M.Ed. / The South African education system has undergone radical changes since the democratic elections in 1994. This phenomenon (democratic elections) brought along its own challenges to educational leaders and managers. The vital principles underpinning the new approach focus mainly on transforming the education system, which is presently characterized by hierarchical and authoritarian structures and culture, into a more participatory system. This is therefore the critical time for School Management Teams (SMTs) in Ivory Park primary school to effect and manage changes in such a way that quality education will be the eventual outcome. This study has highlighted the following: • The SMTs in Ivory Park primary schools view vision as one of the most prominent aspects in the larger picture of transformational leadership. They realize that the vision will only be a reality when it has been shared with staff members. • Decentralization of power plays a vital role: this means that the line between the SMTs and educators is not tightly drawn, and roles are shared by leaders with stakeholders. • Some aspects of the centralization of power – such as lack of open communication and transparency – lead to dissatisfaction and frustration among educators. • The principal practice the principles of power investment by understanding that the staff members need to be empowered through workshops so that they (the staff) can function to the best of their abilities. • The SMTs realize that teams are an essential part of effective schools; therefore, in order for them to excel in both effectiveness and efficiency they have to build and integrate teams with complementary skills which are committed to a common purpose. • The major concern voiced by the respondents was the autocratic management approach applied by principles. / Mr. T.S. Hlongwane

M.Ed. / This study investigates the characteristics of effective collaboration, which can be distilled from existing teaching practice in the Foundation Phase (of a particular primary school in Lenasia, Gauteng). The relevance of collaborative and collegial practices and the various ways in which it could be incorporated into schools is explored. Collaborative schools are places where the underlying norms, values and beliefs support, encourage and reinforce teamwork, collegiality and interactions about problems of practice in schools where the staff have developed and nourished a collaborative culture, the energies and skills of everyone are unlocked. The main argument is that collaboration, as a part of the school will foster a sense of professional community that can support wide project planning and innovation. The type of analysis used in this study is a conversation and ethnomethodological analysis as well as its concomitant conversation analysis connected to an ethnographic case study inquiry. The processes of data collection and data analysis are described and the main themes, which emerged from the different data sources, are identified. These themes are disclosed within the framework of collaborative and collegial practices The findings revealed five important themes, which formed the pivot around which members in the case study school engaged in collaborative relationships. Firstly the teachers were learning with and from colleagues in a range of ways, including team teaching, collaborative planning, being mentored and mentoring others. Secondly a close reflection and evaluation of practice with colleagues was evident. Thirdly PDF Created with deskPDF PDF Writer - Trial :: http://www.docudesk.com teachers’ participation in whole school or team collaborative inquiry and problem solving remains a norm in the case study school. They thus develop resources and ideas with colleagues. The school described in the case study developed a collective commitment to a learning culture. Teachers therefore engage and contribute to an optimal mix of individual and organizational processes leading to the school’s ultimate success. Professional learning includes organizational learning as well as individual learning. This is evidenced by members identifying shared professional development needs, working together in planning, implementing and evaluating school initiatives, sharing research findings to guide and enhance practice as well as engaging in professional conversations about teaching and learning. / Mr. W.A. Janse van Rensburg

M.Ed. (Psychology of Education) / Education is fundamentally an imaginative act of hope” (Purkey and Novak, 1996, p.1) and this hope is dependent on one’s ability to care enough to develop each child to his or her full potential. The intention of this study is to determine the dispositions of fourth year Foundation Phase students at a local higher education institute, and to establish how these dispositions influence their practice during their scheduled teaching practicals. The findings from this study will be used to propose a strategy for Initial Professional Education and Training (IPET) programmes in order to explicitly develop invitational dispositions in Foundation Phase teachers in training. The study is supported by a theoretical framework which investigates the notion of dispositions and the development of these through the lenses of structuration theory, social cognitive theory and attribution-based theory of motivation, and leading to the application of the Invitational Education approach. Self concept theory and perceptual theory are encompassed within this approach, and form an integral part of the study. From this theoretical framework, an invitational dispositional framework is developed to represent the inter-connected nature of the five invitational dispositions of care, intentionality, trust, respect and optimism. The research design and methodology of the study is located in the interpretivist paradigm, using a case study design within a qualitative approach. A survey is used to collect data relating to fourth year Foundation Phase students’ opinions regarding the essential dispositions required by Foundation Phase teachers in order to establish positive teaching and learning environments. Further data is gathered from two nested cases of fourth year Foundation Phase students during both their first and second teaching practicals, through the means of observations, interviews and document analysis. Each data source is analysed through content analysis in an attempt to identify the common patterns that emerge, followed by the coding of the data according to the invitational dispositions of care, intentionality, trust, respect and optimism. The opinions of the students, as determined from the analysis of the survey, are then compared to their actions as demonstrated through their practice, with a final consideration of the developmental trajectory of these dispositions. From this study, it was found that the dispositional ability to care is of paramount importance in Foundation Phase teaching and that this dispositional ability is determined in three inter- iii connected areas. A reduced ability to care in one of the interactional areas of self, others and the profession results in a decreased ability to care in the other areas as well. Upon analysis of the data, it was discovered that low levels of self confidence and limited care for the learning taking place in classrooms results in inconsistent invitational interactions between the student and the children. Lower levels of care further impacts upon the students’ ability to act with intentionality in each of the three interactional areas. Students would greatly benefit from explicit development in their reflective practice and in their self confidence, as “caring is an ethic that guides action” (Purkey and Novak, 1996, p.9). In this way students would be able to be Intentionally Inviting more consistently, and purposefully engage with children in the teaching and learning process.

Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio) / Lower back pain (LBP) is one of the most common work-related health problems in economically developed countries and the most prevailing musculoskeletal condition that causes disability in the developing nations. School teachers are susceptible to LBP due to the nature of their daily work routine which is physically demanding and include common activities such as long hours of sitting, standing and bending that have been identified as risk factors for LBP. The aim of the study was to determine the role of work-related activities in the prevalence of LBP amongst primary school teachers in the Dar-es-Salaam region of Tanzania. To achieve this goal, the study sought to meet the following three objectives: to determine the prevalence of LBP among primary school teachers; to determine the work-related physical activities contributing to LBP among primary school teachers, and to determine and explore the application of kinetic handling principles in their daily work environment. The study was conducted in eighty randomly selected primary schools from the Temeke, Ilala and Kinondoni districts. A sequential explanatory mixed method approach was utilised. A cross-sectional descriptive design was employed. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of three sections (socio-demographic information; the Nordic Back Pain Questionnaire and the Oswestry Lower back pain Questionnaire) was completed by two hundred and eighty six primary school teachers with a mean age of 41.2 years (SD=9.9), 78.7% female and 21.3% male. Thirty primary school teachers participated in the participant observation of the application of kinetic handling principles in their daily work environment and focus group discussions. Results of the study found that 17.1% of the teachers had LBP during the past week while 82.9% experienced LBP during the past year. In addition, 30.8% of the teachers had referred pain, mostly to the thigh area (43.9%). Less than fifty percent (43.5%) of the participants had severe pain in sitting (76 – 100mm on the VAS scale) while 26.9% was not able to sit for more than an hour while teaching due to LBP. A significant relationship was found for severe functional disability and gender (p=0.032). The study demonstrated poor application of kinetic handling principles at work. Factors impeding teachers’ efforts to implement best practices and back care techniques in their daily teaching activities were work environment (poor facilities and equipment; heavy workload and staff shortage) and uncertainty about desired practice. In order to address the higher prevalence of lower back pain the study recommended, inter alia, improvement of the work environment for teachers by providing proper office furniture, re-assessment of education standards such as students /class ratio, students/desk ratio and number of teachers for schools and lastly, the implementation of health education and health promotion strategies to prevent LBP amongst primary school teachers.

Les recherches menées sur l’enseignement public élémentaire dans les Alpes-Maritimes dans l’entre-deux-guerres permettent de dégager des perspectives intéressantes. En premier lieu cette étude conduit à préciser les caractères du milieu géographique et humain du département. Celui-ci ne se résume pas à l’image d’une Côte d’Azur cosmopolite et luxueuse. Les Alpes-Maritimes comprennent certes un littoral dynamique ouvert, attirant de nouveaux habitants souvent accompagnés d’enfants, pour qui doivent être créées des écoles. Mais le département présente également, un moyen et haut-pays dans lequel subsistent de nombreux villages et hameaux souvent très isolés et en voie de dépeuplement. La présente étude permet également une approche des mentalités. Elle apparaît que l’absentéisme scolaire, bien réel n’est pas en contradiction avec l’attachement des parents pour maintenir des écoles même dans de modestes hameaux. L’esprit localiste est très vivant et se traduit par l’attachement au maintien des écoles normales dans le département et par le refus des instituteurs de s’exiler dans d’autres départements. La thèse éclaire l’histoire de l’administration des instituteurs notamment dans le domaine du recrutement facile des élèves dans l’école normale, le déroulement des carrières et des règles de mutations. L’engagement politique et syndical notamment au sein du parti communiste conduit certains maîtres à s’opposer à l’administration. C’est, entre autres, le cas de Virgil Barel. Dans les Alpes-Maritimes l’école se trouve dans une situation intermédiaire entre tradition et modernité. En somme entre 1919 et 1939, les Alpes-Maritimes peuvent être définies comme une sorte de laboratoire dans lequel se confrontent deux conceptions de l’école, deux cultures et deux univers. / The researches undertaken on élémentaire public éducation in the Alpes-Maritimes in the inter-war period make it possible to release from interesting prospects. Initially this study results in specifying the characters of the human geographical environment of the department. This one is not summarized with the image of a cosmopolitan and luxurious Riviera. The Alpes-Maritimes understand certainly an open dynamic littoral, attracting new often accompanied inhabitants children, for whom must be create schools. But the department also presents, a means and high-country in which remains of the many villages and very isolated hamlets often and send depopulation. The present study also allows uneapproche mentality. It specifies school absenteeism which is not in contradiction with the attachment of parents to maintain schools even in the modest hamlet. The spirit very alive localist and results by the attachment with the maintenance of the teacher training schools in the apartment and in the refusal of the teachers to exile itself in other departments. The thesis clarifies the history of the teachers in particular in the field of the easy recruitment of the pupils in the teacher training school, and the rule career profile of changes. Political commitment and trade-union in particular within the Communist party led to certain Masters to be opposed to the administration. In the Alpes-Maritimes the school is in an intermediate situation between tradition and modernity. All in all between 1919-1939, the Alpes-Maritimes can be defined as a kind of laboratory in which two designs of the school are confronted, two cultures and two universes.

The ultimate goal of schooling is to provide quality education. In order to enhance the quality of the teaching profession, the Education Bureau mandated all aided schools to establish the school-based teacher appraisal system. To date, the policy has been implemented for a few years. This study attempts to investigate how teachers participate in the school-based appraisal system and analyze its relation to the effectiveness of the system. Moreover, the researcher tries to examine the factors affecting teacher participation in the appraisal and investigate the reasons behind their actions. The research method involves case studies of school-based teacher appraisal in two aided primary schools in Hong Kong. Teacher participation is high in one case while it is low in another case. The methods adopted include documentary analysis, interviews and observations. The evaluation model of Stake (1967), which compares the intention and reality of the policy, is also employed to analyze the actual operation. Findings reveal that teacher participation is a crucial factor to the effectiveness of the school-based appraisal systems. Teacher participation in the policy formulation and implementation stages directly affects the effectiveness of the policy. Extensive teacher participation in establishing the appraisal policy is found to have the following benefits, i.e. increasing the intelligence for decision-making, leading to better and effective implementation of the policy, increasing the acceptance of and ownership of the policy. In the policy implementation stage, the participation level of the appraisers and appraisees is found to be correlated and interdependent. The participation of both sides will affect whether the policy is implemented as scheduled and ultimately to what extent the policy will achieve the intended outcomes. Factors affecting teacher participation in the appraisal can be categorized into four levels, namely, the individual level, the policy level, the organizational level and the societal level. These factors are interrelated and have an effect on one another. The variation in the influence of these factors affecting participation may depend on different people and different situations. Apart from the fact that individual attitude would affect one’s degree of participation in the appraisal, the elements or components of the policy, the school culture and the Chinese culture would also affect the way in which teachers participate in the appraisal activities. Findings of the two case schools demonstrate that the developmental purpose and the administrative purpose seem to be incompatible within one appraisal system in the Hong Kong context, so the two purposes should be kept separate. The study also confirms that the school culture characterized by trust, collaboration, and valuing teacher growth can encourage the stakeholders to participate in appraisal more actively. On the other hand, the Chinese cultural values, i.e. face (mainzi), relation (guanxi) and favor (renqing), seem to be incompatible with the principles of the school-based appraisal systems as requested by the government, i.e. open, fair and transparent, and thus obstruct teacher participation in appraisal. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Education

2008/09學年，「語常會」資助香港中、小學推行「以普通話教授中國語文科」計劃。計劃以三年為期，為學校提供資源，包括安排內地老師駐校，並提供教師學習平台及專業交流活動。學校A及學校B均於2010/11至2012/13參與了「普教中」計劃，四位研究對象也在此期間在學校成立了「普教中」小組，協助學校推展「普教中」。 / 有關計劃已完結，研究者以敘事探究(narrative study)作為研究方法，了解在「普教中」政策下，香港小學領袖教師(teacher leaders)的學習及領導歷程，進而了解教師領導(teacher leadership)在學校發展的情況。研究者將透過訪談、觀察及分析學校文件來收集研究資料，呈現四位研究對象如何與同儕及校外專家進行協作，在教學情境中持續學習，並協助學校推行有關政策，藉此加強個人的專業知識，並建立個人領袖教師的身份。 / 研究發現當教師有機會與校外專家及同儕相互接合，透過在學校建立學習平台及進行協作，彼此能夠建立相互關係，共同建立實踐社群。四位研究對象以學校作為學習基地，參與校外及校內的學習及有關教學改進的活動，在實踐的過程中提升了個人的教學技巧及領導信心，並在學校建立了學習及分享文化。在帶領同儕與校外專家進行緊密協作的過程中，獲得學習與領導的機會，從而得以發展成為領袖教師。 / 研究進一步發現，四位研究對象在校長的賦權與支持，以及在內地老師及校外專家的協助下，他們能夠建立出個人獨特的領導能力並對同儕作出強大及正面的影響。他們與校外專家及同儕一起為提升學生學習而設計課程與教學，進行課研及行動學習；就推行「普教中」政策及改進教學的工作進行討論與協商；更把共同設計的教材、教學資料及從實踐與反思中獲得的經驗與同儕分享。這些學習與領導的機會為他們提供成為領袖教師的能量，讓他們能克服困難並對新政策及各種挑戰作出回應。 / 研究又發現四位研究對象在教學及領導上的專業知識、技巧及素質，以及其個人的價值目標是影響他們建立領袖教師身份的關鍵因素。有關因素是互為影響的，不但成為了他們在學校改進及帶領團隊工作上的重要條件，更成為他們作為領袖教師的發展方向。然而有關因素會受到學校文化及領袖教師個人的意向所影響。 / 本研究對教師學習及教師領導的知識領域有三方面的貢獻：它揭示了(1)教師在學校進行情境學習時所需要的條件；(2)教師領導在學校發展的歷程及領袖教師在學習社群中的角色；(3)「以普通話教授中國語文」政策在香港小學推行及發展的進程。根據研究結果，本研究對教育當局及學校就如何培育及支援領袖教師作出建議；也就香港小學如何推行「以普通話教授中國語文」政策作出部署及施行安排與策略提出建議。 / The Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR) launched a support scheme in the academic year of 2008/09 to assist schools which have decided to use Putonghua to teach Chinese Language Subject. Each participating school received support for three years including on-site visits offered by mainland professionals and local consultants continued to provide on going support in subsequent years. This study aims to explore how teacher leaders learn in the context of the SCOLAR support scheme. The development of leadership capacity and identity formation in their process will also be discussed. / The study employed a narrative research method. The four primary school teachers were purposefully chosen. They were chosen by their schools. Then took part in the scheme to construct school level learning communities in order to implement the new language policy. Data collection methods include semi-structured interviews of the four participants and the key stakeholders; observation of lesson preparation meetings; and documentary analysis of school-based curriculum designs. / Findings show that mutual engagement created interpersonal relationships among the members of the learning communities. The mutual engagement also transformed the practices, relationships and all kinds of artifacts into a community of practice when the four participants, their colleagues, mainland professionals and experts from local universities worked together. Identity as teacher leader of the four participants was developed through the relationship building with other members of their community of practice. The learning and leading activities in which they participated in and new understandings that they acquired are examined. / Results show that when the four participants were empowered by their principals and external support, they could have strong and positive influence on the practice of teaching and curriculum design of a group of teachers. They engaged together with external professionals and their colleagues in the joint enterprise of working together in designing curriculum and instruction, conducting action learning, negotiating of meanings about the work and sharing repertoires. This leadership capacity building processes enhanced the competence and confidence of the teacher leaders to response the new policy and address new challenges. / The study also found that the four participants’ professional knowledge, skills, dispositions and their value goals were the crucial factors for the development of their identity as teacher leader. These factors were interrelated not only to serve as guiding principle for their decision making but also provide the essential capacity for the accomplishment. However, the factors may be affected by the of school culture and the quality of the teacher leaders themselves. / The study contributes to the discussion of knowledge of teacher learning and teacher leadership in three ways. First, it deepens the understandings of teacher learning with a situated learning perspective. Second, it reveals the processes of the development of teaher leadership and the roles of teacher leaders in the learning communities. Third, viewing the Policy implementation of Teaching Chinese in Putonghua is implementing in Hong Kong Primary School and the problems encountered. The study intends to shed light on the discussion of teacher leadership in two ways. First, policymakers and school principals should pay particular attention on the issue of teacher leadership in designing and funding support teacher development programmes. Second, suggestions for school leaders to implement the Policy of Teaching Chinese in Putonghua at primary schools are made. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 鄧瑞瑩 / Parallel title from added title page. / Thesis (Ed.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 386-387). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Deng Ruiying

This personal history self-study focuses on supporting Foundation Phase teacher learning through professional development in an Independent school context in South Africa. In engaging in this study I am the main research participant who takes the reader through the passages of my early childhood experiences, my schooling, and my training as a student teacher and my practice of being a teacher and a Head of Department at an Independent Muslim School. I investigate how I can use a deeper understanding of my personal history to enhance my understanding of my professional practice and thus to better support Foundation Phase teacher learning through professional development strategies and initiatives in my particular Independent school context. Through this process of deliberate remembering, I uncover many hidden experiences of my early learning, and of becoming a professional, which have impacted on my present practices as teacher and Foundation Phase Head of Department. Key themes that emerge are: a) guidance and inspiration from family; b) evolving from teacher centredness to learner centredness; c) deep-rooted intrinsic motivation; d) teacher mentoring and collaboration; and e) developing greater self esteem and freedom of expression. From these themes I develop questions to spur me on in supporting teacher learning through professional development initiatives in my school context, allowing me to revisit my existing practice. This study illustrates how our lived experiences have helped to shape and continue to reshape our practices as teachers and school managers. The study also shows how we can learn from our personal histories in order to enable us to develop our pedagogical and managerial capacities. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

The study aimed at developing a curriculum for technology teacher education and training for technology teachers teaching Grade R-9 in South African schools. The study was motivated by the national implementation of Curriculum 2005 as well as the Revised National Curriculum Statements Grades R-9 to be implemented from 2004. The cognitive framework was illuminated by the conceptualisation of technology education and examined the philosophical foundation and theoretical context of technology education, including the historical background of technical education in relation to teacher training in South Africa. The Norms and Standards for Educators as a benchmark for teacher education and training programmes is explored. Moreover, a conceptual framework for the proposed curriculum was investigated. This involved an analysis of selected educational philosophies and their influence on curriculum development, various curriculum approaches and models, including outcomes-based education, a needs analysis and curriculum evaluation and assessment. A small-scale empirical investigation using qualitative and quantitative approaches was carried out. Questionnaires designed for educators of the Technology Learning Area and educators of technical subjects were used to gather data. The empirical investigation comprised a needs analysis of the curriculum development process. To ascertain validity and reliability of findings, instruments were subjected to a pilot study. Data were analysed by a MS Excell spreadsheet computer programme and findings presented in tables and graphs. The curriculum for technology teacher education and training, particularly curriculum content, was based on the empirical findings and the philosophical foundations discussed in the literature review. The proposed curriculum stresses the importance of partnership between schools and industry and resulted in the following outcomes: * knowledge of technology education; * applied and integrated teaching competence; * applied and integrated assessment; * recommendations for improving the school-industry relationships through partnerships programmes emphasising the design of technological projects. Finally, the following recommendations emanated: * improvement of technology teacher education and training programmes in higher education; * development of expertise in the teaching and learning of technology; * resurgence of research in the teaching and learning of the technological design process. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Didatics)

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this study, the pedagogical knowledge of Foundation Phase teachers is explored (and unpacked) in order to obtain insight into their understanding of the teaching and learning of mathematics. The teacher’s knowledge is explored, as it is one of the most important variables that impacts on what is done in the classroom. The exploration is undertaken against the background of the very poor overall achievement of learners in the national systemic evaluations and in international assessment studies, which is currently a cause for great concern. This has resulted in different nation-wide intervention programmes that are aimed at improving teacher performance and effectiveness. In this study, the teacher is the focal point of the intervention. Problem-based learning (PBL), which is well-regarded as being one of the best examples of a constructivist learning environment, is introduced to a group of 15 Foundation Phase teachers. The study is an unpacking of the Foundation Phase teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and beliefs regarding, and practices in, the teaching and learning of mathematics, as well as in the use of PBL as a vehicle for the teaching and learning of mathematics. The unpacked knowledge can be used to address the challenges that are related to the improvement of the teaching and learning of mathematics in the Foundation Phase. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, including questionnaires, interviews, lesson observation, and workshops, were used to explore the teachers’ current pedagogical knowledge, beliefs and practices with regard to problem-solving. It was also used to expose the teachers to PBL as an alternative approach to teaching and learning mathematics in the Foundation Phase. The study provides a body of knowledge on the Foundation Phase teachers’ pedagogical knowledge, practices and beliefs regarding the teaching and learning of mathematics in general, and approaches to problem-solving in particular, thus providing insights into some of the factors that might lie behind learner outcomes. Study findings indicate that the majority of teachers’ daily mathematical teaching culture was deep-rooted in the traditional approach (direct transmission). This approach was characterised by the teachers concerned focusing on the following of rules and procedures, and on doing demonstrations on the chalkboard, whereafter the learners were encouraged to practise what they had learned by asking them to do pen-and-paper calculations. The lessons were generally not structured to develop critical thinking and reasoning skills. In instances where the teachers created learner-centred activities that were conducive to the development of such skills, deep-rooted traditional approaches manifested themselves in the way in which the teachers showed the learners how to solve their given problem at the earliest signs of any difficulty in doing so was exhibited by the learners. In so doing, the majority of the teachers, despite initially creating learning opportunities by posing problems to their learners, they soon snatched away the selfsame opportunities from them. This was because they did not allow sufficient time for the learners to grapple with a problem, and to engage in critical thinking. After exposure to PBL, the educators were able to implement PBL so effectively that they could address the problems related to low learner achievement in mathematics, as reflected in the international assessment studies, and in the national systemic evaluations within the current South African context. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie studie is die pedagogiese kennis van Grondslagfase-onderwysers ondersoek ten einde insig te verkry in hulle begrip van die onderrig en leer van wiskunde. Die onderwysers se kennis is ondersoek aangesien dit een van die belangrikste veranderlikes is wat 'n invloed het op dit wat in die klaskamer uitgevoer word. Die ondersoek is onderneem teen die agtergrond dat die algehele prestasie van leerders in die nasionale sistemiese evaluerings en internasionale assesseringstudies uiters swak en 'n bron van groot kommer was. Dit het gelei tot verskillende intervensieprogramme wat gemik is op die verbetering van onderwyserprestasie en -doeltreffendheid. In hierdie studie is die onderwyser die fokuspunt van die intervensie. Probleem-gebaseerde leer (PBL), wat beskou word as een van die beste voorbeelde van 'n konstruktivistiese leeromgewing, is aan 'n groep van 15 onderwysers in die Grondslagfase gebring. Die studie was ‘n poging om nuwe kennis te identifiseer ten opsigte van Grondslagfase-onderwysers se pedagogiese geloof en praktyke in die onderrig en leer van wiskunde, en die gebruik van PBL as 'n middel vir die onderrig en leer van wiskunde – kennis wat gebruik kan word om die verwante uitdagings aan te spreek ter verbetering van die onderrig en leer van wiskunde in die Grondslagfase. 'n Kombinasie van kwalitatiewe en kwantitatiewe navorsingsmetodes, wat vraelyste, onderhoude, les-waarneming en werkswinkels ingesluit het, is aangewend om die onderwysers se huidige pedagogiese sienings en praktyke met betrekking tot probleemoplossing grondig te ondersoek en dan voort te gaan om die onderwysers bloot te stel aan PBL as alternatiewe benadering tot onderrig en leer van wiskunde in die Grondslagfase. Die studie het bevind dat die meerderheid van die onderwysers se huidige onderrigkultuur een was wat diep gewortel is in die tradisionele benadering van onderrig en leer van wiskunde (direkte oordrag): dit is gekenmerk deur die onderwysers se onderrig van wiskunde deur te fokus op reëls en prosedures, demonstrasies aan die klas op die swartbord en leerders dan te laat oefen deur pen- en papierberekeninge te doen. Dié het die meerderheid van die onderwysers daagliks gedoen. Lesse is oor die algemeen nie gestruktureer om kritiese denke en beredenering te ontwikkel nie. In gevalle waar die onderwysers leerder-gesentreerde aktiwiteite geskep het wat weens hulle ontwerp bevorderlik is vir die ontwikkeling van kritiese denke en redenasie, het die diepgewortelde, tradisionele benaderings hulself gemanifesteer in die feit dat die onderwysers, met die eerste aanduiding dat die leerders sukkel, hulle te hulp gesnel het en die leerders gewys het hoe om die probleem op te los. Met dié optrede het die meerderheid van die onderwysers aanvanklik leergeleenthede geskep (deur probleme aan hulle leerders voor te hou), maar dit spoedig dan weer weggeraap weens die feit dat hulle nie genoegsame tyd toegelaat het vir hulle leerders om met idees te worstel en deel te hê aan kritiese denke nie. Blootstelling van die opvoeders aan PBL het aan die lig gebring dat opvoeders in die Grondslagfase PBL doeltreffend kan implementeer om probleme rondom lae leerder prestasie in wiskunde aan te spreek wat in internasionale assesseringstudies en in die nasionale sistemiese evaluerings binne die huidige Suid -Afrikaanse konteks weerspieël word.