Exploring grade 8 teachers’ code-switching in teaching orthographic drawing in the Khomas Educational Region, Namibia
- Authors: Iita, Gabriel
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Code switching (Linguistics) , Orthographic projection Study and teaching (Secondary) Namibia , English-medium instruction Namibia , Language and education , Social justice and education
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/424041 , vital:72118
- Description: Studies in learner English proficiency in Namibia have shown that a considerable number of learners in primary and high schools have low proficiency. Naturally, this will be problematic for both learners and teachers who operate under a policy that dictates that from Grade 4 upwards, English is the medium of instruction in government schools. Literature has shown a general bias towards English as a medium of instruction from both the Namibian government and Namibian parents, despite the broader level of low English proficiency among learners. Research reviewed within this study has outlined the multiple benefits of code-switching for both learners and teachers. In fact, a recent study on the perceptions of code-switching in classrooms among Namibian learners indicated a positive attitude towards code-switching as a learning tool. Grade 8 Technical Drawing classes tend to be challenging due to the complexity and novelty of some of the concepts and terminologies used when teaching the subject. This makes it particularly difficult for learners whose first language is not English. Learners struggle to understand and make meaning of the concepts and objects used in Orthographic Drawing. Code-switching has been seen as a beneficial pedagogical tool. The study was therefore conducted to explore the Grade 8 teachers’ code-switching when teaching Orthographic Drawing in the Khomas educational region, Namibia. The study used the Matrix Language Frame Model by Myers-Scotton as the theoretical framework which focuses on two crucial language aspects of participating in code-switching and the matrix and embedded language, which guided this study. The qualitative approach employed a case study design which was used to gain first-hand experience in the Technical Drawing classrooms. Semi-structured interviews and an observation checklist were the research instruments that were used to generate data on the use of code-switching in Orthographic Drawing. Two schools, two Technical Drawing classes with 40 learners and two teachers in the Khomas region, Namibia were conveniently and purposively sampled. The data were analysed using coding, descriptive statistics and thematic data analysis. The primary and secondary results indicate that code-switching occurrence has constructive effects. Consequently, recommendations have been made on the effective use of code-switching along with other pedagogical tools based on the research insights into code-switching when teaching and learning Orthographic Drawing. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Humanities, Study of Englishes of Africa, 2023
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- Date Issued: 2023-10-13
A comparative study of conceptualisations and practices of inclusion as an aspect of social justice in three teacher education institutions in Canada, South Africa and Zimbabwe
- Authors: Musara, Ellison
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Social justice and education , Teachers -- Training of -- Canada , Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa , Teachers -- Training of -- Zimbabwe , Educational sociology -- Canada , Educational sociology -- South Africa , Educational sociology -- Zimbabwe , Educational equalization , Inclusive education , Education -- Moral and ethical aspects , Critical realism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144138 , vital:38314
- Description: This study sought to examine understandings and practices of inclusion as social justice in teacher education programmes in three countries: Canada, South Africa and Zimbabwe. While inclusive education has become an issue of increasing importance globally, contemporary research shows that not much attention has been given to the preparation of teachers as a key element in developing inclusive education systems. Recognising that pre-service teacher education is vital to the success and continued development of inclusive educational practice, the purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the ways in which inclusion is understood and practiced in the field of teacher education. Using Roy Bhaskar’s (1978) critical realism as a metatheory and drawing on Fraser’s substantive theory of social justice (2008, 2009) and Tronto’s ethic of care (1993, 2013), this study explored the extent to which teacher education faculty and teacher candidates understood and practiced inclusion as an aspect of social justice. The data used in this study was generated through individual and focus group interviews and document analysis in three higher education institutions, one in each of the three countries. In Canada, four teacher educators took part in the interviews while five teacher candidates participated in the focus group. Similarly, in South Africa, three teacher educators and eight teacher candidates participated, and in Zimbabwe, four teacher educators and eight teacher candidates took part in the study respectively. Findings from the study revealed that inclusion still means different things to different people, reflecting contrasting theoretical and ideological orientations from which inclusion is considered, while still remaining a major educational policy concern in all three countries. In the Canadian and South African institutions, inclusion is viewed more in terms of systemic educational change in pursuit of equity, social justice and equal educational opportunities for all learners. In the Zimbabwean institution, the primary focus of inclusion remains creating conditions that make it possible for students with disabilities to overcome barriers to learning and participation by providing specialist educational measures and interventions intended to respond to specific forms of impairment. As a comparative study, it is hoped that this study will contribute to the knowledge of variations and patterns in the ways in which inclusive education is shaped by societal forces such as political, economic and cultural conditions.
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- Date Issued: 2020
The teaching practice component of initial teacher education: a social justice approach
- Authors: Long, Kelly Ann
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Educational change -- South Africa , Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa , Education -- South Africa -- History , Education – South Africa -- Evaluation , Education -- Standards -- South Africa , Teacher effectiveness -- South Africa , Social justice and education , Education -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60200 , vital:27746
- Description: Research asserts that learner performance in South African schools is in a state of crisis. While many more learners’ post-1994 in South Africa have physical access to education, very few have epistemological access. The quality of the education learners receive is polarised along socio economic lines. This crisis has its roots in the legacy of colonialism and apartheid, and as such, there is a need to transform the education system to ensure equal opportunity for all learners, and ultimately economic growth and security for the country. One of the explanations offered for the crisis in learner performance is the poor teacher education system. However, there is a paucity of research in teacher education generally in South Africa, and specifically in relation to pre-service teachers. Furthermore, little attention has been given to how initial teacher education could contribute to the promotion of a social justice agenda with the intention of transforming the South African schooling system. This research seeks to understand how the expectations, scaffolding and assessment of preservice teachers’ teaching practices can be utilised to promote social justice during the Teaching Practice (TP) component of initial teacher education. In answering the research question, I analyse data and literature to identify a set of key valued functionings of quality praxis that preservice teachers ought to be provided the capability to realise, at the level of achieved functioning. This is a qualitative case study located in the interpretive paradigm. The case under study is: quality teaching practices of pre-service teachers. This case is bound by context (initial teacher education in South Africa) and setting (the pre-service teacher in the classroom). Two South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) were selected through purposive sampling and their respective Teaching Practice (TP) documentation was analysed. Focus group interviews were conducted with five lecturers involved in TP at one of the HEIs. The theoretical framework of the study used to guide the analysis of the data was underpinned by a social justice perspective on quality education. Given that a social justice perspective does not have analytic tools, I view quality pre-service teachers’ teaching practices as praxis and utilise the capability approach as a mechanism for identification and description of valued functionings and capabilities that contribute to quality praxis. There are four significant findings in my research. Firstly, there is consistency with regards to the valued functionings and capabilities across the TP documentation of the two participating HEIs. In other words, the conceptions of a capable pre-service teacher are similar. Secondly, if social justice goals are to be realised, greater clarity of the valued functionings needs to be evident in the TP documentation. Thirdly, the valued functionings can be categorised into those that are foundational and those that promote a social justice agenda. Finally, in promoting a social justice agenda, there are functionings that ought to be valued by the HEIs that are seemingly not currently valued.
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- Date Issued: 2018