The study sought to establish the causes of high failure rate among matriculants in the Qumbu district in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. A qualitative research design was adopted. Interviews were used to collect data. The sample (N=21) was made up of 12 teachers, 3 learners from each of the selected 3 schools. Convenience sampling technique was used to select the participants. The data were thematically analyzed. The study concluded that parents were not involved in the teaching and learning of their children. There was a lack of learner-teacher support material and infrastructure in schools and this affected learner‟s performance. Disciplinary issues involving both teachers and learners negatively affected the performance of learners. The medium of instruction in schools also affected performance because in some schools learners were taught in Xhosa and that resulted in poor performance at school. The study recommended that parents need to be encouraged to be actively involved. Infrastructure needs to be improved in schools and more classrooms should be built. Learners need discipline and society at large should be involved in moulding learners and teachers‟ in this regard (Teachers should lead by example). In addition, teachers and learners need to be motivated to use English as a medium of instruction and teachers ought to use English when they communicate with learners.

Today South Africa, along with the rest of the world, is witnessing a virtual social revolution related to the use of cell phones by teenagers. Although current estimates suggest that the majority of teenagers in South Africa have cell phones, very little research has been done on how they socially interact with it or how these digital devices can be used to facilitate educational pursuits. A profile of a teenage learner in the physical, social, moral, cultural and psychological context utilising cell phone technology was developed to understand the way in which today‟s technologically advanced teenager grow up, learn, think, work, communicate and socialise. A profile like this can be of assistance to successfully introduce the cell phone as an educational tool to enhance and support the cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills of the learner. Technological resources are scarce in South Africa; therefore it is important for educators today to take advantage of all tools that are available to enhance the educational process. Although new technologies have the potential of transforming education it can not be guaranteed. An exploratory study, using the mixed method (qualitative and quantitative) was done. A questionnaire was administered to measure the teenager‟s activities in today‟s technologically rich environment mainly focusing on quantitative questions regarding the use of the cell phone. The open ended questions from the questionnaire were divided into the groups and analysed to form part of the qualitative data. A male and female focus group (aged between 13 and 17 years) were conducted to form part of the qualitative material. Predetermined qualitative questions, focussing mainly on the teenager‟s attitude and use towards cell phone use, were asked. The participants‟ responses led to innovative questions. A quantitative logbook was kept by a few teenagers to get an understanding of the time teenagers spend using a cell phone and the functions mostly used on the cell phone. The results indicate that no evidence could be found that the use of cell phones in a class room environment will detrimentally affect physical activities of teenage learners. Cell phones have become an integral part of the social lives of teenage learners and might in fact introduce an element of cognitive and affective skills as „fun‟ and „excitement‟ into the learning process. Although brand associations are extremely important to teenage learners it appears that the mere fact of owning a cell phone already satisfies this requirement for social acceptance. Teenage learners with reference to the moral concept have displayed the ability to distinguish between what is right and wrong with regards to the use of cell phones. Teenage learners were largely in favour of using cell phones in a classroom but were somewhat divided on some practicalities. Owning a cell phone satisfies the perceived requirement for peer acceptance in a multi-cultural and technologically well informed society even though the cell phone might not be the most modern model. With reference to the psychological concept teenage learners have acknowledged their own vulnerability and need for guidance, whilst at the same time emphasising the need to form their own opinion and identity through continued exploration and investigation of the world around them This study has shown a definite possibility to the positive use of a cell phone as educational tool, but to successfully introduce the cell phone into a classroom as an educational tool, further research is necessary. Copyright / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

Magister Educationis - MEd / Euclidean geometry was recently re-introduced as a compulsory topic in the Mathematics Curriculum for learners in the Further Education and Training (FET) band in 2012. The diagnostic analysis reports on the National Senior Certificate (NSC) Mathematics Paper 2 examinations since 2014 has repeatedly expressed concern of the poor performance of leaners in proof and reasoning items linked to circle geometry. Various efforts have been made to examine the composition of the curriculum to find ways of motivating learners in the study of circle geometry and enhancing their performance but not much has been realized. The use of technology or cooperative learning approaches for the teaching of geometry is beneficial for pedagogical purposes, particularly for improving learners’ performance in geometry. Hence, this study investigated the impact of using technology through cooperative learning on learners’ performance on grade circle 11 geometry. It was thus an attempt to focus on blending these two teaching methods with an emphasis on the use of technology. The research took place at a Khayelitsha school and the scope of technology was limited to using a mathematical computer programme called Heymath.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Educational Psychology) in the Department of Psychology at the University of ZuIu/and, 2004. / Social skills are a well-researched topic, and skills programmes have been used extensively to improve the social and emotional problems encountered by learners with learning disabilities. They are often the therapies of choice for learners who suffer from poor self-concept and poor social skills. Meta-analyses of recent social skills outcome studies have indicated that the amount of change effected by social skills programmes was minimal, and that rarely does it reach the level of effecting clinically significant change. In the light of these contradictory statements, the aim of this study is to establish whether the current social skills programme succeeds in improving the self-concept of learners with learning disabilities at a school for learners with special educational needs. The results of the study indicated that this social skills programme does not improve the global self-concept of learners.

Thesis (M.A. (English Studies)) --University of Limpopo, 2016 / Local and international assessments on reading have shown over the past years that South African primary schools learners fail to perform at the expected levels in comparison to their counterparts in other parts of the world. However, efforts by the Department of Education to improve the situation through the introduction of intervention programmes, like the Foundations for Learning do not seem to yield the expected results. This was evident in the Annual National Assessment reports which provided a gloomy picture despite the FFL’ s declared intention to improve reading performance to nothing less than 50%. This study therefore, sought to evaluate the implementation of the FFL reading guidelines. This study followed a qualitative research approach wherein observations and interviews were used to engage teachers in four selected Grade 6 rural schools. The resultant data was further corroborated by document analysis that confirmed the findings arrived at. The main finding emerging from this study was that schools treated the FFL reading guidelines as optional. Other findings were that the participating schools found it difficult to integrate the prescribed time allocated to reading activities into their school time tables without interfering with times allocated to other subjects. They therefore, resorted to their own discretion on how best to use the available time to engage learners in reading activities. The implications of the findings are that the reading guidelines were differently and partially implemented by the schools. The other implication was that the reading instruction conducted by the participating schools focused more on reading for assessment than on reading for pleasure. The ultimate goal of reading, which is to develop learners into independent readers, was therefore compromised.

Thesis advisor: Vincent Cho / Demographic shifts in American society and public schools have increased the urgency among educators and other stakeholders to ensure educational equity and excellence are a reality for all students (Brown, 2007; Dean, 2002; Gay, 2000; Johnson, 2007). One very notable shift in the United States has been the dramatic enrollment increase of English Learner (EL) students. Supporting ELs’ achievement on standardized testing and increasing their graduation rates have been particular challenges, the meeting of which has required school districts to think differently. Culturally responsive school leadership (CRSL) has been one solution, through the application of which districts can focus on teacher preparation, culturally responsive curricula, school inclusiveness and the engagement of students and parents in community contexts. This study is part of a larger study that examined leadership practices that foster equity, included twenty semi-structured interviews of district leaders, school leaders, and teachers. Findings from this study indicate that school leaders have enacted and supported culturally responsive behaviors to educate ELs and suggest how leaders might employ CRSL behaviors for the dual purpose of supporting ELs’ achievement on standardized testing and increasing their graduation rates. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

abstract: Schools are tasked with the responsibility of educating students from a wide variety of backgrounds. Teachers are tasked with finding and implementing effective teaching strategies for every student in their classroom. English Language Learners (ELLs), students who are not fluent speakers of English, represent an increasing population of students within the education system that have unique instructional needs. The goal of this study was to provide regular education teachers with instructional strategies targeted toward the educational needs of ELLs. This study used both qualitative and quantitative methods to gather data. Data sources include using pre-post innovation surveys, self-reflection forms, post-innovation interviews, and field notes. For this study, nine public school teachers from different (representing different content areas) and two English Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) teachers were used. The innovation for this study was the implementation of a whole group professional development (PD) session and access to a digital toolbox that provided teachers with instructional strategies for ELLs. The strategies provided in the whole group PD session and the digital toolbox were based on the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) model. The results of the study show that the instructional strategies provided to the teachers from the innovation positively impacted the teacher’s ability to teach ELLs. Additionally, teachers liked the format of the whole group PD session and the Digital Toolbox as a way to learn new teaching strategies related to ELLs. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2020

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Denna kunskapsöversikt ska bidra till utvidgad förståelse för hur kooperativt lärande kan påverkar elevers motivation till matematiken. Kooperativt lärande är en arbetsmetod där elevers kunskaper utvecklas i samverkan med varandra och läraren.Genom att undersöka internationella och relevanta forskningsartiklar till vår frågeställning har vi kunnat sammanställa ett resultat som vi hoppas på ska gynna oss i vår framtida lärarprofession. Resultatet av de vetenskapliga artiklar som vi har använt har sammanfattats till fyra kategorier där vi besvarar hur lärarens roll är en väsentlig del av det kooperativa lärandet, vilken inverkan gruppsammansättningen och dess medlemmar har, hur elevers motivation ökar när de erbjuds möjlighet att samarbeta med varandra och slutligen hur kooperativt lärande kan hämma elevers motivation om negativa konsekvenser inte uppmärksammas.  Vår slutsats blev att kooperativt lärande kan öka elevers motivation när det nyttjas på rätt sätt av lärare och elever. För att kooperativt lärande inte bara ska ses som ett komplement i undervisningen är det viktigt att arbetsmetoden successivt introduceras för elever. På så sätt får elever möjlighet att bygga upp ett förtroende för varandra och arbetsmetoden.

Magister Artium (Sport, Recreation and Exercise Science) - MA(SRES) / Over the last ten years, research has shown that adolescent activity has decreased in both developed and developing countries. One way of meeting desirable physical activity levels for adolescents in schools is through physical education. Structured physical education is the ideal form of what physical education should entail, however unstructured physical education can also be incorporated as a method to increase physical activity. Because little is known about the benefits of both these types of physical education, this study aimed to investigate the perceived benefits of structured and unstructured physical education lessons as perceived by Grade Eight and Grade Nine learners and physical education and/or life orientation educators in Cape Town high schools.