content knowledge improved significantly in different components of TSPCK. The teachers' PCK development was revealed through extensive use of knowledge of representation including demonstrations using diagrams aimed at transforming the concept in planning. Besides, during the intervention, teachers were able to collaborate, have explicit discussions on specific topics, and provide explanations on the use of the five TSPCK components. The study implies that the development of PCK in fundamental topics in a discipline can be implemented through a TSPCK-based intervention.

Framed by decolonial theory, this paper explores how language and literacy ideologies, including Anglonormativity, or the expectation that children should be proficient in a standardised version of English and are deficient if not, shape language and literacy practices in South African classrooms. While not legitimised, the use of fluid language practices in classroom discourse in the Global South is well documented. Less explored is the impact of language ideologies on children's written text production. Using the tools of linguistic ethnography, I focus on the literacy practices emergent bilingual children are engaged with in a Natural Science lesson in year 4, the first year of their transition from 'home language' language of instruction (LOI) to monolingual English LOI. A close analysis of the practice of learners making notes in the lesson shows a pretextual gap between the expectations of the activity: that the children will be proficient in the 'English' used for note-making as well as orthography and layout conventions of written notes, and the heterographic writing they are able to produce. I examine the written products of note-making against a contested history of the use of African languages for writing fiction, and the exclusion of African languages from formal education, thus within a context of coloniality of language. I argue that the concept of "ukuzilanda" can inspire the expansion of literacies in African languages in education, enabling us to build from an existing literate and oral tradition.

Teacher absenteeism is of concern in today's developing educational climate. In South Africa, where education itself is a contested terrain, and decades of disadvantage still impact resources and skills, despite democracy, it is a compelling challenge. This paper, based on a study of how independent primary schools in Gauteng, South Africa, manage teacher absenteeism, offers an analysis of the management practices employed so that some lessons can be extrapolated. The paper draws from real teaching experience in South African primary schools, noting the huge impact of teacher absenteeism and its implications for teaching and learning. Five co-educational (with both genders), independent primary schools were selected for this qualitative study, using Christopher Hood's Cultural-Theory Framework, document analysis, interviews and observation. Findings homed in on processes used to track teacher attendance policies; directives and instruments that regulate teacher absenteeism; factors that influence teacher absenteeism; leadership styles; rewards for good attendance; penalties for abusing leave, and strategies and measures to manage teacher absenteeism. We conclude with recommendations in response to this challenge and emphasise the need for further research.

Socially inclusive strategies encourage empowering, progressive and sustainable responses to social challenges and needs. These strategies are made possible through inclusion and equitable consideration of diverse contributions of those affected by the problems, and who feel obliged to find solutions to the problems. In this paper, the principles of a free attitude interview technique as well as the critical discourse analysis are used to generate and analyse data. A participatory action research-oriented, socially inclusive teaching strategy was followed that is underpinned by critical emancipatory research principles. The study found that the listening and speaking skills of English first additional language learners improved significantly. This paper demonstrates how a socially inclusive teaching strategy can contribute to strengthening the teaching of listening and speaking skills in English first additional language, to Grade Four learners at a public farm school. Learners' inability to listen attentively and speak fluently requires the application of an adequately responsive teaching strategy that focuses on improving learners' listening and speaking skills in early stages of learning. The purpose of implementing the strategy is to contribute towards improving learners' listening and speaking capabilities. This will in turn improve learners' chances of doing well in other subjects.

This paper investigates in-service intermediate phase mathematics teachers' metacognitive awareness based on their engagement in a professional development intervention in two rural and one township school in South Africa. Professional teacher development interventions should be structured and collaborative as teachers tend to revert to traditional modes of teaching when interventions are brief and sporadic. This research was scaffolded across the zone of proximal teacher development (ZPTD) as conceptualized by Warford (2011). The aim of the study was to investigate how metacognitive awareness facilitated intermediate phase mathematics teachers' ZPTD, i.e., from their actual knowledge to "proximal development". 10 intermediate phase mathematics teachers participated in the qualitative research (n=10). The professional development intervention was conducted on two consecutive Saturdays, infused with an adapted lesson study approach. The data was collected through (i) individual interviews, (ii) reflective prompts, (iii) observations, and (iv) reflective journals. The data from each data source were coded and categorized and were triangulated to answer the research question. Participants deemed the professional development intervention and the accompanying materials as supportive and showed increased metacognitive awareness of their personal teaching praxis during and after the intervention, hence growth along the ZPTD occurred.

Background: Teaching English as home language (EHL) could be a complicated process in a country like South Africa, where there are eleven official languages operating in a multicultural society. This requires capacitating teachers with appropriate and relevant strategies to strengthen their teaching, especially in the foundation phase. Aim: This paper examines the appropriateness and relevance of the extant strategies for teaching EHL comprehension skills to foundation phase learners from diverse language backgrounds. Setting: This study was conducted in King Cetshwayo District, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Methods: This was a qualitative case study involving four purposively selected grade one teachers in one urban primary in South Africa. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews, field observations and document analysis. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: The two main findings were that (a) the teaching of EHL comprehensions skills lacked the appropriate strategies, and (b) the teachers faced several challenges--including operating under an unclear policy framework, the paucity of strategies in phonological awareness, and the lack of appropriate reflection images to which the learners could be exposed to improve their skills. Conclusion: The study concludes that adequate and regular professional teacher development programmes and activities are needed to enable teachers to do their work more effectively. Contribution: By closely and systematically examining the strategies used by teachers who were non-native English speakers, to teach EHL to leaners who were also non-native English speakers, this study has made important contributions to both attendant theory and classroom practice.

Play is one of the most widely used teaching strategies in Foundation Phase. Grade 3 is the exit grade off the Foundation Phase in the South African context. This paper is an output of a Masters' dissertation that explored the use of play when teaching number sense to Grade 3 learners. The dissertation findings encouraged the researchers to explore the viability of play when teaching number sense. The theoretical underpinning of this study was based on Vygotsky's theory of social development and Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence because they both emphasize the importance of play in enhancing social interaction between learners and educators. We used semi-structured interviews, document analysis and non-participant observation to collect data from six Grade 3 teachers from three primary schools in the Capricorn South District's Lebopo Circuit of Limpopo Province in South Africa. The results of this study show that educators lack clear guidelines on how to integrate play in number sense education, from planning to presentation to assessment. Educators need guidelines on how to use play to teach number sense and to be effective. They require curriculum workshops to show them how to use low-cost materials but high quality in lesson preparation. They can play Indigenous games since they require resources that are found in nature.

In this paper, we share details of a South African early grades' number intervention informed by aspects of Davydov's writing on early number teaching and learning. A key part of Davydov's approach to early number teaching involves starting with attention to relationships between quantities rather than with counting. The Structuring Number Starters (SNS) intervention focused--over a nine-year period--on supporting early grades' students to move beyond the calculating-by-counting approaches that are prevalent in South Africa. In attending to this focus, the intervention shifted increasingly towards an emphasis on relationships between quantities, though not in the same format or task sequence as advocated by Davydov. The contextual and cultural features that led to our adaptations--or shape-shifting--are highlighted in this paper. We interrogate key aspects of Davydov's approaches to early number teaching in relation to key features typical of South African classroom mathematics teaching in order to understand the evolution of the SNS initiative. Quasi-longitudinal interview-based assessment data available from a cross-attainment sample of students in 2011, 2014 and 2018 indicate shifts over time from calculating-by-counting to calculating-by-structuring. These outcomes point to successes with moves into increasingly structured ways of working with early number, but suggest also that these successes may be contingent on some fluency with forward and backward number word sequences. The outcomes suggest that it is feasible to explore interventions directing attention to early number structure from the outset in larger scale studies.