Teachers’ engagement with learners in inclusive foundation phase classrooms: a case study analysis
- Authors: Skae, Vera Astrid
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Early childhood education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies , Education and state -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92705 , vital:30722
- Description: Since 2001, South African teachers have been attempting to practise inclusive education in classrooms in ordinary, public schools. Previous research has shown the many challenges South African teachers face in our current educational environment. Strong arguments, however, have been made for more research to be done on actual teacher engagement with learners in our ordinary, public school classrooms, and the extent to which classroom practices are inclusive (Engelbrecht, Nel, Nel & Tlale, 2015, p. 3). This study sought to do an in-depth critical analysis of three foundation phase teachers and their engagement with learners in their classrooms at an Eastern Cape school. The aim was to examine how inclusive education was being enacted by the teacher with learners in real classroom settings, with particular attention paid to ways in which learners experience barriers to learning. A micro-level analysis was conducted in a single unit case study and using a qualitative research approach in an interpretive paradigm. Questionnaires, observations, and semi-structured interviews were conducted in an attempt to gather in-depth data. It was heartening to observe the extent to which inclusive education and practices were being enacted at the school and in the classrooms, and instructive in providing examples of what can work in the South African context. Key findings of this study include the generation of a framework for analysing inclusive classroom practice at the micro level. Criteria were identified as indicators of inclusive education of learners including those experiencing barriers to learning in the classroom. This study builds on and extends what has been developed at the macro and micro level of inclusive education in schools and in the classroom. It found that a number of challenges remain for enabling the implementation of an inclusive education. At the macro level, these include the provision of clear directives for implementation of inclusive education by the appropriate authorities; the provision of well-structured professional teacher training and development programmes in inclusive classroom practices, as well as in barriers to learning and how to address them; and the provision of funding for school and classroom infrastructure and resources. At the micro level, these include the successful implementation by teachers of inclusive classroom practices and the provision of the necessary support for learners experiencing barriers to learning in their classrooms, including expert personnel, resources, and assistive devices.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Selected Namibian secondary school geography teachers’ pedagogical thinking and practices: the case of mapwork
- Authors: Naxweka, Johanna Ndamononghenda
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Geography -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Cartography -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Maps -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76969 , vital:30651
- Description: Learner performance in mapwork in secondary school geography in Namibia has been consistently poor. Examiners’ reports provide detailed feedback on the difficulties learners demonstrate with little, if any, attention paid to teachers’ perceptions, experiences and pedagogical practices of mapwork. This qualitative study generated insights to understand selected geography teachers’ perceptions and pedagogical practices of mapwork. Data were generated through a questionnaire administered to thirty geography teachers in fifteen secondary schools in the Ohangwena Circuit in the Ohangwena Region of Namibia. The teachers’ responses were coded and analyzed and patterns and trends identified. Based on what emerged, a purposive sample of three teachers was chosen for in-depth interviews to probe their responses and to observe their classroom practices. The study draws on learner centred pedagogy (LCP), the official educational policy in Namibia, and Shulman’s perspectives of teachers’ content and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) (1986, 1987) to interpret what teachers say about the teaching of mapwork and how they teach it. The qualities of teachers’ PCK that support student learning in mapwork are not yet fully understood because there has been little research on teachers’ PCK for teaching mapwork and spatial thinking in geography classrooms (Jo & Bednarz, 2014). The study sheds light on the teachers’ qualifications and experience, their perceptions and attitudes towards the teaching of mapwork, their teaching strategies and the resources they use. The findings reveal that the teachers are conscientious but ill-equipped to teach mapwork. The study illuminated a disjuncture between the rhetoric and practice of learner centred pedagogy. There is evidence which suggests that the teachers’ knowledge of the curriculum is superficial and limited to content. Their practices are focused on teaching map skills and procedural knowledge with little, if any, attention given to spatial and map conceptual understanding and application of knowledge to solve problems. The study concludes that teachers’ map and spatial conceptual understanding and pedagogical content knowledge should be strengthened if the persistent problem of poor learner attainment is to be resolved. It provides insights that may be of value to Namibian teachers, teacher educators, curriculum policy developers and Senior Education Officers when addressing this problem.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Responding to iconic images of risk through reflexive and narrative enquiry represented in a stratified text for environmental education readers
- Authors: Murphy, Mary
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Sustainability -- Study and teaching , Environmental education -- Philosophy , Environmental degradation -- Study and teaching , Environmental degradation -- Philosophy , Reflection (Philosophy) , Archer, Margaret S (Margaret Scotford). Structure, agency, and the internal conversation
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96768 , vital:31318
- Description: This thesis presents a stratified textual strategy to represent meaning developed through reflexive and narrative enquiry of environmental risk. Meaning that emerged in responses to iconic images of risk. Umberto Eco cautioned that iconic images over time become conventional taking over from that which they represent. Representations of risk become embedded through cultural coding. Semiotic theory provided access to the contextual and cultural content of environmental education as experienced during professional work as a radio presenter of “Environmental Matters”, as an environmental educator and activist. Methodological rigour was applied through the application of Margaret Archer's theory of the internal conversation and use of an online content management system. Both the reflexive tool of the internal conversation and the textual mechanism of the blog encouraged commitment to Paul Hart's criteria of trustworthiness and authenticity in the process of building the semiotic structure of the PhD. The Internal Conversation was used as a mediating tool in the PhD process and is presented in practice. Rethinking environmental risk from other species' perspectives through imagined experience was achieved through narrative enquiry. A noted anthropocentric limitation of the inability to interview animals for their experience of human-imposed risk was mitigated through representing the imagined, possible perspectives through story, which invites the reader to join the meaning-making process and open up discussions for and about environmental issues and action. This noted anthropocentrism was evident in debates among the characters about violence and non-violence as a conditioned theme and topic discussed in previous academic research about terrorism in divided societies. The story illustrates how the main character, a penguin called Polo, navigates through emerging meaning within a structure that confronts him with choices that end with a decision to become an agent for change. This story is a narrative example of the morphogenetic process. The multi-textual strategy presents possible methods for the exploration of risk (Vol. 1), reflexivity (Vol. 2) and representation (Vol. 3) for the application and contribution in/to environmental education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Recontextualisation of biodiversity knowledge in the Senior Phase Natural Sciences curriculum
- Authors: Mmekwa, Makwena
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Science -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa , Biodiversity -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa , Environmental protection -- South Africa , Biodiversity Conservation -- South Africa , Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (Program) , South African National Biodiversity Institute. Life: the state of South Africa's biodiversity
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92694 , vital:30723
- Description: This study explored the nature of biodiversity knowledge in the Senior Phase Natural Sciences curriculum in relation to international and national scientific documents. Significant biodiversity key features were identified from a review of these documents. These concepts were then explored in terms of how they had been presented and recontextualised in the Senior Phase Natural Sciences CAPS policy document and a selection of three commonly used textbooks for this subject in South Africa. Using Bernstein’s (1990) framework of the Pedagogic Device, the study traces how biodiversity knowledge was de-located from the scientific Field of Production (FOP) and relocated into the Official Recontextualisation Field (ORF) and Pedagogical Recontextualisation Field (PRF). In exploring the continuity, changes and discontinuities in the biodiversity content, as it has been recontextualised, the study utilised Bernstein’s concepts of selective appropriation and ideological transformation. The study is a qualitative case study that drew on document analysis and structured interviews to generate data. Data analysis for this study consisted of two phases. Phase One involved an analysis of biodiversity knowledge in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA, 2005) and Life: The State of South Africa’s Biodiversity (SANBI, 2013) which represented the FOP. This was in order to explore the nature of biodiversity knowledge in those documents. This knowledge was then compared to the Senior Phase Natural Sciences curriculum which represented the ORF and selection of textbooks representing the PRF. Phase Two sought to investigate the role players in the recontextualising fields and what roles did they play in the recontextualisation of biodiversity knowledge. This phase entailed an analysis of interviews. The findings showed that both the international document and the national document presented biodiversity knowledge in terms of their fundamental value to humans. In addition, these documents illustrated human-environmental interactions. They presented procedural knowledge that allow us to understand ecosystems and their services to human well-being. The documents also described how ecosystem services are in decline in many places around the world. The documents presented knowledge of threats to biodiversity such as habitat loss, invasive species, pollution, and overharvesting. They also included knowledge of conservation and sustainability which focused on preventing ongoing degradation and restoration and reversal of degradation of ecosystems. In comparing the ORF and the PRF this study showed that the CAPS policy document appears to present concepts foundational to understanding biodiversity rather than discussing biodiversity itself. The textbooks contextualise these foundational concepts and broaden them mostly through pictorial illustrations, as case studies and contextual examples. A recommendation from the research is that the official recontextualisation process should review opportunities to draw on international and national documents that present concepts and contemporary cases of biodiversity content knowledge to ensure that the complexities around biodiversity are presented in the curriculum. This study may contribute to the development and review of the Natural Sciences curriculum and environmental education in South Africa. The study also suggests areas of biodiversity knowledge that might be included as curriculum content in the future. It further suggests that curriculum developers consider including new environmental knowledge which deals with local, national and global needs and expectations.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Reading to learn for secondary schooling: an interventionist action research study within a South African under-privileged setting
- Authors: Mataka, Tawanda Wallace
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Rose, David, 1955-. Reading to learn , Reading (Secondary) , English language -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Foreign speakers -- South Africa , English language -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Foreign speakers -- South Africa -- Case studies , Literacy -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92191 , vital:30706
- Description: The study examined the contribution that Rose’s (2005) Reading to Learn (RtL) methodology made in development of advanced literacy abilities recommended in the schooling system. RtL was influenced by Bernstein’s theory of pedagogic discourse, Bruner, Vygotsky’s social learning theory and Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics theory. The study used the same cohort of learners during Grades 11 and 12 in a black township secondary school in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. RtL was birthed in Australia with the intention of accelerating literacy development of learners in disadvantaged communities. Based on its success in Australia, I implemented the methodology against a backdrop of continuously declining literacy standards in South African primary and secondary schools. Researchers on literacy acknowledge that socioeconomic and geosocial circumstances cannot be divorced from poor literacy performances in South African schools. Although these two factors play a role in regressing literacy, pedagogical approaches play a role. RtL was employed as an intervention strategy with learners whose literacy abilities were found lacking in comparison to curriculum demands. Despite the focus being on learners whose performance was below expected academic levels, the able learners were motivated to further their advanced abilities. The learners whose performance was previously compromised performed to par with their able counterparts. RtL provided all learners an opportunity to apply, with less difficulty, the language approved by the schooling system. The two research questions sought to illuminate the role RtL played in developing learners’ ability to read, so that they could converse with text and put into writing practice what they had read. In this regard, creative and transactional assignments were written, and performance assessed to evaluate the RtL intervention. Secondly, the research allowed me to get an insight through interviews with learners as to how they were positively or negatively influenced through RtL in learning English as a First Additional Language. The study was a longitudinal action research study which had a life span of 22 months. It was dominantly qualitative with a thin quantitative strand. Data to evaluate effectiveness was generated from learners’ written work and interviews. The learners’ work was analysed using an RtL assessment tool adopted from Rose (2018), for the purposes of uniformity and reliability. Findings from interviews highlighted various views regarding the positive impact of RtL. What emerged from the findings is a reflection of the positive impact RtL had on literacy development. Significantly, learners’ work improved across the board, true to Rose’s assertion that learners exposed to teaching using RtL principles experience accelerated literacy development. Based on these findings, RtL implemented in a township setting in South Africa yields results similar to those in Australia and other countries.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Investigating the nature of grade six after school mathematics club learners’ shifts in mathematical number sense and procedural fluency
- Authors: Baart, Noluntu Via
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa , Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa -- Case studies , Numeracy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96825 , vital:31326
- Description: A wide range of research locally points to intermediate phase learners having extremely weak basic number sense resulting in the dominance of inefficient strategies for calculations with the four operations, irrespective of the number range. The grade six Annual National Assessments (ANA) diagnostic reports for 2012 to 2014 also point to errors and misconceptions that tend to dominate learners’ computations in the four basic operations; such errors are often attributed to the use of either tallies or incorrectly applied mathematical procedures. Having the above context in mind and following informal conversations with teachers in the Uitenhage Education District, five teachers expressed an interest in running the afterschool mathematics clubs based on the South African Numeracy Chair (SANC) project model. The SANC project team ran workshops in April, May and June 2016 with nine teachers (five as facilitators and four others as co-facilitators in five different club sites) in which teachers were provided with key resources for use in their clubs. Fifteen club sessions ran in each club with grade six learners across the 2nd and 3rd terms. These clubs form the empirical field for this research, which aims to investigate the nature of learners’ evolving number sense, procedural fluency and teachers’ experiences of working with learners in the club space. The unit of analysis in this study is both the shifts evident in learners’ number sense and procedural fluency as a result of participating in the clubs and the teacher’s experiences of working with learners in those clubs as club facilitators. A social constructivist perspective of learning guides this study. Especially Vygotsky’s (1978) notion that cognitive development stems from social interactions and guided learning within the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) of children, guided by more knowledgeable others. Furthermore, Kilpatrick et al.’s (2001) strands of mathematical proficiency provide the conceptual frame with a particular focus on procedural fluency and number sense. A mixed method approach to data collection was used. Quantitative data has been drawn from learner’s scores on pre- and post- assessments on four basic operations. Visual progression spectra have been adopted from the Pushing for Progression (PfP) Programme which is an intervention Programme developed by the SANC project for club facilitators. They provide explanations of learner progression trajectories and how to analyse learner methods. Qualitative narratives were drawn from learner progression data, as well as teacher post club questionnaires and one-to-one teacher interviews. The findings of this research suggest that learner workings when used in conjunction with visual progression spectra can provide important clues to researchers and teachers. This in turn contributes to an understanding of where learners are in their mathematical learning and gives ideas for how to support learners to progress using more flexible methods of calculation, particularly for poor performing learners. Included, is the discussion of the effectiveness of the club space to enable such shifts and improve learner flexibility, fluency and performance as displayed in learner methods and scores of the pre- and post- assessments. The teachers’ observations about the relaxed atmosphere in the club space, small sized groups, learning through play with co-members may have enabled the shifts in procedural fluency and number sense in club learners. Additionally, implications of the study are discussed, and tentative recommendations are made for the DBE to consider.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Investigating mathematical proficiency testing in Namibian school high stakes mathematics examinations: an exploratory study
- Authors: Ndjendja, Elizabeth
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Education and state -- Namibia , Educational tests and measurements -- Namibia , Mathematics -- Curricula -- Namibia , Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- Namibia , Namibia. Ministry of Education -- Examinations
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92887 , vital:30759
- Description: The Namibian government has put processes in place to continuously improve its education system in line with educational development in the world. The education reform efforts are administered and coordinated by the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture. At the centre of these reform efforts are curriculum policy documents and subject syllabuses with the intention of improving the teaching and learning process in the classrooms. These reform efforts appears to overlook the positive influence high stakes assessment has on the teaching and learning process. The study reported in this thesis was designed to investigate the feasibility of assessing separate elements of mathematical proficiency in the high stakes Mathematics assessment in Namibia. The study was designed as a developmental, exploratory research that collected and analysed both qualitative and quantitative data in order to respond to issues raised by five specific research objectives. The data collected enabled the adaptation of some assessment tools in order to distinctly assess selected mathematical proficiency categories. The results further indicated that the envisaged proficiency assessment system could be used to characterise the examination question papers and revealed insights into the conceptualisation of the current assessment system. The results further indicated the visible distinguishability of different elements of proficiency through the developed tools and the learners’ responses to the NSSCO examination. Finally, constrains and affordance which the original assessment system has in relation to the developed system were revealed and addressed. In closing, the research suggested changes and possible adaptation of assessment tools to ensure the proper assessment of mathematical proficiency aspects through high stakes assessment. Immerging issues that needed further research were also highlighted.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Investigating how the use of visual models can enhance the teaching of common fractions for conceptual understanding to Grade 8 learners
- Authors: Katenda, Aune Kashikuka
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Fractions -- Study and teaching (Secondary)-- Namibia , Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Secondary)-- Namibia , Information visualization , Visual learning -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96746 , vital:31314
- Description: The intention of this study was to explore how selected mathematics teachers used visual models to improve the teaching of common fractions for conceptual understanding to Grade 8 learners as a result of an intervention programme. This research study is part of the VIPROmaths project which seeks to research the effective use of visualisation processes in the mathematics classroom in South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Switzerland and Germany. This study which adopted a case study of teachers in Khomas Region, Namibia, is informed by constructivist learning theory. The study is situated within the interpretive paradigm and a multi-phase mixed method research approach was used. It focussed on analysing the use of visual models when teaching fractions namely: area model, number line model and a set model. The data were collected through survey questionnaires, observation and recall interview. The survey was conducted with the forty three mathematics teachers, from twenty secondary schools in Khomas region. The survey gave an overview of the nature and the use of visual models in schools. Three teachers purposively selected from the survey participated in the intervention program and were observed while teaching and interviewed after their teaching. Data were qualitatively and quantitatively analysed. The findings of this study reveal that visualising fractions is one of the methods that can improve both teaching and learning by providing concrete evidence of otherwise abstract ideas and concepts. The teachers highlighted that models themselves guide learners through to the answer, as compared to working out solutions using symbols only. They further indicated that visual models improve learners’ motivation, enhances understanding of fractions and encourages full participation of learners in the lesson. The study also found that use of visual models encouraged participation and it also boosted learners thinking capability. Teachers in this study preferred to use the area model as they found this model easier and more user-friendly in comparison with the number line and the set models. Teachers did not use the set model because of its complexity. This study concludes that the use of visual models can help enhance the conceptual teaching and understanding of common fractions. It is hoped that the study contributes towards improving the quality teaching and learning of fractions in Namibia. Furthermore, it informs the teacher-training institutions in Namibia to integrate the use of visualisation in their training programmes to promote conceptual understanding of mathematics.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Investigating how outdoor environmental education programmes in South Africa respond to the needs of visually impaired learners via inclusive practices
- Authors: Eksteen, Hendrik Christiaan
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Children with visual disabilities -- Education -- South Africa , Outdoor education -- South Africa , Environmental education -- South Africa , Outdoor recreation for children with disabilities -- South Africa , Inclusive education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92716 , vital:30721
- Description: Outdoor environmental education programmes in South Africa are conducted at campsites and centres owned by the government, non-profit organisations and private owners. People suffering from impairments are often disabled by society because of their handicap. More than three percent (3%) of young people in South Africa aged between 10 – 19 years are disabled. This study investigates the status of inclusion of outdoor environmental education programmes for disabled young people; what is offered and what practices are working in the industry in South Africa. It also investigates barriers to inclusion. Though many disabilities have been identified, visual impairment is the focus of the study. This study also looks at what more can be done from an Ecological Systems Theory of Human Development point of view and investigates what underlying mechanisms influence the inclusion of visually impaired individuals in outdoor environmental education programmes in South Africa. What is done and what is not done to promote inclusion for visually impaired learners in these programmes is also investigated. This study aims to answer the question; What is the current status quo concerning the inclusion of visually impaired learners in outdoor environmental learning programmes in environmental education centres and campsites in South Africa? An initial focus group conducted informally prior to the study, helped me to understand the context. In this study, key-interviews and questionnaires were used as research tools. I also ran a photo narrative project throughout the research project which was used as a participatory activity and provided further insight into practices. Inductive, abductive and retroductive analysis approaches were used to identify emerging themes, and I applied method triangulation using all research tools in order to address the research questions. Some of the most important findings are that: • There are many barriers, some intrinsic others extrinsic, that hinder inclusion of visually impaired individuals in outdoor environmental education programmes in South Africa. • Although there are many things done in the industry to promote inclusion, there is much more that could be done. • The visually impaired individual him/herself influences inclusivity in outdoor environmental education programmes. • Interactions and influences in the mesosystem (between different microsystems and ecosystems) have an impact on the inclusivity of visually impaired individuals in outdoor environmental education programmes. • Dispositions of people have an impact on the inclusion of visually impaired individuals in outdoor environmental education programmes. • The diversity of generative mechanisms (drivers to events), that interact at the level of the real, influence the inclusion of visually impaired individuals in outdoor environmental education programmes. Disability/impairment is a much-neglected area of environmental education research in South Africa. This study has contributed scholarship to this area and has also identified possible further areas of study in creating awareness, creating an opportunity to reflect on practices, and finding possible solutions to the barriers of exclusion.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Investigating how mediation tools enhance rural farmers’ learning towards rainwater harvesting and food security: a case study of a Green Village programme
- Authors: Shawarira, Patience
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Mediated learning experience , Environmental education -- South Africa -- Sinxaku , Agricultural education -- South Africa -- Sinxaku , South Africa. Water Research Commission. Green Village Lighthouse
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96779 , vital:31319
- Description: Training programmes are often detached from people’s context and experiences. It is critical that training programmes are carefully situated and relevant to the target group. This can be achieved through the use of relevant mediation tools. This study investigates how the use of mediation tools within a training programme on rainwater harvesting and conservation conducted by the Water Research Commission (WRC) funded the Green Village project impacted on Community Works Project (CWP) farmers’ practices. The study looks at how rural farmer learning occurs through the use of mediation tools in the context of the CWP farmers operating in Sinxaku village, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The learning process in this study was tracked through observing a three-day training workshop. I observed the Green Village facilitator’s choice and use of mediation tools to facilitate learning during the training. I looked at ways in which the Green Village facilitator engaged with the participants during the training and how they used different mediation tools to aid the learning process. I was interested in how the CWP farmers engaged with the mediation tools and how learning occurred from the training. I also looked out for changes in the CWP farmers’ farming practices following the completion of the training. The study constituted as an interpretative case study using Cultural Historical Activity (CHAT) theoretical tools. The study also drew on previous research on mediation and learning processes in the water management sector. Using interviews, observations and document analyses, the study found that rural farmers learn better by practising what they are being taught. They also learn from visuals and illustrations as these explain technical concepts in a clear and easy to understand manner. Factors that impact on rural farmer learning, particularly in the context of the CWP farmers operating in Sinxaku village include ecological factors, availability of farm equipment and the structuring of the training programme. The study found that in facilitating a training programme with rural farmers, more time should be given to practical activities at the demonstration site and that these practical activities should be interspersed with knowledge sharing in a workshop setup. The study concluded that special attention should be given to the choice of mediation tools used in training programmes involving rural farmers. Attention should also be given to contextual factors that can potentially impact on learning and practice of rainwater harvesting and conservation practices that would have been taught in a training programme.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Investigating and expanding learning across activity system boundaries in improved cook stove innovation diffusion and adoption in Malawi
- Authors: Jalasi, Experencia Madalitso
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Stoves, Wood -- Technological innovations -- Malawi , Biomass stoves -- Malawi , Economic development projects -- Environmental aspects -- Malawi , Rural development projects -- Environmental aspects -- Malawi
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68170 , vital:29212
- Description: This study investigates and expands learning within and between activity systems working with Improved Cook Stoves (hereafter ICS) in Malawi. The study focuses on how existing learning interactions among ICS actors can be expanded using expansive learning processes, mobilised through Boundary Crossing Change Laboratories (BCCL) to potentially inform more sustained uptake and utilisation of the ICS technology. The ICS, as a socio-technical innovation, seeks to respond to climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts in the country. However, sustained uptake and utilisation has been problematic. The study is located in the field of Environmental Education, with emphasis on the diffusion and adoption of socio-technical innovations in the context of ICS technology. The study addresses societal environmental health risks faced by people using traditional biomass fuels indoors on open fires, commonly referred to as Three Stone Fire (hereafter TSF) through formative intervention supported by Developmental Work Research (hereafter DWR) or Expansive Learning. The study was conducted in three climate change hotspot districts in Malawi: Balaka, Dedza and Mzimba. The case studies are in each of the three administrative regions of the country. Chapita Village case study is in Balaka district, in the Southern region; Waziloya Makwakwa Village is in Mzimba district in the Northern region; and Chilije Village in Dedza district in the Central region. In order to engage the potential for transformation in study areas, I divided the study into two phases. The first phase involved collection of ethnographic data to more deeply understand the context of the problem including existing learning approaches. This informed the second phase, which focused on expansive learning processes in the Chapita and Waziloya Makwakwa case studies. The study used a formative intervention approach, which focused on supporting the actors to manage the challenges they were facing and work out the problematic situations in their joint activity. The study employed a qualitative intensive research design because it aimed at in-depth understanding of uptake and utilisation of ICS. This was an important foundation for improving the existing situations through co-creating solutions with research participants. With this generative and action-oriented approach, the study employed a multiple embedded case study design. CHAT and Critical Realism were the two main theories that I employed as they resonated with the transformative interest of the study through focusing on learning as an emancipatory process with potential for transformation of human practices. In addition, I used the methodological theory of Expansive Learning from CHAT to guide the expansive learning processes. With the critical realist framing of the study, I employed a critical realist analytical framework, and used inductive, abductive and retroductive analyses.The major findings of the study indicate that broadly, uptake and utilisation of ICS is problematic, hence unsustained. The findings indicate that the majority of end-users in Chapita and Chilije case studies switched between TSF and ICS, or abandoned the ICS, which was not the case in Waziloya Makwakwa case study. The underlying causal mechanisms that appear to explain and influence end-users’ actions in all the case studies were the search for convenience during the cooking activity. Further, findings revealed that learning interactions among activity systems were unidirectional which provides evidence for top-down approaches prevalent in cook stove dissemination. The findings also indicated that most of the learning taking place was informative, not transformative. It was also inadequate, particularly for end-users. A causal mechanism that appears to shape how actors are learning ICS technology is poverty, which results in over-reliance on donor-driven projects. Findings also reveal that contradictions in the learning, uptake and utilisation of ICS influence the profile of uptake and utilisation of ICSs. Further, the change-oriented learning processes, as carried out in the Chapita and Waziloya Makwakwa case studies, have shown their potential in expanding learning interactions among ICS actors, evoking and supporting their transformative agency and enhancing their reflexivity. These processes are crucial in development and sustaining learning and change in the uptake and utilisation of ICS innovation. The main contribution of the study is methodological. It contributes broadly to diffusion and adoption of socio-technical innovations through change-oriented expansive learning processes. The study generated an Innovative Extension and Communicative Methodology, which foregrounds interaction and learning and links the socio-technical innovation intention and socio-technical innovation uptake and utilisation that potentially informs the dissemination and implementation of ICS projects. Further, the study contributes to community education by mobilising communities to address contradictions, absences, or ills in the society via change-oriented learning processes. The societal ills facing the case study sites and the areas around them, caused by climate change and variability and deforestation exacerbate the lives of rural women who are afflicted by conditions of poverty. The study contributes to global and local efforts and initiatives to address environmental health risks faced by people using traditional biomass fuels indoors on TSF and climate change mitigation and adaptation. This study has found out that putting the agency of the end-user in the centre in socio-technical transitions through context-based problem resolution and rigorous deliberate1 mediated processes of participation and learning, which allows multivoicedness and takes power relations into account, catalyses transformative agency, reflexivity, collaboration and learning capacity of ICS actors for sustained uptake and utilisation of the ICS socio-technical innovation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
In-betweenness: a postcolonial exploration of sociocultural intergenerational learning through cattle as a medium of cultural expression in Mpembeni, KwaZulu-Natal
- Authors: Masuku, Lynette Sibongile
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Postcolonialism , Environmental education -- South Africa , Community education -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Non-formal education -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Agricultural education -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Livestock -- Handling -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Cattle -- Handling -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Cattle herding -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Life skills -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68181 , vital:29213
- Description: This case study was conducted in a small rural community called Mpembeni, in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province. It was motivated by my observation of high levels of competence in ‘cattle knowledge’ amongst children coupled with a simultaneous failure at school. I view schools as integral parts of the community and consider them as being influenced by the community, which they in turn influence. This study set out to understand that which embodied informal learning in home/pasture-based contexts as well as formalised learning processes in schools. I used Sociocultural theory as the most congruent of educational theories to surface and illuminate the intergenerational learning processes that were taking place in the area. This warranted my use of research investigation methods that could, in non-intrusive ways, expose the everyday community practices that related to cattle as a particular medium of cultural expression. Ethnography, sourced from anthropology, aided by ethnomethods, was not only compatible with my study and the way in which I wanted to write out the research report, but also with my educational theory and its counterhegemonic intents. To understand the colonialities that framed the discord that embodied home and school as learning contexts, I used postcolonial theory, not only as a lens but as a counterhegemonic response. This theory also informed my research methodology as well as afforded me the reflexivity tools for an examination of my own intergenerational learning and the relational identities of myself as ‘Other’ in the lives of the research participants. It further facilitated the exploration of the potential for potential hybrid third spaces within the bubbling meeting nodes of the socio-cultural context of school and home/pasture based settings of learning. I observed cattle herding related practices, interviewed children, their parents and/or carers, dipping tank managers, livestock inspectors, community elders and members. I also analysed some of the written and unwritten content that made up the formal and informal based learning processes and reviewed some of the most recent South African Curriculum Statements and related texts on the representations of cattle. I sought views from teachers on their interactions with the people of Mpembeni, whose children they taught. I also explored axes of tension, silences and presences on anything related to cattle in schools. I argue and make a case for the development of thought by African scholars to advance Africa’s education rather than aid mimicry and the importation of theories of little congruence and relevance to the African context and Africa’s future. The study has made some contributions to new knowledge. This is in its exploration of sociocultural intergenerational methods and techniques that are employed for learning in community contexts, highlighting the importance of surfacing and understanding of children’s knowledge and experiences. The study has gone further to deliberate the in-betweenness of school and home learning environments, highlighting and unsilencing silenced, peripherised, new, old, considered irrelevant in the past, context and time congruent and liberatory knowledges. I propose that the knowledges located in these cleavages of difference be utilised to transform and create learning bridges between home and school environments. I propose that those ways of knowing that see others as nothings, be exposed and unlearned. Methods of learning that naturally unfold at home could be replicated at school with a recognition of the intergenerational methods, techniques, practices and the learning values in a critically constructive manner that narrows difference and othering.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Hearing silenced voices: a learning-centred approach to sustainable land rehabilitation and natural resource management
- Authors: Wolff, Margaret Gascoyne
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Watershed management -- South Africa -- Citizen participation , Water-supply -- Management -- Citizen participation , Environmental education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/94958 , vital:31101
- Description: South Africa is a semi-arid country with dysfunctional water management. The National Water Act encourages integrated water resource management and public participation in contributing to strategies for managing water within delineated areas. Various challenges hamper progress of integrated water resource management and meaningful participation by residents in catchments across the country. One of the challenges is the lack of knowledge about their role in water resource management. By viewing catchments as complex social-ecological systems, this case study investigates how to establish a learning-centred approach to catchment management forum (CMF) formation. The study addressed three sub-questions: What activity systems need to be prioritised for community participation in CMF formation? What existing learning can be identified within the activity systems? What are the sources for expansive social learning in and between the activity systems? The study draws on social learning theory, and on cultural historical activity theory as it offers a methodological approach to identifying a learning-centred approach to learning in a catchment context. Drawing on this theoretical framework, for research question 1, I identified five activity systems that are present in the study area, are partly representative of the people who live in the area, and are linked to land and water governance either through their positions as government employees within the sector, or the NLEIP in ways that influence communities’ lives and livelihoods. To address question 2, I ran learning-centred workshops and interviewed people who lived in the study area. Careful, respectful listening and participants’ use of home language created the safe space in which residents revealed that they know which water resources are important to protect and where breakdowns in communication happen. For question 3, I analysed the data from the workshops and interviews using a cultural historical activity theory framework to identify discursive manifestations of contradictions within and between activity systems which illuminate the potential for expansive social learning. This study recommends developing an understanding of the complex social-ecological context and prioritising co-learning and community participation in a learning-centred approach to catchment management forum formation. For this, there is need to develop in-depth insight into activity systems associated with water governance in local contexts. In this study I identified five of these activity systems, but the study points to a further range of activity systems that need to be considered for a learning-centred approach to be fully established. The study also found that communities are learning via engaging in the rehabilitation work, through engagements in workshops and within the municipal structures. Additionally, the study identified a number of contradictions that can provide sources of learning for taking an expansive learning approach further in CMF formation. Such an approach may provide the space to build bridges of trust between diverse knowledge systems, and has the potential to encourage sustainable co-operation in natural resource management.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Exploring opportunities for integrating indigenous knowledge and practices into animal husbandry in Grade 10 Agricultural Science lessons
- Authors: Siseho, Robert Simwanza
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Agriculture -- Study and teaching -- Namibia , Ethnoscience -- Study and teaching -- Namibia , Ethnoscience -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96790 , vital:31320
- Description: The performance of learners in Agricultural Science at secondary schools in the Omaheke region of Namibia is worrisome. For some years performance in the subject has been below the national average, even though the region is known for its agricultural activities. My assumption is that this could be compounded by the fact that even though the Namibian curriculum encourages teachers to integrate local or indigenous knowledge (IK) in their lessons, it is not clear how this should be executed. It is against this background that this study set out to explore opportunities for integrating indigenous animal husbandry knowledge and practices into the animal husbandry section of Namibian Grade 10 Agricultural Science lessons. This was a qualitative case study underpinned by the interpretive paradigm. The study first focused on finding out what practices and knowledge might be integrated into animal husbandry within Grade 10 Agricultural Science. Secondly, it aimed at finding strategies for integrating indigenous knowledge into Grade 10 Agricultural Science. Thirdly, using my experience of co-developing model lessons with two Grade 10 Agricultural Science teachers, it sought to identify what assistance teachers need to integrate IK. The fourth goal was to observe the lessons taught in order to find out how the two teachers mediated the lessons featuring IK. Data were collected using interviews, workshop discussions, observations (videotaped lessons) and reflections. The data were validated through member checking and triangulation via various techniques. I used Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory and Wenger’s (1998) community of practice as a composite lens to analyse my data. The findings showed that there is indigenous knowledge in animal husbandry of disease prevention and treatment, the feeding of livestock, castration, de-horning and parasite control. Strategies to integrate IK included inviting or visiting parents or farmers, using the learners’ mother tongue and exploiting local resources. It emerged that teachers need help with teaching strategies, the development of worksheets, lesson planning and the use of technology. The mediation of the lessons included use of the chalkboard and a data projector, worksheets, the teacher assisting learners, and learners assisting one another. The study recommends that teachers integrate IK into their lessons to contextualize learning, increase learners’ participation in class and enhance their understanding of science. It also recommends that curriculum developers make it clear how IK should be integrated and assessed. The study further recommends that institutions of higher education should train teachers on how to integrate IK in the curriculum.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Exploring Intersemiotic Complementarity in three Namibian Physical Science teachers’ classroom practice
- Authors: Nakakuwa, Tomas
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Semiotics , Communication in science , Communication in education , Physical sciences -- Study and teaching -- Namibia , Science -- Study and teaching -- Namibia , Language and education -- Namibia , Science teachers -- Training of -- Namibia , Visual learning , Verbal learning
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96812 , vital:31324
- Description: The Namibian Science curriculum promotes learners’ development of self-confidence, self-knowledge and understanding of the world in which they live. The world we live in is increasingly multimodal, necessitating a multiliteracy in learners in order for them to engage meaningfully with knowledge and skills. Furthermore, scientists themselves engage in a range of inscription practices. While verbal language is the primary medium through which scientific knowledge and concepts are constructed, communicated, and learned, visuals can help learners to gain knowledge that they may not receive from verbal explanation alone. The verbal and visual semiotic modes can also function in a complementarity way, and this is significant in contexts where science lessons are for the most part in a second language - as is the case in Namibia where the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) of English is commonly not the learners’ mother tongue. However, no studies were found exploring the nature of verbal-visual intersemiotic complementarity in the practice of Namibian science teachers, or whether it was related to the number of years of science teaching experience. This study thus aimed to explore the dynamics of verbal-visual intersemiotic complementarity in the classroom practice of three Junior Secondary Physical Science teachers, with varying amounts of science teaching experience, in the Oshana region of Namibia. This qualitative case study, on the dynamics of verbal-visual intersemiotic complementarity in science teacher classroom practice follows in the path of earlier studies which employed Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) in the analysis of multimodal discourse. This thesis is also informed by Social Constructivism in which the various semiotic modes are recognised as components of the toolkit for mediating learning. The study adopted the interpretive paradigm. Data collection involved lesson observations and semi-structured interviews. Data analysis involved identification and coding of themes and categories inductively. The results reveal that the participant teachers employed the full range of intersemiotic sense relations which literature outlines. It was found that the ideational meanings in the verbal and visual modes of the science teachers’ practice are lexico-semantically related through these intersemiotic sense relations. While some teachers utilised some intersemiotic sense relations more often than others, there were no correspondences evident between the use of verbal-visual intersemiotic complementarity and the number of years of science teaching experience. The results also indicated that different intersemiotic sense relations served different purposes in the science classroom. The verbal-visual intersemiotic complementarity in the participant teachers’ practice tended to focus on: physical material, processes, symbolism or resemblance. This study has significant implications, providing an empirical basis for informing pre-service Physical Science teachers’ training and guiding the in-service training of Physical Science teachers in Namibia. Since its effective use may not be left up to teaching experience, Namibian Physical Science teacher training programmes need to include the use of verbal-visual intersemiotic complementarity in order to equip and empower Physical Science teachers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Exploring how the integration of indigenous knowledge in the topic of acids and bases influences Grade 10 Physical Science learners’ conceptions, dispositions and sense-making
- Authors: Haimene, Johanna Shetulimba
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Physical sciences -- Study and teaching -- Namibia , Ethnoscience -- Study and teaching -- Namibia , Science -- Study and teaching -- Namibia , Curriculum planning -- Study and teaching -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/94996 , vital:31105
- Description: The inclusion of indigenous knowledge (IK) in science education is gaining momentum. That is, it is acknowledged that the starting point in learning is what learners already know from their homes or community. This will be consolidated by what these learners will learn in classroom. It is for this reason that the Namibia National Curriculum for Basic Education (NCBE) advocates Learner Centred Education (LCE). The Physical science syllabus also encourages the use of practical activities to enhance the conceptual understanding of the learners. However, the views and beliefs that learners have towards science influence their learning of science. Looking at the same context, various studies carried out have pointed out that the attitude of learners towards the subject influences their performance in that specific subject. It is against this background that this study sought to explore how the integration of indigenous knowledge in lessons on acids and bases influences (or not) learners’ conceptions, dispositions, interest and sense-making. This study used a mixed-method approach whereby both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered. It is underpinned by the interpretive paradigm. Within the interpretive paradigm a case study approach was employed. The study was carried out with the Grade 10B Physical Science learners at Namaela Secondary School (Pseudonym) in the Oshikoto Region. To generate data, a variety of data generation techniques were employed, namely pre-and post-intervention questionnaires, pre-and post-test, observations, learners’ journal reflections and semi-structured interviews. Conceptions, dispositions and sense-making, and Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory were used as a lens to analyse the data. A deductive-inductive approach was adopted for data analysis. The findings from the study revealed that learners were able to make sense of science concepts when IK is integrated in the lessons. Additionally, the learners’ conceptions and dispositions shifted positively due to the use of the everyday materials. It emerged that learners were able to learn science well when they link their everyday experiences to school science. This study thus recommends that teachers should be encouraged to integrate IK in their lessons. In order for teachers to effectively integrate IK, the curriculum developers should be explicit on how teachers should integrate IK in their lessons. Moreover, teacher-training institutions should include ways of integrating IK when they are training teachers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Exploring how Grade 11 Biology teachers mediate learning of osmosis when using easily accessible resources in the Oshikoto Region, Namibia
- Authors: Nangolo, Rosalia Ndawapeka
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Biology -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Osmosis -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Ethnobiology -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92595 , vital:30740
- Description: Exploring the use easily accessible resources to carry out the hands-on practical activities to science learning has become one of the significant aspects in the educational research, particularly in science education. It could be deduced from the literature that hands-on practical activities are useful, enjoyable and foster conceptual understanding. The National Curriculum for Basic Education advocates empowering teachers to be knowledgeable on use of hands-on practical activities to produce learners who are scientifically equipped. Yet, the performance of the learners in Science and Mathematics continues to be worrisome and has not been improving over years as reported in TIMSS reports. For instance, the Namibian Examiners’ Reports have repeatedly reported that Biology is one of the subjects that are poorly performed. Essentially, the section on osmosis has been identified as one of the scientific concepts that is problematic to learners. In my view, in order for learners to understand osmosis and its associated concepts, there is a need to strengthen the use of hands-on practical activities. It is recognized that this is something that is lacking in most rural Namibian schools especially where laboratory resources are scarce. It is against this background that the goal of this study was to explore how Grade 11 Biology teachers mediate learning of osmosis when using easily accessible resources. This study is underpinned by an interpretive paradigm. Within the interpretive paradigm, a qualitative case study approach was employed to obtain in-depth understanding on how Biology teachers mediate learning. This study was conducted in two conveniently selected secondary schools in the Oshikoto region, which I could easily access. It focused on four Grade 11 Biology teachers. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews, workshop discussions, lesson observation and stimulated interviews. Vygotsky’s (1978) socio-cultural theory was used as a lens to analyse my data. The findings from semi-structured interviews revealed that teachers demonstrated positive attitudes towards teaching of osmosis using easily accessible resources. However, challenges regarding inadequate materials that hinder the teaching and learning process were registered. Another finding of this study was that teachers used a variety of mediation tools such as prior and local knowledge, language and easily accessible resources to enhance learning. The study thus recommends that, if teachers are exposed to numerous professional development platforms that include the use of easily accessible resources might improve their pedagogical approaches.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Exploring a shift in teacher practices after going through an intervention on the integration of local knowledge in grade 9 physical science lessons
- Authors: Mika, Rauha T
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Physical sciences -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Ethnoscience -- Study and teaching -- Namibia , Science -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Curriculum planning -- Study and teaching -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96801 , vital:31323
- Description: It has been advocated by many scholars that the integration of local or indigenous knowledge into science classrooms might make science more relevant and accessible to learners, particularly in culturally diverse classrooms. As a result, the Namibian Grade 9 Physical Science curriculum expects teachers to integrate learners’ local or indigenous knowledge in their science classrooms. Despite these ideals, there are no clear instructions on how to go about doing this. This is exacerbated in part by the poor or lack of continuing professional development for science teachers. It is against this background that this study sought to explore an intervention on the integration of local or indigenous knowledge in Grade 9 Physical Science lessons. The study is underpinned by an interpretive paradigm and is informed by Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory and Wenger’s community of practice. Within the interpretive paradigm, a qualitative case study approach was employed. It was carried out in four schools with four Physical Science teachers from Otjiwarongo circuit in Namibia. Qualitative data were generated using workshop discussions, document analysis, semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and reflections. A variety of data generation techniques were used for triangulation and validity purposes. Data were subsequently analysed inductively to come up with themes. The findings of the study revealed that before the intervention the teachers involved in this study had little knowledge about the integration of local or indigenous knowledge in science lessons. However, after their voluntary participation in the intervention, they were enabled to develop and mediate model lessons that integrated local or indigenous knowledge in their classrooms which their learners subsequently found to be stimulating. The findings of the study further revealed that integrating local or indigenous knowledge in science lessons had the potential to promote active participation by learners and foster learning using easily accessible resources. The study thus recommends that teachers should, where possible, strive to integrate learners’ local or indigenous knowledge in science lessons.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Expanding learning in clergy leadership formation in an Anglican Church Province in Southern Africa: a critical realist study
- Authors: Chinganga, Percy
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Leadership -- Africa, Southern -- Religious aspects -- Christianity , Church management -- Africa, Southern , Critical realism , Educational leadership , Anglican Church of Southern Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92258 , vital:30704
- Description: The focus of this study was to investigate the kind of learning that happened when participants involved in clergy leadership formation programmes and activities in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) engaged in their responsibilities as a collective. Further, the research sought to explore collaborative and transforming practices in ACSA clergy leadership formation programmes and activities which could be expanded through learning. The study is premised on an investigation of the historical foundations of Christian leadership formation processes which sought to establish clergy leadership formation models relevant to ACSA (the context of the study) from inception (1848) to date (2017). This entailed investigating how the developments which have happened in the church from its inception in the New Testament times through the Medieval and Reformation periods, have contributed to the emergence of distinct Christian leadership formation models which have formed the basis of clergy leadership formation in ACSA. Accordingly, the study highlighted key issues relating to clergy leadership formation which are discernible in the different historical phases of the life and work of the church with the objective of establishing how ACSA, through expansive learning, could transform her current clergy leadership formation model(s) towards collaborative and transforming practices. The concept of expansive learning, drawn from Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), was used in the study as a methodological tool to create an environment where research participants (formators) from several dioceses would engage in collective work activities which would surface contradictions relating to how clergy leadership formation programmes and activities were understood and facilitated in ACSA. In response to the surfaced contradictions, the study engaged research participants in Change Laboratory Workshops whose goal was to transform the organisation (ACSA) in two particular ways: empowerment of participants (formators) with conceptual tools relevant to their responsibilities in clergy leadership formation programmes and activities in ACSA, and improvement of organisational cultural practices, that is, the manner in which ACSA ought to conceptualise, design, plan, facilitate and manage clergy leadership formation programmes and activities. The latter brought into the discourse the need for participants (formators) to select and employ methodologies, methods, approaches and resources relevant to the southern African context where ACSA is located even though the study also acknowledged the influence of other Anglican Church contexts on what happened at the local level. In order to decipher meaning out of investigated phenomena about clergy leadership formation in ACSA, the study employed the critical realist “underlabouring” philosophy advanced by theorists such as Bhaskar to surface underlying mechanisms that exist at the level of the “real” in order to understand the causes of particular events and experiences as they manifest in the “actual” and “empirical” domains of the world, ACSA in the case of the study. In particular, the study engaged critically the opinion deliberated by critical realists concerning the interplay between structure and agency in relation to the responsibilities of the research participants (formators) in ACSA clergy leadership formation programmes and activities. For instance, the study had an interest in investigating why bishops (principal formators in ACSA) exercised their episcopal authority in the manner they do and why individual formators were concerned about particular issues which relate to the facilitation of clergy leadership formation in ACSA (agential reflexivity/subjectivity). The study observed that, in the case of diocesan bishops, critical realists would argue that, by virtue of the authority which comes with their responsibilities (agency), they have the power to influence transformation of practices in clergy leadership formation in ACSA at any given point in time. The flip side of the discourse was also taken note of: that some bishops, for reasons known to themselves and their predecessors, are often reluctant to embrace new ideas relating to clergy leadership formation practices in their dioceses. Further, through critical realist lens, the study concluded that Canons, Vision and Mission statements, Acts, and structures such as Synod of Bishops, Provincial Synod, ABoTE, Cott, and TfM structurally shape ACSA, thus providing the organisation with a stable ontology which ought to direct, regulate and control the manner in which clergy leadership formation programmes and activities were conceptualised, designed, planned, facilitated and managed. As such, the study had an interest in establishing what would happen, in relation to clergy leadership formation practices in ACSA, when these structures would have been activated? Beyond that, in view of the goal of the study, it was enquired how expansive learning processes could be helpful in responding to the research findings towards exploring collaborative and transforming clergy leadership formation practices in ACSA. Drawing from the conceptual framework which was carved in the study on the basis of the theoretical tools (critical realism and educational leadership theory) and methodological tools (CHAT orientated concepts) undergirded by the Vygotskian theorisation of human consciousness development, the study concluded that clergy leadership formation is a collaborative activity which calls for the recognition, appreciation and utilisation of available expertise in ACSA and provision of a platform where participants (formators) could engage collectively on issues relating to their work with the objective of building each other up in knowledge and skills (expansive learning) towards realisation of the goals and objectives of the organisation. Diverse understandings (contradictions) of what needed to be prioritised in the facilitation of clergy leadership formation in ACSA would be considered as a positive rather than a negative. Ultimately, through the use of inductive, abductive and retroductive modes of inference, the study modelled a transforming, transformational, transformative, embodied and incarnational model of clergy leadership formation which ACSA could consider using in future deliberations on the object of study particularly in relation to the key research findings across the case studies which were used in the study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Examining mathematical reasoning through enacted visualisation
- Authors: Dongwi, Beata Lididimikeni
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Visualization , Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- Namibia , Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- Audio-visual aids , Geometry -- Study and teaching , Reasoning , Mathematical ability
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68192 , vital:29217
- Description: This study sets out to analyse the co-emergence of visualisation and reasoning processes when selected learners engaged in solving word problems. The study argues that visualisation processes and mathematical reasoning processes are closely interlinked in the process of engaging in any mathematical activity. This qualitative research project adopted a case study methodology embedded within a broader interpretative orientation. The research participants were a cohort of 17 mixedgender and mixed-ability Grade 11 learners from a private school in southern Namibia. Data was collected in three phases and comprised of one-on-one task-based interviews in the first phase, focus group task-based interviews in the second, and semi-structured reflective interviews in the third. The analytical framework was informed by elements of enactivism and consisted of a hybrid of observable visualisation and mathematical reasoning indicators. The study was framed by an enactivist perspective that served as a linking mediator to bring visualisation and reasoning processes together, and as a lens through which the coemergence of these processes was observed and analysed. The key enactivist concepts of structural coupling and co-emergence were the two mediating ideas that enabled me to discuss the links between visualisation and reasoning that emerged whilst my participants solved the set word problems. The study argues that the visualisation processes enacted by the participants when solving these problems are inseparable from the reasoning processes that the participants brought to bear; that is, they co-emerged.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019