Practitioners’ perspectives on using recyclable materials to promote holistic, sustainable literacy development in early childhood care and education

Recently, Early Childhood Care and Learning has become a central point in the South African education spectrum. Unfortunately, this sector faces challenges, especially in economically challenged societies. Practitioners are not receiving sufficient professional development from relevant government departments, and they also struggle to find teaching and learning resources due to the prevalent socio-economic issues in the societies where their centres are located. This interpretive project, which is premised on Participatory Action Learning and Action Research as a research design, was conceptualised to support early childhood practitioners and parents in creating diverse teaching media, using recyclable materials. Engagements with practitioners after the implementation stage indicate the following: children enjoy manipulating recyclable material, practitioners value recyclable material; practitioners appreciate new pedagogical strategies; activities involving recyclable material improve children’s vocabulary significantly; the activities cement schemata; interaction in literacy classrooms improves critical skills such as critical thinking, effective listening, following instructions, speaking, problem-solving, and communication. The project concludes that literacy instruction using recyclable materials in early childhood learning may sustainably improve literacy.