Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / Bibliography / The implementation of OBE has significant implications for teachers’ work; adopting an
OBE approach entails reconstruction of professional knowledge and a redefinition of
planning procedures, teaching approaches and assessment practices. A teacher attempting to
make sense of OBE, learning outcomes, assessment standards, band levels, NQF, etc. will
inevitably bring his/her worldviews, past experiences and beliefs into the process of
teaching and learning, and would also need to engage with new concepts to keep track of
the changes in meaning and priorities. Within this changing education scenario OBE, as an
initiative, offers opportunities for new pedagogies to flourish, marking a departure from the
safe haven of traditional pedagogy. Therefore a perspective on teachers’ beliefs regarding
OBE can provide an alternative interpretive lens for researchers through understanding
teachers’ actions and thoughts.
Purpose: The aim was to examine strategies teachers employ in their classrooms in response
to their beliefs about OBE. Teachers’ epistemological beliefs were explored and linked to
OBE pedagogical frameworks and classroom management practices. Their belief systems
were divided into three categories – the teachers’ views about OBE, mathematics knowledge,
and the teaching and learning of mathematics. This study was based on the belief that
conceptions are specific meanings given to phenomena, derived from different experiences
involved in helping individuals make sense of their world. Furthermore, those worldviews in
turn influence how new information is perceived.
Methodology: The researcher adopted a qualitative exploratory design. The method of choice
for this study was a combination of elements of phenomenology and ethnography. Nineteen
teachers were interviewed and observed. The sample was drawn from two former Model C
schools and three township schools. Data were analysed qualitatively.
Findings: The findings confirmed that there are multiple beliefs that constitute a
personal epistemology. Therefore, to investigate some unique entities of the belief
system such as OBE requires examining the broader belief system. The majority of
teachers responded to OBE implementation with uncertainty, anger, frustration and
anxiety. In the absence of certainty about OBE and faced with a myriad of classroom
iv
challenges, teachers relied on their experience to make decisions regarding what was
important to know, they drew on their own personal teaching theories more than what
they thought about OBE to make judgments of learning processes.
This study concludes that the link between teachers’ beliefs, conceptualisation of OBE
and teaching practice is weak. Their beliefs about the nature of mathematics knowledge,
teaching and learning mathematics had stronger connections with, and represented the
basis for teachers’ pedagogical purpose behind their preferred teaching practice.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/5378 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Ramukumba, Mokholelana Margaret |
| Contributors | Le Grange, L. L., University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Education. Department of Curriculum Studies |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | xii, 273 p. : ill. |
| Rights | University of Stellenbosch |
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