M.Ed. (Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

A thesis submitted in fulfilment for the degree of Masters of Education (M.Ed) School of Education, Faculty of Humanities University of Witwatersrand JOHANNESBURG February 2015 / This is a qualitative research project that draws on Gee’s (2005) and Wenger’s (1999) conceptions on identity, to understand how teaching practice in rural Acornhoek schools of Bushbuckridge municipality (Mpumalanga province) impacted on the identity of student teachers. The study involved ten student teachers in their second and third year of Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) studies at Wits School of Education ((WSoE). The research adopted a case study approach. Data in this study was collected using semi structured interviews with student teachers before and during the teaching practice period and the researchers’ field notes. The most outstanding findings were that, student teachers negotiating their identity in the categories of IDL1, IDL2 and IDL3. IDL1 is when the identity of student teachers shifted as they carried out their teaching practice. IDL2 is when teaching in rural schools could not shift the identity of student teachers and IDL3 is when teaching practice resulted into student teachers compromising their identities. On the basis of these findings, recommendations were made. Student teachers should have a deeper and informed understanding of what to expect in rural schools in order to prepare them for the identity negotiations in rural schools contexts. In the findings it was established that if teacher training institutions prepare student teachers with view of teaching in rural schools, it would minimize identity challenges by student teachers in the rural schools teaching practice because they will have prior knowledge about teaching in rural schools.

This study explores the nature of pre-service Mathematical Literacy teachers' problem solving with a focus on intra-mathematics and extra-mathematics connections, across two years (2011-2012). The pre-service teachers were enrolled into a new three-year Bachelor of Education course, Concepts and literacy in mathematics (CLM), at a large urban University in South Africa. The CLM course aimed specifically at developing the teachers' fundamental mathematical knowledge as well as contextual knowledge, which were believed to be key components in ML teaching. The fact that the course offered a new approach to professional teacher development in ML (pre-service), contrasting the old model (in-service) reported in ML-related literature in South Africa, where qualified teachers from other subjects were reskilled, coupled with the need to grow the pool of qualified ML teachers, provided a rationale for conducting this study. Data relating to the pre-service teachers' responses to assessment tasks within the course, and their school practicum periods focusing on classroom mathematical working, combined with pedagogical orientations, was collected. PISA's (OECD, 2010, 2013) dimensions of the mathematisation process provided the theoretical framework while Graven and Venkat's (2007a) pedagogic agendas were used to make sense of the pedagogic orientations in practice. The results relating to both learning and practice suggest that the teachers' knowledge relating to model formulation, an aspect of extramathematics connections, was weak across the two years. Nevertheless, improvements in ways in which the dimensions ofthe mathematisation process occurred were noted across the two years, with localised errors. In terms of pedagogic agendas foregrounded by the teachers in ML classrooms, results indicate that agenda 2 (content and context driven) and agenda 3 (mainly content driven) featured more than agenda 1 (context driven) which supports the rhetoric in the ML curriculum. Two implications to teacher training have been noted; first the need for a focus on correctly translating quantities from problem situations into mathematical models, and secondly, the need for promotion of provision of solution procedures with pedagogic links. This study offers two key contributions namely; extending knowledge relating to pre-service ML teacher training, and extending theory for understanding steps in problem solving to incorporate aspects of pedagogy.

A research report submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements of the Master of Education degree (Coursework and Research Report) of the University of the Witwatersrand. / The purpose of this study was to develop a curriculum for the training of literacy teachers using a needs-based approach. Over 15 million adults are illiterate in South Africa and this could seriously hamper the new nations's reconstruction and development if not tackled effectively. To date the focus in the field has .been the development of a national examination and curricula for learners. However little is being done to prepare the teachers who will have to take learners through the new system. It has therefore been the focus of this research project to establish the needs of these teachers and providers and thereafter to develop a training course that would address their needs.(Abbreviation abstract) / Andrew Chakane 2018

Thesis (M Ed.) -- University of the North, 1981 / Refer to the document

It will be generally accepted that teacher education is an important factor underpinning the quality and success of the schooling system in South Africa. Key agenda items in the debate and discourse on the provision of teacher education, in parliamentary and extra-parliamentary circles, include teacher empowerment and professionalization, and teacher education curricula, programmes and policies in the context of an apartheid society in transition to a future democracy. The present study is a contribution to that debate. It focuses on selected aspects of the pre-service teacher education curriculum at one university Faculty. Data de rived from questionnaire surveys and documentary research are analysed and interpreted within the parameters of the critical paradigm of curriculum inquiry as these are given operational definition by the transformative model of teacher education. The analyses of student and staff perceptions of the curriculum and of curriculum and instructional structures show that the dominant form of teacher education in the Faculty embodies a technocratic rationality that serves to encourage acquiescence and conformity to the status quo in both schooling and society. It is argued that such a curriculum is an anachronism, given the prospect of a "new South Africa" that has become apparent since February 1990. In that context, the dissertation makes an attempt to offer a conceptual basis for an alternative framework in the reconceptualization of teacher education. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Durban-Westville, 1991.

An understanding of teachers experiences of professional development activities and its contribution to their own professional learning in the context of change was composed by asking, “What are teachers learning and how is learning taking place through professional development activities in the context of change? From an interpretative paradigm, the triple-lens framework enabled an understanding of what learning happened and how this learning happened. In order to do this, the study looked at once-off professional development activities (PDAs), PDAs at school sites and at self initiated PDAs. The study was able to inform us on the effectiveness of these professional development activities for practising teachers. Drawing on data generated through individual and conversational interviews, this study found that teacher learning, within the South African context is taking place both formally (through workshops , own studies, cluster meetings ) and informally, (through discussions with colleagues). Teachers have learnt more through professional development activities which are driven by themselves, as well as collaboratively, through working with each other, that is, through conversations and assistance from colleagues. A very significant part of teacher learning is also taking place informally in the classrooms, through observation, experimentation and experience. Very little learning takes place when it is mandated. The study found that teachers learnt when they themselves were receptive to it. Demanding, or putting policies into place to direct teachers learning does not necessarily mean that teachers are going to learn. Teachers have learnt in varying contexts but most importantly, the journey of learning needs to begin with the SELF. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2010.

The understanding of geographical concepts and the development of skills requires the use of appropriate teaching strategies. Modern school geography incorporates a wealth of techniques and embraces a wide range of strategies which are directly suited to achieve the aims which are central to current geographical education. Techniques which directly involve the learner are perceived to be the most valuable. Of the many participatory strategies suited to the teaching of geography, fieldwork is accepted as the most worthwhile. This study investigates student teachers' perceptions of fieldwork in their college studies and as a teaching strategy. Extensive literature on fieldwork in geographical education was analysed. A survey was conducted to assess the student teachers' fieldwork experiences. The results reveal that fieldwork is neglected in Transkeian schools and Colleges of Education, despite the fact that it is required by school syllabuses, and the fact that in many areas suitable sites are readily accessible. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations made for the inclusion of fieldwork in geography courses at Transkei Colleges of Education.

Distance education, and therefore the writing of distance materials, is a growing field in South Africa. This makes it potentially a site of innovation and change as writers experiment with ways of creating effective teaching situations at long range. The Fort Hare Distance Education Project materials seem to be a response to both the increased need for teacher upgrade programmes and the need for innovation to tailor those programmes to the needs of local teachers in a changing society. This innovative attempt to communicate with tertiary distance students has unusual features which suggest that they are worth investigation. Using discourse analysis, including the work of Scollon and Scollon on politeness theory, and an analysis of visual elements using categories developed by Kress and van Leeuwen, this study focuses on 18 pages of a sample text, booklet 9, “A Whole Language Approach,” to investigate how the writer-reader relationship and the identity of the reader are constructed. The analysis reveals a complex, interlocking construction of identity and relationship, producing and resolving apparent contradictions as writers move from one position to another while they negotiate their ongoing and evolving relationship with the readers. Features of identity and relationship operating through the text include issues of authority, changing roles of teachers and learners, trust, what constitutes appropriate language and materials, acknowledging prior learning in under-qualified professionals, ownership of the text, hierarchy and egalitarianism, and stereotyping. The study suggests that the Fort Hare Distance Project materials offer an example of strategies suited to local students which should benefit those who design such courses. It further suggests that visual analysis together with discourse analysis provides insights which seem not to be accessible through a study of the verbal text, and that an analysis of visual elements may widen a researcher’s options. It reveals ways in which writers can negotiate conflicting positions and consciously or unconsciously attempt to resolve contradictions and ambivalence. It suggests issues which need to be negotiated in any text written in South Africa for a similar audience.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / The government has the mandate not only to provide but also to plan, control and assess the development of education for the enrichment of the entire country and all its people. This is implemented by the District Office. For this implementation to succeed the teachers must show their cortunitment in schools. Ministry of Education (2000:104) asserts that assuring quality of the education system is the overriding goal in education which must be attained by teachers. Teachers can only achieve this important goal by knowing and practising their responsibilities as educators. This practice may ultimately lead to their being more committed. Ngobeni (1996:2) indicated that taking responsibility for their profession, teachers must be aware of the depth of the commitment they have made in choosing teaching as a career. The public education system has introduced many educational policies with the aim of improving quality "in education. Some of the priority needs identified by the government were the implementation of Teacher Developmental Appraisal System, Outcome Based Education and the Whole School Evaluation (Department of Education, 2001: 9). It is therefore important that the District Office delivers and support teachers through workshops and seminars to be equipped with the variety of skills for implementing these policies.