Thesis in compliance with the requirements for the Doctor's Degree in
Technology: Language Practice, Durban University of Technology, 2012. / This autoethnographic self study tracks my new ways of knowing in the various roles I play
from daughter (passive recipient) to curriculum designer (active analytical composer). It
retells my journey in the teaching profession at a school in Durban, in South Africa. The
story occurs during a period when schools were racially desegregated in order to address
the anti-apartheid policies that were prevalent prior to the first democratic elections in
1994. The story captures the challenges I faced during the transformation era in education
and how I went about addressing two of the main challenges I faced:
1. Cultural diversity in racially desegregated schools.
2. Teaching isiZulu as an additional language as a pioneer, non- mother tongue teacher
of learners with mixed abilities in an environment deprived of resources in terms of
mentorship, and teacher/learner resource material.
This study reveals how the challenges I experienced were, in retrospect, the disguised
opportunities that led to my growth from teacher to textbook writer. It gives an account of
the “behind the scenes making”, of the Maye babo! series, with a view to offer an exemplar
for curriculum development. The study uses autoethnography (Ellis 2004) as a method to
bring to life the teaching of isiZulu as an additional language in South Africa. It defines
some of the difficulties experienced by teachers during a transformation era in education.
In this study I clarify the relationship between Outcomes Based Education and the National
Curriculum Statement (NCS), as well as where the Curriculum and Assessment Policy
Statement (CAPS) is located within the NCS. More importantly, I use the tacit knowledge
gained from intuition and experience to demonstrate how these policies can be applied in
the classroom to achieve effective learning, an aspect often ignored in in-service teacher
education. Readers (particularly teachers) will resonate with the experiences described in
the stories, and, in so doing, gain a better understanding of themselves and their teaching
practices; this might provide the much needed optimism amongst teachers, and might
motivate and inspire them to grow professionally. The personal benefit in writing this
thesis is that it renewed my place in the academic world, and more importantly, it has
satisfied my quest for self realisation. Through personal exploration, questions such as who am I? and how did I become? reveal my evolvement. This project has been a soul
satisfying and enriching journey. It is hoped that this study will in some way contribute to
the transformation in education process in post liberation South Africa.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:dut/oai:localhost:10321/760 |
| Date | 10 September 2012 |
| Creators | Soni, Sumithra Jaysooklal |
| Contributors | Pratt, Deirdre Denise |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 362 p |
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