UWCScholar
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Exploring secondary school teacher’s perceptions about the post-apartheid history curriculum changes: lessons from two high schools in Cape Town
(University of the Western Cape, 2024) Mathekga, Emma
The implementation of democracy in South Africa necessitated a radical transformation in education. The history curriculum has long been at the centre of the debate about the nature of education in South Africa. The school subject itself, however, has been deemed to be in a dismal state with the official reason being, among other factors, the overemphasis of the socalled traditional approach in the teaching of History in the past. In fact, after the democratic transition, the History subject was gradually judged as lacking in utilitarian purpose, and by 1997, was deemed irrelevant and meaningless. There have been four curriculum changes since the introduction of democracy in South Africa in 1994 and from being deemed irrelevant, the subject is now, in the 2020s, being considered as one that might become a compulsory subject for all high school students. Yet the scholarly research undertaken to understand the implementation of History as a school subject remains largely neglected. This study therefore explores the secondary school teachers’ perceptions about the post-apartheid history curriculum changes in two high schools. This thesis argues that there is a need to enhance our understanding of how this subject is taught in the classroom-for looking beyond the literature and official narratives of history education, and trying to understand what happens to history teachers, in history classrooms.
The contribution of literacy education in raising the standard of living: a case study of two Namibian informal settlements
(University of the Western Cape, 2024) Mutenda, Nicholette
The Ministry of Education Arts and Culture in Namibia has historically invested resources into adult literacy education to ensure the realization of both national and international undertakings. However, despite such efforts, scores of Namibian citizens are still in need of a literacy education that would make an improved standard of living possible. This research explores participants’ perceptions of the role of adult literacy in improving standards of living. Within a qualitative paradigm, this study uses a socio-cultural approach to explore the views of selected literacy educators who teach in two informal settlements as well as groups of informal settlement residents who have participated in literacy programmes. The findings of this research undertaking may contribute towards insights into how certain kinds of literacy work could usefully address and support internationally recognized sustainable development goals such as inclusivity, quality education and lifelong learning, which are aimed at contributing towards the best possible improved living conditions particular for literacy learners living in informal settlements.
A newly qualified teacher’s competency in handling diversity: an auto-ethnography
(University of the Western Cape, 2024) Rukundo, Adeline
Although the topic of diversity has gained global popularity, there are various studies indicating that teacher competency in managing learner diversity is an area that requires improvement and additional research. This thesis explores a newly qualified teacher’s competency in handling diversity in a South African context. The study deploys a qualitative research approach and auto-ethnographic methodology to gain a deeper understanding of newly qualified teachers’ competencies in dealing with diversity. A newly qualified teacher’s personal experience and knowledge of diversity within the context of education has been triangulated against the existing literature of diversity to affirm the validity of the data. The study finds that even though diversity is covered in teacher training institutions, newly qualified teachers remain unprepared for the challenges with diversity that they will encounter in their classrooms. In addition, preservice teachers have limited exposure to the wide spectrum of diversity among learners. The teacher training curriculum as well as teacher practice programmes do not provide pre-service teachers with sufficient knowledge of diversity studies, experience, and exposure. This study is useful for teacher training institutions, education policy makers, teachers, and academics in gaining insights and perspectives of pre-service and newly qualified teachers where diversity is concerned.
Assessing the pre-service secondary school science teacher education programme at the University of Asmara, Eritrea
(University of the Western Cape, 2023) Tesfagabir, Ghebrehiwet Mehari
The central concern of this study is to evaluate the Science Education Unit (SEU) of the faculty of Education at Asmara University. The main aim of the SEU is not only to produce enough teachers for the nation, but also to produce science teachers who are competent in classroom instruction. This study compares the intended objectives with the attained objectives of the SEU with the stakeholders' perceptions of the programme. The reason for assessing the SEU programme was to determine quality of the programme in terms of its effort, effectiveness, impact and relevance in training science teachers. The pre-service teachers' training is expected to equip the secondary school science teachers with adequate content-knowledge and pedagogical skills for their future career, i.e. problem solving, decision-making and value judgment. The government has described the educational system of the country for the last ten years as a waste of meager resources because it does not produce employable youngsters. This study was therefore undertaken to provide empirical basis for decision-making regarding the authenticity of such claims.
Exploring the challenges encountered by foundation phase teachers when addressing learner discipline on the Cape Flats in the Western Cape
(University of the Western Cape, 2024) Wakefield, Dawood
This study aimed to investigate the challenges that Foundation Phase teachers face in dealing with learner discipline in a challenging school context on the Cape Flats of South Africa. The legacy of apartheid continues to impact the quality of teaching and learning as the communities experience dismal violence, poverty, substance abuse and gang activity and have little regard for schools, teachers, or education. Theoretically, my study is underpinned by Albert Bandura’s (1977a) Social Learning Theory (SLT), which suggests that human behaviour is learnt observationally through modelling. This theory is based on the idea that we learn from our interactions with others in a social context. The study follows a qualitative interpretive case study design to explore the various challenges from a teacher’s perspective in dealing with learner discipline in a primary school in the Western Cape. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews and document sources within the Foundation Phase of schooling (Grade R- 3).