Grade 1 teachers’ experiences of supporting learners living with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Abstract

South Africa’s policy on screening, identification, assessment andsupport (SIAS) stipulates that teachers support learners with barriersto learning and development in their mainstream classrooms. Thisincludes learners living with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder(ADHD). Yet, little research has been conducted regarding Grade1 teachers’ utilisation of support strategies for learners living withADHD in mainstream classrooms. This study focused on Grade1 teachers’ support for learners living with ADHD. An exploratory,interpretive, interactive, qualitative case study was employed.Twelve purposefully selected Grade 1 teachers, representing fivepublic schools (varying from Quintile 1-5) and one private schoolfrom the West Coast Education District, South Africa, participatedin an unstructured open-ended focus group interview resultingin an interview framework being developed. This interviewframework directed the field observations of classroom visits andsemi-structured individual interview questions of six purposefullyselected Grade 1 teachers. Qualitative content analysis was usedto analyse the transcriptions of the individual interviews, as well asthe field notes. The study found that teachers were innovative indeveloping effective support strategies to support Grade 1 learnersliving with ADHD in their classrooms.