An investigation of how environmental learning and teaching support materials (LTSM) can influence team planning and teaching and learning activities in the Foundation Phase
- Authors: Mdlungu, Nozuko Gloria
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Education, Elementary -- South Africa Environmental education -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa Teaching -- Aids and devices -- South Africa Curriculum change -- South Africa Competency-based education -- South Africa Curriculum-based assessment -- South Africa Curriculum planning -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1630 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003512
- Description: South Africa has experienced significant curriculum transformation over the past ten years. Environment was introduced into C2005 as a phase organiser. Following the streamlining and strengthening of the curriculum, the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) has a more explicit environmental focus in all of the Learning Areas. This has created opportunities for teachers to address environmental health issues in a community context. I work in a rural school and the community around the school experience a number of environmental health issues. In my previous observations I noticed that teachers were not using Learning Teaching Support Materials (LTSM) effectively. In this study I wanted to investigate how LTSM can be used to address environmental health issues in the Foundation Phase. As Life Orientation Learning Outcome1 is a ‘backbone’ of the Life Skills Learning Programme in the Foundation Phase, I decided to focus on this Learning Outcome as it is the Health Promotion outcome in the NCS (R-9). It was my interest to investigate how LTSM are used in team planning and how this planning influences the use of LTSM in classrooms. In the research I observed the link between the activities and LTSM that were discussed in the planning session and those that were done in the classroom. To do this I documented the planning workshop, and I also observed three lessons undertaken in two classrooms, a grade 2 and a grade 3 classroom in my school, where I serve as a principal. I conducted this research as an interpretive case study, and I used workshop, interviews, focus group interviews and classroom observation as methods in the study. The study found that LTSM used in planning influences activities done in the classroom. It also found that use of LTSM helps to achieve the Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards, and to improve the participation of learners in the learning process. Use of LTSM in planning also improves teachers’ Learning Area knowledge and their knowledge of curriculum development issues. Planning sessions also assisted teachers to address problems such as language used in LTSM and availability of LTSM. The study also found that teachers did not address formal assessment in the planning or in the way they used LTSM. The study concluded that use of LTSM in planning can strengthen classroom practice, and recommendations were made to take this work forward in the context of our school, as it addresses the gap between policy and practice.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Mdlungu, Nozuko Gloria
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Education, Elementary -- South Africa Environmental education -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa Teaching -- Aids and devices -- South Africa Curriculum change -- South Africa Competency-based education -- South Africa Curriculum-based assessment -- South Africa Curriculum planning -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1630 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003512
- Description: South Africa has experienced significant curriculum transformation over the past ten years. Environment was introduced into C2005 as a phase organiser. Following the streamlining and strengthening of the curriculum, the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) has a more explicit environmental focus in all of the Learning Areas. This has created opportunities for teachers to address environmental health issues in a community context. I work in a rural school and the community around the school experience a number of environmental health issues. In my previous observations I noticed that teachers were not using Learning Teaching Support Materials (LTSM) effectively. In this study I wanted to investigate how LTSM can be used to address environmental health issues in the Foundation Phase. As Life Orientation Learning Outcome1 is a ‘backbone’ of the Life Skills Learning Programme in the Foundation Phase, I decided to focus on this Learning Outcome as it is the Health Promotion outcome in the NCS (R-9). It was my interest to investigate how LTSM are used in team planning and how this planning influences the use of LTSM in classrooms. In the research I observed the link between the activities and LTSM that were discussed in the planning session and those that were done in the classroom. To do this I documented the planning workshop, and I also observed three lessons undertaken in two classrooms, a grade 2 and a grade 3 classroom in my school, where I serve as a principal. I conducted this research as an interpretive case study, and I used workshop, interviews, focus group interviews and classroom observation as methods in the study. The study found that LTSM used in planning influences activities done in the classroom. It also found that use of LTSM helps to achieve the Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards, and to improve the participation of learners in the learning process. Use of LTSM in planning also improves teachers’ Learning Area knowledge and their knowledge of curriculum development issues. Planning sessions also assisted teachers to address problems such as language used in LTSM and availability of LTSM. The study also found that teachers did not address formal assessment in the planning or in the way they used LTSM. The study concluded that use of LTSM in planning can strengthen classroom practice, and recommendations were made to take this work forward in the context of our school, as it addresses the gap between policy and practice.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Social learning processes in a citrus farming community of practice
- Authors: Downsborough, Linda
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1878 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005859
- Description: Learning takes place in a number of ways. Situated learning for example, tries to shift the focus from the individual as a learner to the learner participating in the social world and from learning as a strictly cognitive process to a more encompassing view of social practice. The overall aim of this research was to gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which learning takes place in and between members of a citrus farming community, in other words it was to investigate the social learning processes. The research was undertaken in Patensie, a citrus farming community of the Gamtoos River Valley, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Data was generated through the use of interviews and informal discussions with participants together with document analysis, such as minutes of meetings. I also made observations of the learning interactions that were evident and also the interactions that were evident in the area as a whole. The data was analysed in two phases, the first involved reading across the interview transcripts and organizing the data under broad themes while the second phase made use of an analytical framework, a Community of Practice perspective to further analyze and engage with the data. I drew quite strongly on the ideas of situated learning, Communities of Practice and the notion of Legitimate Peripheral Participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991) as a means to understand, interpret and describe the social learning processes. The research highlighted that in this case study, citrus farmers learn in a number of sociological ways, for example through intergenerational learning (in the family), learning from each other in a Community of Practice, learning from private consultants and extensions officers as well as from other organizations and institutions. It also considered how farmers' learning had influenced land use practice in the area. This brought to the fore an emerging partnership with a conservation agent based on providing economic incentives to farmers to engage in sustainable landuse practices. It is hoped that this research may inform future educational endeavours by shedding light on the social learning processes and by drawing attention to key aspects of learning that may previously have been overlooked in research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Downsborough, Linda
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1878 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005859
- Description: Learning takes place in a number of ways. Situated learning for example, tries to shift the focus from the individual as a learner to the learner participating in the social world and from learning as a strictly cognitive process to a more encompassing view of social practice. The overall aim of this research was to gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which learning takes place in and between members of a citrus farming community, in other words it was to investigate the social learning processes. The research was undertaken in Patensie, a citrus farming community of the Gamtoos River Valley, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Data was generated through the use of interviews and informal discussions with participants together with document analysis, such as minutes of meetings. I also made observations of the learning interactions that were evident and also the interactions that were evident in the area as a whole. The data was analysed in two phases, the first involved reading across the interview transcripts and organizing the data under broad themes while the second phase made use of an analytical framework, a Community of Practice perspective to further analyze and engage with the data. I drew quite strongly on the ideas of situated learning, Communities of Practice and the notion of Legitimate Peripheral Participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991) as a means to understand, interpret and describe the social learning processes. The research highlighted that in this case study, citrus farmers learn in a number of sociological ways, for example through intergenerational learning (in the family), learning from each other in a Community of Practice, learning from private consultants and extensions officers as well as from other organizations and institutions. It also considered how farmers' learning had influenced land use practice in the area. This brought to the fore an emerging partnership with a conservation agent based on providing economic incentives to farmers to engage in sustainable landuse practices. It is hoped that this research may inform future educational endeavours by shedding light on the social learning processes and by drawing attention to key aspects of learning that may previously have been overlooked in research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The significance of participation in capacity development and project sustainability: a case study of the Zimbabwe Secondary Teacher Training Environmental Education Project (St²eep)
- Authors: Van Ongevalle, Jan
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: High school teachers -- Training of -- Zimbabwe Environmental education -- Study and teaching (secondary) -- Zimbabwe Environmental education -- Curricula -- Case studies -- Zimbabwe Environmental education -- Curricula -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1766 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003651
- Description: This study uses a systems thinking perspective to explore the role and meaning of participation, capacity development and project sustainability in the Zimbabwe Secondary Teacher Training Environmental Education Project (St²eep). Since there was no consistent critical reflection upon the different assumptions that underpin these important aspects of St²eep in the original project design, this study aims to articulate a theoretical framework for guiding the project. St2eep is a donorfunded project, located in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education in Zimbabwe that seeks to integrate environmental education across the curriculum of secondary teacher education. The study first develops a theoretical framework drawing on systems thinking. In particular it uses the holistic and constructivist perspectives embedded in systems thinking to describe a number of analytic frameworks that are used as a guide to investigate participation, capacity development and project sustainability in the St²eep case study. The research methodology comprises a qualitative case study approach, which contains elements of an instrumental, evaluative and critical case study. Data-collection methods include document analysis, focus group discussions, focus group interviews, semi-structured face-to-face interviews and participant observation. Data analysis follows the constant comparative method of coding and categorising data as outlined by Strauss and Corbin (1998). The outcomes of this research show that participation processes in St²eep evolve around the interactions between a political dimension and a learning dimension. The political dimension relates to giving the project stakeholders a critical voice, allowing them to shape the project and involving them in the decision-making process. This approach has fostered an ongoing learning process in a small team of committed stakeholders based on the principles of collaborative learning, team learning and action research. Participation was shown to enhance capacity-development processes at individual and institutional level by the provision of support through learning teams, and by the renegotiation of responsibilities and power relations between lecturers involved in St²eep, donor representatives and college administrations. The strong operational role of the donor organisation was seen as a serious threat towards individual and institutional capacity development since it creates a functional but artificial and independent project system within the college system and takes over any local institutional support structure that it might seek to develop. Fostering continuous learning and capacity development, St²eep’s participatory approach was shown to contribute to a better understanding of the interconnectedness of factors that influence future sustainability of the project and the implementation of environmental education. This has assisted in the development of different scenarios on the sustainability of the project. The research shows that the project-ustainability planning process draws directly from St²eep’s ongoing learning process, with individual and institutional capacity development featuring strongly in the different scenarios, and with the external context such as the economic situation and the low priority of environmental education being recognised as important factors that need to be considered. Drawing on the findings from the case study, this study makes a tentative recommendation that donor organisations should focus more on capacity-development initiatives and avoid taking on a strong operational role in project activities. The research also recommends that there is need for a deliberate focus on both the political and learning dimensions of the participation process in order to foster local ownership. Making the learning aspect much more central in St²eep is presented as a possible strategy for motivating a larger number of college lecturers to become involved in the project and the implementation of environmental education. The study also urges St²eep to combine the different scenarios that have emerged during the project sustainability planning process and to focus on the benefits that stakeholders want to see sustained.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Van Ongevalle, Jan
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: High school teachers -- Training of -- Zimbabwe Environmental education -- Study and teaching (secondary) -- Zimbabwe Environmental education -- Curricula -- Case studies -- Zimbabwe Environmental education -- Curricula -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1766 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003651
- Description: This study uses a systems thinking perspective to explore the role and meaning of participation, capacity development and project sustainability in the Zimbabwe Secondary Teacher Training Environmental Education Project (St²eep). Since there was no consistent critical reflection upon the different assumptions that underpin these important aspects of St²eep in the original project design, this study aims to articulate a theoretical framework for guiding the project. St2eep is a donorfunded project, located in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education in Zimbabwe that seeks to integrate environmental education across the curriculum of secondary teacher education. The study first develops a theoretical framework drawing on systems thinking. In particular it uses the holistic and constructivist perspectives embedded in systems thinking to describe a number of analytic frameworks that are used as a guide to investigate participation, capacity development and project sustainability in the St²eep case study. The research methodology comprises a qualitative case study approach, which contains elements of an instrumental, evaluative and critical case study. Data-collection methods include document analysis, focus group discussions, focus group interviews, semi-structured face-to-face interviews and participant observation. Data analysis follows the constant comparative method of coding and categorising data as outlined by Strauss and Corbin (1998). The outcomes of this research show that participation processes in St²eep evolve around the interactions between a political dimension and a learning dimension. The political dimension relates to giving the project stakeholders a critical voice, allowing them to shape the project and involving them in the decision-making process. This approach has fostered an ongoing learning process in a small team of committed stakeholders based on the principles of collaborative learning, team learning and action research. Participation was shown to enhance capacity-development processes at individual and institutional level by the provision of support through learning teams, and by the renegotiation of responsibilities and power relations between lecturers involved in St²eep, donor representatives and college administrations. The strong operational role of the donor organisation was seen as a serious threat towards individual and institutional capacity development since it creates a functional but artificial and independent project system within the college system and takes over any local institutional support structure that it might seek to develop. Fostering continuous learning and capacity development, St²eep’s participatory approach was shown to contribute to a better understanding of the interconnectedness of factors that influence future sustainability of the project and the implementation of environmental education. This has assisted in the development of different scenarios on the sustainability of the project. The research shows that the project-ustainability planning process draws directly from St²eep’s ongoing learning process, with individual and institutional capacity development featuring strongly in the different scenarios, and with the external context such as the economic situation and the low priority of environmental education being recognised as important factors that need to be considered. Drawing on the findings from the case study, this study makes a tentative recommendation that donor organisations should focus more on capacity-development initiatives and avoid taking on a strong operational role in project activities. The research also recommends that there is need for a deliberate focus on both the political and learning dimensions of the participation process in order to foster local ownership. Making the learning aspect much more central in St²eep is presented as a possible strategy for motivating a larger number of college lecturers to become involved in the project and the implementation of environmental education. The study also urges St²eep to combine the different scenarios that have emerged during the project sustainability planning process and to focus on the benefits that stakeholders want to see sustained.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
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