University of Macau / Faculty of Education

Not available / text

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Education

The purpose of this study was to establish current difficulties experienced by grade 10 mathematics educators after the implementation of the new curriculum in grade 9 (Senior Phase). Qualitative approach, using questionnaires' as a research tool was employed. The study was conducted from twenty grade 10-mathematics educators in a variety of schools. The questions were based on the current difficulties that educators were experiencing in grade 10 after the new curriculum was implemented in grade 9 in 2002. The research study was undertaken in different schools with different backgrounds in one District; UMgungundlovu of the Kwazulu - Natal Department of Education. These educators were from schools with the following backgrounds: • Rural schools • Township schools • Former White schools • Former Indians/ Coloureds schools The findings of the study are presented and these are interpreted and discussed under two categories: these being the kinds of difficulties enunciated by grade 10 mathematics educators and the researcher's comments on the findings. The Key Findings of this research study are the following: Grade 10 Mathematics educators complained that they have problems in teaching mathematics in grade 10 learners because: • Methods used in grade 9 are totally different from those they are using in grade 10. • There is no linkage between grade 9 and grade 10-mathematics syllabus. • Educators' lack training and teaching in outcomes - based approaches. • The new curriculum does not prepare learners to do pure mathematics in grade 10. • Learners cannot even work independently, only rely on the constant guidance from the educators and other members of the group. • Learners find it difficult doing individual work and completing homework and other class work. • Many learners drop out in mathematics classes and others even become worst in mathematics. The examinations or assessment (eTAs) which is an exit point from grade 9 to grade 10 have no value for the type of mathematics that is done in grade 10. • Textbooks used in grade 9 have lots of activities and lots and lots of stories and less mathematics. • Textbooks used in grades 8 and 9 are of poor quality and exercises are of pathetic quality. • Educators in grade 10 have to teach grades 8 and 9 work because it was not taught. • No clear focus on content part in grade 9, which form the basics of grade 10 mathematics. • The new curriculum in grade 9 gives emphasis to very few topics. • The level of mathematics that learners are exposed to, in grade 9 is far lower than the one they encounter in grade 10. • No support from parents in terms of doing homework. Finally, the recommendations are made for addressing the difficulties that are experienced by these educators as well as suggestions for further study. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Kwazulu-Natal, 2005.

This study strove to establish how science teacher educators (lecturers) at three universities in a province in South Africa responded to curriculum changes related to C2005 and higher education. The following critical question is posed: How have science teacher educators in PRESET education responded to curriculum changes proposed for the Natural Sciences Learning Area of Curriculum 2005, the Norms and Standards of Educators, and modularization in the Higher Education curriculum? The framing of the study from 1996 to 2002 relates to the introduction of C2005 in schools in 1997 which coincided with curriculum changes in higher education prescribed by the NQF. The curriculum change process has to be seen in the context of developments during and after the demise of apartheid in South Africa. Responses of science teacher educators to post-apartheid educational policy developments driven by the NQF form the basis of this research. The production of data for the study occurred during 2001 and 2002. It involved an interpretive cross-case study of 11 science teacher educators' responses to the curriculum change process. The science teacher educators were selected from three universities in a province in South Africa. They had to be involved with preparation of student science teachers during PRESET for the Natural Sciences Learning Area of C2005. Data was obtained through a semi-structured interview schedule and an observation schedule. A document analysis was also conducted in the study. Qualitative data were first analysed qualitatively and represented at three leve ls of analysis. Stories of curriculum change experienced by three individuals were also presented as a second level of analysis. The theoretical frame that informed the methodology and analysis was developed in the context of a pre- and post-apartheid educational offering in South Africa. It operates in an interpretive and critical paradigm of research that includes change theories and other theories that can be used to account for ways in which science teacher educators have changed in response to C2005 and the NQF. These theories work together. Among them are those classified as Traditional Change, Adaptive Change and Advanced Change. Other theories such as theories in action and a theory of academic change were also used as a means to understand change in academic and other settings. Constructivism as a learning theory was included in the theoretical frame since science teacher educators are expected to use the theory as a rationale for the new curriculum. It is therefore an essential component of the theoretical frame in interpreting such change. Also significant is the role of situated cognition in enabling professional learn ing communities to make meaning of curriculum change and to act accordingly. Argyris' theory of organizational learning, the Concerns-Based Adoption Model, Complexity Theory and Systemic Reform also contribute to the development of the theoretical frame used to contextualize and interpret the data. The data analysis showed that the science teacher educators had made a more concerted effort to incorporated changes related to C200S into their curriculum materials and their actual teaching than the NQF's bureaucratic exercise related to modularization and the NSE. They were better able to account for their actions in terms of C200S than for modularization. This had occurred despite them not being bureaucratically accountable to the schools. The role of the new school curriculum as a major influence on change among the science teacher educators goes beyond the complexity associated with the change process. The influence of personal factors related to a moral response to school change (C2005) resulted in the science teacher educators making changes that were major and vastly different from their responses to the NQF's bureaucratically driven higher education changes. The responses of the science teacher educators to curriculum change shows that professional accountability does not flourish under bureaucratic control as displayed by demands of the NQF for modularization. The changes made by the science teacher educators was also vastly different from the responses of practising teachers to C200S. They made a concerted effort to change and there was no evidence of implementation failure compared to the practising teachers in terms of C2005. My research outcomes, therefore, have contradicted the standard findings of School Improvement research which alludes to the difficulties associated with teacher change, and the needs for long term systemic approaches related to large scale reform - where institutional management, external support, internal support, rewards and punishments work together. In the three universities in my study, such arrangements were loose couplings at best. But feelings of professional and moral responsibility in the direction of school-related change (C200S) were high for individuals and groups. Personal, social and professional interests were more obvious drivers of change than institutional interests and career interests. On the basis of the above, my research has suggested the following which serve as a positive contribution to theory pertaining to curriculum change: Much change theory developed in the context of schools does not apply to Teacher Education, because professionalism and education are primary concerns for science teacher educators: they chose to do their job well. Accountability is not only - or even mainly - about the institution and institutional monitoring systems. It is about professionalism and relationships within institutions and outside them. In this case, the responsibility the science teacher educators felt to schools, science teachers and their communities were much more powerful influences than responsibilities they felt to the reforms indicated in modularization and NSE. The professional imperative is not bureaucratically controlled. It flourishes in the absence of pressures related to forced compliance. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

This study explores Foundation Phase (FP) teachers’ experiences of the implementation of the Foundations for Learning (FFL) (South Africa Government Gazette, No 30990 2008) in the Literacy Learning Programme (LLP) (2008). FFL is the new curriculum policy for FP that consists of Numeracy and Literacy Learning programmes. This policy was introduced to address the challenges teachers had with the previous curriculum policy, Outcome-Based Education (OBE) and the National Curriculum Statement (NCS). The aim of this study is to find out how FP teachers experience the implementation of the FFL. This is a qualitative study located within the interpretive paradigm. Informants were purposively selected from two primary schools located in a rural and a township area in KwaZulu-Natal. Eight FP teachers teaching grades R-3 participated in two focus group interviews. To generate data from these informants, semi-structured interviews, observations and documentary analyses were used as instruments. Findings reveal that teachers had to make changes to their teaching approach as a result of the implementation of the FFL and they experienced feelings of being swamped by all the changes that seemed to be too much to understand. Teachers reported difficulties in understanding and accepting new processes, procedures and expectations associated with educational changes. It is clear that it is impossible to successfully implement change in an education system if serious investments are not made in the professional development of teachers (Hargreaves, 2003). Without sufficient, training, guidance and mentoring in the implementation of the FFL in the LLP, teachers feel de-motivated and anxious as they do not understand the FFL document and thus feel threatened by the way they taught in the past. Teachers fail to understand the requirements set out in the FFL document because the prescriptions are too vague. The study recommends a closer relationship with the Department of Education (DoE) for guidance, regular monitoring, mentoring, workshops and training to be conducted by the DoE. In addition, experienced and perhaps competent FP educators, lecturers and non-governmental organizations, e.g. Read Educational Trust could assist in the implementing strategies to ensure effective implementation of the FFL campaign in the LLP. The implications of the findings from this research should be useful to educators, curriculum development specialists, textbook writers and teacher trainers to gain a better understanding of the needs, understandings, challenges and opportunities teachers experience in the implementation of the FFL in the LLP. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2011.

The introduction of the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) provided both opportunities and challenges to schools. As teaching and learning has continued to evolve and develop in accordance with new research, technological innovations and changing school populations so too has curriculum. The curriculum was designed to initiate a transformation in values, principles, and key competencies that are needed for learners to successfully participate in schooling and society. The New Zealand government introduced a new curriculum in 2007 with the intention of it being implemented into schools by 2010. The content of curriculum was guided by pedagogical understandings supported by research. This included an emphasis on schools having ownership of their curriculum. The 2007 curriculum also had a larger focus on educating the whole child not just on learning objectives. This research investigates how three schools have undertaken the implementation of the New Zealand Curriculum (2007), and the effects this implementation has had on teaching and learning. Using semi-structured interviews, the descriptive narratives of each teacher’s and school’s experience and understanding has been explored. The results indicated that the participating schools are embracing the new curriculum and that changes made due to professional development, teacher collaboration and curriculum implementation are directly affecting learning for children in a positive way.

South Africa has undergone many changes in the past decade in terms of political, economic and educational transformations. The year 1994 was the turning point in which our education system underwent a major paradigm shift. The sands have been shifting in education ever since, beginning with the National Curriculum Statement, then the introduction of OBE and Curriculum 2005 and the most recent, CAPS. The question that intrigued me about curriculum change was how educators experienced these changes. This study therefore explored how educators experienced curriculum change in South Africa, particularly how they experienced the new Life Skills curriculum in the Foundation Phase. The following research questions were addressed in this study: 1) What are grade one educators’ experiences of the new CAPS Life Skills curriculum? 2) Why do educators experience the new curriculum the way they do? A qualitative research approach was used, making use of a case study design. Participants were purposely selected using non-probability sampling. Semi-structured interviews and diaries were used as data collection methods. The data from this study revealed that educators experienced challenges in terms of the content, planning and preparation, assessment and dealing with contextual factors in the classroom. It was also found that educators experienced a lack of training and support in implementing the new Life Skills curriculum. A positive experience was that educators enjoyed teaching Life Skills. It was also found that educators welcomed and embraced curriculum change. / M. Ed. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.