The integrative nature of the synoptic weather map in relation to adolescent cognitive structures and the teaching of senior secondary meteorology-climatology
- Authors: Van Jaarsveld, Pieter Paul
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Meteorology -- Study and teaching (Secondary) Climatology -- Study and teaching (Secondary) Cognition in children
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1843 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004377
- Description: A poorly consolidated concept base creates considerable difficulty amongst adolescents when it comes to the higher order task of analyzing complex, abstract and scientific weather phenomena as they appear on synoptic charts. The nature of the difficulties which they experience tends to encourage them to resort to the rote memorisation of concepts rather than understanding them. Kuhn (1962) avers that concepts, not enquiry methods, are at the core of rational thought. A well taught concept becomes a well developed mental construct which encourages understanding. It is the author's firm belief that in order for pupils to come to a thorough understanding of senior secondary meteorology - climatology and the synoptic chart, teaching of basic concepts should be graded and sequential. This thesis attempts to show the difficulties inherent in synoptic climatology. It relates these difficulties to adolescent cognitive development. Within this framework, the syllabus and past examinations of the Cape Education Department, and textbooks are examined. Teachers' views and pupils' understanding are gauged through the analyses of questionnaires and worksheets respectively. Conclusions are drawn and the problems which teachers and pupils encounter are addressed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
- Authors: Van Jaarsveld, Pieter Paul
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Meteorology -- Study and teaching (Secondary) Climatology -- Study and teaching (Secondary) Cognition in children
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1843 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004377
- Description: A poorly consolidated concept base creates considerable difficulty amongst adolescents when it comes to the higher order task of analyzing complex, abstract and scientific weather phenomena as they appear on synoptic charts. The nature of the difficulties which they experience tends to encourage them to resort to the rote memorisation of concepts rather than understanding them. Kuhn (1962) avers that concepts, not enquiry methods, are at the core of rational thought. A well taught concept becomes a well developed mental construct which encourages understanding. It is the author's firm belief that in order for pupils to come to a thorough understanding of senior secondary meteorology - climatology and the synoptic chart, teaching of basic concepts should be graded and sequential. This thesis attempts to show the difficulties inherent in synoptic climatology. It relates these difficulties to adolescent cognitive development. Within this framework, the syllabus and past examinations of the Cape Education Department, and textbooks are examined. Teachers' views and pupils' understanding are gauged through the analyses of questionnaires and worksheets respectively. Conclusions are drawn and the problems which teachers and pupils encounter are addressed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
The integration of pre-primary education into three mainstream primary schools in the Khomas Region in Namibia: implications for management and leadership
- Poulton-Busler, Richardine Masoline
- Authors: Poulton-Busler, Richardine Masoline
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Education, Preschool -- Namibia -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1388 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001581
- Description: One of the goals for Namibia’s Vision 2030, through ETSIP (2005‐2015), is to establish a preprimary year in primary schools for all children aged 5‐6 to be developed first in schools serving the poorest population and OVCs. ECD is widely recognised as having a significant impact on the subsequent learning of children. The high failure and dropout rate in grade 1 made this process an important one. In 2008 the integration of ECD became a reality in five schools in the Khomas region of Namibia. At present there are 29 pilot schools in the Khomas region 29 schools, and 504 in the whole of Namibia. According to the MoE all primary schools should have a preprimary class as ECD has been recognized as a key contributor to positive outcomes in schools. This study sought to investigate various stakeholders’ experiences and views of the integration of pre‐primary into mainstream pre‐primary schooling. The goal was to investigate the management and leadership implications of this integration. The study is an interpretive case study of three pilot primary schools. The research design made provision for data collection through semi‐structured interviews, focus groups and document analysis. The main finding was that, despite numerous challenges, principals are positive about the integration of pre‐primary. There is a sense of appreciation of the importance of pre‐primary. Principals adopt participative and collegial management approaches in leading their schools towards becoming learning organisations. The study also uncovered several significant challenges, such as the need for more training and the provision of infrastructure to make the process more effective.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Poulton-Busler, Richardine Masoline
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Education, Preschool -- Namibia -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1388 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001581
- Description: One of the goals for Namibia’s Vision 2030, through ETSIP (2005‐2015), is to establish a preprimary year in primary schools for all children aged 5‐6 to be developed first in schools serving the poorest population and OVCs. ECD is widely recognised as having a significant impact on the subsequent learning of children. The high failure and dropout rate in grade 1 made this process an important one. In 2008 the integration of ECD became a reality in five schools in the Khomas region of Namibia. At present there are 29 pilot schools in the Khomas region 29 schools, and 504 in the whole of Namibia. According to the MoE all primary schools should have a preprimary class as ECD has been recognized as a key contributor to positive outcomes in schools. This study sought to investigate various stakeholders’ experiences and views of the integration of pre‐primary into mainstream pre‐primary schooling. The goal was to investigate the management and leadership implications of this integration. The study is an interpretive case study of three pilot primary schools. The research design made provision for data collection through semi‐structured interviews, focus groups and document analysis. The main finding was that, despite numerous challenges, principals are positive about the integration of pre‐primary. There is a sense of appreciation of the importance of pre‐primary. Principals adopt participative and collegial management approaches in leading their schools towards becoming learning organisations. The study also uncovered several significant challenges, such as the need for more training and the provision of infrastructure to make the process more effective.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
The integration of natural resource management into the curriculum of rural under-resourced schools : a Bernsteinian analysis
- Authors: Nsubuga, Yvonne Nakalo
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Conservation of natural resources -- Study and teaching -- South Africa Environmental education -- Curricula -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Bernstein, Basil B Nature conservation -- Study and teaching
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4762 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007157
- Description: This study was motivated by the need to improve curriculum relevance in poor rural schools through contextualised teaching and learning based on the management of local natural resources. It involved four schools which are located in the Ngqunshwa Local Municipality of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The study's aim was to provide insight into and better understanding of the curriculum implementation process regarding natural resource management (NRM) education in a poor rural education context. This was done by analysing the extent of NRM integration in pedagogic texts, activities and practices in the different fields which constitute the structure of the pedagogic system in this education sector. The study adopted an interpretivist approach to the analysis, which was based on indicators of the extent of NRM integration, and was informed by Bernstein's concepts of classification and curriculum recontextualisation, and his model of the structure of the pedagogic system. The items which were analysed included national and provincial Grade 10 Life Sciences curriculum documents, Grade 10 Life Sciences textbooks, in-service training workshops for Life Sciences teachers, and various school documents, activities and practices. The analysis also involved interviews with educators, and classroom observations of Grade 10 Life Sciences lessons. The results revealed a very high overall level of NRM integration in the Grade 10 Life Sciences curriculum documents produced at national and provincial levels. The overall level of NRM integration was also found to be very high in the Grade 10 Life Science textbooks that were analysed, but very low in the in-service teacher training workshops, and in the schools' documents, activities and practices, especially in the Grade 10 Life Sciences lessons, and in schools' end-of-year Grade 10 Life Sciences examination papers. The study makes a number of recommendations towards effective integration of NRM into the curriculum of Eastern Cape's rural poor schools which include more specific and explicit reference to NRM in the official Grade 10 Life Sciences curriculum documents, the provision of environmental education courses to district education staff and Grade 10 Life Sciences teachers, the training of teachers in the classroom use of textbooks and other educational materials, and regular monitoring of teachers' work. The study also exposes important knowledge gaps which need urgent research attention in order to enhance NRM education in the poor rural schools of the Eastern Cape. These include analysing power and control relationships between the various agencies and agents that are involved with curriculum implementation in this education sector, and conducting investigation into the creation of specialist NRM knowledge and into the quality of NRM knowledge that is transmitted as pedagogic discourse in schools. This study contributes to the fields of rural education and environmental education in South Africa, and to the growing interest in the study of curriculum from a sociology of education perspective in the context of the country’s post-apartheid curriculum reforms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Nsubuga, Yvonne Nakalo
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Conservation of natural resources -- Study and teaching -- South Africa Environmental education -- Curricula -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Bernstein, Basil B Nature conservation -- Study and teaching
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4762 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007157
- Description: This study was motivated by the need to improve curriculum relevance in poor rural schools through contextualised teaching and learning based on the management of local natural resources. It involved four schools which are located in the Ngqunshwa Local Municipality of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The study's aim was to provide insight into and better understanding of the curriculum implementation process regarding natural resource management (NRM) education in a poor rural education context. This was done by analysing the extent of NRM integration in pedagogic texts, activities and practices in the different fields which constitute the structure of the pedagogic system in this education sector. The study adopted an interpretivist approach to the analysis, which was based on indicators of the extent of NRM integration, and was informed by Bernstein's concepts of classification and curriculum recontextualisation, and his model of the structure of the pedagogic system. The items which were analysed included national and provincial Grade 10 Life Sciences curriculum documents, Grade 10 Life Sciences textbooks, in-service training workshops for Life Sciences teachers, and various school documents, activities and practices. The analysis also involved interviews with educators, and classroom observations of Grade 10 Life Sciences lessons. The results revealed a very high overall level of NRM integration in the Grade 10 Life Sciences curriculum documents produced at national and provincial levels. The overall level of NRM integration was also found to be very high in the Grade 10 Life Science textbooks that were analysed, but very low in the in-service teacher training workshops, and in the schools' documents, activities and practices, especially in the Grade 10 Life Sciences lessons, and in schools' end-of-year Grade 10 Life Sciences examination papers. The study makes a number of recommendations towards effective integration of NRM into the curriculum of Eastern Cape's rural poor schools which include more specific and explicit reference to NRM in the official Grade 10 Life Sciences curriculum documents, the provision of environmental education courses to district education staff and Grade 10 Life Sciences teachers, the training of teachers in the classroom use of textbooks and other educational materials, and regular monitoring of teachers' work. The study also exposes important knowledge gaps which need urgent research attention in order to enhance NRM education in the poor rural schools of the Eastern Cape. These include analysing power and control relationships between the various agencies and agents that are involved with curriculum implementation in this education sector, and conducting investigation into the creation of specialist NRM knowledge and into the quality of NRM knowledge that is transmitted as pedagogic discourse in schools. This study contributes to the fields of rural education and environmental education in South Africa, and to the growing interest in the study of curriculum from a sociology of education perspective in the context of the country’s post-apartheid curriculum reforms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
The integration of mapwork and environmental issues using local context in FET Geography: an investigation of current pedagogic practices to inform professional development
- Authors: Batyi, Kekeletso Rejoyce
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Geography -- South Africa -- Grahamstown -- Study and teaching (Secondary) Maps -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Environmental education -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1580 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003462
- Description: This is an interpretative case study of four Grahamstown Education District Further Education and Training (FET) schools. The study sets out to investigate how Geography teachers integrate mapwork and environmental issues using local context, with the intention of providing insights for future professional development. Data for this study were generated using qualitative methods such as document analysis, semi-structured interviews and lesson observations. Interviews were conducted with geography teachers, the subject advisor and a workshop facilitator. The evidence generated in the study revealed that contrary to the integrative design of the curriculum, there is a superficial integration of mapwork and environmental issues as well as a cursory reference to and use of local context. This was noted in both professional development support workshops and classroom practice. The study finds that efforts to improve performance in geography need to pay closer attention to curriculum policy that calls for an integration and localization of knowledge and skills for coherence and relevance. It also notes that there is a need for a focus on real-world problem solving in social, economic, cultural and physical environments through the use of inquiry-based local fieldwork. Local investigations provide an integrative space for content and skills as well as being an important point of reference from which learners can compare and contrast issues in other places such as provincial, national, continental, and global locations. A professional development programme that emphasizes integration and contextualization alongside the current focus on basic skills training is proposed to improve what teachers are delivering in the classroom and to support enquiry-based fieldwork and research to strengthen a place-based relevance in local, national and international contexts. Finally an exemplar for professional development is briefly developed for the topic of soil erosion.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Batyi, Kekeletso Rejoyce
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Geography -- South Africa -- Grahamstown -- Study and teaching (Secondary) Maps -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Environmental education -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1580 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003462
- Description: This is an interpretative case study of four Grahamstown Education District Further Education and Training (FET) schools. The study sets out to investigate how Geography teachers integrate mapwork and environmental issues using local context, with the intention of providing insights for future professional development. Data for this study were generated using qualitative methods such as document analysis, semi-structured interviews and lesson observations. Interviews were conducted with geography teachers, the subject advisor and a workshop facilitator. The evidence generated in the study revealed that contrary to the integrative design of the curriculum, there is a superficial integration of mapwork and environmental issues as well as a cursory reference to and use of local context. This was noted in both professional development support workshops and classroom practice. The study finds that efforts to improve performance in geography need to pay closer attention to curriculum policy that calls for an integration and localization of knowledge and skills for coherence and relevance. It also notes that there is a need for a focus on real-world problem solving in social, economic, cultural and physical environments through the use of inquiry-based local fieldwork. Local investigations provide an integrative space for content and skills as well as being an important point of reference from which learners can compare and contrast issues in other places such as provincial, national, continental, and global locations. A professional development programme that emphasizes integration and contextualization alongside the current focus on basic skills training is proposed to improve what teachers are delivering in the classroom and to support enquiry-based fieldwork and research to strengthen a place-based relevance in local, national and international contexts. Finally an exemplar for professional development is briefly developed for the topic of soil erosion.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
The initial grounding of rational numbers : an investigation
- Authors: Brown, Bruce John Lindsay
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Number theory Numbers, Rational -- Study and teaching (Elementary) Numeracy -- Study and teaching (Elementary) Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1904 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006351
- Description: This small scale exploratory research project investigated the grounding of rational number concepts in informal, everyday life situations. A qualitative approach was taken to allow for the identification and then in depth investigation, of issues of importance for such a grounding of rational number understanding. The methodology followed could be seen as a combination of grounded theory and developmental research. And the data was generated through in-depth and clinical interviews structured around a number of grounded tasks related to rational numbers. The research comprised three cycles of interviews that were transcribed and then analysed in detail, interspersed with periods of reading and reflection. The pilot cycle involved a single grade three teacher, the second cycle involved 2 grade three teachers and the third cycle involved 2 grade three children. The research identified a number of different perspectives that were all important for the development of a fundamental intuitive understanding that could be considered personally meaningful to the individual concerned and relevant to the development of rational number concepts. Firstly in order to motivate and engage the child on a personal level the grounding situation needed to be seen as personally significant by the child. Secondly, coordinating operations provided a means of developing a fundamental intuitive understanding, through coordination with affording structures of the situation that are relevant to rational numbers. Finally, goal directed actions that are deliberately structured to achieve explicit goals in a situation are important for the development of more explicit concepts and skills fundamental for rational number understanding. Different explicit structures give rise to different interpretations of rational numbers in grounding situations. In addition to these perspectives, it became evident that building and learning representations was important for developing a more particularly mathematical understanding, based on the fundamental understanding derived from the child's grounded experience. The conclusion drawn in this research as a result of this complexity, is that to achieve a comprehensive and meaningful grounding, children's learning of rational numbers will not follow a simple linear trajectory. Rather this process forms a web of learning, threading coordinating operations for intuitive development, interpretations for explicit grounding and representations to develop more formal mathematical conceptions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Brown, Bruce John Lindsay
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Number theory Numbers, Rational -- Study and teaching (Elementary) Numeracy -- Study and teaching (Elementary) Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1904 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006351
- Description: This small scale exploratory research project investigated the grounding of rational number concepts in informal, everyday life situations. A qualitative approach was taken to allow for the identification and then in depth investigation, of issues of importance for such a grounding of rational number understanding. The methodology followed could be seen as a combination of grounded theory and developmental research. And the data was generated through in-depth and clinical interviews structured around a number of grounded tasks related to rational numbers. The research comprised three cycles of interviews that were transcribed and then analysed in detail, interspersed with periods of reading and reflection. The pilot cycle involved a single grade three teacher, the second cycle involved 2 grade three teachers and the third cycle involved 2 grade three children. The research identified a number of different perspectives that were all important for the development of a fundamental intuitive understanding that could be considered personally meaningful to the individual concerned and relevant to the development of rational number concepts. Firstly in order to motivate and engage the child on a personal level the grounding situation needed to be seen as personally significant by the child. Secondly, coordinating operations provided a means of developing a fundamental intuitive understanding, through coordination with affording structures of the situation that are relevant to rational numbers. Finally, goal directed actions that are deliberately structured to achieve explicit goals in a situation are important for the development of more explicit concepts and skills fundamental for rational number understanding. Different explicit structures give rise to different interpretations of rational numbers in grounding situations. In addition to these perspectives, it became evident that building and learning representations was important for developing a more particularly mathematical understanding, based on the fundamental understanding derived from the child's grounded experience. The conclusion drawn in this research as a result of this complexity, is that to achieve a comprehensive and meaningful grounding, children's learning of rational numbers will not follow a simple linear trajectory. Rather this process forms a web of learning, threading coordinating operations for intuitive development, interpretations for explicit grounding and representations to develop more formal mathematical conceptions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The influence of introduced forest management practices on transformative social learning in a selected social-ecological forest community : a case of PFM and REDD projects at Pugu and Kazimzumbwi Forest Reserves in Tanzania
- Authors: Ferdinand, Victoria Ugulumu
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Forest management -- Tanzania , Forest reserves -- Tanzania , Transformative learning , Social ecology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2064 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020333
- Description: This research investigates the influence of introduced forest management approaches on transformative social learning in the community surrounding the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi forest reserves in Tanzania from 2000 to 2015. The term transformative social learning reflects an understanding of learning processes that emerge through conscious changes in the perspectives of individuals or communities while interacting with forest management practices. The investigation explores the learning (if any) that occurred in the community and how and why the learning occurred. It also explores whether the learning was social and transformative and examines the conditions that enable or constrain transformative social learning at the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi community. Thus, the three concepts of social learning, transformative learning, and social practices are central to the research. Participatory Forest Management (PFM) emerged globally in the early 1980s to mobilise rural capabilities and resources in development and environmental stewardship. The Pugu and Kazimzumbwi community was introduced to Participatory Forest Management (PFM) projects by the late 1990s. The recent global focus on empowering communities around forests has drawn attention towards transformational adaptation to climate change impacts and building resilience capacities. As a result, in 2011 the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi community started working with a project for Reduction of Emissions through Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD), which forms a key focus in this study as the most recently introduced PFM with embedded social learning assumptions. This research is designed and conducted as a qualitative case study. The research seeks to study the complex object of socially and contextually constructed learning through a systemic exploration of learning,using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, analysis of documents and archival records as well as observations and a reflexive workshop. Supportive information throughfield notes and audio voice and video recording was also generated. A contextual profile of the research site was conducted in March 2012, prior to the actual data collection in 2013 and 2014. Field explorations during the contextual profile helped to describe the research site and promote initial understanding of the context. During data collection, field inquiries based on interactive relationships between a researcher and participants stimulated practice memories and people’s living experiences with forestry and the introduced PFM projects under examination. Analysis of data employed analytical modes of induction, abduction and retroduction. Thick descriptions of learning obtained from fieldi based interactionswere produced before re-contextualising data through theoretical lenses. The research employed realist social theory by Archer (1995), under-laboured by critical realism, and practice theory advanced by Schatzki (2012) and Kemmis et al. (2014). The research process as a whole was underlaboured by the layered ontology of critical realism which proposes emergence of phenomena in open systems as shaped by interacting mechanisms which in this study were both material / ecological and social /political /economic /cultural. And more...
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Ferdinand, Victoria Ugulumu
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Forest management -- Tanzania , Forest reserves -- Tanzania , Transformative learning , Social ecology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2064 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020333
- Description: This research investigates the influence of introduced forest management approaches on transformative social learning in the community surrounding the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi forest reserves in Tanzania from 2000 to 2015. The term transformative social learning reflects an understanding of learning processes that emerge through conscious changes in the perspectives of individuals or communities while interacting with forest management practices. The investigation explores the learning (if any) that occurred in the community and how and why the learning occurred. It also explores whether the learning was social and transformative and examines the conditions that enable or constrain transformative social learning at the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi community. Thus, the three concepts of social learning, transformative learning, and social practices are central to the research. Participatory Forest Management (PFM) emerged globally in the early 1980s to mobilise rural capabilities and resources in development and environmental stewardship. The Pugu and Kazimzumbwi community was introduced to Participatory Forest Management (PFM) projects by the late 1990s. The recent global focus on empowering communities around forests has drawn attention towards transformational adaptation to climate change impacts and building resilience capacities. As a result, in 2011 the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi community started working with a project for Reduction of Emissions through Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD), which forms a key focus in this study as the most recently introduced PFM with embedded social learning assumptions. This research is designed and conducted as a qualitative case study. The research seeks to study the complex object of socially and contextually constructed learning through a systemic exploration of learning,using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, analysis of documents and archival records as well as observations and a reflexive workshop. Supportive information throughfield notes and audio voice and video recording was also generated. A contextual profile of the research site was conducted in March 2012, prior to the actual data collection in 2013 and 2014. Field explorations during the contextual profile helped to describe the research site and promote initial understanding of the context. During data collection, field inquiries based on interactive relationships between a researcher and participants stimulated practice memories and people’s living experiences with forestry and the introduced PFM projects under examination. Analysis of data employed analytical modes of induction, abduction and retroduction. Thick descriptions of learning obtained from fieldi based interactionswere produced before re-contextualising data through theoretical lenses. The research employed realist social theory by Archer (1995), under-laboured by critical realism, and practice theory advanced by Schatzki (2012) and Kemmis et al. (2014). The research process as a whole was underlaboured by the layered ontology of critical realism which proposes emergence of phenomena in open systems as shaped by interacting mechanisms which in this study were both material / ecological and social /political /economic /cultural. And more...
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
The influence of children on decision-makers in their homes : a case study in environmental education
- Authors: Kruger, Jacqueline
- Date: 1992
- Subjects: Environmental education -- South Africa , Parent and child -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1574 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003456
- Description: This study explores the possible influence of twenty children on their 'parents', with a view to better understanding the potential 'multiplier effect' of children regarding environmental responsibility. The criteria employed to study the potential influence included certain of the environmental activities learnt by the children during an Environmental Education programme. The programme was undertaken by the researcher with a Std 4 class from Ryneveld Primêreskool in Graaff-Reinet. An action research approach was adopted and results were analysed qualitatively. Due to the short duration and exploratory nature of the project, these results should be viewed as tentative. Proposals are made for increasing the impact of Environmental Education programmes in peri-urban township communities, and recommendations are put forward to help facilitate related studies in the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992
- Authors: Kruger, Jacqueline
- Date: 1992
- Subjects: Environmental education -- South Africa , Parent and child -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1574 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003456
- Description: This study explores the possible influence of twenty children on their 'parents', with a view to better understanding the potential 'multiplier effect' of children regarding environmental responsibility. The criteria employed to study the potential influence included certain of the environmental activities learnt by the children during an Environmental Education programme. The programme was undertaken by the researcher with a Std 4 class from Ryneveld Primêreskool in Graaff-Reinet. An action research approach was adopted and results were analysed qualitatively. Due to the short duration and exploratory nature of the project, these results should be viewed as tentative. Proposals are made for increasing the impact of Environmental Education programmes in peri-urban township communities, and recommendations are put forward to help facilitate related studies in the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992
The in-service development of primary school teachers in the use of computers in education with special reference to computer assisted learning: a case study
- Authors: Murray, John Charles
- Date: 1992
- Subjects: Education, Elementary -- South Africa -- Data processing Computer-assisted instruction Teachers -- In-service training -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1572 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003454
- Description: Many white primary schools in South Africa have acquired computers which are being used in various ways. In my experience few members of staff are confident enough to use the computers in the school for educational purposes. Those who have been using them, generally have been doing computer literacy. The teachers in our school expressed the view that they would like to be able to use the computer, but that they lack the necessary skills and therefore would welcome some form of training. In my opinion computers should form an integral part of a child's learning environment. It has, for some time formed a part of his social environment, either in the home or in the workplace. For computers to be used effectively in the classroom, it follows that the teachers need to be trained to use them. In an attempt to overcome this problem, I designed and presented an in-service course, which used selected computer assisted learning (CAL) programs with teachers. These teachers then used these programs with the pupils in their class and evaluated the pupils' reactions to the innovation. As a result of the observations and the feedback provided by the sample of teachers, it is suggested that this might be a possible approach to in-service training for other schools. With adaptation it should be possible to follow this approach in any school which has a computer and someone on the staff who is willing to take the initiative to implement such an innovation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992
- Authors: Murray, John Charles
- Date: 1992
- Subjects: Education, Elementary -- South Africa -- Data processing Computer-assisted instruction Teachers -- In-service training -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1572 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003454
- Description: Many white primary schools in South Africa have acquired computers which are being used in various ways. In my experience few members of staff are confident enough to use the computers in the school for educational purposes. Those who have been using them, generally have been doing computer literacy. The teachers in our school expressed the view that they would like to be able to use the computer, but that they lack the necessary skills and therefore would welcome some form of training. In my opinion computers should form an integral part of a child's learning environment. It has, for some time formed a part of his social environment, either in the home or in the workplace. For computers to be used effectively in the classroom, it follows that the teachers need to be trained to use them. In an attempt to overcome this problem, I designed and presented an in-service course, which used selected computer assisted learning (CAL) programs with teachers. These teachers then used these programs with the pupils in their class and evaluated the pupils' reactions to the innovation. As a result of the observations and the feedback provided by the sample of teachers, it is suggested that this might be a possible approach to in-service training for other schools. With adaptation it should be possible to follow this approach in any school which has a computer and someone on the staff who is willing to take the initiative to implement such an innovation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992
The importance's of the physical analogue clock in mediating learning of analogue clock time in Grade 4 learners
- Authors: Metelerkamp, Roger Gregory
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Clocks and watches , Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary) , Time measurements -- Study and teaching (Elementary)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1986 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013169
- Description: My research topic concerns how learners use the analogue clock (as a human tool) to make meaning of clock time. This study is informed by a Vygotskian socio-cultural framework to learning and development based on the concept that human activities take place in cultural contexts and is mediated by tools. In this qualitative study I report on the learners meaning making of analogue clock time using the physical clock. This study was carried out at a South African primary school through an intervention programme after school. The research employed a case study method. It involved a purposeful sample of 4 learners (n=38) from the grade four class group based on their response to a baseline assessment task. The selected sample of learners included learners across the ability spectrum to gain rich insight into how learners make meaning of analogue clock time. Data collection and analysis was done through an interpretive approach. The video-taped interviews and intervention programme was my main instrument of data collection. Other research instruments included document analysis of responses to baseline assessment tasks. These research tools yielded the data collected and also allowed for triangulation. My research topic explored how the learners make meaning of analogue clock time. In particular the two-way movement of how the learners use the physical tool namely the analogue clock to develop meaning and how the clock mediates clock knowledge in return. The findings of the study suggest that learners’ find it difficult to conceptualise analogue clock symbols and signs, in particular, in Afrikaans the half hour concept, in relation to the two hands. The physical analogue clock is also important to support and extend clock knowledge in solving time-related problems. This shows the power of the analogue clock to mediate meaning making of clock time in young learners. Because of its potential to improve teaching and learning analogue clock time in primary school it is therefore recommended that the analogue clock time be further researched in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Metelerkamp, Roger Gregory
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Clocks and watches , Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary) , Time measurements -- Study and teaching (Elementary)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1986 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013169
- Description: My research topic concerns how learners use the analogue clock (as a human tool) to make meaning of clock time. This study is informed by a Vygotskian socio-cultural framework to learning and development based on the concept that human activities take place in cultural contexts and is mediated by tools. In this qualitative study I report on the learners meaning making of analogue clock time using the physical clock. This study was carried out at a South African primary school through an intervention programme after school. The research employed a case study method. It involved a purposeful sample of 4 learners (n=38) from the grade four class group based on their response to a baseline assessment task. The selected sample of learners included learners across the ability spectrum to gain rich insight into how learners make meaning of analogue clock time. Data collection and analysis was done through an interpretive approach. The video-taped interviews and intervention programme was my main instrument of data collection. Other research instruments included document analysis of responses to baseline assessment tasks. These research tools yielded the data collected and also allowed for triangulation. My research topic explored how the learners make meaning of analogue clock time. In particular the two-way movement of how the learners use the physical tool namely the analogue clock to develop meaning and how the clock mediates clock knowledge in return. The findings of the study suggest that learners’ find it difficult to conceptualise analogue clock symbols and signs, in particular, in Afrikaans the half hour concept, in relation to the two hands. The physical analogue clock is also important to support and extend clock knowledge in solving time-related problems. This shows the power of the analogue clock to mediate meaning making of clock time in young learners. Because of its potential to improve teaching and learning analogue clock time in primary school it is therefore recommended that the analogue clock time be further researched in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
The implications of the introduction of outcomes based education in the natural sciences curriculum at Cape College of Education: the assessment of perceptions of squatter camp teachers in Khayelitsha towards the outcomes based education
- Authors: Booi, Kwanele
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Competency-based education -- South Africa Competency-based education -- Evaluation Competency-based education -- South Africa -- Khayelitsha -- Evaluation Physical sciences -- Study and teaching -- Evaluation Life sciences -- Study and teaching -- Evaluation Cape College of Education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1569 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003451
- Description: 1. This pilot study is a survey of practices of natural sciences educators at Cape College of Education to establish if they reflect the conceptual development, development of skills, change of attitudes and values that are the pillars of the Outcomes Based Education (OBE). Their approaches of lecturing have been assessed to determine if they incorporate investigative approaches based on social constructivism, the theory underpinning Curriculum 2005. The status of science education in the college has been analyzed to establish whether the curriculum can adapt itself to the specifications of the new curriculum. It has been concluded that the educators at Cape College of Education need to be empowered about strategies that will help them function along the principles embracing Curriculum 2005 specifications. The educators have shown not to be ready to practice social constructivism and the assessment strategies incorporated in their programmes do not embrace a variety of approaches that will enable their learners to develop conceptually, skill wise and enable them to develop change in attitudes and values. Investigative approaches to practical work appear to be lacking in the college teaching/learning and this also indicates that Curriculum 2005 will take time to be properly implemented at Cape College of Education. 2. This study is based on the practices of science educators in the squatter-camp school in Khayelitsha, a densely populated area for blacks near Cape Town. Teachers at Vuselela primary school were interviewed about their teaching assessment strategies to establish whether they incorporate a learner centred approach, which is the necessity for the Outcomes Based Education approach. Also some of the lessons they taught were observed in order to find out whether they validate what transpired from the interviews through a process of triangulation. It has become evident that the teachers are to some extent aware of the changes the education system is going through in South Africa. It also became clear from the study that the teachers are still lacking expertise as to how to practice along the lines of Curriculum 2005, the South African version of Outcomes Based Education (OBE). They also showed that they are keen to learn and practice OBE even though more opportunities need to be created for their epistemological empowerment as well as empowerment on the content of science.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Booi, Kwanele
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Competency-based education -- South Africa Competency-based education -- Evaluation Competency-based education -- South Africa -- Khayelitsha -- Evaluation Physical sciences -- Study and teaching -- Evaluation Life sciences -- Study and teaching -- Evaluation Cape College of Education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1569 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003451
- Description: 1. This pilot study is a survey of practices of natural sciences educators at Cape College of Education to establish if they reflect the conceptual development, development of skills, change of attitudes and values that are the pillars of the Outcomes Based Education (OBE). Their approaches of lecturing have been assessed to determine if they incorporate investigative approaches based on social constructivism, the theory underpinning Curriculum 2005. The status of science education in the college has been analyzed to establish whether the curriculum can adapt itself to the specifications of the new curriculum. It has been concluded that the educators at Cape College of Education need to be empowered about strategies that will help them function along the principles embracing Curriculum 2005 specifications. The educators have shown not to be ready to practice social constructivism and the assessment strategies incorporated in their programmes do not embrace a variety of approaches that will enable their learners to develop conceptually, skill wise and enable them to develop change in attitudes and values. Investigative approaches to practical work appear to be lacking in the college teaching/learning and this also indicates that Curriculum 2005 will take time to be properly implemented at Cape College of Education. 2. This study is based on the practices of science educators in the squatter-camp school in Khayelitsha, a densely populated area for blacks near Cape Town. Teachers at Vuselela primary school were interviewed about their teaching assessment strategies to establish whether they incorporate a learner centred approach, which is the necessity for the Outcomes Based Education approach. Also some of the lessons they taught were observed in order to find out whether they validate what transpired from the interviews through a process of triangulation. It has become evident that the teachers are to some extent aware of the changes the education system is going through in South Africa. It also became clear from the study that the teachers are still lacking expertise as to how to practice along the lines of Curriculum 2005, the South African version of Outcomes Based Education (OBE). They also showed that they are keen to learn and practice OBE even though more opportunities need to be created for their epistemological empowerment as well as empowerment on the content of science.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
The implementation of project work by selected grade 10 life science teachers in Namibia
- Authors: Angula, Alina Hambelela
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Education -- Namibia Life sciences -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia Project method in teaching -- Namibia School improvement programs -- Namibia Teachers -- Training of -- Namibia Curriculum planning -- Namibia Educational change -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1567 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003449
- Description: Prior to independence in Namibia in 1990 the education system of the day did not encourage the majority of Namibian learners to explore and investigate the wonder of the natural and physical world. The post independence education system has nurtured the study of the sciences and has emphasized participation, problem solving and independent studies. The inclusion of projects and other independent studies has been regarded as a key vehicle to develop scientific understanding and competencies related to this understanding. However, very few studies have hitherto investigated the teachers’ understanding and implementation of projects in the Namibian context. This study investigates how Grade 10 Life Science teachers understand and implement projects in selected schools in Namibia. The study focused on two teachers in two schools, a combined and a senior secondary school in the Oshikoto educational region of Namibia. The research was conducted through an interpretive case study aiming to gain a better understanding about the implementation of projects in schools. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom observation and document analysis. The findings indicate that despite the focus on projects in the Life Science syllabus and broad curriculum, policy documents do not give detailed guidelines on how projects should be planned, organized and assessed. The results revealed that knowledge about projects and their implementation is primarily informed by practical activities rather than the critical enquiries or investigations required by the Life Science curriculum policy. The study also revealed that despite the in-service training received by the two teachers participating in this study on syllabus interpretation, it is apparent from the findings that project work in these in-service programmes was neglected. This has further hampered teachers’ understanding and implementation of projects. The findings of this study point to a need for project guidelines as well as in-service programmes in this area if the stated nature and role of projects in the context of Namibian education policy is to be achieved.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Angula, Alina Hambelela
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Education -- Namibia Life sciences -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia Project method in teaching -- Namibia School improvement programs -- Namibia Teachers -- Training of -- Namibia Curriculum planning -- Namibia Educational change -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1567 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003449
- Description: Prior to independence in Namibia in 1990 the education system of the day did not encourage the majority of Namibian learners to explore and investigate the wonder of the natural and physical world. The post independence education system has nurtured the study of the sciences and has emphasized participation, problem solving and independent studies. The inclusion of projects and other independent studies has been regarded as a key vehicle to develop scientific understanding and competencies related to this understanding. However, very few studies have hitherto investigated the teachers’ understanding and implementation of projects in the Namibian context. This study investigates how Grade 10 Life Science teachers understand and implement projects in selected schools in Namibia. The study focused on two teachers in two schools, a combined and a senior secondary school in the Oshikoto educational region of Namibia. The research was conducted through an interpretive case study aiming to gain a better understanding about the implementation of projects in schools. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom observation and document analysis. The findings indicate that despite the focus on projects in the Life Science syllabus and broad curriculum, policy documents do not give detailed guidelines on how projects should be planned, organized and assessed. The results revealed that knowledge about projects and their implementation is primarily informed by practical activities rather than the critical enquiries or investigations required by the Life Science curriculum policy. The study also revealed that despite the in-service training received by the two teachers participating in this study on syllabus interpretation, it is apparent from the findings that project work in these in-service programmes was neglected. This has further hampered teachers’ understanding and implementation of projects. The findings of this study point to a need for project guidelines as well as in-service programmes in this area if the stated nature and role of projects in the context of Namibian education policy is to be achieved.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
The implementation of multigrade teaching in rural schools in the Keetmanshoop education region: leadership and management challenges
- Authors: Titus, David Petrus
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Education -- Namibia Education, Rural -- Namibia Education and state -- Namibia Educational change -- Namibia School management and organization -- Namibia Rural schools -- Namibia Educational leadership -- Namibia School principals -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1566 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003448
- Description: Leadership has received much attention in both the business world and education. My thesis explores effective educational leadership through examining the management and leadership challenges that face principals in a multi-grade school. Schools in sparsely populated rural areas in Namibia have had to resort to multi-grade teaching to be able to be economically viable. Hard economic realities force people to move to bigger towns and cities. The constant demand for better schools, effective principals, qualified teachers and an improved service to the communities coupled with the demand for better working conditions and salaries for teachers drained the education budget even further. To keep in line with the four major policies of education namely equity, access, quality and democracy, the operation of smaller, rural multi-grade schools has become a necessity. The alternative – which is to close smaller schools and operate fewer, bigger schools at an affordable and reasonable cost - would deny rural communities access to schooling. This thesis is a case study of the leadership and management challenges of multigrade schooling in a single school. The goal was to understand how education managers and leaders perceived their role in making it possible for teachers and learners to cope with multi-grade teaching. I worked in the interpretive paradigm to be able to interpret the social and cultural context of a rural, multi-grade school in the Karas region. The methods included questionnaires, interviews and observation. One of the leadership models universally considered to be available to principals of multi-grade schools is instructional leadership. My study revealed that the concept was unknown to teaching staff, although there were indications that the model had been encountered. My findings also revealed that the communication between colleges of education and the regional education department staff was very limited. One of the major issues that arose was that principals were so occupied with teaching that important issues about training/evaluation and supervision of teachers, the ‘visibility’ of the principal, setting and implementation of the aims and goals of the school and regular communication with parents and community leaders were neglected. Probably the most significant finding was that head teachers are not trained in the management of a multi-grade school, hence most if not all of the head teachers run multi-grade schools like a single-graded school. The single most important problem was that the importance of multi-grade teaching had never been highlighted, particularly in light of new staffing norms, in spite of the fact that it was a phenomenon that was likely to be a permanent arrangement.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Titus, David Petrus
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Education -- Namibia Education, Rural -- Namibia Education and state -- Namibia Educational change -- Namibia School management and organization -- Namibia Rural schools -- Namibia Educational leadership -- Namibia School principals -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1566 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003448
- Description: Leadership has received much attention in both the business world and education. My thesis explores effective educational leadership through examining the management and leadership challenges that face principals in a multi-grade school. Schools in sparsely populated rural areas in Namibia have had to resort to multi-grade teaching to be able to be economically viable. Hard economic realities force people to move to bigger towns and cities. The constant demand for better schools, effective principals, qualified teachers and an improved service to the communities coupled with the demand for better working conditions and salaries for teachers drained the education budget even further. To keep in line with the four major policies of education namely equity, access, quality and democracy, the operation of smaller, rural multi-grade schools has become a necessity. The alternative – which is to close smaller schools and operate fewer, bigger schools at an affordable and reasonable cost - would deny rural communities access to schooling. This thesis is a case study of the leadership and management challenges of multigrade schooling in a single school. The goal was to understand how education managers and leaders perceived their role in making it possible for teachers and learners to cope with multi-grade teaching. I worked in the interpretive paradigm to be able to interpret the social and cultural context of a rural, multi-grade school in the Karas region. The methods included questionnaires, interviews and observation. One of the leadership models universally considered to be available to principals of multi-grade schools is instructional leadership. My study revealed that the concept was unknown to teaching staff, although there were indications that the model had been encountered. My findings also revealed that the communication between colleges of education and the regional education department staff was very limited. One of the major issues that arose was that principals were so occupied with teaching that important issues about training/evaluation and supervision of teachers, the ‘visibility’ of the principal, setting and implementation of the aims and goals of the school and regular communication with parents and community leaders were neglected. Probably the most significant finding was that head teachers are not trained in the management of a multi-grade school, hence most if not all of the head teachers run multi-grade schools like a single-graded school. The single most important problem was that the importance of multi-grade teaching had never been highlighted, particularly in light of new staffing norms, in spite of the fact that it was a phenomenon that was likely to be a permanent arrangement.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
The implementation of formative assessment policies in two Grade 10 life science classrooms in the Keetmanshoop district
- Authors: Van Neel, Adrian Richerd
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Life sciences -- Study and teaching -- Namibia Education -- Namibia Educational change -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1841 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004371
- Description: This research project investigates the implementation of formative assessment policies in the Life Science curriculum at two schools in the Keetmanshoop District, Karas Education Region. It takes the form of an interpretive case study and adopts a qualitative approach. Several data collection tools were used: classroom observation, document analysis and semi-structured interviews. Two of the eleven schools in the Karas Region offering Grade 10 Life Science were selected for the study, and the research participants at each school consisted of one Grade 10 Life Science teacher and five of their learners. The study situates itself in the context of Namibian educational reform by reviewing relevant literature pertaining to learner-centred (constructivist) education and assessment practices in pre- and post-independent Namibia. The study highlights issues pertaining to formative assessment that are at variance with reform policies, identifying six recurring themes that explain how formative assessment policies are implemented. These are teachers' perceptions of formative assessment and its role in teaching and learning, the type of learning being developed, marking/assessing assessment tasks, the integration of formative assessment into classroom instruction, strategies teachers used to implement formative assessment, and types and purpose of activities. The themes that evolved during the data gathering process provide insight into the ways in which teachers perceive formative assessment in relation to the ideals of Namibian educational reform policies. In the light of these findings, the study makes recommendations concerning the implementation of formative assessment policies so as to render these congruent with the theory underpinning leamer-centred education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Van Neel, Adrian Richerd
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Life sciences -- Study and teaching -- Namibia Education -- Namibia Educational change -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1841 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004371
- Description: This research project investigates the implementation of formative assessment policies in the Life Science curriculum at two schools in the Keetmanshoop District, Karas Education Region. It takes the form of an interpretive case study and adopts a qualitative approach. Several data collection tools were used: classroom observation, document analysis and semi-structured interviews. Two of the eleven schools in the Karas Region offering Grade 10 Life Science were selected for the study, and the research participants at each school consisted of one Grade 10 Life Science teacher and five of their learners. The study situates itself in the context of Namibian educational reform by reviewing relevant literature pertaining to learner-centred (constructivist) education and assessment practices in pre- and post-independent Namibia. The study highlights issues pertaining to formative assessment that are at variance with reform policies, identifying six recurring themes that explain how formative assessment policies are implemented. These are teachers' perceptions of formative assessment and its role in teaching and learning, the type of learning being developed, marking/assessing assessment tasks, the integration of formative assessment into classroom instruction, strategies teachers used to implement formative assessment, and types and purpose of activities. The themes that evolved during the data gathering process provide insight into the ways in which teachers perceive formative assessment in relation to the ideals of Namibian educational reform policies. In the light of these findings, the study makes recommendations concerning the implementation of formative assessment policies so as to render these congruent with the theory underpinning leamer-centred education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The implementation of environmental education policy in Namibia: perceptions of a range of decision-makers
- Authors: Katoma, Loini-Nyanyukweni
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Environmental education -- Namibia , Education and state -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1563 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003445 , Environmental education -- Namibia , Education and state -- Namibia
- Description: This study is the first cycle of an action research project that focuses on the implementation of the Environmental Education Policy in Namibia. Perceptions of Namibian decision-makers were sought with regard to their understanding of the concepts ‘environment’ and ‘environmental education’, as well as to identify environmental problems and obstacles to the implementation of the Environmental Education Policy. The approach of coming up with options to address the identified problems/obstacles/constraints, was employed in this study. To this effect, interviews, a workshop, observations and reflections on the process of implementation resulted in a wealth of data. The findings shed light on possible solutions to address the identified problems and obstacles. The results revealed that community participation, skills development and the proper co-ordination of environmental education activities are imperative in addressing the obvious policy-practice gap. Decision-makers uncovered the fact that the socio-economic situation of our people necessitated pulling our resources together and working as a team. The overall perceptions are that the environment is everyone’s business and that we should zealously use it and carefully guard it, not only for ourselves but also, for the benefit of coming generations.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
- Authors: Katoma, Loini-Nyanyukweni
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Environmental education -- Namibia , Education and state -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1563 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003445 , Environmental education -- Namibia , Education and state -- Namibia
- Description: This study is the first cycle of an action research project that focuses on the implementation of the Environmental Education Policy in Namibia. Perceptions of Namibian decision-makers were sought with regard to their understanding of the concepts ‘environment’ and ‘environmental education’, as well as to identify environmental problems and obstacles to the implementation of the Environmental Education Policy. The approach of coming up with options to address the identified problems/obstacles/constraints, was employed in this study. To this effect, interviews, a workshop, observations and reflections on the process of implementation resulted in a wealth of data. The findings shed light on possible solutions to address the identified problems and obstacles. The results revealed that community participation, skills development and the proper co-ordination of environmental education activities are imperative in addressing the obvious policy-practice gap. Decision-makers uncovered the fact that the socio-economic situation of our people necessitated pulling our resources together and working as a team. The overall perceptions are that the environment is everyone’s business and that we should zealously use it and carefully guard it, not only for ourselves but also, for the benefit of coming generations.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
The impact of US Peace Corps volunteers on the management and leadership of a school in Namibia: a case study
- Authors: Ipangelwa, Anna
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Peace Corps (U.S.) Volunteer workers in Education -- Namibia Education -- Namibia Education and state -- Namibia Educational change -- Namibia School management and organization -- Namibia Educational leadership -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1561 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003443
- Description: Peace Corps Volunteer teachers have played a significant role in Namibia’s attempts to restructure education in line with its policy of education for all. While we have learned a great deal in recent years about how Peace Corps Volunteer Teachers have achieved their stated goals and objectives of teaching students and training serving teachers, we still know relatively little about the role they may have played in school management. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of Peace Corps volunteers work on the management and leadership of the schools they serve. The study focuses on the work of two volunteers based in a combined school in the Ondangwa West educational region of Namibia. The study adopts a qualitative approach and seeks to establish whether there has been an impact by Peace Corps volunteer’s work on the management and leadership of this school by focusing on (a) activities performed by Peace Corps volunteers; (b) the experiences of both management and staff in working with Peace Corps volunteers; (c) whether the presence of Peace Corps volunteers that served at the school influence the management and leadership of the school; (d) how the duties and activities performed by these volunteers were perceived by the students, teachers and community. The interview questions that were used to collect data from seven respondents were based on the literature from Peace Corps and the Ministry of Basic Education, Culture and Sport as well as education management and leadership literature. The findings indicate that volunteers that served at this school performed management and leadership related activities with the students, teachers and community and that these activities are having an effect on the management and leadership of the school.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Ipangelwa, Anna
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Peace Corps (U.S.) Volunteer workers in Education -- Namibia Education -- Namibia Education and state -- Namibia Educational change -- Namibia School management and organization -- Namibia Educational leadership -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1561 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003443
- Description: Peace Corps Volunteer teachers have played a significant role in Namibia’s attempts to restructure education in line with its policy of education for all. While we have learned a great deal in recent years about how Peace Corps Volunteer Teachers have achieved their stated goals and objectives of teaching students and training serving teachers, we still know relatively little about the role they may have played in school management. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of Peace Corps volunteers work on the management and leadership of the schools they serve. The study focuses on the work of two volunteers based in a combined school in the Ondangwa West educational region of Namibia. The study adopts a qualitative approach and seeks to establish whether there has been an impact by Peace Corps volunteer’s work on the management and leadership of this school by focusing on (a) activities performed by Peace Corps volunteers; (b) the experiences of both management and staff in working with Peace Corps volunteers; (c) whether the presence of Peace Corps volunteers that served at the school influence the management and leadership of the school; (d) how the duties and activities performed by these volunteers were perceived by the students, teachers and community. The interview questions that were used to collect data from seven respondents were based on the literature from Peace Corps and the Ministry of Basic Education, Culture and Sport as well as education management and leadership literature. The findings indicate that volunteers that served at this school performed management and leadership related activities with the students, teachers and community and that these activities are having an effect on the management and leadership of the school.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
The history and the problems of Bantu urban secondary education in the Eastern Cape, 1937-1954 (Ciskei region)
- Authors: Dyasi, Hubert Mongameli
- Date: 1961
- Subjects: Black people -- Education -- South Africa -- Ciskei , Black people -- Education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1997 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014827
- Description: 1. Reasons for Choosing the Topic. Much has been written about secondary education in England, Continental Europe, the United States, Canada, China and other countries mainly "because Secondary Education has been one of the most prized of all formal types of education ... because it has been the rung of the educational ladder that has led to opportunity and preferment". Very little research work has been done on Bantu secondary education in the Ciskei, and still less about Bantu urban secondary education. This is a shortcoming since the Ciskei has been one of the most important educational areas for the Bantu in the Union of South Africa and the territories outside her borders. It was here that the experiment of Bantu day secondary schools was carried out. It could aptly have been said of the Ciskei, too, that "experimental work (destined one day to blaze into a consuming fire) has been carried on, where men and women of faith and inspiration have lit up some dark corner of the field, and where teachers of genius have defied tradition and convention, gone their own way in scorn of consequence, and have lit a candle which will never be put out". The Bantu Urban Day Secondary Schools started amidst conflicting opinions as regards their advantages and disadvantages. Difficulties were encountered and efforts made to overcome them. The present writer attempts to show how the problems of these schools were overcome and to assess the progress that was made. 2. Need for the Study. There is a great need for the study of the history and problems of Bantu Urban Day Secondary education because for many years to come these schools will have to serve an increasing number of urban Bantu pupils. The results of the research may serve as a guide to teachers appointed to these schools. The important history of these institutions preserved only in the minds of old men and women, may be lost to posterity. There is also a great need to bring to light the unique problems confronting these schools. 3. Scope of Dissertation. The dissertation limits itself to Bantu Urban Day secondary education, in specific areas of the Ciskei. Two secondary and two high schools have been chosen for special study. Bantu Urban Day Secondary Schools are those schools which are situated in areas under the jurisdiction of municipalities or town councils irrespective of whether the school admits largely pupils who are outside such an area or only those within it or both. The entrance qualification to these schools has always been a pass in Standard VI (normally after eight years of primary or elementary schooling). For the Bantu pupil the Junior Certificate Course was of three years' duration. The successful completion of the J.C. course qualified pupils to train as nurses, in the case of girls, and agricultural demonstrators in the case of boys. Both sexes could undertake studies for Native Primary Higher Teachers' Course, and the Senior Certificate Course or the Matriculation leading to university degrees.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1961
- Authors: Dyasi, Hubert Mongameli
- Date: 1961
- Subjects: Black people -- Education -- South Africa -- Ciskei , Black people -- Education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1997 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014827
- Description: 1. Reasons for Choosing the Topic. Much has been written about secondary education in England, Continental Europe, the United States, Canada, China and other countries mainly "because Secondary Education has been one of the most prized of all formal types of education ... because it has been the rung of the educational ladder that has led to opportunity and preferment". Very little research work has been done on Bantu secondary education in the Ciskei, and still less about Bantu urban secondary education. This is a shortcoming since the Ciskei has been one of the most important educational areas for the Bantu in the Union of South Africa and the territories outside her borders. It was here that the experiment of Bantu day secondary schools was carried out. It could aptly have been said of the Ciskei, too, that "experimental work (destined one day to blaze into a consuming fire) has been carried on, where men and women of faith and inspiration have lit up some dark corner of the field, and where teachers of genius have defied tradition and convention, gone their own way in scorn of consequence, and have lit a candle which will never be put out". The Bantu Urban Day Secondary Schools started amidst conflicting opinions as regards their advantages and disadvantages. Difficulties were encountered and efforts made to overcome them. The present writer attempts to show how the problems of these schools were overcome and to assess the progress that was made. 2. Need for the Study. There is a great need for the study of the history and problems of Bantu Urban Day Secondary education because for many years to come these schools will have to serve an increasing number of urban Bantu pupils. The results of the research may serve as a guide to teachers appointed to these schools. The important history of these institutions preserved only in the minds of old men and women, may be lost to posterity. There is also a great need to bring to light the unique problems confronting these schools. 3. Scope of Dissertation. The dissertation limits itself to Bantu Urban Day secondary education, in specific areas of the Ciskei. Two secondary and two high schools have been chosen for special study. Bantu Urban Day Secondary Schools are those schools which are situated in areas under the jurisdiction of municipalities or town councils irrespective of whether the school admits largely pupils who are outside such an area or only those within it or both. The entrance qualification to these schools has always been a pass in Standard VI (normally after eight years of primary or elementary schooling). For the Bantu pupil the Junior Certificate Course was of three years' duration. The successful completion of the J.C. course qualified pupils to train as nurses, in the case of girls, and agricultural demonstrators in the case of boys. Both sexes could undertake studies for Native Primary Higher Teachers' Course, and the Senior Certificate Course or the Matriculation leading to university degrees.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1961
The historical development of geography as a subject in the schools of the Cape Province (1772-1951)
- Authors: Knox, John Charles
- Date: 1959
- Subjects: Geography -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1974 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012702 , Geography -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope
- Description: As the title indicates, this is a study of the historical emergence of geography as a subject in Cape schools, and covers the period 1772-1951. The account is not merely descriptive and factual, for wherever possible an attempt is made to assess the nature and scope of the geography which was taught at different periods in relation to modern, authoritative ideas concerning the pedagogic application of the subject in the school. The work as a whole is predominantly concerned with the historical development of geography in the secondary school. However, in the initial four chapters the slight and insubstantial nature of the available data precludes the possibility of differentiating between geoeraphy of primary standard and that of secondary standard, and in these early chapters all references to the subject are consequently generalized. In Chapter 5, which deals with the period during which Langham Dale was Superintendent-Genera l of Education, geography of secondary standard becomes distinguishable from that of primary standard for the first time, and from this point onwards the two are differentiated to the fullest extent possible, and the former is chiefly emphasized. The entire study is presented against a broad background of relevant, educational developments of a general nature.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1959
The historical development of geography as a subject in the schools of the Cape Province (1772-1951)
- Authors: Knox, John Charles
- Date: 1959
- Subjects: Geography -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1974 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012702 , Geography -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope
- Description: As the title indicates, this is a study of the historical emergence of geography as a subject in Cape schools, and covers the period 1772-1951. The account is not merely descriptive and factual, for wherever possible an attempt is made to assess the nature and scope of the geography which was taught at different periods in relation to modern, authoritative ideas concerning the pedagogic application of the subject in the school. The work as a whole is predominantly concerned with the historical development of geography in the secondary school. However, in the initial four chapters the slight and insubstantial nature of the available data precludes the possibility of differentiating between geoeraphy of primary standard and that of secondary standard, and in these early chapters all references to the subject are consequently generalized. In Chapter 5, which deals with the period during which Langham Dale was Superintendent-Genera l of Education, geography of secondary standard becomes distinguishable from that of primary standard for the first time, and from this point onwards the two are differentiated to the fullest extent possible, and the former is chiefly emphasized. The entire study is presented against a broad background of relevant, educational developments of a general nature.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1959
The heuristic significance of enacted visualisation
- Authors: Samson, Duncan Alistair
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Heuristic Visualization Problem solving Pattern perception Problem solving -- Ability testing Mathematics -- Study and teaching Education -- Research Interdisciplinary approach to knowledge
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1552 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003434
- Description: This study is centred on an analysis of pupils' lived experience while engaged in the generalisation of linear sequences/progressions presented in a pictorial context. The study is oriented within the conceptual framework of qualitative research, and is anchored within an interpretive paradigm. A case study methodological strategy was adopted, the research participants being the members of a mixed gender, high ability Grade 9 class of 23 pupils at an independent school in South Africa. The analytical framework is structured around a combination of complementary multiple perspectives provided by three theoretical ideas, enactivism, figural apprehension, and knowledge objectification. An important aspect of this analytical framework is the sensitivity it shows to the visual, phenomenological and semiotic aspects of figural pattern generalisation. It is the central thesis of this study that the combined complementary multiple perspectives of enactivism, figural apprehension and knowledge objectification provide a powerful depth of analysis to the exploration of the inter-relationship between the embodied processes of pattern generalisation and the visualisation of pictorial cues. The richly textured tapestry of activity captured through a multi-systemic semiotic analysis of participants' generalisation activity stands testament to this central thesis. Insights gleaned from this study are presented as practical strategies which support and encourage a multiple representational approach to pattern generalisation in the pedagogical context of the classroom.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Samson, Duncan Alistair
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Heuristic Visualization Problem solving Pattern perception Problem solving -- Ability testing Mathematics -- Study and teaching Education -- Research Interdisciplinary approach to knowledge
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1552 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003434
- Description: This study is centred on an analysis of pupils' lived experience while engaged in the generalisation of linear sequences/progressions presented in a pictorial context. The study is oriented within the conceptual framework of qualitative research, and is anchored within an interpretive paradigm. A case study methodological strategy was adopted, the research participants being the members of a mixed gender, high ability Grade 9 class of 23 pupils at an independent school in South Africa. The analytical framework is structured around a combination of complementary multiple perspectives provided by three theoretical ideas, enactivism, figural apprehension, and knowledge objectification. An important aspect of this analytical framework is the sensitivity it shows to the visual, phenomenological and semiotic aspects of figural pattern generalisation. It is the central thesis of this study that the combined complementary multiple perspectives of enactivism, figural apprehension and knowledge objectification provide a powerful depth of analysis to the exploration of the inter-relationship between the embodied processes of pattern generalisation and the visualisation of pictorial cues. The richly textured tapestry of activity captured through a multi-systemic semiotic analysis of participants' generalisation activity stands testament to this central thesis. Insights gleaned from this study are presented as practical strategies which support and encourage a multiple representational approach to pattern generalisation in the pedagogical context of the classroom.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
The future of the past in South African schools : curriculum development, school leaving examinations and syllabus design and assessment in history : a comparative study
- Authors: Gunn, Alan Howard
- Date: 1990
- Subjects: Education -- South Africa , Education -- South Africa -- History , Education -- South Africa -- Forecasting
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1375 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001441
- Description: This is a two-part study dealing with the curriculum, school leaving examinations and History as a school subject in England and South Africa. Part One is a developmental study. Developments in the curriculum of both countries since the Second World War are traced. In England this period is characterised by a shift from a somewhat laissez faire approach of the authorities at Whitehall to the curriculum of individual schools to the prescription that seems inherent in the National Curriculum. The outstanding development in South Africa during this period has been the introduction of a system of differentiated education. In contrast to minor developments in the South African school leaving examination system, England has witnessed the consolidation of the two-tier GCE and CSE system into a single examination at 16+, the GCSE. In discussing developments in History as a school subject, one is struck by the growth of the "new history" in England (this is described in some detail) against the relative lack of development (at "official" syllabus level) in South Africa where the subject remains rooted in the "traditional", chronological, content-based approach. Part Two of this study compares the current situation in England and South Africa at both the macro (ie. curriculum and school leaving examination systems) and micro (ie. History as a subject in the curriculum) levels. At the macro level the curriculum and school leaving examination systems in both England and South Africa are contrasted and one notes an increasing trend towards centralization in both countries. At the micro level use is made of "official" syllabuses and examination papers to contrast the "new history" approach in England with the "traditional" approach in South Africa. In the conclusion two broad possibilities for curriculum reform in South Africa are considered: Broad reform across the curriculum on the one hand and reforms in History on the other
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1990
- Authors: Gunn, Alan Howard
- Date: 1990
- Subjects: Education -- South Africa , Education -- South Africa -- History , Education -- South Africa -- Forecasting
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1375 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001441
- Description: This is a two-part study dealing with the curriculum, school leaving examinations and History as a school subject in England and South Africa. Part One is a developmental study. Developments in the curriculum of both countries since the Second World War are traced. In England this period is characterised by a shift from a somewhat laissez faire approach of the authorities at Whitehall to the curriculum of individual schools to the prescription that seems inherent in the National Curriculum. The outstanding development in South Africa during this period has been the introduction of a system of differentiated education. In contrast to minor developments in the South African school leaving examination system, England has witnessed the consolidation of the two-tier GCE and CSE system into a single examination at 16+, the GCSE. In discussing developments in History as a school subject, one is struck by the growth of the "new history" in England (this is described in some detail) against the relative lack of development (at "official" syllabus level) in South Africa where the subject remains rooted in the "traditional", chronological, content-based approach. Part Two of this study compares the current situation in England and South Africa at both the macro (ie. curriculum and school leaving examination systems) and micro (ie. History as a subject in the curriculum) levels. At the macro level the curriculum and school leaving examination systems in both England and South Africa are contrasted and one notes an increasing trend towards centralization in both countries. At the micro level use is made of "official" syllabuses and examination papers to contrast the "new history" approach in England with the "traditional" approach in South Africa. In the conclusion two broad possibilities for curriculum reform in South Africa are considered: Broad reform across the curriculum on the one hand and reforms in History on the other
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1990
The FITE for reading teaching : an examination of the initial training of senior primary teachers at a sample of institutions in England and South Africa
- Authors: McKellar, David William
- Date: 1992
- Subjects: Reading (Elementary) -- South Africa Reading (Elementary) -- Great Britain Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa Teachers -- Training of -- Great Britain
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1545 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003427
- Description: Primary school teachers are expected to teach reading. Whether they are adequately prepared to fulfil this role, particularly for those preparing to teach in the senior primary phase, is the concern of this thesis. Reading teaching models are useful to reading teaching course developers for devising initial training syllabuses. Such models are described, followed by an example of such a syllabus developed at Rhodes University. The Rhodes University model, described early in the thesis, is used as a background for the further consideration of aspects of reading teaching at other institutions. This model is also used as an instrument for assessing the pre-service teaching experience of student teachers. The study focuses on English speaking teacher training institutions where the majority of the student teachers are preparing to teach in English speaking primary schools. Because of the considerable influence of developments in England on South African English speaking teacher training institutions, reading teaching developments in England from 1972 to 1990 are described. The pioneering work of Cook and Moyle provides a background against which subsequent developments in reading teaching are traced. Reports produced by the Department of Education and Science provide many insights into the state of reading teaching in schools in England as well as developments in teacher training. The reading teaching courses at six teacher training institutions are examined - three in England and three in South Africa. The differences are considerable, particularly the amount of time allocated to reading teaching during the four years of initial teacher education and training common to the six institutions. Two cohorts of student teachers review and assess the Rhodes University reading teaching course in terms of the extent of its interest and value for them as prospective teachers, and the amount of time allocated to the course. The most disturbing finding of this study is the nature of reading teaching observed in schools by student teachers. It is suggested that if reading teaching in senior primary schools is to be improved, the deadlocked cycle needs to be broken by education authorities, teachers and teacher trainers resolving the problem jointly.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992
- Authors: McKellar, David William
- Date: 1992
- Subjects: Reading (Elementary) -- South Africa Reading (Elementary) -- Great Britain Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa Teachers -- Training of -- Great Britain
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1545 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003427
- Description: Primary school teachers are expected to teach reading. Whether they are adequately prepared to fulfil this role, particularly for those preparing to teach in the senior primary phase, is the concern of this thesis. Reading teaching models are useful to reading teaching course developers for devising initial training syllabuses. Such models are described, followed by an example of such a syllabus developed at Rhodes University. The Rhodes University model, described early in the thesis, is used as a background for the further consideration of aspects of reading teaching at other institutions. This model is also used as an instrument for assessing the pre-service teaching experience of student teachers. The study focuses on English speaking teacher training institutions where the majority of the student teachers are preparing to teach in English speaking primary schools. Because of the considerable influence of developments in England on South African English speaking teacher training institutions, reading teaching developments in England from 1972 to 1990 are described. The pioneering work of Cook and Moyle provides a background against which subsequent developments in reading teaching are traced. Reports produced by the Department of Education and Science provide many insights into the state of reading teaching in schools in England as well as developments in teacher training. The reading teaching courses at six teacher training institutions are examined - three in England and three in South Africa. The differences are considerable, particularly the amount of time allocated to reading teaching during the four years of initial teacher education and training common to the six institutions. Two cohorts of student teachers review and assess the Rhodes University reading teaching course in terms of the extent of its interest and value for them as prospective teachers, and the amount of time allocated to the course. The most disturbing finding of this study is the nature of reading teaching observed in schools by student teachers. It is suggested that if reading teaching in senior primary schools is to be improved, the deadlocked cycle needs to be broken by education authorities, teachers and teacher trainers resolving the problem jointly.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992