Student Number: 0306365F
Masters in Education
School of Education / An attempt to improve the quality of education in Botswana included an emphasis on
alternative forms of assessment. This attempt however, has produced inconclusive results
and the censure has often been on technical issues such as; lack of resources and
overlooking the teachers’ understanding of the proposed innovation. A naturalistic
research approach was undertaken by this study to investigate whether or not teachers at
junior secondary schools in Botswana were using formative assessment when teaching
mathematics as advocated in the RNPE.
By employing the notion of currere, the study subjected three purposively sampled
mathematics teachers drawn from three purposively sampled public junior secondary
schools to an autobiographical process to reflect on their practices. The research methods
comprised classroom observations and interviews. In the light of Bernstein’s theory of
pedagogic device, data was analyzed and interpreted. The findings of this study indicated
that mathematics teachers’ assessment strategies are still traditional. Their practices are
influenced by many factors more especially by the need to make sure that students do
well in the public examinations. Their understanding of these factors determines their
receptivity to the proposed change. These teachers need to put themselves on the spot,
and question their taken-for-granted aspects of their work. Only this way, would they
become aware of alternative cause of action they need to take and can regard themselves
as “critical public intellectuals.”
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/1610 |
| Date | 09 November 2006 |
| Creators | Raboijane, Botoka |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 441163 bytes, 67158 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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