Journal of Culture and Values in Education (JCVE)
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Collaborative Paper Writing as a Tool to Advance Language Competence
Full text linkAs an effective tool to advance language competence, writing papers collaboratively has the characteristic of improving author language skills, providing authors with opportunities to practice language skills in meaningful contexts. As authors collaborate to yield a paper, they get exposure to grammar genres, structures, and expressions. Concurrently, during the process, language is applied to communicate ideas effectively. This paper aims to investigate whether collaboration is really a beneficial aspect for authors. This qualitative investigation was embedded in case study design to uncover truths experienced in real-life situations. To collect data, semi-structured interviews were administered to five university scholars chosen from a population of authors reported to have successfully written publishable papers. It emerged as major findings that individual comprehension can be improved when authors collaborate on paper writing, and, as authors receive written feedback from each other, language competence advances. Although previous publications on writing collaboratively exist, research is silent on improved language competence acquired through this practice. It is concluded that individual comprehension can be improved by collaborative paper writing as the process provides opportunities for authors to justify and discuss their ideas. As they work collaboratively, authors deepen their understanding of the material and enhance their language skills
Lesson-study through Creating Videos by Twinned Teachers: Improving Grade 11 Performance on Rectangular and Cylindrical Prisms
Full text linkLessons study in the form of created videos by mathematics teachers can be used to improve practice and, therefore, learner achievement. Lesson study is a process in which teachers collaborate to improve their practices by critiquing and examining each other’s lessons. This experimental study examined the effectiveness of lesson study using videos created by twinned teachers to improve Grade 11 learners’ academic achievement in rectangular and cylindrical prisms. This study was guided by Von Berthalanffy’s System Input-Output theory, and a non-equivalent comparison group quasi-experimental design was employed to generate data. A pre-test and post-test were administered to forty (40) learners from the experimental group and thirty-nine (39) from the comparison group. Wilcoxon’s Rank-Sum was employed to collect data and to determine the significant difference in the mean scores between the two (2) study groups. The results showed that the experimental group performed better than the comparison group with the at confidence limit in the post-test. As such, the study recommends that mathematics teachers in rural schools be twinned to create videos and use lesson study to critique and examine their practice with the aim of improving learner academic performance
The Fourth Industrial Revolution Adoption: Challenges in South African Higher Education Institutions
No full textThe fourth industrial revolution (4IR) adoption in South Africa in higher education institutions (HEIs) has yet to be consistent. Despite the extensive literature on the possible contributions of technology to learners’ development, there is a lack of knowledge on barriers to the higher education sector's adoption of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) to support teaching and learning. The most highly ranked universities in South Africa have somewhat embraced the 4IR, representing only a fraction of the 26 public universities in the country. The study identified factors hindering the adoption and diffusion of 4IR technologies in South Africa’s HEIs. To address this knowledge gap, we relied on the diffusion of innovation theory as a guide. Using a qualitative approach, we collected data using documentary reviews and analyses of authoritative sources to conceptualise and contextualise 4IR. The findings revealed that 4IR adoption is not only about perceptions but is also influenced by material obstacles like conflicting global views on the 4IR, complexity in conceptualising 4IR, and the digital skills gap in HEIs, among other factors. To address these obstacles and realise the value of 4IR in HEIs, institutions must understand the educational scope associated with 4IR. This can be achieved by conducting more empirical research on the implications of 4IR on the education sector. To address the digital skills gap, institutions must design detailed skills plans to respond to their respective institutions' technological needs, redesign their pedagogical approaches by extending current practices to 4IR, and implement change management
Innovations in Education: Moral Education, Social Cohesion, and Culture diplomacy
Full text linkThis special issue contains three interesting articles which provide some innovating teaching experiences across different East Asian societies. They have presented some salient educational issues across different societies in this East Asia, which can possibly provide some references for other societies when they embark on educational reforms. This collection of papers further upfront recent issues such as moral education, community participation for social cohesions, and using educational institutes to promote culture as soft power
An Interventive Collaborative Scaffolded Approach with a Writing Center On ESL Students’ Academic Writing
Full text linkThe expected transition in higher education from students’ school-level assignments to university-level assignments provides challenges and development prospects for students and the academic world. Academic support programs have been introduced in South African higher universities to assist under-prepared university students to benefit from lectures, writing centers, and tutorials. However, the problem of poor academic writing by university students persists. The study aimed to examine students’ academic writing difficulties. English Second Language (ESL) students’ university-level writing experience, and the impact of a collaborative approach between a lecturer and a South African university writing center, to support ESL students with their academic writing, was explored. The study used the Scaffolding theory as a lens. The mixed methods approach was used, with data collected in three phases, comprising a pretest, posttest, and questionnaire. A sample of 216 first-year Senior Phase and FET students were chosen. Findings revealed that ESL students experienced challenges in academic writing skills such as structure, organization, coherence, table of contents, paraphrasing, referencing, and in-text citations. The collaborative intervention between a lecturer and the writing center assisted students to progress in their academic writing. The paper recommends exploring more collaborative strategies between lecturers and writing centers, to optimally support students
Re-imagining First-Year University Students’ Reading Culture: A Collaborative Transformative Leadership Perspective
Full text linkThis paper explored collaborative, transformative leadership to establish what to do and why by the respective institutional stakeholders to reimagine the first-year university students’ reading culture. The exploration is critical because it transforms lecturers’ perception of teaching and learning and general attitude to duty, improving students’ performance throughout their studies and beyond. Previously, from the 1960s to the mid-1980s, the culture of reading played a prominent role in students’ academic performance. Nevertheless, from the 1990s till date, many students’ interest in reading dwindled. Perhaps this is because of the emergent electronic materials, dynamic economic shifts, and other disruptive global events posed by students’ ‘political’ scrambles for power, the COVID-19 pandemic, and examination malpractices. Therefore, there is a need for a new form of leadership to confront these unconventional disruptions through critical and reflective thoughts born of action that fosters a renewed student culture of reading focused on the first years at Central University of Technology, Free State. The authors adopted a qualitative approach that used a desktop research methodology in the absence of physical research participants. The findings revealed that the first-year students’ reading habits changed after a few months of joining the university, and this benefited institutional management, lecturers, and the CUT teaching and learning. Recommendations urge writers and editors to extend research and publish best book guides on scientific transformative leadership practices, particularly in all facets of reading in education. We encourage universities to incorporate the training of transformative leaders in institutional curricula
Towards In-Service Training for Male Teachers: Muhammad Ali and Teacher Masculinity
Full text linkMale teachers often experience contradictions in their role and their identity. Teaching is sometimes not regarded as a masculine occupation, as it is associated with caring for children and associated with the home, where love and obligation drive production rather than pay. There is a contradiction in the viewpoints that men engaged in caring professions are both seen to be feminized but, at the same time, to be sexualized and hypermasculine. As such, the male teacher is positioned within a discourse of suspicion: they are suspected to be potential child molesters. At the same time, male elementary teachers are wanted in schools expressly as disciplinarians, and these teachers can be exploited when their female counterparts do not share the role of disciplinarian. Despite noting that many males leave teacher training because of these challenges, researchers have spent much less time investigating strategies to assist men in coping with them and persist in the profession. Considering this, an effort was made to develop an in-service workshop for male teachers by appreciating the life and career of Muhammad Ali, arguably the greatest boxer of all time. This was qualitative research which made use of primary materials, collected from discussion using Appreciative Inquiry methodology and principles, and secondary materials, such as a documentary and videos, and in the following manner: after watching videos of some of Ali’s best knockouts, and watching a documentary of his life, 19 volunteer male teachers conducted interviews in pairs and, following feedback and discussions, five themes from Ali’s life and career were qualitatively identified: the thief who stole Ali’s bicycle; success is 10% talent and 90% hard work; proper preparation and having confidence about one’s work; male teachers mold our learners’ diversity; and confidence before and during his fights. These themes were suitable for application in the male teachers’ careers and could serve as a curricular framework for professional development
A Systematic Literature Review of Social Media Usage among People with Intellectual Disability
Full text linkMany people are still excluded from participating in the digital world because of their intellectual disabilities. Participation in the digital world is, however, essential to meaningful contributions to society. This systematic literature review examined 13 articles published between 2015 and 2023 about social media usage among persons with intellectual disability. A combination of keywords and terms was used to search PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, Cochrane, and Medline databases. According to a thematic analysis of the included studies, the following themes emerged: usage, inclusion, risk and benefit, and training support. Based on these themes, we found that some people with intellectual disability used social media positively for social interactions. This is one of the best things about the Internet. People with intellectual disability need support to engage in social interactions through social media effectively
Freirean Utopian Didactic: A Retrospective View of Education in the South African Education Environment
Full text linkThis study investigates how the utopian didactic in education can be achieved in South Africa. It is foregrounded by Brazilian educator Paulo Freire’s collective and forward-looking dreams about what education, in the shattered sense of the “now”, can look like if teachers and students participate democratically in the learning process. Education, in a general sense, is a form of learning in which knowledge, skills and habits are transferred and nurtured from one generation to the next. But, in the Freirean utopian didactic, education involves so much more than the mere transfer of knowledge. It is about transformation, both internal (the individual) and external (society). By allowing students to critically reflect and engage in honest dialogue with their teacher, education can lead to social injustices being challenged and, hence, being overcome. Freire’s utopian vision of education is one in which hope and imagination are celebrated in the quest for a better world. This vision is sorely lacking in South African educational environment today, which is still bruised by decades of inequality. Using a literature review, this conceptual article explored whether a Freirean utopian didactic can be applied to the current education system in South Africa and bring about the much-needed transformation. We have examined whether a utopian education can be considered a basic right in South Africa, according to the Constitution, and whether it can be applied more broadly to the African continent. For education to meet the needs of all learners in the education system, a utopian education system based on quality educational skills, values and equal distribution of resources is highly recommended
Well-being and Burnout among Pre-clinical Medical Students in a Caribbean Medical School
Full text linkEvaluate well-being and burnout among preclinical medical students in a Caribbean medical school and identify the associated factors. It was a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study which was conducted among preclinical medical students of Trinity Medical Sciences University (TMSU), Saint Vincent & the Grenadines. Medical Student Well-Being Index and Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey were used. The total number of participants who gave informed consent was 82. For statistical analyses, internal consistency of the instruments was tested by Cronbach’s alpha. The Student t-test, Fisher’s exact test, Pearson correlation and multivariate regression model were used. The analysis of well-being index(WBI-MS) showed that during the past month 78% of participants experienced burnout due to emotional exhaustion and 61% due to depersonalization, 63.4% felt depression, 19.5% experienced fatigue, 65.9% suffered from stress. The significant association was found between well-being index, credit hours allotted for the semester, and depersonalization/cynicism. Also there was significant negative correlation among academic efficacy and cynicism. The analysis also showed that once a week or more often 58.5 % of participants experienced emotional exhaustion, 34.2% depersonalization and 26.8% low professional efficacy. But the level (severity) of emotional exhaustion was less in comparison with depersonalization score. Our study revealed that 65.9% of participants had a low well-being index and high level of burnout with very increased score of cynicism, which negatively affected their academic efficacy. The possible causes of the obtained results were identified and necessary strategies will be implemented to improve the outcomes