Teachers’ perceptions in creating an invitational learning environment in culturally diverse foundation phase classrooms

Abstract

South Africa is characterised by its vast cultural diversity, and the current classrooms are filled with learners from multicultural and multilingual backgrounds. This cultural diversity has an impact on the classroom climate. The classroom climate is seen as a major determiner of classroom behaviour and learning. Research surrounding classroom practice is changing the way teachers organise their learning spaces as well as their methods of teaching and learning. This paper aimed to gain insight into the teachers’ perceptions of the creation of invitational learning environments, using the Invitational Learning Theory as the basis. A qualitative case study involving methods such as focus group interviews with teachers and document analysis containing teachers’ notes were examined through the lens of the Invitational Learning Theory of Purkey and Novak. The results indicated that the learning environment plays a significant role in teaching and learning. Teachers noted that when the learning environment was friendly and conducive, learners showed greater enthusiasm to participate in classroom activities. If classrooms were inviting, neatly organised and well-arranged, learners showed a willingness to learn and accepted responsibility for their learning. Teachers noted that learners would go to a specific subject table, for example, mathematics or literacy, and engage in peer learning with the materials.