South African journal of higher education, Mar 9, 2024
The Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic imposed new demands for conducting research and postgradua... more The Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic imposed new demands for conducting research and postgraduate supervision online. Face-to-face interactions between supervisors and research participants were limited. Consequently, there was heightened attention to the use of information communications technology (ICTs) to mitigate the disruptions. There is not much research on postgraduate supervision during COVID-19. This interpretative-phenomenological qualitative case study analysed innovative strategies that nine purposely selected supervisors reported to have used to manage postgraduate research and supervision during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected through online open-ended questionnaires sent to the supervisors. The constructivist theory underpinned this study. Results showed that while the pandemic was devastating, academic institutions learnt many good lessons regarding leveraging digital technologies for postgraduate students' supervision. Innovative online supervision pedagogies were invaluable for both supervisors and students. Therefore, during the post COVID-19 era, supervisors must continue leveraging the use of digital technologies in postgraduate supervision to reduce costs and increase master's and doctoral students' throughputs and outputs.
During this learner-centred teaching and learning era, self-assessments may be a viable tool to e... more During this learner-centred teaching and learning era, self-assessments may be a viable tool to enable university students to become autonomous and self-directed learners. Sadly, students rarely obtain self-assessment opportunities. This action research investigated student teachers' self-assessment experiences, in order to establish how self-assessments contributed to selfdirected learning. The research question was "What are students' experiences of selfassessments?" Answers about SDL were embedded in students' responses. Qualitative data were collected through interviews and quantitative data were obtained from students' self-assessment and lecturer's scores. Qualitative data analysis was done through coding and emergent themes, whereas quantitative data were analysed statistically and presented in descriptive statistics, bar graphs and scatterplots. Andragogy and constructivism informed this study. Although qualitative results revealed that students had attained some SDL skills, quantitative results showed that the students were still far from attaining these skills, as indicated by low correlations and a wide range between students' and lecture's scores. The researcher recommended that lecturers increase selfassessment opportunities for students; integrate self-assessments across different courses and adopt student-centred assessment approaches.
South African journal of higher education, Mar 9, 2024
Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic caused major disruptions to the education sector, with detrime... more Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic caused major disruptions to the education sector, with detrimental effects on the supervision of postgraduate students and their success. Higher education institutions (HEIs) shut down to observe COVID-19 protocols and minimise the spread of the virus. University closures forced postgraduate-supervision processes to be conducted online, resulting in students experiencing many challenges, such as, loss of social networks and social interaction, lack of access to university computer laboratories and software, inability to collect face-to-face data, and wellness and mental problems. Whereas abundant research exists on COVID-19, little is known about factors that contributed to postgraduate students' success during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative case study reports on the factors that promoted student success during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the perspective of 23 postgraduate students. Data were collected through an online questionnaire and analysed through colourcoding and thematic categorisation. Results revealed that both students and supervisors contributed to the success of postgraduate students. They also showed that some students possessed certain attributes that enhanced their success, as well as that some postgraduate supervisors employed novel approaches to students' supervision that promoted students' success. This article encourages HEIs to leverage these factors to promote postgraduate student success beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Literature suggests that teaching and learning mathematics through a second language (L2) is daun... more Literature suggests that teaching and learning mathematics through a second language (L2) is daunting. In South Africa, learning mathematics through English L2 is identified as the root cause of L2 students' underperformance in this subject, partly because mathematics requires more specialized jargon that may not be available in L2 students' home language. Nonetheless, some L2 students excel in mathematics and sometimes even outperform their English first-language counterparts. Yet little research explains this phenomenon. This qualitative case study investigated student teachers' perceptions of factors contributing to their excellence in mathematics offered in undergraduate Bachelor of Education programmes in a South African university. The research question was: What do African L2 student teachers perceive as factors contributing to their excellence in mathematics? Data were collected through a questionnaire and interviews and triangulated with students' academic records, followed by thematic data analysis. Participants included eleven African student teachers and three mathematics graduates. Participants' views differed on the contribution of language to their excellence in mathematics. Some participants perceived human agency as vital to their excellence. These results provide a fresh, positive and different perspective on research in mathematics, as they illustrate that African students have unique within-individual capacities to excel in this subject.
Globally, experienced and novice teachers struggle to handle learners from diverse cultural backg... more Globally, experienced and novice teachers struggle to handle learners from diverse cultural backgrounds. South African teachers also deal with learners who differ based on factors such as race, gender, socio-economic status, religion and culture. Therefore, it is necessary to equip student teachers with knowledge and skills of functioning in culturally diverse school contexts. While this might be happening on the ground, there is dearth of research in South Africa that reports on whether cultural diversity is incorporated in teacher education curriculum and the impact it has on the growth and development of student teachers. Yet, during teaching practice and when they become certified, student teachers are expected to function effectively in school contexts with learners from diverse cultural backgrounds. In this qualitative case study, incorporation of cultural diversity in a teacher education curriculum was investigated, using semi-structured, open-ended focus-group interviews with teacher educators and student teachers. The diversity pedagogy theory informed this study. Results revealed that although the student teachers identified a number of implementation challenges, teacher educators felt that they incorporated the theory of cultural diversity in the teacher education curriculum. The author of this study recommends that teaching of cultural diversity should be made a national and global teacher-education imperative.
The merger processes that the South African Higher Education system went through over the last 15... more The merger processes that the South African Higher Education system went through over the last 15 years are well documented. There is less research exploring the personal experiences of staff members during and after the merger and in particular the experience of female staff members. This study explored how female staff members perceived of the merging of a tertiary institution in the Western Cape. Narratives of eight academics and administrative/support staff members collected in four digital storytelling workshops form the basis of this study. Through a Dialogical Narrative Analysis lens two ‘core narratives’ emerged. Stories of nostalgia, mourning and struggling recorded the pain of letting go of the old culture. Stories of opportunity and gains told of those staff members who embrace the new culture and its emphasis on promoting a research career. Both core narratives reveal a sense of pain and loss. The institutional culture portrayed in the narratives of these women encultura...
This paper provides an analysis of IsiXhosa and IsiZulu folktales and traditional children's song... more This paper provides an analysis of IsiXhosa and IsiZulu folktales and traditional children's songs in order to highlight the relationship between Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and early literacy development in young children. Through the lens of the cognitive and socio-cultural theories, it explores the kind of knowledge embedded in the IsiXhosa and IsiZulu folktales and traditional children's songs, and the value and relevance of such knowledge in supporting early literacy development. It argues that oral literacy in indigenous languages has always existed, but became dormant and invisible as a result of assimilation and acculturation into the Western norms. The paper concludes with an acknowledgement that folktales and traditional children's songs are a rich and perennial reservoir through which young learners can acquire not only literacy skills, but also cognitive, linguistic and social skills that can help them to become active citizens in the world and the workplace. How can folktales and traditional songs be used as pedagogical tools to mediate literacy teaching and learning? Understanding IKS and Early Literacy Development Many scholars refer to IKS as a body of knowledge which originated locally and naturally among indigenous people of a particular geographical area/s, and is passed on from generation to generation (Hoppers 2004; Battiste 2005; Mapara 2009). IKS is unique to a given culture (Mapara 2009) and it carries traditional beliefs that are often imparted orally or by example to younger generations, and thus become accepted as cultural system or practices. These beliefs may be about life, death, ancestors, taboos, healing and the role one should play in the family or community (Ogunniyi 1996: 41). It is carried and performed through language, for example, proverbs, riddles, myths, folktales, songs and dance and is reflected in different social dimensions such as agriculture, medicine, craft and skills,
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES, 2015
Based on theoretical overviews covering feedback and partners in teaching practice, this paper re... more Based on theoretical overviews covering feedback and partners in teaching practice, this paper reports on a cohort of South African third year B.Ed. student teachers' impressions of feedback during a specific period of teaching practice by means of a quantitative study. By focusing on feedback on lesson presentations, 82 randomly sampled student teachers shared their impressions of feedback provided by supervisor teachers and university lecturers. Although the findings suggest that student teachers experience feedback of university lecturers as of higher quality than feedback provided by supervisor teachers, much must still be done to improve feedback practices during teaching practice periods.
This article focuses on how recent graduates perceive the rigour of the Postgraduate Certificate ... more This article focuses on how recent graduates perceive the rigour of the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) initial teacher education (ITE) programme. The article is based on qualitative data collected from a purposely selected sample of 19 beginner teachers who graduated from two higher education institutions that offer PGCE programmes in the Western Cape. Data were primarily collected by means of open-ended semi-structured interviews and triangulated through document analysis. Results revealed how beginner teachers' conceptions of rigour of the ITE programme differ considerably from those advocated by experts on teacher education. The authors of this paper recommend that if rigour in teacher education programmes is to be understood, voices of student teachers and other stakeholders (e.g. teachers, school principals, communities, policy makers) should be included in the design and development of teacher-education curricula. Inclusion of these voices might constructively complement existing conceptions of rigour and influence ITE curriculum policy for the benefit of all stakeholders. Nonetheless, it should be borne in mind that some of these conceptions of rigour might not be informed by theoretical underpinnings and can therefore not supersede those of the experts.
‘Improvement ’ and ‘maintenance ’ of quality in higher education are buzzwords in the discourse o... more ‘Improvement ’ and ‘maintenance ’ of quality in higher education are buzzwords in the discourse on higher education in both emerging and mature economies. Globally, schools and universities make efforts to produce students of high calibre who will excel as citizens and active participants in the global marketplace. At the institutional and national level, these attempts include internal and external quality assurance of education programmes and institutions. In South Africa, the Higher Education Qualifications Committee of the Council on Higher Education assures the quality of higher education programmes through a system of external programme reviews. This process often leads to institutions and education programmes acquiring or losing their accreditation status. Programme reviews are also undertaken internally in institutions. Although internal and external review systems have been in place in South Africa for a number of years, not many institutions have reflected on how they impact on the quality of education. In this study, eight academics reflected on these reviews, with the goal of determining which review had more impact than the other in maintaining quality in education. Because there were a greater number of limitations identified in external reviews than there were in internal reviews, it could be inferred that academics supported the latter. Hence, in this study, it is recommended that internal reviews should be strengthened and conducted regularly in order to raise quality in higher education.
South African journal of higher education, Mar 9, 2024
The Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic imposed new demands for conducting research and postgradua... more The Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic imposed new demands for conducting research and postgraduate supervision online. Face-to-face interactions between supervisors and research participants were limited. Consequently, there was heightened attention to the use of information communications technology (ICTs) to mitigate the disruptions. There is not much research on postgraduate supervision during COVID-19. This interpretative-phenomenological qualitative case study analysed innovative strategies that nine purposely selected supervisors reported to have used to manage postgraduate research and supervision during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected through online open-ended questionnaires sent to the supervisors. The constructivist theory underpinned this study. Results showed that while the pandemic was devastating, academic institutions learnt many good lessons regarding leveraging digital technologies for postgraduate students' supervision. Innovative online supervision pedagogies were invaluable for both supervisors and students. Therefore, during the post COVID-19 era, supervisors must continue leveraging the use of digital technologies in postgraduate supervision to reduce costs and increase master's and doctoral students' throughputs and outputs.
During this learner-centred teaching and learning era, self-assessments may be a viable tool to e... more During this learner-centred teaching and learning era, self-assessments may be a viable tool to enable university students to become autonomous and self-directed learners. Sadly, students rarely obtain self-assessment opportunities. This action research investigated student teachers' self-assessment experiences, in order to establish how self-assessments contributed to selfdirected learning. The research question was "What are students' experiences of selfassessments?" Answers about SDL were embedded in students' responses. Qualitative data were collected through interviews and quantitative data were obtained from students' self-assessment and lecturer's scores. Qualitative data analysis was done through coding and emergent themes, whereas quantitative data were analysed statistically and presented in descriptive statistics, bar graphs and scatterplots. Andragogy and constructivism informed this study. Although qualitative results revealed that students had attained some SDL skills, quantitative results showed that the students were still far from attaining these skills, as indicated by low correlations and a wide range between students' and lecture's scores. The researcher recommended that lecturers increase selfassessment opportunities for students; integrate self-assessments across different courses and adopt student-centred assessment approaches.
South African journal of higher education, Mar 9, 2024
Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic caused major disruptions to the education sector, with detrime... more Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic caused major disruptions to the education sector, with detrimental effects on the supervision of postgraduate students and their success. Higher education institutions (HEIs) shut down to observe COVID-19 protocols and minimise the spread of the virus. University closures forced postgraduate-supervision processes to be conducted online, resulting in students experiencing many challenges, such as, loss of social networks and social interaction, lack of access to university computer laboratories and software, inability to collect face-to-face data, and wellness and mental problems. Whereas abundant research exists on COVID-19, little is known about factors that contributed to postgraduate students' success during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative case study reports on the factors that promoted student success during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the perspective of 23 postgraduate students. Data were collected through an online questionnaire and analysed through colourcoding and thematic categorisation. Results revealed that both students and supervisors contributed to the success of postgraduate students. They also showed that some students possessed certain attributes that enhanced their success, as well as that some postgraduate supervisors employed novel approaches to students' supervision that promoted students' success. This article encourages HEIs to leverage these factors to promote postgraduate student success beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Literature suggests that teaching and learning mathematics through a second language (L2) is daun... more Literature suggests that teaching and learning mathematics through a second language (L2) is daunting. In South Africa, learning mathematics through English L2 is identified as the root cause of L2 students' underperformance in this subject, partly because mathematics requires more specialized jargon that may not be available in L2 students' home language. Nonetheless, some L2 students excel in mathematics and sometimes even outperform their English first-language counterparts. Yet little research explains this phenomenon. This qualitative case study investigated student teachers' perceptions of factors contributing to their excellence in mathematics offered in undergraduate Bachelor of Education programmes in a South African university. The research question was: What do African L2 student teachers perceive as factors contributing to their excellence in mathematics? Data were collected through a questionnaire and interviews and triangulated with students' academic records, followed by thematic data analysis. Participants included eleven African student teachers and three mathematics graduates. Participants' views differed on the contribution of language to their excellence in mathematics. Some participants perceived human agency as vital to their excellence. These results provide a fresh, positive and different perspective on research in mathematics, as they illustrate that African students have unique within-individual capacities to excel in this subject.
Globally, experienced and novice teachers struggle to handle learners from diverse cultural backg... more Globally, experienced and novice teachers struggle to handle learners from diverse cultural backgrounds. South African teachers also deal with learners who differ based on factors such as race, gender, socio-economic status, religion and culture. Therefore, it is necessary to equip student teachers with knowledge and skills of functioning in culturally diverse school contexts. While this might be happening on the ground, there is dearth of research in South Africa that reports on whether cultural diversity is incorporated in teacher education curriculum and the impact it has on the growth and development of student teachers. Yet, during teaching practice and when they become certified, student teachers are expected to function effectively in school contexts with learners from diverse cultural backgrounds. In this qualitative case study, incorporation of cultural diversity in a teacher education curriculum was investigated, using semi-structured, open-ended focus-group interviews with teacher educators and student teachers. The diversity pedagogy theory informed this study. Results revealed that although the student teachers identified a number of implementation challenges, teacher educators felt that they incorporated the theory of cultural diversity in the teacher education curriculum. The author of this study recommends that teaching of cultural diversity should be made a national and global teacher-education imperative.
The merger processes that the South African Higher Education system went through over the last 15... more The merger processes that the South African Higher Education system went through over the last 15 years are well documented. There is less research exploring the personal experiences of staff members during and after the merger and in particular the experience of female staff members. This study explored how female staff members perceived of the merging of a tertiary institution in the Western Cape. Narratives of eight academics and administrative/support staff members collected in four digital storytelling workshops form the basis of this study. Through a Dialogical Narrative Analysis lens two ‘core narratives’ emerged. Stories of nostalgia, mourning and struggling recorded the pain of letting go of the old culture. Stories of opportunity and gains told of those staff members who embrace the new culture and its emphasis on promoting a research career. Both core narratives reveal a sense of pain and loss. The institutional culture portrayed in the narratives of these women encultura...
This paper provides an analysis of IsiXhosa and IsiZulu folktales and traditional children's song... more This paper provides an analysis of IsiXhosa and IsiZulu folktales and traditional children's songs in order to highlight the relationship between Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and early literacy development in young children. Through the lens of the cognitive and socio-cultural theories, it explores the kind of knowledge embedded in the IsiXhosa and IsiZulu folktales and traditional children's songs, and the value and relevance of such knowledge in supporting early literacy development. It argues that oral literacy in indigenous languages has always existed, but became dormant and invisible as a result of assimilation and acculturation into the Western norms. The paper concludes with an acknowledgement that folktales and traditional children's songs are a rich and perennial reservoir through which young learners can acquire not only literacy skills, but also cognitive, linguistic and social skills that can help them to become active citizens in the world and the workplace. How can folktales and traditional songs be used as pedagogical tools to mediate literacy teaching and learning? Understanding IKS and Early Literacy Development Many scholars refer to IKS as a body of knowledge which originated locally and naturally among indigenous people of a particular geographical area/s, and is passed on from generation to generation (Hoppers 2004; Battiste 2005; Mapara 2009). IKS is unique to a given culture (Mapara 2009) and it carries traditional beliefs that are often imparted orally or by example to younger generations, and thus become accepted as cultural system or practices. These beliefs may be about life, death, ancestors, taboos, healing and the role one should play in the family or community (Ogunniyi 1996: 41). It is carried and performed through language, for example, proverbs, riddles, myths, folktales, songs and dance and is reflected in different social dimensions such as agriculture, medicine, craft and skills,
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES, 2015
Based on theoretical overviews covering feedback and partners in teaching practice, this paper re... more Based on theoretical overviews covering feedback and partners in teaching practice, this paper reports on a cohort of South African third year B.Ed. student teachers' impressions of feedback during a specific period of teaching practice by means of a quantitative study. By focusing on feedback on lesson presentations, 82 randomly sampled student teachers shared their impressions of feedback provided by supervisor teachers and university lecturers. Although the findings suggest that student teachers experience feedback of university lecturers as of higher quality than feedback provided by supervisor teachers, much must still be done to improve feedback practices during teaching practice periods.
This article focuses on how recent graduates perceive the rigour of the Postgraduate Certificate ... more This article focuses on how recent graduates perceive the rigour of the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) initial teacher education (ITE) programme. The article is based on qualitative data collected from a purposely selected sample of 19 beginner teachers who graduated from two higher education institutions that offer PGCE programmes in the Western Cape. Data were primarily collected by means of open-ended semi-structured interviews and triangulated through document analysis. Results revealed how beginner teachers' conceptions of rigour of the ITE programme differ considerably from those advocated by experts on teacher education. The authors of this paper recommend that if rigour in teacher education programmes is to be understood, voices of student teachers and other stakeholders (e.g. teachers, school principals, communities, policy makers) should be included in the design and development of teacher-education curricula. Inclusion of these voices might constructively complement existing conceptions of rigour and influence ITE curriculum policy for the benefit of all stakeholders. Nonetheless, it should be borne in mind that some of these conceptions of rigour might not be informed by theoretical underpinnings and can therefore not supersede those of the experts.
‘Improvement ’ and ‘maintenance ’ of quality in higher education are buzzwords in the discourse o... more ‘Improvement ’ and ‘maintenance ’ of quality in higher education are buzzwords in the discourse on higher education in both emerging and mature economies. Globally, schools and universities make efforts to produce students of high calibre who will excel as citizens and active participants in the global marketplace. At the institutional and national level, these attempts include internal and external quality assurance of education programmes and institutions. In South Africa, the Higher Education Qualifications Committee of the Council on Higher Education assures the quality of higher education programmes through a system of external programme reviews. This process often leads to institutions and education programmes acquiring or losing their accreditation status. Programme reviews are also undertaken internally in institutions. Although internal and external review systems have been in place in South Africa for a number of years, not many institutions have reflected on how they impact on the quality of education. In this study, eight academics reflected on these reviews, with the goal of determining which review had more impact than the other in maintaining quality in education. Because there were a greater number of limitations identified in external reviews than there were in internal reviews, it could be inferred that academics supported the latter. Hence, in this study, it is recommended that internal reviews should be strengthened and conducted regularly in order to raise quality in higher education.
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