An investigation into the development of knowledge and strategies for the teaching of visual literacy in under-resourced Eastern Cape schools
- Authors: Mbelani, Madeyandile
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64401 , vital:28540
- Description: This thesis reports on a multiple case study PhD project that aimed to investigate meaningful and critical development of knowledge and strategies to teach visual literacy, a component of English First Additional Language (FAL) in six under-resourced schools of the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The study begins by locating visual literacy within a broad framework of literacy as a social practice, and discusses its importance. Further, it discusses complexities of making sense of and teaching visual literacy, especially for the majority of in-service teachers who experienced visual literacy neither as learners nor as teacher trainees. The gap between the curriculum and teachers’ classroom practices is what triggered this study to adopt a transformative paradigm. The main research question is, “How can teacher professional development in English Language Teaching advance in-service teachers’ knowledge of and strategies for meaningful and critical teaching and learning of visual literacy?” To respond to this question, I drew on cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) and critical realism (CR) to design four phases of this study that incorporated the seven stages of an expansive learning cycle. These phases focussed on exploring and expanding teachers’ sense making and teaching of visual literacy. I collected data through interviews, document analysis, videoed lessons and change laboratory (CL) workshops. I designed a data analysis tool that brought together CHAT, CR, multimodal social semiotics, critical discourse analysis and pedagogical discourse to make sense of the data. Through a process of reflexivity, the study illuminated layers of factors that constrained meaningful and critical teaching of visual literacy in the empirical, the actual and the real domains of reality. These factors include teachers’ unconscious reproduction of discourses of domination, their intolerance of diverse cultural discourses, resistance to curriculum change, and the fact that they are comfortable with the status quo. I brought these factors to CL workshops for expansive learning. The study contributes in-depth insight into English FAL in-service teacher development in the area of visual literacy. By locating the study within meaning making and teaching of visual literacy, it was possible to interrogate access, diversity, domination and design in teachers’ classroom practices. As a result of this study participants were made aware of the extent to which these factors enabled or hindered meaningful and critical teaching. Participants repositioned themselves as subjects of the activity system, thereby mobilising their agency to take control of the structures and cultures that condition their teaching.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mbelani, Madeyandile
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64401 , vital:28540
- Description: This thesis reports on a multiple case study PhD project that aimed to investigate meaningful and critical development of knowledge and strategies to teach visual literacy, a component of English First Additional Language (FAL) in six under-resourced schools of the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The study begins by locating visual literacy within a broad framework of literacy as a social practice, and discusses its importance. Further, it discusses complexities of making sense of and teaching visual literacy, especially for the majority of in-service teachers who experienced visual literacy neither as learners nor as teacher trainees. The gap between the curriculum and teachers’ classroom practices is what triggered this study to adopt a transformative paradigm. The main research question is, “How can teacher professional development in English Language Teaching advance in-service teachers’ knowledge of and strategies for meaningful and critical teaching and learning of visual literacy?” To respond to this question, I drew on cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) and critical realism (CR) to design four phases of this study that incorporated the seven stages of an expansive learning cycle. These phases focussed on exploring and expanding teachers’ sense making and teaching of visual literacy. I collected data through interviews, document analysis, videoed lessons and change laboratory (CL) workshops. I designed a data analysis tool that brought together CHAT, CR, multimodal social semiotics, critical discourse analysis and pedagogical discourse to make sense of the data. Through a process of reflexivity, the study illuminated layers of factors that constrained meaningful and critical teaching of visual literacy in the empirical, the actual and the real domains of reality. These factors include teachers’ unconscious reproduction of discourses of domination, their intolerance of diverse cultural discourses, resistance to curriculum change, and the fact that they are comfortable with the status quo. I brought these factors to CL workshops for expansive learning. The study contributes in-depth insight into English FAL in-service teacher development in the area of visual literacy. By locating the study within meaning making and teaching of visual literacy, it was possible to interrogate access, diversity, domination and design in teachers’ classroom practices. As a result of this study participants were made aware of the extent to which these factors enabled or hindered meaningful and critical teaching. Participants repositioned themselves as subjects of the activity system, thereby mobilising their agency to take control of the structures and cultures that condition their teaching.
- Full Text:
Making visual literacy meaningful in a rural context: an action research case study
- Authors: Mbelani, Madeyandile
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Visual literacy -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies Education -- Research -- Case studies Education -- Research -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Rural schools -- Research -- Case studies Rural schools -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1668 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003551
- Description: This thesis reports on a collaborative action research case study into the teaching of visual literacy to Grade 10 learners in a rural high school in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Visual literacy is one of the critical aspects that have been incorporated in the teaching of English First Additional Language as required by the National Curriculum Statement (Grade 10-12), which has been implemented in Grade 10 as from 2006. With the aim of improving learners’ performance in visual literacy I designed a visual literacy unit that consisted of lesson plans running over 7 periods in 10 school days. In implementing the unit the learners were first grouped and then exposed to visual grammar and visual texts and then they critically viewed such texts and designed their own. Data was collected daily in the form of individual learner journals, researcher’s journal/diary, and copies were kept of activities done by learners (individually or in groups). Also, two teachers were invited as non-participant observers to each visit a lesson. Learner focus groups were conducted and critical friends were interviewed, tape recorded and transcribed. A camera was used to take still photographs to show learner activities in groups and during group presentations. The data revealed that visual literacy could be taught meaningfully in a rural high school as the learners could identify, cut, paste and discuss elements of visual language and they finally designed their own advertisements in groups. In the analysis of data the following factors emerged as hindrances for successful teaching of visual literacy in a rural high school: lack of resources; learners’ lack of a foundation in visual literacy from Grades 7-9; and problems revolving around time management and pacing. As action research comes in spirals, this research represented the first one and the researcher found the study an eye opener and a foundation to build on in the second spiral (that is not part of this research).
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mbelani, Madeyandile
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Visual literacy -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies Education -- Research -- Case studies Education -- Research -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Rural schools -- Research -- Case studies Rural schools -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1668 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003551
- Description: This thesis reports on a collaborative action research case study into the teaching of visual literacy to Grade 10 learners in a rural high school in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Visual literacy is one of the critical aspects that have been incorporated in the teaching of English First Additional Language as required by the National Curriculum Statement (Grade 10-12), which has been implemented in Grade 10 as from 2006. With the aim of improving learners’ performance in visual literacy I designed a visual literacy unit that consisted of lesson plans running over 7 periods in 10 school days. In implementing the unit the learners were first grouped and then exposed to visual grammar and visual texts and then they critically viewed such texts and designed their own. Data was collected daily in the form of individual learner journals, researcher’s journal/diary, and copies were kept of activities done by learners (individually or in groups). Also, two teachers were invited as non-participant observers to each visit a lesson. Learner focus groups were conducted and critical friends were interviewed, tape recorded and transcribed. A camera was used to take still photographs to show learner activities in groups and during group presentations. The data revealed that visual literacy could be taught meaningfully in a rural high school as the learners could identify, cut, paste and discuss elements of visual language and they finally designed their own advertisements in groups. In the analysis of data the following factors emerged as hindrances for successful teaching of visual literacy in a rural high school: lack of resources; learners’ lack of a foundation in visual literacy from Grades 7-9; and problems revolving around time management and pacing. As action research comes in spirals, this research represented the first one and the researcher found the study an eye opener and a foundation to build on in the second spiral (that is not part of this research).
- Full Text:
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