Open Journals@UKZN
Not a member yet
870 research outputs found
Sort by
Neoliberalism, education and ‘the neglect of knowledge’
Get PDFA review essay of Selling out Education: NationalQualifications Frameworks and the neglect ofknowledge – Stephanie Allais. Rotterdam: Sense 201
Summative assessment of student teaching: a proposed approach for quantifying practice
Get PDFA pass mark in a teaching practice module is a convenient way for universities to signalconfidence in students’ beginning teaching competence. However, assigning marks forteaching competence is a fraught undertaking if marks are to be standardised acrossdifferent assessors and reflect teaching as a complex, coherent practice. This paper analysesreports written by university tutors justifying the marks awarded to a cohort of final-yearstudent teachers for their teaching practice. The analysis shows that marks reflect aninterplay between the students’ pedagogical thinking (evident in the rationale for theirlesson design and written and verbal reflections on their teaching), and their ability todeliver lessons effectively (from direct observation of their teaching). This findingprompted the development of a Summative Teaching Practice Assessment Rubric whichconsiders both the cognitive and performance dimensions of student teaching. It potentiallyenables a more coherent, holistic summative assessment of student teaching than had beenpossible using lists of isolated criteria or general impressions of competenc
Mediating early number learning: specialising across teacher talk and tools?
Get PDFIn this paper we locate our work in the context of claims of poor performance amongstSouth African learners in primary mathematics, and gaps in the knowledge base of primarymathematics teachers. Our focus is on the analysis of three Grade 2 Numeracy teachers’actions with artifacts in the context of increasing resource provision in the South Africannational policy landscape. Using ideas of mediation drawn from the Vygotskian tradition,and developed by Michael Cole and Jim Wertsch, we identify actions with the artifacts thatsuggest shortcomings in teachers’ understandings of the mathematical structures thatunderlie the design of the resources. Drawing on the work on modeling and tool use in theDutch Realistic Mathematics Education tradition, we note disruptions in openings forpedagogy to provide ‘models of’ increasingly sophisticated strategies, which might providechildren with ‘models for’ working more efficiently (and ultimately ‘tools to’ think with),disruptions arising from teachers presenting only concrete unit counting based models ofearly number calculations. Within a policy context where improving the resource situationis a priority, we argue for more attention to longitudinal support to teachers to developunderstandings of number and its progression that allow them to see the significance of themathematical structures that are figured into the design of the artifacts that are increasinglyavailable for use
Beyond classroom walls: The role of a co-curricular English club in supporting second language learning
Get PDFSecond language learners of English in South Africa and beyond face challenges. As a high school teacher of English, I have explored activities that could empower learners in their efforts to learn the language. This paper considers an activity on a beach where learners’ well-being was foregrounded, and classroom constraints were reduced. The activity, underpinned by a critical paradigm, qualitative approach and action research design, aimed to answer the question, how may learners’ attitudes towards spelling be enhanced by an activity outside the classroom? Observations, fieldnotes and reflections revealed that learners are able to transcend their fear of the language in a relaxed environment, they value the learning process when their interests are considered, and when rewarded, their self-confidence increases enabling them to participate in activities for which they initially showed reluctance. This paper therefore argues for the use of alternative teaching methods to complement conventional teaching and assessment methods.
Keywords: second language learners, empowerment, relaxed environmen
Revealing shifts from mastery of knowledge to problem solving in assessments of a tertiary physics programme
Get PDFThere is increasing pressure generally for lecturers to adapt their supervision practices of postgraduate students to better prepare postgraduate students for careers outside of academia. In this paper we examine what such pressure may mean for the supervision and preparation of theoretical physicists specifically, theoretical physics being a sub-discipline of physics usually perceived as a highly specialised niche area of scientific practice. In this exploratory study we apply the concepts of the Specialisation Dimension of Legitimation Code Theory to analyse and reveal the dominant concepts and codes, as well as the code shifts that may occur during postgraduate studies, based on an autoethnographic account of theoretical physicist identity development. The findings demonstrate an underpinning value for both knowledge and knower attributes in the journey to becoming a legitimate theoretical physicist, and the critical role played by postgraduate supervisors in facilitating the process of theoretical physicist identity development. Also highlighted are possible implications for supervisors faced with students intending to take up employment outside of academia
Recontexualising items that measure mathematical knowledge for teaching into scenario based interviews: an investigation
Get PDFAbstractThis paper interrogates the recontextualisation of available assessment items developed forresearch purposes that measure mathematical knowledge for teaching, into scenarios foruse in qualitative studies related to mathematics teachers’ subject matter knowledge. Itdraws from interviews with teacher participants in the Wits Maths Connect-Secondaryproject and their responses to two selected items from the Learning Mathematics forTeaching (LMT) project. The analysis shows that carefully constructed multiple choiceitems in the domain of (mathematics) subject matter knowledge have much potential inprovoking teachers’ talk and their mathematical reasoning in relation to practice-basedscenarios; and exploring with teachers a range of connected knowledge related to theteaching of a particular concept or topic. We argue that productive use of such items furtherrequires that researcher make explicit the mathematical ideas they expect to explore andassess in the developed items
The conceptualisation and measurement of pedagogical content knowledge and content knowledge in the COACTIV study and their impact on student learning
Get PDFAn ongoing question is the extent to which teachers' professional knowledge has an impacton their teaching and, in particular, on their students' achievement. The COACTIV1 studysurveyed and tested the mathematics teachers of the classes sampled for PISA 2003/04 inGermany. The study’s key components were newly developed tests of teachers’ pedagogicalcontent knowledge and content knowledge. This article gives a report of theconceptualisation and operationalisation of both domains of knowledge and describes theconstruction of the COACTIV tests. Findings from the tests show that there are differenceswith respect to both knowledge domains regarding teachers’ school types, but thatpedagogical content knowledge and content knowledge astoundingly both do not depend onteaching experience. Furthermore we show that the two domains of knowledge correlatepositively with constructivist teachers’ subjective beliefs, on the one hand, and with somecrucial aspects of their instruction, on the other hand. Finally, we show that pedagogicalcontent knowledge – but not pure content knowledge per se – significantly contributes tostudents’ learning gains
Enhancing knowledge-building through communicative language teaching
Get PDFZimbabwe’s new primary school curriculum aims at enhancing knowledge-building through the use ofcommunicative language teaching (CLT) to assist both the teachers and the learners to solve problems. In thisqualitative case study, we investigated the extent of teachers’ inclination to use the CLT approach. To do so, thestudy was guided by Socio-cultural Theory (SCT) and the Experiential Learning Theory (ELT). Fivepurposively selected participants in the Warren Park/Mabelreign District in Zimbabwe responded to semistructuredinterviews and were observed while they were teaching. The analysis revealed that although teachersunderstood that knowledge-building can be enhanced by CLT they are ill prepared to implement it because theylack the skills and the knowledge, and they have to cope with inadequate resources. Consequently, teachers stillfollow traditional pedagogic practices that do not lead to knowledge-building in learners. We recommend that anumber of workshops be offered to in-service teachers and stakeholders on how to employ CLT activities thatenhance knowledge-building
The Introduction, Adaption and Use of IBTs in South Africa: A Case Study of AV Light Steel Potchefstroom , SA
No full textThis paper examines how innovative building technologies (IBTs) could be used to off-set housing backlog in the post-apartheid South Africa using the AV Light Steel, along with its sister company, Tshitshirisang Construction Company as a case study of a committed trailblazer in the manufacturing and use of light steel as an IBT for housing production in South Africa. The Fortis Building System (FBS), its cutting-edge technology, is aptly described as a nexus between technology and construction as it affords the company significant advantages over competitors in the construction industry. The research methodology included participatory observation, semi-structured interviews with system producer officials and beneficiaries of IBT products. Beneficiaries attested to the efficacy of the AV Light Steel houses. The challenges of IBT and the company were found to include buy-in and marketing of its products despite the many successful projects. The conclusion confirms the beneficial prospects of IBTs in solving housing backlog in South Africa