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published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Since the advent of democracy in 1994, there have been several turning points in South African education. One of the key changes has been the conception of Social Sciences (SS) – a learning area under the National Curriculum Statement of 2002. The structure of SS has undergone a significant change with regard to evolving from Human and Social Sciences (HSS) to its current state – SS. The DoE claims that the SS curriculum is the result of integration – a concept which has been widely accepted in the international community. The aim of this study was to investigate the views and pedagogy of SS teachers with reference to the concept of integration. I engaged in qualitative research and employed the interpretivist paradigm when analysing my data. Research instruments included semi-structured interviews, a picture identification session and a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of key SS policy documents which inform SS pedagogy. Data were analysed through the method of open-coding. The study concluded that integration has a multitude of meanings, and the conceptualisation and implementation of it differs from teacher to teacher. Integration has now become a generic concept which can be applied to socio-political, economic, educational and environmental spheres of the SS curriculum. For this reason I argue that the SS curriculum may not be foregrounded by the concept of integration, but rather an alternate disciplinary collaboration/s such as interdisciplinarity, pluridisciplinarity and multidisciplinarity. The different disciplinary collaborations has been investigated and applied to the SS curriculum within the South African educational context. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2011.

The educational reform policy in Namibia adopted the principles and practice of learner-centred education, a policy based on constructivist epistemology. This approach emphasises that learners are constructors of knowledge and that they must discover information and construct their own learning. Constructivist techniques require the use of critical thinking through learners’ active involvement in the learning process. The aim is for learners to use critical thinking to identify problems, ask questions, reason, examine and solve problems in real situations and make sound decisions. This approach provides learners with activities and experiences that stimulate them to learn to think for themselves and to ask questions. Therefore, teachers need to design activities that require learners to think critically and act independently through mastering these various modes of inquiry. The purpose of this study was to explore how the selected Grade 10 Life Science teachers understand and implement critical thinking in their teaching practice. I conducted the study in two secondary schools from the Omusati region in Namibia using a case study to gain insight into the implementation of critical thinking. Three data collection instruments: interviews, document analysis and class observations were used. The reason for conducting this study was to gain a better understanding of how teachers use various strategies to foster critical thinking skills in Life Science and the challenges they experience in teaching in secondary schools. The results of the study revealed that teachers have a theoretical understanding of what critical thinking implies and the role it plays in learning. They are also aware of the strategies used to develop critical thinking skills. However, these theoretical perspectives do not reflect in their teaching in that some of the strategies that the teachers used did not bring about meaningful learning. Learners are still required to recall factual knowledge, thus active involvement of the learners is limited. The study also revealed that there are specific issues that hamper the implementation of critical thinking, which include superficial understanding of learner-centered education, teacher-tell approach, overcrowded curriculum, inexplicit syllabus, lack of good examples from the textbooks and examinations, too short lesson periods, lack of language proficiency and lack of professional development. The findings indicate that despite the theoretical understanding of the teachers in this study, their actual practice of developing critical thinking skills is problematic. The study concludes that teachers should be encouraged to design better-structured activities in order to involve learners beyond just being listeners. In light of these findings, the study recognizes a need for ongoing in-service professional development to support teachers in modelling critical thinking to their learners and to teach them to think critically. The findings of the study will serve to inform both my and my colleague’s professional practice as advisory teachers with regard to what to focus on when advising and supporting the teachers in schools.

The integration of learners’ prior everyday knowledge and experiences during teaching and learning is a pre-requisite in the Namibian curriculum. The curriculum states that if learners are taught in a way which builds on what they already know and they relate new knowledge to the reality around them, their learning in school can be made more meaningful. Thus, learners’ meaning making in the topic on nutrition was researched to find out whether elicitation and integration of learners’ prior everyday knowledge and experience in the nutrition topic enhanced or constrained their learning. This study was conducted with my grade10 learners at the school where I am currently teaching. The school is located in a rural area in Oshana region in Northern Namibia. This study is situated within an interpretive paradigm. Within the interpretive paradigm a qualitative case study approach was adopted. I considered this methodological orientation appropriate in this study as it allowed me to use the following methods: document analysis, brainstorming and discussion, semi-structured interviews and a focus group interview, practical activities with worksheets and observation and reflection. Multiple methods to gather data were used for triangulation and validation purposes. For data analysis purposes, the data sets were colour coded to derive themes and analytical statements. Ethical consideration was also taken seriously in this study. The findings from this study revealed that integration of learners’ prior everyday knowledge and experience enabled learners to understand science better particularly in the topic of nutrition. The study also revealed that learners possess a lot of prior everyday knowledge and experience about food they eat in their homes. However, data from the community members revealed that there are some contradictions between learners’ prior everyday knowledge and the science content of the topic. Nonetheless, engaging learners in practical activities in the testing of food (local and conventional western type foods) helped them to make meaning of the content learned. I therefore, recommend that learners’ prior everyday knowledge and experiences should be incorporated during teaching and learning of the topic on nutrition. The study also recommends that the Department of Education should ensure that teachers get the necessary support and training on how to integrate learners’ prior everyday knowledge and experiences.

Prior to independence in Namibia in 1990 the education system of the day did not encourage the majority of Namibian learners to explore and investigate the wonder of the natural and physical world. The post independence education system has nurtured the study of the sciences and has emphasized participation, problem solving and independent studies. The inclusion of projects and other independent studies has been regarded as a key vehicle to develop scientific understanding and competencies related to this understanding. However, very few studies have hitherto investigated the teachers’ understanding and implementation of projects in the Namibian context. This study investigates how Grade 10 Life Science teachers understand and implement projects in selected schools in Namibia. The study focused on two teachers in two schools, a combined and a senior secondary school in the Oshikoto educational region of Namibia. The research was conducted through an interpretive case study aiming to gain a better understanding about the implementation of projects in schools. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom observation and document analysis. The findings indicate that despite the focus on projects in the Life Science syllabus and broad curriculum, policy documents do not give detailed guidelines on how projects should be planned, organized and assessed. The results revealed that knowledge about projects and their implementation is primarily informed by practical activities rather than the critical enquiries or investigations required by the Life Science curriculum policy. The study also revealed that despite the in-service training received by the two teachers participating in this study on syllabus interpretation, it is apparent from the findings that project work in these in-service programmes was neglected. This has further hampered teachers’ understanding and implementation of projects. The findings of this study point to a need for project guidelines as well as in-service programmes in this area if the stated nature and role of projects in the context of Namibian education policy is to be achieved.

The aim of the study was to investigate the factors associated with high school learners’ poor performance in physical science in the Libode District in the Eastern Cape. The research also meant to answer the following research objectives on factors associated with high school learners’ poor performance in physical science. The first research objective was based on determining the school related factors that cause poor performance in physical science in the Libode District, while the second research objective was based on determining the home related factors that caused poor performance in physical science in the Libode district. The third research objective was based on ascertaining the skills and competencies of both physical science educators and physical science learners to improve performance while the fourth objective was based on suggesting strategies that could improve performance of both the physical science learners and educators. Research objectives three and four were addressed as recommendation. The study employed a qualitative as well as a quantitative approach. Six public high schools in the Libode District participated in this study. The identities of all the respondents were protected accordingly. Upon analysis of the results, several school related and home related factors respectively were identified as causing poor performance in physical science. No single factor was accountable for the poor performance in physical science. Recommendations for improvement in the areas identified were provided as well as areas for further research. / Science and Technology Education / M. Ed. (Natural Science Education)

This study was carried out to investigate the strategies used by teachers to foster environmental learning in the Namibian Life Science curriculum in four schools in Swakopmund, Erongo Education Region. This study is a qualitative case study. I used semi-structured interviews, observation and document analysis as instruments to collect data. Two schools were selected to participate in the case study. Research participants included four teachers (two teachers from each school) of which two teachers are teaching at each school. The study was contextualised through a review of policy changes in Namibian education, which focus on learner-centred education. The study identified six strategies used by teachers to foster environmental learning in the Life Sciences curriculum. These are planning; working with information; practical, excursions and clubs; involving the learners; using visual aids and teaching materials; and choosing topics with a local focus. Through a consideration of the different strategies used by teachers, in relation to the learner-centred nature of the educational reform project in Namibia the study provides insight into the way in which teachers view learner-centred education. The study also illuminates how strategies used by teachers reflect learner-centred education principles and it outlines a number of tensions emerging in the fostering of environmental learning in learner-centred ways. The study identifies further support required by teachers, and makes recommendations which will further enhance the strategies used by teachers to foster the environmental learning focus in Life Sciences, and also enhance learner-centred teaching in Life Science.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Education in the Faculty of Education at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2014 / There is currently a strong emphasis on the teaching of Physical Sciences in the school system. The National Department of Education has established Dinaledi schools to address this situation to increase the number of learners taking Physical Sciences as one of their school subjects and to also increase the number of passes in the subject. Furthermore, Physical Sciences learners struggle to understand certain scientific concepts and develop alternative ideas about these concepts that have a negative influence on further development of other integrated science concepts. The thesis proposes the importance of developing concept mapping to enhance the teaching of topics in a Physical Sciences classroom. The research focused on the chemical equilibrium in a Grade 12 Physical Sciences tutoring classroom. This happened in a group setting, with learners enrolling with the specific aim of improving their marks for Physical Sciences as one of the important gateway subjects for entrance to tertiary education. The research focused on their prior knowledge of the topic and how they understood the topic. Using social constructivism as underpinning theoretical framework, and conceptual change theory, learners were taken through a process to identify and rectify their alternative ideas on chemical equilibrium. In this, perspective learning is seen as a social process in which learners actively participate and contribute with their understanding and arguments. The research was carried out in a science tutoring classroom and focused on three groups from secondary schools in the Paarl Valley, Drakenstein area, Western Cape, South Africa. The groups were taught and observed in the science tutoring classroom with special attention to data collection in order to capture their thinking and work on the topic. Data were collected by means of concept mapping, where each learner completed a minimum of three or maximum of four concept maps. Within each concept map, learners connected key concepts of the topic with one another. Each concept map identified the learner‟s prior knowledge as well as any alternative ideas created by using existing frameworks. Data were analysed using a rubric to determine each concept map‟s quality. Conclusions were that learners became actively involved in the process of concept mapping as well as learning. There were no definite differences between higher performing and lower performing learners. As for the enhanced teaching aspect, alternative ideas were identified quickly using the concept maps; these were centred on the individual learner, and were not general.