Jace Pillay
University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Title: Hope for the future and literacy achievement in a sample of impoverished South African primary school children: A positive psychology perspective
Biography
Biography: Jace Pillay
Abstract
Adopting a positive psychology perspective this study investigated hope for the future and literacy achievement in a convenient sample of South African primary school children living in poverty. Data was collected through a quantitative survey that was administered with learners (N=160) from four grade 5 to 7 classes in a school in Soweto. Soweto is an urban black township that emerged during the years of apartheid and its people were characterized by extreme poverty and negativity. The survey comprised five literacy tests that were standardized by Do-It- Profiler, a UK based institute, and Shape the Learner, a South African based consultancy. The results show a statistically significant relationship between future hope and literacy scores, with learners who had lesser hope for the future scoring significantly lower on the literacy tests used in this study. Specifically, learners with lesser future hope performed noticeably lower in the real word test, followed by spelling, words spelt correctly, reading fluency, and non-word spelling. Based on positive psychology and hope theory, the author discusses the implications of the findings for literacy achievement in children living in poverty.