'A search for educational relevance' : an investigation into the teaching of the rural settlement component of the secondary school syllabus with special reference to Venda
- Authors: Mphaphuli, Shonisani Eunice
- Date: 1993
- Subjects: Geography -- Curricula -- South Africa Geography -- South Africa -- Study and teaching (Secondary) Rural geography -- Study and teaching -- South Africa Land settlement -- South Africa -- Venda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1760 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003645
- Description: School geography has been identified as the one subject which has the most potential to develop pupils' ability to identify with their community and with their environment. Through the development of a sense of place pupils are encouraged to become effective perceivers, users, appreciators, evaluators and developers of their environment (Catling 1987. This approach to the teaching of geography implies that the content and the teaching strategies need to be perceived as relevant. Relevance in this study is taken to incorporate not only the needs of the pupils and the community but also of the subject. The location of this study in Venda, an area which is predominantly rural in nature sought to emphasise the important role which rural settlement geography can play in aiding the development of these pupils' sense of place and social identity. The research therefore concentrated on the approaches and teaching strategies used in the teaching of rural settlement in Venda secondary schools. This was achieved through a survey which involved geography teachers and pupils in the Thohoyandou inspection area. The place of rural settlement in the current geography curriculum was established through an analysis of the relevant syllabuses, textbooks and senior certificate examination papers. This analysis was primarily undertaken to illuminate the extent to which rural settlement geography in the South African curriculum complies with accepted criteria for relevance. The study revealed that the teaching of rural settlement in Venda is textbook-related and teacher- directed with no attempt to capitalise upon the pupils' experience of their rural environment. This was largely ascribed to the constraints of the syllabus and the demands of the examination system. When allied to the problems teachers have concerning syllabus development, the validity and relevance of this aspect of the syllabus is reduced. More importantly, because the local environment is not perceived as having value in the teaching of geography, the Venda pupils' perception of the value of their environment is diminished.
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- Date Issued: 1993
The responses of standard nine pupils to valuing strategies in geography
- Authors: Nyikana, Nqabomzi
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Geography -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa , Critical thinking
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1380 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001446
- Description: Values education in geography can be seen as a way of educating pupils to think critically and independently on matters to which they can readily relate. It also involves the relating of facts and concepts of a subject area to the pupils ' own lives. There is, therefore, a need to introduce values education in geography at our schools. The DET geography syllabuses offer many topics of social and environmental concern. Valuing processes, based on values analysis and values clarification, can be used to teach these topics. Through values education, geography pupils can become more purposeful, more enthusiastic and positive in their learning. This study investigates the effectiveness of valuing strategies in the teaching of geography. A broad overview of the literature on valuing in general and valuing in geographical education in particular, was analysed. Three teaching units were then devised and tried out in KwaZulu schools. The responses of pupils to these units were then investigated through questionnaires. Teachers were also interviewed to find the extent to which valuing approaches were being used. The principal findings of the study are, firstly, that the pupils responded well to the valuing units. Secondly, that teachers were not using valuing strategies in schools and, lastly, that the units in the research could be effective in teaching values geography. From the findings of this research, it is evident that values geography has an important place in the South African school curriculum
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- Date Issued: 1989
Organisational structures for effective geography teaching in selected medium and large primary schools
- Authors: Kaschula, Nathaniel Ronald
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Geography -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa Education, Primary -- Research -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1859 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004552
- Description: Effective teaching is determined by a host of factors, not least of which is the educational guidance given to the teacher. This guidance should come about through an effecctively designed support structure initiated by the school principal as part of his management strategy. Very little has been written on this topic, particularly with reference to primary schools. In the past, geography teachers were trained, appointed to a school and expected to get on with their teaching. However, present-day teachers, in order to be effective educators, require in-service training. This should occur In a variety of ways and on a continuous basis, because teaching is an on-going business and not a job to be learned once and for always. This thesis investigates the organisational structures that exist for the teaching of geography in selected medium and large primary schools in the Eastern Cape. The author found that principals used either a subject head or standard head model. In large primary schools a subject head model was preferred i.e. a specialist geography teacher was responslble for developing the subject vertically from standard 2 to 5. The opposite was true in medium-sized schools. Principals of these schools preferred to delegate responsibility to a standard head. It was the duty ot the standard head, usually a generalist teacher without specific training in geography, to develop geography horizontally among, for example, all the standard 3 pupils. The role played by key members of a primary schools' instructional leadership team, namely the principal, subject head, and the standard head are examined in detail. The author offers justification why geography should be included In the primary curriculum. It is his contention that geography contributes to a child's general education, develops basic geographical skills, extends general mental abilities and fosters positive attitudes towards other people with whom he shares this world. A management model is proposed for principals, flexible enough for application in all schools. It is designed to ensure that teachers continue growing professionaIIy within the structure of a small group. There is no best way to organise the teaching of geography because each school has its own unique resources which should be optimally utilised in order to bring about learning. The professional development of geography teachers is possible because someone competent in geographical education should assume leadership of the qroup. This will enable ideas to be shared, plans made and strategies implemented in an eftort to improve teacher-competence through an efficiently organised geography department. In the final chapter conclusions are drawn and a recommendatlon is made for primary school principals to Implement an organlsatlonal model for the teaching of geography. A choice may be made from three models, namely a standard head, subject head or a comblnation of both models. It Is within the parameters of one of these structures that the subject can be properly managed, for example, field-trips planned, teaching aids purchased, envlronmental educatlon programmes designed, teaching strategies discussed and examinat(ons set. Thls view is supported by Cawood and GIbbon's (1980) empirical evidence. They found that good educatlonal leadership fosters effective teaching in schools.
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- Date Issued: 1988
A survey of the curricula for the pre-service education of secondary school geography teachers in South Africa, with special reference to Transkei
- Authors: Mniki, Claribel Pumzile
- Date: 1987
- Subjects: Education -- Curricula , Education -- South Africa -- Transkei , Black people -- Education -- South Africa -- Transkei , Geography -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa -- Transkei , Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa -- Transkei
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1340 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001406
- Description: Programmes designed for the pre-service education of secondary school geography teachers reflect the assumptions held by programme designers regarding the nature of education, teaching in general and geography teaching in particular. The general practice is that in universities, individual method lecturers design their programmes and in colleges within a department of education the programmes are centrally planned. Each programme focuses on a specific context. This, together with the autonomy enjoyed by university method lecturers in designing their courses, has resulted in the variations found in geography teacher education programmes. The evidence of this is found in the structure and duration of courses, the course content, the strategies used to educate teachers and the way in which the course is evaluated. This thesis is an attempt to establish consensus and divergence in pre-service education programmes for secondary school geography teachers regarding their organisation, specific knowledge imparted to student teachers; skills, values and attitudes developed. The pre-service education of secondary school geography teachers in South Africa is revealed in an analysis of views held by method lecturers, practising teachers in secondary schools, and student teachers and an analysis of course outlines , teaching practice assessment forms and geography method examination papers. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations made for improving the initial education of secondary school geography teachers in Transkei
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- Date Issued: 1987
Graphicacy and the third dimension: an investigation into the problem of poor performance in relief mapwork in South African secondary schools
- Authors: Burton, Michael St. John Whitehead
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: Graphicacy , Maps , Map reading , Visualisation , Geography , Secondary education , South Africa , Pupils , Learners , Teachers
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1358 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001424
- Description: Three-dimensional graphicacy is the part of map work that appears to be the most problematIcal. Bartz (1970) says that thinking and visualising in three-dimensional space is difficult enough, but trying to derive notions in three-dimensions, when you have only seen them as they are represented in distorted two-dimensional fashion, is even more difficult. Yet pupils of geography are required to learn such three-dimensional concepts from the two-dimensional distorted map presentations. The geography teacher has an important educational role to play in promoting graphicacy and Balchin (1965), who coined the term, felt that it should be an essential underpinning of an integrated education. The problem is that children perform badly, teachers are not successfully imparting three-dimensional graphicacy skills and as Board and Taylor (1977) indicate, for some time now it has been fashionable to dismiss maps as being irrelevant or useless in geographical research. This thesis attempts to analyse this reported malady, the problems are exposed and solutions offered. Investigation of the literature, with the aim of clarifying the problems involved, follows four leads. These are the part played by the map as a mode of communication, the physical processes involved in mapwork revealed by work in the realm of neurophysiology, the process of visualisation in the field of perception and psychology, and finally the stage of conceptual development of the mapworker. The state of affairs in South Africa is disclosed by an analysis of teacher-directed literature, of examination syllabuses, of text-book treatment of three-dimensional mapwork in South Africa and overseas, of past examination questions, and finally of teachers' views. Experimental exercises have been executed in an attempt to link the key findings of published research to the local scene. Conclusions are then drawn, and recommendations made for improving three-dimensional graphicacy in South African secondary schools.
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- Date Issued: 1986
Geography in the South African curriculum in relation to developments in the teaching of the subject overseas
- Authors: Van der Merwe, Abel Jacobus
- Date: 1982
- Subjects: Accounting -- Study and teaching (Higher) Geography -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1846 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004388
- Description: The mind and character of an individual can be fostered by the subjects which have proved themselves to be of value in improving the education of man, not only from scientific, but also from moral and aesthetic stand points. The question is whether or not geography as a subject fulfils this requirement. For this it must have a distinctiveness of aim and a limitation of content. Civilization today is passing through great crises. Wars, rumours of wars, cold wars, economic crises, exhaustion of natural resources etc. are reported daily in the newspapers. Education of a certain type is needed - an education which will develop in man a deep concern for the freedom and good life of his fellows, and some understarding of the major problems of the world and possible solutions. Man is no longer a unit of a small self-contained community, but has his responsibilities as a citizen, firstly of his own country and secondly of a world community. Upon his solutions to the problems of the world depend to some degree the progress and development of his town, country, of the world generally. Education therefore ought to train the child to take his place in the world, not only as a man, but as a citizen. Children must be taught to think and reason for themselves. Geography as a subject lends itself magnificently to the general education of men and the development of good citizens. Geography can help to teach pupils to understand and experience the adult world. South Africans are fortunate in that geography is a compulsory subject up to standard seven. In high school beyond this level it is not offered by all schools.
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- Date Issued: 1982