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published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

<p> The basis of this work is to lay the groundwork for relational thinking in mathematics by giving a general mathematical definition of relational thinking in mathematics that builds on the theory of relational thinking in arithmetic and then extends that theory to include all other mathematics subjects, especially algebra and geometry. The necessity to include all other mathematics subjects in relational thinking is predicated on the need for students at all levels to be able to think relationally. In an effort to further establish relational thinking in mathematics, this work attempts to merge mathematics and philosophy by examining Plato's <i>Meno</i> and Wittgenstein's <i>Philosophical Investigations</i> to show the importance of deductive reasoning, logic, and language in the use of relational thinking in mathematics. Further, this work also sets out to establish relations in a mathematical sense as a unifying concept in algebra and geometry. I therefore define relational thinking in mathematics as the skill and propensity to use deductive reasoning and logic in order to make connections between and among abstract mathematical concepts and specific instances thereof. This definition stems from mathematics being built on two pillars--that is, deductive reasoning and logic--and being of two different branches--that is, abstract mathematics and applied mathematics. </p>

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This study drew upon a constructivist and Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligence view of learning, to develop an interactive curriculum development model involving high school students and teachers. Eight grade ten students contributed in a central way to the study, a factor precipitated by my intention to emphasize students’ perspectives concerning their individual abilities and interests, and the way in which the high school curriculum did or did not accommodate these. Four grade ten teachers also participated in the task of identifying the degree to which students’ individual differences can be accommodated in an integrated high school curriculum. The study, conducted over a ten-month period during one school-year, addressed three questions. 1) What is the nature of the curriculum development process when high school students and teachers in their classroom practices, apply ideas congruent with Multiple Intelligence Theory, in order to address individual student differences, within the traditional constraints of a high school? How can these processes be incorporated into a model? 2) What was the role of the students in the development of the Multiple Intelligence Theory Application Model? and, 3) What was the role of the teachers in the development of the Multiple Intelligence Theory Application Model? My response to these questions involved the monitoring of students’ perspectives concerning their interests and abilities as reflected by both their current curriculum and the integrated curricular unit prepared by the teachers. The students’ and teachers’ perspectives are discussed and examined by means of in-depth interviews, interactive group discussions, and field notes and documentation of the collaborative processes involved in developing the integrated curriculum unit. The analysis of the findings suggests that change within the curriculum content, consistent with a constructivist and MI view of learning, would enable students to develop further their individual differences. Such change is endorsed particularly by the high school student participants. The study also examines the usefulness of the MITA Model as a means of initiating that change, within an integrated studies context. Finally, I suggest a number of related issues for further research.

<p> Research indicates that in the No Child Left Behind era of public education, local districts with elected school boards may be perceived as relinquishing control over policies that affect their school system. With the locus of control coming into question, school boards may struggle with how to involve parents in local decision making. Therefore, it is essential that boards of education openly engage parents by exploring and reflecting on how parent voices can influence the policies that govern public schools. This qualitative study examines how, during the course of approximately 10 months, a seven-member school board involves parents at its public meetings during policy-making processes. Specifically, one way for a school board to engage parents in a policy-making process is to employ deliberative democracy. Thus, this is a qualitative inquiry that, through two case studies, examines a school board's deliberative democratic processes and the parents' participatory stances during public meetings as policies are established or modified. The purpose of this research is to inform school boards, policymakers, parents, and other educational leaders on how elected school boards can preserve a locus of control in decision-making processes at the local level by engaging parents in policymaking. The primary data collection methods included public meeting observations, a school board survey, and interviews. Findings presented through narratives and thematic analyses reveal scenarios where deliberative democratic tenets were exercised. These tenets included purpose, intent, procedures, practices, and reciprocity. In both case studies, parents adopted various stances such as advocate, proxy agent, and expert. However, throughout the processes, study participants noted tension between formal meeting procedures and their desire for informal dialogue. Limitations included selective homogeneity of participants in deliberative processes, root cause analysis for parent participation, and the challenges of local space. Implications for school boards, parents, and deliberative democracy are discussed. Further areas for research could consider the use of electronic media in deliberative democracy, the presence of affective domains in procedurally-steeped processes, the possibility of micro-deliberative practices, and the leveraging of deliberative democratic processes that reclaim local space.</p>

Incorporation of a learning philosophy into an existing learning environment can be challenging to the point of abandoning the process or failing to realize any improvements. / Metaphor, a form of figurative language has the potential to clarify or increase the understanding of an unknown or unfamiliar concept. The metaphoric process accomplishes this through "comparative mapping," where the unknown is understood via an interaction with a known concept in a familiar domain. This can be extrapolated to include understanding a philosophy despite a lack of direct experience, rendering the previously unknown philosophy a known phenomenon. / This thesis promotes the use of metaphor and subsequent metaphoric process for improvement in education by bridging the gap between educational philosophy/theory and educational practice. Resources of the metaphor enable practitioners in education to understand the process of adopting a learning philosophy successfully. Suggestions for construction and incorporation of such a metaphor that will accomplish this are given.

Fundamental pedagogics was the only education theory that was taught to the vast majority of student teachers during the apartheid era. This exclusivity was consciously created and maintained in the context of Christian National Education. The proponents of fundamental pedagogics attempted to legitimise their theory by invoking the work of the Dutch educator, M.J. Langeveld. At first glance, there is indeed a remarkable resemblance between Langeveld's pedagogy and fundamental pedagogics. This thesis investigates why similar-sounding statements of the two pedagogies turn out to mean something quite different in their distinctive contexts. Previously, critics have analysed fundamental pedagogics as if it were a South African invention. Its Dutch origins, diffusion and reinterpretation were lost in these analyses. This study emphasises and investigates the Dutch roots of fundamental pedagogics and traces its historical journey from Holland to South Africa. This journey, set between 1881 and 1963, is presented in two historical narratives, both constructed around unique data sources. This thesis presents fundamental pedagogics as an adaptation, arguably a distortion, of Dutch education theory, mediated largely by politically conservative and racist forces. The largely indiscriminate adoption of the rhetoric of Dutch social thought showed a disrespect for the complexity of the relationship between pedagogical theories and their site of production. Langeveld's education theory was developed in the context of post Second World War Holland on a modernist and social democracy ticket. Fundamental pedagogics emerged in apartheid South Africa in an ethnic-nationalist and racist environment. These divergent meanings clearly expose pedagogy as a political as well as an educational project. This study concludes that the attempt to legitimise fundamental pedagogics by invoking its Dutch roots failed. Some of the central claims and assumptions of the original theory were abandoned to accommodate apartheid conditions. / Thesis (Ph.D. Education) - University of Durban-Westville, 1998.