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.

Improving learner achievement and performance remains a global challenge for many governments, especially in developing countries. Countries spend a sizeable percentage of their national budgets on education with the hope to achieve desired learner outcomes. In South Africa, legislation has made provision for companies to contribute 1% of their net profit towards social development, including education. It is within this background, that the Epoch and Optima Trusts invested significant sums of money to improve the quality of maths results in secondary schools. The study investigates school level activities to ascertain whether and to what extent these may be implicated in improved teaching practices leading to improved performance. We interrogate the assumption commonly stated in the school effectiveness literature that teaching practices in schools are stimulated and facilitated by activities occurring at that school level. The literature is inclined to the view that whatever happens in classrooms is influenced by school level instructional leadership practices, professional development of teachers and the maintenance of internal accountability measures. We preferred to make use of case study research method in order to explore teacher practices in schools because the purpose is to understand behavioural detail and impact mechanisms. A matched pairs sampling technique was used to select four schools from a population of 78 public schools which were continually supported by the Trusts over a period of two years. One pair was classified as former Model C schools (one high performing and one low performing), while the other pair consisted of two former Department of Education and Training schools (one high performing and one low performing). This design reduces the socio-economic and cultural differences between the two schools in each pair. A framework was derived from the literature to guide the collection and analysis of data. The framework commences with the three categories of school level practices, disaggregated into eight specific activities. A set of indicators was then formulated to assess the degree to which each of the specific practices was present in schools. Collective responses of four interviewees at each school were rated and triangulated during this process. Given the nature and the size of the sample, we cannot generalise on the basis of four case studies. However, the value of this report is that we have developed:  a scheme for describing and analysing school-level practices that may facilitate and optimise teaching and learning, and  a set of hypotheses for accounting for improved school performance. In conclusion, we inferred that schools that institutionalised some practices and systems as identified were able to increase and maintain the number of quality passes in mathematics and as such, meeting the objectives of the donors. The factors which appear to hold the most potential for optimising performance in the two high SES former Model C schools are collegial practices on curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. In the two low SES former DET schools performance advantage seems to be enhanced by the systematic use of assessment data and by an increased sense of intrinsic motivation on the part of teachers.

Thesis (MPH.) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Background: Bullying has been reported to be on the rise in the world. South Africa is no exception. In recent years bullying has been reported to impact severely, resulting in resignations by teachers from the teaching profession. The researcher looked at the school as the workplace for teachers who experienced bullying. The study was about occupational health and safety for teachers, which is an important public health issue. The employer is obliged to create a conducive workplace for teachers as employees working at schools. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to explore and describe high school teachers’ lived experiences of bullying by learners in Limpopo Province. Methods: The qualitative and descriptive phenomenological method was followed. Due to data saturation, ten teachers participated after being selected through purposive sampling from seven high schools. Research ethics were observed. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews using an interview guide. Interviews were audio-taped and field notes were taken. Voice recordings were transcribed verbatim and analysed using open coding thematic analysis. Findings were confirmed by an independent coder. Results: The findings reveal that bullying is not a new phenomenon in schools in South Africa and globally. Most teachers perceive bullying differently. Some perceive acts of violence amongst learners as bullying. Some interpret noise in the classrooms as bullying, some view overcrowding in the classrooms contributing to bullying. Some perceive substances and drug abuse as causing bullying in schools. Most teachers experience feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness. They are sad, and feel small, embarrassed, intimidated, angry, disappointed etc. Some lack support from school management and governance, and others experience different forms of bullying. Some refrain from their style of teaching as it impacted on their teaching duties. The findings furthermore indicate that bullying affects both males and females but differently. Female teachers were more prone to bullying than male teachers. Conclusion: The outcomes of the study have revealed that bullying is a reality. Teachers are being targeted by learners at schools. They seemed not to understand policies and procedures to intervene when addressing bullying at schools. Interventions were not effective due to lack of knowledge and poor policy implementation. Bullying is not a new concept in the Department of Education. Unions, SGBs and SACE are aware of incidents that happen in schools. The Department of Education should ensure that teachers are protected when rendering their teaching services in schools.

D. Tech. Education / It explores out-of-field teaching in northen KwaZulu-Natal and eastern Mpumalanga schools. It also looks at the impact out-of-field teaching has on teachers perceptions and experiences. The research attempts to determine the special needs that teachers require in order to serve in a different field.

This research seeks to understand what it means to be a teacher and the experiences that shape what teachers do in the context of a primary school. In asking the question, What’s a teacher anyway? I produced data of teachers’ daily practices and social realities within their lived experiences. Located within an interpretive paradigm, I documented various identities and meanings of teachers which helped me to understand how teachers negotiate the multiple forces within the setting of a primary school. The research looked at teachers in their social context, since teachers do not work in isolation but are subject to particular social influences. Using the participatory approach, I produced data of the lives of two experienced teachers who work in a primary school in the eThekweni region of KwaZulu-Natal. The participatory methodology was most appropriate to gather the necessary data, as it allowed for the teachers’ voices to be heard. Against the social, institutional, contextual and programmatic contexts, data were sourced by means of career life-history interviews and photovoice. Through narrative analysis, the teachers’ stories were reconstructed and represented as identity categories through which they were able to construct their professional selves and their professional work. The findings that were generated from the two experienced primary school teachers were analysed and represented under the key themes of professional self and professional work. The findings offer an understanding of how practising teachers manage their work and themselves against all the changes and challenges of the South African educational landscape specifically in the schooling situation. Through the reconstructed stories by the teachers, the study makes visible how teacher identity shapes teachers and their work in the school. The data reveals that teachers have multiple identities of who they are and how they respond from their position as teachers, which clash with what is expected of them in the school. The findings show that teachers are unhappy with the curriculum and political shifts, as these are imposed on them in an arbitrary manner. The study contributes to a nuanced understanding of the relationship between teacher identity and teacher work. The study revolves around the teacher who tries to build an interesting relationship between the identities of “mother”, “teacher” and “caregiver”. Being a teacher, innovative ways are created to manage the administrative work and the curriculum work. The iii second teacher, an Indian male, as a person and an activist, growing up in a poor community, negotiates between the forces to make sense of what it means to be a teacher in the present shift, given the diversity of pupils and the various issues that accompany it. The teachers are working in a social reality and have to manage a range of challenges, difficulties and struggles. They find creative ways to negotiate the multiple roles and responsibilities and make sense of what it means to be a teacher. Due to excessive administrative and curricular demands being made on them, teachers are found to be experiencing tension and undue stress in their work while negotiating the multiple forces that surround them in the context of the school. To answer my research question, What’s a teacher anyway, I considered how they moved beyond their conventional roles and responsibilities as teachers, and how they endeavoured to make meaning and sense of themselves as successful teachers within the four dimensions of Samuel’s (2008) framework. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2010.

The central position in this study is that the professional identities, and consequently the classroom practices, of mathematics teachers are continuously being shaped by their narratives of past and present experiences. The primary research question explores the narratives that shape the professional identities of seven mathematics teachers; and the secondary research question, how their narratives shape their professional identities. Furthermore, the potential implications of this study for the design and implementation of pre-service teacher education programmes and in-service teacher development initiatives are considered. This study is framed by Socioculturalism; a theoretical perspective of human thinking as social in origin and of learning as participation in social practices. Futhermore, in line with Situated Learning Theory, the key theoretical notions are: identity (or learning as becoming); community (or learning as belonging); practice (or learning as doing); and meaning (or learning as experience). Identity is construed here as a conceptual bridge between learning and its cultural settings; and also between the individual and the social. In this study, the identity-shaping narratives of seven mathematics teachers, all purposively sampled from schools in the Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown education districts of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, were accessed via a narrative inquiry; followed by a horizontal analysis to identify common patterns or recurring themes in the narratives of all seven participants; and, a vertical analysis of the narratives of four of the participants to determine how their narratives shape their professional identities. Recurring themes that emerged during the horizontal analysis include the influence of: family support; role models; changing work environments; continuous professional development; professional recognition; religion; and, micro-politics. The vertical analysis demonstrated how, through a process of interpreting the narratives and restorying them into a meaningful core narrative; it is possible to gain insights into how personal narratives shape a professional identity. This study highlights the importance of listening to the narratives of mathematics teachers; because their professional identities, and consequently their teaching practices, are continuously being shaped by their narratives. It is anticipated that this research will be of interest and benefit to researchers, policy-makers, and teachers; especially in the area of Mathematics Education, where both narrative inquiry as a research method and research into teachers’ professional identities are relatively new.

Mathematics and science form an integral part people’s daily lives. South African people suddenly find themselves on a technological highway, where mathematical, scientific and creative thinking as well as problem solving skills take centre stage. However many people fear these, and believe that they are unable to tackle them. Mathematics and science educators therefore have need to have knowledge and understanding regarding 6 the foundation of the teaching of these subjects in the intermediate and senior phases at schools. This should enable them to contribute positively towards changing people’s perceptions about these subjects. Based on the above information I felt it imperative for me to investigate the impact of shortages of maths and science educators with special reference to the Buffalo City Area. Purpose of the study: 1 To determine whether schools are able to attract and retain qualified maths and science educators, 2 To identify the quantity of quality maths and science learners schools are able to produce for tertiary education, 3 To investigate the rate of turnover of maths and science educators, 4 To identify the number of maths and science learners who are willing to study maths and science at tertiary level and thereafter join the teaching fraternity.

Abstracts in English, Xhosa and Zulu / The rationale behind this study was, to explore how unqualified natural science teachers in grade seven conduct practical work. Furthermore, the study explored an understanding of some of the experiences, beliefs and views of unqualified NS teachers. This was a qualitative study. Data was collected through classroom observations and semi-structured interviews. The three cases were interviewed and observed separately. This study was guided by main research question: How do unqualified grade seven natural science teachers facilitate practical work in the senior phase? Which was further unpacked into three sub-questions: How do unqualified NS teachers define practical work? What are the views, aims and objectives of unqualified NS teachers about practical work? How do unqualified NS teacher conduct practical work? The study revealed that in all three cases, practical work was conducted consecutively as poorly, outstandingly, and excellently. Moreover, an intensive professional pedagogical development is recommended for natural science teachers. / Isizathu emva kwesi sifundo sasiyihlolisise indlela abafundisi bezesayensi bezendalo abangafanelekanga ngayo kwiibakala ezisixhenxe ezenza umsebenzi osebenzayo. Ngaphezulu, uphando luhlolisise ukuqonda kwamanye amava, iinkolelo kunye neembono zabafundisi be-NS abangafanelekanga. Oku kwakufundwe ukufaneleka. Idatha yaqokelelwa kumagumbi okufundela kunye noonononongo olulungelelanisiweyo. Amatyala amathathu axoxwa ngumbutho kwaye athathwa ngokwahlukileyo. Olu pho nonongo lukhokelwa ngumbuzo ophambili wokuphanda: Ootitshala abangabalulekanga bakala be-sayensi bendalo abasixhenxe banceda njani umsebenzi osebenzayo kwisigaba esiphakamileyo? Yiyiphi enye eyayixhaswa kwimibandela engaphantsi kwemibuzo emithathu: Ootitshala abangenasigxina be-NS bachaza njani umsebenzi osebenzayo? Ziziphi iimbono, iinjongo kunye neenjongo zabafundisi be-NS abangafanelekanga malunga nomsebenzi osebenzayo? Umfundisi ongenagunyaziwe we-NS uqhuba njani umsebenzi osebenzayo? Uphononongo lubonakalise ukuba kuzo zonke iimeko ezintathu, umsebenzi osebenzayo wenziwa ngokulandelelanayo, ngokugqithiseleyo, nangokugqwesileyo. Ngaphezu koko, uphuhliso olunzulu lwezobugcisa lunconywa kubafundisi bezesayensi zendalo. / Isizathu esilandelayo kulolu cwaningo kwakuwukuhlolisisa ukuthi othisha bezesayensi engokwemvelo abangafaneleki yini ebangeni lesi-7 ukuqhuba umsebenzi osebenzayo. Ngaphezu kwalokho, lolu cwaningo luhlolisise ukuqonda okunye okuhlangenwe nakho, izinkolelo nokubukwa kwabafundisi be-NS abangafaneleki. Lokhu kwakuyi-study qualitative. Idatha yaqoqwa ngokusebenzisa ukuhlolwa kwamakilasi kanye nezingxoxo ezihleliwe. Amacala amathathu axoxwa futhi ahlonishwa ngokwehlukana. Lesi sifundo sasiqondiswa umbuzo oyinhloko wocwaningo: Abafundisi abangayifaneleki bangabafundi abayisikhombisa besayensi yemvelo benza kanjani umsebenzi osebenzayo esigabeni esiphakeme? Yikuphi okwakungeniswa phakathi kwemibuzo emithathu engaphansi: Abafundisi abangaqiniseki NS bachaza kanjani umsebenzi osebenzayo? Yiziphi imibono, izinhloso kanye nezinhloso ze-NS abangaqeqeshiwe mayelana nomsebenzi osebenzayo? Ngabe uthisha we-NS ongagunyaziwe uqhuba kanjani umsebenzi osebenzayo? Ucwaningo luveze ukuthi kuzo zonke izimo ezintathu, umsebenzi osebenzayo wenziwa ngokulandelana, ngokungafani, nangokugqamile. Ngaphezu kwalokho, ukuthuthukiswa okujulile kwezobuchwepheshe kunconywa othisha bezesayensi yemvelo. / Science and Technology Education / M. Ed. (Natural Sciences)

The exploratory study sought to elicit and document mathematics teachers‟ views on how they enacted the process of transition between contexts and mathematics. The study pursued to understand teachers‟ beliefs and knowledge of mathematics. A mixed methods sequential explanatory research design was employed where a quantitative phase was followed by the connecting phase and concluded through a qualitative phase involving three case studies. A purposive sample of 165 practicing teachers who had registered for a professional advancement developmental course at a university participated in the study by voluntarily completing a survey questionnaire. From this sample, three cases of individual teachers were pursued. The first two cases involved conducting in-depth interviews with the teacher who had rated sentences in the questionnaire differently while the last case involved the recording of an interview of one individual using field notes. The questionnaire sought teachers‟ biographical details (section A), their views on contexts and mathematics (section B) and their rating of sentences in a passage with regard to the mathematics embedded in the sentences (section C). Semi-structured interviews were conducted in the qualitative phase to elicit in-depth views of the teachers‟ regarding the research problem. All the instruments were tested for validity and reliability. Quantitative data gathered was analysed using frequencies, percentages, cross tabulations, bar charts and pie charts as well as the calculation of Pearson chi-square tests (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2011). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to collate teachers‟ views from which themes were drawn and related to make inferences. It was found that teachers‟ positive views about contexts and mathematics did not translate into them recognising mathematics in some mathematics potent contexts as captured in their ratings in section C of the questionnaire. Statistically significant associations were recorded to support this. The study also conceptualised a mathematical participation model (MP-model) as a tool to describe and analyse participation that involves the use of real world data in the teaching and learning of mathematics. The MP-model involves four components, viz. the community of practice (CoP), real world data, mathematics and a model in which members of the CoP tap into the real world data and mathematics to model their participation. The study recommends the MP-model as tool for description and enactment of full mathematical participation. / Mathematical Sciences / D.Litt.et. Phil. (Mathematics Education)

A dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Technology: Information Technology, Durban University of Technology, 2011. / This study examines the perceived effect of the following factors on web searching ability of academic staff in the computing discipline: demographic attributes such as gender, age group, position held by the academic staff, highest qualification, etc; lecturing experience, research experience, English language proficiency, and web searching experience. The research objectives are achieved using a Likert-scale based questionnaire for 61 academic staff from Information Technology and Computer Science departments from four Universities from the Kwazulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. Descriptive and inferential statistics were computed for data analysis from the questionnaire after performing data reliability and validity tests using factor analysis and Cronbach‟s coefficients methods on the PASW Statistics 18.0 (SPSS). Descriptive statistics revealed a majority of staff from IT as compared to staff in CS and, a majority of under qualified middle age male staff in junior positions with considerable years of lecturing experience but with little research experience. Inferential statistics show an association between web searching ability and demographic attributes such as academic qualifications, positions, and years of research experience, and also reveal a relationship between web searching ability and lecturing experience, and between web searching ability and English language ability. However, the association between position, English language ability, and searching ability was found to be the strongest of all. The novelty finding by this study is the effect of lecturing experience on web searching ability which has not been claimed by existing research reviewed. Ideas for future research include mentoring of academic staff by more experienced staff, training of novice web searchers, designing and using semantic search systems both in English and in local languages, publishing more web content in local languages, and triangulating various research strategies for the analysis of the usability of web search engines.