Thesis (Ph. D. (Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / The purpose of this research was to investigate teachers’ professional proficiency in terms of geography as a subject and English as the language of learning and teaching, the level of difficulty of the textbooks in terms of their difficulty of terminologies and structure, and the impact of code-switching from LoLT into local African languages on learners’ growth in geographical terminologies and communicativeness in English thinking in geography. These issues were considered by the researcher as barriers to learning and teaching of geography in grade 12 in the Limpopo Province. For the investigation of the barriers, the researcher chose research design comprising qualitative, quantitative, explorative and descriptive approaches pertinent to the study. The central figure in the investigation was the learner; the study was underpinned by the constructivist approach. The researcher considered triangulation of methods when gathering data due to the comprehensiveness of the sought data. The method employed was to gather literature on similar studies conducted by scholars elsewhere to shed light to the researcher of the problem under investigation. Structured questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, participant observations were used to collect data on focal learning and teaching activities. The researcher was keen in determining how teachers employed their preferred methods of teaching geography and the attitudes and perceptions of the learners to the activities that were part of the lessons. The researcher involved (n=16) subject teachers, and administered a 20-item questionnaire to learners. (n=407) responded to a 15-item questionnaire. Curriculum teachers (n=10) were interviewed separately from the pool of the said (n=16), subject advisers (n=2) were interviewed to provide first-hand experience. The findings affirmed that there was poor professional proficiency; textbooks were a recognized learning barrier to second language English learners in terms of the difficulty of the language which was linked to geographical concepts coined in English, teachers’ lack of linguistic competence in LoLT to supplement the difficult textbooks. The result was that this led to resorting to code-switching that deprived learners of practice in the language to attain effective learning and good performance in examinations.

Orientador: Lourenço Magnoni Junior / Resumo: O presente trabalho tem por objetivo demonstrar a contribuição da ciência geográfica na construção da consciência crítica necessária para os educandos compreenderem a dinâmica de construção do seu espaço de vivência e a apropriação desigual dos recursos e das riquezas produzidas. Esta pesquisa qualitativa, fundamentada no método de análise de conteúdo, tem como tema a atividade sucroalcooleira, alicerçada no contexto no qual estão inseridos os estudantes, apresentando como parte dos resultados o desenvolvimento de um vídeo educativo como objeto de aprendizagem. Essa atividade econômica é histórica no Brasil e nos remete ao processo de colonização imposto pelos portugueses a partir do século XVI, como uma das primeiras atividades econômicas desenvolvidas no território da colônia, marcando profundamente a ocupação e a transformação do território brasileiro. As análises e apontamentos em relação às transformações históricas e geográficas, produzidas por essa atividade econômica na organização do espaço do município de Barra Bonita, tiveram como ponto de partida a percepção acerca do lugar que os estudantes do 6º ano do ensino fundamental II da escola pública possuem. Abordamos o papel da Educação Ambiental e a sua relevância no espaço escolar como possibilidade para a conscientização dos indivíduos frente à expansão sobre o espaço natural, produzido pelos interesses mercantis. À pesquisa bibliográfica, realizada na intenção da construção do referencial teórico, foi acrescentada ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The present work aims to demonstrate the geographic science contribution in the construction of critical conscience need for students to understand the dynamic of living space construction and unequal appropriation of resources and of produced richness. This qualitative search, reasoned in the content analysis method has as theme the sugar-alcohol activity, grounded in the contexts that are inserted students, presenting as part of results the development of a educative movie as learning object. This economic activity is historical in Brazil and sends us to the colonization process imposed by the Portuguese from the XVI century, as one of the first economic activities developed in the colony territory, deeply marking the occupation and transformation of Brazilian territory. The analysis and appointments regarding historic and geographic transformation produced by this economic activity in the space organization of Barra Bonita city had as their starting point the perception about the place that the 6th year students from elementary school II of public school have. We approach the role of Environmental Education and your relevance in the school space as possibility to the awareness of individuals in face of expansion about natural space, produced to the market interests. The bibliographic search, made in the intention of theoretical reference construction was added to the documental search from the analysis of official documents, such as “paulista curriculum”, the law of guidel... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Trata-se de uma pesquisa sobre o currículo de Geografia da Secretaria de Educação do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, com o objetivo de analisar a construção da geografia escolar inserida no documento de Reorientação Curricular deste órgão oficial. Neste trabalho, o currículo de Geografia é analisado no atual contexto de transformações do mundo da educação pela perspectiva neoliberal. Tal contexto é marcado por transformações na educação brasileira que ocorre a partir da criação Lei de Diretrizes de Base Nacional (9.394/96), das reformas curriculares como os Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais para os níveis fundamental e médio, das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais e dos sistemas de avaliação como o Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio, cujo objetivo é criar um novo modelo de escola e de ensino no país. No estado do Rio de Janeiro, essas transformações ocorreram dentro de uma mesma lógica global/nacional através de um programa de avaliação das escolas públicas intitulado de Nova Escola. O currículo de Geografia da Secretaria Estadual de Educação é parte desse contexto. Sua análise é feita através de um diálogo com o campo de estudos sobre currículo e a Geografia acadêmica e escolar brasileira, objetivando compreender as concepções de currículo e de Geografia escolar presentes no documento. A pesquisa aborda as relações existentes entre as políticas educacionais dos organismos multilaterais para os países emergentes, com destaque para o Banco Mundial e sua similaridade com o programa Nova Escola, assim como os pontos convergentes sobre concepção de currículo entre o Banco e a Secretaria Estadual de Educação do Rio de Janeiro. O trabalho também analisa o currículo de Geografia na perspectiva teórico-metodológica com o intuito de compreender o papel que essa ciência desenvolve na Reorientação Curricular e no programa Nova Escola. / Summary: It is a research about the curriculum implemented by Education Secretary of Rio de Janeiro State , it aims to analyze geography education development within the Curriculum Guide, which is a document from this official institution. In this assignment, the geography curriculum is analyzed by a current context of changing in education field considering the neoliberal viewpoint. This context is marked by changes in Brazilian education which begins from the creation of the National Curricular Parameters to elementary school and high school, of National Curricular Directives and the new evaluation systems as the National Exam of High School. All these strategies focus on a creation of a new learning model in the basis of the country. In Rio de Janeiro State , these changes occurred in a balanced logic between global and national, through a program which evaluates public schools called New School . The geography curriculum of Education Secretary State is part of this context. Its analysis is done by a dialog among the studies field, the Geography College and schools. It aims to understand the conceptions of the curriculum and geography education inside of the document. This research shows the relations among the educational politics from multilateral institutions to developing countries, an important example is the World Bank Group and its similarity with the program New School . Moreover there are some convergent points about the curriculum conception between the bank and the Education Secretary State of Rio de Janeiro . This essay analyzes the geography curriculum from the theoretical and methodological point of view with the objective of understanding the geography science role considering its development in the Curriculum Guide and inside the New School program.

Trata-se de uma pesquisa sobre o currículo de Geografia da Secretaria de Educação do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, com o objetivo de analisar a construção da geografia escolar inserida no documento de Reorientação Curricular deste órgão oficial. Neste trabalho, o currículo de Geografia é analisado no atual contexto de transformações do mundo da educação pela perspectiva neoliberal. Tal contexto é marcado por transformações na educação brasileira que ocorre a partir da criação Lei de Diretrizes de Base Nacional (9.394/96), das reformas curriculares como os Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais para os níveis fundamental e médio, das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais e dos sistemas de avaliação como o Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio, cujo objetivo é criar um novo modelo de escola e de ensino no país. No estado do Rio de Janeiro, essas transformações ocorreram dentro de uma mesma lógica global/nacional através de um programa de avaliação das escolas públicas intitulado de Nova Escola. O currículo de Geografia da Secretaria Estadual de Educação é parte desse contexto. Sua análise é feita através de um diálogo com o campo de estudos sobre currículo e a Geografia acadêmica e escolar brasileira, objetivando compreender as concepções de currículo e de Geografia escolar presentes no documento. A pesquisa aborda as relações existentes entre as políticas educacionais dos organismos multilaterais para os países emergentes, com destaque para o Banco Mundial e sua similaridade com o programa Nova Escola, assim como os pontos convergentes sobre concepção de currículo entre o Banco e a Secretaria Estadual de Educação do Rio de Janeiro. O trabalho também analisa o currículo de Geografia na perspectiva teórico-metodológica com o intuito de compreender o papel que essa ciência desenvolve na Reorientação Curricular e no programa Nova Escola. / Summary: It is a research about the curriculum implemented by Education Secretary of Rio de Janeiro State , it aims to analyze geography education development within the Curriculum Guide, which is a document from this official institution. In this assignment, the geography curriculum is analyzed by a current context of changing in education field considering the neoliberal viewpoint. This context is marked by changes in Brazilian education which begins from the creation of the National Curricular Parameters to elementary school and high school, of National Curricular Directives and the new evaluation systems as the National Exam of High School. All these strategies focus on a creation of a new learning model in the basis of the country. In Rio de Janeiro State , these changes occurred in a balanced logic between global and national, through a program which evaluates public schools called New School . The geography curriculum of Education Secretary State is part of this context. Its analysis is done by a dialog among the studies field, the Geography College and schools. It aims to understand the conceptions of the curriculum and geography education inside of the document. This research shows the relations among the educational politics from multilateral institutions to developing countries, an important example is the World Bank Group and its similarity with the program New School . Moreover there are some convergent points about the curriculum conception between the bank and the Education Secretary State of Rio de Janeiro . This essay analyzes the geography curriculum from the theoretical and methodological point of view with the objective of understanding the geography science role considering its development in the Curriculum Guide and inside the New School program.