Research in Educational Policy and Management (E-Journal)
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Critiquing Various Antecedents of Job Satisfaction and Job Performance of the Workforce in Schools
Full text linkMany organizations are faced with lot of challenges that emanate from the state of their workforce. Education departments also encounter these challenges, especially when they have humongous personnel. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of educators’ job satisfaction and whether there is any relationship between job satisfaction and performance. The data were collected using questionnaires that were distributed to 500 respondents from primary and secondary schools, but the response rate stood at 371. A 5-point Likert scale was used to analyse data forming part of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire results indicated that educators job satisfaction has been triggered by several facets such as promotion, pay, and supervision. The other findings are that money is not the only satisfier, but other facets are important in making the teachers happy when at work. Out of the many facets, promotion, supervision, and general working conditions are the main causes of dissatisfaction of teachers. The study has shown that conditions of service for teachers must improve to enhance a conducive culture of teaching in schools
Beyond Punishment: Unraveling the Integrative Empowerment Model for Youth Violence Prevention
Full text linkThis paper methodically analyses the Integrative Empowerment Model for Youth Violence Prevention (IEMYVP), a model developed by the author. The primary objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of the IEMYVP in reducing instances of bullying within educational settings. Employing a hypothetical dataset that reflects the demographic and behavioral dynamics of a primary and secondary school, the study utilizes multiple regression analysis to assess the impacts of the model’s five key components: awareness, empowerment, participation, support systems, and community engagement. Grounded in human rights principles, the IEMYVP incorporates Joseph Raz’s interest theory and John Rawls’ concept of justice as fairness, advocating a comprehensive strategy for bullying prevention. The IEMYVP proposes a holistic approach to bullying prevention by focusing on enhancing awareness, empowering individuals, promoting active participation, supporting victims, and engaging the community. The study’s results indicate that each component notably decreases bullying, with awareness and empowerment showing the most significant impact. These components collectively account for approximately 67.75% of the variation in bullying reduction, demonstrating the model’s strong potential to create safer educational environments. The findings highlight the necessity for empirical testing of the IEMYVP across diverse educational landscapes to refine its elements and verify its effectiveness. The study promotes integrating this model into broader anti-bullying strategies to improve student well-being and security, emphasizing fairness and respect. The paper concludes by advocating for extensive implementation trials, aiming to establish a robust, evidence-based framework for youth violence prevention in schools
Examining the Impact of Fictional Stories on Reading Comprehension: Successes and Insights
Full text linkReading comprehension challenges are prevalent worldwide and continue to deter the goals set by various national curricula. This is particularly clear in South Africa's Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), which emphasizes essential competencies such as literacy and numeracy. Above all, CAPS underscores skills, attitudes, and knowledge as the fundamental goals needed to produce independent citizens. To promote the acquisition of these competencies, reading strategies like reading aloud and paired reading are commonly implemented. However, despite these efforts, reading comprehension in the English First Additional Language (EFAL) at the intermediate phase remains an important challenge to achieving curriculum outcomes. This study aims to examine how the use of fictional stories can enhance EFAL reading comprehension. The study employed a participatory action research approach using qualitative method, with structured interviews generating the results. Additionally, 13 participants from a district in the Free State were purposively sampled. Human values such as forgiveness, sympathy, and empathy, along with reading engagement, were identified as core aspects attributed to fictional stories. Fictional stories enhance reading comprehension as readers not only develop critical thinking skills but also benefit from values like compassion, empathy, and humility conveyed through characterizations. The study findings aim to affect policy frameworks and strategies aimed at enhancing reading comprehension in intermediate schools
Instructional Leadership Challenges in Rural Multigrade Schools
Full text linkSchool leadership is regarded as the cornerstone of the successful provisioning of quality education. This qualitative study draws from principals' accounts of their instructional leadership challenges in rural multigrade schools. The research, situated within an interpretivist paradigm and the theoretical lens of instructional leadership, sought to understand the challenges that principals experience as instructional leaders and how they mitigate the challenges they experience in their rural contexts. Ten purposively selected principals from rural multigrade schools situated in the Vhembe district of Limpopo province participated in the study. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews and were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings show that principals in rural multigrade schools do not participate in induction training to equip them with the knowledge and skill to commence their roles as principals. As a result, they struggle to balance their teaching and management roles. However, fostering teamwork with teachers may be a strategy that could assist principals in managing and successfully executing their duties. Lack of access to technological resources and staffing are serious concerns for the participants in their aim to provide quality education. Active parental involvement supports principals and teacher in their multigrade rural context. This study recommends that principals should undergo training for their role as principals in rural multigrade schools and training on multigrade pedagogies is recommended for both principals and teachers. Understanding challenges that principals in rural multigrade schools experience could help policymakers establish relevant policies that address leadership issues in rural schools
Teaching Methods to Support the Teaching of Reading in the Foundation Phase Class: A Case Study of Schools around Capricorn South District, Limpopo, South Africa
Full text linkThe purpose of this study was to investigate how instructors experienced teaching reading in Foundation Phase classrooms and how they applied various tactics to make reading instruction successful. In a case study design, a qualitative research methodology was used. Six educators from three distinct schools made up the sample: two were Foundation Phase specialists, two had never participated in in-service training, and two are from former Model C schools. Semi-structured interviews and in-class observations were used to gather data. The semi-structured interviews' raw recorded data was first converted into written language, after which initial codes were assigned to each category of data. These results showed that teachers' methods in the classroom did not align with contemporary theories and best practices for teaching reading. Their proficiency in teaching reading utilising the CAPS-recommended reading approaches generally is adversely affected by this aspect. Learners' failure to meet satisfactory reading outcomes in Foundation Phase classrooms may be due to the difficulties in implementing various reading approaches
Engineering Academics and Students’ Views on the Phases of Teaching and Learning of Engineering Mathematics in an Antenna Design Course
Full text linkAn antenna design course, naturally, aims to teach students to produce an antenna device, which is a vital tool in technological development. Typically, this course is taught and designed in an abstract manner, which may be an inappropriate approach to teaching it. This approach could be due to engineering academics and students’ poor understanding of how to model mathematics concepts. As a result, antennae experts suggest that antenna technology is a difficult device when it comes to mathematical descriptions, which has resulted in a sudden loss of interest among students in a school of engineering. Thus, this paper reports on the four phases of teaching antenna design using mathematical modelling approaches, with the specific aim of resolving the difficulties encountered in teaching an antenna design course. In achieving this teaching, the study explains the approaches and impact of teaching Mathematical Modelling (MM) in antenna design among engineering academics. In this study, the sample population included one engineering academic and four engineering students. The data were collected using a qualitative research approach, utilising an interview guide and an open-ended questionnaire. Finally, the results of this study confirmed the four major phases of teaching antenna design using engineering mathematics
Conceptualization and Development of a Web-based Platform for Multicultural Mathematics Resources
Full text linkThis study reports on the conception and development of an online ethnomathematics instructional content repository for mathematics teachers. The study adopts a developmental research design to build a platform on WordPress, a free and open-source content management system (CMS) based on PHP & MySQL. The presentation in this paper begins with a broad background of the intent for building the website for multicultural mathematics resources. The conceptual discussion of ethnomathematics is next presented, followed by the theory of realistic mathematics education, which is a theoretical foundation of the study. Culture-based mathematics instructional design is then conceptualised. The details of the developmental research design follow this. The core deployment of the cleanroom software development model is presented and followed by the system specification of the developed web-based platform. A preliminary assessment of VillageMath’s navigation and structure indicated that the designed innovation has the potential to aid mathematics teachers in providing the necessary guided re-invention of the mathematics classroom along the culture-based continuum. The web-based platform for multicultural mathematics resources is designed to ground culture-based mathematics instruction and student learning in the values, norms, crafts, beliefs, practices, experiences, and language derived from existing indigenous knowledge systems
The Use of Technology in African Language Pedagogy – A Sociological Approach
Full text linkTechnology has brought about new knowledge forms in all aspects of human life. The new knowledge forms have transformed not only human lives but also human ways of doing things. Education has also benefited from technological transformation which is witnessed through the delivery of teaching and reception of learning with technology. The use of technology in teaching has been a fundamental theme in the 21st century as the world tends towards the fourth industrial revolution. Using Bourdieu’s social theory, this paper seeks to gain an understanding of how the use of technology is impacted by the social context of language lecturers. This study aimed to investigate how language lecturers’ social context influences their use of technology in teaching African languages. To pursue the above aim, an in-depth interview was conducted with 8 language lecturers across 3 universities in KwaZulu-Natal using stratified and snowball sampling methods. This study analyses lecturers' social context regarding technology use in teaching. It also examines the value lecturers place on technology for teaching African languages. Finally, it provides recommendations for lecturers and stakeholders to effectively implement technology for teaching African languages within the social context of language lecturers
Educators in Transition: A Case Study on the Challenges and Adaptations during Rationalisation and Redeployment
Full text linkRationalisation and redeployment of educators is a problem in South African schools and internationally. The purpose of this article is to explore the challenges and adaptations of educators during rationalisation and redeployment in public schools in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The argument is that the criteria used to declare educators redundant are not consistent. A qualitative instrumental case study was applied using social constructivism as a theoretical base. Interviews with six redeployed educators were conducted. Purposive snowball sampling was used to identify and recruit participants. Permission to conduct this study was granted by the Limpopo Department of Education. Data were coded and analysed by qualitative content analysis. Empirical data revealed that educators do not like redeployment. Educators who are declared redundant choose to resign rather than face redeployment. It can be concluded that educators face a dilemma related to rationalisation and redeployment which makes them fearful and resistant to the process. Education authorities should, thus, ensure that decision-making processes are transparent and inclusive, and should provide professional development and support to educators undergoing redeployment and rationalisation to ensure equitable and successful transitions
Mathematical Software: A Panacea for Improving Senior Secondary School Students’ Retention in Geometrical Constructions
Full text linkWhen attempting to address the persistently poor performance of students in mathematics, researchers have typically examined factors such as retention to identify long-term solutions. The objective of this study was to improve the retention of senior secondary school students in geometrical constructions through mathematical software. Despite the many benefits of geometry to both the learner and society, the performance of the students continued to be abysmal. Could it be that the students do not retain what they learn? The research was conducted in Benue State, Nigeria, and was based on John Sweller’s cognitive load theory of multimedia. The study’s design utilised a non-randomised, quasi-experimental control group with a sample size of 457 students. Three objectives, research questions and research hypotheses led the study, with the Geometrical Construction Achievement Test and the Geometrical Construction Retention Test as the instruments for data collection. The mean and standard deviation of descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data that was gathered. The research reveals that retention was higher in the experimental group (Mean = 65.88) than in the control group (Mean = 51.87). The study found a statistically significant improvement in retention (p ˂ 0.05). No gender variations were found when the students were taught with mathematical software. Mathematics teachers’ utilisation of mathematical software as a strategy for teaching geometrical constructions among senior secondary school students was recommended.