A case study of emergent environmental pedagogical content knowledge in a Fundisa for Change teacher professional development course
- Authors: Brundrit, Susan
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Career development -- South Africa , Environmental education -- South Africa , Teachers -- Training of --South Africa , Environmental education -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Fundisa for Change
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62850 , vital:28301
- Description: This study set out to explore and describe in the form of a qualitative case study, an iteration of a Fundisa for Change teacher professional development programme, in this case the Teaching Life & Living short course presented to seventeen teachers as part of their Advanced Certificate in Teaching (ACT) Senior Phase Natural Sciences, at the University of Cape Town. The focus of the research was on describing how the development of teacher environmental pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) was supported and constructed in the course. The Consensus Model of Teacher Professional Knowledge and Skill, an outcome of the 2012 PCK Summit, was used to define the concept of PCK and also contributed the concept of amplifiers and filters as processes that mediate the development of teacher PCK. The study drew on Borko’s (2004) model of a professional development system, using the elements of course, teachers, facilitators and context as an analytical framework. Data generated included a teacher contextual profile questionnaire, audio-recordings of group work, course outputs and reflection and evaluation forms. Data analysis had two phases: the first phase concentrated on the development of analytic memos based on particular data sources whereas the second phase worked across data sources to present the evidence relating to each of the professional development system elements. The study found that teachers were supported in the development of their environmental PCK by the collaborative learning opportunities afforded by the course. Emergent PCK was organised according to five components: assessment knowledge; pedagogical knowledge; content knowledge; knowledge of learners; and, curricular knowledge. Emergent teacher learning ranged in specificity from general, to subject-specific, to domain-specific, and lastly to topic-specific knowledge. Teacher beliefs and orientations, prior knowledge and contexts brought into the professional development system were described as amplifiers and filters to teacher learning of PCK. In particular there were several contextual factors that emerged as themes from the data that had potentially filtering effects. Recommendations included that facilitators create an atmosphere conducive to collaborative learning, that evidence of learner conceptual understanding be examined during the course, that teachers be exposed to in-depth examples of canonical PCK and that more modelling of formative assessment strategies are presented.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Brundrit, Susan
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Career development -- South Africa , Environmental education -- South Africa , Teachers -- Training of --South Africa , Environmental education -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Fundisa for Change
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62850 , vital:28301
- Description: This study set out to explore and describe in the form of a qualitative case study, an iteration of a Fundisa for Change teacher professional development programme, in this case the Teaching Life & Living short course presented to seventeen teachers as part of their Advanced Certificate in Teaching (ACT) Senior Phase Natural Sciences, at the University of Cape Town. The focus of the research was on describing how the development of teacher environmental pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) was supported and constructed in the course. The Consensus Model of Teacher Professional Knowledge and Skill, an outcome of the 2012 PCK Summit, was used to define the concept of PCK and also contributed the concept of amplifiers and filters as processes that mediate the development of teacher PCK. The study drew on Borko’s (2004) model of a professional development system, using the elements of course, teachers, facilitators and context as an analytical framework. Data generated included a teacher contextual profile questionnaire, audio-recordings of group work, course outputs and reflection and evaluation forms. Data analysis had two phases: the first phase concentrated on the development of analytic memos based on particular data sources whereas the second phase worked across data sources to present the evidence relating to each of the professional development system elements. The study found that teachers were supported in the development of their environmental PCK by the collaborative learning opportunities afforded by the course. Emergent PCK was organised according to five components: assessment knowledge; pedagogical knowledge; content knowledge; knowledge of learners; and, curricular knowledge. Emergent teacher learning ranged in specificity from general, to subject-specific, to domain-specific, and lastly to topic-specific knowledge. Teacher beliefs and orientations, prior knowledge and contexts brought into the professional development system were described as amplifiers and filters to teacher learning of PCK. In particular there were several contextual factors that emerged as themes from the data that had potentially filtering effects. Recommendations included that facilitators create an atmosphere conducive to collaborative learning, that evidence of learner conceptual understanding be examined during the course, that teachers be exposed to in-depth examples of canonical PCK and that more modelling of formative assessment strategies are presented.
- Full Text:
A critical analysis of the establishment, conceptualisation, design and curriculum component selection of Master of Education programmes at selected Tanzanian universities
- Authors: Ramadhan, Maryam Khamis
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Master of education degree Tanzania , Universities and colleges Curricula Tanzania , Universities and colleges Evaluation , Teacher effectiveness Tanzania , Master of education degree , Educational change Tanzania , Secondary school teachers Tanzania , Pedagogical content knowledge Tanzania , Universities and colleges Administration , Critical realism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62214 , vital:28139
- Description: There is a dearth of research on how the design and curriculum of a Master of Education (MEd) qualification for university-based teacher educators of prospective secondary school teachers may or may not contribute to the problem of poor secondary school learning outcomes in Tanzania. This qualitative study analyses the establishment, conceptualisation, design and curriculum components of selected MEd programmes with the purpose of identifying and explaining the conditions enabling and/or constraining the development of quality teacher educators. The research used a case study design to investigate how and why particular knowledge is privileged in two MEd programmes at two Tanzanian universities with a view to probing the relevance of the knowledge to teacher educators professional roles and practices. The study used critical realism as an under-labourer to investigate power structures and the generative and causal mechanisms underlying the two MEd programmes. The study draws on aspects of Bernstein’s theory as analytical tools to explain what emerges from the data. The data was collected from interviews, document analysis and observation, and analysed using thematic analysis, abductive and retroductive modes of inference. The research revealed and explains how underlying structural and agential mechanisms have shaped the establishment, conceptualisation and curriculum design of the two MEd programmes. The findings revealed a strong relationship between constraints, including the lack of appropriate MEd design team and the inadequacy of resources and facilities, and the quality of MEd graduates. Such constrains are possible mechanisms associated with the agential actions of the top administrators affect the relevance and appropriateness of the MEd curriculum components, the effective lecturers transmission and students acquisition of knowledge and skills. The research also explored how underlying mechanisms shaped the selection of course content and the privileging of certain types of teacher knowledge. These mechanisms include programme entry qualification, curriculum arrangement of core and elective courses, the lack of awareness of the knowledge and skills requisite for teacher educators’ specialisation, and the absence of recontextualisation principles to guide appropriate selection and recontextualisation of the relevant teacher educator’s courses. There is evidence that both MEd programmes have insufficient pedagogical knowledge and lack large components of academic content knowledge of teaching. An emphasis on individual disciplinary education courses with strong boundaries between modules and topics, aimed at developing specific education specialisations, results in teacher educator professional knowledge being less developed. Furthermore the accumulation and repetition of inappropriate knowledge has resulted in these programmes being weak regions for teacher educators’ professional fields of practice. This has implications for the quality of the secondary school teacher professional development courses on which these MEd graduates teach. It raises questions about the quality of the secondary school teachers being produced, and the extent to which this is contributing to the disappointing performance of Tanzanian schooling. The study generates insights into the mechanisms and conditions constraining the development of quality teacher educators. These conditions include the domination of higher education by customer demand, weak university regulatory systems, and the autonomy of university administration in terms of programme approval and other academic operations. Some administrators and lecturers showed an understanding of what would enable quality teacher educator development in the MEd programme. The findings of the research may help to strengthen and enhance quality assurance in the Master of Education programmes for teacher educators in Tanzania in ways that help develop quality secondary school teachers and improve school learning outcomes.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ramadhan, Maryam Khamis
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Master of education degree Tanzania , Universities and colleges Curricula Tanzania , Universities and colleges Evaluation , Teacher effectiveness Tanzania , Master of education degree , Educational change Tanzania , Secondary school teachers Tanzania , Pedagogical content knowledge Tanzania , Universities and colleges Administration , Critical realism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62214 , vital:28139
- Description: There is a dearth of research on how the design and curriculum of a Master of Education (MEd) qualification for university-based teacher educators of prospective secondary school teachers may or may not contribute to the problem of poor secondary school learning outcomes in Tanzania. This qualitative study analyses the establishment, conceptualisation, design and curriculum components of selected MEd programmes with the purpose of identifying and explaining the conditions enabling and/or constraining the development of quality teacher educators. The research used a case study design to investigate how and why particular knowledge is privileged in two MEd programmes at two Tanzanian universities with a view to probing the relevance of the knowledge to teacher educators professional roles and practices. The study used critical realism as an under-labourer to investigate power structures and the generative and causal mechanisms underlying the two MEd programmes. The study draws on aspects of Bernstein’s theory as analytical tools to explain what emerges from the data. The data was collected from interviews, document analysis and observation, and analysed using thematic analysis, abductive and retroductive modes of inference. The research revealed and explains how underlying structural and agential mechanisms have shaped the establishment, conceptualisation and curriculum design of the two MEd programmes. The findings revealed a strong relationship between constraints, including the lack of appropriate MEd design team and the inadequacy of resources and facilities, and the quality of MEd graduates. Such constrains are possible mechanisms associated with the agential actions of the top administrators affect the relevance and appropriateness of the MEd curriculum components, the effective lecturers transmission and students acquisition of knowledge and skills. The research also explored how underlying mechanisms shaped the selection of course content and the privileging of certain types of teacher knowledge. These mechanisms include programme entry qualification, curriculum arrangement of core and elective courses, the lack of awareness of the knowledge and skills requisite for teacher educators’ specialisation, and the absence of recontextualisation principles to guide appropriate selection and recontextualisation of the relevant teacher educator’s courses. There is evidence that both MEd programmes have insufficient pedagogical knowledge and lack large components of academic content knowledge of teaching. An emphasis on individual disciplinary education courses with strong boundaries between modules and topics, aimed at developing specific education specialisations, results in teacher educator professional knowledge being less developed. Furthermore the accumulation and repetition of inappropriate knowledge has resulted in these programmes being weak regions for teacher educators’ professional fields of practice. This has implications for the quality of the secondary school teacher professional development courses on which these MEd graduates teach. It raises questions about the quality of the secondary school teachers being produced, and the extent to which this is contributing to the disappointing performance of Tanzanian schooling. The study generates insights into the mechanisms and conditions constraining the development of quality teacher educators. These conditions include the domination of higher education by customer demand, weak university regulatory systems, and the autonomy of university administration in terms of programme approval and other academic operations. Some administrators and lecturers showed an understanding of what would enable quality teacher educator development in the MEd programme. The findings of the research may help to strengthen and enhance quality assurance in the Master of Education programmes for teacher educators in Tanzania in ways that help develop quality secondary school teachers and improve school learning outcomes.
- Full Text:
A formative intervention for developing Learner Representative Council (LRC) voice and leadership in a newly established school in Namibia
- Authors: Amadhila, Linda
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Student government -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61744 , vital:28054
- Description: In Namibian schools, learner voice and leadership are being promoted through the policy document entitled the Education Act 16 of2001 which provides an opportunity to establish Learner Representative Councils (LRCs) in secondary schools. However, recent studies have found that this body of learner leaders do not function all that effectively and sometimes exist for the sake of adhering to the policy. This prompted me to conduct an activity theoretical interventionist case- study within the critical paradigm, to develop LRC voice and leadership in a newly established Namibian school. Framed by Cultural Historical Activity Theory, the study was divided into two phases to answer the over-arching question: How can LRC voice and leadership be developed in a school? Phase one was largely interpretive, the contextual profiling phase, where document analysis, individual interviews, questionnaires and observations were used to generate data to answer the following research sub-questions: How is learner leadership understood in the school? What leadership development opportunities for the LRC currently exist in the school? What underlying factors constrain the development of LRC voice and leadership in the newly established school? Phase two of the study was the expansive learning phase, which consisted of three intervention workshops. The Change Laboratory method and a focus group interview were used to generate data in response to the last research sub-question: In what ways can LRC participation in a Change Laboratory process contribute to their leadership development? Data generated were inductively and deductively analysed, using the activity theoretical principles of contradictions and double stimulation. Data revealed that learner leadership was largely understood as managerial roles carried out by the LRC in the school. Unlike many schools in Namibia, this case-study school offered numerous leadership development opportunities for the LRC. The community networking events such as: School Exchange Programmes, Town Council breakfast and Junior Regional Council, were opportunities offered to the LRC to solicit information, exchange ideas and discuss matters of common interest with the LRCs of the fully established schools. However, there were a number of challenges that constrained LRC voice and leadership development, the major one being the fact that this was a newly established school. Of significance was that LRC participation in the Change Laboratory process contributed positively to the development of voice and leadership in learners. During this Change Laboratory process, the LRC developed a new artefact - the vision and mission statement of the school - this signified that the learners expansively transformed the object of their activity. Recommendations emerging out of the study included that the School Management Team see the ‘newly established’ status of the school as an opportunity for development, rather than a limitation, and therefore invite the LRC to participate in the different leadership practices as the school becomes established. A significant recommendation for school leadership research is to use the third generation of CHAT to expand the unit of analysis, in order to understand the leadership relations and power dynamics between multiple activity systems in schools as complex organisations.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Amadhila, Linda
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Student government -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61744 , vital:28054
- Description: In Namibian schools, learner voice and leadership are being promoted through the policy document entitled the Education Act 16 of2001 which provides an opportunity to establish Learner Representative Councils (LRCs) in secondary schools. However, recent studies have found that this body of learner leaders do not function all that effectively and sometimes exist for the sake of adhering to the policy. This prompted me to conduct an activity theoretical interventionist case- study within the critical paradigm, to develop LRC voice and leadership in a newly established Namibian school. Framed by Cultural Historical Activity Theory, the study was divided into two phases to answer the over-arching question: How can LRC voice and leadership be developed in a school? Phase one was largely interpretive, the contextual profiling phase, where document analysis, individual interviews, questionnaires and observations were used to generate data to answer the following research sub-questions: How is learner leadership understood in the school? What leadership development opportunities for the LRC currently exist in the school? What underlying factors constrain the development of LRC voice and leadership in the newly established school? Phase two of the study was the expansive learning phase, which consisted of three intervention workshops. The Change Laboratory method and a focus group interview were used to generate data in response to the last research sub-question: In what ways can LRC participation in a Change Laboratory process contribute to their leadership development? Data generated were inductively and deductively analysed, using the activity theoretical principles of contradictions and double stimulation. Data revealed that learner leadership was largely understood as managerial roles carried out by the LRC in the school. Unlike many schools in Namibia, this case-study school offered numerous leadership development opportunities for the LRC. The community networking events such as: School Exchange Programmes, Town Council breakfast and Junior Regional Council, were opportunities offered to the LRC to solicit information, exchange ideas and discuss matters of common interest with the LRCs of the fully established schools. However, there were a number of challenges that constrained LRC voice and leadership development, the major one being the fact that this was a newly established school. Of significance was that LRC participation in the Change Laboratory process contributed positively to the development of voice and leadership in learners. During this Change Laboratory process, the LRC developed a new artefact - the vision and mission statement of the school - this signified that the learners expansively transformed the object of their activity. Recommendations emerging out of the study included that the School Management Team see the ‘newly established’ status of the school as an opportunity for development, rather than a limitation, and therefore invite the LRC to participate in the different leadership practices as the school becomes established. A significant recommendation for school leadership research is to use the third generation of CHAT to expand the unit of analysis, in order to understand the leadership relations and power dynamics between multiple activity systems in schools as complex organisations.
- Full Text:
A review of Climate-Smart system innovations in two Agricultural Colleges in the North West Province of South Africa
- Authors: Van Staden, Wilma
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Crops and climate South Africa North-West , Sustainable agriculture South Africa North-West , Agriculture Environmental aspects South Africa North-West , Agricultural colleges Curricula South Africa , Agricultural innovations , Agricultural ecology South Africa North-West
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63426 , vital:28410
- Description: This study was centred on the Agricultural Innovation System in the North West Province, South Africa as a response to climate change. The study developed during a time when Climate-Smart Agriculture emerged in policy and was developed as a strategic agricultural innovation process in response to changes in climate that increased food insecurity. The Agricultural Colleges embedded in the agricultural system realised that they were teaching students without a clear provision for climate change and therefore needed to initiate climate responsive innovations to comply with the Climate-Smart strategy that had been proposed by the provincial authorities. This provided the context for the study to track and support the innovation process of transitioning towards Climate-Smart responsive curriculum and learning practices within the system. A theoretical framework for the study was developed using a Cultural Historical Activity Theory perspective. This allowed the researcher to approach the research process as two case studies of innovation within the Agricultural Innovation System of the North West Province. The study developed as an iterative process of innovation support and tracking. At the early stages of the research process, data were generated through document analysis and a survey completed by the research participants at the preliminary consultative workshop. The contextual data allowed the researcher to begin to develop a clear contextual profile for both case studies. The consultative workshops were held to orientate the research around the central problems and challenges related to curriculum alignment with provincial Climate-Smart Agricultural policies. The methodology thereafter was developed as an iterative process of successive intervention-innovation workshops where the participating staff in each college reviewed their curriculum with the support of a Climate-Smart Innovation Tool. This tool was developed as a mediating resource for participants to undertake intervention work towards curriculum innovation in their context. The historical analysis from the two consultative workshops and the data derived from the initial use of the Climate-Smart Innovation Tool was used to model the activity systems in the respective colleges and the provincial system. This analysis enabled the researcher to scope how the system was currently functioning and how it had changed over time. During the workshops, curriculum innovations were reviewed and a fuller picture of the challenges of system innovation emerged, especially from a curriculum innovation vantage point. This system analysis was used to analyse emergent tensions and contradictions within the system and to build a picture of the complexities of participating staff initiating innovations towards Climate-Smart responsiveness in the colleges and within the Agricultural Innovation System. During the review and tracking of the supported innovation process the Climate-Smart Innovation Tool was developed into online sub-tools where either Departments or individual lecturers could review and track their own Climate-Smart responsiveness. The tool was shown to be a useful tool for surfacing contradictions, and identifying absences, and thus for charting out the start of reflexive learning and change processes needed for introducing climate responsive knowledge into the system. The study reveals that catalysing of curriculum and learning system innovation aligned with wider innovations in the agricultural innovation system requires specific tools, time and the understanding of the importance of micro-level innovation. The innovations within the system revealed the significance of allowing for time and processes that facilitate ‘ascending’ from the abstract concept of Climate-Smart Agriculture into more concrete curriculum processes. The curriculum review tool developed for this study served as an important double stimulation tool, along with activity system mapping, and ongoing refinement and clarification of the object of Climate-Smart Agriculture and associated contradictions and action plans for climate smart responsiveness in the college context. The tools and processes that were developed during this study, assisting in the emergence of micro-level innovation of the curriculum and learning system. The barriers and processes hampering curriculum and learning innovation within the system were identified. The study concludes with the recommendations on how a Climate-Smart innovation process might best be supported with reflexive tools within a curriculum and learning system during a time of institutional flux.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Van Staden, Wilma
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Crops and climate South Africa North-West , Sustainable agriculture South Africa North-West , Agriculture Environmental aspects South Africa North-West , Agricultural colleges Curricula South Africa , Agricultural innovations , Agricultural ecology South Africa North-West
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63426 , vital:28410
- Description: This study was centred on the Agricultural Innovation System in the North West Province, South Africa as a response to climate change. The study developed during a time when Climate-Smart Agriculture emerged in policy and was developed as a strategic agricultural innovation process in response to changes in climate that increased food insecurity. The Agricultural Colleges embedded in the agricultural system realised that they were teaching students without a clear provision for climate change and therefore needed to initiate climate responsive innovations to comply with the Climate-Smart strategy that had been proposed by the provincial authorities. This provided the context for the study to track and support the innovation process of transitioning towards Climate-Smart responsive curriculum and learning practices within the system. A theoretical framework for the study was developed using a Cultural Historical Activity Theory perspective. This allowed the researcher to approach the research process as two case studies of innovation within the Agricultural Innovation System of the North West Province. The study developed as an iterative process of innovation support and tracking. At the early stages of the research process, data were generated through document analysis and a survey completed by the research participants at the preliminary consultative workshop. The contextual data allowed the researcher to begin to develop a clear contextual profile for both case studies. The consultative workshops were held to orientate the research around the central problems and challenges related to curriculum alignment with provincial Climate-Smart Agricultural policies. The methodology thereafter was developed as an iterative process of successive intervention-innovation workshops where the participating staff in each college reviewed their curriculum with the support of a Climate-Smart Innovation Tool. This tool was developed as a mediating resource for participants to undertake intervention work towards curriculum innovation in their context. The historical analysis from the two consultative workshops and the data derived from the initial use of the Climate-Smart Innovation Tool was used to model the activity systems in the respective colleges and the provincial system. This analysis enabled the researcher to scope how the system was currently functioning and how it had changed over time. During the workshops, curriculum innovations were reviewed and a fuller picture of the challenges of system innovation emerged, especially from a curriculum innovation vantage point. This system analysis was used to analyse emergent tensions and contradictions within the system and to build a picture of the complexities of participating staff initiating innovations towards Climate-Smart responsiveness in the colleges and within the Agricultural Innovation System. During the review and tracking of the supported innovation process the Climate-Smart Innovation Tool was developed into online sub-tools where either Departments or individual lecturers could review and track their own Climate-Smart responsiveness. The tool was shown to be a useful tool for surfacing contradictions, and identifying absences, and thus for charting out the start of reflexive learning and change processes needed for introducing climate responsive knowledge into the system. The study reveals that catalysing of curriculum and learning system innovation aligned with wider innovations in the agricultural innovation system requires specific tools, time and the understanding of the importance of micro-level innovation. The innovations within the system revealed the significance of allowing for time and processes that facilitate ‘ascending’ from the abstract concept of Climate-Smart Agriculture into more concrete curriculum processes. The curriculum review tool developed for this study served as an important double stimulation tool, along with activity system mapping, and ongoing refinement and clarification of the object of Climate-Smart Agriculture and associated contradictions and action plans for climate smart responsiveness in the college context. The tools and processes that were developed during this study, assisting in the emergence of micro-level innovation of the curriculum and learning system. The barriers and processes hampering curriculum and learning innovation within the system were identified. The study concludes with the recommendations on how a Climate-Smart innovation process might best be supported with reflexive tools within a curriculum and learning system during a time of institutional flux.
- Full Text:
A review of the implementation of the CAPS Life Skills curriculum training, as a recontextualising process, in engaging teachers in environmental education in two districts of the Eastern Cape Province
- Authors: Yoyo, Sindiswa
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Life skills Study and teaching (Continuing education) South Africa Eastern Cape , Environmental education Curricula South Africa Eastern Cape , Teachers In-service training South Africa Eastern Cape , Curriculum change South Africa Eastern Cape , Teachers Education (Continuing education) South Africa Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61767 , vital:28057
- Description: This study examines how the implementation of CAPS Life Skills curriculum training (as a recontextualising process) is engaging teachers in environmental education. The research was centred on training manuals for Life Skills (Official Recontextualisation Field) and their use in CAPS training at district level in two Eastern Cape sites of recontextualisation (Professional Recontextualisation Field). During the training, teachers developed lesson plans that were reviewed and group interviews were conducted on the training process and its outcomes. The manuals, training process, lesson plans and interview transcripts were analysed for evidence of environmental education, notably content, teaching and learning methods and assessment strategies. Bernstein’s (1990) framework of the pedagogic device underpins this study. Here the concept of the relay is key for tracking the "relay” of the content, teaching and learning methods and assessment strategies through the processes of recontextualisation into the lesson plans for the field of production. During the process of de-location and relocation, gaps are created and this study sought to track and probe patterns of omissions that took place during the relay process in two cases of training. The review of the in-service training course process of recontextualisation and its cascading approach exposed challenges of omission as it became clear that at each level of the recontextualisation process, gaps were apparent. The study highlighted how the 3-5 day workshop process reviewed was not a robust model for professional development. It was not effective and changes in the mode of delivery and processes of support that reach into curriculum practice in the context of the school are recommended. The study concludes that there is a need for continuous professional development as teachers need ongoing support especially for a "new” curriculum like CAPS that is content driven.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Yoyo, Sindiswa
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Life skills Study and teaching (Continuing education) South Africa Eastern Cape , Environmental education Curricula South Africa Eastern Cape , Teachers In-service training South Africa Eastern Cape , Curriculum change South Africa Eastern Cape , Teachers Education (Continuing education) South Africa Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61767 , vital:28057
- Description: This study examines how the implementation of CAPS Life Skills curriculum training (as a recontextualising process) is engaging teachers in environmental education. The research was centred on training manuals for Life Skills (Official Recontextualisation Field) and their use in CAPS training at district level in two Eastern Cape sites of recontextualisation (Professional Recontextualisation Field). During the training, teachers developed lesson plans that were reviewed and group interviews were conducted on the training process and its outcomes. The manuals, training process, lesson plans and interview transcripts were analysed for evidence of environmental education, notably content, teaching and learning methods and assessment strategies. Bernstein’s (1990) framework of the pedagogic device underpins this study. Here the concept of the relay is key for tracking the "relay” of the content, teaching and learning methods and assessment strategies through the processes of recontextualisation into the lesson plans for the field of production. During the process of de-location and relocation, gaps are created and this study sought to track and probe patterns of omissions that took place during the relay process in two cases of training. The review of the in-service training course process of recontextualisation and its cascading approach exposed challenges of omission as it became clear that at each level of the recontextualisation process, gaps were apparent. The study highlighted how the 3-5 day workshop process reviewed was not a robust model for professional development. It was not effective and changes in the mode of delivery and processes of support that reach into curriculum practice in the context of the school are recommended. The study concludes that there is a need for continuous professional development as teachers need ongoing support especially for a "new” curriculum like CAPS that is content driven.
- Full Text:
A social realist study of employability development in engineering education
- Authors: Nudelman, Gabrielle Reeve
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Critical realism , Electrical engineering -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa -- Cape Town , Employability , Career education -- South Africa -- Cape Town , School-to-work transition -- South Africa -- Cape Town
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62884 , vital:28307
- Description: This qualitative case study of a course pairing offered to final-year electrical engineering students at the University of Cape Town in 2015 was undertaken in order to better understand the ways in which participation in undergraduate courses can prepare engineering students for the workplace. The course pairing consisted of New Venture Planning and Professional Communication Studies. While the former aimed to expose students to the knowledge relating to starting a new business, the latter focused on teaching students how to create written and oral texts to support such an endeavour. Using Roy Bhaskar’s critical realism as a theoretical underlabourer, the study develops understandings regarding the generative mechanisms at work during the two courses. In support of this, the study posits an understanding of employability that moves beyond the acquisition of discrete workplace skills. Rather, employability is conceptualised as discursive transformation, with students being deemed “work-ready” when they develop discursive identities as engineers. Data generation took place by means of focus group and individual interviews, ethnographic observation and documentary research. Margaret Archer’s social realist tools – in particular, analytical dualism and the morphogenetic framework were used to trace the students’ transformations over the course pairing. It was argued that those students who developed discursive identities of engineers were those who, in Archer’s terms, emerged as social actors at the end of the course pairing. Two characteristics of the courses were found to enable this transformation: those parts that promoted deepened understanding of what the role of “engineer” entailed and the parts that provided spaces for students to develop their own personal identities. The findings of the study indicated that discursive identities as engineers were more likely to be developed through the group work and spaces for reflection engendered by the courses than as a result of the formal curriculum. The implications of the research are that, while a focus on employability in engineering education is valid and productive, this needs to be supported by opportunities for authentic learning experiences which afford students the opportunity to engage in learning that promotes real-life application of knowledge. , Thesis (PhD)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Education, Education, 2018
- Full Text:
- Authors: Nudelman, Gabrielle Reeve
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Critical realism , Electrical engineering -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa -- Cape Town , Employability , Career education -- South Africa -- Cape Town , School-to-work transition -- South Africa -- Cape Town
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62884 , vital:28307
- Description: This qualitative case study of a course pairing offered to final-year electrical engineering students at the University of Cape Town in 2015 was undertaken in order to better understand the ways in which participation in undergraduate courses can prepare engineering students for the workplace. The course pairing consisted of New Venture Planning and Professional Communication Studies. While the former aimed to expose students to the knowledge relating to starting a new business, the latter focused on teaching students how to create written and oral texts to support such an endeavour. Using Roy Bhaskar’s critical realism as a theoretical underlabourer, the study develops understandings regarding the generative mechanisms at work during the two courses. In support of this, the study posits an understanding of employability that moves beyond the acquisition of discrete workplace skills. Rather, employability is conceptualised as discursive transformation, with students being deemed “work-ready” when they develop discursive identities as engineers. Data generation took place by means of focus group and individual interviews, ethnographic observation and documentary research. Margaret Archer’s social realist tools – in particular, analytical dualism and the morphogenetic framework were used to trace the students’ transformations over the course pairing. It was argued that those students who developed discursive identities of engineers were those who, in Archer’s terms, emerged as social actors at the end of the course pairing. Two characteristics of the courses were found to enable this transformation: those parts that promoted deepened understanding of what the role of “engineer” entailed and the parts that provided spaces for students to develop their own personal identities. The findings of the study indicated that discursive identities as engineers were more likely to be developed through the group work and spaces for reflection engendered by the courses than as a result of the formal curriculum. The implications of the research are that, while a focus on employability in engineering education is valid and productive, this needs to be supported by opportunities for authentic learning experiences which afford students the opportunity to engage in learning that promotes real-life application of knowledge. , Thesis (PhD)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Education, Education, 2018
- Full Text:
An activity theoretical investigation into how leadership can be developed within a group of class monitors in a Namibian secondary school
- Authors: Kalimbo, Tomas
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Student government -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61734 , vital:28053
- Description: Literature suggests that developing leadership in learners benefits them and their schools in general. Learners are prepared as future leaders and they gain leadership skills and democratic values and principles. Learner leaders therefore contribute to transformation in their schools. However, research on the same topic has also found that learners have limited leadership development opportunities, as they are not authentically and democratically involved in leadership in many schools. Informed by the distributed perspective of leadership, this study investigates how leadership can be developed within a group of class monitors in a Namibian secondary school. Its overarching goal was to develop leadership and build transformative agency within class monitors. The study was designed as an interventionist study, theoretically and analytically framed by Engestrom’s second generation of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). Multiple methods were used for data collection, including questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, document analysis and Change Laboratory workshops. Data analysis took the form of content analysis and coding, as well as using the CHAT lens to surface contradictions. The findings of the study revealed that there was conceptual awareness on what learner leadership and leadership development meant among participants. However, little was being done to develop leadership in class monitors. Traditional leadership practices and cultural belief that learners are mere children, as well as confinement to formal leadership structures and policies were the main hindering inner contradictions within the research school. A formative intervention was instituted through the Change Laboratory workshop process and it resulted in leadership training to capacitate and empower class monitors, as well as enhance their transformative agency. The study thus recommends for a shift from traditional autocratic leadership practices to a contemporary distributed perspective of leadership that recognises the need to develop leadership in learners.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Kalimbo, Tomas
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Student government -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61734 , vital:28053
- Description: Literature suggests that developing leadership in learners benefits them and their schools in general. Learners are prepared as future leaders and they gain leadership skills and democratic values and principles. Learner leaders therefore contribute to transformation in their schools. However, research on the same topic has also found that learners have limited leadership development opportunities, as they are not authentically and democratically involved in leadership in many schools. Informed by the distributed perspective of leadership, this study investigates how leadership can be developed within a group of class monitors in a Namibian secondary school. Its overarching goal was to develop leadership and build transformative agency within class monitors. The study was designed as an interventionist study, theoretically and analytically framed by Engestrom’s second generation of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). Multiple methods were used for data collection, including questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, document analysis and Change Laboratory workshops. Data analysis took the form of content analysis and coding, as well as using the CHAT lens to surface contradictions. The findings of the study revealed that there was conceptual awareness on what learner leadership and leadership development meant among participants. However, little was being done to develop leadership in class monitors. Traditional leadership practices and cultural belief that learners are mere children, as well as confinement to formal leadership structures and policies were the main hindering inner contradictions within the research school. A formative intervention was instituted through the Change Laboratory workshop process and it resulted in leadership training to capacitate and empower class monitors, as well as enhance their transformative agency. The study thus recommends for a shift from traditional autocratic leadership practices to a contemporary distributed perspective of leadership that recognises the need to develop leadership in learners.
- Full Text:
An analysis of how visualisation processes can be used by teachers participating in an intervention programme to teach for conceptual understanding of geometry
- Authors: Muhembo, Gottfried Mbundu
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Geometry -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia -- Kavango East , Visualization , Mathematics teachers -- Namibia -- Kavango East , Effective teaching -- Namibia -- Kavango East , Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- Activity programs
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62439 , vital:28190
- Description: Visualisation in general and visualisation processes in particular have received much attention in the mathematics education research literature. Literature suggests that the appropriate use of visualisation helps learners to develop their conceptual understanding and skills of geometry as it allows them to visually interpret and understand fundamental mathematical and geometrical concepts. It is claimed that visual tools play an important role in communicating mathematical ideas through diagrams, gestures, images, sketches or drawings. Learning mathematics through visualisation can be a powerful tool to explore mathematical problems and give meaning to mathematical concepts and relationships between them. This interpretive case study focused on how selected teachers taught concepts in geometry through visualisation processes for conceptual understanding as a result of an intervention programme. The study was conducted at four high schools by four mathematics teachers in the Kavango East Region in Northern Namibia. The participants were involved in a three-week intervention programme and afterwards taught three lessons each on the topic of geometry. The data collection method of this research was: focus group and stimulus recall interviews, classroom observations and recorded videos. This research is located in constructivism. I used vertical and horizontal analysis strategies to analyse the data. My analytical instrument consisted of an observation schedule which I used in each lesson to identify how each of the visualisation processes was evident in each of the observed lessons. This study revealed that the participant teachers used visualisation processes in most of their lessons and these processes were used accurately in line with the requirements of the grade 8 mathematics syllabi. The visualisation processes were used through designed visual materials, posters and through the use of geometrical objects such as chalkboard ruler, protractor and compass. The results from this study also confirmed that visualisation processes can be a powerful instructional tool for enhancing learners’ conceptual understanding of geometry.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Muhembo, Gottfried Mbundu
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Geometry -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia -- Kavango East , Visualization , Mathematics teachers -- Namibia -- Kavango East , Effective teaching -- Namibia -- Kavango East , Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- Activity programs
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62439 , vital:28190
- Description: Visualisation in general and visualisation processes in particular have received much attention in the mathematics education research literature. Literature suggests that the appropriate use of visualisation helps learners to develop their conceptual understanding and skills of geometry as it allows them to visually interpret and understand fundamental mathematical and geometrical concepts. It is claimed that visual tools play an important role in communicating mathematical ideas through diagrams, gestures, images, sketches or drawings. Learning mathematics through visualisation can be a powerful tool to explore mathematical problems and give meaning to mathematical concepts and relationships between them. This interpretive case study focused on how selected teachers taught concepts in geometry through visualisation processes for conceptual understanding as a result of an intervention programme. The study was conducted at four high schools by four mathematics teachers in the Kavango East Region in Northern Namibia. The participants were involved in a three-week intervention programme and afterwards taught three lessons each on the topic of geometry. The data collection method of this research was: focus group and stimulus recall interviews, classroom observations and recorded videos. This research is located in constructivism. I used vertical and horizontal analysis strategies to analyse the data. My analytical instrument consisted of an observation schedule which I used in each lesson to identify how each of the visualisation processes was evident in each of the observed lessons. This study revealed that the participant teachers used visualisation processes in most of their lessons and these processes were used accurately in line with the requirements of the grade 8 mathematics syllabi. The visualisation processes were used through designed visual materials, posters and through the use of geometrical objects such as chalkboard ruler, protractor and compass. The results from this study also confirmed that visualisation processes can be a powerful instructional tool for enhancing learners’ conceptual understanding of geometry.
- Full Text:
An analysis of the implementation of the Teaching Development Grant in the South African Higher Education Sector
- Authors: Moyo, Mtheto Temwa
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Education, Higher -- Aims and objectives -- South Africa , Government aid to higher education -- South Africa , Education, Higher -- South Africa -- Evaluation , Education, Higher -- Social aspects -- South Africa , Educational leadership -- South Africa , Educational equalization -- South Africa , Education, Higher -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Teaching Development Grant (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62225 , vital:28141
- Description: The South African government has attempted to address various transformation and efficiency challenges in the system through the steering mechanisms at its disposal. This study analyses the implementation of one of these mechanisms, the Teaching Development Grant (TDG), which is designed to enhance student learning through the improvement of teaching and teaching resources at South African universities. Since the inception as an earmarked grant ten years ago, a total of R5.5 billion has been allocated for the TDG. The study thus sought to answer the question: What are the factors enabling and constraining the use of the TDG to enhance teaching and student success at South African universities? A total of 275 TDG progress reports and budget plans were analysed alongside other TDG documentation such as TDG payment letters to universities and institutional submissions that universities made on the use of the TDG for the 2008 TDG Review. The TDG criteria and policy over the years were also included as data. The analysis used Archer’s (1995; 1996) morphogenesis/stasis framework, which is concerned with how change does or does not happen over time. Archer’s analytical dualism was used to identify the interplay of structural, cultural and agential mechanisms shaping the emergence of and practices associated with TDGs in order to make sense of the events and experiences in the data. One of the main findings of the study was that the historically-based differentiated nature of the South African higher education landscape constrained the implementation of the TDG. The stark resource differences in the sector has meant that the TDG has not fully translated into system-wide gains. In the initial years of TDG implementation from 2004 to 2013, most institutions did not use the TDG for teaching development initiatives per se, but rather spent the bulk of the funds on infrastructure and equipment. Such resource gaps have persisted and continue to compromise the academic enterprise at affected universities. The data also showed that universities which have access to additional funding other than state funding have been able to augment and advance their own funds and were thus able to at least partially counter late payments of the TDG, fluctuations in allocations, and the short-term nature of TDG budgets and inadequate allocations. This enabled relatively straightforward implementation of the teaching and learning enhancement programmes at these universities, while there were ongoing implementation difficulties at the universities with the lowest success rates, the very institutions the grant was most targeted to address. The study showed that the shortage of appropriate teaching and learning staff constrained the nature and type of interventions. Historically Disadvantaged Institutions in particular struggled to attract and retain the much-needed expertise. This emerged from multiple structural constraints such as geographical location, conditions of work, inefficient human resources systems, lack of access to financial resources for competitive packages, and instability in governance and management structures at some universities. Emerging from the data in the study is the fact that staffing challenges remain one of the core constraints in the implementation of the TDG. In particular, the data indicated that teaching and learning staff hired on the basis of TDG funds were generally hired as part-time or contract staff. This meant that their academic qualifications and experience in teaching development were limited and, in many cases, it meant that the posts were not filled at all. In some cases, the fluctuating budgets meant that some projects had to be downscaled or abandoned altogether. The study found that many of the interventions that were implemented had tenuous links to teaching and learning and, even where there were such links, these interventions were often based on fairly a-theoretical, common-sense understandings of what would develop teaching. In many universities, there was little evidence of institution-level planning of interventions aimed at fundamentally addressing the need for teaching development. The limited access to teaching and learning expertise across the sector was mirrored in the uneven distribution of expertise in administration, financial management, institutional planning and human resource divisions, which had implications for the establishment of monitoring systems and implementation processes of the TDG. The lack of strong systems and policies encouraged cultures that did not value transparency, accountability or compliance to the TDG policy. The role of corporate agency in the form of leadership and ownership of projects emerged as a key enabler in the implementation of the TDG. All of these structures shaped the ability of institutions to spend the TDG and in some cases millions of Rands in funds were not spent and so were withheld. The study found that the inability of some universities to spend was exacerbated by the problem of a lack of alignment between the DHET financial year and the academic year. Although the TDG has made a notable contribution to the advancement of teaching and learning (T&L) nationally, this study revealed that the blunt implementation of the TDG across the sector constrained the gains. In particular, the practice of withholding unspent funds focused only on the symptoms of underspending and not on the structural, cultural and agential mechanisms that led to such under-expenditure. The withheld funds were redirected by the government for national projects but as all universities including the well-resourced Historically Advantaged Institutions (HAIs) had access to these withheld funds this translated into a regressive distribution of the TDG. Limited capacity within DHET to direct, manage and monitor the grants has also had a constraining effect on their use and the secondment of a teaching and learning expert to the department was seen to be a significant but short-term enablement in this regard. The findings of how the TDG implementation has emerged in the South African higher education sector are particularly important at this point in time as the TDG together with the Research Development Grant will be reconfigured into a new grant called the University Capacity Development Grant as from 2018. This study provides significant insights into the structural, cultural, and agential enablements and constraints of this new grant being able to drive changes in the sector. The findings also provide insights into the implementation of other earmarked grants. , Boma la South Africa layesera kuthetsa mavuto omwe amadza posintha ndi kulongosola zinthu kudzera mu njira zosiyanasiyana. Kafukufukuyu akuunikira imodzi mwa njirazi yotchedwa Teaching Development Grant (TDG) yomwe inakonzedwa polimbikitsa maphunziro kudzera mukagwiritsidwe ntchito ka zipangizo zophunzitsira ndi zophunzirira za makono m’sukulu za ukachenjede ku South Africa. Ndalama zapafupifupi R5.5 billion ndi zomwe zaperekedwa kuti zigwiritsidwe nchito mu ndondomekoyi kuchokera pa nthawi yomwe inakhazikitsidwa; zaka khumi zapitazo. Kafukufukuyu anayesera kuyankha funso loti: Ndi zinthu ziti zomwe zimalimbikitsa kapena kubwezeretsa m’mbuyo kagwiritsidwe ntchito ka (TDG) polimbikitsa kuchita bwino kwa aphunzitsi ndi ophunzira m’sukulu za ukachenjede? Zikalata zosonyeza makhonzedwe a ophunzira, ndondomeko za kayendetseredwe ka chuma, zikalata za malipiridwe ndi zikalata zopezeka m’sukulu zaukachenjedezi zokhudzana ndi njira ya TDG zomwe zakhala zikugwiritsidwa ntchito zaka khumi zapitazi zinatengedwanso ngati uthenga wofunika koposa. Kauniuniyu anatsalira njira yotchedwa ‘Archer’s (1995/1996) Morphogenesis/Status Framework’ yomwe imafotokozera momwe kusintha kumachitikira pena kulepherekera. Njira younikira ya Archer: yothandizira pofufuza momwe kayendetsedwe ka bungwe, chikhalidwe komanso anthu oyendetsa bungwe amathandizira poonetsera momwe TDG imakhalira inagwiritsidwa ntchito poyesera kumvetsa zochitika komanso zopezeka mu kafukufukuyu. Chimodzi mwa zotsatira za kafukufukuyu n’chakuti kagwiritsidwe ntchito ka TDG kamabwezeredwa m’mbuyo ndi momwe sukulu za ukachenjede ku South Africa zidapangidwira. Kusiyana kwa usiwa wa zipangizo m’sukuluzi kudapangitsa kuti njira ya TDG isaonetse zipatso kwenikweni. Mu zaka zoyambirira itangokhazikidwitsa (2007 - 2013), sukulu zambiri sizidagwiritse ntchito TDG polimbikitsa kaphunzitsidwe. M’malo mwake ndalama zankhaninkhani zidagwiritsidwa ntchito pa zomangamanga ndi kugulira zipangizo. Usiwa wa zipangizowu ulipobe ndipo ukusokoneza mbali ya maphunziro m’sukulu zokhudzidwazi. Kafukufukuyu anasonyezanso kuti sukulu zomwe zimalandira thandizo lowonjezera pa lomwe zimalandira ku boma zakhala zikuyesetsa kuthana ndi vuto lopereka mochedwa ndalama za mundondomeko ya TDG ndi dongosolo la m’mene ndalamazi zigwirire ntchito. Izi zinawachititsa kuti asapeze mavuto ambiri polimbikitsa ndondomeko za kaphunzitsidwe ndi kaphunziridwe pomwe ena amavutika nazo. Enawa n’kukhala sukulu zomwe sizimachita bwino, zomwenso thandizoli lidalunjika pa izo kuti zithandizike. Kafukufukuyu anasonyeza kuti kuchepa kwa aphunzitsi kudapsinja zochitika zokhudza njirayi. Sukulu zosachita bwino kuchokera kalezi zidavutika kupeza ndi kusunga ogwira ntchito ake. Izi zimakhala choncho kaamba ka zifukwa zosiyanasiyana monga komwe sukuluyo ili, malamulo a ntchito, kupanda ukadaulo kwa oyang’anira antchitowa, kutalikirana ndi njira zina zopezera ndalama komanso kusakhazikika kwa anthu m’maudindo. Zina zotulukanso mu mfundo zotoledwazi zinaulula kuti vuto lina lalikulu linali ogwira ntchito. Polimbikitsa njira ya TDG, zimatanthauza kuti aphunzitsi omwe azilembedwa azikhala osakhazikika pa sukuluzi kapena a kontarakiti. Izi zimatanthauza kuti maphunziro ndi luntha lawo zimayenera kukhala zochepera. Mwanjira ina, tikhonza kunena kuti ogwira ntchitoyi panalibe. Nthawi zina, kusinthasintha kwa ndondomeko zachuma madongosolo ena kusiyidwa kapena kuchitika mosalongosoka. Kafukufukuyu anasonyezanso kuti zambiri mwa mfundo zomwe zinayikidwa kuti zigwiritsidwe ntchito zinali zosathandiza kwenikweni polimbikitsa maphunzirowa. Ndipo komwe mfundozi zinakhazikitsidwa, zinali chabe kufotokozera zinthu zodziwika kale ndi kale zokhudza zomwe zingalimbikitse uphunzitsi. M’sukulu zambiri za ukachenjede, pali umboni wochepa wa mfundo zomwe zinaikidwiratu ndi cholinga chopititsa patsogolo uphunzitsiwu. Kusowa kwa ukadaulo pa maphunzirowa kunaonekanso makamaka m’madera monga a oyendetsa sukuluzi, oyang’ana za chuma, olongosola malo onse komanso oyang’anira antchito. Panalibe kugawana anthuwa mofanana. Izi zidakhudza kwambiri kalondolondo ndinso kayendetsedwe ka TDG. Kusowa kwa ndondomeko zabwino ndi malamulo okhazikika kunalimbikitsa chikhalidwe cha chinyengo ndi kusatsatira mfundo za mundondomekoyi popereka utsogoleri ndi umwini ndiye unali wofunika polimbikitsa ndondomekoyi. Madongosolo otere anathandiza kuti sukulu zigwiritse ntchito njira ya TDG ndipo pena ndalama mamiliyoni zibwezedwe. Kafukufukuyu anaonetsa kuti kulephera kwa sukulu zina kugwiritsa ntchito ndalama kunachitika kaamba kosazindikira malire a chaka cha DHET ndi chaka cha maphunziro. Ngakhale njira ya TDG yathandizako kagwiritsidwe ntchito ka zipangizo zophunzitsira ndi zophunzirira, kafukufukuyu wasonyeza kuti mavuto omwe anaoneka mu ndondomeko ya TDG aphimba ubwino wake. Monga, m’chitidwe wobweza ndalama zosagwira ntchito unalunjika pa kulephera kugwiritsa ntchito ndalama zonse osati pa ubale pakati pa kayendetsedwe ka bungwe, chikhalidwe ndinso anthu oyendetsa bungwe. Ndalama zotsarazi zinalowetsedwa ku zitukuko zina ndi boma. Koma poti sukulu zonse za ukachenjede kuphatikizapo HAI zinapeza mwayi wa ndalamazi, izi zimabweretsa kulowa pansi kwa dongosolo la TDG. Kulephera mu DHET kutsogolera, kuyendetsa ndi kulondoloza thandizo kwadzetsanso mavuto pa kagwiritsidwe ntchito kake ngakhalenso kutumizidwa kwa katswiri pa kaphunzitsidwe kunaoneka ngati kofunika kosathandiza kwenikweni chifukwa kudali kwa nthawi yochepa. Zotsatira za kafukufukuyu (zokhudza maphunziro a ukachenjede ku South Africa) ndi zofunika kwambiri makamaka nthawi ino pomwe TDG pamodzi ndi RDG (Research Development Grant) zikhale kuunikiridwanso ndi kupanga thandizo latsopano lotchedwa University Capacity Development Grant kuyambira m’chaka cha 2018. Kafukufukuyu waunika mozama kayendetsedwe, chikhalidwe komanso oyendetsa zithandizo komanso mavuto kuti thandizo latsopanoli likathe kubweretsa kusintha. Zotsatirazi zaunikiranso kayendetsedwe ka zithandizo zina zomwe zikufuna kuchitika.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Moyo, Mtheto Temwa
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Education, Higher -- Aims and objectives -- South Africa , Government aid to higher education -- South Africa , Education, Higher -- South Africa -- Evaluation , Education, Higher -- Social aspects -- South Africa , Educational leadership -- South Africa , Educational equalization -- South Africa , Education, Higher -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Teaching Development Grant (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62225 , vital:28141
- Description: The South African government has attempted to address various transformation and efficiency challenges in the system through the steering mechanisms at its disposal. This study analyses the implementation of one of these mechanisms, the Teaching Development Grant (TDG), which is designed to enhance student learning through the improvement of teaching and teaching resources at South African universities. Since the inception as an earmarked grant ten years ago, a total of R5.5 billion has been allocated for the TDG. The study thus sought to answer the question: What are the factors enabling and constraining the use of the TDG to enhance teaching and student success at South African universities? A total of 275 TDG progress reports and budget plans were analysed alongside other TDG documentation such as TDG payment letters to universities and institutional submissions that universities made on the use of the TDG for the 2008 TDG Review. The TDG criteria and policy over the years were also included as data. The analysis used Archer’s (1995; 1996) morphogenesis/stasis framework, which is concerned with how change does or does not happen over time. Archer’s analytical dualism was used to identify the interplay of structural, cultural and agential mechanisms shaping the emergence of and practices associated with TDGs in order to make sense of the events and experiences in the data. One of the main findings of the study was that the historically-based differentiated nature of the South African higher education landscape constrained the implementation of the TDG. The stark resource differences in the sector has meant that the TDG has not fully translated into system-wide gains. In the initial years of TDG implementation from 2004 to 2013, most institutions did not use the TDG for teaching development initiatives per se, but rather spent the bulk of the funds on infrastructure and equipment. Such resource gaps have persisted and continue to compromise the academic enterprise at affected universities. The data also showed that universities which have access to additional funding other than state funding have been able to augment and advance their own funds and were thus able to at least partially counter late payments of the TDG, fluctuations in allocations, and the short-term nature of TDG budgets and inadequate allocations. This enabled relatively straightforward implementation of the teaching and learning enhancement programmes at these universities, while there were ongoing implementation difficulties at the universities with the lowest success rates, the very institutions the grant was most targeted to address. The study showed that the shortage of appropriate teaching and learning staff constrained the nature and type of interventions. Historically Disadvantaged Institutions in particular struggled to attract and retain the much-needed expertise. This emerged from multiple structural constraints such as geographical location, conditions of work, inefficient human resources systems, lack of access to financial resources for competitive packages, and instability in governance and management structures at some universities. Emerging from the data in the study is the fact that staffing challenges remain one of the core constraints in the implementation of the TDG. In particular, the data indicated that teaching and learning staff hired on the basis of TDG funds were generally hired as part-time or contract staff. This meant that their academic qualifications and experience in teaching development were limited and, in many cases, it meant that the posts were not filled at all. In some cases, the fluctuating budgets meant that some projects had to be downscaled or abandoned altogether. The study found that many of the interventions that were implemented had tenuous links to teaching and learning and, even where there were such links, these interventions were often based on fairly a-theoretical, common-sense understandings of what would develop teaching. In many universities, there was little evidence of institution-level planning of interventions aimed at fundamentally addressing the need for teaching development. The limited access to teaching and learning expertise across the sector was mirrored in the uneven distribution of expertise in administration, financial management, institutional planning and human resource divisions, which had implications for the establishment of monitoring systems and implementation processes of the TDG. The lack of strong systems and policies encouraged cultures that did not value transparency, accountability or compliance to the TDG policy. The role of corporate agency in the form of leadership and ownership of projects emerged as a key enabler in the implementation of the TDG. All of these structures shaped the ability of institutions to spend the TDG and in some cases millions of Rands in funds were not spent and so were withheld. The study found that the inability of some universities to spend was exacerbated by the problem of a lack of alignment between the DHET financial year and the academic year. Although the TDG has made a notable contribution to the advancement of teaching and learning (T&L) nationally, this study revealed that the blunt implementation of the TDG across the sector constrained the gains. In particular, the practice of withholding unspent funds focused only on the symptoms of underspending and not on the structural, cultural and agential mechanisms that led to such under-expenditure. The withheld funds were redirected by the government for national projects but as all universities including the well-resourced Historically Advantaged Institutions (HAIs) had access to these withheld funds this translated into a regressive distribution of the TDG. Limited capacity within DHET to direct, manage and monitor the grants has also had a constraining effect on their use and the secondment of a teaching and learning expert to the department was seen to be a significant but short-term enablement in this regard. The findings of how the TDG implementation has emerged in the South African higher education sector are particularly important at this point in time as the TDG together with the Research Development Grant will be reconfigured into a new grant called the University Capacity Development Grant as from 2018. This study provides significant insights into the structural, cultural, and agential enablements and constraints of this new grant being able to drive changes in the sector. The findings also provide insights into the implementation of other earmarked grants. , Boma la South Africa layesera kuthetsa mavuto omwe amadza posintha ndi kulongosola zinthu kudzera mu njira zosiyanasiyana. Kafukufukuyu akuunikira imodzi mwa njirazi yotchedwa Teaching Development Grant (TDG) yomwe inakonzedwa polimbikitsa maphunziro kudzera mukagwiritsidwe ntchito ka zipangizo zophunzitsira ndi zophunzirira za makono m’sukulu za ukachenjede ku South Africa. Ndalama zapafupifupi R5.5 billion ndi zomwe zaperekedwa kuti zigwiritsidwe nchito mu ndondomekoyi kuchokera pa nthawi yomwe inakhazikitsidwa; zaka khumi zapitazo. Kafukufukuyu anayesera kuyankha funso loti: Ndi zinthu ziti zomwe zimalimbikitsa kapena kubwezeretsa m’mbuyo kagwiritsidwe ntchito ka (TDG) polimbikitsa kuchita bwino kwa aphunzitsi ndi ophunzira m’sukulu za ukachenjede? Zikalata zosonyeza makhonzedwe a ophunzira, ndondomeko za kayendetseredwe ka chuma, zikalata za malipiridwe ndi zikalata zopezeka m’sukulu zaukachenjedezi zokhudzana ndi njira ya TDG zomwe zakhala zikugwiritsidwa ntchito zaka khumi zapitazi zinatengedwanso ngati uthenga wofunika koposa. Kauniuniyu anatsalira njira yotchedwa ‘Archer’s (1995/1996) Morphogenesis/Status Framework’ yomwe imafotokozera momwe kusintha kumachitikira pena kulepherekera. Njira younikira ya Archer: yothandizira pofufuza momwe kayendetsedwe ka bungwe, chikhalidwe komanso anthu oyendetsa bungwe amathandizira poonetsera momwe TDG imakhalira inagwiritsidwa ntchito poyesera kumvetsa zochitika komanso zopezeka mu kafukufukuyu. Chimodzi mwa zotsatira za kafukufukuyu n’chakuti kagwiritsidwe ntchito ka TDG kamabwezeredwa m’mbuyo ndi momwe sukulu za ukachenjede ku South Africa zidapangidwira. Kusiyana kwa usiwa wa zipangizo m’sukuluzi kudapangitsa kuti njira ya TDG isaonetse zipatso kwenikweni. Mu zaka zoyambirira itangokhazikidwitsa (2007 - 2013), sukulu zambiri sizidagwiritse ntchito TDG polimbikitsa kaphunzitsidwe. M’malo mwake ndalama zankhaninkhani zidagwiritsidwa ntchito pa zomangamanga ndi kugulira zipangizo. Usiwa wa zipangizowu ulipobe ndipo ukusokoneza mbali ya maphunziro m’sukulu zokhudzidwazi. Kafukufukuyu anasonyezanso kuti sukulu zomwe zimalandira thandizo lowonjezera pa lomwe zimalandira ku boma zakhala zikuyesetsa kuthana ndi vuto lopereka mochedwa ndalama za mundondomeko ya TDG ndi dongosolo la m’mene ndalamazi zigwirire ntchito. Izi zinawachititsa kuti asapeze mavuto ambiri polimbikitsa ndondomeko za kaphunzitsidwe ndi kaphunziridwe pomwe ena amavutika nazo. Enawa n’kukhala sukulu zomwe sizimachita bwino, zomwenso thandizoli lidalunjika pa izo kuti zithandizike. Kafukufukuyu anasonyeza kuti kuchepa kwa aphunzitsi kudapsinja zochitika zokhudza njirayi. Sukulu zosachita bwino kuchokera kalezi zidavutika kupeza ndi kusunga ogwira ntchito ake. Izi zimakhala choncho kaamba ka zifukwa zosiyanasiyana monga komwe sukuluyo ili, malamulo a ntchito, kupanda ukadaulo kwa oyang’anira antchitowa, kutalikirana ndi njira zina zopezera ndalama komanso kusakhazikika kwa anthu m’maudindo. Zina zotulukanso mu mfundo zotoledwazi zinaulula kuti vuto lina lalikulu linali ogwira ntchito. Polimbikitsa njira ya TDG, zimatanthauza kuti aphunzitsi omwe azilembedwa azikhala osakhazikika pa sukuluzi kapena a kontarakiti. Izi zimatanthauza kuti maphunziro ndi luntha lawo zimayenera kukhala zochepera. Mwanjira ina, tikhonza kunena kuti ogwira ntchitoyi panalibe. Nthawi zina, kusinthasintha kwa ndondomeko zachuma madongosolo ena kusiyidwa kapena kuchitika mosalongosoka. Kafukufukuyu anasonyezanso kuti zambiri mwa mfundo zomwe zinayikidwa kuti zigwiritsidwe ntchito zinali zosathandiza kwenikweni polimbikitsa maphunzirowa. Ndipo komwe mfundozi zinakhazikitsidwa, zinali chabe kufotokozera zinthu zodziwika kale ndi kale zokhudza zomwe zingalimbikitse uphunzitsi. M’sukulu zambiri za ukachenjede, pali umboni wochepa wa mfundo zomwe zinaikidwiratu ndi cholinga chopititsa patsogolo uphunzitsiwu. Kusowa kwa ukadaulo pa maphunzirowa kunaonekanso makamaka m’madera monga a oyendetsa sukuluzi, oyang’ana za chuma, olongosola malo onse komanso oyang’anira antchito. Panalibe kugawana anthuwa mofanana. Izi zidakhudza kwambiri kalondolondo ndinso kayendetsedwe ka TDG. Kusowa kwa ndondomeko zabwino ndi malamulo okhazikika kunalimbikitsa chikhalidwe cha chinyengo ndi kusatsatira mfundo za mundondomekoyi popereka utsogoleri ndi umwini ndiye unali wofunika polimbikitsa ndondomekoyi. Madongosolo otere anathandiza kuti sukulu zigwiritse ntchito njira ya TDG ndipo pena ndalama mamiliyoni zibwezedwe. Kafukufukuyu anaonetsa kuti kulephera kwa sukulu zina kugwiritsa ntchito ndalama kunachitika kaamba kosazindikira malire a chaka cha DHET ndi chaka cha maphunziro. Ngakhale njira ya TDG yathandizako kagwiritsidwe ntchito ka zipangizo zophunzitsira ndi zophunzirira, kafukufukuyu wasonyeza kuti mavuto omwe anaoneka mu ndondomeko ya TDG aphimba ubwino wake. Monga, m’chitidwe wobweza ndalama zosagwira ntchito unalunjika pa kulephera kugwiritsa ntchito ndalama zonse osati pa ubale pakati pa kayendetsedwe ka bungwe, chikhalidwe ndinso anthu oyendetsa bungwe. Ndalama zotsarazi zinalowetsedwa ku zitukuko zina ndi boma. Koma poti sukulu zonse za ukachenjede kuphatikizapo HAI zinapeza mwayi wa ndalamazi, izi zimabweretsa kulowa pansi kwa dongosolo la TDG. Kulephera mu DHET kutsogolera, kuyendetsa ndi kulondoloza thandizo kwadzetsanso mavuto pa kagwiritsidwe ntchito kake ngakhalenso kutumizidwa kwa katswiri pa kaphunzitsidwe kunaoneka ngati kofunika kosathandiza kwenikweni chifukwa kudali kwa nthawi yochepa. Zotsatira za kafukufukuyu (zokhudza maphunziro a ukachenjede ku South Africa) ndi zofunika kwambiri makamaka nthawi ino pomwe TDG pamodzi ndi RDG (Research Development Grant) zikhale kuunikiridwanso ndi kupanga thandizo latsopano lotchedwa University Capacity Development Grant kuyambira m’chaka cha 2018. Kafukufukuyu waunika mozama kayendetsedwe, chikhalidwe komanso oyendetsa zithandizo komanso mavuto kuti thandizo latsopanoli likathe kubweretsa kusintha. Zotsatirazi zaunikiranso kayendetsedwe ka zithandizo zina zomwe zikufuna kuchitika.
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An exploration of leadership development in a learner representative structure in a secondary school, Oshana Region, Namibia
- Kadhepa-Kandjengo, Selma Ndeyapo
- Authors: Kadhepa-Kandjengo, Selma Ndeyapo
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Student government -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62450 , vital:28193
- Description: Before independence, Namibia inherited a system of Bantu education which was hierarchical, authoritarian and non-democratic. Upon independence, the educational sector went through numerous reforms which were meant to transform education and to make it more democratic, whereby all stakeholders can broadly participate. In spite of these reforms, leadership of schools has remained a hierarchical system, where a principal who, as an individual, runs the school without recognition of the potential leadership of others. Recent studies on leadership have called for shared leadership, whereby leadership is a practice, permeable to learner leaders and not associated with individuals. This research study aims to explore learner leadership development in the Learner Representative Council (LRC) structure at a secondary school in Namibia. The motivation of this research study was twofold - firstly, my personal interest in learner leadership was aroused by my teaching experience. The second reason was due to my realisation that the area was under-researched in Namibia, hence I wanted to fill the existing gap on learner leadership. The study critically engaged learners and teachers to help me get an understanding of learner leadership and the factors enabling learner leadership development. I also found that challenges which resulted in contradictions, hampered leadership development. The study took an interventionist approach and second generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory was used to surface tensions and contradictions affecting learner leadership development. Change Laboratory workshops enabled the expansive learning process with the 12 LRC members. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, observation, document analysis and journaling. The study found that learner leadership was understood more in terms of traditional views of leadership, whereby a learner needed to possess certain qualities in order to lead. The findings further pointed out that the LRC members were mainly involved in managerial roles and not really leadership roles, as such, and they were not involved in decision-making at the school. Although provision for the LRC body is made in an Educational Act, historical and cultural forces account for teachers’ reluctance to support the LRC members, as well as for silence of learner voice. I hope that findings from this research study strengthen learner leadership structures in schools and contribute to the creation of knowledge on learner leadership in Namibia.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Kadhepa-Kandjengo, Selma Ndeyapo
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Student government -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62450 , vital:28193
- Description: Before independence, Namibia inherited a system of Bantu education which was hierarchical, authoritarian and non-democratic. Upon independence, the educational sector went through numerous reforms which were meant to transform education and to make it more democratic, whereby all stakeholders can broadly participate. In spite of these reforms, leadership of schools has remained a hierarchical system, where a principal who, as an individual, runs the school without recognition of the potential leadership of others. Recent studies on leadership have called for shared leadership, whereby leadership is a practice, permeable to learner leaders and not associated with individuals. This research study aims to explore learner leadership development in the Learner Representative Council (LRC) structure at a secondary school in Namibia. The motivation of this research study was twofold - firstly, my personal interest in learner leadership was aroused by my teaching experience. The second reason was due to my realisation that the area was under-researched in Namibia, hence I wanted to fill the existing gap on learner leadership. The study critically engaged learners and teachers to help me get an understanding of learner leadership and the factors enabling learner leadership development. I also found that challenges which resulted in contradictions, hampered leadership development. The study took an interventionist approach and second generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory was used to surface tensions and contradictions affecting learner leadership development. Change Laboratory workshops enabled the expansive learning process with the 12 LRC members. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, observation, document analysis and journaling. The study found that learner leadership was understood more in terms of traditional views of leadership, whereby a learner needed to possess certain qualities in order to lead. The findings further pointed out that the LRC members were mainly involved in managerial roles and not really leadership roles, as such, and they were not involved in decision-making at the school. Although provision for the LRC body is made in an Educational Act, historical and cultural forces account for teachers’ reluctance to support the LRC members, as well as for silence of learner voice. I hope that findings from this research study strengthen learner leadership structures in schools and contribute to the creation of knowledge on learner leadership in Namibia.
- Full Text:
An investigation into how a guided learner leadership programme can foster authentic leadership in a boys’ boarding school environment
- Authors: Cuyler, Craig
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- South Africa Boarding schools -- South Africa Boys -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61756 , vital:28055
- Description: This study is located within the field of Educational Leadership and Management and the research was undertaken in a boys’ private boarding school in Grahamstown, South Africa. Learner Leadership within the ELM field of study, has gained much interest in recent times and as the process of democratisation within schools continues to take place, it is important that research efforts be more focused in this area. The lack of learner voice initiatives within South African schools, in spite of policies being in place that encourage it, has created the impression that learner leadership is far more about rhetoric than actual practice. This appears to be the case in private education as well, owing to practices that are reliant on hierarchy and tradition to cement their position within these schools. It was with this in mind that a formative peer mentoring intervention was put in place in a boarding house at St Andrew’s College, a private boys’ school in Grahamstown, South Africa, with the object of developing authentic leadership in a boarding house context. This study was framed by Cultural Historical Activity Theory and sought to investigate how a guided learner leadership programme could foster authentic leadership in a boys’ boarding school context. The intervention consisted of three phases: 1) a pre-intervention questionnaire; 2) a Mentoring Course, during which Grade 12 learners were trained how to be mentors; and 3) a Mentoring Programme, during which Grade 12 learners were each allocated a Grade 8 learner to mentor during the course of the year. Data was collected during all three phases of the intervention and said data was obtained via questionnaires, interviews and from notes kept in an observation journal. The data was analysed inductively and later by using Cultural Historical Activity Theory, which acted as a lens through which data was interpreted. The findings reflected that learners responded well to the Mentoring Course and that they participated as active agents of change. It was during the Mentoring Programme, where contradictions became apparent and where the default to practices associated with hierarchy and tradition became evident. The Mentoring Programme did reflect some positive results, such as learners taking more ownership of the Programme and becoming critical of their own practice as mentors. This led to the further take-up of the Mentoring Programme in other boarding houses at St Andrew’s College after the intervention, and the course continues to grow and improve. My recommendations include that broader research be undertaken generally, to understand the role that tradition and hierarchy play, particularly in private schools, so that more authentic learner leadership can be put in place, and to conduct a longitudinal study to establish the success of the Mentoring Programme at St Andrew’s College specifically, over time.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Cuyler, Craig
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- South Africa Boarding schools -- South Africa Boys -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61756 , vital:28055
- Description: This study is located within the field of Educational Leadership and Management and the research was undertaken in a boys’ private boarding school in Grahamstown, South Africa. Learner Leadership within the ELM field of study, has gained much interest in recent times and as the process of democratisation within schools continues to take place, it is important that research efforts be more focused in this area. The lack of learner voice initiatives within South African schools, in spite of policies being in place that encourage it, has created the impression that learner leadership is far more about rhetoric than actual practice. This appears to be the case in private education as well, owing to practices that are reliant on hierarchy and tradition to cement their position within these schools. It was with this in mind that a formative peer mentoring intervention was put in place in a boarding house at St Andrew’s College, a private boys’ school in Grahamstown, South Africa, with the object of developing authentic leadership in a boarding house context. This study was framed by Cultural Historical Activity Theory and sought to investigate how a guided learner leadership programme could foster authentic leadership in a boys’ boarding school context. The intervention consisted of three phases: 1) a pre-intervention questionnaire; 2) a Mentoring Course, during which Grade 12 learners were trained how to be mentors; and 3) a Mentoring Programme, during which Grade 12 learners were each allocated a Grade 8 learner to mentor during the course of the year. Data was collected during all three phases of the intervention and said data was obtained via questionnaires, interviews and from notes kept in an observation journal. The data was analysed inductively and later by using Cultural Historical Activity Theory, which acted as a lens through which data was interpreted. The findings reflected that learners responded well to the Mentoring Course and that they participated as active agents of change. It was during the Mentoring Programme, where contradictions became apparent and where the default to practices associated with hierarchy and tradition became evident. The Mentoring Programme did reflect some positive results, such as learners taking more ownership of the Programme and becoming critical of their own practice as mentors. This led to the further take-up of the Mentoring Programme in other boarding houses at St Andrew’s College after the intervention, and the course continues to grow and improve. My recommendations include that broader research be undertaken generally, to understand the role that tradition and hierarchy play, particularly in private schools, so that more authentic learner leadership can be put in place, and to conduct a longitudinal study to establish the success of the Mentoring Programme at St Andrew’s College specifically, over time.
- Full Text:
An investigation into teaching mathematics using a visualisation approach to recontextualise indigenous knowledge
- Authors: Tshithigona, Gaus
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Ethnoscience Namibia , Mathematics Study and teaching (Elementary) Namibia , Visual learning , Visualization , Interdisciplinary approach to knowledge , Teacher effectiveness Namibia , Traditional ecological knowledge Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62461 , vital:28195
- Description: It can be argued that the Namibian curriculum is largely influenced by a Western epistemology. However, many studies suggest that learners make powerful meanings of mathematical concepts they are learning if they visualise these and experience them in relation to what they already know from their own cultural backgrounds. According to the Namibian National Curriculum for Basic Education (NNCBE, 2010), it is not only important for learners to acquire mathematical knowledge and skills, but also to develop and grow their identities, cultures and values as individuals. The aim of this study was to explore and investigate how selected mathematics teachers employ visualisation as a teaching approach to re-contextualise indigenous knowledge (IK). The study set out to explore how conceptual understanding is enhanced by participation in an intervention programme. The use of visualisation is considered an important mediating and pedagogical tool in the mathematics classroom to enhance the mathematics learning of learners. The research is informed by a socio-cultural theory of learning and is located within an interpretive paradigm. The study was conducted at four schools in the Oshana region of Namibia and involved four mathematics teachers who were purposefully selected due to their willingness to use visualisation-IK approaches in their teaching, based on their responses to the survey. The methodologies used are qualitative and quantitative case study. To gather data, document analysis, a survey, lesson observations and focus group interviews were used. The study found that most teachers in the Oshana region have an understanding of the effective use of visualisation-IK approaches. However, the study revealed that visualisation- IK approaches are mostly used in grades 4 to 7 mathematics classrooms. It also discovered that most of the visualisation approaches that teachers employed aligned well with the curriculum and promoted conceptual understanding in the teaching of mathematics. The results of the study showed that teachers have experience of the enabling and constraining factors in using a visualisation-IK approach to teaching mathematics.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Tshithigona, Gaus
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Ethnoscience Namibia , Mathematics Study and teaching (Elementary) Namibia , Visual learning , Visualization , Interdisciplinary approach to knowledge , Teacher effectiveness Namibia , Traditional ecological knowledge Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62461 , vital:28195
- Description: It can be argued that the Namibian curriculum is largely influenced by a Western epistemology. However, many studies suggest that learners make powerful meanings of mathematical concepts they are learning if they visualise these and experience them in relation to what they already know from their own cultural backgrounds. According to the Namibian National Curriculum for Basic Education (NNCBE, 2010), it is not only important for learners to acquire mathematical knowledge and skills, but also to develop and grow their identities, cultures and values as individuals. The aim of this study was to explore and investigate how selected mathematics teachers employ visualisation as a teaching approach to re-contextualise indigenous knowledge (IK). The study set out to explore how conceptual understanding is enhanced by participation in an intervention programme. The use of visualisation is considered an important mediating and pedagogical tool in the mathematics classroom to enhance the mathematics learning of learners. The research is informed by a socio-cultural theory of learning and is located within an interpretive paradigm. The study was conducted at four schools in the Oshana region of Namibia and involved four mathematics teachers who were purposefully selected due to their willingness to use visualisation-IK approaches in their teaching, based on their responses to the survey. The methodologies used are qualitative and quantitative case study. To gather data, document analysis, a survey, lesson observations and focus group interviews were used. The study found that most teachers in the Oshana region have an understanding of the effective use of visualisation-IK approaches. However, the study revealed that visualisation- IK approaches are mostly used in grades 4 to 7 mathematics classrooms. It also discovered that most of the visualisation approaches that teachers employed aligned well with the curriculum and promoted conceptual understanding in the teaching of mathematics. The results of the study showed that teachers have experience of the enabling and constraining factors in using a visualisation-IK approach to teaching mathematics.
- Full Text:
An investigation of teachers’ experiences of a Geoboard intervention programme in area and perimeter in selected Grade 9 classes: a case study
- Authors: Mkhwane, Fezeka Felicia
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa , Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa , Manipulatives (Education) , Effective teaching , Area measurement , Perimeters (Geometry) , Problem solving -- Study and teaching , Geoboard Intervention Programme , RUMEP
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61646 , vital:28045
- Description: The study was undertaken with three Grade 9 teachers at three selected schools which are part of RUMEP’s Collegial Cluster Schools’ programme that I coordinate. Collegial clusters are communities of teachers who aim at improving their practice by working on their own professional development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the selected Grade 9 teachers’ experiences of a Geoboard intervention programme. It also wanted to investigate the role that a Geoboard can play in the teaching and learning of area and perimeter of two-dimensional shapes. The research was a case-study within the interpretive paradigm. A variety of data collection techniques was used. These included baseline assessment tasks, observations during the intervention programme, post intervention assessment tasks and semistructured interviews with the participating teachers and a few learners from each participating school. The collected data was analysed using both the quantitative and qualitative methods. My research findings reveal that a Geoboard, as a manipulative, developed confidence in the participating teachers. In the interviews with teachers, it transpired that teachers’ skills in teaching area and perimeter of two-dimensional shapes had been sharpened. According to the interviews with learners, the use of a Geoboard led to better conceptual understanding of the area and perimeter, as learners no longer had to rely on formulae. Kilpatrick et al. (2001) refer to conceptual understanding as an integrated functional grasp of mathematical ideas. The post intervention assessment task showed a positive shift in learners’ performance. The average learner performance improved from 29% in the baseline assessment task to 61% in the post intervention assessment task. This shows that the use of a Geoboard led to meaningful learning of area and perimeter of two-dimensional shapes. The overall research findings reveal that the use of manipulatives has a positive impact in the teaching and learning of area and perimeter. Learners’ responses to the interview questions showed that there was better understanding of the two concepts, which enabled them to construct their own knowledge. They further said the Geoboard allowed them to be hands-on, which contributed to their active involvement in the lesson.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mkhwane, Fezeka Felicia
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa , Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa , Manipulatives (Education) , Effective teaching , Area measurement , Perimeters (Geometry) , Problem solving -- Study and teaching , Geoboard Intervention Programme , RUMEP
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61646 , vital:28045
- Description: The study was undertaken with three Grade 9 teachers at three selected schools which are part of RUMEP’s Collegial Cluster Schools’ programme that I coordinate. Collegial clusters are communities of teachers who aim at improving their practice by working on their own professional development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the selected Grade 9 teachers’ experiences of a Geoboard intervention programme. It also wanted to investigate the role that a Geoboard can play in the teaching and learning of area and perimeter of two-dimensional shapes. The research was a case-study within the interpretive paradigm. A variety of data collection techniques was used. These included baseline assessment tasks, observations during the intervention programme, post intervention assessment tasks and semistructured interviews with the participating teachers and a few learners from each participating school. The collected data was analysed using both the quantitative and qualitative methods. My research findings reveal that a Geoboard, as a manipulative, developed confidence in the participating teachers. In the interviews with teachers, it transpired that teachers’ skills in teaching area and perimeter of two-dimensional shapes had been sharpened. According to the interviews with learners, the use of a Geoboard led to better conceptual understanding of the area and perimeter, as learners no longer had to rely on formulae. Kilpatrick et al. (2001) refer to conceptual understanding as an integrated functional grasp of mathematical ideas. The post intervention assessment task showed a positive shift in learners’ performance. The average learner performance improved from 29% in the baseline assessment task to 61% in the post intervention assessment task. This shows that the use of a Geoboard led to meaningful learning of area and perimeter of two-dimensional shapes. The overall research findings reveal that the use of manipulatives has a positive impact in the teaching and learning of area and perimeter. Learners’ responses to the interview questions showed that there was better understanding of the two concepts, which enabled them to construct their own knowledge. They further said the Geoboard allowed them to be hands-on, which contributed to their active involvement in the lesson.
- Full Text:
An investigation of the teaching of reading in isiXhosa in three Grade 1 classrooms in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Magadla, Noluthando
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63408 , vital:28408
- Full Text: false
- Authors: Magadla, Noluthando
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63408 , vital:28408
- Full Text: false
Beginner teachers’ leadership development opportunities: an interventionist case study in a rural combined school in the Ohangwena region, Namibia
- Authors: Ndakolonkoshi, Klaudia
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia , Teacher participation in administration -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Teacher effectiveness -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61603 , vital:28041
- Description: The emergence of distributed leadership theory encourages multiple involvement of individuals in leadership of the school, regardless of their leadership positions (Spillane, 2006). The manifestation of teacher leadership through distributed leadership theory grants opportunities to teachers to enact leadership roles. This study explored how the notion of teacher leadership is understood, the leadership roles existing for the beginner teachers, and the constraining and enabling factors to the practice of teacher leadership in a rural combined school in Ohangwena region, in Namibia. The study is a formative intervention adopting a case study approach located in a critical paradigm since it aimed to bring changes in the activity system of the beginner teachers. The data were collected from ten participants: four beginner teachers, four experienced teachers, the principal and the Head of Department. The data were generated using the following techniques: document analysis, interview, questionnaires, observation and Change Laboratory workshops. The data were analysed thematically using second generation of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and Grant’s (2006, 2008, 2010) Teacher Leadership Model. The findings revealed that there were different understandings of the concept of teacher leadership. It was viewed as participation, influence, motivation and mentoring. It was also revealed that beginner teachers practiced leadership roles across the four zones of Grant’s (2006, 2008, 2010) Teacher Leadership Model, but to various extents. A high participation was noted in zone one within the classroom and zone two in curricular and extra-curricular activities and minimal participation was reported in zone three within the whole school development and zone four beyond the school into the community. Teacher leadership in the case study school was constrained by several factors, including teachers’ reluctance to lead, cultural beliefs, top-down leadership structure and lack of experience. Due to the minimal participation of beginner teachers in zone three and four, the findings suggested that the school should foster a collaborative culture, establish induction and mentoring committees in the school and encourage beginner teachers to take up leadership roles by providing opportunities for them to lead through delegation. In a series of Change Laboratory workshops (CLW) the principal and the Head of Department took up the responsibility of providing leadership training to the teachers to enable them to assume leadership roles in the school. In addition, participants agreed to establish induction and mentoring committees in the school to provide guidance and assistance to teacher leaders.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ndakolonkoshi, Klaudia
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia , Teacher participation in administration -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Teacher effectiveness -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61603 , vital:28041
- Description: The emergence of distributed leadership theory encourages multiple involvement of individuals in leadership of the school, regardless of their leadership positions (Spillane, 2006). The manifestation of teacher leadership through distributed leadership theory grants opportunities to teachers to enact leadership roles. This study explored how the notion of teacher leadership is understood, the leadership roles existing for the beginner teachers, and the constraining and enabling factors to the practice of teacher leadership in a rural combined school in Ohangwena region, in Namibia. The study is a formative intervention adopting a case study approach located in a critical paradigm since it aimed to bring changes in the activity system of the beginner teachers. The data were collected from ten participants: four beginner teachers, four experienced teachers, the principal and the Head of Department. The data were generated using the following techniques: document analysis, interview, questionnaires, observation and Change Laboratory workshops. The data were analysed thematically using second generation of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and Grant’s (2006, 2008, 2010) Teacher Leadership Model. The findings revealed that there were different understandings of the concept of teacher leadership. It was viewed as participation, influence, motivation and mentoring. It was also revealed that beginner teachers practiced leadership roles across the four zones of Grant’s (2006, 2008, 2010) Teacher Leadership Model, but to various extents. A high participation was noted in zone one within the classroom and zone two in curricular and extra-curricular activities and minimal participation was reported in zone three within the whole school development and zone four beyond the school into the community. Teacher leadership in the case study school was constrained by several factors, including teachers’ reluctance to lead, cultural beliefs, top-down leadership structure and lack of experience. Due to the minimal participation of beginner teachers in zone three and four, the findings suggested that the school should foster a collaborative culture, establish induction and mentoring committees in the school and encourage beginner teachers to take up leadership roles by providing opportunities for them to lead through delegation. In a series of Change Laboratory workshops (CLW) the principal and the Head of Department took up the responsibility of providing leadership training to the teachers to enable them to assume leadership roles in the school. In addition, participants agreed to establish induction and mentoring committees in the school to provide guidance and assistance to teacher leaders.
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Decentralization and quality assurance in the Ugandan primary education sector
- Authors: Abu-Baker, Mutaaya Sirajee
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Schools -- Decentralization -- Uganda , Education, Primary -- Uganda , Educational change -- Uganda
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/57390 , vital:26897
- Description: The study presented in this thesis is a case study analysis of decentralization and quality assurance in a decentralized set up of the Ugandan Primary Schooling. The research looked at how the monitoring and evaluation informed the policy formulation process to regulate quality assurance in a decentralized governance of primary education. The Study was positioned in the critical realist paradigm, interpretive in orientation and used both coding and thematic techniques to understand the teachers’, SMC members’, and officers’ (at district and ministry levels) experiences and perceptions of quality assurance in a decentralized set up. Data was gathered using interviews, document analysis and observation methods. The findings indicated that the study was affected by eleven themes: Management System and Leadership, Human Resource Management, Finance Administration and Management, Parenting and Nutrition, Politics, Motivation, Social Structures and Patterns, Legislative Process and Policies, Infrastructure Development and Management, Community Involvement in Education and Curriculum and Professionalism. The monitoring and evaluation system had a framework in which it operates, though there was no quality assurance policy to guide the provision of quality education. The study finally indicated that there are more threats in a decentralized set up that put Quality in danger. Secondly, there was absence of supervision/inspection in schools as there was no evidence to prove this due to absence of reports. However, document analysis indicated visits of officers to schools. Records management was a problem to schools. Decentralization was adopted at different levels by different countries to address specific problems identified in view of service delivery. Finally, though monitoring and evaluation results informed the policy and decision makers, there was no quality assurance policy to guide the provision of quality education in institutions.
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- Authors: Abu-Baker, Mutaaya Sirajee
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Schools -- Decentralization -- Uganda , Education, Primary -- Uganda , Educational change -- Uganda
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/57390 , vital:26897
- Description: The study presented in this thesis is a case study analysis of decentralization and quality assurance in a decentralized set up of the Ugandan Primary Schooling. The research looked at how the monitoring and evaluation informed the policy formulation process to regulate quality assurance in a decentralized governance of primary education. The Study was positioned in the critical realist paradigm, interpretive in orientation and used both coding and thematic techniques to understand the teachers’, SMC members’, and officers’ (at district and ministry levels) experiences and perceptions of quality assurance in a decentralized set up. Data was gathered using interviews, document analysis and observation methods. The findings indicated that the study was affected by eleven themes: Management System and Leadership, Human Resource Management, Finance Administration and Management, Parenting and Nutrition, Politics, Motivation, Social Structures and Patterns, Legislative Process and Policies, Infrastructure Development and Management, Community Involvement in Education and Curriculum and Professionalism. The monitoring and evaluation system had a framework in which it operates, though there was no quality assurance policy to guide the provision of quality education. The study finally indicated that there are more threats in a decentralized set up that put Quality in danger. Secondly, there was absence of supervision/inspection in schools as there was no evidence to prove this due to absence of reports. However, document analysis indicated visits of officers to schools. Records management was a problem to schools. Decentralization was adopted at different levels by different countries to address specific problems identified in view of service delivery. Finally, though monitoring and evaluation results informed the policy and decision makers, there was no quality assurance policy to guide the provision of quality education in institutions.
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Developing leadership and learner voice: a formative intervention in a Learner Representative Council in a Namibian secondary school
- Authors: Haipa, Vistorina
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Student government -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Law and legislation -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62188 , vital:28136
- Description: Learner participation in leadership in Namibian schools was legislated in 2001 through the Namibian Education Act, No. 16 of 2001. This has then become a requirement for all secondary schools to establish a Learner Representative Council (LRC). However, this legislation only gives mandates to schools with grade 8-12. Despite the impetus of having a LRC in secondary schools, learner leadership and voice remains limited, given that we are 26 years into our democracy. This awakened my interest to conduct a study aimed at developing leadership and voice within the LRC in a Namibian secondary school. Additionally, this study was conducted to contribute to filling the gap in literature of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) studies in the field of Education Leadership and Management. In this critical case orientation, the LRC were the subjects and the object of the activity was voice and leadership development within the LRC. I investigated participants’ perspectives on LRC leadership opportunities that existed in the case study school as well as factors that enabled and constrained leadership and voice development within the LRC of Omukumo (pseudonym) Secondary School in the northern part of Namibia. My study adopted a formative intervention design, using qualitative methodologies such as document analysis, observation, interviews, questionnaires and Change Laboratory Workshops. This study was framed by the second generation of CHAT. CHAT in this study was used as a methodological and analytical tool to surface the contradictions. Additionally, data were analysed by means of constructing categories and themes. Five sets of findings emerged: (1) a lack of conceptual awareness of the construct ‘learner leadership’: learner leadership was understood in terms of the LRC, (2) LRC members were not really acknowledged as equal participants in the school decision-making due to unequal power relations between the teachers and the LRC members, (3) misinterpretation of LRC policy that speak about the establishment of learners club and inadequate LRC training hindered the development of voice and leadership within the LRC, (4) the overall leadership role assigned to the LRC was to oversee the adherence of the school rules, and last (5) learner leadership and voice was still developing in the case study school. My key recommendation based on the research findings is the need for on-going LRC training at regional level; a need for large scale comparative studies between two African countries (Namibia, & South Africa) on the topic of learner leadership development and last, a need for workshops to train teachers on the implementation of national policies in schools, in particular those that speak to issues of learner voice and leadership.
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- Authors: Haipa, Vistorina
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia , Educational leadership -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Student government -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Namibia , Student participation in administration -- Law and legislation -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62188 , vital:28136
- Description: Learner participation in leadership in Namibian schools was legislated in 2001 through the Namibian Education Act, No. 16 of 2001. This has then become a requirement for all secondary schools to establish a Learner Representative Council (LRC). However, this legislation only gives mandates to schools with grade 8-12. Despite the impetus of having a LRC in secondary schools, learner leadership and voice remains limited, given that we are 26 years into our democracy. This awakened my interest to conduct a study aimed at developing leadership and voice within the LRC in a Namibian secondary school. Additionally, this study was conducted to contribute to filling the gap in literature of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) studies in the field of Education Leadership and Management. In this critical case orientation, the LRC were the subjects and the object of the activity was voice and leadership development within the LRC. I investigated participants’ perspectives on LRC leadership opportunities that existed in the case study school as well as factors that enabled and constrained leadership and voice development within the LRC of Omukumo (pseudonym) Secondary School in the northern part of Namibia. My study adopted a formative intervention design, using qualitative methodologies such as document analysis, observation, interviews, questionnaires and Change Laboratory Workshops. This study was framed by the second generation of CHAT. CHAT in this study was used as a methodological and analytical tool to surface the contradictions. Additionally, data were analysed by means of constructing categories and themes. Five sets of findings emerged: (1) a lack of conceptual awareness of the construct ‘learner leadership’: learner leadership was understood in terms of the LRC, (2) LRC members were not really acknowledged as equal participants in the school decision-making due to unequal power relations between the teachers and the LRC members, (3) misinterpretation of LRC policy that speak about the establishment of learners club and inadequate LRC training hindered the development of voice and leadership within the LRC, (4) the overall leadership role assigned to the LRC was to oversee the adherence of the school rules, and last (5) learner leadership and voice was still developing in the case study school. My key recommendation based on the research findings is the need for on-going LRC training at regional level; a need for large scale comparative studies between two African countries (Namibia, & South Africa) on the topic of learner leadership development and last, a need for workshops to train teachers on the implementation of national policies in schools, in particular those that speak to issues of learner voice and leadership.
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Factors that shape learner achievement in socially disadvantaged and rural contexts: a social realist study in two rural senior secondary schools in Omusati region, Namibia
- Authors: Shilongo, Erica
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Academic achievement Namibia Omusati , High school students Namibia Omusati Social conditions , Rural schools Namibia Omusati , Education, Rural Namibia Omusati , Social realism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62240 , vital:28146
- Description: Learners’ performance and the reasons for either achievement or failure in school has lo ng been a topic of debate. In early research on academic achievement, theorists, educators, biologists and psychologists traditionally focused on the learners from socially disadvantaged family backgrounds who underachieve. Much of the debate internationally centred on whether learner academic achievement / underachievement is a product of hereditary traits or the social context. In particular, arguments for and against whether the reasons for the achievement / underachievement of children from socially disadvantaged families are genetic or the social context in which they find themselves continue unabated. Such explanations do not provide insight into why it is that despite familial (genetic) and social circumstances (social disadvantage), some children succeed and/or are able to act outside expectations of failure. Little research has focused on those in the same or similar contexts who are achieving academic success despite their limiting circumstances and the reasons for their success. This study used a social realist lens to investigate the factors that shape the academic achievement of 12 learners in two rural senior secondary schools in Omusati region, Namibia. All 12 learners are from low socioeconomic family backgrounds. The data was collected through survey, interviews with learners, parents and teachers, field notes and document analysis. The main finding of the study show that contrary to research that portrayed learners’ achievement as determined either by heredity or social contexts, the 12 learners constantly used their agentic possibilities to navigate constraining structural and cultural conditions at regional, familial and school levels to achieve academic success. Their agency was shaped by the socioeconomic conditions in their lives, namely, socioeconomic deprivation; large extended families in rural households, lack of amenities and utilities in their families, participation in household chores, experience of family tragedies and of changes when they were young.
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- Authors: Shilongo, Erica
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Academic achievement Namibia Omusati , High school students Namibia Omusati Social conditions , Rural schools Namibia Omusati , Education, Rural Namibia Omusati , Social realism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62240 , vital:28146
- Description: Learners’ performance and the reasons for either achievement or failure in school has lo ng been a topic of debate. In early research on academic achievement, theorists, educators, biologists and psychologists traditionally focused on the learners from socially disadvantaged family backgrounds who underachieve. Much of the debate internationally centred on whether learner academic achievement / underachievement is a product of hereditary traits or the social context. In particular, arguments for and against whether the reasons for the achievement / underachievement of children from socially disadvantaged families are genetic or the social context in which they find themselves continue unabated. Such explanations do not provide insight into why it is that despite familial (genetic) and social circumstances (social disadvantage), some children succeed and/or are able to act outside expectations of failure. Little research has focused on those in the same or similar contexts who are achieving academic success despite their limiting circumstances and the reasons for their success. This study used a social realist lens to investigate the factors that shape the academic achievement of 12 learners in two rural senior secondary schools in Omusati region, Namibia. All 12 learners are from low socioeconomic family backgrounds. The data was collected through survey, interviews with learners, parents and teachers, field notes and document analysis. The main finding of the study show that contrary to research that portrayed learners’ achievement as determined either by heredity or social contexts, the 12 learners constantly used their agentic possibilities to navigate constraining structural and cultural conditions at regional, familial and school levels to achieve academic success. Their agency was shaped by the socioeconomic conditions in their lives, namely, socioeconomic deprivation; large extended families in rural households, lack of amenities and utilities in their families, participation in household chores, experience of family tragedies and of changes when they were young.
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Interrogating teacher leadership development through a formative intervention: a case study in a rural Secondary School in northern Namibia
- Authors: Iyambo, David Kandiwapa
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , School management and organization -- Namibia , Teachers -- Training of -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61547 , vital:28035
- Description: The Namibian education system has undergone major policy shifts from a ‘top-down’ hierarchical leadership practice to a more shared and democratic form of leadership in schools. These policies compel principals and school management team members to involve level-one teachers in decision-making and other leadership roles within their schools and beyond. However, to this end, the goals envisaged by policies for teachers to participate in, and contribute to the overall school leadership activities and decision-making have not been fully realised. This was due to the inherent hierarchy of the ‘top-down’ system and autocratic leadership style which remains powerful within the current school practice. Against this backdrop, this study interrogated how teacher leadership can be developed in a rural Secondary School in northern Namibia. The underlying cultural-historical conditions that promoted or constrained teacher leadership development were surfaced. Opportunities for changes in leadership practices through a formative intervention were developed. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) was utilised as a theoretical and analytical framework in this study together with Grant’s Model of Teacher Leadership (2006; 2008; 2010). Five level-one teachers, two school management members and a school board chairperson were selected as research participants by means of a purposive sampling method. Furthermore, the study used document analysis, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and change laboratory workshops as main tools for data generation. The findings revealed that participants understood the concept of teacher leadership differently and that teachers in the case study school were leading in all four zones of teacher leadership model (Grant, 2006; 2008; 2012) although their roles differed. However, the study also found that teacher leadership development was mostly intensified by managerial structures. It appeared from the findings of this study that conditions such as the role of the school management team (SMT) members in promoting teacher leadership development, a supportive organisational culture, and provision of learning support amongst staff members through the attendance of workshops emerged as factors promoting the development of teachers as leaders. The study also revealed that there were many cultural and historical tensions that constrained the practice of teacher leadership development in school. Thus, the study argues that limited leadership training and an inherent ‘top-down’ hierarchical style of leadership was the main underlying systemic causes that constrained teachers to be developed as leaders. Through the change laboratory workshops, the findings suggested that there was a need for continuous professional development initiatives and leadership training, as alternative way for the realisation of teacher leadership development. Finally, a recommendation that leadership aspects should be constituted in pre-and in-service professional development training as an ongoing practice is made.
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- Authors: Iyambo, David Kandiwapa
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- Namibia , School management and organization -- Namibia , Teachers -- Training of -- Namibia , Cultural Historical Activity Theory
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61547 , vital:28035
- Description: The Namibian education system has undergone major policy shifts from a ‘top-down’ hierarchical leadership practice to a more shared and democratic form of leadership in schools. These policies compel principals and school management team members to involve level-one teachers in decision-making and other leadership roles within their schools and beyond. However, to this end, the goals envisaged by policies for teachers to participate in, and contribute to the overall school leadership activities and decision-making have not been fully realised. This was due to the inherent hierarchy of the ‘top-down’ system and autocratic leadership style which remains powerful within the current school practice. Against this backdrop, this study interrogated how teacher leadership can be developed in a rural Secondary School in northern Namibia. The underlying cultural-historical conditions that promoted or constrained teacher leadership development were surfaced. Opportunities for changes in leadership practices through a formative intervention were developed. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) was utilised as a theoretical and analytical framework in this study together with Grant’s Model of Teacher Leadership (2006; 2008; 2010). Five level-one teachers, two school management members and a school board chairperson were selected as research participants by means of a purposive sampling method. Furthermore, the study used document analysis, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and change laboratory workshops as main tools for data generation. The findings revealed that participants understood the concept of teacher leadership differently and that teachers in the case study school were leading in all four zones of teacher leadership model (Grant, 2006; 2008; 2012) although their roles differed. However, the study also found that teacher leadership development was mostly intensified by managerial structures. It appeared from the findings of this study that conditions such as the role of the school management team (SMT) members in promoting teacher leadership development, a supportive organisational culture, and provision of learning support amongst staff members through the attendance of workshops emerged as factors promoting the development of teachers as leaders. The study also revealed that there were many cultural and historical tensions that constrained the practice of teacher leadership development in school. Thus, the study argues that limited leadership training and an inherent ‘top-down’ hierarchical style of leadership was the main underlying systemic causes that constrained teachers to be developed as leaders. Through the change laboratory workshops, the findings suggested that there was a need for continuous professional development initiatives and leadership training, as alternative way for the realisation of teacher leadership development. Finally, a recommendation that leadership aspects should be constituted in pre-and in-service professional development training as an ongoing practice is made.
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Investigating Grade 3 learners’ changing mathematical proficiency in a maths club programme focused on number sense progression
- Authors: Hebe, Gasenakeletso Ennie
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Mathematical ability -- Testing , Education, Elementary -- South Africa , Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Activity programs , Mathematics -- Remedial teaching , South African Numeracy Chair Project (SANCP)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62200 , vital:28137
- Description: Recent international reports, for example TIMSS (2011 & 2015), point to serious challenges in South African learner performance in Mathematics and Science. Of greatest concern is that research findings (e.g. Graven, Venkat, Westaway and Tshesane 2013) suggest that many South African learners show signs of mathematical knowledge gaps in the lower grades. Hence, there is a need to address challenges of this nature very early in Foundation Phase. This study was undertaken with a view to contribute towards addressing mathematical challenges encountered by learners in Foundation Phase. This empirical enquiry was undertaken under the auspices of the South African Numeracy Chair Project (SANCP) at Rhodes University whose mission is to develop sustainable ways of improving quality teaching and learning of Mathematics in South Africa. A relatively new SANCP programme called Pushing for Progression (PfP) run as part of the after-school Maths Clubs to develop the number sense and four Operations in learners was used to achieve the research aims of this study. Research participants were drawn from the Maths Clubs established by the researcher in a small rural town of Ottosdal in the North West Province of South Africa. This Study is grounded on the Vygotskian perspective and uses the interpretivist qualitative research method for data collection and analysis. Sampling was done opportunistically by enlisting participants (12 teachers and 117 learners) on the basis of their availability and willingness to participate. Pre- and post-assessment of learners’ proficiency on the four Basic Operations was conducted at the beginning and at the end of the research project, respectively. This was done to determine the impact of the project on learner performance. Data analysis was done thematically and through the comparison of learner results of the pre- and post-assessment. The findings point to the effectiveness of the PfP Programme in learner performance. This can be deduced from improved scores between pre- and post-assessment and the observations made by participant-teachers on their respective club learners’ mathematical proficiencies. Accordingly, based on the findings, this study recommends, inter alia, that since the PfP programme is still in its early stages, similar research be conducted elsewhere. Additionally, the Department of Basic Education could consider exploring the PfP programme as one of several other strategies to help improve learner proficiency in Mathematics.
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- Authors: Hebe, Gasenakeletso Ennie
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Mathematical ability -- Testing , Education, Elementary -- South Africa , Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Activity programs , Mathematics -- Remedial teaching , South African Numeracy Chair Project (SANCP)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62200 , vital:28137
- Description: Recent international reports, for example TIMSS (2011 & 2015), point to serious challenges in South African learner performance in Mathematics and Science. Of greatest concern is that research findings (e.g. Graven, Venkat, Westaway and Tshesane 2013) suggest that many South African learners show signs of mathematical knowledge gaps in the lower grades. Hence, there is a need to address challenges of this nature very early in Foundation Phase. This study was undertaken with a view to contribute towards addressing mathematical challenges encountered by learners in Foundation Phase. This empirical enquiry was undertaken under the auspices of the South African Numeracy Chair Project (SANCP) at Rhodes University whose mission is to develop sustainable ways of improving quality teaching and learning of Mathematics in South Africa. A relatively new SANCP programme called Pushing for Progression (PfP) run as part of the after-school Maths Clubs to develop the number sense and four Operations in learners was used to achieve the research aims of this study. Research participants were drawn from the Maths Clubs established by the researcher in a small rural town of Ottosdal in the North West Province of South Africa. This Study is grounded on the Vygotskian perspective and uses the interpretivist qualitative research method for data collection and analysis. Sampling was done opportunistically by enlisting participants (12 teachers and 117 learners) on the basis of their availability and willingness to participate. Pre- and post-assessment of learners’ proficiency on the four Basic Operations was conducted at the beginning and at the end of the research project, respectively. This was done to determine the impact of the project on learner performance. Data analysis was done thematically and through the comparison of learner results of the pre- and post-assessment. The findings point to the effectiveness of the PfP Programme in learner performance. This can be deduced from improved scores between pre- and post-assessment and the observations made by participant-teachers on their respective club learners’ mathematical proficiencies. Accordingly, based on the findings, this study recommends, inter alia, that since the PfP programme is still in its early stages, similar research be conducted elsewhere. Additionally, the Department of Basic Education could consider exploring the PfP programme as one of several other strategies to help improve learner proficiency in Mathematics.
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