In the majority of the schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, teaching and learning takes place in the second language, English, of both teachers and learners. The purpose of this research was to elicit the perceptions of teachers in multilingual mathematics classes about language issues that they encounter and to ascertain whether they could experientially learn the theory of dialogic teaching through an intervention in order to introduce dialogue in practice in their classes. The effect of the intervention on teacher practices was qualitatively observed and the effect of the teacher practices on learner reasoning competence, numeracy competence and English language competence was quantitatively tested by using validated pre- and post-tests. The study follows a mixed method concurrent triangulation design with both quantitative and qualitative results. Two cohorts of students/teachers studying for qualifications at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University centres throughout the Eastern Cape expressed their opinions about language challenges and solutions through questionnaires, reflective writing and poetry. A cohort of BEd Honours (Mathematics and Science) students experienced a semester long intervention on the theory and practice of dialogic teaching, particularly exploratory talk, and were tasked to introduce the practice into their multilingual mathematics classes in the form of reported action research. The next phase of the study focussed on the practices of three teachers and their grade seven multilingual mathematics learners who were observed and tested over a period of nine months. The following year the observations and testing were repeated with one teacher and his grade seven learners to ascertain whether the intervention would result in similar findings. iv The results enhance the validity of the Vygotskian claim concerning the relationship between language use, social interaction and reasoning development. In classes where there was evidence of dialogic practices the learners collaborated in groups using code-switching and their main language. Their reasoning, numeracy and English skills test scores improved statistically significantly. Teachers were able to give voice to their deep-felt emotions through poetry. They felt that the devaluing of isiXhosa had resulted in the loss of learners’ main language literacy competencies and consequent loss of cultural capital; however they considered it necessary to develop English competence in the learners, even if it was at the expense of developing mathematical competence. The introduction of exploratory talk in their home languages served the dual purpose of promoting the value of isiXhosa in an academic environment as well as enhancing mathematical reasoning. It appears that when teachers focus on developing language as a tool for reasoning, significant improvements in learners’ problem solving competences occur. When the language used is the main language of both teachers and learners both mathematical understanding and cultural identity are enhanced. The study concludes with a suggestion for a model for future interventions to train teachers to introduce dialogic practices in multilingual mathematics classes.

The primary objective of this study is to conduct an assessment of the effectiveness of skills development training programmes on the performance of educators, with specific reference to the case study of two selected schools in King Williams Town, Eastern Cape Province. This study is derived from the fact that in order for the government to provide efficient and effective service delivery to the population, the Public Service requires employees with requisite competency. There is a need for continuous improvement of capacity and skills development in the Public Service with the purpose of ensuring that employees who are recruited and retained in the Public Service have the requisite skills to perform their responsibilities. It is within such postulation that the main purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of skills development training programmes on the performance of Eastern Cape educators, so that improvement measures can be suggested. Two selected schools in King Williams Town district participated in the study and the detailed analysis of the findings imply that some of the on-the-job skills development training programmes that are used in the Eastern Cape Department of Education include coaching, counseling, job rotation, job enrichment, project work , mentoring, use of assistantship and committees or quality circles. Some interview participants construe that the strategies or measures that can be used to improve the implementation of skills development programmes for educators in the Eastern Cape Department of Education include commitment from school authorities, remunerate the learners, adopting support policies, possible promotion after training and investing more resources.

The Department of Education was tasked by Government and the Department of Labour to develop learning programmes which would provide skills to learners. The National Certificate Vocational (NCV) programmes were developed, which provided an alternative to completing a National Senior Certificate (NSC). The NC(V) programmes consist of seven subjects of which Mathematical Literacy is offered as a fundamental subject. The NC(V) programmes were officially implemented in 2007 using the FET College sector as a vehicle. FET College educators had to be skilled and re-skilled to teach the various new subjects. One of the new subjects at the time was Mathematical Literacy. Selected educators were provided with a short course to prepare themselves for the implementation of Mathematical Literacy. This study is aimed at investigating the pedagogical experiences of educators who were, and are still part, of the implementation of Mathematical Literacy in the FET College sector. A phenomenological approach was followed in order to capture the lived experiences of the educators. Three educators were selected from different FET colleges within the Eastern Cape Province. A qualitative research was done, making use of interviews. The research found that educators have divergent pedagogical experiences. They make use of different strategies to implement teaching and learning within their classrooms. Though there are good experiences, the research has managed to point out that there are some frustrations too. Recommendations are made with regard to teaching and learning strategies, as well as the emerging trends that surfaced during the research.

M. Ed. / The aim of this research study was to provide teachers and managers in the field of education with strategies for beginning to use cooperative learning or improving the current use of this important instructional tool. It will help teachers and managers to understand conceptually what cooperative learning is and what makes it work. Such understanding must precede practical experience using cooperative learning day in day out in classrooms. The need for this combination of conceptual knowledge and practical experience is what makes teaching the complex activity that is and why it takes many years to master. Cooperative learning and the management thereof by headmasters and heads of departments helps raise the achievement of all students, including those who are gifted or academically handicapped. Secondly, it helps teachers build positive relationships among students, which is the heart of creating a learning community that values diversity. Thirdly, it gives students the experience they need for healthy social, psychological and cognitive development. Cooperative learning's ability to work three fronts at the same time places it above all other instructional methods with cooperative learning, and the effective management thereof teachers become engineer who structure and facilitate team learning efforts rather than workers who simply pour knowledge into pupils work stations. The major findings are recommended in the field of education. Literature review indicated among other aspects that collaborate and competence were essential for school effectiveness.

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Bibliography: pages 78-90. / There is evidence that many primary school teachers of English Second Language (EL2) are inadequately equipped to teach reading comprehension skills. They test their pupils on literal, at the expense of inferential, reading skills. This investigation therefore sought to test the literal and inferential reading comprehension skills of a group of Afrikaans-speaking EL2 teacher trainees and to design a reading comprehension programme which would improve their thinking skills over a period of nine months. The students were also instructed in a programmed reading course (the SRA Reading Laboratory) to determine its efficacy in improving their thinking skills. A further objective was to establish whether a programmed reading course or the author's cognitive reading development programme benefitted high-status (proficient in English) more than low-status (less proficient) EL2 students and what effects the two different programmes would exert on their reading comprehension skills a year after formal instruction in reading comprehension ceased. It was found that specific sequences of the two different instructional programmes were associated with significant changes in the students' reading comprehension scores. It was also found that, while high-status students benefitted sooner from the author's cognitive reading comprehension programme, that approach was also ultimately beneficial for low-status students. It is suggested that cognitive reading development programmes be implemented at primary, secondary and tertiary institutions where language skills and levels of meaningful reading need to be raised.

Bibliography: p. 121-134. / The potential of teachers to educate for improved environments is powerful. It is urgent that this largely latent energy be translated into action in South Africa, where, despite significant political progress, the experience of the total environment for the majority of South Africans, is one of severe compromise. Environmental education for teachers is, therefore, considered to be an essential component of any strategy aimed at effecting environmental and societal reform in South Africa. Such education requires a clear conceptual basis if it is to be successfully applied in schools. Accordingly, a conceptual framework, informed by established theory in environmental education, and within a compatible paradigm of environmentalism, is developed. The framework is, however, primarily shaped by its contextual foundation in a South African environment of non-egalitarianism. International and local experience of environmental teacher education is evaluated against the demands of this conceptual approach. The opportunities and constraints of different types of implementation are examined, and it is concluded that to prescribe a strategy would be to contradict the fundamental aims of both environmental education and the present study. A process for the development of environmental teacher education is therefore designed and tested in lieu of a rigid formula for national imposition. This process is presented in the form of guidelines which promote a policy and procedure for introducing an environmental teacher education which represents the needs and strengths of local communities in South Africa. It is believed that unless such a strategy is pursued, the current and historic forces eroding people's learning and living environments throughout South Africa, will persist.

Research project submitted in partial fulfillment for the requirements of the Degree of Master of Educational Psychology at the University of Zululand, 2005 / Practice teaching is of paramount importance in the vocational training of student teachers. It is this immersion into the real world of school that prepares the student in making the transition from trainee to professional. The motivation for this study arose from the researcher's own experience of practice teaching as well as protracted contact with student teachers in a professional capacity. This research project attempted to explore and articulate an understanding of some of the experiences of student teachers following their final practice teaching session at a school before graduating. In order to garner a rich and nuanced perspective of these experiences, a phenomenological research methodology was utilized. Pertinent literature was reviewed in order to provide a content basis for further analysis and discussion. Five student teachers from the University of Fort Hare were interviewed. Their transcripts were individually analysed in order to extract themes. The following themes were identified: • A sense of it being mainly a positive experience • An awareness of the importance of relationships • An awareness of the cultural and contextual make-up of learners • A sense of ambivalence around sources of anxiety • A sense of ambivalence around the value of the journal • A learning experience The findings of the study revealed that all of the student teachers experienced practice teaching as being mainly a positive experience, although all the participants had experienced anxiety in some form around maintaining discipline. Practice teaching played an important part in their development as teachers by providing a context wherein they could merge theory and practice, find their own teaching and management styles as well as cope with the demands of multi-tasking that being in a classroom demands. The paramount role of the host teacher and the importance of positive relationships with all stakeholders was foregrounded - as was the importance of an awareness of the cultural and contextual make-up of learners. This study hopes to make a contribution towards the understanding of student teachers' experiences of practice teaching in South Africa. It is also hoped that through this study, further research in this field will be encouraged.

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The controversy around the inclusion of zero in the number system has been widely documented. Influential mathematicians in various ancient cultures did not accept zero as a number. The idea of the empty set was too abstract and they could not conceptualise division by zero. Surprisingly, understanding of the concept is still a matter of concern today. In spite of expansive reports on and recommendations for developing conceptualisation of the concept, learners and teachers still experience problems similar to those that ancient mathematicians struggled with. The study was initiated by an observation of Grade 7 learners' inability to solve the problems 4 × 0 and 0 ÷ 7 effectively or at all. I investigated why Grade 3 to 6 learners and mathematics teachers on a BEd (in-service) course and an accredited ACE course experience problems with the concept of zero. I was especially interested in the understanding of multiplication and division by zero. I investigated teachers' knowledge of zero's characteristics as a number, the history of zero and how they teach the concept, in order to support my assumptions. The data production process was performed over a period of two years. It involved a multi-case opportunity sample approach embedded in the empirical field that formed the backdrop of my involvement as mathematics education specialist in schools in the Western and Eastern Cape. The interpretative orientation of the study allowed me to conduct inquiries that served to confirm or challenge my assumptions and enabled me to construct generalisations that depict learners' and teachers' knowledge construction. The qualitative data analysis informed the presentation and discussion of the findings. The single most important message conveyed to readers of this study is that the value of zero as a number, its importance in the number system, its properties and its behaviour in calculations, should not be underrated. Teaching of this abstract concept requires competent teachers who are able to mediate understanding in the most effective and innovative manner. Professional development programmes should orchestrate this competence and curriculum developers and textbook authors should acknowledge the significance of learning and teaching the concept of zero.