The lived experiences of grade 12 life sciences teachers conducting practicals during the covid-19 pandemic in selected high schools in the Western Cape Province
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Date
2024
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Publisher
Universty of the Western Cape
Abstract
This study aimed to search for phenomenological truth about the daily realities of Life Sciences teachers as they engaged and completed the prescribed practical work within the curriculum. The main research question was: ‘What were the lived experiences of selected Grade 12 Life Sciences teachers in conducting the prescribed practical work during the COVID-19 pandemic?’ It further aimed to explore how teachers' pedagogical practices align with a learner-centred approach, emphasising their role as co-constructors of scientific knowledge alongside their learners within the science classroom. To gain deeper insight into the teachers’ pedagogical practices, an additional conceptual framework, named the ‘COVID-19 Practical Implementation Framework’, was devised. This model encompasses external factors impacting the execution of practical work, teacher-related factors that impede its effective implementation, and curriculum factors that drive teacher actions and decision-making processes. This conceptual framework integrated a phenomenological philosophical lens. This lens hinges on the ideas of Edmund Husserl’s lifeworld theory and Martin Heidegger’s notion of Dasein.
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Keywords
Life sciences teachers, Practical work, CAPS curriculum, Covid-19, Phenomenology