Educators' perspectives of the implementation of a classroom based, educator led occupational therapy intervention for fine motor skills
type: CreativeWork
description: Background Children attending South African low quintile schools are faced with various barriers to learning which impacts academic performance, with handwriting being an aspect with which they experience difficulty. Provision of on-site occupational therapy services to address handwriting at such schools is limited by human resource constraints. To address this, final year occupational therapy students attending University of Cape Town placed in a low quintile school were tasked to collaborate with Grade R educators to train them to implement a classroom-based fine motor programme. Aim This study describes the educators' experiences of the factors impacting on the implementation of a fine motor programme in a low quintile school. Methodology A qualitative, descriptive study was conducted to explore their experiences relating to the programme, which is an emerging area of research in the South African context. Using sampling, three Grade R educators were purposively trained in implementing a fine motor skills programme. They participated in two focus groups to describe their experiences of the training and the implementation of the programme. Data was audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Inductive approach to analysis led to the generation of themes and categories focussing on their experiences, of the hindrances and factors supporting the implementation. Ethical principles were upheld throughout the research process. Findings and Discussion The theme “Them and us” was highlighted throughout the discussion as there was a divide between the educators and the students. The lack of communication and role clarification resulted in both the educators and students missing out on opportunities for collaboration and teamwork, and in turn the learners lost out on intervention albeit on a population basis that could impact learning and development. The process, fraught with challenges, resulted in a difficult partnership and a programme which was not implemented and subse…
abstract: Background Children attending South African low quintile schools are faced with various barriers to learning which impacts academic performance, with handwriting being an aspect with which they experience difficulty. Provision of on-site occupational therapy services to address handwriting at such schools is limited by human resource constraints. To address this, final year occupational therapy students attending University of Cape Town placed in a low quintile school were tasked to collaborate with Grade R educators to train them to implement a classroom-based fine motor programme. Aim This study describes the educators' experiences of the factors impacting on the implementation of a fine motor programme in a low quintile school. Methodology A qualitative, descriptive study was conducted to explore their experiences relating to the programme, which is an emerging area of research in the South African context. Using sampling, three Grade R educators were purposively trained in implementing a fine motor skills programme. They participated in two focus groups to describe their experiences of the training and the implementation of the programme. Data was audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Inductive approach to analysis led to the generation of themes and categories focussing on their experiences, of the hindrances and factors supporting the implementation. Ethical principles were upheld throughout the research process. Findings and Discussion The theme “Them and us” was highlighted throughout the discussion as there was a divide between the educators and the students. The lack of communication and role clarification resulted in both the educators and students missing out on opportunities for collaboration and teamwork, and in turn the learners lost out on intervention albeit on a population basis that could impact learning and development. The process, fraught with challenges, resulted in a difficult partnership and a programme which was not implemented and subse…
author: Damonse, Shireen
keywords: Occupational Therapy
date published: 2021
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:22:52Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Division of Occupational Therapy

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35706