An investigation of Wikipedia translation as an additive pedagogy for Oshikwanyama first language learning
- Authors: Hautemo, Aletta Mweneni
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Kuanyama language -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Computer-assisted instruction , Kuanyama language -- Machine translating -- Namibia , Language and languages -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Computer-assisted instruction , Computer-assisted instruction -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Information technology -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Educational technology -- Namibia , Wikipedia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1982 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013139
- Description: The integration of Information and Communication Technology in the indigenous language classroom lags behind compared to other subjects. In many ways, indigenous language teachers find it difficult and to some extent, impossible to integrate ICT into their classroom activities. The focus of this study is to explore the ways in which ICT could be used as a learning tool in an Oshikwanyama First Language classroom. I investigated the use of Wikipedia translation as an additional teaching and learning tool. I concentrated on the impact that ICT tools have on learning, and the motivation it has on learners to learn Oshikwanyama. This qualitative case study was conducted in an urban school in northern Namibia. The adoption of ICT at the school is good as there is a full-fledged computer lab with unlimited wireless internet access. This was a requirement for the project to enable the participants to work online. I purposefully chose higher-level learners (Secondary phase) for this study. I conducted a survey with them on their access to and use of ICT devices in their daily lives, and thereafter conducted a basic computer workshop and a Wikipedia translation project with them. My research findings show that although the use of ICT is part of the learners’ lives, most of the communication through ICT devices is done in English not Oshikwanyama. Wikipedia translation offers a stimulating learning platform for learners to learn Oshikwanyama and English at the same time and this improved their performance in both languages. Furthermore, the Wikipedia translation, which was done collaboratively, gave learners the confidence to work with other learners to create knowledge. Lastly, Wikipedia translation motivates learners to learn Oshikwanyama and use it in their daily ICT interaction.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Hautemo, Aletta Mweneni
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Kuanyama language -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Computer-assisted instruction , Kuanyama language -- Machine translating -- Namibia , Language and languages -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Computer-assisted instruction , Computer-assisted instruction -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Information technology -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Educational technology -- Namibia , Wikipedia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1982 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013139
- Description: The integration of Information and Communication Technology in the indigenous language classroom lags behind compared to other subjects. In many ways, indigenous language teachers find it difficult and to some extent, impossible to integrate ICT into their classroom activities. The focus of this study is to explore the ways in which ICT could be used as a learning tool in an Oshikwanyama First Language classroom. I investigated the use of Wikipedia translation as an additional teaching and learning tool. I concentrated on the impact that ICT tools have on learning, and the motivation it has on learners to learn Oshikwanyama. This qualitative case study was conducted in an urban school in northern Namibia. The adoption of ICT at the school is good as there is a full-fledged computer lab with unlimited wireless internet access. This was a requirement for the project to enable the participants to work online. I purposefully chose higher-level learners (Secondary phase) for this study. I conducted a survey with them on their access to and use of ICT devices in their daily lives, and thereafter conducted a basic computer workshop and a Wikipedia translation project with them. My research findings show that although the use of ICT is part of the learners’ lives, most of the communication through ICT devices is done in English not Oshikwanyama. Wikipedia translation offers a stimulating learning platform for learners to learn Oshikwanyama and English at the same time and this improved their performance in both languages. Furthermore, the Wikipedia translation, which was done collaboratively, gave learners the confidence to work with other learners to create knowledge. Lastly, Wikipedia translation motivates learners to learn Oshikwanyama and use it in their daily ICT interaction.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Can expansive (social) learning processes strengthen organisational learning for improved wetland management in a plantation forestry company, and if so how? : a case study of Mondi
- Authors: Lindley, David Stewart
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Mondi Group , Wetland management -- South Africa , Wetland conservation -- Study and teaching (Continuing education) , Employees -- Training of -- South Africa , Action theory , Critical realism , Social learning , Environmental education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2003 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015661
- Description: Mondi is an international packaging and paper company that manages over 300 000 ha of land in South Africa. After over a decade of working with Mondi to improve its wetland management, wetland sustainability practices were still not integrated into the broader forestry operations, despite some significant cases of successful wetland rehabilitation. An interventionist research project was therefore conducted to explore the factors inhibiting improved wetland management, and determine if and how expansive social learning processes could strengthen organisational learning and development to overcome these factors. In doing so, the research has investigated how informal adult learning supports organisational change to strengthen wetland and environmental sustainability practices, within a corporate plantation forestry context. How individual and/or group-based learning interactions translate to the collective, at the level of organisational change was a key issue probed in this study. The following three research questions were used to guide the research: 1. What tensions and contradictions exist in wetland management in a plantation forestry company? 2. Can expansive learning begin to address the tensions and contradictions that exist in wetland management in a plantation forestry company, for improved sustainability practices? 3. Can expansive social learning strengthen organisational learning and development, enabling Mondi to improve its wetland sustainability practices, and if so how does it do this? Cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) and the theory of expansive learning provided an epistemological framework for the research. The philosophy of critical realism gave ontological depth to the research, and contributed to a deeper understanding of CHAT and expansive learning. Critical realism was therefore used as a philosophy to underlabour the theoretical framework of the research. However CHAT and expansive learning could not provide the depth of detail required to explain how the expansive learning, organisational social change, and boundary crossings that are necessary for assembling the collective were taking place. Realist social theory (developed out of critical realism by Margaret Archer as an ontologically located theory of how and why social change occurs, or does not) supported the research to do this. The morphogenetic framework was used as a methodology for applying realist social theory. The expansive learning cycle was used as a methodology for applying CHAT and the theory of expansive learning; guiding the development of new knowledge creation required by Mondi staff to identify contradictions and associated tensions inhibiting wetland management, understand their root causes, and develop solutions. Through the expansive learning process, the tensions and contradictions become generative as a tool supporting expansive social learning, rather than as a means to an end where universal consensus was reached on how to circumvent the contradictions. The research was conducted in five phases: • Phase 1: Contextual profiling to identify and describe three activity systems in Mondi responsible for wetland management: 1) siviculture foresters; 2) environmental specialists; 3) community engagement facilitators. The data was generated and analysed through through document analysis, 17 interviews, 2nd generation CHAT analysis, and Critical Realist generative mechanism analysis; • Phase 2: Analysis and identification of tensions and contradictions through a first interventionist workshop. Modelling new solutions to deal with contractions, and examining and testing new models in and after the second interventionist workshop; • Phase 3: Implementing new models as wetland management projects and involved project implementation. This included boundary crossing practices of staff in the three activity systems, reflection and re-view in a further five progress review/interventionist workshops, and a management meeting and seminar; • Phase 4: Reflecting on the expansive learning process, results, and consolidation of changed practices, through nine reflective interviews and field observations; • Phase 5: Morphogenic/stasis analysis of the organisational change and development catalysed via the expansive social learning process (or not). The research found that expansive social learning processes supported organisational learning and development for improved wetland management by: 1) strengthening the scope, depth, and sophistication of participant understanding; 2) expanding the ways staff interact and collaboratively work together; 3) democratising decision making; 4) improving social relations between staff, reducing power differentials, and creating stronger relationships; 5) enhancing participant reflexivity through deeper understanding of social structures and cultural systems, and changing them to support improved wetland and environmental practice of staff, and developing the organisational structures and processes to strengthen organisational learning and development; and 6) using the contradictions identified as generative mechanisms to stimulate and catalyse organisational learning and development for changed wetland/environmental management.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Lindley, David Stewart
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Mondi Group , Wetland management -- South Africa , Wetland conservation -- Study and teaching (Continuing education) , Employees -- Training of -- South Africa , Action theory , Critical realism , Social learning , Environmental education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2003 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015661
- Description: Mondi is an international packaging and paper company that manages over 300 000 ha of land in South Africa. After over a decade of working with Mondi to improve its wetland management, wetland sustainability practices were still not integrated into the broader forestry operations, despite some significant cases of successful wetland rehabilitation. An interventionist research project was therefore conducted to explore the factors inhibiting improved wetland management, and determine if and how expansive social learning processes could strengthen organisational learning and development to overcome these factors. In doing so, the research has investigated how informal adult learning supports organisational change to strengthen wetland and environmental sustainability practices, within a corporate plantation forestry context. How individual and/or group-based learning interactions translate to the collective, at the level of organisational change was a key issue probed in this study. The following three research questions were used to guide the research: 1. What tensions and contradictions exist in wetland management in a plantation forestry company? 2. Can expansive learning begin to address the tensions and contradictions that exist in wetland management in a plantation forestry company, for improved sustainability practices? 3. Can expansive social learning strengthen organisational learning and development, enabling Mondi to improve its wetland sustainability practices, and if so how does it do this? Cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) and the theory of expansive learning provided an epistemological framework for the research. The philosophy of critical realism gave ontological depth to the research, and contributed to a deeper understanding of CHAT and expansive learning. Critical realism was therefore used as a philosophy to underlabour the theoretical framework of the research. However CHAT and expansive learning could not provide the depth of detail required to explain how the expansive learning, organisational social change, and boundary crossings that are necessary for assembling the collective were taking place. Realist social theory (developed out of critical realism by Margaret Archer as an ontologically located theory of how and why social change occurs, or does not) supported the research to do this. The morphogenetic framework was used as a methodology for applying realist social theory. The expansive learning cycle was used as a methodology for applying CHAT and the theory of expansive learning; guiding the development of new knowledge creation required by Mondi staff to identify contradictions and associated tensions inhibiting wetland management, understand their root causes, and develop solutions. Through the expansive learning process, the tensions and contradictions become generative as a tool supporting expansive social learning, rather than as a means to an end where universal consensus was reached on how to circumvent the contradictions. The research was conducted in five phases: • Phase 1: Contextual profiling to identify and describe three activity systems in Mondi responsible for wetland management: 1) siviculture foresters; 2) environmental specialists; 3) community engagement facilitators. The data was generated and analysed through through document analysis, 17 interviews, 2nd generation CHAT analysis, and Critical Realist generative mechanism analysis; • Phase 2: Analysis and identification of tensions and contradictions through a first interventionist workshop. Modelling new solutions to deal with contractions, and examining and testing new models in and after the second interventionist workshop; • Phase 3: Implementing new models as wetland management projects and involved project implementation. This included boundary crossing practices of staff in the three activity systems, reflection and re-view in a further five progress review/interventionist workshops, and a management meeting and seminar; • Phase 4: Reflecting on the expansive learning process, results, and consolidation of changed practices, through nine reflective interviews and field observations; • Phase 5: Morphogenic/stasis analysis of the organisational change and development catalysed via the expansive social learning process (or not). The research found that expansive social learning processes supported organisational learning and development for improved wetland management by: 1) strengthening the scope, depth, and sophistication of participant understanding; 2) expanding the ways staff interact and collaboratively work together; 3) democratising decision making; 4) improving social relations between staff, reducing power differentials, and creating stronger relationships; 5) enhancing participant reflexivity through deeper understanding of social structures and cultural systems, and changing them to support improved wetland and environmental practice of staff, and developing the organisational structures and processes to strengthen organisational learning and development; and 6) using the contradictions identified as generative mechanisms to stimulate and catalyse organisational learning and development for changed wetland/environmental management.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Empathy in the time of ecological apartheid : a social sculpture practice-led inquiry into developing pedagogies for ecological citizenship
- Authors: McGarry, Dylan Kenneth
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Education -- Philosophy , Social learning , Environmental education , Arts in education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1985 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013154
- Description: Considering the ecological crisis and the increased disconnection between human beings and nature, this study attempts to find the social and aesthetic educational response needed for developing ecological citizenship for the 21st century. In this transdisciplinary study I articulate what at first seems a clumsy attempt to enable the capacities of the embodied ecological citizen, and which later emerges as an alchemical ‘social sculpture’ approach to learning that expands the range of capacities available to the citizen and the citizen’s immediate community. This learning bridges the gap between purely biocentric and technocentric forms of education, and addresses the ambiguity of concepts and forms of action such as ‘sustainability’. My primary focus is enabling both communal and personal forms of agency: new ways of 'doing’ and 'being' in the world as it changes radically. I argue that this demands constantly reflecting on and engaging without understanding, place and perception of the problems we see. Attending to a call for the importance of complex learning processes, that deepens our understanding of sustainability, and the need for methodological and pedagogical approaches to accessible forms of learning socially in the era of climate change and environmental degradation, this study offers a particular insight into the education of an ecological citizen. In particular I examine a form of learning that enables individuals to explore relationships between themselves and their ecologies (both physical and social), and that encourages personal forms of knowing so that each person’s values can be cultivated within the experience and intuitive expression from both inner and outer realities. Central to my research focus is addressing the difficulties inherent in ‘ecological apartheid’, which is defined as a growing separation of relationships that include the human being’s relationship with the natural world, as well as disconnections experienced within one’s own inner and outer capacities. Subsequently I investigate forms of learning that encourage agency that most appropriately enable citizens to respond personally to both inner and outer forms of disconnection. ‘Personal’ and ‘relational agency’ are defined and investigated through an initial twelve-month collaborative participatory contextual profiling exploratory research period in South Africa (phase A), where I explore various forms of multiple-genre creative social learning practice that develop an accessible set of methodologies and pedagogies for the ecological citizen. Through this exploratory research, I place significance in the relatively unknown field of social sculpture, which I investigate through a self-made apprenticeship with Shelley Sacks, an expert in the field. This is documented through a rigorous ethnographic inquiry over a period of 18 months. Following this I undertake another two-year collaborative, practice-based research study across South Africa (phase B: 17 towns, with a total of 350 citizens) and eventually abroad (United Kingdom, Germany, USA and Belgium).The focus of this study was the implementation of a collaboratively developed citizen learning practice entitled Earth Forum developed by Shelley Sacks as a progression from her work “Exchange Values: voices of insivible lives” and my collaboative exploration into Earth Forum and its further development draws heavily from social sculpture methods obtained during the apprenticeship, and applied in 36 different incidences. I further explore the efficacy of this practice in enabling and expanding the capacities of participants, particularly those that encourage the development of personal and relational agency. This was achieved through a pedagogical development and expansion period (phase C). A primary finding through the iterative phase (phase D) was the value of imaginal contemplation, attentive listening, and empathy as capacities that enable an ecological citizen’s overall capability. I ascribed this to Nussbaum and Sen’s (1993) capability theory and the need to enable the articulation and implementation of a citizen’s valued ‘beings and doings’. Through this iterative phase, specific attention is given to listening and intuitive capacities in enabling personal and relational agency, and specifically I observed the fundamental role of imagination in this form of learning. Particularly valuable for the educational contribution of this study is the pedagogical development of the Earth Forum practice that enables an accessible, socially constructed form of learning. This contributes specifically to exploring ‘how’ social learning is undertaken, and I argue that an aesthetic approach to learning is vital for the education of the ecological citizen. I carefully describe how one can conduct collaborative practice-based research that utilises creative connective practice in agency development. This collaborative approach, with regard to learning socially and capacity development for ecological citizenship (that focuses its attention on addressing ecological apartheid and separateness), is articulated through a multiple-genred text. I found that empathetic capacity in ecological citizen education is relatively unexplored, and within listening and as well in empathy theory, that the role of imagination in listening and empathy development, requires greater attention. I attempt to reveal how connective practice considers aesthetic form and shape in expanding capacities of human beings, and introduce novel expanded forms of developing pedagogies that encourage personal and relational agency in the context of ecological apartheid from the artsbased field of social sculpture. Finally, I aim in this study to share the potential value found in social sculpture theory and practice into the field of environmental education and social learning through a reflection on the current context of education and social learning, and its potential enrichment via social sculpture processes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: McGarry, Dylan Kenneth
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Education -- Philosophy , Social learning , Environmental education , Arts in education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1985 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013154
- Description: Considering the ecological crisis and the increased disconnection between human beings and nature, this study attempts to find the social and aesthetic educational response needed for developing ecological citizenship for the 21st century. In this transdisciplinary study I articulate what at first seems a clumsy attempt to enable the capacities of the embodied ecological citizen, and which later emerges as an alchemical ‘social sculpture’ approach to learning that expands the range of capacities available to the citizen and the citizen’s immediate community. This learning bridges the gap between purely biocentric and technocentric forms of education, and addresses the ambiguity of concepts and forms of action such as ‘sustainability’. My primary focus is enabling both communal and personal forms of agency: new ways of 'doing’ and 'being' in the world as it changes radically. I argue that this demands constantly reflecting on and engaging without understanding, place and perception of the problems we see. Attending to a call for the importance of complex learning processes, that deepens our understanding of sustainability, and the need for methodological and pedagogical approaches to accessible forms of learning socially in the era of climate change and environmental degradation, this study offers a particular insight into the education of an ecological citizen. In particular I examine a form of learning that enables individuals to explore relationships between themselves and their ecologies (both physical and social), and that encourages personal forms of knowing so that each person’s values can be cultivated within the experience and intuitive expression from both inner and outer realities. Central to my research focus is addressing the difficulties inherent in ‘ecological apartheid’, which is defined as a growing separation of relationships that include the human being’s relationship with the natural world, as well as disconnections experienced within one’s own inner and outer capacities. Subsequently I investigate forms of learning that encourage agency that most appropriately enable citizens to respond personally to both inner and outer forms of disconnection. ‘Personal’ and ‘relational agency’ are defined and investigated through an initial twelve-month collaborative participatory contextual profiling exploratory research period in South Africa (phase A), where I explore various forms of multiple-genre creative social learning practice that develop an accessible set of methodologies and pedagogies for the ecological citizen. Through this exploratory research, I place significance in the relatively unknown field of social sculpture, which I investigate through a self-made apprenticeship with Shelley Sacks, an expert in the field. This is documented through a rigorous ethnographic inquiry over a period of 18 months. Following this I undertake another two-year collaborative, practice-based research study across South Africa (phase B: 17 towns, with a total of 350 citizens) and eventually abroad (United Kingdom, Germany, USA and Belgium).The focus of this study was the implementation of a collaboratively developed citizen learning practice entitled Earth Forum developed by Shelley Sacks as a progression from her work “Exchange Values: voices of insivible lives” and my collaboative exploration into Earth Forum and its further development draws heavily from social sculpture methods obtained during the apprenticeship, and applied in 36 different incidences. I further explore the efficacy of this practice in enabling and expanding the capacities of participants, particularly those that encourage the development of personal and relational agency. This was achieved through a pedagogical development and expansion period (phase C). A primary finding through the iterative phase (phase D) was the value of imaginal contemplation, attentive listening, and empathy as capacities that enable an ecological citizen’s overall capability. I ascribed this to Nussbaum and Sen’s (1993) capability theory and the need to enable the articulation and implementation of a citizen’s valued ‘beings and doings’. Through this iterative phase, specific attention is given to listening and intuitive capacities in enabling personal and relational agency, and specifically I observed the fundamental role of imagination in this form of learning. Particularly valuable for the educational contribution of this study is the pedagogical development of the Earth Forum practice that enables an accessible, socially constructed form of learning. This contributes specifically to exploring ‘how’ social learning is undertaken, and I argue that an aesthetic approach to learning is vital for the education of the ecological citizen. I carefully describe how one can conduct collaborative practice-based research that utilises creative connective practice in agency development. This collaborative approach, with regard to learning socially and capacity development for ecological citizenship (that focuses its attention on addressing ecological apartheid and separateness), is articulated through a multiple-genred text. I found that empathetic capacity in ecological citizen education is relatively unexplored, and within listening and as well in empathy theory, that the role of imagination in listening and empathy development, requires greater attention. I attempt to reveal how connective practice considers aesthetic form and shape in expanding capacities of human beings, and introduce novel expanded forms of developing pedagogies that encourage personal and relational agency in the context of ecological apartheid from the artsbased field of social sculpture. Finally, I aim in this study to share the potential value found in social sculpture theory and practice into the field of environmental education and social learning through a reflection on the current context of education and social learning, and its potential enrichment via social sculpture processes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Enabling cumulative knowledge-building through teaching: a legitimation code theory analysis of pedagogic practice in law and political science
- Authors: Clarence, Sherran
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Law -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa Political science -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa Education, Higher -- South Africa College teaching -- South Africa Knowledge, Theory of Social realism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1966 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011763
- Description: Much current research and practice in teaching and learning in higher education tends to overfocus on social aspects of education; on how rather than what students are learning. Much of this research and practice is influenced by constructivism, which has a relativist stance on knowledge, generally arguing, contra positivism, that knowledge is constructed in socio-historical contexts and largely inseparable from those who construct it and from issues of power. This leads to a confusion of knowledge with knowing, and knowledge is thus obscured as an object of study because it is only seen or understood as knowing or as a subject of learning and teaching. This ‘knowledge-blindness’ (Maton 2013a: 4) is problematic in higher education because knowledge and knowing are two separate parts of educational fields, and while they need to be brought together to provide a whole account of these fields, they also need to be analysed and understood separately to avoid blurring necessary boundaries and to avoid confusing knowledge itself with how it can be known. Being able to see and analyse knowledge as an object with its own properties and powers is crucial for both epistemological access and social inclusion and justice, because knowledge and knowledge practices are at the heart of academic disciplines in universities. Social realism offers an alternative to the dilemma brought about by constructivism’s tendency towards knowledge-blindness. Social realism argues that it is possible to see and analyse both actors within social fields of practice as well as knowledge as something that is produced by these actors but also about more than just these actors and their practices; thus knowledge can be understood as emergent from these practices and fields but not reducible to them (Maton & Moore 2010). Social realism, drawing from Roy Bhaskar’s critical realist philosophy (1975, 2008), is intent on looking at the real structures and mechanisms that lie beneath appearances and practices in order to understand the ways in which these practices are shaped, and change over time. Legitimation Code Theory is a realist conceptual framework that has, as its central aim, the uncovering and analysis of organising principles that shape and change intellectual and education fields of production and reproduction of knowledge. In other words, the conceptual tools Legitimation Code Theory offers can enable an analysis of both knowledge and knowers within relational social fields of practice by enabling the analysis of the ways in which these fields, such as academic disciplines, are organised and how knowledge and knowing are understood in educational practice. This study draws on social realism more broadly and Legitimation Code Theory specifically to develop a relatively novel conceptual and explanatory framework within which to analyse and answer its central question regarding how to enable cumulative knowledge building through pedagogic practice. Using qualitative data from two academic disciplines, Law and Political Science, which was analysed using a set of conceptual and analytical tools drawn from Legitimation Code Theory, this study shows that the more nuanced and layered accounts of pedagogy that have been generated are able to provide valuable insights into what lecturers are doing as they teach in terms of helping students to acquire, use and produce disciplinary and ‘powerful’ knowledge (Young 2008b). Further, the study demonstrates that the organising principles underlying academic disciplines have a profound effect on how the role of the knower and the place or purpose of knowledge is understood in pedagogy and this affects how the pedagogy is designed and enacted. This study has argued that if we can research pedagogy rigorously using tools that allow us to see the real mechanisms and principles influencing and shaping it, and if we can reclaim the role of disciplinary knowledge as a central part of the pedagogic relationship between lecturer and students, then we can begin to see how teaching both enables and constrains cumulative learning. Further, we can change pedagogy to better enable cumulative learning and greater epistemological access to disciplinary knowledge and related practices for greater numbers of students. The study concludes by suggesting that the conceptual tools offered by Legitimation Code Theory can provide academic lecturers with a set of tools that can begin to enable them to 'see' and understand their own teaching more clearly, as well as the possible gaps between what they are teaching and what their students are learning. This study argues that a social realist approach to the study of pedagogy such as the one used here can begin not only to enable changes in pedagogy aimed at filling these gaps but also begin to provide a more rigorous theoretical and practical approach to analysing, understanding and enacting pedagogic practice. This, in turn, can lead to more socially just and inclusive student learning and epistemic and social access to the powerful knowledge and ways of knowing in their disciplines.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Clarence, Sherran
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Law -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa Political science -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa Education, Higher -- South Africa College teaching -- South Africa Knowledge, Theory of Social realism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1966 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011763
- Description: Much current research and practice in teaching and learning in higher education tends to overfocus on social aspects of education; on how rather than what students are learning. Much of this research and practice is influenced by constructivism, which has a relativist stance on knowledge, generally arguing, contra positivism, that knowledge is constructed in socio-historical contexts and largely inseparable from those who construct it and from issues of power. This leads to a confusion of knowledge with knowing, and knowledge is thus obscured as an object of study because it is only seen or understood as knowing or as a subject of learning and teaching. This ‘knowledge-blindness’ (Maton 2013a: 4) is problematic in higher education because knowledge and knowing are two separate parts of educational fields, and while they need to be brought together to provide a whole account of these fields, they also need to be analysed and understood separately to avoid blurring necessary boundaries and to avoid confusing knowledge itself with how it can be known. Being able to see and analyse knowledge as an object with its own properties and powers is crucial for both epistemological access and social inclusion and justice, because knowledge and knowledge practices are at the heart of academic disciplines in universities. Social realism offers an alternative to the dilemma brought about by constructivism’s tendency towards knowledge-blindness. Social realism argues that it is possible to see and analyse both actors within social fields of practice as well as knowledge as something that is produced by these actors but also about more than just these actors and their practices; thus knowledge can be understood as emergent from these practices and fields but not reducible to them (Maton & Moore 2010). Social realism, drawing from Roy Bhaskar’s critical realist philosophy (1975, 2008), is intent on looking at the real structures and mechanisms that lie beneath appearances and practices in order to understand the ways in which these practices are shaped, and change over time. Legitimation Code Theory is a realist conceptual framework that has, as its central aim, the uncovering and analysis of organising principles that shape and change intellectual and education fields of production and reproduction of knowledge. In other words, the conceptual tools Legitimation Code Theory offers can enable an analysis of both knowledge and knowers within relational social fields of practice by enabling the analysis of the ways in which these fields, such as academic disciplines, are organised and how knowledge and knowing are understood in educational practice. This study draws on social realism more broadly and Legitimation Code Theory specifically to develop a relatively novel conceptual and explanatory framework within which to analyse and answer its central question regarding how to enable cumulative knowledge building through pedagogic practice. Using qualitative data from two academic disciplines, Law and Political Science, which was analysed using a set of conceptual and analytical tools drawn from Legitimation Code Theory, this study shows that the more nuanced and layered accounts of pedagogy that have been generated are able to provide valuable insights into what lecturers are doing as they teach in terms of helping students to acquire, use and produce disciplinary and ‘powerful’ knowledge (Young 2008b). Further, the study demonstrates that the organising principles underlying academic disciplines have a profound effect on how the role of the knower and the place or purpose of knowledge is understood in pedagogy and this affects how the pedagogy is designed and enacted. This study has argued that if we can research pedagogy rigorously using tools that allow us to see the real mechanisms and principles influencing and shaping it, and if we can reclaim the role of disciplinary knowledge as a central part of the pedagogic relationship between lecturer and students, then we can begin to see how teaching both enables and constrains cumulative learning. Further, we can change pedagogy to better enable cumulative learning and greater epistemological access to disciplinary knowledge and related practices for greater numbers of students. The study concludes by suggesting that the conceptual tools offered by Legitimation Code Theory can provide academic lecturers with a set of tools that can begin to enable them to 'see' and understand their own teaching more clearly, as well as the possible gaps between what they are teaching and what their students are learning. This study argues that a social realist approach to the study of pedagogy such as the one used here can begin not only to enable changes in pedagogy aimed at filling these gaps but also begin to provide a more rigorous theoretical and practical approach to analysing, understanding and enacting pedagogic practice. This, in turn, can lead to more socially just and inclusive student learning and epistemic and social access to the powerful knowledge and ways of knowing in their disciplines.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Examining the nature of the relationship between learners' conceptual understanding and their mathematical dispositions in the context of multiplication
- Authors: Ndongeni, Siviwe Lungelwa
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Multiplication -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa , Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa , Problem solving in children , Multiplication -- Ability testing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1987 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013217
- Description: The focus of this study is to explore three key aspects of learners’ multiplicative proficiency: the nature of learners’ conceptual understanding of multiplication, the nature of learners’ numeracy dispositions (in the context of learning multiplication), and the relationship between conceptual understanding and productive dispositions in the context of multiplication. The study used a qualitative case study approach to gather rich data in relation to these. In the study a purposively selected sample of six Grade 4 learners was used from the same school: two high, two average, and two low performers. Kilpatrick, Swafford, and Findell (2001) define conceptual understanding as a functional grasp of mathematical ideas and its significant indicator is being able to represent mathematical situations in different ways and knowing how different representations can be useful for different purposes. They then refer to productive disposition as the ‘tendency to see sense in mathematics, to perceive it as both useful and worthwhile, to believe that steady effort in learning mathematics pays off, and to see oneself as an effective learner and doer of mathematics’ (p.131). Individual interviews were conducted using Wright, et al.’s (2006) instrument for exploring the nature of students’ conceptual understanding of multiplication. Wright, et al. (2006) argue that the topics of multiplication and division build on the students’ knowledge of addition and subtraction, and also multiplication and division provide foundational knowledge for topics such as fractions, ratios, proportion and percentage, all of which are core and essential areas of mathematical learning typically addressed in the primary or elementary grades. Researchers agree that learners have to be exposed to various strategies so that they are able to see that there is a difference between additive reasoning and multiplicative reasoning. In order to classify learners’ conceptual understanding of multiplication an analysis of the data was done and learners were allocated levels according to the Wright, et al. (2006) levels of achievement. For the classification of learner dispositions, the data was analysed in terms of the elements of productive disposition as defined by Kilpatrick, et al. (2001) and Carr and Claxton (2002). The key findings of the study indicate that for conceptual understanding most of the learners depended on using concrete materials in solving multiplication and they also used basic strategies and methods. The findings for productive dispositions were that most of the learners saw themselves as competent in doing multiplication but the aspect of sense making and steady effort was less developed. The findings for the relationship between conceptual understanding and productive disposition were that both strands have a mutual relationship in which one helped the other to develop.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Ndongeni, Siviwe Lungelwa
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Multiplication -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa , Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa , Problem solving in children , Multiplication -- Ability testing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1987 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013217
- Description: The focus of this study is to explore three key aspects of learners’ multiplicative proficiency: the nature of learners’ conceptual understanding of multiplication, the nature of learners’ numeracy dispositions (in the context of learning multiplication), and the relationship between conceptual understanding and productive dispositions in the context of multiplication. The study used a qualitative case study approach to gather rich data in relation to these. In the study a purposively selected sample of six Grade 4 learners was used from the same school: two high, two average, and two low performers. Kilpatrick, Swafford, and Findell (2001) define conceptual understanding as a functional grasp of mathematical ideas and its significant indicator is being able to represent mathematical situations in different ways and knowing how different representations can be useful for different purposes. They then refer to productive disposition as the ‘tendency to see sense in mathematics, to perceive it as both useful and worthwhile, to believe that steady effort in learning mathematics pays off, and to see oneself as an effective learner and doer of mathematics’ (p.131). Individual interviews were conducted using Wright, et al.’s (2006) instrument for exploring the nature of students’ conceptual understanding of multiplication. Wright, et al. (2006) argue that the topics of multiplication and division build on the students’ knowledge of addition and subtraction, and also multiplication and division provide foundational knowledge for topics such as fractions, ratios, proportion and percentage, all of which are core and essential areas of mathematical learning typically addressed in the primary or elementary grades. Researchers agree that learners have to be exposed to various strategies so that they are able to see that there is a difference between additive reasoning and multiplicative reasoning. In order to classify learners’ conceptual understanding of multiplication an analysis of the data was done and learners were allocated levels according to the Wright, et al. (2006) levels of achievement. For the classification of learner dispositions, the data was analysed in terms of the elements of productive disposition as defined by Kilpatrick, et al. (2001) and Carr and Claxton (2002). The key findings of the study indicate that for conceptual understanding most of the learners depended on using concrete materials in solving multiplication and they also used basic strategies and methods. The findings for productive dispositions were that most of the learners saw themselves as competent in doing multiplication but the aspect of sense making and steady effort was less developed. The findings for the relationship between conceptual understanding and productive disposition were that both strands have a mutual relationship in which one helped the other to develop.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Exploring teaching proficiency in geometry of selected effective mathematics teachers in Namibia
- Stephanus, Gervasius Hivengwa
- Authors: Stephanus, Gervasius Hivengwa
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Geometry -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Effective teaching -- Namibia , Mathematics teachers -- Education (Secondary) -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Mathematics teachers -- Training of -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1976 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013012
- Description: Quality mathematics education relies on effective pedagogy which offers students appropriate and rich opportunities to develop their mathematical proficiency (MP) and intellectual autonomy in learning mathematics. This qualitative case study aimed to explore and analyse selected effective mathematics teachers' proficiency in the area of geometry in five secondary schools in five different Namibia educational regions. The sample was purposefully selected and comprised five mathematics teachers, identified locally as being effective practitioners by their peers, Education Ministry officials and the staff of the University of Namibia (UNAM). The schools where the selected teachers taught were all high performing Namibian schools in terms of students' mathematics performance in the annual national examinations. The general picture of students' poor performance in mathematics in Namibia is no different to other sub-Saharan countries and it is the teachers who unfortunately bear the brunt of the criticism. There are, however, beacons of excellence in Namibia and these often go unnoticed and are seldom written about. It is the purpose of this study to focus on these high achievers and analyse the practices of these teachers so that the rest of Namibia can learn from their practices and experience what is possible in the Namibian context. The mathematical content and context focus of this study was geometry. This qualitative study adopted a multiple case study approach and was framed within an interpretive paradigm. The data were collected through individual questionnaires, classroom lesson observations and in-depth open-ended and semi-structured interviews with the participating teachers. These interviews took the form of post lesson reflective and stimulated recall analysis sessions. An adapted framework based on the Kilpatrick, Swafford and Findell's (2001) five strands of teaching for MP was developed as a conceptual and analytical lens to analyse the selected teachers' practice. The developed coding and the descriptive narrative vignettes of their teaching enabled a qualitative analysis of what teachers said contributed to their effectiveness and how they developed MP in students. An enactivist theoretical lens was used to complement the Kilpatrick et al.'s (2001) analytical framework. This enabled a deeper analysis of teacher teaching practice in terms of their embodied mathematical knowledge, actions and interactions with students. procedural fluency (PF) and productive disposition (PD), were addressed regularly by all five participating teachers. Evidence of addressing either the development of students' strategic competence (SC) or adaptive reasoning (AR) appeared rarely. Of particular interest in this study was that the strand of PD was the glue that held the other four strands of MP together. PD was manifested in many different ways in varying degrees. PD was characterised by a high level of content knowledge, rich personal experience, sustained commitment, effective and careful preparation for lessons, high expectations of themselves and learners, collegiality, passion for mathematics and an excellent work ethic. In addition, the teachers' geometry teaching practices were characterised by making use of real-world connections, manipulatives and representations, encouraging a collaborative approach and working together to show that geometry constituted a bridge between the concrete and abstract. The findings of the study have led me, the author, to suggest a ten (10) principles framework and seven (7) key interrelated factors for effective teaching, as a practical guide for teachers. This study argues that the instructional practices enacted by the participating teachers, who were perceived to be effective, aligned well with practices informed by the five strands of the Kilpatrick et al.'s (2001) model and the four concepts of autopoesis, co-emergence, structural determinism and embodiment of the enactivist approach. The study concludes with recommendations for effective pedagogical practices in the teaching of geometry, and opportunities for further research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Stephanus, Gervasius Hivengwa
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Geometry -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Effective teaching -- Namibia , Mathematics teachers -- Education (Secondary) -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Mathematics teachers -- Training of -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1976 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013012
- Description: Quality mathematics education relies on effective pedagogy which offers students appropriate and rich opportunities to develop their mathematical proficiency (MP) and intellectual autonomy in learning mathematics. This qualitative case study aimed to explore and analyse selected effective mathematics teachers' proficiency in the area of geometry in five secondary schools in five different Namibia educational regions. The sample was purposefully selected and comprised five mathematics teachers, identified locally as being effective practitioners by their peers, Education Ministry officials and the staff of the University of Namibia (UNAM). The schools where the selected teachers taught were all high performing Namibian schools in terms of students' mathematics performance in the annual national examinations. The general picture of students' poor performance in mathematics in Namibia is no different to other sub-Saharan countries and it is the teachers who unfortunately bear the brunt of the criticism. There are, however, beacons of excellence in Namibia and these often go unnoticed and are seldom written about. It is the purpose of this study to focus on these high achievers and analyse the practices of these teachers so that the rest of Namibia can learn from their practices and experience what is possible in the Namibian context. The mathematical content and context focus of this study was geometry. This qualitative study adopted a multiple case study approach and was framed within an interpretive paradigm. The data were collected through individual questionnaires, classroom lesson observations and in-depth open-ended and semi-structured interviews with the participating teachers. These interviews took the form of post lesson reflective and stimulated recall analysis sessions. An adapted framework based on the Kilpatrick, Swafford and Findell's (2001) five strands of teaching for MP was developed as a conceptual and analytical lens to analyse the selected teachers' practice. The developed coding and the descriptive narrative vignettes of their teaching enabled a qualitative analysis of what teachers said contributed to their effectiveness and how they developed MP in students. An enactivist theoretical lens was used to complement the Kilpatrick et al.'s (2001) analytical framework. This enabled a deeper analysis of teacher teaching practice in terms of their embodied mathematical knowledge, actions and interactions with students. procedural fluency (PF) and productive disposition (PD), were addressed regularly by all five participating teachers. Evidence of addressing either the development of students' strategic competence (SC) or adaptive reasoning (AR) appeared rarely. Of particular interest in this study was that the strand of PD was the glue that held the other four strands of MP together. PD was manifested in many different ways in varying degrees. PD was characterised by a high level of content knowledge, rich personal experience, sustained commitment, effective and careful preparation for lessons, high expectations of themselves and learners, collegiality, passion for mathematics and an excellent work ethic. In addition, the teachers' geometry teaching practices were characterised by making use of real-world connections, manipulatives and representations, encouraging a collaborative approach and working together to show that geometry constituted a bridge between the concrete and abstract. The findings of the study have led me, the author, to suggest a ten (10) principles framework and seven (7) key interrelated factors for effective teaching, as a practical guide for teachers. This study argues that the instructional practices enacted by the participating teachers, who were perceived to be effective, aligned well with practices informed by the five strands of the Kilpatrick et al.'s (2001) model and the four concepts of autopoesis, co-emergence, structural determinism and embodiment of the enactivist approach. The study concludes with recommendations for effective pedagogical practices in the teaching of geometry, and opportunities for further research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Foundation Phase teachers’ responses to curriculum change in South Africa over the past two decades: a case study of two schools
- Authors: Nakaonga, Ruth
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Curriculum change -- South Africa , Educational change -- South Africa , Education, Primary -- South Africa , Teachers -- South Africa -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2002 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015648
- Description: South Africa has experienced three significant curriculum reforms since 1994. The first of these replaced the ‘apartheid’ curriculum with C2005 based largely on Outcomes Based Education. In the second stage C2005 gave way to the National Curriculum Statements, a simplified version of C2005. Finally, the NCS was replaced with CAPS. This research study investigates the perceptions, attitudes and experiences of teachers implementing these curriculum changes. It focuses in particular on Foundation Phase in 2012, the year in which CAPS was implemented in that phase. It took the form of an interpretive case study, using qualitative data generating and analysis techniques. Principals and selected teachers of two primary schools in Grahamstown – an ex-Model C school and a performing ‘township’ school - were the respondents of the study. Data were generated chiefly through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, supplemented by document analysis and observation. The findings revealed that the teachers in this study are frustrated and angry about the frequency of curriculum change in South Africa. Respondents are particularly critical of OBE and the NCS. While they welcome the need for a departure from ‘apartheid’ curricula, they feel the pedagogical underpinning of the NCS – with its emphasis on learner-centredness – disempowered them as teachers. Hence, they welcomed CAPS which seems to return to content – rather than skills and attitudes – and re-instates the teacher as the chief giver of knowledge and manager of learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Nakaonga, Ruth
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Curriculum change -- South Africa , Educational change -- South Africa , Education, Primary -- South Africa , Teachers -- South Africa -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2002 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015648
- Description: South Africa has experienced three significant curriculum reforms since 1994. The first of these replaced the ‘apartheid’ curriculum with C2005 based largely on Outcomes Based Education. In the second stage C2005 gave way to the National Curriculum Statements, a simplified version of C2005. Finally, the NCS was replaced with CAPS. This research study investigates the perceptions, attitudes and experiences of teachers implementing these curriculum changes. It focuses in particular on Foundation Phase in 2012, the year in which CAPS was implemented in that phase. It took the form of an interpretive case study, using qualitative data generating and analysis techniques. Principals and selected teachers of two primary schools in Grahamstown – an ex-Model C school and a performing ‘township’ school - were the respondents of the study. Data were generated chiefly through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, supplemented by document analysis and observation. The findings revealed that the teachers in this study are frustrated and angry about the frequency of curriculum change in South Africa. Respondents are particularly critical of OBE and the NCS. While they welcome the need for a departure from ‘apartheid’ curricula, they feel the pedagogical underpinning of the NCS – with its emphasis on learner-centredness – disempowered them as teachers. Hence, they welcomed CAPS which seems to return to content – rather than skills and attitudes – and re-instates the teacher as the chief giver of knowledge and manager of learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Investigating how problem solving skills can be developed using a collaborative learning environment
- Authors: Sonne, Anita
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa , Social learning , Active learning , Problem solving in children , Educational equalization -- Research -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1977 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013017
- Description: This thesis examines whether problem solving strategies develop and improve through working in a collaborative environment and, if so, how. The study explored the way peer-topeer discussions which are focussed on finding solutions to mathematical problems might shape learners' attitudes and participation in mathematical problem solving. I use the Vygotskian (1978) socio-cultural perspective where the process of learning takes place within the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Polya's problem solving heuristics (Polya, 1973) and Kilpatrick's "Instructional Triangle" (Kilpatrick, Swafford & Findell, 2001) provided the analytical framework for the study. Seven grade 7 learners from a Ex-Model C school, volunteered to participate in the study. The data gathering process involved an initial problem solving assessment, a written questionnaire, observations and video recordings of the seven learners during a series of after school problem solving sessions and post intervention learner interviews. The study showed that group discussion can have a positive impact on learners' problem solving in several respects: My key findings point to: Mathematical communication does play a role in development of problem solving strategies. A more knowledgeable other, with regards to Vygotsky's (1978) ZPD and Kilpatrick et al's (2001) instructional triangle is a critical factor in the development of problem solving strategies. All five strands of Kilpatrick et al., (2001), strands for mathematical proficiency are required for correct solutions to be calculated. At times Polya's (1973) steps for problem solving move at a rapid pace and are difficult to notice. These steps develop at different speeds for different people.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Investigating how problem solving skills can be developed using a collaborative learning environment
- Authors: Sonne, Anita
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa , Social learning , Active learning , Problem solving in children , Educational equalization -- Research -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1977 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013017
- Description: This thesis examines whether problem solving strategies develop and improve through working in a collaborative environment and, if so, how. The study explored the way peer-topeer discussions which are focussed on finding solutions to mathematical problems might shape learners' attitudes and participation in mathematical problem solving. I use the Vygotskian (1978) socio-cultural perspective where the process of learning takes place within the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Polya's problem solving heuristics (Polya, 1973) and Kilpatrick's "Instructional Triangle" (Kilpatrick, Swafford & Findell, 2001) provided the analytical framework for the study. Seven grade 7 learners from a Ex-Model C school, volunteered to participate in the study. The data gathering process involved an initial problem solving assessment, a written questionnaire, observations and video recordings of the seven learners during a series of after school problem solving sessions and post intervention learner interviews. The study showed that group discussion can have a positive impact on learners' problem solving in several respects: My key findings point to: Mathematical communication does play a role in development of problem solving strategies. A more knowledgeable other, with regards to Vygotsky's (1978) ZPD and Kilpatrick et al's (2001) instructional triangle is a critical factor in the development of problem solving strategies. All five strands of Kilpatrick et al., (2001), strands for mathematical proficiency are required for correct solutions to be calculated. At times Polya's (1973) steps for problem solving move at a rapid pace and are difficult to notice. These steps develop at different speeds for different people.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Investigating the English vocabulary needs, exposure, and knowledge of isiXhosa speaking learners for transition from learning to read in the Foundation Phase to reading to learn in the Intermediate Phase : a case study
- Authors: Sibanda, Jabulani
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1968 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011790
- Description: The nature of learners' transition from Grade 3 to Grade 4 has serious and far reaching ramifications for their educational success in the subsequent grades. This is true of the South African education system, as it is for several other education contexts. The challenge that complicates the transition is largely a lexical one. It is with that understanding that the present study aimed to do three things namely: to determine the vocabulary needs of Grade 3 learners for transitioning to Grade 4; to establish the extent to which Grade 3 isiXhosa speaking learners are exposed to, and prepared for, the acquisition of that requisite vocabulary; and to establish the extent of Grade 4 learners' knowledge of that vocabulary at the beginning of the year. The vocabulary needs of Grade 3 learners for the transition to Grade 4 were determined from the Grade 4 subject textbook corpus. Word frequency was the criterion used to determine the usefulness and critical importance of a word for the transition. The AntConc concordance software program was used to generate word frequencies. Words with high frequency across the different subject areas, which were confirmed as high frequent in four other known word lists, were considered as constituting the vocabulary needs of learners at the verge of this significant transition. The extent of learners' preparedness for transitioning to Grade 4 in terms of their vocabulary exposure and vocabulary instruction was determined through teacher interviews, classroom observations, analysis of teacher classroom talk, analysis of the exposure and recycling of high frequent vocabulary in Grade 3 reading materials and classroom print. From these diverse sources, findings point to a paucity in both the exposure and recycling of the requisite vocabulary in these sources of classroom language input. Classroom observations and teacher interviews attest to lack of deliberate vocabulary instruction in the Grade 3 English First Additional Language lessons. The only extensive coverage of the requisite vocabulary was in the Grade 3 reading materials which included Big books, Readers and Workbooks. The Grade 4 learners' knowledge of the 60 high frequency words was tested through nine vocabulary tests, three of which tested their knowledge of word recognition, three tested passive word knowledge and the remaining three tested learners' active word knowledge. All the Grade 4 learners in the ten participating schools (297) were tested. Performance in the tests indicated that Grade 4 learners' knowledge of words requisite for reading to learn was low. That observation was consistent with an analysis of learners' performance per school, per district, per word, per test and per word bands. Tests of word recognition were done better than those of passive word knowledge and active word knowledge. Particularly problematic was test 4 which tested learners' knowledge of definition of words.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Sibanda, Jabulani
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1968 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011790
- Description: The nature of learners' transition from Grade 3 to Grade 4 has serious and far reaching ramifications for their educational success in the subsequent grades. This is true of the South African education system, as it is for several other education contexts. The challenge that complicates the transition is largely a lexical one. It is with that understanding that the present study aimed to do three things namely: to determine the vocabulary needs of Grade 3 learners for transitioning to Grade 4; to establish the extent to which Grade 3 isiXhosa speaking learners are exposed to, and prepared for, the acquisition of that requisite vocabulary; and to establish the extent of Grade 4 learners' knowledge of that vocabulary at the beginning of the year. The vocabulary needs of Grade 3 learners for the transition to Grade 4 were determined from the Grade 4 subject textbook corpus. Word frequency was the criterion used to determine the usefulness and critical importance of a word for the transition. The AntConc concordance software program was used to generate word frequencies. Words with high frequency across the different subject areas, which were confirmed as high frequent in four other known word lists, were considered as constituting the vocabulary needs of learners at the verge of this significant transition. The extent of learners' preparedness for transitioning to Grade 4 in terms of their vocabulary exposure and vocabulary instruction was determined through teacher interviews, classroom observations, analysis of teacher classroom talk, analysis of the exposure and recycling of high frequent vocabulary in Grade 3 reading materials and classroom print. From these diverse sources, findings point to a paucity in both the exposure and recycling of the requisite vocabulary in these sources of classroom language input. Classroom observations and teacher interviews attest to lack of deliberate vocabulary instruction in the Grade 3 English First Additional Language lessons. The only extensive coverage of the requisite vocabulary was in the Grade 3 reading materials which included Big books, Readers and Workbooks. The Grade 4 learners' knowledge of the 60 high frequency words was tested through nine vocabulary tests, three of which tested their knowledge of word recognition, three tested passive word knowledge and the remaining three tested learners' active word knowledge. All the Grade 4 learners in the ten participating schools (297) were tested. Performance in the tests indicated that Grade 4 learners' knowledge of words requisite for reading to learn was low. That observation was consistent with an analysis of learners' performance per school, per district, per word, per test and per word bands. Tests of word recognition were done better than those of passive word knowledge and active word knowledge. Particularly problematic was test 4 which tested learners' knowledge of definition of words.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Learning pathways for improving rehabilitation practices in the mining industry : two cases of coal mining and borrow pits
- Authors: Mphinyane, Andani
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Coal mines and mining -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa , Environmental education -- South Africa , Sustainable development -- South Africa , Coal miners -- Education (Continuing education) -- South Africa , Borrow pits -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1989 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013271
- Description: This research investigates cases of learning pathways for improving rehabilitation practices for key occupations in the mining industry. The study is set up as a partnership research programme between Rhodes University Environmental Learning Research Centre in South Africa, and the South African Qualification Authority, focussing on workplace learning and sustainability practices. This research programme seeks to understand the implications of the move to a knowledge society, with its emphasis on knowledge building over time, particularly in and for the environmental sector. The research was conducted as a qualitative case study that made use of semi-structured interviews, document analysis, visual photographs and observations as instruments of data gathering. Participants were sampled from two case studies, one in Limpopo province and the other one in Mpumalanga Province, who are directly involved in rehabilitation practices and related education and training programmes. The study makes use of career stories from the key occupations to provide insight into workplace learning pathways to inform education and training in the mining industry. A series of analytical statements captures some of the main findings on early education histories, career choices, learning pathway decisions and experiences related to sustainable practices and some complexities related to learning pathways. Environment and sustainability education is a cross-cutting issue in the NQF; and it pertains to the mining sector, especially to rehabilitation practices, which form the focus of this study as little is known about learning pathways associated with these sustainability practices. Insights from the study should enable the sector to enhance rehabilitation training for key occupations and at the same time encourage lifelong learning contributing towards sustainable development.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mphinyane, Andani
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Coal mines and mining -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa , Environmental education -- South Africa , Sustainable development -- South Africa , Coal miners -- Education (Continuing education) -- South Africa , Borrow pits -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1989 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013271
- Description: This research investigates cases of learning pathways for improving rehabilitation practices for key occupations in the mining industry. The study is set up as a partnership research programme between Rhodes University Environmental Learning Research Centre in South Africa, and the South African Qualification Authority, focussing on workplace learning and sustainability practices. This research programme seeks to understand the implications of the move to a knowledge society, with its emphasis on knowledge building over time, particularly in and for the environmental sector. The research was conducted as a qualitative case study that made use of semi-structured interviews, document analysis, visual photographs and observations as instruments of data gathering. Participants were sampled from two case studies, one in Limpopo province and the other one in Mpumalanga Province, who are directly involved in rehabilitation practices and related education and training programmes. The study makes use of career stories from the key occupations to provide insight into workplace learning pathways to inform education and training in the mining industry. A series of analytical statements captures some of the main findings on early education histories, career choices, learning pathway decisions and experiences related to sustainable practices and some complexities related to learning pathways. Environment and sustainability education is a cross-cutting issue in the NQF; and it pertains to the mining sector, especially to rehabilitation practices, which form the focus of this study as little is known about learning pathways associated with these sustainability practices. Insights from the study should enable the sector to enhance rehabilitation training for key occupations and at the same time encourage lifelong learning contributing towards sustainable development.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Learning pathways of key occupations relevant to sustainable development in Makana Municipality
- Authors: Mohanoe, Elma Nthabiseng
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Makana Municipality , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Environmental education -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Sustainable development -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Vocational qualifications -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Organizational learning -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Educational equalization -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1990 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013322
- Description: This study presents results to be contributed to the field of Environmental Education. It is a new arena for qualifications development and implementation in the South African Education and Training system. The study is located in the context of a joint research programme focusing on understanding issues of articulation and learning pathways development for sustainable development, established between the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) in partnership with Rhodes University, Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC). Phase 1 of the SAQA/ELRC research showed that researching workplace learning requires an understanding of learning pathways, if it is to be meaningful. It is for this reason that this research in phase 2 focuses specifically on learning pathways in the context of a local municipality in Makana. Using a case study research approach and qualitative data, this study investigated learning pathways for three occupational categories at different levels in the Makana Municipality: 1) key managerial occupations; 2) key supervisory occupations; and 3) key workers occupations relevant to sustainable development and how they are shaped and experienced. It also identified system and structural factors influencing articulation and access issues relevant to progress in learning pathways relevant to these key occupations. The study was designed using a case study research. Primarily, qualitative research techniques were employed to generate data, including observations, interviews and document analysis. The study used inductive, abductive and retroductive modes of inference to interpret and analyse data, using critical realist and systems perspectives. The findings on worker learning pathways show that there is a discrepancy between the Training Policy and the Environmental Training and Education Strategy of Makana Municipality. The issue of complexity in learning pathways and social structural factors such as inequality emerged as factors that strongly influenced learning pathways for workers. Learning pathways for workers involved in sustainable development practices hardly existed or simply did not exist. Interesting transitions associated with learning pathways such as from home, to work or no schooling in the case of the workers, showed a pattern of emergence. These showed that learning pathways are not accessible and equally available to everyone as can often erroneously be assumed. The findings on supervisor learning pathways show diverse complexities as well as related issues, when compared to the worker’s learning pathways. Issues such as overlapping of study and work emerge as influential to supervisor learning pathways. Lack of support is, however, an influencing factor, but in a different context compared to the workers, and mainly focuses on lack of bursaries, highlighting training policy issues. This aspect was found to also relate to lack of proper resources in order to enable them to learn and do their job better; an issue raised by the workers too. This challenge of lack of support in various forms posed a barrier to learning pathways. Findings related to the manager’s learning pathways show a noticeable gap between the workers, supervisors and managers. The manager’s generally have higher education qualifications related to sustainable development, and in certain cases managers have had exposure to international training related to sustainable development. Factors such as ample opportunities for learning, mentoring, association on professional bodies, and decision making powers influenced the manager’s learning pathways. It was also notable that while managers receive occupationally directed training, it is not necessarily sustainable development related. In theory, the results highlighted a need to understand systems as a whole and how their integration is important in influencing learning pathways. There were also underlying mechanisms and structures identified which needed to be unravelled and understood as these were found to influence learning pathways in this study. The study highlighted critical insights in understanding how learning pathways in a local municipality context (the case of Makana Municipality) are constructed by both systems and structural factors in the workplace, while also identifying ways in which agency of those engaged in learning for sustainable development in workplaces is enabled and /or constrained by such factors. It also showed the persistence of deep-seated inequalities of opportunity, especially for workers, to access and participate in sustainable development learning pathways.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mohanoe, Elma Nthabiseng
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Makana Municipality , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Environmental education -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Sustainable development -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Vocational qualifications -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Organizational learning -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Educational equalization -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1990 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013322
- Description: This study presents results to be contributed to the field of Environmental Education. It is a new arena for qualifications development and implementation in the South African Education and Training system. The study is located in the context of a joint research programme focusing on understanding issues of articulation and learning pathways development for sustainable development, established between the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) in partnership with Rhodes University, Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC). Phase 1 of the SAQA/ELRC research showed that researching workplace learning requires an understanding of learning pathways, if it is to be meaningful. It is for this reason that this research in phase 2 focuses specifically on learning pathways in the context of a local municipality in Makana. Using a case study research approach and qualitative data, this study investigated learning pathways for three occupational categories at different levels in the Makana Municipality: 1) key managerial occupations; 2) key supervisory occupations; and 3) key workers occupations relevant to sustainable development and how they are shaped and experienced. It also identified system and structural factors influencing articulation and access issues relevant to progress in learning pathways relevant to these key occupations. The study was designed using a case study research. Primarily, qualitative research techniques were employed to generate data, including observations, interviews and document analysis. The study used inductive, abductive and retroductive modes of inference to interpret and analyse data, using critical realist and systems perspectives. The findings on worker learning pathways show that there is a discrepancy between the Training Policy and the Environmental Training and Education Strategy of Makana Municipality. The issue of complexity in learning pathways and social structural factors such as inequality emerged as factors that strongly influenced learning pathways for workers. Learning pathways for workers involved in sustainable development practices hardly existed or simply did not exist. Interesting transitions associated with learning pathways such as from home, to work or no schooling in the case of the workers, showed a pattern of emergence. These showed that learning pathways are not accessible and equally available to everyone as can often erroneously be assumed. The findings on supervisor learning pathways show diverse complexities as well as related issues, when compared to the worker’s learning pathways. Issues such as overlapping of study and work emerge as influential to supervisor learning pathways. Lack of support is, however, an influencing factor, but in a different context compared to the workers, and mainly focuses on lack of bursaries, highlighting training policy issues. This aspect was found to also relate to lack of proper resources in order to enable them to learn and do their job better; an issue raised by the workers too. This challenge of lack of support in various forms posed a barrier to learning pathways. Findings related to the manager’s learning pathways show a noticeable gap between the workers, supervisors and managers. The manager’s generally have higher education qualifications related to sustainable development, and in certain cases managers have had exposure to international training related to sustainable development. Factors such as ample opportunities for learning, mentoring, association on professional bodies, and decision making powers influenced the manager’s learning pathways. It was also notable that while managers receive occupationally directed training, it is not necessarily sustainable development related. In theory, the results highlighted a need to understand systems as a whole and how their integration is important in influencing learning pathways. There were also underlying mechanisms and structures identified which needed to be unravelled and understood as these were found to influence learning pathways in this study. The study highlighted critical insights in understanding how learning pathways in a local municipality context (the case of Makana Municipality) are constructed by both systems and structural factors in the workplace, while also identifying ways in which agency of those engaged in learning for sustainable development in workplaces is enabled and /or constrained by such factors. It also showed the persistence of deep-seated inequalities of opportunity, especially for workers, to access and participate in sustainable development learning pathways.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Master's Degree studies at Rhodes University : access and postgraduate readiness
- Authors: Stephenson, Sandra Lisa
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Rhodes University Universities and colleges -- Graduate work Recognition of prior learning Graduate students Corporate culture
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1967 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011783
- Description: This mixed method, grounded theory study aimed to explore access to Master's level study at Rhodes University, a small, traditional South African university established in 1904, over the ten year period 1999-2008. It also sought to capture the essence of 'postgraduate readiness': the generic (non-certificated) attributes which academics expect graduates to possess in order to undertake Master's degree study. While the majority of students enter Master's level via the formal route (which at Rhodes is an Honours or 4-year bachelor's degree), a significant number are admitted based on the recognition of prior learning (RPL), a practice which is encouraged in South African higher education national policy as a means of widening access and also of acknowledging that learning can take place in ways other than 'formally'. The findings show that while RPL is well defined nationally at the undergraduate level, the concept of RPL at the postgraduate level is vague and largely left to institutional discretion. No national, and few institutional, guidelines are available on which to base the assessment of potential Master's degree students who do not have Honours degrees. Interviews with Deans, supervisors and policy makers at Rhodes indicated that while there is institutional support for admitting alternative access candidates, there is a general perception of deficit compared to those entering the Master's with formal qualifications. However, the statistical findings showed no significant difference in success rates or time taken to completion between students with and without Honours degrees. In addition, comments from supervisors with extensive experience of alternative access students praised the diversity and rich life experience which such students brought to their studies and their peers. The study concludes that an institutional culture characterized by resistance to change, risk and externally imposed regulations at Rhodes has resulted in weak implementation of the University's RPL policy, little marketing or publicizing of alternative access routes to postgraduate study, and low numbers of RPL enrolments at the Master's level. A framework for the assessment of potential Master's candidates - both RPL and formal admissions - for use at Rhodes University and potentially also at other higher education institutions, is proposed in conclusion.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Stephenson, Sandra Lisa
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Rhodes University Universities and colleges -- Graduate work Recognition of prior learning Graduate students Corporate culture
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1967 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011783
- Description: This mixed method, grounded theory study aimed to explore access to Master's level study at Rhodes University, a small, traditional South African university established in 1904, over the ten year period 1999-2008. It also sought to capture the essence of 'postgraduate readiness': the generic (non-certificated) attributes which academics expect graduates to possess in order to undertake Master's degree study. While the majority of students enter Master's level via the formal route (which at Rhodes is an Honours or 4-year bachelor's degree), a significant number are admitted based on the recognition of prior learning (RPL), a practice which is encouraged in South African higher education national policy as a means of widening access and also of acknowledging that learning can take place in ways other than 'formally'. The findings show that while RPL is well defined nationally at the undergraduate level, the concept of RPL at the postgraduate level is vague and largely left to institutional discretion. No national, and few institutional, guidelines are available on which to base the assessment of potential Master's degree students who do not have Honours degrees. Interviews with Deans, supervisors and policy makers at Rhodes indicated that while there is institutional support for admitting alternative access candidates, there is a general perception of deficit compared to those entering the Master's with formal qualifications. However, the statistical findings showed no significant difference in success rates or time taken to completion between students with and without Honours degrees. In addition, comments from supervisors with extensive experience of alternative access students praised the diversity and rich life experience which such students brought to their studies and their peers. The study concludes that an institutional culture characterized by resistance to change, risk and externally imposed regulations at Rhodes has resulted in weak implementation of the University's RPL policy, little marketing or publicizing of alternative access routes to postgraduate study, and low numbers of RPL enrolments at the Master's level. A framework for the assessment of potential Master's candidates - both RPL and formal admissions - for use at Rhodes University and potentially also at other higher education institutions, is proposed in conclusion.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Mobilising processes of abstraction, experiential learning and representation of traditional ecological knowledge in participatory monitoring of mangroves and fisheries : an approach towards enhancing social learning processes on the eastern coast of Tanzania
- Authors: Sabai, Daniel
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Traditional ecological knowledge , Environmental education -- Tanzania , Environmental education -- Study and teaching -- Tanzania , Coastal zone management -- Tanzania , Social learning -- Tanzania , Experiential learning -- Tanzania , Mangrove conservation -- Tanzania , Fishery management -- Tanzania
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1979 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013060
- Description: This study addresses a core problem that was uncovered in records from coastal management monitoring initiatives on the eastern coast of Tanzania associated with the application and use of coastal monitoring indicators developed by external development partners for the coastal zone. These records suggest that local communities, who are key actors in participatory monitoring of coastal and marine resources, face many challenges associated with adapting and applying the said frameworks of indicators and monitoring plans. These indicators tend to be scientifically abstracted and methodologically reified; given prevailing contextual and socio‐cultural realities amongst them. The research project addresses the following key research question: How can processes of abstraction, conceptualisation, and representation of TEK contribute to the development of coastal management indicators that are less reified, more contextually and culturally congruent, and which may potentially be used by resource users in the wider social learning process of detecting trends, threats, changes and conditions of mangrove and fisheries resources? In response to the contextual problem and the research question, the study employs processes of abstraction and experiential learning techniques to unlock knowledge that local communities have, as an input for underlabouring existing scientific indicators on the Eastern coast of Tanzania. The research is constituted as critical realist case study research, involving two communities on the eastern coast of Tanzania, namely the Moa and the Boma communities (in Mkinga coastal district). Overall, the study involved 37 participants in a series of interviews, focus group discussions, and experiential learning processes using visualised data, and an experiential learning intervention workshop, and follow‐ups over a period of 3 years. The study worked with mangroves and fisheries to provide focus to the case study research and to allow for in‐depth engagement with the assumptions and processes associated with indicators development and use. Through the above mentioned data generation processes, critical realist analysis, and experiential learning processes involving abstraction and representation of traditional ecological knowledge held by mangrove restorers and fishers in the study areas, the study uncovers possible challenges of adapting and applying scientific indicators in participatory monitoring of a mangrove ecosystem. Using ampliative modes of inference for data analysis (induction, abduction and retroduction) and a critical realist scientific explanatory framework known as DRRREI(C) (Resolution, Re‐description, Retrodiction, Elimination, Identification, & Correction) the study suggests a new approach that may lead to the development of a framework of indicators that are less reified, more congruent to users (coastal communities), and likely to attract a wider context‐based social learning which favours epistemological access between scientific institutions (universities inclusive), and local communities. It attempts to establish an interface between knowledge that scientific institutions produce and the potential knowledge that exists in local contexts (traditional ecological knowledge), and seeks to widen and improve knowledge sharing and experiential learning practices that may potentially benefit coastal and marine resources in the study area. As mentioned above, the knowledge and abstraction processes related to the indicators development focussed on the mangrove ecosystem and associated fisheries, as engaged in the two participating communities in the eastern coast of Tanzania. The specific findings are therefore limited by the case boundaries, but the methodological process could be replicated and used elsewhere. The study’s contributions are theoretical and methodological, but also social and practice‐centred. The study brings into view the need to consider the contextual relevance of adapted knowledge, the capacity or ability of beneficiaries to adapt and apply scientific models, frameworks or tools, and the potential of local knowledge as an input for enhancing or improving monitoring of mangroves and mangrove‐based fisheries. Finally, the study comes up with a framework of indicators which is regarded by the coastal communities involved in the study as being less reified, more contextually and culturally congruent, and which may potentially be used in detecting environmental trends, threats, changes and conditions of mangrove and fisheries resources, and attract wider social learning processes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Sabai, Daniel
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Traditional ecological knowledge , Environmental education -- Tanzania , Environmental education -- Study and teaching -- Tanzania , Coastal zone management -- Tanzania , Social learning -- Tanzania , Experiential learning -- Tanzania , Mangrove conservation -- Tanzania , Fishery management -- Tanzania
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1979 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013060
- Description: This study addresses a core problem that was uncovered in records from coastal management monitoring initiatives on the eastern coast of Tanzania associated with the application and use of coastal monitoring indicators developed by external development partners for the coastal zone. These records suggest that local communities, who are key actors in participatory monitoring of coastal and marine resources, face many challenges associated with adapting and applying the said frameworks of indicators and monitoring plans. These indicators tend to be scientifically abstracted and methodologically reified; given prevailing contextual and socio‐cultural realities amongst them. The research project addresses the following key research question: How can processes of abstraction, conceptualisation, and representation of TEK contribute to the development of coastal management indicators that are less reified, more contextually and culturally congruent, and which may potentially be used by resource users in the wider social learning process of detecting trends, threats, changes and conditions of mangrove and fisheries resources? In response to the contextual problem and the research question, the study employs processes of abstraction and experiential learning techniques to unlock knowledge that local communities have, as an input for underlabouring existing scientific indicators on the Eastern coast of Tanzania. The research is constituted as critical realist case study research, involving two communities on the eastern coast of Tanzania, namely the Moa and the Boma communities (in Mkinga coastal district). Overall, the study involved 37 participants in a series of interviews, focus group discussions, and experiential learning processes using visualised data, and an experiential learning intervention workshop, and follow‐ups over a period of 3 years. The study worked with mangroves and fisheries to provide focus to the case study research and to allow for in‐depth engagement with the assumptions and processes associated with indicators development and use. Through the above mentioned data generation processes, critical realist analysis, and experiential learning processes involving abstraction and representation of traditional ecological knowledge held by mangrove restorers and fishers in the study areas, the study uncovers possible challenges of adapting and applying scientific indicators in participatory monitoring of a mangrove ecosystem. Using ampliative modes of inference for data analysis (induction, abduction and retroduction) and a critical realist scientific explanatory framework known as DRRREI(C) (Resolution, Re‐description, Retrodiction, Elimination, Identification, & Correction) the study suggests a new approach that may lead to the development of a framework of indicators that are less reified, more congruent to users (coastal communities), and likely to attract a wider context‐based social learning which favours epistemological access between scientific institutions (universities inclusive), and local communities. It attempts to establish an interface between knowledge that scientific institutions produce and the potential knowledge that exists in local contexts (traditional ecological knowledge), and seeks to widen and improve knowledge sharing and experiential learning practices that may potentially benefit coastal and marine resources in the study area. As mentioned above, the knowledge and abstraction processes related to the indicators development focussed on the mangrove ecosystem and associated fisheries, as engaged in the two participating communities in the eastern coast of Tanzania. The specific findings are therefore limited by the case boundaries, but the methodological process could be replicated and used elsewhere. The study’s contributions are theoretical and methodological, but also social and practice‐centred. The study brings into view the need to consider the contextual relevance of adapted knowledge, the capacity or ability of beneficiaries to adapt and apply scientific models, frameworks or tools, and the potential of local knowledge as an input for enhancing or improving monitoring of mangroves and mangrove‐based fisheries. Finally, the study comes up with a framework of indicators which is regarded by the coastal communities involved in the study as being less reified, more contextually and culturally congruent, and which may potentially be used in detecting environmental trends, threats, changes and conditions of mangrove and fisheries resources, and attract wider social learning processes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Narratives that shape the professional identities of mathematics teachers
- Felix, Clyde Benedict Aurelius
- Authors: Felix, Clyde Benedict Aurelius
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Mathematics teachers -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Mathematics teachers -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Mathematics teachers -- Professional relationships , Mathematics teachers -- Training of , Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1995 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013547
- Description: The central position in this study is that the professional identities, and consequently the classroom practices, of mathematics teachers are continuously being shaped by their narratives of past and present experiences. The primary research question explores the narratives that shape the professional identities of seven mathematics teachers; and the secondary research question, how their narratives shape their professional identities. Furthermore, the potential implications of this study for the design and implementation of pre-service teacher education programmes and in-service teacher development initiatives are considered. This study is framed by Socioculturalism; a theoretical perspective of human thinking as social in origin and of learning as participation in social practices. Futhermore, in line with Situated Learning Theory, the key theoretical notions are: identity (or learning as becoming); community (or learning as belonging); practice (or learning as doing); and meaning (or learning as experience). Identity is construed here as a conceptual bridge between learning and its cultural settings; and also between the individual and the social. In this study, the identity-shaping narratives of seven mathematics teachers, all purposively sampled from schools in the Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown education districts of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, were accessed via a narrative inquiry; followed by a horizontal analysis to identify common patterns or recurring themes in the narratives of all seven participants; and, a vertical analysis of the narratives of four of the participants to determine how their narratives shape their professional identities. Recurring themes that emerged during the horizontal analysis include the influence of: family support; role models; changing work environments; continuous professional development; professional recognition; religion; and, micro-politics. The vertical analysis demonstrated how, through a process of interpreting the narratives and restorying them into a meaningful core narrative; it is possible to gain insights into how personal narratives shape a professional identity. This study highlights the importance of listening to the narratives of mathematics teachers; because their professional identities, and consequently their teaching practices, are continuously being shaped by their narratives. It is anticipated that this research will be of interest and benefit to researchers, policy-makers, and teachers; especially in the area of Mathematics Education, where both narrative inquiry as a research method and research into teachers’ professional identities are relatively new.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Felix, Clyde Benedict Aurelius
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Mathematics teachers -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Mathematics teachers -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Mathematics teachers -- Professional relationships , Mathematics teachers -- Training of , Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1995 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013547
- Description: The central position in this study is that the professional identities, and consequently the classroom practices, of mathematics teachers are continuously being shaped by their narratives of past and present experiences. The primary research question explores the narratives that shape the professional identities of seven mathematics teachers; and the secondary research question, how their narratives shape their professional identities. Furthermore, the potential implications of this study for the design and implementation of pre-service teacher education programmes and in-service teacher development initiatives are considered. This study is framed by Socioculturalism; a theoretical perspective of human thinking as social in origin and of learning as participation in social practices. Futhermore, in line with Situated Learning Theory, the key theoretical notions are: identity (or learning as becoming); community (or learning as belonging); practice (or learning as doing); and meaning (or learning as experience). Identity is construed here as a conceptual bridge between learning and its cultural settings; and also between the individual and the social. In this study, the identity-shaping narratives of seven mathematics teachers, all purposively sampled from schools in the Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown education districts of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, were accessed via a narrative inquiry; followed by a horizontal analysis to identify common patterns or recurring themes in the narratives of all seven participants; and, a vertical analysis of the narratives of four of the participants to determine how their narratives shape their professional identities. Recurring themes that emerged during the horizontal analysis include the influence of: family support; role models; changing work environments; continuous professional development; professional recognition; religion; and, micro-politics. The vertical analysis demonstrated how, through a process of interpreting the narratives and restorying them into a meaningful core narrative; it is possible to gain insights into how personal narratives shape a professional identity. This study highlights the importance of listening to the narratives of mathematics teachers; because their professional identities, and consequently their teaching practices, are continuously being shaped by their narratives. It is anticipated that this research will be of interest and benefit to researchers, policy-makers, and teachers; especially in the area of Mathematics Education, where both narrative inquiry as a research method and research into teachers’ professional identities are relatively new.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Raising student teachers’awareness around issues of professional conduct : an action research project
- Authors: Chishimba, Felix Nkalamo
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Teachers -- Training of , Teachers -- Professional ethics , Teachers -- Professional relationships
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2012 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016338
- Description: The teaching profession, like many other professions, has rules and regulations that guide the conduct of its members. Teachers and those who aspire to take up teaching are expected to conduct themselves and discharge their duties in an impeccably professional manner. However, there is concern especially among education authorities regarding unprofessional conduct of some of those employed in schools and colleges. This action research study is a response to this concern. Its goal was to explore issues of professional conduct as part of the induction process of new members entering the teaching profession, and to thereby develop a better understanding of how best to raise student teachers’ awareness around professional conduct issues. The study used a qualitative research framework located in the interpretive paradigm. Three theoretical frameworks informed the design and subsequent analysis of the findings, namely, Burn’s transformational leadership, Mezirow’s transformative learning and Kolb’s theory of experiential learning. Two cycles of workshops around issues of professional conduct were conducted over a period of four weeks with a sample of 40 pre-service student teachers: final year students enrolled in the college’s three year Diploma in Education programme, all members of a science education class. Data collection strategies used were semi-structured interviews, observation and the use of reflective journals, among others. Analysis of the data involved identification of emerging themes and patterns. Initial findings indicate that prior to the commencement of the cycles of action research, participants appeared to have a limited understanding around issues of professional conduct, but that this changed as they participated in the workshops. The data of the study suggest that further steps need to be taken to establish optimal ways of incorporating professional conduct issues into the college’s teaching curriculum.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Chishimba, Felix Nkalamo
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Teachers -- Training of , Teachers -- Professional ethics , Teachers -- Professional relationships
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2012 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016338
- Description: The teaching profession, like many other professions, has rules and regulations that guide the conduct of its members. Teachers and those who aspire to take up teaching are expected to conduct themselves and discharge their duties in an impeccably professional manner. However, there is concern especially among education authorities regarding unprofessional conduct of some of those employed in schools and colleges. This action research study is a response to this concern. Its goal was to explore issues of professional conduct as part of the induction process of new members entering the teaching profession, and to thereby develop a better understanding of how best to raise student teachers’ awareness around professional conduct issues. The study used a qualitative research framework located in the interpretive paradigm. Three theoretical frameworks informed the design and subsequent analysis of the findings, namely, Burn’s transformational leadership, Mezirow’s transformative learning and Kolb’s theory of experiential learning. Two cycles of workshops around issues of professional conduct were conducted over a period of four weeks with a sample of 40 pre-service student teachers: final year students enrolled in the college’s three year Diploma in Education programme, all members of a science education class. Data collection strategies used were semi-structured interviews, observation and the use of reflective journals, among others. Analysis of the data involved identification of emerging themes and patterns. Initial findings indicate that prior to the commencement of the cycles of action research, participants appeared to have a limited understanding around issues of professional conduct, but that this changed as they participated in the workshops. The data of the study suggest that further steps need to be taken to establish optimal ways of incorporating professional conduct issues into the college’s teaching curriculum.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Reading clubs as a literacy intervention tool to develop English vocabulary amongst Grade 3 English second language learners at a school in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Tshuma, Sibhekinkosi Anna
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Literacy programs -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Group reading -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Children -- Books and reading -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Books and reading -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Second language acquisition Action research Social interaction -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1965 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011755
- Description: This study is part of a larger research programme that seeks to contribute towards an understanding of South Africa's complex literacy landscape and formulate strategies that may address these particularly in the Foundation Phase. It is a case study of one public primary school in Grahamstown where isiXhosa is used as a medium of instruction until Grade 3, after which the medium of instruction changes to English. This transition is not helped by the little reading that happens in the language at the FP. The learners under study are Grade 3 isiXhosa first language speakers, learning English as a First Additional Language (FAL) with limited exposure to the language. Through a qualitative participatory action research process, the study investigated the extent to which a reading club in general and a responsive reading programme in particular, might develop learners' English vocabulary at this particular school. The value of reading clubs as a vehicle for second language learning as well as the importance of considering learner needs in the development of the reading programme are key contributions this study makes. The study draws on social constructivism as a theoretical framework based on the principle that learning is a social acitvity. Vygotsky (1978) states that language learning (LL) takes place through interactions in meaningful events, rather that through isolated language activities. The process is seen as holistic, that is, each mode of language supoorts and enhances overall language development. Furthermore, LL develops in relation to the context in which it is used, that is, it develops according to the situation, the topic under discussion and the relationship betwwen participants. Language also develops through active engagement of the learners. The role of the teacher or a more competent other is then seen as that of a facilitator in a learning context in which learners are viewed as equally capable of contributing to their learning through learning from and with each other (Holt and Willard-Holt, 2000). Vygotsky's theory of social interaction has been influential in highlighting the important role of social and cultural contexts in extending children's learning. The preliminary results of this study point toward the importance of the learning environment, particularly an informal environment in second language development. The results also highlight the need for learners (a) to be provided with opportunities to engage with meaningful and authentic texts, (b) to be allowed to make their own book choices, (c) to participate in large group, small group and individual activities to enable them to engage with a variety of texts, and (d) to confront vocabulary in a variety of ways through multiple texts and genres.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Tshuma, Sibhekinkosi Anna
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Literacy programs -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Group reading -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Children -- Books and reading -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Books and reading -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Second language acquisition Action research Social interaction -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1965 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011755
- Description: This study is part of a larger research programme that seeks to contribute towards an understanding of South Africa's complex literacy landscape and formulate strategies that may address these particularly in the Foundation Phase. It is a case study of one public primary school in Grahamstown where isiXhosa is used as a medium of instruction until Grade 3, after which the medium of instruction changes to English. This transition is not helped by the little reading that happens in the language at the FP. The learners under study are Grade 3 isiXhosa first language speakers, learning English as a First Additional Language (FAL) with limited exposure to the language. Through a qualitative participatory action research process, the study investigated the extent to which a reading club in general and a responsive reading programme in particular, might develop learners' English vocabulary at this particular school. The value of reading clubs as a vehicle for second language learning as well as the importance of considering learner needs in the development of the reading programme are key contributions this study makes. The study draws on social constructivism as a theoretical framework based on the principle that learning is a social acitvity. Vygotsky (1978) states that language learning (LL) takes place through interactions in meaningful events, rather that through isolated language activities. The process is seen as holistic, that is, each mode of language supoorts and enhances overall language development. Furthermore, LL develops in relation to the context in which it is used, that is, it develops according to the situation, the topic under discussion and the relationship betwwen participants. Language also develops through active engagement of the learners. The role of the teacher or a more competent other is then seen as that of a facilitator in a learning context in which learners are viewed as equally capable of contributing to their learning through learning from and with each other (Holt and Willard-Holt, 2000). Vygotsky's theory of social interaction has been influential in highlighting the important role of social and cultural contexts in extending children's learning. The preliminary results of this study point toward the importance of the learning environment, particularly an informal environment in second language development. The results also highlight the need for learners (a) to be provided with opportunities to engage with meaningful and authentic texts, (b) to be allowed to make their own book choices, (c) to participate in large group, small group and individual activities to enable them to engage with a variety of texts, and (d) to confront vocabulary in a variety of ways through multiple texts and genres.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Social learning in community based natural resource management project (CBNRM) : a case study of Chipembere gardening project in Zimbabwe.
- Authors: Mukwambo, Robson
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Social learning -- Zimbabwe , Social learning -- Case studies , Vegetable gardening -- Zimbabwe , Economic development projects -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2014 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016363
- Description: This investigation of social learning processes in the Chipembere gardening project was conducted in Rockvale village one in Sebakwe communal area in the Midlands province of Zimbabwe. In essence, the study sought to explore how the Chipembere gardening project as a community-based natural resource management initiative (CBNRM), was reflecting and supporting social learning processes of change. It also sought to enrich and deepen an organizational understanding of social learning and to generate ideas and draw recommendations that could be used to strengthen learning in other CBNRM projects. The research was undertaken as a qualitative case study with data generated through semi-structured interviews with individuals and groups. It also included an analysis of project documents and an extended period of participant observation on site and in the gardening activities. Data were indexed and coded for generating analytical memos that were used to extract and represent the scope of social learning interations within the developing project. The study found that within the Chipembere gardening project a wide range of learning interactions were significant in shaping the developing project. Furthermore, these interactions were earmarked as the major drivers of social learning processes within the project. The study concluded that the social learning interactions amongst the gardeners in the Chipembere community garden were instrumental in fostering change that enhanced community livelinhoods and wellbeing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mukwambo, Robson
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Social learning -- Zimbabwe , Social learning -- Case studies , Vegetable gardening -- Zimbabwe , Economic development projects -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2014 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016363
- Description: This investigation of social learning processes in the Chipembere gardening project was conducted in Rockvale village one in Sebakwe communal area in the Midlands province of Zimbabwe. In essence, the study sought to explore how the Chipembere gardening project as a community-based natural resource management initiative (CBNRM), was reflecting and supporting social learning processes of change. It also sought to enrich and deepen an organizational understanding of social learning and to generate ideas and draw recommendations that could be used to strengthen learning in other CBNRM projects. The research was undertaken as a qualitative case study with data generated through semi-structured interviews with individuals and groups. It also included an analysis of project documents and an extended period of participant observation on site and in the gardening activities. Data were indexed and coded for generating analytical memos that were used to extract and represent the scope of social learning interations within the developing project. The study found that within the Chipembere gardening project a wide range of learning interactions were significant in shaping the developing project. Furthermore, these interactions were earmarked as the major drivers of social learning processes within the project. The study concluded that the social learning interactions amongst the gardeners in the Chipembere community garden were instrumental in fostering change that enhanced community livelinhoods and wellbeing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Teachers' perceptions of behavioural problems manifested by Grade 11 and 12 learners in three Namibian schools
- Authors: Akawa, Ester Anna Nelago
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Education, Secondary -- Namibia School children -- Namibia -- Attitudes Learning disabilities -- Social aspects Behavior disorders in children -- Education (Secondary) -- Namibia Children with social disabilities -- Education (Secondary) -- Namibia Emotional problems of children -- Education (Secondary) -- Namibia Teachers -- Job stress -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1962 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010868
- Description: In Namibia today few learners with behavioural and learning problems are within special schools as most are placed within the mainstream school system. Placing these learners within the mainstream system is part of the policy of Inclusive Education (IE) because it argues that this would benefit these learners and also save resources. IE is concerned with addressing barriers to learning and behavioural problems are regarded as one of these barriers. IE argues for a series of new approaches to the diagnosis and response to learners with behavioural problems. This poses challenges for teachers in mainstream schools. Teachers are at the forefront of this situation as they are usually the first to observe and experience the behavioural problems in the schools and are expected to respond appropriately. They find this situation both challenging and problematic. This research explores a sample of teachers’ perceptions of learners’ behavioural problems. To collect in-depth information, this study followed a qualitative approach with a case study design. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, supplemented with observation and document analysis. The study consisted of fifteen respondents: three principals, three teacher counsellors and nine teachers from the three selected schools. This study illuminates the types of behaviour that teachers encounter, the impact of these behaviours, the factors seen as contributing to these behaviours, and how teachers and the school system deal with these behaviours. In addition the study applies Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model (1992) to explain how the behaviours manifested by Grade 11 and 12 learners, and identified as problematic by teachers, are part of an interconnected nested social system. The results from the study indicate the manifestation of behavioural problems to be common occurrences in secondary schools are evident, amongst others, through fighting, bullying, substance abuse, truancy, and disrespect of teachers and authority. The teachers pointed to the prevalence of these problems as well as the serious impact such problems have on these learners, their fellow learners, and on the teachers. The teachers identified a complex array of what they saw as contributing factors located within the school, peer groups, family and home circumstances, the local community, as well within the national education policy, the economy and society. The study points to some specific, as well as broader, lessons and opportunities for action both for those managing the education system at the national level and for schools and teachers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Akawa, Ester Anna Nelago
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Education, Secondary -- Namibia School children -- Namibia -- Attitudes Learning disabilities -- Social aspects Behavior disorders in children -- Education (Secondary) -- Namibia Children with social disabilities -- Education (Secondary) -- Namibia Emotional problems of children -- Education (Secondary) -- Namibia Teachers -- Job stress -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1962 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010868
- Description: In Namibia today few learners with behavioural and learning problems are within special schools as most are placed within the mainstream school system. Placing these learners within the mainstream system is part of the policy of Inclusive Education (IE) because it argues that this would benefit these learners and also save resources. IE is concerned with addressing barriers to learning and behavioural problems are regarded as one of these barriers. IE argues for a series of new approaches to the diagnosis and response to learners with behavioural problems. This poses challenges for teachers in mainstream schools. Teachers are at the forefront of this situation as they are usually the first to observe and experience the behavioural problems in the schools and are expected to respond appropriately. They find this situation both challenging and problematic. This research explores a sample of teachers’ perceptions of learners’ behavioural problems. To collect in-depth information, this study followed a qualitative approach with a case study design. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, supplemented with observation and document analysis. The study consisted of fifteen respondents: three principals, three teacher counsellors and nine teachers from the three selected schools. This study illuminates the types of behaviour that teachers encounter, the impact of these behaviours, the factors seen as contributing to these behaviours, and how teachers and the school system deal with these behaviours. In addition the study applies Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model (1992) to explain how the behaviours manifested by Grade 11 and 12 learners, and identified as problematic by teachers, are part of an interconnected nested social system. The results from the study indicate the manifestation of behavioural problems to be common occurrences in secondary schools are evident, amongst others, through fighting, bullying, substance abuse, truancy, and disrespect of teachers and authority. The teachers pointed to the prevalence of these problems as well as the serious impact such problems have on these learners, their fellow learners, and on the teachers. The teachers identified a complex array of what they saw as contributing factors located within the school, peer groups, family and home circumstances, the local community, as well within the national education policy, the economy and society. The study points to some specific, as well as broader, lessons and opportunities for action both for those managing the education system at the national level and for schools and teachers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Teachers’ experiences of change : a case study analysis of a school-based intervention in rural Kwazulu-Natal
- Authors: James, Sally Jane
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: David Rattray Foundation , Educational change -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Case studies , Rural schools -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , Community and school -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) -- Social conditions , KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) -- Economic conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1980 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013118
- Description: The research presented in this thesis is a case study analysis of the school-based intervention initiated by the David Rattray Foundation [DRF]. David Rattray, a South African historian well known for his contribution to the 1879-1896 Anglo-Zulu War heritage, was murdered in January 2007. In response to his untimely death, the DRF was established by family and friends with the hope of improving education within the Umzinyathi rural municipal district of KwaZulu-Natal. This study consisted of three phases: Phase I (May-December 2011); Phase II (January-December 2012), and Phase III (December 2012-October 2013). During Phase I, the focus was on describing the broader context in which the case is located. It resulted in a narrative account of the emergence of the DRF as a non-governmental organisation [NGO] working towards change within the local rural school community. During Phase II the focus shifted from the broader socio-political and economic context to the human dimension which included teachers, principals, volunteer workers and a district official working in the schools. During Phase II the approach to change adopted by the DRF was critically analysed in relation to models of change described in the literature. Teachers’ experiences of change were also examined. Phase III was a synthesis of the findings from the first two research phases. By drawing on systems and complexity theory perspectives, insights were gained enabling a deep understanding of the DRF’s school-based intervention as a whole. This research is a qualitative study that seeks to understand individual teachers’ experiences and participation in a process of change that reaches beyond the individual and his/her immediate context. The adoption of a realist ontology (Maxwell, 2012) and application of an explanatory heuristic based on the critical realist philosophy of Bhaskar (1979, 1980, 2011) enabled the layered analysis and in-depth interpretation that characterises the study. The findings of the study reveal a complex and ongoing process of change within a rural school context. The results illuminate the efficacy of a collaborative partnership between civil society (the DRF), the local community, under the leadership of a tribal authority, and the local government (KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Department of Education). It also reveals how teachers within this particular context do not have a strong voice in the change process and hence participate only superficially in the school-based intervention. It is probable that the constraining mechanisms revealed through this research are not exclusive to this particular case study, but are common across the South African rural school context. The main contention of this thesis is that these mechanisms need further interrogation in order to enable further change and permit the active participation of teachers in the process.While the study illuminates many of the tensions and problems faced by the schools and the community in which they are located, it also highlights the achievements and selfless attitude of many people working towards change and improvement within the schools. This case study thus provides an example to all South Africans of what can be achieved with commitment and effort.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: James, Sally Jane
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: David Rattray Foundation , Educational change -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Case studies , Rural schools -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , Community and school -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) -- Social conditions , KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) -- Economic conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1980 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013118
- Description: The research presented in this thesis is a case study analysis of the school-based intervention initiated by the David Rattray Foundation [DRF]. David Rattray, a South African historian well known for his contribution to the 1879-1896 Anglo-Zulu War heritage, was murdered in January 2007. In response to his untimely death, the DRF was established by family and friends with the hope of improving education within the Umzinyathi rural municipal district of KwaZulu-Natal. This study consisted of three phases: Phase I (May-December 2011); Phase II (January-December 2012), and Phase III (December 2012-October 2013). During Phase I, the focus was on describing the broader context in which the case is located. It resulted in a narrative account of the emergence of the DRF as a non-governmental organisation [NGO] working towards change within the local rural school community. During Phase II the focus shifted from the broader socio-political and economic context to the human dimension which included teachers, principals, volunteer workers and a district official working in the schools. During Phase II the approach to change adopted by the DRF was critically analysed in relation to models of change described in the literature. Teachers’ experiences of change were also examined. Phase III was a synthesis of the findings from the first two research phases. By drawing on systems and complexity theory perspectives, insights were gained enabling a deep understanding of the DRF’s school-based intervention as a whole. This research is a qualitative study that seeks to understand individual teachers’ experiences and participation in a process of change that reaches beyond the individual and his/her immediate context. The adoption of a realist ontology (Maxwell, 2012) and application of an explanatory heuristic based on the critical realist philosophy of Bhaskar (1979, 1980, 2011) enabled the layered analysis and in-depth interpretation that characterises the study. The findings of the study reveal a complex and ongoing process of change within a rural school context. The results illuminate the efficacy of a collaborative partnership between civil society (the DRF), the local community, under the leadership of a tribal authority, and the local government (KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Department of Education). It also reveals how teachers within this particular context do not have a strong voice in the change process and hence participate only superficially in the school-based intervention. It is probable that the constraining mechanisms revealed through this research are not exclusive to this particular case study, but are common across the South African rural school context. The main contention of this thesis is that these mechanisms need further interrogation in order to enable further change and permit the active participation of teachers in the process.While the study illuminates many of the tensions and problems faced by the schools and the community in which they are located, it also highlights the achievements and selfless attitude of many people working towards change and improvement within the schools. This case study thus provides an example to all South Africans of what can be achieved with commitment and effort.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Teachers’ understanding and implementation of inclusive education in an Eastern Cape primary school
- Authors: Mcconnachie, Karola
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Inclusive education -- South Africa , Special education -- South Africa , Education (Primary) -- Government policy -- South Africa , Alcoholism -- Social aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1984 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013150
- Description: Since 2001 the South African Department of Basic Education has been working towards implementing Inclusive Education over a twenty year period. This is in accordance with international trends in education. This study set out to investigate the implementation of Inclusive Education in a South African context by conducting a case study at an Eastern Cape no‐fee‐paying primary school. It looked at how the government policy, as set out in Education White Paper 6 (EWP6) (DoE, 2001), is understood and being implemented by teachers at the Welcome Primary school. The study further investigated the introduction of the National Strategy on Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS strategy) (DoE, 2008a) to gain insight into how teachers identify and assess barriers to learning in an ordinary primary school. In addition it looked at emerging factors that could impact on the implementation of this policy. With 16 years teaching experience in ordinary and private schools and 19 years experience in a special needs school as a teacher, head of department and then principal, I have personal experience of the crisis in the Eastern Cape Department of Basic Education. This awareness provided the impetus and interest in researching Inclusive Education policy implementation. It is my view that only when we begin to grapple with the problems right at the source of the education crisis within the majority of the no‐fee‐paying schools that informed decisions about policy and policy implementation can be made. As I am able to understand and converse in isiXhosa, I was able to observe and experience the implementation of EWP6 and the SIAS strategy in a school that is an isiXhosa‐medium ordinary primary school and similar to the majority of ordinary public schools in the district. A qualitative research approach based within an interpretive paradigm using the case study method was used for this study. Semi‐structured interviews, detailed field notes as well as documents generated by meetings and education conferences helped me to investigate and refine my research goals. The research found that the implementation of EWP6 and the SIAS strategy posed a major challenge for the Department of Basic Education, and highlighted the significant gap between ordinary primary schools and special needs schools. However, the fact that there is a partial engagement with the process of providing inclusive education, does present some measure of hope for a better future for those learners that have experienced the injustice of exclusion from education and society. The Eastern Cape Department of Basic Education will have to ‘catch up’ to other provinces in its delivery of every child’s constitutional right to education in an inclusive school environment. Factors emerged from the study that showed that the assessment of learners’ barriers to learning with the resultant support needs was a relatively new concept, as teachers tended to rely on traditional classroom tests and simple informal classroom assessments to assess the learners. Teachers expressed a good verbal knowledge of learners with support needs but found it very challenging to put this verbal knowledge into a written document. In addition there was inadequate support from the District Based Support Team to implement the SIAS strategy. This study showed that the medical model of assessment was still being adhered to in the research district with little evidence of a move to a social model of assessment in terms of the SIAS strategy. In addition, factors emerged indicating the serious impact that alcohol abuse has on children and the society in which they live. The evidence of increasing numbers of children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in a single educational district is a matter of grave concern from an educational and financial perspective. It is my contention that this is a matter of national urgency and that the Department of Basic Education must confront the escalating problem of alcohol abuse and the resultant challenges of a large number of learners with serious barriers to learning that need to be included in the education system.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mcconnachie, Karola
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Inclusive education -- South Africa , Special education -- South Africa , Education (Primary) -- Government policy -- South Africa , Alcoholism -- Social aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1984 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013150
- Description: Since 2001 the South African Department of Basic Education has been working towards implementing Inclusive Education over a twenty year period. This is in accordance with international trends in education. This study set out to investigate the implementation of Inclusive Education in a South African context by conducting a case study at an Eastern Cape no‐fee‐paying primary school. It looked at how the government policy, as set out in Education White Paper 6 (EWP6) (DoE, 2001), is understood and being implemented by teachers at the Welcome Primary school. The study further investigated the introduction of the National Strategy on Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS strategy) (DoE, 2008a) to gain insight into how teachers identify and assess barriers to learning in an ordinary primary school. In addition it looked at emerging factors that could impact on the implementation of this policy. With 16 years teaching experience in ordinary and private schools and 19 years experience in a special needs school as a teacher, head of department and then principal, I have personal experience of the crisis in the Eastern Cape Department of Basic Education. This awareness provided the impetus and interest in researching Inclusive Education policy implementation. It is my view that only when we begin to grapple with the problems right at the source of the education crisis within the majority of the no‐fee‐paying schools that informed decisions about policy and policy implementation can be made. As I am able to understand and converse in isiXhosa, I was able to observe and experience the implementation of EWP6 and the SIAS strategy in a school that is an isiXhosa‐medium ordinary primary school and similar to the majority of ordinary public schools in the district. A qualitative research approach based within an interpretive paradigm using the case study method was used for this study. Semi‐structured interviews, detailed field notes as well as documents generated by meetings and education conferences helped me to investigate and refine my research goals. The research found that the implementation of EWP6 and the SIAS strategy posed a major challenge for the Department of Basic Education, and highlighted the significant gap between ordinary primary schools and special needs schools. However, the fact that there is a partial engagement with the process of providing inclusive education, does present some measure of hope for a better future for those learners that have experienced the injustice of exclusion from education and society. The Eastern Cape Department of Basic Education will have to ‘catch up’ to other provinces in its delivery of every child’s constitutional right to education in an inclusive school environment. Factors emerged from the study that showed that the assessment of learners’ barriers to learning with the resultant support needs was a relatively new concept, as teachers tended to rely on traditional classroom tests and simple informal classroom assessments to assess the learners. Teachers expressed a good verbal knowledge of learners with support needs but found it very challenging to put this verbal knowledge into a written document. In addition there was inadequate support from the District Based Support Team to implement the SIAS strategy. This study showed that the medical model of assessment was still being adhered to in the research district with little evidence of a move to a social model of assessment in terms of the SIAS strategy. In addition, factors emerged indicating the serious impact that alcohol abuse has on children and the society in which they live. The evidence of increasing numbers of children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in a single educational district is a matter of grave concern from an educational and financial perspective. It is my contention that this is a matter of national urgency and that the Department of Basic Education must confront the escalating problem of alcohol abuse and the resultant challenges of a large number of learners with serious barriers to learning that need to be included in the education system.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014