Constructivist teaching strategies are undeniably accepted as effective in achieving the desired
educational goals of constructing knowledge through active and creative inquiry. Inasmuch as
teachers would love to adopt these strategies in their teaching, mathematics teachers find themselves
in a situation where they are forced not to use them. This study investigated the factors that impacted
on the selection and adoption of constructivist teaching strategies in selected Gauteng’s urban schools.
Four (4) public schools and sixteen (16) mathematics teachers participated in the study. The parallel
mixed methods design was employed in the study to produce both quantitative and qualitative data.
The data were therefore analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. It was found that the
participating mathematics teachers had an understanding of constructivist theories of teaching and that
they perceived their classroom environments to be constructivist in character. The study also found
that the adoption of constructivist teaching strategies was hindered by teachers’ lack of skills and
competencies to handle a curriculum that they felt was handed down to them without their full
involvement at all the stages of its development. Learners’ family backgrounds were also identified as
a major social factor that impacted negatively against selection of constructivist strategies. Based on
these findings, recommendations were made on how constructivist views can be realised in the
teaching of mathematics in South African schools. / Mathematics Education / M. Ed. (Mathematics Education)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/14194 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Moyo, Innocent |
| Contributors | Phoshoko, M |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource (xi, 97 leaves) |
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