The nurturing of critical thinking skills is one of the cornerstones of Outcomes Based Education (OBE). This study investigated to what extent teachers create classroom climates that nurture the development of critical thinking abilities. A literature study was undertaken to highlight the importance and nature of the development of critical thinking skills, and to establish the relationship between classroom climate and the development of critical thinking abilities. The use of teaching methods and strategies, learning activities, questioning techniques, the role of the teacher and the role of the learner during teaching and learning in the classroom were explored. The literature review provided the conceptual framework for the study, as well as the framework for designing a questionnaire that was utilized to obtain the perceptions of teachers and learners regarding the opportunities provided by teachers for the development of critical thinking abilities in the classroom. By means of quantitative, non-experimental descriptive survey research, a self-constructed questionnaire was administrated to a convenient sample of a purposively selected group of Grade 9 and Grade 11 teachers (n=241) and learners (n=403) in the Sedibeng West District of the Gauteng Department of Education. The triangulation of learner and teacher data revealed differences and similarities in opinion related to the classroom climates that teachers create for nurturing critical thinking. In essence, the data revealed that teachers are, to some extent, creating classroom climates that nurture critical thinking through their choice of teaching methods and strategies, questioning techniques and the learning activities that they choose. However, the responses did not convincingly indicate to the researcher that the nurturing of critical thinking skills takes place on a regular and frequent basis. According to the learner responses, it appeared that teaching and learning methods and strategies that promote interactive learning, are underutilized by the teachers. This study is concluded with recommendations to teachers on how to create classroom climates that promote the development of critical thinking skills. Key words: cognition, cognitive development, critical thinking, classroom climate, teaching methods and strategies, learning activities, questioning techniques. / M.Ed., North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010

The nurturing of critical thinking skills is one of the cornerstones of Outcomes Based Education (OBE). This study investigated to what extent teachers create classroom climates that nurture the development of critical thinking abilities. A literature study was undertaken to highlight the importance and nature of the development of critical thinking skills, and to establish the relationship between classroom climate and the development of critical thinking abilities. The use of teaching methods and strategies, learning activities, questioning techniques, the role of the teacher and the role of the learner during teaching and learning in the classroom were explored. The literature review provided the conceptual framework for the study, as well as the framework for designing a questionnaire that was utilized to obtain the perceptions of teachers and learners regarding the opportunities provided by teachers for the development of critical thinking abilities in the classroom. By means of quantitative, non-experimental descriptive survey research, a self-constructed questionnaire was administrated to a convenient sample of a purposively selected group of Grade 9 and Grade 11 teachers (n=241) and learners (n=403) in the Sedibeng West District of the Gauteng Department of Education. The triangulation of learner and teacher data revealed differences and similarities in opinion related to the classroom climates that teachers create for nurturing critical thinking. In essence, the data revealed that teachers are, to some extent, creating classroom climates that nurture critical thinking through their choice of teaching methods and strategies, questioning techniques and the learning activities that they choose. However, the responses did not convincingly indicate to the researcher that the nurturing of critical thinking skills takes place on a regular and frequent basis. According to the learner responses, it appeared that teaching and learning methods and strategies that promote interactive learning, are underutilized by the teachers. This study is concluded with recommendations to teachers on how to create classroom climates that promote the development of critical thinking skills. Key words: cognition, cognitive development, critical thinking, classroom climate, teaching methods and strategies, learning activities, questioning techniques. / M.Ed., North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010

The nurturing of creative thinking skills is one of the cornerstones of Outcomes-Based Education (OBE). This study investigated to what extent teachers nurture the development of creative thinking through the choice of teaching methods, which include the application of teaching strategies and the utilization of resources, in the Grade 9 Social Sciences classroom. A literature study was undertaken to highlight the importance and nature of the development of creative thinking skills, and to establish which teaching methods, strategies and resources nurture the development of creative thinking in Social Sciences classrooms. The literature review provided the conceptual framework for the study, as well as the framework for designing a questionnaire that was utilized to obtain the perceptions of learners regarding the teaching methods, strategies and resources that their teachers use to nurture the development of creative thinking in the Grade 9 Social Sciences classroom. By means of a sequential explanatory mixed method research design, quantitative data were collected by means of a self-constructed questionnaire that was administrated to a convenient sample of a purposively selected group of Grade 9 Social Sciences learners (n=399) in the D7 district of the Gauteng Department of Education. Following this, a qualitative interview, which was constructed from the findings in the questionnaire, was conducted with purposively selected Grade 9 Social Sciences teachers (n=6) in order to ascertain the reasons behind the quantitative findings. The combination of quantitative and qualitative data revealed differences and similarities in opinion related to the teaching methods, strategies and resources that teachers use for nurturing creative thinking. In essence, the data revealed that teachers are, to some extent, nurturing creative thinking through their choice of teaching methods and strategies as well as the questioning techniques that they choose. However, the responses did not convincingly indicate to the researcher that the nurturing of creative thinking skills takes place on a regular and frequent basis. According to the learner responses, it appeared that teaching and learning methods and strategies that promote indirect, independent, interactive and experiential learning, are under-used by the Grade 9 Social Sciences teachers. In addition, resources that nurture creative elaboration such as political cartoons and photographs appear to be under-utilized. This study is concluded with recommendations to teachers concerning which teaching methods, strategies and resources could be implemented in order to promote the nurturing of creative thinking in the Grade 9 Social Sciences classroom. / Thesis (MEd (Learning and Teaching))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

The nurturing of creative thinking skills is one of the cornerstones of Outcomes-Based Education (OBE). This study investigated to what extent teachers nurture the development of creative thinking through the choice of teaching methods, which include the application of teaching strategies and the utilization of resources, in the Grade 9 Social Sciences classroom. A literature study was undertaken to highlight the importance and nature of the development of creative thinking skills, and to establish which teaching methods, strategies and resources nurture the development of creative thinking in Social Sciences classrooms. The literature review provided the conceptual framework for the study, as well as the framework for designing a questionnaire that was utilized to obtain the perceptions of learners regarding the teaching methods, strategies and resources that their teachers use to nurture the development of creative thinking in the Grade 9 Social Sciences classroom. By means of a sequential explanatory mixed method research design, quantitative data were collected by means of a self-constructed questionnaire that was administrated to a convenient sample of a purposively selected group of Grade 9 Social Sciences learners (n=399) in the D7 district of the Gauteng Department of Education. Following this, a qualitative interview, which was constructed from the findings in the questionnaire, was conducted with purposively selected Grade 9 Social Sciences teachers (n=6) in order to ascertain the reasons behind the quantitative findings. The combination of quantitative and qualitative data revealed differences and similarities in opinion related to the teaching methods, strategies and resources that teachers use for nurturing creative thinking. In essence, the data revealed that teachers are, to some extent, nurturing creative thinking through their choice of teaching methods and strategies as well as the questioning techniques that they choose. However, the responses did not convincingly indicate to the researcher that the nurturing of creative thinking skills takes place on a regular and frequent basis. According to the learner responses, it appeared that teaching and learning methods and strategies that promote indirect, independent, interactive and experiential learning, are under-used by the Grade 9 Social Sciences teachers. In addition, resources that nurture creative elaboration such as political cartoons and photographs appear to be under-utilized. This study is concluded with recommendations to teachers concerning which teaching methods, strategies and resources could be implemented in order to promote the nurturing of creative thinking in the Grade 9 Social Sciences classroom. / Thesis (MEd (Learning and Teaching))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

The thesis reacts on the contemporary schooling when there is the need of differentiation and individualisation of teaching in heterogeneous classrooms. However, the teachers are not prepared enough to differentiate and there is only a minimum of relevant literature and methodological support. The main aim of the thesis is to summarise the latest findings in this field, to detect possible strategies of differentiation and individualisation at the lower primary school and to design feasible steps for the teachers to follow. In the theoretical part there are summarised already familiar findings from the external literature. In the empirical part I am focusing on the differentiation methods of two sample teachers, who are important models for the students - future teachers. The methods used predominantly in the research are the in-depth interviews with the teachers and an analysis of a recording of observed lessons.

The thesis focuses on differentiation, which is currently a highly discussed topic in connection with inclusive education. Teachers are expected to adjust their way of teaching to the individual needs of students in heterogeneous classrooms. The aim of this thesis is to examine various differentiation strategies and methods, which teachers could use and moreover, to discover whether the methods are being applied to education scheme in a private primary school and if so, then in what ways. The theoretical part introduces the terms differentiation and individualisation and in addition, explores teaching strategies and methods supporting differentiation together with allowing for the individual students' needs. The empirical study investigates the use of differentiation strategies among private primary school teachers. Qualitative research is based on in-depth interviews with teachers, which were conducted right before and after detailed in class-observation of their teaching. The research discovered that out of various differentiation strategies and methods, which were introduced in the theoretical part, the majority of observed classes were focusing on group work and critical thinking. It was clear that in practice, the internal differentiation prevailed over the external one together with working...

TITLE: CLIL Implementation Into Primary School Teaching AUTHOR: PhDr. Petra Vallin DEPARTMENT: Department of Primary School Education, Faculty of Education, Charles University SUPERVISOR: Prof. PhDr. Vladimíra Spilková, CSc. ABSTRACT: This thesis deals with the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) which the European Union finds as a useful tool for teaching foreign languages in the 21st century. The objective of the theoretical part is to clarify the concept of CLIL and compare different interpretations and models which appears in school practice. We also focus on meta-analysis of research studies that have been undertaken in this area since 2005. The theoretical part provides insight into the history of CLIL in selected European countries including the Czech Republic. The first part concludes with a chapter on theoretical concepts which CLIL refers to and which are essential for implementation of CLIL. The aim of the empirical part is to implement CLIL into primary school teaching and describe what changes this innovation brings into practice. The empirical part is based on action research methodology which enable our active participation in the project of CLIL implementation. The main findings concerns the changes of the communication in the CLIL classroom. The results also shows that CLIL...