The purpose of this project is to provide a useful model, the Concept Attainment Model in Mathematics, which implicates the concept attainment teaching method based on adjunct content-based instruction by using visuals and manipulatives in order to help ESL students be successful for both substantive content areas.

Thesis (D. Phil. (Humanities)) -- Central University of Technology, Free State, 2013 / The purpose of this study was to assess the science teaching efficacy of the Physical Science teachers in the secondary schools of the Free State province of the Republic of South Africa. Quantitative and qualitative methods were employed to gather data for this study. It was aimed at determining the effect of the demographic factors and the teachers’ level of preparedness regarding content knowledge and assessment skills on science teaching efficacy. The sample consisted of 190 Physical Science teachers. Two instruments were used to collect data: (1) A self-constructed questionnaire with the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument for in-service teachers (STEBI-A) modified for this study, and (2) Semi-structured interviews. Teachers’ biographical data and level of preparedness to teach Science were assessed against the two sub-scales of Personal Science Teaching Efficacy (PSTE) and Science Teaching Outcome Expectancy (STOE). Analysis of data was by basic statistics, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics using SPSS 20.0. Qualitative data were transcribed and categorised into emerging themes. Analysis of the self-efficacy survey indicated highly positive self-efficacy beliefs expressed by most of the practising secondary school teachers in regards to Science teaching. Teachers believe in their own teaching abilities (Personal Science Teaching Efficacy beliefs) and they believe learners’ learning can be influenced by effective teaching (Science Teaching Outcome Expectancy beliefs). In addition, analyses of data on the respondents’ level of preparedness to teach Science indicated a high level of self-rated Science knowledge, with higher confidence levels in Physics than in Chemistry among in-service secondary teachers. MANOVA analysis indicated that teachers’ gender, teaching experience, professional and academic qualifications, Chemistry and Physics content knowledge, frequency of practical work, and confidence in conducting experiments played a significant role in the collective dependent variables, while the grades teachers taught, their age and learner assessments did not. Analysis further indicated that secondary school teachers with a B.Sc (Ed) degree had significantly stronger STOE than teachers with any other professional qualifications. vi There was a significant difference between males and females in the STOE sub-scale scores (F=6.139; p=0.014) with males scoring higher than females; but no significant difference between males and females in the PSTE sub-scale scores (F=5.925; p=0.667). Moreover, teachers with at most five years and at least 16 years of teaching experience had significantly higher PSTE scores than teachers with different years of teaching experience. Furthermore, analyses of the level of preparedness in conducting practical work indicated that respondents were more confident to conduct Physics experiments than Chemistry experiments. In-service secondary Science teachers believed that assessment is an important and integral aspect of teaching and learning, hence they utilised a variety of assessment modes in their classroom. It is recommended that further study should include a test in content knowledge, so that teachers can be assessed to confirm their confidence in content knowledge, rather than allowing them to rate themselves without an actual test. Moreover, qualitative studies may be conducted to support teachers’ self-report measures, such as classroom observations, in order to gain in-depth data about teachers’ efficacy beliefs. If more research is conducted on the self-efficacy beliefs of in-service Science teachers at secondary school level, the curriculum of teacher training programmes could be developed and structured further, there could be more understanding on what pre-service teachers face - this will help to understand how to motivate teachers to teach Science.

The introduction of outcomes-based education in South African schools has changed the roles of all role players. For outcomes-based education to be successfully implemented everyone should fully understand these new roles. Since the principal should ensure that there is effective teaching and learning at school, this study explored his/her role in the implementation of outcomes-based education. This study includes a literature review of instructional leadership and outcomes-based education in South African schools. A qualitative investigation of the role of the school principal in the implementation of outcomes-based education in KwaMashu schools was conducted. Data were analysed, discussed and synthesised. It was found, inter alia that principals and educators do not fully understand the instructional role of the principal in the implementation of outcomes-based education. Lack of training appeared to be the major reason that exacerbates the problem. Based on findings, recommendations for improving the role of the principal were proposed. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Education Management)

The aim of this study was to investigate the criteria for effective continuous professional development of educators and to determine ways of improvement of the programmes as implemented in secondary schools in the Thohoyandou district of Limpopo Province. The study was conducted through a literature review and qualitative investigation. The literature review explored the nature of effective professional development of educators and the criteria for design, planning and implementation of such programmes. The qualitative study investigated the management of professional development programmes for secondary schools educators in the Thohoyandou district using interviews with district coordinators or Educator Multi Purpose Centers (EMPC) facilitators, secondary school principals and educators. The findings revealed the strengths and weaknesses of professional development programmes. Based on the literature review and qualitative investigation, recommendations were made with regard to the provision of effective professional development programmes for educators, particularly secondary school educators. / Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Education Managament)

Learners’ Physical Science performance in South Africa has been under discussion for several years, the challenge being that it has been exacerbated by continuous changes in the curriculum. Systems that have been put in place have yielded insufficient satisfactory solutions to both underperformance in the subject and sustainable good performance. Although interventions by curriculum policymakers have been ineffective, the issue at hand remains that teachers need to implement good teaching practices in order to ensure that all learners receive quality education. Physical Science teachers are custodians of a subject that may address scarce skills in the education system, so the quality of teaching must be optimised. Teachers need to implement intervention processes put in place by other stakeholders to reduce the negative perceptions that most people have about Physical Science. This study investigates how various factors related to the quality of teachers may affect the performance of Grade 12 learners in this subject. Since past studies have presented a broad spectrum of these factors, this study has categorised them as those directly related to teaching and those indirectly related to teaching. As a basis for data collection the researcher first established the overall status of the Physical Science teachers and investigated how the factors identified affect teaching. A mixed method approach was followed, and given the breadth of the study, available raw data was collected through questionnaires, interviews and observations. Data collected on factors indirectly related to teaching showed that these factors affect factors directly related to teaching and both of them affect the performance of the teacher, and consequently those of learners. These findings revealed that the performance of Physical Science cannot be based on one factor only, but on a combination of factors that are interrelated and should be integrated for effective teaching practices. Recommendations have been made to the National and Provincial Department of Education, District offices, school management teams and Physical Science teachers to reinforce other strategies that have been in place in order to improve or sustain good performance of the subject and to close gaps that have not been identified as possible intervention strategies. They include upgrading qualifications with the current content and methodologies to match the changing curriculum, restructuring workshops so that they are informed by the teacher’s needs, stabilising the curriculum to avoid many changes in short periods of time, retraining of teachers, relevant appointment of Heads of Departments (HoDs) into subject management positions, utilisation of support groups by teachers, proper management of the subject, proper screening of Physical Science learners and provision of teaching and learning resources. / Science and Technology Education / M. Ed. (Natural Science Education)

The phenomenon of strategy implementation is crucial to the improvement of learner performance, and to the effectiveness of schools. Literature reveals that research on strategy implementation has received much attention in business studies. However, little attention has been given to it in schools. It is this gap which this study endeavours to fill. The key research questions for this study aimed at garnering evidence on factors that influence strategic plan implementation. In the empirical study, two secondary schools and three education offices were purposively selected. A mixed methods research design was adopted, and in this regard, data was collected using interviews, focus group discussions, document analysis, participant observation and questionnaires. Data was analysed by means of organising, coding and categorising. The main findings of the study are that the factors that affect School Strategic Plans (SSPs) implementation are largely related to education management at all levels. There is also anecdotal evidence that teacher, learner and external stakeholder factors affect the implementation of SSPs. In all these factors, monitoring was the major factor. One recommendation proposes that the education managers at provincial and district levels and implementers at school levels should all be empowered with skills and knowledge on effective strategy implementation. / Educational Management and Leadership / M. Ed (Education Management)

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) put many interventions in place to provide quality education to all schools, but barriers still remained in low-income communities. Most barriers developed due to inadequate resources such as: poor teacher training, lack of community involvement, lack of transportation, poor service delivery and sustainability within the community. Numerous communities suffered discrimination in the form of unjust distribution of social benefits and resources. The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), however, expects all learners to follow the same curriculum and achieve the same type of quality education. This is impossible when schools have inadequate resources. The aim of the research was therefore to explore how teachers understood the concept of quality education through their lived experiences at a low-income school. This exploration took into account what teachers viewed as contributing to or hindering a quality education, both at personal and interpersonal levels in the school. It also considered how the school system, the WCED and the social environment contributed to positive or negative outcomes regarding quality. This was important as teachers were seen as the key agents towards change in quality education. Social constructionism and a social justice approach provided the foundation of this research and enabled the voices of previously disadvantaged communities to be heard. In keeping with the theoretical frameworks of the study, a qualitative, interpretivist research approach was used. Participants were selected through purposive sampling and focus group discussions as well as individual interviews were used to generate data. Digital audio recordings were made of the group and individual sessions, which were then transcribed. The data collected in this study were analysed through thematic analysis. The research findings indicated that teachers experienced numerous barriers with regards to contextual factors and unjust distribution of resources. Furthermore, teachers reflected that with good pedagogy they were able to maintain quality education, by teaching a curriculum that was relevant to the context of the learner, even when resources were limited. This process was very time-consuming and not cost-effective. However, even though teachers were able to recognise the barriers present in their school they insisted that there were many positive aspects to working in a low-income school. These findings led to recommendations that were centred largely on meeting some of the support needs of teachers in low-income communities. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Wes-Kaapse Onderwysdepartement (WKOD) het baie intervensies in plek gestel om gehalte-onderrig te verskaf aan alle skole, maar baie hindernisse was steeds teenwoordig in lae-inkomste gemeenskappe. Baie van die hindernisse het ontstaan as gevolg van onvoldoende hulpbronne soos: swak onderwysopleiding, gebrekkige gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid, onvoldoende vervoer, swak dienslewering en volhoubaarheid in die gemeenskap. Daar was teen talle gemeenskappe gediskrimineer in terme van ongelyke verspreiding van sosiale voordele en hulpbronne. Die Kurrikulum- en Assesseringsbeleidsverklaring (KABV) verwag egter dat alle leerders dieselfde kurrikulum volg en dieselfde tipe gehalte-onderrig behaal. Dit is onmoontlik om te bereik indien skole onvoldoende hulpbronne het. Die doel van die navorsing was dus om onderwysers se konsep van gehalte-onderrig te verstaan deur hulle beleefde ervaring in ʼn lae-inkomste skool te ondersoek. Die ondersoek het in ag geneem wat onderwysers beskou het as ʼn bydrae of ʼn hindernis tot gehalte-onderrig, op sowel persoonlike as interpersoonlike vlak in die skool. Daar is ook gelet op watter positiewe of negatiewe invloede die skoolsisteem, die WKOD en die sosiale omgewing op gehalte-onderrig het. Dit word as belangrik geag omdat onderwysers gesien word as die belangrikste agente vir verandering in gehalte-onderwys. Sosiale konstruksionisme en ʼn sosiale geregtigheidsbenadering is die grondslag van hierdie navorsing en stel die stemme van voorheen benadeelde gemeenskappe in staat om gehoor te word. In ooreenstemming met die teoretiese raamwerke van die studie is ʼn kwalitatiewe, interpretivistiese navorsingsbenadering gebruik. Die deelnemers is deur middel van doelgerigte steekproeftrekking geselekteer en fokusgroepbesprekings en individuele onderhoude is gebruik om data te genereer. Digitale klankopnames is gemaak van die groep- en individuele sessies, wat toe getranskribeer is. Die data wat in hierdie studie ingesamel is, is ontleed deur middel van tematiese analise. Die navorsing het aangedui dat onderwysers talle struikelblokke ondervind het met betrekking tot kontekstuele faktore en onregverdige verspreiding van hulpbronne. Verder het onderwysers weerspieël dat hulle met goeie pedagogie in staat was om gehalte-onderwys te beoefen deur die kurrikulum binne die konteks van die leerder te onderrig, selfs wanneer hulpbronne beperk was. Hierdie proses het egter baie tyd in beslag geneem en was nie koste-effektief nie. Selfs al was onderwysers in staat om die struikelblokke in hul skool te herken, het hulle steeds die positiewe aspekte van werk in ʼn lae-inkomste skool uitgelig. Hierdie bevindinge het gelei tot aanbevelings wat grootliks handel oor ondersteuning van die onderwysers in lae-inkomste gemeenskappe deur vervulling van hulle behoeftes.

Diploma thesis focuses on effect of positive reinforcement and it's application in the learning process. The thesis is divided into two parts - theoretical and analytical. Theoretical part describes importance of positive reinforcement in a learning process and behavior overall. How organisms acquire new skills and how effective teaching methods look like. Analytical part provides practical use of positive reinforcement in an effective teaching method called Discrete Trial Teaching. It's application, use, and correct implementation is provided through an example of teaching a motor imitation behavior. KEYWORDS Applied Behavior Analysis; Effective teaching methods; Positive Reinforcement; Principles of learning and behavior; Discrete Trial Teaching

This dissertation focused on the study of the Spanish academic language proficiency of novice bilingual teachers during the act of teaching mathematics in elementary grades. Four first year teachers in a large urban school district in central Texas participated in the study. At the time of the study two participants were fully certified and had attended four-year teacher preparation programs. The additional participants had completed all certification requirements including content examinations and the Texas Oral Proficiency Test (TOPT); they were completing their certification requirements through alternative certification programs. The study sought to identify the moments in their teaching of mathematics in Spanish when their instruction broke down, i.e. when they appeared unable to communicate ideas to students, and the reasons for these breakdowns. Findings revealed that the teachers in the study demonstrated linguistic and/or pedagogical breakdowns and that certain factors influenced their knowledge and language competencies. Linguistic breakdowns were manifested when teachers switched to English, used repetitive language when teaching, or provided limited academic language. Pedagogical breakdowns were identified as a lack of: student talk or discussion, effective teacher questioning, or diverse presentation of content. Overall, the teachers struggled with limited language in Spanish and limited pedagogical reasoning skills while teaching mathematical concepts to their students. These limitations were exacerbated by the pressures of high stakes testing and countered by the fact that all four teachers shared linguistic and cultural affiliation with their students. This collective case study was conducted from within a constructivist theoretical framework focusing on theories of academic language, communicative competence, and Vygotsky’s sociocultural perspective of learning. Recommendations for future training and practice of bilingual teachers are provided specifically on the importance of Spanish language proficiency of this group of educators. / text

The aim of this study is to examine some secondary school pupils´ and teachers´ opinions about good support when having reading and writing difficulties and if there is a difference between their point of view in this issue. The study is based upon semi-structured interviews with both pupils and teachers. The result shows both similarities and differences in what they consider as good support. To read texts aloud to pupils is something that the teachers in the study use as a way of support and it is much appreciated by the pupils too. The possibility to get the teacher´s notes is another thing that both pupils and teachers think are useful and further on to have an opportunity to do oral tests. Sometimes it can even be a crucial reason for the pupil to get higher scores. This does not happen as a daily routine, but the pupils have to ask for both oral tests and teachers´ notes. Several of the informants among the pupils say they would prefer one-to-one tuition or to be taught in small groups. None of the teachers mention this as a good way of supporting pupils with special needs. Instead they want to spend more time with each pupil and also they would like the opportunity of an extra teacher in the classroom. / Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka några högstadieelevers och lärares uppfattningar om bra stöd vid läs- och skrivsvårigheter samt se om det finns en skillnad i deras uppfattning kring denna fråga. Studien är baserad på semi-strukturerade intervjuer med både elever och lärare. Resultatet visar på både likheter och skillnader i deras uppfattningar om bra stöd. Att få text uppläst av en lärare uppskattas mycket av eleverna och är också något som lärarna i studien använder sig av. Likaså ses anteckningar och muntliga prov gemensamt som underlättande och ibland högst avgörande på hur pass väl man som elev kan lyckas. Detta sker inte alltid på rutin, utan eleverna får själva be om den hjälpen. Flera informanter bland eleverna önskar en-till-en undervisning eller undervisning i liten grupp. Ingen av lärarna nämner detta som ett önskemål på hur de vill att stöd ska ges. Istället önskar de sig mera tid med varje elev och en extra lärare på sina lektioner.