Researching the development of a programme that merges mathematics and music in Grade R
- Authors: Stevenson-Milln, Carolyn
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Mathematics Study and teaching (Elementary) Activity programs , Music and children , Music, Influence of , Music Africa , Action research in education
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61928 , vital:28084
- Description: This small-scale case study explores the potential for synergy between music and mathematics learning in early childhood education whereby music can be used to help enhance children’s mathematical proficiency. Informal observations of the young learners participating in an Early Number Fun programme initiated by the South African Numeracy Chair Project suggested that many children struggled to exercise executive functioning and self-regulated skills, and struggled also with fluency in basic numeracy concepts such as understanding pattern. This case study was set up to investigate the effect of the development and implementation of a programme in which African music and mathematics learning, (particularly in relation to pattern and sequencing) were blended. The study’s core aim was to contribute to strengthening learners’ executive function and self-regulated learning competencies, both of which are important to learners’ developing agency over their own learning. An Action-Research-embedded-in-Design-Research approach was employed. This allowed an iterative process in developing a new mode of learning through blending music and mathematics. The theory of enactivism provided a theoretical framework to the study. The basic assumptions of an enactive perspective are shared understanding and joint action through engagement (as exemplified through group interaction between learner and teacher, and learning through action). The programme was developed and implemented with ongoing refinements in two Grade R classrooms. Data collected through observation, interviewing, document analysis and the keeping of a reflective research journal, are qualitative in nature. Analysis of the data indicate that the use of African block notation, as a rhythmic medium was well within reach of the participating children, such that at the end of each 16 session intervention programme, learners at both research sites demonstrated their capacity to: • Focus their attention on one activity while a different activity was taking place alongside them. • Watch, listen and only then act. • Practise their numbers through play: to count out and to write up to 16 and beyond. • Notate, read and interpret rhythmic patterns through block notation and instrumentation. The findings suggest the intervention programme could be continued over a longer period for maximum benefit, possibly through following Grade R learners through to Grade 1. The findings further suggest that fun with rhythmic, number-based patterning can assist learners’ development of executive function and self-regulated learning skills.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Facilitating alumni support for a low-resourced high school using a participatory action research approach
- Authors: Rensburg, Cheryl Dawn
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Action research in education , Active learning
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/14167 , vital:27438
- Description: South African public schools in disadvantaged areas are experiencing serious levels of under resourcing which negatively impact the educational experiences of learners. Attempts to lessen such negative impact include involving alumni who know the school‟s context, history and ethos. Unfortunately, the concept of alumni support in terms of mentoring and motivating learners is not the norm in many under resourced schools. This research focuses on fostering partnerships with alumni using participatory action research (PAR), because it is holistic, relationally driven and inclusive. Embedded in complexity theory that views the school community as a nonlinear system of different interacting parts functioning to improve the school context, the research follows actionreflection cycles of a group of ten past pupils and five educators from various backgrounds, levels of education and expertise collaborating with and mobilizing other alumni. Data were generated using drawings, photo voice and interviews. Thematic data analysis was used to build patterns and form categories. The following themes emerged namely, the importance of establishing a collective vision for sustained alumni engagement for alumni‟s personal and professional aspirations to serve the vision of the school, the importance of creating an alumni culture that reinforces the concept of „paying it forward‟. Lastly, establishing a sustainable alumni association through sustained actions and interactions and by creating an organisation of excellence The newly developed alumni structure as a „resource fountain‟ generating and cascading energy around the school emerged as an anchor for sustainability. The cascaded energy evolved into a structured „Alumni Week‟ providing ongoing motivation for current learners to sustain alumni engagement.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Implementation of classroom action research in Zimbabwean teacher education colleges: implications for teacher education curriculum
- Authors: Banda, Wilson
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Action research in education , Education -- Research , Curriculum planning
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Education)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/10604 , vital:35632
- Description: It was the purpose of this study to interrogate the implementation of classroom action research (CAR) in identified Zimbabwean teachers’ colleges to provide the basis for future policy directions and related day-to-day CAR practice. The study leaned on the progressive educationists’ stance that teaching is an intricate profession that has more to it than mere technical skills. Teaching is viewed as a lifelong profession that requires pre-service teachers to be capacitated with CAR skills and competencies to ensure that they systematically, intentionally and critically consider a myriad of learner related psychosocial factors in their tour of duty. In that way teachers are made to appreciate why they should teach the way they teach, without necessarily turning them into some kind of public intellectuals, philosophers or theorists. The study utilised the mixed methods research approach in tune with the adopted pragmatism paradigm. The research paradigm draws on the strengths of both empirical data and the theoretical sentiments drawn from the respondents. The study used the concurrent triangulation design, rooted in the post-positivist research paradigm that integrates concurrent procedures in the collection, analysis and interpretation of research data. It was guided by three theoretical frameworks, namely, the experiential learning theory, the curriculum implementation framework and the living educational theory. The theories have a strong bearing on reflective practice and they acknowledge the subjectivity of truth. The study’s purposive sample comprised of sixty-four teacher educators and seventy-six preservice teachers. Several research instruments were utilised to solicit the requisite CAR implementation quantitative and qualitative data. These were questionnaires, interview schedules, focus group discussions and documents. The Statistical Packages for Social Sciences were used to summarise the solicited data through graphical representations and related frequency tables depicting descriptive statistics such as range, mean and mode. Qualitative data were analysed using content analysis through emerging themes, iv related to the sub-research questions. The study established that although the bulk of the teacher educators had the requisite professional qualifications, maturity and experiential background, more curricular and organisational reconstruction was required to improve on the status quo. For instance, solicited data demonstrated that the lecturers’ appetite for educational research was low. Furthermore, the teacher educators’ CAR skills and competencies were compromised by the research component’s inadequate contact time. In addition, it was instituted that the teachers’ colleges produced student teachers who lacked sound grasp of the CAR process. The mediocrity was attributed to a series of teacher educator and student teacher factors which were exacerbated by several other organisational and administrative impediments. Overall, the study concluded that teacher educators were incapacitated to effectively deliver CAR, owing partly to the nature of teacher educator preparation they got and the watered down professional induction. It further revealed that it was wrong to assume that all lecturers had operational capacity to effectively teach and supervise CAR projects. Furthermore, the study recommended that the teacher educators’ capacity in CAR needs enhancement. Identified CAR implementation strategies need further reconstruction and enforcement.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Teacher practices in the grade 10 first additional language classroom: a relevance study
- Authors: Naadirah, Abader
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Action research in education , Reflective teaching
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9438 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011093 , Action research in education , Reflective teaching
- Description: Teachers are key figures in the English First Additional Language learning process, their influence is fundamental to their learners‟ progress, or lack thereof. I am of the opinion that literacy in itself is not sufficient, as success lies in the learners‟ application of appropriate learning techniques. The purpose of my study was to reflect on and improve my own teaching practice, improve my learners‟ participation and enhance their academic outcomes in the poetry classroom. My study required that I reflect on my classroom practice to facilitate the improvement thereof. Successful learning within the classroom therefore involves interaction and collaboration between the learner, the materials, the teacher and the context. Scaffolding is a technique I used to actualize my learners‟ potential. I chose action research, because I wanted to research an educational problem (as experienced by my learners and myself), critically reflect on my classroom practice, evaluate my teaching methods, and consider practical solutions. Action research allowed me to record the events and happenings in my location, my reflection, beliefs and teaching philosophies, my ideas and my insights about my practice. In my journal I reflected on the events that took place during my poetry lessons. Both positive and negative comments were noted and I tried to closely monitor my learners during the lessons. After marking my classroom assessments, I immediately shared my thoughts regarding the assessment outcomes. My reflections gave me a better understanding of my teaching practice. I used photovoice as a data collecting strategy which is the intermingling of images and words. The actions taken through photovoice, taking photographs and telling stories as they relate to the photographs, were empowering. My study enabled me to understand the many challenges of teaching poetry. I learnt that if I teach well, poetry can add important aspects to my learners‟ language skills, including understanding metaphors, connotations and symbolic meanings. The teaching of poetry should promote a pleasurable understanding of language. This means that the language of the poem is as important as the content of the poem.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Action research : exploring the use [of] print media as a resource in the teaching of English as a second language
- Authors: Letsoalo, Matome David
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Action research in education , English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2376 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005962 , Action research in education , English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers
- Description: South African education has been going through a process of transformation: from a traditional, transmission system to one of a more progressive nature. In the new curriculum, Curriculum 2005 anchored on Outcomes-based Education (OBE), focus is laid on critical reflection, innovation and creativity by classroom participants. Learning situations are expected to promote flexibility, co-operation and relevance of teaching/learning materials. This research looks at these aspects in the English Second Language (ESL) situation where print media articles are used as resource. Other than being a rich resource for language, print media texts have been found to be appropriate for this exploration because of their potential to offer opportunities for critical reflection and interaction with authentic issues. Unlike uncritical reliance on textbooks, the proper use of media articles can give the teachers and learners the space to select relevant and exciting materials for their situations. In this study, the research was done through action research where I (the researcher) actually taught the lessons in collaboration with the English teacher. The teaching method was influenced by the Freirean style of Iiberatory teaching where critical reflection, socio-political relevance and co-operation are crucial elements. The action research was done in two cycles. Experiences in the first cycle pointed to, among other aspects, the fact that the learners could not work in a co-operative way as they were not used to it. Addressing this problem consequently became the basis of the second cycle where the skills of co-operative learning were taught before the learners engaged in further lessons. The conclusions drawn from this research point to the importance of the teacher as an agent in the learning process if the demands of progressive and liberatory teaching are to be met. It has thus been concluded that elements such as critical thinking, creativity, flexibility and selection/development of relevant materials presuppose the existence of a well-trained teacher who is skilled and able to make these possible. In the light of my findings, my major recommendation is that teacher development needs to be strengthened so that more emphasis is placed on enhancing the teacher's ability to critique texts and improve his or her own practice, acquiring the skills to teach in a critical way and achieving the learning competencies.
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- Date Issued: 2002