This research report is based on the Qualitative Research Study conducted at the Masakhane and Madadeni Circuits in Northern KwaZulu Natal. The purpose of this production is to have a frame of reference for currently practising educators in the main stream and the orientation of the newcomers in the field of primary School Science Education. The report will assist educators to develop their skills, confidence and enthusiasm towards promoting learner-centred and activity-based teaching and learning. I believe that learners learn best when their minds are actively manipulating ideas and their hands are actively manipulating material. I also value the participation of educators to, in a collaborative way, effectively utilise the ideas reflected in this research report. South Africa desperately needs to achieve equitable development, in an ever more competitive world economy. Learners therefore, must be prepared to enter a job market where an increasing number of jobs require scientific understanding. Science education must also ensure scientific literacy, so that every learner is prepared to participate in a democracy where an increasing number of issues have a scientific dimension. Because of poor basic Science Education, most Black learners are already effectively eliminated from a pathway leading to careers in Science and Technology, before they have even reach Secondary School. The legacy of unequal access to quality education cannot be wished away over night. For this reason, this research maintains its focus on historically Black schools. Poor teaching strategies can be traced back to the escalating crisis in Black Education in the 1960s and 1970s. In the absence of a legitimate and caring Government, it was left to interested people in civil society to address the problem. It is for this reason that I became interested in investing in the development of Black primary School Science educators in particular. I presume that the exposure to my findings will propose a broader view of educator development, taking into account the wider range of skills that educators need to implement, and to improve teaching methods in the classroom which include among others: • Subject knowledge • Practical competence with experiments • Classroom management skills • Apparatus management skills • Pedagogical skills • Language skills However, because of our unparalleled and hard won experience in the field, I believe my research will be of interest to all primary School Science educators to enhance their knowledge in the field of primary School Science Education. Apart from the findings that will be discussed in one of the chapters, this report recognises the necessity of: • An activity-based approach to Science teaching and learning underpinned by critical reflection. • The empowerment of educators for self-development and professional growth within a collaborative learning environment. • The institutionalisation of sustainable teaching, learning and management processes driven by self-reliant educators. • Acknowledging the rights of participation of relevant stakeholders in decision-making and corresponding accountability. • The development of a socially responsible, scientific and technological culture that enhances life-skills, vocational opportunities and public commitment to economic development in a healthy environment. Vaughn’s (1976:24) opinion is still relevant when he says: “All individuals have a role in developing and sharing accountability for the effective implementation of the educational goals developed. The result will enhance the process and lead to the ultimate goal of quality education for all children.” / Dr. M.C van Loggerenberg

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Inherent to post‐apartheid educational transformation was the design and subsequent implementation of a new national school curriculum. The current curriculum‐in‐use, namely the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) comprises eight compulsory learning areas. One of these learning areas, Arts and Culture, aims to equip learners with skills and knowledge with regard to four distinct arts disciplines, namely music, dance, drama and visual art. In the General Education and Training Band (GET) phase, general classroom teachers are expected to implement this highly specialised learning area. This research aimed to determine how teachers employed at Nelson Mandela Bay primary schools were disadvantaged during the apartheid era, experience the implementation of arts education. Focus group interviews were conducted at schools situated in the low socio‐economic areas. The results revealed that, despite their profound awareness of the unique advantages of arts education for the learners, several impediments hampered the successful attainment of its value. The obstacles highlighted by the teachers were the curriculum itself, teaching and learning environments that are not conducive for arts education, and unsatisfactory involvement of the Department of Education.

In this study toys were used as educative curriculum material in an intervention on the topic of energy aimed at Intermediate Phase pre-service science teachers (n= 87) registered for a BEd degree at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa. The intervention consisted of, amongst other elements, lectures, assignments and toy workshops, with the latter being a key driver in the process. The choice of toys as the educative curriculum material was informed by the fact that there is a huge variety of simple, reasonably priced and easily procured toys that are suitable to demonstrate the concept of energy from both theoretical and practical perspectives. The conclusions that can be drawn from the study are that the use of toys in the preparation of pre-service primary school teachers has the potential to substantially improve their subject content knowledge (SCK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and their confidence related to these two constructs with respect to their understandings of energy. The data generated also suggest that when appropriate educative curriculum materials are integrated into a topic in science-teacher education, there may be a substantial positive impact on pre-service teachers‘ confidence in both their understanding of the science content and their perceptions of their ability to teach this content. An additional finding of the study was that, despite its popularity, status and usefulness over many years, the Science Teacher Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI-B) shows low sensitivity to measuring changes in efficacy as a consequence of the so-called ‗ceiling effect‘. The ceiling effect is a result of initial high scores which provide little opportunity to show iii substantial positive change as a result of an appropriate intervention that is designed to improve efficacy. While this study did not directly address this lacuna in STEBI-B, it made use of an innovative descriptive statistic, ‗percentage gain of potential‘, in an attempt to describe and interpret even small changes in efficacy as measured by STEBI-B.

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This project promotes the use of literature groups based around a theme. In trying to meet the requirements of the California state framework, to integrate the subjects, this project contains two thematic units. Although the themes were designed for second and third grade, the two thematic units may be used as a guide to help teachers implement the thematics teaching approach into their classrooms.

This project will provide support for teachers who have solid understanding of math as the goal for the students in their classrooms. Using the district adopted course of study as the foundation, this project will provide a curriculum supplement for the first grade.

Integrates several learning approaches for teaching English to Taiwanese children at the elementary level (grades K-6). Develops children's biliteracy in the English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) context through various learning approaches that include, child-centered learning, mediated learning, socially situated learning, and task-based learning.

This project provides a convenient way to incorporate environmental education into the already exiting curriculum. Many of the environmental lessons and activities provided in this project cover language arts and math standards as well as providing students with the environmental knowledge, sensitivity, and skills they need.