1,720,982 research outputs found
Selected millennial history teachers’ engagement with rainbow nation discourses in relation to post-apartheid South African history.
Get PDFMasters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.This dissertation presents an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) on how the millennial history teachers engage with the discourses of the Rainbow Nation in relation to post-Apartheid South African history. Millennials are understood as “digital natives”, those born after 1980, thus they form a cohort of history teachers with a generational experience of communicating, working, creating, and maintaining relationships through Internet-based technology. With the changing political discourse in South Africa, the Rainbow Nation has come to be a contentious phenomenon; both as a nation-building metaphor, and a notion capable of serving socio-economic justice. This contention was visibly manifested amongst the millennials, who expressed their frustrations through the #MustFallMovement, some of whom are history teachers. For the purpose of this study, 10 millennial history teachers were conveniently sampled as participants. Data was generated through three stages of 1) visual elicitation technique, 2) video-recorded unstructured interviews, and 3) focus-group discussions. The findings are thematically presented; and show that the millennial history teachers engage differently from those in the Rainbow Nation Discourses, depending mainly on the environment (space) in which the engagement occurs. While most history teachers are personally critical of the Rainbow Nation, they seem prepared to teach in its favour when in the classroom. I therefore argue that there are tensions in the engagement, which this study has found to be inextricably linked to the context of engagement
An analysis of the representation of citizenship education in contemporary grade six South African social sciences textbooks.
Get PDFMaster of Education. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2017.This thesis comprises a case study of four grade six South African Social Sciences textbooks, published in the post-apartheid era. The study focuses on how they represent citizenship education. It examines citizenship education as a highly important concept, used in many nations with different aims. An important resource in education, textbooks have been used as a channel through which learners are educated regarding citizenship. This dissertation answered a main research question on how citizenship education has been represented in the selected textbooks.
Based on an interpretivist paradigm and approached from a qualitative perspective, I generated data from four contemporary Social Sciences textbooks, compliant with the Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement (CAPS), that are utilised at the grade six level. Semiotic analysis was used as a method of Discourse Analysis (DA) to analyse the data. The findings revealed that citizenship education is taken very seriously in the textbooks, which cover virtually all aspects of the political, social and economic rights and responsibilities of citizens as a means of creating an identity for South African citizens
Does food in History matter? exploring 4th year History education students’ views on the space for food in the South African History curriculum.
Get PDFMasters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The purpose of this study is to understand the historical significance of food as a topic
in school history, according to History Education students. The history curriculum is a
contested space for content that is relevant to learners, and this has manifested itself
recently in South Africa, with students calling for the revision of the curriculum as part
of the quest for decolonisation of education. Nevertheless, there is no consensus on
which content deserves to be included in the history curriculum. Acknowledging the
role that food has played in the unfolding of history, this study was guided by historical
significance as a conceptual framework for understanding History Education students’
views on the space for food as a topic in the South African history curriculum. The
study is qualitative in nature and is situated in the interpretivist paradigm. Open-ended
interviews were held with a sample of eight 4th year History Education students. The
findings from the data revealed that the participants advocate for the overt inclusion of
food history in the South African History curriculum, either as part of the metanarrative
or as a separate topic. They justify the historical significance of food for its influence
on economy, politics, migration, social cohesion, identity, and as a nutrient. The
conclusion is that the History Education students use their understanding of historical
significance to argue that food is central to the narrative of humanity and should
therefore overtly feature as a first-order concept in the school history curriculum
An exploration of selected South African history teachers’ content knowledge of African history.
Get PDFMasters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The dissertation presents an exploration of selected South African history teachers’
content knowledge of African history. Available literature says that teachers should
have some benchmarks in order for them to be considered historically literate so that
their learners benefit from them. The literature also reveals that, although it is
impossible to measure how much content knowledge a history teacher should have,
there is a certain level of content knowledge that is expected of them. The conceptual
framework for this study that I use is called historical literacy as content knowledge. It
consists of different four aspects: knowledge of historical dates, knowledge of
historical figures, knowledge of historical places, and knowledge of historical events.
This study was conducted in Mtubatuba, in the northern part of KwaZulu-Natal
province, South Africa. Ten (10) history teachers were conveniently sampled, and data
was generated through a focus-group discussion and individual interviews (which
included evaluative questions). The selected history teachers were asked questions
which revealed their content knowledge of African history, and their views on their
respective content knowledge. The findings are thematically presented in response to
the two key research questions. The data revealed that the participants were able to
display differing levels of content knowledge such as average level, below average
level, above average level, and a level of excellence. While some were able to respond
to the evaluative questions, some could barely respond, demonstrating below average
content knowledge. The participants demonstrated higher levels of content knowledge
of South African history, but performed poorly when responding to questions about
other African countries. The participants who struggled to answer the evaluative
questions believed that some questions were not fair to them, as they had not taught
on the topics recently, and had even forgotten content. The participants who did well
said that they were satisfied with their performance since the questions they were
asked required their basic knowledge as answers. These participants said that they
were asked questions that required them to give answers based on the information
they had already known even before they started school. The participants were proud
of answering questions correctly; there was also a feeling that questions that were
asked empowered them in terms of content knowledge.
The participants acknowledged that it was important to own a certain level of content knowledge so
that a history teacher could be regarded as historically literate
History education students' experiences of assessment at a higher education institution.
Get PDFMaster of Education in History Education. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood 2016.Assessment in History Education takes a wide range of strategies of which students have different experiences. Determining the mode and course of assessment is often the responsibility of lecturers, sometimes without seeking the students‟ contribution. Administering the different assessment strategies without understanding how they are experienced and their significance from the perspective of the student may drive the lecturers to a wrong direction. Literature acknowledges the power of assessment in enhancing higher education students‟ academic achievement. It also demonstrates how students experience assessment. However, there is limited literature on specifically History Education assessment. This research therefore investigates the voice of the student by tracing History Education students‟ experiences of assessment in a higher education institution.
Using social constructivism as a theoretical framework, and with specific reference to Vygotsky‟s ZPD model, I worked within the interpretivist paradigm to conduct a case study design focusing on 3rd year History Education students in a selected higher education institution. I employed both focus group and face-to-face interviews to gather data. Using inductive analysis, the study revealed that students experience History Education assessment through a four-stage process. The first stage is preparation, which involves all activities carried out before the final assessment task is done or written. The second stage is engagement, which is all about attempting the given assessment task. Feedback is the third stage, and it has to do with students getting to know the results of their assessed task/s. The fourth stage is reflections on growth where students tell if and how they benefit from the assessment task given. The study revealed that students acknowledged the power their assessment experience has in creating a huge Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), but few students were keen to push to their full potential. Instead, they preferred to stick to their comfort zone within the same ZPD. It can be concluded that History Education students‟ experiences of assessment largely comprise an easy-going approach to reading, consultation, preparation and engagement activities, resulting in limited growth to a new ZPD
An examination of post-apartheid social transformation through the representation of black women in South African history textbooks.
Get PDFMasters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The purpose of this study is to understand how Black women are represented in South African NCS and CAPS history textbooks. This was conducted by employing social transformation as a theoretical framework. In order, for the set research questions to answer I conducted this study using the interpretivist paradigm, a longitudinal qualitative approach, and a case study methodology which consisted of collecting data from a sample size of six history textbooks, three from NCS and three from CAPS history textbooks.
The findings for both NCS and CAPS history textbooks were divided into two main themes agency and non- agency. It is within these two main themes that sub themes emerged illustrating different representations of Black women and how these themes have transcended from one curricula to another. The findings further illustrate some similarities and differences between the textbooks in terms of how they represent Black women and highlight that the representation of Black women is still based on the marginalisation in the roles and identity in history
Towards a decolonised philosophy of African history: theoretical reflections of the history academics in South Africa.
Get PDFMasters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.This study sought to investigate the coloniality and decolonised philosophy of African history through the theoretical reflections of the designated history academics in South Africa. The research was informed by the quest to revisit the philosophical question extended on the Africanness of African history, encapsulating the epistemic predicaments confronting history academics as they propound African history. The literature search covered in the study leaned more on the African archive since the study is designed from an African-centred worldview, and which in the main incorporated the succeeding themes with an attempt to unearth the epistemological, ontological, and metaphysical nature of philosophy of African history: the nature of history, modernist theory, and African history, neo-liberalism and African history, the conceptual meaning of African history, the philosophy of African history, academia in South Africa, the role of academics in African philosophy, decolonisation in Africa. African philosophy and decolonial theory as a conceivable decolonised philosophy of African history was closely considered in an attempt not only to frame the study from a particular dimension but also to make sense of the theoretical contributions made by the designated history academics in South Africa. The main endeavors of this research were to explore how history academics in South African institutions theorise the coloniality of the philosophy of African history and to understand how they also theorise a decolonised philosophy of African history. The study followed a qualitative research approach and a conceptual research design. This dissertation also closely considered an Afrocentric paradigm with an attempt of seeing, writing, and interpreting the philosophy of African history from an African centred worldview that views reality to be a construction of a community of learning. The five designated history academics in four different universities in South Africa were considered through convenience sampling. To generate the data from the designated participants the study employed semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that the academics viewed the coloniality of the philosophy of African history through a modernist conception of the philosophy of African history, emphasis on African crisis, Africa as ahistorical. They also depicted that concerning a decolonised philosophy of African history can be theorised through an Africanist conception of the philosophy of African history, emphasis on African agency, and African self-consciousness. It is within the consideration of the above research findings that the study aimed at contributing to the looming and continued debates in Africa and precisely South Africa concerning the nature of the philosophy of African history in this age of decolonisation discourses with specific reference to History Education
Experiences of the teaching and learning of history in a context of rurality: a case study of a South African rural high school.
Get PDFMasters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The teaching and learning of History continues to gain momentum in post-apartheid South Africa and the Department of Basic Education (DBE) has even proposed a decision to make History compulsory in South African schools. Within such a context, it is of paramount importance to take into consideration the reality that teaching and learning is not uniform. In fact, most teaching and learning policies are not created with the schools in rural areas in mind. Hence this dissertation presents an exploration of how teaching and learning of History is experienced by teachers and learners in a rural context. It foregrounds the voices of the participants of the teaching and learning process in the rural areas to counter the dominance of the perspectives of the people in urban areas and those in managerial positions at school and government levels. This study is a phenomenological case study in which focus group interviews and semi-structured interviews were used as data generation methods. The participants were three History teachers and seventeen History learners who were conveniently selected from one of the schools in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal. The findings suggest that rurality influences the teaching of learning in both positive and negative ways. The negative factors are predominant, and they demonstrate that either the policies must change to suit History teaching and learning in rural areas as well, or the History teachers and learners must improve their additivity in order to teach according to the expectations of History education. Despite the predominance of negative experiences, the ingenuity of both History teachers and learners in the context of rurality however creates some positivity in History teaching and learning. The study concludes that not all hope is lost for school History in the rural areas and, in fact, a lot can be learnt from rural History teachers and learners
A decolonial critique of discourses of western colonialism in South African, Namibian and Zimbabwean school history textbooks = Ukuhlaziywa kwezinkulumo zobukoloni basentshonalanga ezincwadini zomlando ezifundwa ezikoleni zaseNingizimu Afrikha, eNamibia, kanye naseZimbabwe ngendlela engenabo ubukoloni.
No full textDoctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.European influence in Africa has portrayed the continent through the perspective of Europeans while the African perspective has been neglected. The undeniable continuation of the hegemonic epistemic turmoil due to western colonialism in the Africa, is a perpetual challenge. One of the key sources of knowledge in the educational setting is History textbooks. Taking into account the multifaceted and complex angles through which historiographies of western colonialism are presented in these textbooks, the purpose of this study was to explore the prevailing colonial discourses in South African, Namibian and Zimbabwean school History textbooks through a decolonial critique. The theories of decoloniality and postcoloniality informed the theoretical underpinning of this study, resulting in a lens that acknowledged the remnants of western colonial influence in the existing post-colonial structures of Africa, but also challenged these oppressive Eurocentric hegemonies. Decoloniality and postcoloniality, both advocate that the generations of epistemic violence should be disrupted, thus making space for increased African agency. Summarily, using Fairclough’s (1995) version of CDA methodology, the analysis of the sample school History textbooks revealed five key discourses. These included the discourses of forces of western colonialism, conflict-fomentation, economic exploitation, environmental degradation, and anti-colonialism. In keeping with the idea that knowledge production, undeniably, continues to be influenced by the structures of western colonialism, it was not unexpected that the content in the sample school History textbooks varied, especially in terms of the prevailing historiographies. The understanding from this study was that school History textbooks are not completely decolonial. Rather, the sample textbooks illustrated discourses of western colonialism in Africa from a place of hybridity, which the theory of postcoloniality defines as a fusion of African identity and cultural influence from western countries. Given the political history of each of the sample countries, their political ideologies were reflected in the school History textbooks through the historiographies presented. Considering the incongruity of historiographies in the sample school History textbooks, I have developed the ‘Decolonial model of African epistemology’ - a framework that could ideally be used as an educational tool to promote African indigenous knowledge, especially in school History textbooks by deconstructing existing historiographies.
Iqoqa.
Kusukela ekuthuthukisweni kwethonya lamakoloni asentshonalanga e-Afrikha, leli zwekazi livezwe ngokweso labantu baseYurophu kuyilapho umbono wama-Afrikha unganakwa. Ukuqhubeka kokugodla ulwazi oludala inxushunxushu ngenxa yobukoloni basentshonalanga e-Afrikha kuyinselelo engapheli. Omunye wemithombo ebalulekile yolwazi emkhakheni wezemfundo yizincwadi zomlando ezikoleni. Ngakho-ke, izinkulumo kanye nemibhalo yomlando ehlobene nobukoloni basentshonalanga zibalulekile ekulolongeni abafundi ngokwezenhlalo nangokwesiko. Uma kubhekwa izigaba ezihlukahlukene futhi eziyinkimbinkimbi okubukwa ngazo umlando wobukoloni basentshonalanga, inhloso yalolu cwaningo kwakuwukuhlola izinkulumo zobukoloni ezisekhona ezincwadini zomlando zezikole zaseNingizimu Afrikha, eNamibia kanye naseZimbabwe ngokusebenzisa ukuhlaziya okungenabo ubukoloni. Izinjulalwazi zokuqedwa kobukoloni kanye nezesikhathi esilandela esobukoloni yizona ezalandelwa yilolu cwaningo, okuyizona ezibuke ngeso elifakazela ukuthi zisekhona izinsalela zethonya lamakoloni asentshonalanga emikhakheni eminingi ye-Afrikha yangesikhathi esilandela esobukoloni. Leli liso liphinde laphonsela inselelo lawo mandla acindezelayo obuYurophu. Ukuqedwa kobukoloni kanye nokuba khona kwesikhathi esilandela ubukoloni kokubili kukhuthaza ukuthi izizukulwane zodlame lolwazi zingase ziphazamiseke, ngaleyo ndlela kuvuleke isikhala sokukhula nokwanda komshikashika wobu-Afrikha. Kafushane, kusetshenziswa uhlobo lwendlelakusebenza eyi-CDA kaFairclough (1995), ukuhlaziywa okuyisampula kwezincwadi zomlando ezifundwa ezikoleni kwaveza izinkulumo ezinhlanu ezibalulekile. Lezi zihlanganisa izinkulumo zamandla obukoloni basentshonalanga, ukugqugquzelwa kokungqubuzana, ukuxhashazwa kwezomnotho, ukucekelwa phansi kwemvelo, kanye nokulwa nobukoloni. Ngokuhambisana nombono wokuthi ukukhiqizwa kolwazi, ngokungenakuphikwa, kuyaqhubeka nokuthonywa yizinhlelo zobukoloni basentshonalanga, kulindelekile ukuthi okuqukethwe ezincwadini ezisampuliwe zomlando ezifundwa ezikoleni kuhlukahlukene, ikakhulukazi ngokwemibhalo yomlando ekhona njengamanje. Uma kubhekwa umlando wezombusazwe wezwe ngalinye eliyisampula, imibono yawo yezombusazwe ibonakala njengongoba yethulwe ngezindlela zobukoloni ezincwadini zomlando ezifundwa ezikoleni. Nakuba kunjalo, izincwadi zomllando ezifundwa ezikoleni zikhombisa ukuvumelana ngokuthi ubukoloni basentshonalanga buhlukumeze kabuhlungu izimpilo zemiphakathi yase-Afrikha. Ekugcineni, lolu cwaningo lugqamisa ukuthi ukuzijwayeza nokubhalwa komlando okwenziwe ngobu-Afrikha ezincwadini zomlando ezifundwa ezikoleni kuzonciphisa umthelela wobukoloni basentshonalanga futhi kuzoholela ekwandeni kokuzibambela mathupha emiphakathini yase-Afrikha ukuqoqa nokubhala ulwazi. Izincwadi zomlando ziyithuluzi lokufundisa elilangazelwayo ukukhuthaza ukukhiqizwa kolwazi lwendabuko, kugcizelelwa amagugu ase-Afrikha kanye nezinhlelo zolwazi lwendabuko lwase-Afrikha. Kusukela ekuthuthukisweni kwethonya lamakoloni asentshonalanga e-Afrikha, leli zwekazi livezwe ngokweso labantu baseYurophu kuyilapho umbono wama-Afrikha unganakwa. Ukuqhubeka kokugodla ulwazi oludala inxushunxushu ngenxa yobukoloni basentshonalanga e-Afrikha kuyinselelo engapheli. Omunye wemithombo ebalulekile yolwazi emkhakheni wezemfundo yizincwadi zomlando ezikoleni. Ngakho-ke, izinkulumo kanye nemibhalo yomlando ehlobene nobukoloni basentshonalanga zibalulekile ekulolongeni abafundi ngokwezenhlalo nangokwesiko. Uma kubhekwa izigaba ezihlukahlukene futhi eziyinkimbinkimbi okubukwa ngazo umlando wobukoloni basentshonalanga, inhloso yalolu cwaningo kwakuwukuhlola izinkulumo zobukoloni ezisekhona ezincwadini zomlando zezikole zaseNingizimu Afrikha, eNamibia kanye naseZimbabwe ngokusebenzisa ukuhlaziya okungenabo ubukoloni. Izinjulalwazi zokuqedwa kobukoloni kanye nezesikhathi esilandela esobukoloni yizona ezalandelwa yilolu cwaningo, okuyizona ezibuke ngeso elifakazela ukuthi zisekhona izinsalela zethonya lamakoloni asentshonalanga emikhakheni eminingi ye-Afrikha yangesikhathi esilandela esobukoloni. Leli liso liphinde laphonsela inselelo lawo mandla acindezelayo obuYurophu. Ukuqedwa kobukoloni kanye nokuba khona kwesikhathi esilandela ubukoloni kokubili kukhuthaza ukuthi izizukulwane zodlame lolwazi zingase ziphazamiseke, ngaleyo ndlela kuvuleke isikhala sokukhula nokwanda komshikashika wobu-Afrikha. Kafushane, kusetshenziswa uhlobo lwendlelakusebenza eyi-CDA kaFairclough (1995), ukuhlaziywa okuyisampula kwezincwadi zomlando ezifundwa ezikoleni kwaveza izinkulumo ezinhlanu ezibalulekile. Lezi zihlanganisa izinkulumo zamandla obukoloni basentshonalanga, ukugqugquzelwa kokungqubuzana, ukuxhashazwa kwezomnotho, ukucekelwa phansi kwemvelo, kanye nokulwa nobukoloni. Ngokuhambisana nombono wokuthi ukukhiqizwa kolwazi, ngokungenakuphikwa, kuyaqhubeka nokuthonywa yizinhlelo zobukoloni basentshonalanga, kulindelekile ukuthi okuqukethwe ezincwadini ezisampuliwe zomlando ezifundwa ezikoleni kuhlukahlukene, ikakhulukazi ngokwemibhalo yomlando ekhona njengamanje. Uma kubhekwa umlando wezombusazwe wezwe ngalinye eliyisampula, imibono yawo yezombusazwe ibonakala njengongoba yethulwe ngezindlela zobukoloni ezincwadini zomlando ezifundwa ezikoleni. Nakuba kunjalo, izincwadi zomllando ezifundwa ezikoleni zikhombisa ukuvumelana ngokuthi ubukoloni basentshonalanga buhlukumeze kabuhlungu izimpilo zemiphakathi yase-Afrikha. Ekugcineni, lolu cwaningo lugqamisa ukuthi ukuzijwayeza nokubhalwa komlando okwenziwe ngobu-Afrikha ezincwadini zomlando ezifundwa ezikoleni kuzonciphisa umthelela wobukoloni basentshonalanga futhi kuzoholela ekwandeni kokuzibambela mathupha emiphakathini yase-Afrikha ukuqoqa nokubhala ulwazi. Izincwadi zomlando ziyithuluzi lokufundisa elilangazelwayo ukukhuthaza ukukhiqizwa kolwazi lwendabuko, kugcizelelwa amagugu ase-Afrikha kanye nezinhlelo zolwazi lwendabuko lwase-Afrikha
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