ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Music Education in the Grade R Classroom: How Three Teachers Learned in a Participatory Action Inquiry
Author: Cloete, Erna
Date: 2015-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Music Education,Holistic Approach,Foreign Countries,Participatory Research,Inquiry,Music Activities,Early Childhood Education,Action Research,Preschool Teachers,Faculty Development

The contribution of music education to the holistic development of the young learner is uncontested. However, in South Africa, the vast majority of Reception Year (Grade R) teachers do not have the required competences to teach music in ways that optimally enhance the holistic growth of their learners, as this aspect has been largely neglected during their pre-service and in-service training. In this paper, we report on a year-long intervention aimed at enabling three Grade R non-music specialist teachers at one urban township school in the Eastern Cape to create music-based learning opportunities for their learners. We employed a participatory action learning and action research (PALAR) approach to the inquiry, which combines research with development. Our findings indicate that after a series of collaborative interactions, the participants started to explore and tap into their own musical competences. They revisited notions of the self as (ill-)equipped, (un)confident, (in)competent and (in)dependent music teachers, and began to assume autonomy and agency with regard to effective music education in the Grade R classroom. We consequently argue that under-qualified in-service teachers can be enabled to improve their practice through research interventions that stimulate maximum participant involvement, such as PALAR.
Play in Grade R Classrooms: Diverse Teacher Perceptions and Practices
Author: Aronstam, Shelley
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Play,Early Childhood Education,Teaching Methods,Teacher Attitudes,Elementary School Teachers,Elementary Education,Preschool Teachers,Semi Structured Interviews,Observation,Child Development,Cultural Influences,Teacher Role

The study explores the role of play in Grade R classrooms in the Cape Peninsula. The focus is on perceptions of teachers from differing backgrounds regarding how play is supported and utilised in the classroom. Theories of childhood play as propounded by Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky provide the theoretical background to our understanding of child play. Data were collected from 104 teachers in 41 primary schools and early childhood development (ECD) centres in both well-resourced and under-resourced environments, using semi-structured interviews and guided observations of practice. It was found that, although play is a difficult concept to define, it is easy to recognise. Teachers at some schools seem to have less knowledge of the pedagogy of play. Insights into early childhood teachers' views on the role of play in the curriculum have the potential to inform the planning for teacher training and national policy development for early years' learning. For these reasons, it is necessary to define and understand structured and formal play in the diverse contexts of South Africa, specifically by following, through the years, the teachers who utilise play as pedagogical tool.
Towards a Governance and Management Model for Teaching Schools in South Africa
Author: Loock, Coert
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Governance,Models,Public Schools,Foreign Countries,Private Schools,Preservice Teacher Education,Teacher Education Programs,Professional Development Schools,School Administration,Educational Legislation

This article reports on a project that was aimed at establishing a model for the governance of teaching schools in South Africa within the framework of the current legal dispensation for the public and the independent schooling sector. The paper mainly addresses the powers and functions of public schools and school governing bodies as defined within the broader framework of The South African Schools Act 84 of 1996, The National Education Policy Act (Act 27 of 1996), and the Employment of Educators Act (Act 76 of 1998). The analysis of these statutes informed the proposal of four possible models for governance of teaching schools. The article recommends two models that fit the mandate of teaching schools as envisioned in the Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development in South Africa, 2011-2025: 1) a model that provides for teaching schools as a school type at national (not provincial) level, and 2) the independent school model.
Navigating Professional Roles in Early Literacy Intervention: Exploring the Experiences of Speech Language Therapy Students, Teachers and Clinical Tutors
Author: Oosthuizen, Helena
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Speech Language Pathology,Delivery Systems,Professional Personnel,Undergraduate Students,College Faculty,Interdisciplinary Approach,Cooperation,Focus Groups,Literacy Education,Early Childhood Education,Mentors,Teacher Role,Teaching Methods,Student Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Preschool Teachers

Speech-language therapists (SLTs) in South Africa are increasingly considering alternative models of service delivery to children at risk for language and literacy development delays. A transprofessional model of collaboration allows SLTs and teachers to share responsibility for primary prevention of literacy difficulties. Previous research has identified several challenges with regard to effective collaboration between qualified professionals, indicating that specific opportunities need to be created for professionals to 'cross over disciplinary lines' to gain more insight into a profession other than their own. Student training presents a valuable opportunity for role-exchange between pre-professional SLTs and teachers. The article describes the experiences of teachers, undergraduate SLT students and tutors with regard to transdisciplinary collaboration in the foundation-phase classroom, according to the 'embedded-explicit' model. The authors argue that a more in-depth understanding of the different role-players' perceptions of transdisciplinary collaboration will contribute to enhanced collaboration between SLTs and teachers.
Towards a Leadership Programme for Primary School Principals as Instructional Leaders
Author: Naidoo, Parvathy
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Principals,Elementary Schools,Instructional Leadership,Leadership Training,Leadership Responsibility,Leadership Effectiveness,Administrator Responsibility,Foreign Countries,Curriculum Development

This study set out to explore primary school principals' instructional leadership. The study addressed a key issue in the school improvement literature, pertaining to the curriculum leadership of principals. The literature is not entirely clear about which leadership characteristic is more likely to produce the most favourable outcomes in terms of improved learner outcomes, in other words, how the curriculum has been implemented and how leadership in this regard has been effected. The article argues that robust training and development in instructional leadership practices become necessary to support school leaders in this regard. In South Africa, based on numerous reports of poor learner outcomes in schools, we question whether principals possess the necessary skills required to lead and manage curriculum in schools. In this article, the views of five principals, who have completed the Advanced Certificate in Education: School Leadership and Management (ACESLM) programme, are examined. Findings indicate that not all principals who participated in the study are fully conversant with their roles and responsibilities as instructional leaders. They mainly interpret their functions to be purely managerial and to be leaders and administrators of schools. Thus, whilst some understanding of instructional leadership was apparent in some of the principals' responses, it is the authors' views that ACESLM, as a leadership development programme, needs to be redesigned to include greater focus on instructional leadership.
Exploring the Complexities of Describing Foundation Phase Teachers&apos; Professional Knowledge Base
Author: Bertram, Carol
Date: 2015-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Knowledge Base for Teaching,Literacy,African Languages,Misconceptions,Teacher Certification,Tests,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Learning Processes,Decision Making,Teaching Methods,Teacher Attitudes,Elementary School Teachers,Primary Education,Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Mathematics Skills,Barriers,Daily Living Skills,Teacher Evaluation

The purpose of this paper is to engage with the complexities of describing teachers' professional knowledge and eventually also their learning through written tests. The bigger research aim is to describe what knowledge foundation phase teachers acquired during their two years of study towards the Advanced Certificate of Teaching (ACT). We designed a written test to investigate the professional knowledge that teachers bring with them when they enrol for the ACT, with the aim of comparing their responses to the same test two years later, when they had completed the programme. The questionnaire included questions on teachers' content knowledge; their pedagogical content knowledge (in particular, teachers' knowledge about learner misconceptions, stages of learning, and ways of engaging these in making teaching decisions); and their personal knowledge (such as their beliefs about how children learn and barriers to learning). It spanned the fields of literacy in English and isiZulu, numeracy, and general pedagogy. Eighty-six foundation phase teachers enrolled for the ACT at the University of KwaZulu-Natal completed the questionnaire, and their responses pointed us to further methodological issues. We discuss the assumptions behind the design of the test/ questionnaire, the difficulties in formulating relevant questions, and the problems of 'accessing' specific elements of teacher knowledge through this type of instrument. Our process shows the difficulties both in constructing questions and in coding the responses, in particular concerning the pedagogical content knowledge component for teachers from Grade R to Grade 3.
Designing the South African Higher Education System for Student Success
Author: Scott, Ian
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Higher Education,Academic Achievement,Educational Development,College Graduates,Design

South Africa's higher education system is falling far short of producing the mix of competent graduates required to meet the country's need for social and economic development. The problem of poor patterns of student success is longstanding, and is persisting despite the policy changes and many educationally sound interventions that have taken place in recent decades. This points to entrenched underlying obstacles, including but going beyond the legacy of apartheid, and indicates that they will not yield to supplementary or ad hoc improvement initiatives, however well-conceived individually. This paper is thus based on the proposition that there is a pressing need to design the South African university education system to focus unequivocally on student success and equity of outcomes. This implies, intentionally, that the current system is not designed around any clear commitment to student success. Correcting this must involve a re-prioritisation of goals in the higher education sector, aimed at ensuring that student success is accepted as the end goal of the educational mission of higher education. The paper argues that, if this is to be achieved, what is required is a sophisticated, realistic, coherent and comprehensive strategy for positive change. Given the nature of the higher education system, such a strategy must involve not only a clear vision of the scope of the changes and interventions needed to make a real difference to the performance patterns -- in terms of equity as well as overall outcomes -- but also an in-depth understanding of the responsibilities that must be taken by the key stakeholders and the underlying obstacles that must be addressed. The paper offers an outline of the major points of the argument, including the importance of applying design principles to any comprehensive response to the need to place student success at the heart of the higher education agenda.
Monitoring Student (Dis)Engagement: Retention Officers&apos; Experiences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Author: Mkonto, Nosisana
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,College Freshmen,School Holding Power,Learner Engagement,Universities,Student Personnel Workers,Student Problems,Student Personnel Services

Most first-year university students experience serious academic and adjustment challenges, which remain undetected until it is too late to provide meaningful intervention. Universities are therefore developing academic support systems that can assist in identifying students who experience learning challenges early on, and provide quality first-year experiences that ensure that first-year students adapt, engage and succeed at the university. Such student academic support systems should provide resources that detect risk factors as early as possible. This study explores the support provided by the Retention Officers (ROs) in assisting first-year students to overcome disengagement issues at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town, South Africa. Modelled on Tronto's (2010) Theory of Ethics of Care, the design of the First-Year Experience project is underpinned by the value of inclusion and care for first-year students in higher education. This practitioner-based paper draws on the experiences of ROs in monitoring first-year students' disengagement in a science faculty at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Data extracted through interviews and written reports by ROs formed the basis for a qualitative interpretation of ROs' experiences dealing with first-year students' disengagement. This paper therefore highlights the importance of mediating between discipline-based support and generic psycho-social support through the involvement of ROs to enhance student engagement.
Reading Literacy within a Teacher Preparation Programme: What We Know and What We Should Know
Author: van der Merwe, Zelda
Date: 2012-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Teacher Education Programs,Reading Achievement,Literacy,Preservice Teachers,Phonemic Awareness,Phonics,Reading Fluency,Elementary Education,Reading Comprehension,Reading Instruction,Vocabulary Development

Various South African and international studies indicate that the preparation of teachers to teach reading is inconsistent across universities worldwide. Teacher preparation programmes lack rigorous research-based findings as the grounding for their programme design. Recommendations of some studies point to the fact that evidence-based research should be incorporated to address this inconsistency. There is a need for a comprehensive curriculum to guide pre-service teachers toward a coherent knowledge base for the effective teaching of reading, as many teachers do not have an understanding of what to teach. The study on which we report analysed a teacher preparation programme with the aim of identifying which reading literacy components (that are embedded in knowledge of language structure) are included in the programme. The results show that the reading literacy components are included haphazardly within the teacher preparation programme and there is no evidence-based research included in the curriculum of the pre-service teachers.
Reading in Two Languages: Evidence from Miscue Analysis
Author: Ramadiro, Brian Lwazi
Date: 2012-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Miscue Analysis,Second Language Learning,African Languages,English (Second Language),Native Language,Reading Difficulties,Classroom Techniques,Foreign Countries,Oral Reading,Elementary School Students,Literacy Education,Language Proficiency,Criticism,Reading Processes,Grammar,Syntax,Semantics

This paper reports on the oral reading of five grade 2 to 6 isiXhosa (L1) speakers reading isiXhosa (L1) and English (L2) texts. It examines the readers' oral reading miscues (or errors) to understand the extent to which these miscues constitute a language or a literacy problem in this group of readers. Conclusions are that (a) these readers read better in isiXhosa than in English; (b) they are not reading as well as they could be reading in isiXhosa; (c) isiXhosa reading difficulties appear to be related to poor teaching of literacy; (d) while English reading difficulties appear to be related to both poor teaching of literacy and to low levels of language proficiency in English, this is related to classroom practices but is also independent of it.
Exploring the Challenges of First-Year Student Funding: An Intra-Institutional Case Study
Author: McKay, Tracey
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Financial Aid,College Freshmen,Foreign Countries,College Administration,Administrator Attitudes,Models,Educational Finance,Improvement

Amongst the first of the challenges facing prospective first-year university students is the need to procure funding for their studies. Indeed, demand for funding for students to access higher education far exceeds supply in South Africa. One solution has been the creation of a government loan scheme, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), but this scheme does not cover all students. Outside of NSFAS, student bursary funding remains limited and universities are being increasingly pressurised to allocate bursaries to ensure students are not excluded due to funding constraints. Despite this, to date, little work has been undertaken regarding university policy and management of bursary applications and funds. Thus this study represents an attempt to fill this gap. The study explores the current student funding model deployed at one particular large tertiary institution as a means to gain an understanding of current funding challenges and attempt to find ways in which funding decisions can be improved. A qualitative approach was used, which involved conducting in-depth interviews with senior university staff involved in a range of student support directorates. The study demonstrates the complexity of the challenges associated with student funding.
Student Academic Monitoring and Support in Higher Education: A Systems Thinking Perspective
Author: Paideya, Vino
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Systems Approach,Student Personnel Services,College Freshmen,Outcomes of Education,At Risk Students,Foreign Countries,Academic Support Services,Profiles,College Faculty,Gender Differences,School Policy,Educational Practices,Academic Rank (Professional)

This article interrogates an Academic Monitoring and Support system (AMS), which was designed to enhance first-year student progression at a South African University. Institutional research evidence produced through engagement with AMS practitioners and university leadership, analysed through the lens of Systems Thinking, reveals a well-intentioned system, whose efficacy is compromised by systemic incoherence. The data suggests that loosely defined roles and responsibilities of AMS practitioners, their level of preparedness to provide academic support, their conditions of employment and job profiles, all act in concert to compromise the intended outcomes of the programme. The authors contend that opportunities do exist to re-engineer the Academic Development system to provide coherent, effective and sustainable support for students 'at risk'.
Test Items and Translation: Capturing Early Conceptual Development in Mathematics Reliably?
Author: Dampier, Graham
Date: 2012-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Test Items,Translation,Test Reliability,Item Response Theory,Foreign Countries,German,English,Mathematics Tests,African Languages,Accuracy,Concept Formation

Translating items of educational tests from one language to another is problematic. Arriving at accurate translations of concepts formulated in a language that is grammatically and syntactically incommensurable with a target language is a concern that probably won't find resolution. And the very act of translation can obscure the accuracy of test items. Item Response Theory holds that only the ability of people tested and the difficulty of items should have an effect on the dataset. We report on an instance where a test was translated from German to English and then into isiZulu and Sesotho. We tested 106 pupils from similar socio economic backgrounds and schools. Our aim is to determine whether the translation had any effect on the accuracy of the instrument, which has been normed and standardised in Germany with a sample of over 1000 grade 1 pupils.
Forging a Research Community of Practice to Find out How South African Children Make Their World Mathematical
Author: Henning, Elizabeth
Date: 2013-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Mathematics Instruction,Young Children,Mathematics Skills,Educational Research,Communities of Practice,Elementary School Mathematics,Early Childhood Education,Mathematical Concepts,Concept Formation,Elementary School Students,Preschool Children

In a search for ways to capture foundation phase children's competence in mathematics, a small research team was put together at a South African university four years ago. At first, working only in a single school where the objective was to model 80 learners' growth in competence over four years, the team transformed into a very different entity. This article narrates the founding and development of a community of research practice, which eventually included undergraduate- and postgraduate students, researchers from institutions in Germany, Switzerland and South Africa, teachers at local schools close to the university, and an educational research and survey company. Supported by funding from four different sources, the project is fairly close to reaching the goal of delivering a standardised mathematics competence test for 4-8 year-olds, which is a first of its kind for the country where educational measurement seems to be at a crossroads. In the story line of this community of practice, it is evident that progress can be assessed best by the learning that has been taking place in a community with a notable diversity of people and interests, but with the shared goal of investigating children's mathematical behaviour on a measure that can be trusted.
A Research Base for Teaching in Primary School: A Coherent Scholarly Focus on the Object of Learning
Author: Osman, Ruksana
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Preservice Teacher Education,Teacher Education Programs,Higher Education,Elementary Education,Scholarship,Alignment (Education),Teaching Methods,Teacher Educators,Elementary School Teachers,Learning Theories

This paper makes a case for a new impetus in creating a coherent research basis for childhood education and teacher education in South Africa. We are proposing a three level -- teacher educators, student teachers and practising teachers -- research-led approach that integrates teacher education, schooling and early learning. The aim of the approach is to enhance the quality of learning in primary schools through systematic focus on the object of learning, whether in terms of teaching in school or educating entrants to the teaching profession at the university, or teacher educators inquiring into their practice. There are two thrusts involved: on the one hand bringing the focus of teachers, teaching students and teacher educators coherently onto the object of learning and thereby bringing it to the attention of their respective learners, and on the other hand invoking the principles of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) movement, thereby enabling its sustainability. We illustrate our case with two examples from the literature that show clearly how learning in school can be enhanced when teachers are actively studying what and how their learners are learning in connection with their teaching and where the work is disseminated in a scholarly manner.