This dissertation is an investigation of 13-14 year-old learners in Grade Five and
Grade Six being taught and learning moral sociocultural values. The specific
variables investigated are children’s perspective of values, their beliefs, goals and
motives implicit or explicit in the learning of sociocultural values.
The investigation uses the theoretical framework of Cultural Psychology in which
Activity Theory is used to analyse and explain the school as an activity system.
The working hypothesis is that activities are embedded into each other if they share
a common object and envision a common outcome. The notion of embedded
activities is developed based on the Engeströmian third generation Activity
Theory model. The assumption is that if the school is the central activity system
in a formal teaching and learning milieu, then other activities systems that
support the teaching-learning processes constitute embedded activities. For
instance, the classroom, a lesson, a morning assembly and any other project that
contributes to the teaching-learning processes of sociocultural values.
The method used for this investigation was ethnography. Data were collected
using participant observation, interviews, still photographs, videography, school
records, documents, and children’s artefacts. The data were analysed by Atlas.ti
version 5.2 computer based qualitative data analysis software using strategies
from Strauss and Corbin’s ‘microanalyses’ and Maykut and Morehouse’s
‘interpretive-descriptive’ strategy. The results showed that children at first learn
sociocultural values from the culturally more able; in this way, values are taught
through co-construction of knowledge. Children learn sociocultural values
through what they do. This constitutes their activities: mental and practices as
derived from their home ethos through to their school ethos. If this is missing,
children will learn other values presuming these to be the best for their welfare,
which may have undesirable outcomes and undesirable implications. Sociocultural
theory provides the way out that initially children need to be taught the
art of living by the culturally more able as the necessary thing to do.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/4912 |
| Date | 30 May 2008 |
| Creators | Jaki, Patrick Odwora |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 2198453 bytes, 65688 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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