Deliberations on a changing curriculum landscape and emergent environmental and sustainability education practices in South Africa
- Authors: Schudel, Ingrid J
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436206 , vital:73239 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_3
- Description: This chapter describes Environmental and Sustainability Edu-cation (ESE) in South Africa against the backdrop of a chang-ing educational system. It discusses changing educational im-peratives in post-apartheid South Africa and how these have been interpreted and applied in three curriculum revisions in South Africa since 1994: Curriculum 2005, the Revised Na-tional Curriculum Statements and the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement. The narrative also examines a changing pic-ture of teacher professional development in South Africa high-lighting how constructivist and social realist understandings of education, development and learning have entered the dis-course and influenced practice in South Africa. The chapter concludes with highlighting how a relational approach to learn-ing, as evident in ESE practices in South Africa, can help to avoid a pendulum swing between the dichotomies of compet-ing discourses.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Schudel, Ingrid J
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436206 , vital:73239 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_3
- Description: This chapter describes Environmental and Sustainability Edu-cation (ESE) in South Africa against the backdrop of a chang-ing educational system. It discusses changing educational im-peratives in post-apartheid South Africa and how these have been interpreted and applied in three curriculum revisions in South Africa since 1994: Curriculum 2005, the Revised Na-tional Curriculum Statements and the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement. The narrative also examines a changing pic-ture of teacher professional development in South Africa high-lighting how constructivist and social realist understandings of education, development and learning have entered the dis-course and influenced practice in South Africa. The chapter concludes with highlighting how a relational approach to learn-ing, as evident in ESE practices in South Africa, can help to avoid a pendulum swing between the dichotomies of compet-ing discourses.
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Education for sustainable development in the Namibian Biology curriculum
- Authors: Tshiningayamwe, Sirrka
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436223 , vital:73250 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_8
- Description: As a response to the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, Namibia has incorporated Educa-tion for Sustainable Development (ESD) into its education poli-cy. There has thus been a growing recognition of the signifi-cance of ESD across the school curriculum. However, of the various subjects taught in secondary schools, science sub-jects (especially biology) are often perceived as subjects that can make a significant contribution to ESD. Drawing on re-search that was conducted at three schools in Windhoek, this chapter will comment critically on the uptake of ESD in the Bi-ology Namibian Senior Secondary Certificate (NSSC) curricu-lum. The chapter reflects on the influence of learner-centred education in the Namibian curriculum, the challenges and suc-cesses of ESD integration in the biology curriculum and how ESD has potential to strengthen and expand policies on learn-er-centred education, helping to translate them into practices.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Tshiningayamwe, Sirrka
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436223 , vital:73250 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_8
- Description: As a response to the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, Namibia has incorporated Educa-tion for Sustainable Development (ESD) into its education poli-cy. There has thus been a growing recognition of the signifi-cance of ESD across the school curriculum. However, of the various subjects taught in secondary schools, science sub-jects (especially biology) are often perceived as subjects that can make a significant contribution to ESD. Drawing on re-search that was conducted at three schools in Windhoek, this chapter will comment critically on the uptake of ESD in the Bi-ology Namibian Senior Secondary Certificate (NSSC) curricu-lum. The chapter reflects on the influence of learner-centred education in the Namibian curriculum, the challenges and suc-cesses of ESD integration in the biology curriculum and how ESD has potential to strengthen and expand policies on learn-er-centred education, helping to translate them into practices.
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Enhancing agency and action in teacher education in Zimbabwe
- Mandikonza, Caleb, Mukundu, Cecilia
- Authors: Mandikonza, Caleb , Mukundu, Cecilia
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436235 , vital:73251 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_18
- Description: In this chapter we use a case study of teacher education in Zimbabwe to review a professional development model for mainstreaming environment and sustainability education (ESE). The process is driven by a collaborative and practice-based course design where participants work towards a change project in their professional work context. An institu-tional change project approach was developed within a work-together/work-away process in a Rhodes University teacher education course undertaken in partnership with the Southern African Development Community Regional Environmental Ed-ucation Programme (SADC REEP).
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- Authors: Mandikonza, Caleb , Mukundu, Cecilia
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436235 , vital:73251 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_18
- Description: In this chapter we use a case study of teacher education in Zimbabwe to review a professional development model for mainstreaming environment and sustainability education (ESE). The process is driven by a collaborative and practice-based course design where participants work towards a change project in their professional work context. An institu-tional change project approach was developed within a work-together/work-away process in a Rhodes University teacher education course undertaken in partnership with the Southern African Development Community Regional Environmental Ed-ucation Programme (SADC REEP).
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Integrating Afrocentric approaches for meaningful learning of science concepts
- Chikunda, Charles, Ngcoza, Kenneth M
- Authors: Chikunda, Charles , Ngcoza, Kenneth M
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436248 , vital:73252 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_
- Description: Economic and social development in any modern country re-lies heavily on a sound scientific and technological base. Es-sentially, science constitutes an area of any nation’s education system where many of the skills that are needed to stimulate development are learned, such as securing good health, fighting diseases, protecting the environment, farming and de-veloping agriculture and developing new industries and tech-nologies and even building resilience to climate change. There is a need therefore for a country to harness the intellectual and scientific capacity of its young people. Ironically, however, sci-ence (especially physical sciences) is one of the least popular areas within the educational system of most developing countries. Research shows that students’ and especially girls’ low interest in science and their relatively negative attitudes are at least partially attributed to the way science is taught at school.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Chikunda, Charles , Ngcoza, Kenneth M
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436248 , vital:73252 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_
- Description: Economic and social development in any modern country re-lies heavily on a sound scientific and technological base. Es-sentially, science constitutes an area of any nation’s education system where many of the skills that are needed to stimulate development are learned, such as securing good health, fighting diseases, protecting the environment, farming and de-veloping agriculture and developing new industries and tech-nologies and even building resilience to climate change. There is a need therefore for a country to harness the intellectual and scientific capacity of its young people. Ironically, however, sci-ence (especially physical sciences) is one of the least popular areas within the educational system of most developing countries. Research shows that students’ and especially girls’ low interest in science and their relatively negative attitudes are at least partially attributed to the way science is taught at school.
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Issues-Based Enquiry: An Enabling Pedagogy for ESD in Teacher Education and School Geography
- Authors: Wilmot, P Dianne
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436266 , vital:73253 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_10
- Description: This chapter addresses the need for innovations in geography teacher education programmes in a developing world context. More specifically, it responds to the need for practical ‘how to’ examples for ESD integration into school geography by de-scribing a pedagogical experiment that was piloted with in-service Namibian teachers and education development offic-ers (EDOs) enrolled for a Bachelor of Education (Honours) de-gree in 2014. The theoretical constructs underpinning the ex-periment’s design and pedagogical approach as well as the teacher professional development model are described. This is followed by a description and justification of the methodology used to answer the research question: ‘How can issues-based enquiry enable the integration of ESD at the micro level of the classroom?’ The findings of the experiment provide evidence of how issues-based enquiry, underpinned by active learning and constructivist epistemology and a model of teacher pro-fessional development located in reflexive practice, enabled the teachers to acquire foundational knowledge and pedagog-ical content knowledge for effective integration of ESD into school geography. This chapter may offer other teacher educators some guidelines on how to develop teacher capacity to integrate ESD into their own programmes.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Wilmot, P Dianne
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436266 , vital:73253 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_10
- Description: This chapter addresses the need for innovations in geography teacher education programmes in a developing world context. More specifically, it responds to the need for practical ‘how to’ examples for ESD integration into school geography by de-scribing a pedagogical experiment that was piloted with in-service Namibian teachers and education development offic-ers (EDOs) enrolled for a Bachelor of Education (Honours) de-gree in 2014. The theoretical constructs underpinning the ex-periment’s design and pedagogical approach as well as the teacher professional development model are described. This is followed by a description and justification of the methodology used to answer the research question: ‘How can issues-based enquiry enable the integration of ESD at the micro level of the classroom?’ The findings of the experiment provide evidence of how issues-based enquiry, underpinned by active learning and constructivist epistemology and a model of teacher pro-fessional development located in reflexive practice, enabled the teachers to acquire foundational knowledge and pedagog-ical content knowledge for effective integration of ESD into school geography. This chapter may offer other teacher educators some guidelines on how to develop teacher capacity to integrate ESD into their own programmes.
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Situated learning in relation to human conduct and social-ecological change
- Authors: O’Donoghue, R
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436278 , vital:73254 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_2
- Description: This chapter traces how education has developed to provide orientation in a modern world that is characterised by emerging risk. It examines how ESD initially developed as a modernist process to enable social reorientation and has been centred on problem-solving engagement in relation to issues and risk. The intractable complexity of most social-ecological problems has meant that change-orientated and transformative imagi-naries arising in learning are not easily realised in tangible change to resolve the problems at hand. The chapter thus poses the question, “Is ESD as situated learning with trans-gressive social-ecological reorientation possible?” To address this question, the study reviews ESD as a reflexive social process in modernity and tracks some of the expansive trajectories in the developing field over the last 10 years of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development in Southern Africa.
- Full Text:
- Authors: O’Donoghue, R
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436278 , vital:73254 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_2
- Description: This chapter traces how education has developed to provide orientation in a modern world that is characterised by emerging risk. It examines how ESD initially developed as a modernist process to enable social reorientation and has been centred on problem-solving engagement in relation to issues and risk. The intractable complexity of most social-ecological problems has meant that change-orientated and transformative imagi-naries arising in learning are not easily realised in tangible change to resolve the problems at hand. The chapter thus poses the question, “Is ESD as situated learning with trans-gressive social-ecological reorientation possible?” To address this question, the study reviews ESD as a reflexive social process in modernity and tracks some of the expansive trajectories in the developing field over the last 10 years of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development in Southern Africa.
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Strengthening teachers’ knowledge and practices through a biodiversity education professional development programme
- Songqwaru, Zintle, Shava, Soul
- Authors: Songqwaru, Zintle , Shava, Soul
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436294 , vital:73255 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_15
- Description: What constitutes adequate teacher professional development support that enables teachers to engage meaningfully with ESD learning processes? In an attempt to answer this question, this chapter focuses on how continuing teacher profes-sional development programmes can support teachers of Life Sciences to teach biodiversity as a grounding concept to strengthen educational quality and relevance of Life Sciences education. It reflects on how continuing teacher professional development programmes may be designed and implemented to support South African teachers to work creatively with a con-tent and assessment-referenced national school curriculum. The chapter focuses on what content knowledge, teaching and assessment approaches to include as well as teachers’ reflections on the impacts of such a programme.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Songqwaru, Zintle , Shava, Soul
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436294 , vital:73255 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_15
- Description: What constitutes adequate teacher professional development support that enables teachers to engage meaningfully with ESD learning processes? In an attempt to answer this question, this chapter focuses on how continuing teacher profes-sional development programmes can support teachers of Life Sciences to teach biodiversity as a grounding concept to strengthen educational quality and relevance of Life Sciences education. It reflects on how continuing teacher professional development programmes may be designed and implemented to support South African teachers to work creatively with a con-tent and assessment-referenced national school curriculum. The chapter focuses on what content knowledge, teaching and assessment approaches to include as well as teachers’ reflections on the impacts of such a programme.
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The culture hut concept as curriculum innovation: Engaging the dialectic nature of heritage in Zimbabwean schools to support ESD learning
- Authors: Zazu, Cryton
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436895 , vital:73314 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_5
- Description: Influenced by Zimbabwe’s cultural policy of 2004, the culture hut concept entails the establishment of a culture hut or village within schools as a curriculum innovation aimed at promoting the teaching and learning of culture within the country’s formal education system. The culture hut is representative of what can be viewed as a ‘mini cultural museum’ in which cultural ar-tefacts and objects are displayed. All schools in Zimbabwe are, therefore, as a matter of policy expected to have a culture hut; hence the culture hut concept itself as a curriculum innovation has, since 2004, became popular in the country. Despite its popularity, little research has been done to evaluate how this curriculum innovation is adding value to Zimbabwe’s education system. It is against this background that this chapter interro-gates the culture hut concept in Zimbabwe, pointing out some of the shortfalls in its current application and highlighting how, if carefully constituted, such curriculum innovation can foster the type of learning envisaged within the Education for Sus-tainable Development (ESD) framework. This chapter, as much as it provides a critique of how the culture hut concept is being used in Zimbabwean schools, also points to what could be done to reconstitute and use this curriculum innovation in ways that support more ESD learning.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Zazu, Cryton
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436895 , vital:73314 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_5
- Description: Influenced by Zimbabwe’s cultural policy of 2004, the culture hut concept entails the establishment of a culture hut or village within schools as a curriculum innovation aimed at promoting the teaching and learning of culture within the country’s formal education system. The culture hut is representative of what can be viewed as a ‘mini cultural museum’ in which cultural ar-tefacts and objects are displayed. All schools in Zimbabwe are, therefore, as a matter of policy expected to have a culture hut; hence the culture hut concept itself as a curriculum innovation has, since 2004, became popular in the country. Despite its popularity, little research has been done to evaluate how this curriculum innovation is adding value to Zimbabwe’s education system. It is against this background that this chapter interro-gates the culture hut concept in Zimbabwe, pointing out some of the shortfalls in its current application and highlighting how, if carefully constituted, such curriculum innovation can foster the type of learning envisaged within the Education for Sus-tainable Development (ESD) framework. This chapter, as much as it provides a critique of how the culture hut concept is being used in Zimbabwean schools, also points to what could be done to reconstitute and use this curriculum innovation in ways that support more ESD learning.
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The Uptake of Education for Sustainable Development in Geography Curricula in South African Secondary Schools
- Authors: Dube, Carolina
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436319 , vital:73257 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_7
- Description: Curriculum innovation that took place in the post-apartheid era in South Africa provided opportunities for integrating environ-mental concerns and sustainability issues in subjects such as geography and science at further education and training level (FET). However, evidence from my PhD study in geography education at FET level shows that there are major challenges in the implementation of education for sustainable develop-ment (ESD) in the school context. These relate, firstly, to teachers’ lack of content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and, secondly, to contextual issues and structural constraints within schools. In order to overcome some of the challenges, a standards-based teacher training model is recommended to ensure the mastery of appropriate competencies for the implementation of environmental educa-tion (EE) and ESD.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Dube, Carolina
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436319 , vital:73257 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_7
- Description: Curriculum innovation that took place in the post-apartheid era in South Africa provided opportunities for integrating environ-mental concerns and sustainability issues in subjects such as geography and science at further education and training level (FET). However, evidence from my PhD study in geography education at FET level shows that there are major challenges in the implementation of education for sustainable develop-ment (ESD) in the school context. These relate, firstly, to teachers’ lack of content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and, secondly, to contextual issues and structural constraints within schools. In order to overcome some of the challenges, a standards-based teacher training model is recommended to ensure the mastery of appropriate competencies for the implementation of environmental educa-tion (EE) and ESD.
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Towards professional learning communities: A review
- Tshiningayamwe, Sirkka, Songqwaru, Zintle
- Authors: Tshiningayamwe, Sirkka , Songqwaru, Zintle
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436305 , vital:73256 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_19
- Description: Professional learning communities (PLCs) have proven to be effective models of teachers’ professional development. Therefore, for effective Education for Sustainable Develop-ment (ESD), PLCs should be considered in the planning of teacher professional development initiatives. This will enable teachers to address issues of quality teaching, learning and sustainable development issues. In the South African context, a ‘professional learning community’ is an emerging policy con-cept. This chapter thus provides a review of the emergence of teacher clusters in South Africa using a reflexive spiral model and praxis tasks. The chapter also draws from the Namibian and South African teacher cluster literature to comment on how teacher clusters could potentially be translated into PLCs to transform teachers’ practices as they relate to ESD.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Tshiningayamwe, Sirkka , Songqwaru, Zintle
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436305 , vital:73256 , ISBN 978-3-319-45989-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_19
- Description: Professional learning communities (PLCs) have proven to be effective models of teachers’ professional development. Therefore, for effective Education for Sustainable Develop-ment (ESD), PLCs should be considered in the planning of teacher professional development initiatives. This will enable teachers to address issues of quality teaching, learning and sustainable development issues. In the South African context, a ‘professional learning community’ is an emerging policy con-cept. This chapter thus provides a review of the emergence of teacher clusters in South Africa using a reflexive spiral model and praxis tasks. The chapter also draws from the Namibian and South African teacher cluster literature to comment on how teacher clusters could potentially be translated into PLCs to transform teachers’ practices as they relate to ESD.
- Full Text:
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