A Collaborative Approach for Improved Literacy Performance of Students at Smith’s Primary School in Georgetown, Guyana

This project elucidates the growing need to address the literacy deficiencies of children at the foundational stage of their primary education cycle with a focus on students at Smith’s Primary School in Georgetown, Guyana. This project provides recommendations for a collaborative approach among stakeholders, including the education supervisor, the principal, teachers, and parents or caregivers. Using a mixed-method and an Appreciative Inquiry approach, data were gathered from these stakeholders. The findings generally indicated that educators were lacking in some skills and working in isolation, which caused ineffective delivery of literacy programs. Increased educational effectiveness resulted from the implementation of an integrated, holistic literacy training plan, which included the transformational leadership perspectives of shalom and servant leadership along with key literacy concepts. Such effectiveness was evident in the improved literacy performance of students, which was proven statistically by administration of the t-test. Recommendations were made for policies that mandate collaboration among stakeholders using the transformational model developed in this project. Recommendations also included funding for the training of stakeholders in the literacy concepts advocated in this project.