<p>South Africa had a change in government and in education after the 1994 elections. A new curriculum was introduced and some of the underlying critical outcomes were to develop the learners to become critical thinkers. The methodology by which to teach these outcomes was not clear. An intervention programme, Philosophy for Children (P4C) is used in some countries across the world to promote thinking. Research across the world has shown that this programme has the ability to enhance the cognitive abilities of learners exposed to it. Stories for Thinking (SFT) is an intervention programme based on the principles of Philosophy for Children and was introduced in some schools in an Education District of the Western Cape. This study investigates the perceptions of Intermediate Phase educators about the implementation of Stories for Thinking in this Education District. Educators were asked their strengths and challenges of the approach, their way of using it and the support they received. A qualitative research method was used and data were gathered to answer the research questions by means of questionnaires and interviews. Research findings indicate that educators perceived that Stories for Thinking was able to enhance the reading ability of the learners, it showed a significant improvement in their confidence levels, and a positive change in their general behaviour. Language was seen as a barrier to learning, but the evidence indicates that the community of inquiry can be used as a tool to overcome some of the barriers. It seems as if educators valued the support from the project leaders. It is concluded that this kind of intervention programme is worth introducing as long as all the role-players play their part and the setting is conducive.</p>

The purpose of the present study was to use an alternate psychoeducational assessment method to examine learning potential of Indian students in an academic domain, specifically Algebra. The study examined six Indian adolescents early in their Year Seven Mathematics. For the purpose of this study, the students were classified as achievers or non-achievers based on Canadian Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) grade equivalent scores, and Grade 7 Mathematics marks on the First Report Card.<p> A cross-case analysis of verbal and nonverbal protocol data gathered from the six Indian achieving and non-achieving Grade Seven students, and reduced through use of a technique developed by Giorgi, yielded information regarding the subjects' internalization processes of algebraic concepts. Vygotsky's zone of proximal development methodology, which was employed in the study, permitted the researcher to investigate processes used by the students during learning, maintenance, and near and far transfer tasks. While verbal and nonverbal communication styles appeared to distinguish achieving from non-achieving students, those same traits did not seem to affect efficiency in problem solving as observed during the present study. Other characteristics such as language usage, questioning techniques, and risk taking were the traits which most clearly affected the students' problem solving skills.<p> During the present study, formal metacognitive data proved hard to collect. This may be attributed to the reluctance of some students to participate in the questioning, and to the difficulty other students experienced In understanding the questions. All students had difficulty at some stage of the study in generating a rule to explain how they had solved the problems.<p> The results of the present study indicated that there were qualitative differences in problem solving between subjects. Those qualitative differences did not follow a pattern of achievement versus non-achievement as delineated by CTBS scores and classroom evaluation in Mathematics. Zone proximal development methodology provided a process assessment which uncovered learning potential profiles that were masked by static standardized tests.

The purpose of the present study was to use an alternate psychoeducational assessment method to examine learning potential of Indian students in an academic domain, specifically Algebra. The study examined six Indian adolescents early in their Year Seven Mathematics. For the purpose of this study, the students were classified as achievers or non-achievers based on Canadian Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) grade equivalent scores, and Grade 7 Mathematics marks on the First Report Card.<p> A cross-case analysis of verbal and nonverbal protocol data gathered from the six Indian achieving and non-achieving Grade Seven students, and reduced through use of a technique developed by Giorgi, yielded information regarding the subjects' internalization processes of algebraic concepts. Vygotsky's zone of proximal development methodology, which was employed in the study, permitted the researcher to investigate processes used by the students during learning, maintenance, and near and far transfer tasks. While verbal and nonverbal communication styles appeared to distinguish achieving from non-achieving students, those same traits did not seem to affect efficiency in problem solving as observed during the present study. Other characteristics such as language usage, questioning techniques, and risk taking were the traits which most clearly affected the students' problem solving skills.<p> During the present study, formal metacognitive data proved hard to collect. This may be attributed to the reluctance of some students to participate in the questioning, and to the difficulty other students experienced In understanding the questions. All students had difficulty at some stage of the study in generating a rule to explain how they had solved the problems.<p> The results of the present study indicated that there were qualitative differences in problem solving between subjects. Those qualitative differences did not follow a pattern of achievement versus non-achievement as delineated by CTBS scores and classroom evaluation in Mathematics. Zone proximal development methodology provided a process assessment which uncovered learning potential profiles that were masked by static standardized tests.

Dagens samhälle är i stort förändrat och den mängd information som samhället utgörs av ställer stora krav av kunnighet på läs- och skrivförmåga. Läs- och skrivkunnighet handlar om att för att kunna fungera i samhället ska en individ ha förmåga att använda språk och text, att kunna tillgodose de behov och de personliga mål som finns, samt att utvecklas i enlighet med sina personliga förutsättningar. Det finns dock stora skiljelinjer mellan det muntliga och skrivna uttrycket som kan göra det hela än svårare för eleverna i skrivundervisningen. Studiens syfte är att undersöka om och i så fall vilka utmaningar några lärare i årskurs tre uppfattar att elever kan ställas inför i samband med att de utvecklar sitt skriftspråk samt vilka möjligheter som undervisningen kan erbjuda. Studien bygger på den kvalitativa metoden med intervjuer som datainsamling och har det sociokulturella perspektivet enligt Vygotskijs teori. Studien visar enligt lärarnas uppfattningar att undervisningen kan innehålla många bidragande positiva faktorer för att en elev ska bli motiverad till att skriva men det kan också vara en utmaning. En viktig och betydande förutsättning för att eleven ska kunna arbeta med sina skriftliga texter är den runtomliggande miljön. Lärarna uppfattar att elevernas intressen och erfarenheter kan tillvaratas. Eleven kan dock finna svårigheter att följa textstrukturens skriftliga regler. Genom undervisningen kan läraren åskådligöra för eleven skriftliga strategier för att medvetandegöra språkets struktur. Datorn kan skänka många möjligheter för eleverna, framförallt de med finmotoriska svårigheter. / Today´s society is basically changed and the amount of information that the society is constituted of sets big requirements on read- and typing ability. Literacy stands for that to function in the society we need the capacity to use the language and text, to be able to use individual needs and personal goals and to develop within the personal conditions. The verbal and written language is different in many ways that can make it a lot more difficult for the pupil in teaching of the written language. The aim with this study is to examine if and in that case which challenges teachers’ in third degree apprehension that pupils can meet when they develop their written language and which possibilities teaching can offer.   This study builds on the qualitative method with interviews as collection of data and has the sociocultural perspective according to Vygotskijs theory. According to the teachers apprehensions the study shows that teaching can contain many positive contributions for a pupil to be motivated to write but can also be challenging. The social context is an important and considerable condition for the pupil to be able to write. The pupils’ interests and their experiences can according to the teachers be used as teaching content. The pupil can however find difficulties to follow text structure. Throughout the teaching the teacher can illustrate written strategies towards the awareness of the written languages structure. The computer provides many possibilities for the pupils, above all the pupils with practical difficulties to write.

One of the main goals of the national curriculum is to encourage children’s personal opinion and support them in development of argumentation ability and communication skills. All this is very important for the children as members of the future society. The purpose of this essay is to investigate how primary school teachers estimate the meaning of the pupil’s argumentation as well as which methods and approaches are assumed by the teachers to be most appropriate for children’s argumentation development. The study also considers the questions how the teachers motivate their pupil has to argue in the classroom and how the students by themselves understand the concept of argumentation. The last important part of this investigation is related to the students' own argumentation in different school situations. In order to approach the main aim, one should formulate the following questions: How do the pedagogues reflect on the importance of the student’s argumentation? What methods and procedures of those that the teachers themselves use, do they consider being most beneficial both to motivate students for argumentation and to develop their ability to argue? How the pupils argue in some conversation situations during the lecture, after school recreation centre, and in the pupils’ council and what kind of knowledge do they have of concept of argumentation? To get a deeper understanding of my study I used the qualitative method as a general approach for data collection. The qualitative method is supplemented with a quantitative approach in form of a questionnaire survey. The study is based on interviews with the teachers and students separately, on observations and the questionnaire survey. There are in total five interviews with teachers from three different schools, grade P-3. The collected material is analyzed using Sociocultural Theory, which includes Vygotsky’s concept of the Zone of Proximal Development. Both theory and concept are based on the idea that development and learning occurs by means of social interaction and collaboration. The result of this investigation shows that the pedagogues use different approaches for teaching argumentation. Some teachers prefer the implicit way of teaching argumentation, the rest of them believe that the explicit way is more effective. All teachers find argumentation to be an important aspect in the development of the student’s language. Moreover, the ability to argue is associated with democratic rights written in the national curriculum.

The methodology by which to teach these outcomes was not clear. An intervention programme, Philosophy for Children (P4C) is used in some countries across the world to promote thinking. Research across the world has shown that this programme has the ability to enhance the cognitive abilities of learners exposed to it. Stories for Thinking (SFT) is an intervention programme based on the principles of Philosophy for Children and was introduced in some schools in an Education District of the Western Cape. This study investigates the perceptions of Intermediate Phase educators about the implementation of Stories for Thinking in this Education District. Educators were asked their strengths and challenges of the approach, their way of using it and the support they received. A qualitative research method was used and data were gathered to answer the research questions by means of questionnaires and interviews. Research findings indicate that educators perceived that Stories for Thinking was able to enhance the reading ability of the learners, it showed a significant improvement in their confidence levels, and a positive change in their general behaviour. Language was seen as a barrier to learning, but the evidence indicates that the community of inquiry can be used as a tool to overcome some of the barriers. It seems as if educators valued the support from the project leaders. It is concluded that this kind of intervention programme is worth introducing as long as all the role-players play their part and the setting is conducive.

<p>South Africa had a change in government and in education after the 1994 elections. A new curriculum was introduced and some of the underlying critical outcomes were to develop the learners to become critical thinkers. The methodology by which to teach these outcomes was not clear. An intervention programme, Philosophy for Children (P4C) is used in some countries across the world to promote thinking. Research across the world has shown that this programme has the ability to enhance the cognitive abilities of learners exposed to it. Stories for Thinking (SFT) is an intervention programme based on the principles of Philosophy for Children and was introduced in some schools in an Education District of the Western Cape. This study investigates the perceptions of Intermediate Phase educators about the implementation of Stories for Thinking in this Education District. Educators were asked their strengths and challenges of the approach, their way of using it and the support they received. A qualitative research method was used and data were gathered to answer the research questions by means of questionnaires and interviews. Research findings indicate that educators perceived that Stories for Thinking was able to enhance the reading ability of the learners, it showed a significant improvement in their confidence levels, and a positive change in their general behaviour. Language was seen as a barrier to learning, but the evidence indicates that the community of inquiry can be used as a tool to overcome some of the barriers. It seems as if educators valued the support from the project leaders. It is concluded that this kind of intervention programme is worth introducing as long as all the role-players play their part and the setting is conducive.</p>

This design experiment research introduces a mathematical inquiry titled Pattern Math. The Pattern Math activities create an atmosphere where students can think mathematically, communicate mathematically and make connections between different mathematical concepts. Based on simple patterns with complex explanations, the Pattern Math activities provide students with the opportunity to develop their conceptual understanding of mathematics. Through reflections on the activities, students are able to reexamine their views of learning mathematics. This design experiment research has a narrative approach and incorporates the teaching and research technique of interactive writing. The research highlights the power of inquiry. By providing students with the opportunity to work within their zone of proximal development, the Pattern Math activities provide students with the opportunity to make mathematical discoveries and come to understand algebra and arithmetic with conceptual understanding.

This design experiment research introduces a mathematical inquiry titled Pattern Math. The Pattern Math activities create an atmosphere where students can think mathematically, communicate mathematically and make connections between different mathematical concepts. Based on simple patterns with complex explanations, the Pattern Math activities provide students with the opportunity to develop their conceptual understanding of mathematics. Through reflections on the activities, students are able to reexamine their views of learning mathematics. This design experiment research has a narrative approach and incorporates the teaching and research technique of interactive writing. The research highlights the power of inquiry. By providing students with the opportunity to work within their zone of proximal development, the Pattern Math activities provide students with the opportunity to make mathematical discoveries and come to understand algebra and arithmetic with conceptual understanding.

Health differs among people and education about health is of value to maintain and develop health. In a developing country as Fiji may the definition of health be of different holistic character, compared to industrial countries. It is important to clarify that no view of health is more right or wrong, but has been adapted to the existing conditions and culture within the arena. Knowledge about how to teach about health in a developing country is needed, where health is not as prioritized as other factors, for example to have an income. The aim of this study is to identify health as a concept and identify what strategies that are being used by the teachers to implement health education in Fiji. The research questions were used as contribution to the study’s aim to help the researchers understand how the participants of the study define health as a concept and investigate how pedagogical strategies are being used and what challenges they experience with their teaching. The study has an ethnographic approach with interviews and observations, which are methods used in a qualitative research. The results show there is lots of knowledge about certain themes within health among the teachers, but limited knowledge about health from a holistic perspective. The main conclusion regarding the study’s aim is that there are limited knowledge on how to conduct health education at the two participating schools in Fiji. The definition of health among the interviewed teachers were equivalent and with limited understanding of the concept.