cg6887 the journal vol 14 (2) 2019 p1635 with cover edit · the independent journal of teaching and...

ISSN: 2519-5670

T H E I N D E P E N D E N T

Formerly The Journal of Independent Teaching and Learning

VOLU

ME

14 (2

) / 2

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6.Reimagining curricula for the Fourth Industrial RevolutionKIRTI MENON AND GLORIA CASTRILLÓN

29.Investigating the prevailingissues surrounding ICT graduates’ employability in South Africa: A case study of a South African universityKENNETH NWANUA OHEI ANDROELIEN BRINK

92.Using video-stimulated recall interviews: teachers’ reflections on the teaching of algebraic functions in rural classroomsHLAMULO WISEMAN MBHIZA

125.Doctoral Corner

43.The information needs and information-seeking behaviour of commerce and management academics: A study of Saurashtra University − RajkotANKIT KATRODIA

20.Enhancing the use of a teaching portfolio in higher education as a critically reflexive practiceROSALINE SEBOLAO

108.Practitioners’ CornerSupport strategies to assist foundation phase teachers with implementation of inclusive education: A case of selected Johannesburg West schoolsAMBECK CELYNE TEBID

57.Translanguaging as an instructional method in science and mathematics education in English second language classroom contextsRAPHAEL NHONGO ANDBABA PRIMROSE TSHOTSHO

72.The teaching and learningof trigonometryANNATORIA ZANELE NGCOBO, SETHEMBISO PROMISE MADONSELA ANDDEONARAIN BRIJLALL

The Independent Journal of Teaching and Learning (IJTL) is an education-focused journal, published twice a year, online and open access [ISSN 2519-5670 (Online)] by The Independent Institute of Education. The aim of the journal is to make a difference to educators at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels, providing a scholarly forum for academics and education practitioners to share research on teaching and learning. The journal as well as all submission and publication information can be found at https://ijtl.iie.ac.za/

The IJTL is intended to be a resource for education practitioners and researchers as it aims to provide useful, research-based resources and to provide a scholarly forum for academics and education practitioners to share in research on educational practices and teaching and learning at various levels.

The following contributions are considered for publication:

• Research-based empirical, reflective or synoptic articles that would be of interest to education practitioners

• Review articles that critically examine research carried out in a specific field

• Discussion or advocacy papers

• Book reviews that comprise a clear and concise evaluation of recently published books.The journal accepts Doctoral Abstracts, which include the link to the full text thesis, from researchers that have graduated with a PhD/Doctorate in Education in the last two years. These are not peer reviewed and are published in a separate section of the journal.

DisclaimerThe publisher and the Editor cannot be held responsible for any con-sequences arising from the use of information contained in this journal. The views and opinions expressed in this journal do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher or the editor.

Address for correspondenceProfessor Dolina DowlingEditor-in-ChiefThe Independent Journal of Teaching and LearningPO Box 2369Randburg 2125 South AfricaE-mail: [email protected]

The Independent Journal ofTeaching and Learning

The Independent Journal of Teaching and Learning – Volume 14 (2) / 2019Formerly The Journal of Independent Teaching and Learning

Editor-in-ChiefProfessor Dolina Dowling BA; Dip Ed; Dip Sp Ed; APhS; MA; PhD

Managing EditorDr Brenda Van Wyk BA Social Science; BBibl; BBibl (Hons); M.Inf; PhD

Editorial Advisory BoardProfessor Carmel McNaught BSc (Hons); Dip Ed; MEd; PhDProfessor Andile Mji BSc; HDE; BEd; MEd; DEdProfessor Michael Glencross BSc; PGCE; BEd; BSc (Hons); MPhil; DPhil Dr Felicity Coughlan B SocSc Hons (SW); B SocSc Hons (Psych); MSc; DPhilDr Gillian Mooney BA (Psych); BHons (Psych); M Psych, PhDDr Wafa Almansoori BSc; MEng; PhD

PublisherThe Independent Journal of Teaching and Learningis published byThe Independent Institute of Education (Pty) LtdADvTech HouseInanda Greens Business Park54 Wierda Road WestWierda Valley, SandtonSouth Africawww.iie.ac.za

ContentsVolume 14 (2) 2019

1.Notes on contributors

4.EditorialProfessor Dolina Dowling

6.Reimagining curricula for the FourthIndustrial RevolutionDr Kirti Menon, University of Johannesburg,South Africa Gloria Castrillón, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

20.Enhancing the use of a teaching portfolio in higher education as a critically reflexive practiceDr Rosaline Sebolao, Central University of Technology, South Africa

29.Investigating the prevailing issues surrounding ICT graduates’ employability in South Africa: A case study of a South African universityDr Kenneth Nwanua Ohei, University of Johannesburg, South AfricaDr Roelien Brink, University of Johannesburg,South Africa

43.The information needs and information-seeking behaviour of commerce and management academics: A study of Saurashtra University − RajkotDr Ankit Katrodia, North West University,South Africa

57.Translanguaging as an instructional method in science and mathematics education in English second language classroom contextsDr Raphael Nhongo, University of Fort Hare, South AfricaProfessor Baba Primrose Tshotsho, University of Fort Hare, South Africa

72.The teaching and learning of trigonometryDr Annatoria Zanele Ngcobo, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South AfricaSethembiso Promise Madonsela, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South AfricaProfessor Deonarain Brijlall, Durban University of Technology, South Africa

92.Using video-stimulated recall interviews: teachers’ reflections on the teaching of algebraic functions in rural classroomsHlamulo Wiseman Mbhiza, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa

108.Practitioners’ CornerSupport strategies to assist foundation phase teachers with implementation of inclusive education: A case of selected Johannesburg West schoolsDr Ambeck Celyne Tebid, State Supported Living Center, Abilene, Texas, US

125.Doctoral Corner

130.List of reviewers

The Independent Journal of Teaching and Learning - Volume 14 (2) / 2019Formerly The Journal of Independent Teaching and Learning

The Independent Journal of Teaching and Learning (IJTL) is an education-focused journal, published twice a year, online and open access [ISSN 2519-5670 (Online)] by The Independent Institute of Education. The aim of the journal is to make a difference to educators at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels, providing a scholarly forum for academics and education practitioners to share research on teaching and learning. The journal as well as all submission and publication information can be found at https://ijtl.iie.ac.za/

The IJTL is intended to be a resource for education practitioners and researchers as it aims to provide useful, research-based resources and to provide a scholarly forum for academics and education practitioners to share in research on educational practices and teaching and learning at various levels.

The following contributions are considered for publication:

• Research-based empirical, reflective or synoptic articles that would be of interest to education practitioners

• Review articles that critically examine research carried out in a specific field

• Discussion or advocacy papers

• Book reviews that comprise a clear and concise evaluation of recently published books.The journal accepts Doctoral Abstracts, which include the link to the full text thesis, from researchers that have graduated with a PhD/Doctorate in Education in the last two years. These are not peer reviewed and are published in a separate section of the journal.

DisclaimerThe publisher and the Editor cannot be held responsible for any con-sequences arising from the use of information contained in this journal. The views and opinions expressed in this journal do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher or the editor.

Address for correspondenceProfessor Dolina DowlingEditor-in-ChiefThe Independent Journal of Teaching and LearningPO Box 2369Randburg 2125 South AfricaE-mail: [email protected]

The Independent Journal ofTeaching and Learning

The Independent Journal of Teaching and Learning – Volume 14 (2) / 2019Formerly The Journal of Independent Teaching and Learning

Editor-in-ChiefProfessor Dolina Dowling BA; Dip Ed; Dip Sp Ed; APhS; MA; PhD

Managing EditorDr Brenda Van Wyk BA Social Science; BBibl; BBibl (Hons); M.Inf; PhD

Editorial Advisory BoardProfessor Carmel McNaught BSc (Hons); Dip Ed; MEd; PhDProfessor Andile Mji BSc; HDE; BEd; MEd; DEdProfessor Michael Glencross BSc; PGCE; BEd; BSc (Hons); MPhil; DPhil Dr Felicity Coughlan B SocSc Hons (SW); B SocSc Hons (Psych); MSc; DPhilDr Gillian Mooney BA (Psych); BHons (Psych); M Psych, PhDDr Wafa Almansoori BSc; MEng; PhD

PublisherThe Independent Journal of Teaching and Learningis published byThe Independent Institute of Education (Pty) LtdADvTech HouseInanda Greens Business Park54 Wierda Road WestWierda Valley, SandtonSouth Africawww.iie.ac.za


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Professor Deonarain Brijlall has been involved in research and publications of papers in point-free topology. He is currently engaged with research activities involved in the learning and teaching of mathematics in higher education institutions. Within these domains of research the conceptual frameworks are employed of: 1) Shulman’s model for teacher knowledge, 2} Ball et al. levels of pedagogical content knowledge, 3) Kilpatrick’s conceptual framework for mathematical reasoning and APOS theory.

Dr Roelien Brink is a Deputy Head of Department (CEP, Online & EUC)/senior lecturer and researcher at the Department of Applied Information Management, University of Johannesburg. She holds a PhD (University of Johannesburg), with the focus on information management for the work integrated learning process. She is the chair of the research committee, co-editor of the African Journal for Work-Based Learning, an EXCO and board member of Southern African Society for Cooperative Education (SASCE). She is the Vice Chair Africa on the International Research Group for World Association for Cooperative Education (WACE). She was part of the advisory board for the World Association for Cooperative Education (WACE) Second International Research Symposium 2016. She is also part of the international review team for the WACE 2nd International Research Symposium and WACE 20th World Conference. Her research interests focus on work-integrated learning, information systems, information communication and technology for development. She is in the cluster information communication and technology for development (ICT4D) and is currently supervising students in Omni Channels, E-commerce, Cashless Economy, Digitized displacement in socio-economic displacement of individuals in emerging economies, Learning Management Systems in HEIs. She is a member of the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists (SAICSIT).

Gloria Castrillón is the Director of the Centre for Academic Planning and Quality Promotion at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). Prior to this she worked at Milpark Education for 10 years as the Director of Academic Affairs. She has been actively engaged with accreditation and other higher education issues since 2001, and has worked in both private and public institutions in accreditation, national review, and audit. Gloria has served on the CHE’s Accreditation Committee, and has and continues to participate actively in different regulatory and compliance contexts. Her research focus is higher education regulation, policy and process broadly. She is a Research Associate affiliated to the UJ Faculty of Education.

Dr Ankit Jayesh Katrodia is a qualified postdoctoral research fellow and holds a PhD in Management, MBA Marketing, M. Com-Marketing, and Post Graduate in Human Resource Management. An accomplished and enthusiastic academician with over 10 years of experience in academia and research at renowned

Notes on contributors

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management institutes. He has a successful track record of educating and training management graduates, developing skills and expertise in Marketing Management, Services Marketing, Consumer Behaviour, Strategic Management, Entrepreneurship and other Business Management subjects. Further, he examines and supervises doctoral theses and masters’ dissertations, and developed a PhD guide. He has over 20 research publications and is recognised for developing a culture of high performance through effective coaching and leadership.

Sethembiso Promise Madonsela accepted her master’s degree in 2018 in the field of Mathematics Education from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She is currently a Mathematics Head of Department at Umlazi District in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. She served in many professional developmental bodies. Her primary interests include professional development for in-service mathematics teachers.

Dr Kirti Menon is the Senior Director of Academic Planning, Quality Promotion and Academic Staff Development at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). Prior to this she was Registrar at the University of the Witwatersrand from 2011 to 2013, Acting Deputy Director General: Universities from January 2010 till June 2011 in the Department of Higher Education and Training and Chief Director: Higher Education Planning and Management at the Department of Education from 2008. She worked for the Council on Higher Education between 1999 and 2008. She has served on several national task teams and her research focus is higher education with a focus on curriculum, teaching and learning, access, exclusion and redress. She is a Research Associate affiliated to the UJ Faculty of Education.

Dr Annatoria Zanele Ngcobo is a mathematics education lecturer at the University of KwaZulu Natal. Her field of specialisation is mathematics and mathematics education (learning theories with special focus on APOS theory, Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching and Error analysis). She is the current recipient of a Fulbright scholarship and National Research Foundation (NRF) funding. She has published eight Journal articles, one conference proceedings paper and one book chapter. She is involved currently in a research project founded by the Department of Higher Education and Training.

Dr Kenneth Nwanua Ohei is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Applied Information Systems, School of Consumer Intelligence and Information Systems, College of Business and Economics at the University of Johannesburg. He holds a doctoral degree in Information Systems, a master’s degree in Computer Science and Information Systems from the North-West University. He is a member of the Institute of Information Technology Professional South Africa (IITPSA), the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists (SAICSIT). He previously worked for Reyakopele ICT consulting firm and lectured at North-West University.

Hlamulo Wiseman Mbhiza is a tutor at Wits School of Education and is currently enrolled for a Doctor of Philosophy in Education, focusing on mathematics education and rural education research. His research interests are Rural Education, Teaching and Learning, Learner’s attitudes, Parental Involvement, Rural Teaching Practice, Curriculum Issues and Teacher Development. He currently lectures curriculum courses and educational theory courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Dr Raphael Nhongo is a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Fort Hare. His research interests are in the areas of language teaching and learning, language policy and planning. He is currently pursuing research in various areas of translanguaging. He has published several articles in refereed journals that include Per Linguam, Nomina African, and Gender and Behaviour. He has been teaching linguistics modules at three different universities in Zimbabwe since 2007 and is also currently a senior lecturer at Midlands State University in Zimbabwe.

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Dr Rosaline Sebolao holds a D. Tech in Business Administration and a Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education for Academic Developers. She is the Manager: Special Projects in Teaching and Learning in the Centre for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CILT) at the Central University of Technology, Free State. Her work entails coordinating and managing all teaching development programmes funded through the University Capacity Development Grant (UCDG) and the new Generation of Academics Project (nGAP). She is engaged with the institutional academic staff development with specific focus on teaching and learning related topics. Furthermore, she is actively involved in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) as a mentor. She has been coordinating annual conferences on SoTL as well as innovation in learning and teaching for the past five years where academics and academic developers share practices for enhancing quality teaching and student success.

Dr Celyne Ambeck Tebid completed her doctoral degree at the faculty of education, Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), South Africa. Professor SH Rampa and Dr M Banoobhai from TUT were the supervisors assigned to Dr Tebid’s study. Her article builds on this doctoral work. Her research focused on inclusive education, learning disabilities, classroom support for learners and teachers, school-based support team. She lives in Texas, United States, where she is working as a behavioural health specialist, with the Texas Health and Human Services.

Professor Baba Primrose Tshotsho is an Associate Professor in Applied Linguistics at the University of Fort Hare. Her research interest is academic writing. She was awarded her Master’s degree from the University of Free State and her PhD at the University of Western Cape. She has published a number of papers with a recent one being published in the Journal for Higher Education. She has taught Applied Linguistics at the University of Fort Hare since 2011 and before that was at Walter Sisulu University.


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EditorialDolina Dowling

Post-1994 the South African higher education system was expected to be transformed from being elitist, fragmented, and racially discriminative to a non-racial, equitable system where there is meaningful equal opportunity for all. This was to be achieved through inter alia the implementation of legislation such as the South African Qualification Authority (SAQA) Act of 1995, the Higher Education Act 101 of 1997 and its amendments, and the establishment of the Council on Higher Education (CHE). The Higher Education Act aimed to transform the sector in keeping with the principles underlying the nascent democracy. The CHE through its Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) was to ensure the quality of higher education institutions and programmes while SAQA through the National Qualification Framework (Act 67 of 2008) ensured that programmes are appropriate for the level placed on the framework and provides for articulation pathways. Undoubtedly, there have been many gains. The restructuring of the higher education landscape has taken place and the level and quality of programmes is assured throughout the system.

While there has been a considerable increase in widening access to higher education, there has not been the concomitant throughput rates and, arguably even more worryingly, less take up of employment of graduates. This is despite a plethora of policies and mechanisms through which funding was made available to support disadvantaged students to be successful in their studies through, for example, extended curriculum programmes, and student academic support. Political and scholarly debates continue on how best to advance transformation.

Along with the social justice and inclusion imperatives for access with success, South African policy makers and educators need to be cognisant of the global geo-political and economic transformations occurring; i.e. the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This can be seen in the exponential innovations in technologies and the disruptive impact these are already having on jobs and businesses. This can only increase.

Policymakers in all areas of government need to anticipate the challenges. Nowhere is this more urgent than in education. It is apparent that there needs to be a focused examination of the education that is being offered to the children and youth of South Africa; what is offered and how. In this volume of the IJTL 14(2) these key pressing issues are addressed. They range from the need for change in curricula and delivery to meet the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in 21st century South Africa, to problems of high levels of graduate unemployment, to ways in which teachers need to reflect on their methods of delivery and make changes so that students have a better learning experience.

In the first article, the authors build a thorough and cogent case for an overhaul of higher education both at system and sector levels. They argue for the need for reconceptualising the curricula and teaching methods

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so that graduates are equipped to meet the challenges of the turbulent times ahead as the Fourth Industrial Revolution gathers apace. This in turn means that the current legislative and regulatory framework within which higher education operates needs to be reviewed and revised to allow for flexible, responsive curricula not bound by old classifications and lengthy out-of-date processes.

The next three articles delve into different aspects of programme delivery. In the first of these, the author examines the use of teaching portfolios as a means to improve teaching and thereby student learning. In a qualitative research study, she investigated the extent to which faculty understand the role that the use of reflective teaching portfolios can play in enhancing teaching and learning. Her findings showed that much more needs to be done in academic development programmes to raise awareness of teaching portfolios as an enhancement tool for student learning. In the following article, the authors investigate the reasons for ICT graduate unemployment and make a number of recommendations of which developers of ICT curricula need to take note. In the last article in the higher education cluster, the author explores through a case study academics’ preferred sources to obtain information for their research. It is expected that the findings can be used by library professionals in the university to fulfil the needs of faculty.

The following four articles are concerned with teaching and learning in the school sector. In the first, the author deals with the often seemingly intractable problem of the medium of instruction for African children which is not in their mother tongue. This has resulted in lengthy and ongoing debates which crosses the political, sociological and educational arenas amongst others. The authors explore the concept of ‘translanguaging’ before going on to report on case studies carried out in four schools. They found that translanguaging has been used in science and mathematics classrooms in bilingual classrooms with positive results. In the following two articles, the authors deal with STEM subjects in schools and how to ensure learner understanding. The first of these reported on a qualitative study which explored the extent to which Grade 12 learners in trigonometry had moved from the action stage in solving problems to the concept stage. Their study showed that the majority of learners had not developed the object conception. The authors then offer a genetic decomposition for the solution to triangles tool which, if implemented, should contribute to improved learner performance. In the next article, the authors conducted a qualitative study on the teaching of mathematics in five rural schools in South Africa. The article examines the data gained from Video-Stimulated Recall Interviews (VSRIs). Like the reflective teaching portfolios article mentioned above, this enables reflection on teaching and changes in delivery can be made as a consequence.

In Practitioners’ Corner, the author focuses on support strategies for foundation phase teachers with respect to the implementation of inclusive education in schools in line with national policy statements. The research shows that these are not sufficient to provide the support the class teacher needs. A range of support strategies are recommended.

Doctoral Corner comprises abstracts of recently awarded doctoral degrees. These cover concerns ranging from employability to curriculum and pedagogy at higher and basic education levels. The publication of abstracts alerts researchers and practitioners to new research in their areas of interest.


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If higher education is to deliver education to students that prepares them for the demands and challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), new flexible curricula and teaching approaches for diverse contexts and a move away from a teleological view of ‘skills’ are required. The 2009 establishment of a dedicated Ministry for Higher Education and Training led to a (then) new perspective in terms of the organisation of the post-school education and training landscape which has had as its aggregated effect a heightened government focus on the link between education, the economy, and skills development. New approaches to curricula specifically and to programme types essential for a more empowering pedagogy for the 4IR are needed. Curricula to serve these ends are not supported by the current focus on predefined categories and types of learning. The changes in teaching technologies and tools have not been matched by flexibility in the processes and policies designed to ensure quality in higher education which increasingly frustrate attempts to respond effectively. The existing framework requires imaginative rethinking about curriculum to address the current and future needs of students.1

Keywords: 4IR, flexible curricula, higher education, transformation, pedagogies, learning programmes

In 2015, Klaus Schwab wrote:

We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. In its scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before.

He termed this the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). In 2019, higher education institutions are just beginning to react and to respond to what he characterised as a revolution happening ‘at an exponential rather than a linear pace’ (Schwab, 2016). South Africa (SA) is a hybrid mix, with some sectors in society transitioning between the second, third and fourth revolutions, not losing sight that the 4IR has the potential to impact on the country in socio-economic ways. The 4IR has been characterised by an increased emphasis on technologisation, with its advent being heralded in terms such as ‘the robots are

1 Date of submission 10 May 2019 Date of review outcome 14 August 2019 Date of acceptance 25 September 2019

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

Reimagining curricula for theFourth Industrial Revolution1

Kirti Menon, University of Johannesburg, South Africa Gloria Castrillón, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

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coming’, which could result in a period of ‘technological unemployment’ (Peters, 2017: 1). Whether it is a case of the technologisation of contemporary human life resulting in fewer jobs, or whether it will release people to do other, new kinds of work, there is no question that it will be necessary to rely on ‘the ability of human labour to win the race against technology by means of education’ (Frey & Osborne, 2013: 15). If education is to deliver on the needs of society in the face of this revolution, new curricula and teaching approaches will be needed.

Against this high-paced, rapidly transforming technological and human frenzy, questions of curricula in higher education institutions are central, as qualifications are the delivery vehicles from which graduates acquire the skills and knowledge needed for the world of work. A curriculum construct is designed to equip university students for either or both post-graduation employment or further study.2 In practical terms, therefore, a curriculum construct is understood as the packaging of knowledge into modules and qualifications, with exit level outcomes and assessment criteria, the teaching and learning pedagogy, the role of the academic mediating the processes and the role of the students in engaging with the academic processes and the broader environment of the university. The World Economic Forum’s 2017 report, ‘The Future of Jobs and Skills in Africa’, predicts that the 4IR will create disruptions (2017: 15) to many occupations but simultaneously will open new occupations especially in fields such as science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), data analysis, computer science and engineering. It is envisaged that the demand will be for professionals who have a blend of digital and STEM skills with traditional subject knowledge. This could see for example, digital-mechanical engineers and business operations data analysts, who bring together deep knowledge of their industry with the latest analytical tools. Given the demands of the 4IR, a review of the extent to which the current available curriculum constructs are able to meet the most basic of these demands, is long overdue. In university terms, the four-year period since Schwab’s 2015 alert is minimal; however, in advancement terms, it is an age.

Ornstein and Hunkins (2009: 15) offer a view that the understanding of curriculum development is fairly limited to how a ‘curriculum is planned, implemented and evaluated, as well as what people, processes and procedures are involved’. They contend that this view excludes the human element in curriculum design. Barnett and Coate’s (2005: 3) view of curriculum design is that there is a need to reshape ‘spaces for learning’. It is the contention of this paper that a disruption of the spaces of teaching and learning has to occur if universities are to contend with the needs of current society and future societies. In order to teach for an ‘unknown future’, Barnett (2004: 1) argues that it is necessary to move beyond the cul-de-sac that is ‘skills’, and ‘generic skills’, ‘the way forward lies in construing and enacting a pedagogy for human being’ (sic), with the focus on ‘human qualities and dispositions’ as opposed to on what knowledge and skills (Barnett, 2004). Barnett and Coate (2005) define the concept of ‘knowing’ in ‘Engaging the Curriculum in Higher Education’ as follows:

... a changing world does not rule out knowledge as such, but it poses questions as to what kinds of knowledge are going to be fruitful in a changing world. … In a curriculum for the twenty-first century, what matters is the student's own engagements with knowledge - in other words his or her knowing’ (Barnett & Coate, 2005: 48).

Since 1994, South Africa has embarked on a number of shifts both systemically and structurally to the higher education sector. These shifts were designed to give effect to the broader political transformation agenda, to ensuring equitable access to higher education, and to providing skills to students which would, it was assumed, inevitably lead to employment opportunities. Prior to 1994, and in accordance with the

2 These are the twin purposes as set out in the Council on Higher Education (CHE) Accreditation Criteria.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

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dictates of apartheid Higher Education (HE), qualifications were tailored to meet the defined ‘needs’ of the various population groups. Badroodien (2004), Kraak (2004), and McGrath (2004) provide detailed historic vignettes of education under apartheid and it is clear that skewed skills development persists, particularly in the so-named Historically Disadvantaged Institutions (HDIs), where programmes were limited to those areas identified by the government to meet the specific needs of the black population (NCHE, 1996; DoE, 1996). Apartheid thus resulted in a ‘highly contested and racially segregated higher education system’ evident in the two-tiered, historically white and historically black universities (with two separate universities for Indians and ‘coloureds’) (Hay & Monnapula-Mapesela, 2009: 11). Badat (1994) asserts that access to HE was driven by parochial conceptions of labour market needs, premised directly on race, gender and class assumptions. Remarkably, and more than a decade post-apartheid, the Soudien report affirmed ‘… at the centre of epistemological transformation is curriculum reform – a reorientation away from the apartheid knowledge system, in which curriculum was used as a tool of exclusion, to a democratic curriculum that is inclusive of all human thought’, a move critical to the success of democracy (Soudien et al., 2008: 90).

Under apartheid, technikons were restricted to offering legislated qualifications – the National Accredited Technical Education Diploma (NATED) programmes, a set of vocational programmes, with legislated curricula and requirements. The technical training system began at school level, culminating in programmes offered by technikons. By contrast, HE curricula were not regulated, and universities had almost complete freedom in determining curricula, programme structures, types and provisioning (Bunting, 1994).

The political changes of 1994 precipitated a series of massive shifts in policy in education broadly, and HE specifically. The promulgation of the Higher Education Act, Act 101 of 1997 triggered the processes to undo at multiple levels, the legacies of apartheid. The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) adopted an outcomes-based education (OBE) approach to HE. This set in place the boundaries within which the so-called ‘graduate attributes’ could be established, based on the assumption that the provision of certain learning materials, taught in the newly identified mode of OBE would result in the achievement of these outcomes (Griesel & Parker 2009: 15). In Allais’s words (2003: 1), there were ‘[m]any hopes … pinned on the NQF’ which would, it was thought, be the mechanisms through training and education that would ‘integrate’ to meet the transformation needs of the community and industry (Allais, 2003: 2). This virtually magical transition and the reforms triggered by the regulatory bodies would be achieved through the instruments of audit, accreditation, and registration effected by three bodies: the Council on Higher Education (CHE), SAQA and the Department of Higher Education (DHET).

The graduate attributes seen as ideal and encapsulated in the Critical Cross Field Outcomes (CCFOs) were ostensibly the generic skills all students ought to acquire on completion of a qualification. Each qualification had a set of academic or learning outcomes and the CCFOs were generic to all as contributors to SA’s initiatives to transform itself through the key driver identified by these bodies as ‘employability’. Without employable, skilled graduates, the argument proceeded, the South African economy would not succeed, and the resulting political and socio-economic transformation would not be achieved. The language employed in respect of education is evident in the broad policy documents of the DHET which state the need to develop ‘a skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path’ (The Presidency, 2010). The preoccupation of 1990s policy on widening access and narrowing the rift between apartheid Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) created further synergies in the post-school education and training landscape which served further to heighten government’s focus on the link between the economy and skills development (subsumed into HE). In the Minister Blade Nzimande’s words on 4 September 2012:

… boosting the supply of skills has positive implications for both economic and social justice imperatives in South Africa. It ensures […] a continuous supply of the required skills for overall economic development …. (RSA, 2012)

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In the broad area of curriculum, three phases can be seen: first, compliance with the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), promulgated in 1998; second, the National Plan for Higher Education (DoE, 2001); and finally, the passing of the Higher Education Qualification Sub-Framework in 2013. However, as Salim Badat (2010: 14) has argued, the mechanisms in place, and the view of education from which these arose, resulted in

[a]n instrumental approach to higher education which reduces its value to its efficacy for economic growth, and calls that higher education should prioritize professional, vocational and career-focused qualifications and programmes and emphasise ‘skills’ development is to denude it of its considerably wider social value and functions’.

Furthermore, and as has been argued elsewhere (Menon & Castrillon, 2019), the very mechanisms through which transformation of the curriculum was to be achieved, may very well have served to stifle rather than to liberate the mechanisms of change. This paper examines the implications of this history for the present and the future, from the lens of the flexibility needed in contemporary and future-fit curricula.

Against this backdrop, the South African HE sector faces a number of challenging questions. Of course, one of these is the need to decolonise (about which much has been written, and which is not the focus of this paper). However, there are numerous others, including the question of the extent to which South African HE is able to produce graduates sufficiently well educated and ready for the 4IR (as opposed to having obtained a qualification which (in theory at least) enables them to obtain ‘a job’). The broad question for the HE sector now is whether it is possible in 2019 to use the approach devised to respond to the problems identified at the dawn of democracy in 1994. It is argued that in order to address the current challenges, new understandings of curricula, programmes and qualifications are needed. The current frameworks (the CESMs, the HEQSF, the CHE programme standards, SAQA policies and so on) do not provide sufficient flexibility to allow institutions to address the challenges of the future. The current approach, context-bound as it is in its form and function, is not able to drive the kind of HE initiatives needed in HE currently (Menon & Castrillon, 2019).

It is worth reiterating that the main objectives of the 1994 initiatives were to radically shift and improve the quality of education to strengthen the linkage between it and the country’s economy. Bhorat, Cassim and Tseng (2016) argue that HE has become valued for its perceived ability to increase labour productivity; to add to the innovative capacity of technology; and to facilitate the absorption of technology. However, the current shifts (in which technology is more overtly a means to an end than an end in itself), the nature and form of HE programmes into which HE providers are pushed need to be interrogated. It seems unlikely that the outcome-heavy, content-laden solutions which characterise the current HE qualifications are the best response to the needs of an as yet ill-defined future.3 The more narrowly scoped for employment (or other purposes) a qualification is, the less likely it is that it will be able to address the needs of students. There is a strong argument to be made for an approach to learning programmes that focus directly on the development of skills, attributes and attitudes and that move away from the valuing of content for the sake of employment, especially in those qualifications where there is no direct link to employment (as is

3 The reader is directed, for example, to the recent publication of the Higher Education Qualifications Sub-Framework Qualification Standard for Bachelor of Commerce, June 2019, V8, which sets the base curriculum requirements to which all institutions must adhere in order to call a qualification a Bachelor of Commerce degree, to the extent of prescribing certain content for the degree (see p.7 of the Draft Standard). Thus, in addition to the requirements set out in the HEQSF, institutions are now to adhere also to the prescripts established in the various standards. The ever-diminishing level of detail and prescriptiveness to which the regulators resort is evidence, perhaps, that the system is not achieving the desired effect and that rather than undertaking a thorough re-evaluation of the system, ever-increasing layers of compliance are added in the vain hope that these will, in aggregation, bring about the desired result.

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the case in several professional programmes, arguably). A better approach to higher education learning programmes may very well be one that signals a return to the model of degrees past: one in which disciplines, content and technologies are tools that serve the greater master of the skills for the future. As Osman points out ‘Universities will need to ensure that students are equipped with approaches to learning that involve agility, adaptability and curiosity. It will be a challenge for us all’ (The Conversation, 2018).

It is clear that the unemployment rate in SA means that attention must be paid to how people earn a living and what they will need to be able to do so. According to Stats SA, SA’s current population is 57.7 million as of 1 July 2018 (Stats SA, 2018a). Alarmingly, the latest figures indicate that SA’s unemployment rate is at 26.7%, for both youth and adults. However, the unemployment rate for people aged 15–34 is higher, predictably, than the national average, at 38.2%. What this means is that more than one in every three young people available for the labour force did not have employment when the survey was undertaken in 2018. Of the 10.3 million aged 15–24 years, approximately 3.3 million (or 32.4%) were either unemployed, or not in education or training. Although the not in education, employment or training (NEET) rate declined among young black African and coloured males, it increased among Indian, Asian and white males. Among females, the NEET rate increased for the three population groups with the exception of young coloured females. This group of unemployed and disengaged youths is what Cloete (2009: 15) terms the ‘social time bomb’ of youth and, as they are unemployed and not in education or training, it is unclear what will effect a change to their status. Cloete and Sheppard in 2009 put this figure conservatively at 2.8 million which appears by 2018 to have increased to 3,3 million. The NEET rate in conjunction with the overall unemployment rate suggests that the youth face extreme difficulties engaging with the labour market or accessing any means (let alone HE) through which to effect changes. The youth accounts therefore for 63.5% of the total number of unemployed persons and, of direct relevance to any discussion of HE, the rate remains higher irrespective of the level of education. In effect, just over 30% of the youth has employment and only half participate in the labour market. It is the 15–24 year olds who are the most vulnerable in the labour market with an unemployment rate of over 52%, and an absorption rate of about 12.2%. Labour force participation rates in this group are 25.6% (Stats SA, 2018b).

Given the assumed link between higher education and employment indicated above, what does this mean for post-school education, and specifically for higher education? Is it possible to create employable graduates through ‘the planned learning opportunities offered to learners by the educational institution and the experiences learners encounter when the curriculum is implemented’? (Print, 1987: 4). Given that employment rates do not differ significantly based on education levels, is it possible that there are things not taught that must be taught, and that the current qualification types and programme options have been removed from the education offered to students in this insistence on the link between jobs and education? An examination of the skill set required for the Fourth Industrial Revolution shows that it is not an entirely new set (see Diagram 1 below) and that some, if not all, of the skills required may be timeless, as is the fact that the future is unknown.

It is argued in this paper that what needs to change is how the development of skills may be achieved through curricula that are designed to enable learning and how these skills may be appropriated for multiple uses, flexibly, and readily extrapolated to diverse, future, and perhaps even unknown, contexts. The current regulatory framework (DHET, CHE and SAQA) view of learning programmes and curricula is teleological in its approach to skills, and assumes that the programme design principles encapsulated in the framework will lead to a programme of worth. The Accreditation Criteria set the minimum ‘threshold standards’ for the delivery of HE, the HEQSF determines both the naming and structure of all qualification types, the SAQA level descriptors establish whether the outcomes are at the correct level, and SAQA policy determines the manner of assessment and phrasing of the Associated Assessment Criteria, and the DHET documents ensure alignment to funded CESMs. Add to this the development of programme-specific requirements (qualification standards) which include ‘graduate attributes’ in addition to the above

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requirements, and the result is a compliance-heavy, ponderous system with little inherent flexibility and almost no room for experimentation. This compliance-heavy system, coupled with the assumption that education means skills which correlate to programme ‘outcomes’ at a certain, defined level, means that a thorough reversal or re-imagination of the nature and form of higher education may be needed to prime the system for the 4IR and make a discernible impact on the employability of students in the system.

This article looks at the context in which programmes are designed and approved in South Africa, and argues that the agility and responsiveness of universities must be liberated from the current technocratic and bureaucratic conceptions of higher education as reflected in the various regulatory and quality documents, requirements and processes. A somersaulting of curriculum constructs is essential to rethink the knowledge packages or bundles and a more empowering pedagogy in line with our age of 4IR. Ramrathan (2016: 8) argues that curriculum transformation in SA has been largely instrumentalist and that ‘deep curriculum intellectualism’ is required. Le Grange (2016: 7) alludes to the ‘factory model’ of curriculum with outcomes stated and an accompanying assumption that a statement of outcomes equates to achievement of these in a mechanistic form. It is argued that a shift from mechanistic instrumentalist approaches is required.

Max Nikias (2016) refers to the 4IR as prompting a response from universities for a world in which ‘technology will develop exponentially, blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres’ (Max Nikias, 2016). Designing curricula to serve these ends is not, however, supported in the current dispensation with its focus on predefined categories of learning (set out in the Classification of Educational Subject Matter, hereafter referred to as the CESM document), and unchanged since 2009; and the need to obtain prior DHET approval for a programme, or an additional CESM, and then accreditation by the CHE and registration on the NQF by SAQA (2000), a process that takes upwards of 18 months to as long as 30 months.

Likewise, the insidious creep of technology into all aspects of teaching and learning over the last 20 years has still not been addressed by the regulators and policy-makers. Often, creative approaches to the uses of technology are seen as undermining education or signalling a downward spiral in quality rather than facilitating it. The move from the physical blackboard, to PowerPoint, to podcasts and videos, to interactive online platforms, clickers and twitter in the classroom has not been matched by an equivalent flexibility in the processes and policies designed to ensure quality in higher education. In fact, the duality of the modes of delivery as provided for by the regulatory bodies also does not reflect the current realities of the delivery of HE, let alone those of the future. Ironically, it is these regulatory measures ostensibly designed to assure the system of quality that are responsible, at least in part, for rendering qualifications rapidly outdated, and institutions increasingly frustrated in their attempts to respond speedily and effectively to the trends identified (which is backward facing) and anticipated (which is future facing). In addition, the existing framework propagates an associated model of teaching and learning, implicit in all the framework documents including policies and criteria (CHE, 2004). If universities are to respond to the 4IR demands (and also to the employment needs of the youth), then these inherited, static regulatory and academic tools need to be rapidly and effectively broken down so that new ways of teaching and learning, new curricula and programmes may be devised, tested, changed, and redesigned, as needed. It must also be noted that not all of these will be HE responses, nor will they all be qualifications. The notion of the ‘ivory tower’ university, working on its own with its own students may too have to be challenged, as different universities offer up their strengths in collaborative rather than competitive ways to address the wide range of needs across the sector, from entry-level skills to high-level research production initiatives.

The agility needed in the sector to respond to the rapidly changing needs of the employment sector, student demands, learning and knowledge flexibility, inter-, trans- and multidisciplinary responsibility, is

WHAT IS EDUCATION FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION?

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currently not supported by the framework in which HE operates in SA. The strong ‘gatekeeping’ function of the regulatory framework means that the heavily inspectorial approach at the front-end of the design process inhibits the agility with which institutions are able to produce ‘graduates’ at the end of the process. There is critical consensus in the literature on the developmental state (Evans, 1995; Evans, Huber & Stephens, 2014). In this state, well-capacitated bureaucracies are critical for development. Although a constant discussion point in many HE forums across the country, little direct attention has been paid to the extent to which bureaucratic processes in the South African context serve to reduce the speed and agility of the responsiveness of universities. It is acknowledged that the DHET, CHE and SAQA are important vehicles in transformation as specified in their mandates; however, what is argued is that there should be new ways of permitting for new programmes to be delivered so that the system is able to recognise and acknowledge, adapt and respond to emerging institutional demands and policy imperatives.

Continuous adjustments to an outdated and inflexible system will not adequately address the seismic shifts that have affected not only the way the economy is constituted, but also the ways in which people now work, and even more importantly, the demands students place on education and their expectations of its achievements. Added to this is the fact that South African institutions of higher learning face the concept of the ‘lag’ between the developments in the economies with which the country continues to engage, and the entry and departure points in these. If SA is not always to be in ‘catch-up’ mode, it will be necessary to urgently and aggressively meet the demands of the 4IR in ways that directly and coherently impact on the curricula offered to students such that dramatic and radical changes to their learning and interactions with the world are effected. The changes required are, often, in manner rather than category. Thus, for example, the skills required for computing numbers are still important. However, the manner in which these are applied has changed. The kind of problem solving users have access to when software can compute more speedily and more readily what can be achieved manually, liberates the thinking person from manipulating the numbers to redesigning the perceived problems, and designing new responses to which the numbers, the software and so on are all simply aspects of the arsenal of tools used to reach solutions. In the 4IR, the problem will be with ‘finding people with the right mix of skills: the data scientists who combine technical skills, analytical and industry knowledge, and the business sense and soft skills to turn data into value for employers’ (Mateos-Garcia, Bakhshi & Windsor, 2015: 37). The link established by the current framework – in other words that a particular qualification or programme (and by extension the curriculum) leads to a particular skill set which is then de facto linked to a job or occupation has failed to produce the graduates that were envisaged and the employment that was its stated focus. What it has done is it has produced a plethora of programmes that focus on content rather than skills. For example, a Bachelor of Arts degree which was the primary vehicle through which students learnt to read and think and write, has now become a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, and so on. The same has happened to most undergraduate Bachelor’s degrees with increasing areas of specialisation reflected in the content, rather than in the skills. Given that (a) these increasingly limited degrees have not had the impact that they were intended to have on employability, and (b) that the jobs of the future are unknown, and (c) in light of the fact that aspects of the skill set are the same, it is no longer possible to assume a linear relationship between the programme/qualification type and level and an occupation. It seems illogical to constrain the types of qualifications and curricula insisted on in the regulatory processes based on what is not known now, rather than on what is known, which is the move that has taken place from skills to content in the increasingly specialised focus implicit in the current accreditation and standards framework. As can be seen from the diagram below, it is the skills that were needed before that are needed for the future:

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Diagram 1: Skills for the 4IRWEF, 2016.

2015

Complex problem solving

Coordinating with others

People management

Critical thinking Negotiation Quality

controlService

orientation

Judgement and decision

making

Active listening Creativity

2020

Complex problem solving

Critical thinking Creativity People

management Coordinating with others

Emotional intelligence

Judgement and decision

making

Service Orientation

Negotiation Cognitive flexibility

It is the focus on these skills that has been lost in the current framework and in the current emphasis on compliance with the qualification types and the resulting ‘sameness’ across all institutions, and all institutional types. What is needed is a clear and distinct step away from the current approach to degrees as binary categories (either professional or academic; undergraduate or postgraduate; research-led, or work-led), or as knowledge silos (either Science or Humanities; Commerce or Education), into skills- and knowledge-based matrices in which students can insert themselves as sentient learners capable of defining the areas in which they need to develop new and enhance existing skills, attributes, attitudes and values. The McKinsey Report on Disruptive Technologies (Manyika et al., 2013: 15) states clearly that ‘[t]he nature of work will change, and millions of people will require new skills’. It may not be the case that the skills that are needed are new, but rather that new conceptualisations of qualifications are needed from which basis the skills may be acquired. The challenge for universities then is to be able to transform their curricula, their teaching and learning strategies, their pedagogical approaches and the very assumptions on which curriculum design is currently embedded. These assumptions include a strong focus on the deficit model, a content-driven understanding of knowledge, and narrow and constraining assessment modules and requirements. There is no question that it is necessary to move from the current deficit model, which relies on the outcome statements and the content and ‘skills’ needed to ‘fill’ these deficits, and which is circumscribed by conventional teaching and learning engagements, and assessment models, into a more dynamic and systemic approach to how to ‘do’ higher education. In some sense, a return to the notion of learning for the sake of learning is needed: it does not fundamentally matter what is learnt, it is far more important that it be learnt in ways that enable and empower students to continue to learn and adapt to new ways of being and doing with or without the presence of the ‘learned professor’. It must be noted at this point that this is not all about a focus on technology and robots and what these tools can do for us. The 4IR is about people and their interactions with each other, and the ways in which these interactions can solve social, economic and other problems. To this end, the South African economic context is supremely relevant.

An interrogation of programmes, qualifications and ‘curricula’ across all levels of learning is required if South African HE is to effect the changes that are and will be heralded by the 4IR. No level or discipline of learning can be excluded from this view; and if this requires transforming the entirety of the education sector, it is the universities that will play a crucial role in its reconfiguration. By way of example, Singapore recently adopted a three-pronged strategy (Gleason, 2018) designed to achieve its strategic goals. In this approach, they decided to do the following:

HIGHER EDUCATION’S RESPONSE?

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1. Deepen and diversify international connections.

2. Acquire and utilise deep skills.

3. Build strong digital capabilities.

Clearly these will not be the same as those required by South Africa, and if the country has learnt anything at all from the experiences since 1997, it must be this: SA cannot mimic what has worked (or has not worked) in other countries and hope that it will work here (Cross, Mungadi & Rouhani, 2002), much as was done with Outcomes Based Education (Allais, 2003). It is necessary to respond to the challenges posed by the 4IR in a manner that is able to encompass both SA’s unique history, its complex present, and the potentially explosive needs of its future. The inclusion of the Singapore example is not intended as a transferable template for SA, but as an example of what will be needed as a strategy for SA to address the persistent inequities in its education system. The Singaporean example provides a basis to demonstrate how other university systems have reimagined curricula.

Gleason (2018) advocates the use of a problem-solving approach highlighting ‘problem-based learning with an authentic outcome is the mode of education’ (2018: 148-149), and cautions against the replication of the Singapore model without interrogation of the context. For example, the replacement of jobs through automation could have dire consequences for SA where unemployment rates are already socially and economically compromising. The suggestion by Gleason is that ‘there are exciting opportunities to leapfrog more advanced economies that will be locked into brick and mortar solutions and tied down by bureaucratic legacies’ (2018: 165). According to Xing, Marwala and Marwala (2018: 197), ‘the future economic growth and competitiveness of a country largely depend on its innovation capacity, which is mainly sourced from the new knowledge and trained graduates produced by universities’.

In the South African context, this may mean that there is a need to shift the current policy discourse from its almost singular focus on STEM education to a more all-encompassing approach to revisiting curricula and teaching and learning pedagogies so that it is possible to find approaches that result in SA HE ‘deploying pedagogy that yields creative thinkers with practical skills’ (Xing et al., 2018: 200). Barr and Tagg (1995) argue that the changing role and purpose of higher education is ‘not to transfer knowledge but to create environments and experiences that bring students to discover and construct knowledge for themselves, to make students members of communities of learners that make discoveries and solve problems’ (1995: 5). On this matter, Bawa (2017) is clear: there is a need to review the nature of our curricula and assess whether and to what extent they connect with what is likely to be the world of work in 2035, in as much as it is possible to imagine this. Additionally, there is a need to actively consider the potential emergence of new professional careers, some linked to the technological developments likely in the 4IR, and others related to the development and support of the new conceptual frameworks needed as these technologies lead to new human-technology interfaces in society (Bawa, 2017).

There is, however, a difficulty: while a complete review of the current educational system with all its regulatory, policy and compliance aspects will require time, the changes in the environment are occurring rapidly. Against this background, it can be argued that Bawa’s (2017) position does not go far enough in rethinking programmes and curricula. If HE is to prepare students for the challenges of the 4IR, a more rigorous engagement is required by all academics across the board – cutting through silos – innovative pedagogies that enable students to become independent learners outside of the confines of the lecture halls. Conventionally, the face-to-face mode of delivery in higher education is premised, however lightly, on a dependence paradigm of learning: the teaching, provision of readings, lectures, focus on the achievement of outcomes, assessment related to content and reliance on the expert are in the hands of the academic staff member. As students progress through the qualification, the dependency is incrementally reduced resulting, at least theoretically, in independence. This model is explicit in the SAQA level descriptors

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(SAQA, 2012), as well as in the typology of qualifications in the Higher Education Qualification Sub-Framework (HEQSF) (CHE, 2013). The assumption of this model is that everyone is on a continuum which begins in higher education with a level 5 and ends at a PhD, and is part of the problem. Progression is defined vertically. It may very well be the case that a more ‘shotgun approach’ is needed: universities can cater for people learning what they need, to when they need to, and still have a framing qualification. The 4IR demands not just an intervention in the process described above, but a rejection of the static model and a shift to the emancipated learner. In line with what Gleason (2018) says, students need to be able to engage with the real world while problem-solving of a complex kind, mixed with the flexible and creative skills needed to continuously learn and respond to change. Broadbent (2018) argued that

in the world that is becoming, there are no trades. There are just problems to be solved, opportunities to be taken advantage of and to disrupt: to be critically evaluated, and then to be ignited by an idea that strikes the status quo like a bolt from the blue. A university education that equips graduates for this reality is crucial

The current SA qualification mix may contain a few qualifications designed to achieve just this; however, it is certainly not the case that these are easily found.

Kant and Schiller, at the forefront of the Enlightenment, argued for the development of critical thinkers. This necessitated

the subject learns the rules of thought, not a content of positive knowledge, so that thought and knowledge acquisition become a freely autonomous activity, part of the subject.... What is thus taught is not facts but critique, the formal art of the use of mental powers, the process of judgment (Readings, 1996: 67).

Readings further argues that the modern university began to be defined by curriculum related to the public good as determined by the political context. The rise of the corporate university and achievement of excellence measured by performance indicators, is what was termed as the ruins of the university. The 21st century has propelled universities into further chronic uncertainty as to what the future will hold and what the implications are to prime up for the 4IR. It could be argued that in a sense, universities revert to the Kantian notion of the development of critical thinkers. The question is whether universities are able to change in terms of pedagogy and curricula in producing graduates for the 4IR which requires a broader skills set unlike the model of intensive specialisation that has dominated the qualifications field. Can this be achieved through the traditional university and the bureaucratic systems that govern teaching and learning? Possibly not. Shifting a paradigm may be too gentle a conception of what is required. There is a need for an aggressive disruption of current thinking, existing methods and processes, if HE and universities are to achieve real change to the way in which teaching and learning pedagogies are framed. Change of the entire academic governance processes is needed: both the superstructure and the substructure. The substructure in this case is the regulatory framework within which higher education is bound. Just as in economics, it is the base that establishes the parameters for performance. In its attempt to transform, the policy and regulatory framework runs the risk of stultifying and ossifying. The reductive consequence – unintended as it may have been – means that this base has resulted in a range of qualifications that are tied to characteristics not designed to liberate, but to proscribe. The way in which South African higher education now stands in relation to students, to staff, to disciplines, to knowledge, and to ideas has been determined by this base, with few attempts to avoid or subvert this. The superstructure, or how each institution has given or tries to give effect to its specific culture, to its particular understanding of power, of academic freedom, or of autonomy, to its perceived role in society and relationship to the state is over determined by a set of policies not abreast with contemporary thinking and the need for reactiveness, for responsiveness.

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South Africa remains a deeply stratified society, especially technologically, and certainly economically. Nonetheless, it may not be too late to make the leap needed from the current paradigm to a new one in which less regulation and fewer compliance-driven activities permit for the transformative programmes and curricula needed to ensure that students are empowered participants in the construction of their own learning pathways and the achievement of their goals. As a society, South Africa remains convinced (and most HEIs’ marketing strategies confirm this), that a degree is, if not the only way, then certainly the ‘best’ way, to a future. If students are not treated as objects of the learning programmes and curricula then they may be engaged fully as active participants of equal value in the creation of their own learning (Biggs & Tang, 2007: 21). In such an approach, they will have to assume responsibility. The changes to programme and curricula aside (and these are not minor), the greater challenge will be to create a space in which the new programmes and curricula may be delivered and explored using new approaches to teaching and learning. Interactions between the regulators, institutions, academics and students are needed to develop active relationships in which learning and developing are the result for all three participants, even if not to the same extent. In conclusion, the value of a transformative education lies in its ability to move with the differences among students and their interests, with differing conceptions of what constitutes a valid curriculum and a valid assessment, and, in line with the 4IR, to an approach that challenges lecturers, students and institutions alike with modes of assessment tailored to the achievement of new modes of teaching and learning.

It is clear that the vehicle of qualifications as prescribed by the HEQSF (CHE, 2013) and as regulated by the CHE, is not the appropriate vehicle for responding to the needs of the immediate future, given the rigidity that exists in defining the qualifications, and the ever-increasing detail in the standards issued. Universities are required to actively engage with teaching and learning spaces looking forward as opposed to a historic building of curriculum, teaching and learning practices (Barnett & Coate, 2005). It may very well be that what is required is a ‘Marshall plan’, appropriating strategy from the military as advocated by Sun Tzu. What this suggests is the need for quick responses to changing conditions and dealing with the unexpected with agility.

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Badat, S. (2010) The challenges of transformation in higher education and training institutions in South Africa. Paper commissioned by Development Bank of South Africa. http://www.dbsa.org/Research/Higher%20Education%20-and%20Training/The%20challenges%20of%20transformation%20in%20higher%20education%20and%20training%20institutions%20in%20South%20Africa%20by%20Saleem%20Badat. pdf?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 (Accessed 1 May 2013).

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McGrath, S. (2004) The shifting understandings of skills in South Africa since industrialisation. In S. McGrath, A. Badroodien, A. Kraak & L. Unwin, L. (Eds.) Shifting understandings of skills in South Africa: Overcoming the historical imprint of a low regime. Cape Town: Human Sciences Research Council Press, pp.1-19.

Menon, K. & Castrillon, G. (2019) Making windows where there were once walls: Transformation in higher education curricula. South African Journal on Higher Education 33(3) pp.26-44.

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Ornstein, A.C. & Hunkins, F.P. (2009) Curriculum foundations, principles and issues. 5th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Peters, M.A. (2017) Technological unemployment: Educating for the fourth industrial revolution. Educational Philosophy and Theory 49(1) pp.1-6.

Print, M. (1987) Curriculum development and design. 2nd ed. Australia: Allen and Unwin.

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South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). (2000) The NQF and quality assurance. Pretoria: SAQA.

Ramrathan, L. (2016) Beyond counting the numbers: Shifting higher education transformation into curriculum spaces. Transformation in Higher Education 1(1) pp.1-8.

Readings, B. (1996) The University in Ruins (Bill Readings). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Republic of South Africa (RSA). (2012) Address by Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande at the Launch of The Labour Market Intelligence Research Project, HSRC Conference Centre, Pretoria, 4 September. https://www.gov.za/address-minister-higher-education-and-training-dr-blade-nzimande-launch-labour-market-intelligence (Accessed 26 February 2019).

Schwab, K. (2015) The fourth industrial revolution: What it means and how to respond. Foreign Affairs, 12 December. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2015-12-12/fourth-industrial-revolution (Accessed 25 February 2019).

Schwab, K. (2016) The fourth industrial revolution: What it means and how to respond. http://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond (Accessed 25 March 2019).

Soudien, C., Michaels, W., Mthembi-Mahanyele, S., Nkomo, M., Nyanda, G., Nyoka, N., Seepe, S., Shisana, O. et al. (2008) Report of the Ministerial Committee on transformation and social cohesion and the elimination of discrimination in public higher education institutions. Pretoria: Department of Education.

Stats SA. (2018a) Mid-year population estimates. http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=11341 (Accessed 12 February 2019).

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The Conversation. (2018) How the humanities can equip students for the fourth industrial revolution. http://theconversation.com/how-the-humanities-can-equip-students-for-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-103925 (Accessed 25 March 2019).

The Presidency. (2010) Measurable performance and accountable delivery: Outputs and Measures – Outcome 5: A skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path. http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/dpme/docs/outcome5.pdf (Accessed 10 May 2015).

The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). (2012) Level descriptors for the South African National Qualifications Framework. http://www.saqa.org.za/docs/misc/2012/level_descriptors.pdf (Accessed 12 March 2019).

World Economic Forum (WEF). (2016) The future of jobs report. http://reports.weforum.org/future-of-jobs-2016/ (Accessed 2 February 2019).

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Xing, B., Marwala, L. & Marwala T. (2018) Adopt fast, adapt quick: Adaptive approaches in the South African context. In N.W. Gleason (Ed.) Higher education in the era of the fourth industrial revolution. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.171-207.


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Teaching portfolios in higher education are used for the purpose of reflecting on the lecturer’s practice to improve student learning. Significant to academic development is the need to encourage staff to engage in scholarly writing about their teaching and student learning as a critically reflexive practice through the development of teaching portfolios. It was noted through the implementation of an academic development programme at a university of technology across faculties that not many lecturers were in possession of teaching portfolios and for the few who were, their main reason for developing them was for promotion or to participate in teaching awards. This paper is about exploring the use of teaching portfolios for critically reflecting on one’s teaching to enhance student learning, underpinned by Schon’s reflection on- and in- action principle. The study used qualitative interpretive research design to determine the awareness of university teachers on the purpose and importance of teaching portfolios. It was found that 19 participants were aware of the reflective purpose of the portfolios while 11 compiled them out of compliance. This outcome implies that more lecturers need to be engaged in developing critically reflexive teaching portfolios for enhanced teaching and student learning, as well as for increased participation in the scholarship of teaching and learning.1

Keywords: academic development, critical reflexive practice, scholarly, scholarship of teaching and learning, student learning, teaching portfolio.

Teaching portfolios in higher education globally have been mainly used for promotion, achievements and awards. For instance, Tigelaar et al. (2006), Davis (2009) indicate that portfolios are used as tools to contribute to the development and growth of teachers, and are created to keep a record of accomplishments that can be submitted for promotion or other employment; (see also The Higher Education Monitor 2017, Council on Higher Education). However, teaching portfolios also make a significant contribution to the improvement of teaching and learning. Lim and Lee (2014) argue that electronic teaching portfolios (e-portfolios) create opportunities for academics to form professional learning communities (PLCs) through which they can collaborate to reflect on their own teaching, and engage in the scholarship of teaching and learning. While Lim and Lee write about the e-portfolio, this article focuses on teaching portfolios

1 Date of submission 1 November 2018 Date of review outcome 15 April 2019 Date of acceptance 25 September 2019

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

Enhancing the use of a teaching portfolio in higher education as a critically reflexive practice1

Rosaline Sebolao, Central University of Technology, South Africa

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in general, whether manual or electronic. During the implementation of a staff development programme with specific reference to the topic of teaching portfolios, it was noted that not many lecturers were in possession of portfolios and those who were, had developed them out of compliance. However, the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) (2018), through its frameworks for enhancing academics as university teachers, emphasises the importance of enhancing academics’ teaching skills in order to maximise their impact on learning. This article presents the use of teaching portfolios as a critically reflexive practice at a university of technology as part of academic staff development. Reflexive practice is explained by Hibbert and Cunlife (2015) as questioning own experience, focusing on the self and own assumptions in relation to other people for the purpose of improvement.

The article is inspired by the researcher’s role as an academic developer aimed at empowering academics to reflect on their practice in order to improve their teaching and student learning. The researcher reflects on her academic developer role by responding to the following objectives:

• to determine the awareness of the purpose of developing teaching portfolios among academic staff

• to establish the need for academic development initiatives on the development of teaching portfolios as development tools.

What is a teaching portfolio?

There are different types of portfolios and different definitions. Pelger and Larsson (2018) define teaching portfolios as documents that comprise reflective work samples that a teacher has collected over a period of time across various teaching and learning contexts. According to Granberg (2010), teaching portfolios can be categorised into reflective, credential and marketing portfolios where reflective portfolios are meant for encouraging student teachers to reflect on their learning process, supported by their lecturers’ formative assessments; credential portfolios being used as summative assessments; and marketing portfolios for displaying teachers’ accomplishments. While Granberg refers to portfolios of student teachers, the significant principle of reflection also applies for lecturers, and this is the main focus of this paper. Subbaye and Vithal (2015) suggest that portfolios are presented for promotion applications (as structured self-assessment reports), some for confirmation of tenure, and others for a qualification. This approach appears to focus on compliance as opposed to reflection. In the next paragraph I discuss the views of other scholars on various uses of portfolios.

Theoretical framework: Teaching portfolios as reflective tools

Reflection is an important activity in higher education as it enables one to look back at how one is performing and improving all the time. This argument is underpinned by the work of Schon (1983) about the reflective practitioner which entails reflection on action and reflection in action as a means of bringing about improvement after or during a certain practice or incident. Reflection on action involves identifying a particular practice or incident, thinking about the situation before and after an intervention; about bridging the gap between before and after; and then determining what could have been done differently. Reflection in action, on the other hand, refers to thinking about what one is doing whilst in the process and is inspired by surprise because the activity might have been unplanned or yielded unexpected results (Schon 1983). Both are done through writing about these practices and observations of one’s work. Stierer in Murray (2008) refers to writing about one’s work as a reflective tool more than a communication medium. As lecturers write about their teaching, they reflect on how they teach, who their students are, how students respond to their teaching, and the impact of this teaching.

LITERATURE REVIEW

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In line with this argument, Fong et al. (2014) indicate that teaching portfolios are used to encourage staff to engage in professional learning and enhance their teaching. As they willingly reflect, their teaching is enhanced because they take responsibility for their own professional development (DHET 2018). In their reflection, they refer to the teaching philosophy that they set for themselves, evaluate themselves against this philosophy and the results obtained from their teaching. This is further supported by Prilla (2015) who views reflection as observing one’s own actions and those of others, which in the case of this paper involves lecturers observing their actions and the actions of students. FitzPatrick and Spiller (2010) also concur that portfolios are used for reflective purpose and professional development.

Teaching portfolios as evidence for promotion or awards

One of the purposes of a teaching portfolio according to Granberg (2010) is to meet the need for national standards or address issues of accreditation. The example here can be that of promotions, teacher awards and certification programmes in higher education (Fitzpatrick & Spiller, 2010). For instance, in South Africa, annual Vice Chancellor’s teaching awards are held; for a lecturer to enter this competition, a teaching portfolio must be submitted with all evidence of teaching achievements and professional development sessions attended. CHE (2017) indicates that teaching portfolios are used in the promotion process, where candidates are expected to provide clear description and evidence of their teaching practice. In some institutions the requirement may be inclusion of evidence of professional courses aimed at improving teaching and learning. When teaching portfolios are used as evidence of attendance of professional courses, lecturers may just comply without a meaningful impact. However, the latter part of the statement ‘to improve teaching and learning’ needs to be considered. I discuss this in the next paragraph.

Teaching portfolios and scholarship of teaching and learning

Scholarship of teaching and learning entails lecturers in higher education using literature to investigate and reflect on their own teaching practice and formally communicate the process and results to their peers (Pelliccione & Raison, 2009). These authors further argue that the development of professional teaching e-portfolios promotes academic reflection and engages teacher education students in the scholarship of teaching. While the authors refer to student teachers, the principle also applies to lecturers at institutions of higher education. One of the main aspects of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) is the ability of lecturers to reflect on their teaching practice which may take the form of teaching portfolios.

The DHET (2018) highlights the importance of staff development where lecturers are equipped to improve the quality of teaching and to encourage research-based teaching in which lecturers conduct research on their own teaching. This is where they are supposed to use their portfolios as reflective tools to reflect on their research findings and how their teaching and learning improved. They are also encouraged not only to teach based on their experience but also use theories by adapting them to their context to inform their teaching (Kreber, 2002).

This paper resulted from a qualitative (interpretive) study which was conducted among lecturers after conducting workshops for them on developing teaching portfolios as critically reflective tools. This was useful for obtaining insights into teaching portfolios and the meaning attached to the experiences of selected academics (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2007).

Purposive sampling was done incorporating all 20 attendants of the workshops as participants and with an addition of a random sample of 10 more lecturers who did not attend the workshops. All these participants consented in writing to participate in the study, and they were assured of anonymity.

METHODOLOGY

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Data collection: Data were collected using evaluation questionnaires as a research instrument with open-ended questions distributed to the first 20 participants who attended the workshops; the same questions were also asked of the 10 additional participants. Interviews were audio-recorded and the data transcribed verbatim. Participants’ responses were allocated numbers to differentiate their responses and a (P) to denote the participant.

The interview questions sought to establish whether lecturers possessed teaching portfolios, what inspired them to develop these portfolios, their understanding of the purpose of portfolios, and how the development of portfolios influenced their teaching practice and student learning.

Data analysis: The transcribed data were analysed through identification of themes in line with the questions asked. The following two themes were identified from the three main questions:

• Reflecting on performance and professional development

• Compliance.

This section presents the findings of the research in response to the following objectives:

• to determine the awareness of the purpose of developing teaching portfolios among academic staff

• to establish the need for academic development initiatives on the development of teaching portfolios as development tools.

Of the 30 participants, 21 indicated that they had portfolios, eight did not, and one did not respond to the question. This shows that the majority of lecturers from this sample do have teaching portfolios, although not all of them were regularly updated. It could therefore be argued that the group that did not keep their portfolios updated possibly regarded them as a means of compliance rather than as a reflective and reflexive tool.

The study revealed that lecturers were motivated to develop portfolios by different factors, but the two main themes were Reflecting on performance to improve teaching (by 10 respondents), and Professional development (15 respondents).

For instance, the following responses relate to reflection and improvement of teaching:

In order to keep track of teaching techniques that had a positive outcome. To learn from those that didn’t. Also as a means of developing portfolio that provide evidence of your teaching and learning experiences. (P4)

The reason why I developed my portfolio is to keep record of what I do, how I do it, and identify areas of improvements. (P12)

Apart from the fact that it is obligatory, as an academic, I also realised that it actually guides you, it actually leads you. You always refer to it when you need to move forward and that is where I keep all my stuff, my teaching stuff, achievements, and conferences and workshops that I have attended. All certificates are in the teaching portfolio. Should there be a need of what I have been doing, it makes it easy for me. I just go to the teaching portfolio. (P23)

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

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What inspired me is because I am from a background of where I was taught about planning, organising, control and monitoring. So all activities that I plan, I normally put them in that file, so that even the very activities that I give to students, when I set them as a test, then I can go and take some of those and then compile them into a test. Then on that portfolio again, it has my philosophy of teaching and that is where also after they have written a test, I will keep the list there so that I can from time to time check the progress. (P24)

The second theme on the inspiration to develop a teaching portfolio was professional development and the responses include the following:

To reflect on my teaching, to evaluate and monitor the efficiency of my teaching. (P17)

Needed for academic engagement and improvement. (P3)

It’s like my CV, to start there. But it also, it’s a place where I see whether I have grown or not, as a lecturer. (P29)

These statements confirm the literature about the role of portfolios as reflective tools by which lecturers reflect on their own teaching and are encouraged to improve through professional development (Fong et al., 2014; DHET, 2018).

While 19 participants developed portfolios out of a need to reflect and develop, 11 participants did this out of compliance with institutional requirements. Under the theme of Compliance, the following responses were noted:

To be able to evaluate my performance and also to show my achievements and apply for promotion. (P7)

This statement is however, applicable in both themes, namely reflection and compliance. The participant knew that portfolios are meant for reflection but also for promotion which is an aspect of compliance. Others said:

I was given an instruction to keep a teaching portfolio when I was appointed at this institution in 2011. (P19)

First our head of department mentioned, from time to time you submit a programme, you have to have a teaching portfolio. The second one, we attended orientation, formal mentorship, and it was mentioned there. Then the third reason is for promotion, awards, it was a requirement. (P21)

Actually we were asked to do it, and I also attended a programme where it was part of it, was part of what was assessed. These two modules that were compulsory for all academics. I attended some years back. I am not sure if they are still doing that, the one on teaching facilitation and assessment and I still refer to them and see if I am still relevant. Sometimes when you have to submit for, when you apply for promotion, there is quality assurance programme, probably they want to assess what you have done, evidence. (P25)

One of the documents needed for promotion requirement. You see our subject file is electronically available. So one section that has to be there is the teaching portfolio. There is a specific division in our subject file which is a teaching portfolio. (P27)

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These participants developed their portfolios purely out of compliance with the instruction. In such a case, the values of a portfolio for the lecturers or their teaching may not be acknowledged. While compliance is good, creating a portfolio mainly for compliance makes one lose sight of its more important value, which as FitzPatrick and Spiller (2010) remark, is reflection and professional development.

On a question regarding the purpose of a portfolio, the following responses, among others, were received (still on the theme Reflection and improvement of teaching):

To assist me reflect on my teaching practice for the purpose of improving deep learning of students, as well as helping me to be conscious of what I am doing in my class. (P2)

It assist me to do some reflection on how I teach my students and where to rectify some mistakes if I have them. (P15)

I think the purpose, now that I have been through PGDip, the main purpose is to use it as a reflective tool, and a tool that you use not only to … you know, say what is wrong with these students but to say ‘is it me’. I think that’s the purpose of the portfolio where you are saying, … because you also would have a teaching philosophy to also assess how far are you from this belief that you hold very close to you. So it’s a continuous tool that you say, this is where I want to go, am I there, how far am I and what is it that I can do to get there and it also helps you to realise that each year how different the class is, you engage with different people and some strategies that might have worked last year might not work this year with a new group. (P29)

For the three participants, the purpose of portfolios was compliance as reflected in the responses below:

To align my teaching with the institutional process plan and other docs comply for the Integrated Performance Management System (IPERMS) and promotion, to assess my own progress as lecturer and teacher. (P1)

Proof for IPERMS. Qualifications. Keep track of congresses and training and research outputs. (P8)

… it is for administrative purposes. It helps me to, when I apply for something like promotions, award, I give them something to evaluate me. (P26)

The final question regarding the influence of the portfolio on teaching practice and student learning yielded positive responses from all 27 participants. The following are examples of the responses:

I am always trying new things to benefit the student. I recently tried flipped classroom environment. (P9)

I have realised that there are so many other methods to teach and assess. Measure my own performance. (P1)

I have had to adjust my teaching in the classroom to suit the needs of individual students to promote their academic success in my subjects. (P17)

These three responses affirm the argument by Scott (2010) that portfolios enable lecturers to evaluate their actions and those of students. They indicate that lecturers keep monitoring the impact of their teaching on students’ performance, and improve their teaching strategies where there is a need. Furthermore, lecturers also use portfolios to evaluate themselves to see how they progress from one year to another as reflected in the statements below:

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Like I said, it helps me to evaluate myself with myself, because for example, when I came here, I came from a very different teaching environment and in the different environment I will start afresh, then that is a benchmark I make for three to five years and seven years whether I do something right and then also I look at students, their activities, progression, students throughput, pass rate in my students, how it is improving, how it is behaving, and that gives me an indication of whether I am doing well or not even in terms of when I make a teaching portfolio, I also see how my students are doing in my subjects, if I see the majority of students are passing, normal bands, then I see I am doing well. But if I see that on average, the majority of students are not doing well, there may be two reasons: the quality of students or the quality of teaching. I may not have control over the quality of students, so that gives an indication of whether I have done well or must stress on some areas. (P26)

Vastly, because as I said the main purpose is to guide me, I use it to guide me on my day to day teaching and in that I have seen a lot of improvement in my teaching because every now and then if I get demotivated, I go back to it and it brings that spark back, that this is what I believe in, this is what I said I will do, so I do it, and in that I have seen a lot of progress and improvement in my own teaching as well as my students because it goes back to benefit them and their performance as well. My performance and their performance. (P23)

I can see the difference in myself when I started teaching. Now I am a lot braver to start things, which I was not at first. Sometimes when you look back at the achievements, they encourage you to get better and try new things. (P30)

One would have thought that academics would be able to link portfolios with the scholarship of teaching. However, from the responses above, there seems to be no direct link between teaching portfolios and researching own practice as encouraged by the Framework on Enhancing Academics as University Teachers (DHET, 2018). There was only one lecturer whose response indicated some awareness of scholarship. She said:

It has improved the way I teach so much. I once attempted to write a paper to reflect on the differences, for example, what I normally do in the beginning is an online quiz. I ask them what are your expectations? Why are you here? and generally not just in the module… Now looking at the students who apply for Masters, they are more prepared than the ones who did not do my module. Like I said I partnered with someone from one institution, trying to compare its students for that module and you could see a huge difference between mine and theirs. So to me, this portfolio has assisted a lot. (P28)

This response indicates the awareness that portfolios can also be used to record research conducted by the lecturer and the impact that his/her teaching has on learning. Finally, it is essential to highlight the implications of these findings for academic development and scholarship.

Implications for academic development and scholarship

The findings of this study indicate the need to continue to equip academics on the development of teaching portfolios. The aim is to empower them to move from compliance to reflection for personal and professional development. As Biggs and Tang (2007) argue, teaching portfolios should be used to reflect on the implementation of constructive alignment and aligning curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment. Although the questions were not directly about the specific content of the portfolio, most participants indicated what their portfolios entailed and the aspects referred to by Biggs and Tang (2007) were rarely mentioned.

University teachers need to be encouraged to reflect on their scholarship practices, and to link theory with practice by engaging in the scholarship of teaching and learning (Pelger & Larsson, 2018). The scholarship

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of teaching and learning as an academic niche is gaining momentum in institutions of higher learning, and needs to be encouraged among academics. SoTL has the potential to encourage reflective practices such as using teaching portfolios. As Pelger and Larsson (2018) argue, communities of practice on writing portfolios can be established with the aim of promoting professional development and scholarship. These communities of practice, each allocated an experienced mentor, can meet at agreed times to work on teaching portfolios and share their experiences, as well as influence their teaching and student learning through presentations. University teachers can also be encouraged to compile reflective reports after every staff development programme offered, which will be part of the lecturer’s teaching portfolio. In this way, both academic development and scholarship of teaching and learning are advanced.

Teaching portfolios have become necessary to contribute towards the academic development of lecturers in higher education. Having engaged as an academic developer with some lecturers in the staff development programmes on creating teaching portfolios as critically reflexive practice, it became clear that 11 participants were not so familiar with the purpose of portfolios. This study was about determining their awareness of the purpose of teaching portfolios, and whether capacity building with regard to teaching portfolios is needed. From the data collected through interviews, it was found that 19 lecturers are aware of the pragmatic and reflexive elements of teaching portfolios, hence their use as reflective tools, while 11 created portfolios just to comply with institutional requirements and for promotion. However, 27 of them observed the impact that portfolios had on their teaching and on the improvement of students’ learning. Only one respondent could demonstrate a clear link between portfolios and the scholarship of teaching and learning. On the basis of these findings, it is argued that there is a need to create a culture of critically reflexive practice through the use of teaching portfolios. Linking teaching portfolios to improved performance as a scholarly practice is essential in its own right rather than merely for compliance. Academic development initiatives need to be strengthened by working together with scholarship of teaching and learning programmes to create groups of communities of practice focused on teaching portfolios, in order to encourage more reflection on teaching practices.

Biggs, J. & Tang, C. (2007) Teaching for Quality Learning at University: What the student does. New York: The Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.

D’Andrea, V. & Gosling, D. (2005) Improving teaching and learning in higher education: a whole institution approach. New York: Open University Press.

Council on Higher Education. (2017) Higher Education Monitor 14. Pretoria: CHE.

Davis, B.G. (2009) Tools for teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). (2018) A national framework for enhancing academics as university teachers. Pretoria: Government Printers.

FitzPatrick, M.A. & Spiller, D. (2010) The teaching portfolio: institutional imperative or teacher’s personal journey? Higher Education Research & Development 29(2) pp.167-178.

Fong, R.W., Lee, J.C., Chang, C., Zhang, Z., Ngai, A.C. & Lim, C.P. (2014) Digital teaching portfolio in higher education: Examining colleagues' perceptions to inform implementation strategies. The Internet and Higher Education 20 pp.60-68.

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

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Granberg, C. (2010) E-portfolios in teacher education 2002–2009: the social construction of discourse, design and dissemination. European Journal of Teacher Education 33(3) pp.309-322.

Hibbert, P. & Cunlife, A. (2015) Responsible management: Engaging moral reflexive practice through threshold concepts. Journal of Business Ethics 127(1) pp.177-188.

Kreber, C. (2002) Teaching Excellence, Teaching Expertise, and the Scholarship of Teaching. Innovative Higher Education 27(1) pp.5-22.

Leech, N.L. & Onwuegbuzie, A.J. (2007) An Array of Qualitative Data Analysis Tools: A Call for Data Analysis Triangulation. American Psychological Association 22(4) pp.557-584.

Lim, C.P. & Lee, J.C. (2014) Teaching e-portfolios and the development of professional learning communities (PLCs) in higher education institutions. The Internet and Higher Education 20 pp.57-59.

Murray, R. (2008) The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Berkshire: Open University Press.

Pelger, S. & Larsson, M. (2018) Advancement towards the scholarship of teaching and learning through the writing of teaching portfolios. International Journal of Academic Development 23(3) pp.179-191.

Pelliccione, L. & Raison, G. (2009) Promoting the scholarship of teaching through reflective e-portfolios in teacher education. Journal of Education for Teaching 35(3) pp.271-281.

Prilla, M. (2015) Supporting Collaborative Reflection at Work: A Socio-Technical Analysis. AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction 7(1) pp.1-16.

Schön, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. London: Temple Smith.

Scott, S.G. (2010) Enhancing reflection skills through learning portfolios: an empirical test. Journal of Management Education 34(3) pp.430-457.

Subbaye, R. & Vithal, R. (2015) Teaching criteria that matter in university academic promotions. Assessment and Evaluation in in Higher Education 42(1) pp.37-60.

Tigelaar, D.E.H., Dolsmans, D.H.J.M., De Grave, W.S., Wolfhagen, I.H.A.P. & Van der Vleuten, C.P.M. (2006) Portfolio as a tool to stimulate teachers’ reflections. Medical Teacher 28(3) pp.277-282.


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Graduate unemployment is perhaps one of the most predominant problems in South Africa, as in several other countries. The intensity of unemployment within the country’s economy is revealed in the constantly rising unemployment rate year after year. This has raised many unanswered questions about universities’ curricula, the quality of graduates and their ability to meet employers’ expectations and criteria for employment. This paper reports on the issues surrounding ICT unemployment. The study explored the problems that graduates encounter when entering the labour market and why they are not getting their desired job in their profession. A mixed methods approach was used. Findings suggest that graduate unemployment is caused by poor economic conditions. Consequently, people at all levels and qualifications struggle to get jobs, irrespective of their qualifications. Other associated causes are lack of work experience, lack of hard and soft skills and the inability of graduates to apply knowledge acquired through university study. As a result, South African youth are still vulnerable in the labour market. Higher education institutions need to play definitive roles in producing academic graduates with the relevant skills and traits, coherent knowledge and application through using work-integrated learning as best practice for improvement.1

Keywords: career development and guidance, employability skills, graduate unemployment, information and communication technology (ICT), skills shortage, soft and hard skills

Graduate unemployment in South Africa is one of the biggest challenges facing the country today. This poses a serious economic challenge to the people as well as the country, whether directly or indirectly (Baldry, 2016). Graduate employability can only be achieved through building graduates with practical and basic skills (Rogan & Reynolds, 2016; Hamilton et al., 2015).

The development of practical skills is a challenge in the ICT-related sector where it has been contended that the ICT fundamentals have been transformed and continue to change rapidly. Vinichenko et al. (2016) support the claim that talented graduates encounter challenges of a strict staff recruitment system due to its selection and assessment criteria that employers apply in terms of the work experience required from

1 Date of submission 9 October 2018 Date of review outcome 7 February 2019 Date of acceptance 25 September 2019

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

Investigating the prevailing issues surrounding ICT graduate employability in South Africa: A case study of a South African university1

Kenneth Nwanua Ohei, University of Johannesburg, South Africa Roelien Brink, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

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graduates. They further claim that most employers are not ready to spend time and money on training young ICT professionals. In addition, some employers have probably had negative experiences when employing unskilled graduates from colleges or universities.

Zaugolnikov (2013) maintains that graduate unemployment is a worldwide problem. Vinichenko et al. (2016) argue that employers have a tendency to assume that new graduates may be incompetent. This assumption appears to prevail among senior executives. Hart and Barratt (2009) report that in the UK, senior executives of information technology (IT)/ICT organisations often refuse to employ graduates. The reasons include cultural and communication barriers; this may be attributed to their previous experiences with unskilled graduates. Nevertheless, in the UK, a high percentage of graduates secure employment immediately after they have completed their ICT qualification. A study by the Higher Education Statistics Agency revealed that about 90% of graduates found employment within six months of completing their qualification (Vinichenko et al., 2016).

Regarding the South African context, higher education institutions (HEIs) of today are experiencing radical transformation, and are not entirely ready to meet the needs and expectations of employers. While in late 1995, there were 463 000 graduates in the labour force, from 1995 to 2012, graduates entering the labour market doubled to about 1.1 million. Yet, in spite of this significant flood of graduates into the domestic labour market, the high unemployment rate for graduates remains at its peak (Van Broekhuizen & Van der Berg, 2016).

The current economic crisis and the state of the labour market in South Africa prevent the entry of graduates into the industry (Baldry, 2016). A number of students and graduates do not have the required ICT skills demanded in industry (Edayi, 2016; Baldry, 2016). This suggests that ICT courses and programmes are not producing skilled graduates across the various universities. It is an indication that there is no proper alignment between students, universities and employers in relation to viable feedback about employers’ expectations and requirements for employability. Furthermore, most graduates who are employed do not work in their chosen profession (Mncayi, 2016). This paper reports on an investigation of the issues surrounding ICT graduate employability in an attempt to overcome these existing challenges.

Research questions

In view of the above, the following research questions were formulated:

• Why are graduates struggling to secure employment or their desired job?

• What factors cause ICT graduates to be unemployable?

• What strategic approach can address the issue of ICT graduate employability?

Academic literature was reviewed to obtain an insightful and clear description of employers’ expectations. The root causes of ICT graduate unemployment and challenges that graduates face when entering the employment market were identified.

The concept of ‘unemployment’ may be defined as being idle and not being adequately employed or utilised in terms of productivity. In addition, with reference to the South African labour market, unemployment may be described as the inability of a student/graduate who is deemed appropriate or capable, eligible and able to work to secure or find employment. Underemployed refers to a student/graduate working below capacity or not fully absorbed or utilised to maximise production (Baldry, 2016; Van Broekhuizen & Van der Berg, 2016).

LITERATURE REVIEW

31


HEIs have a tendency to concentrate largely on research and innovation, building on strong academic reputations, lifelong learning and strengthening university-business collaborations and connections. They also focus on society and social accountability and on creating a competitive edge over their rivals. This generates sustainable competitive advantage (Stukalina, 2018). On the other hand, they are not producing highly skilled graduates that are able to take up appropriate employment. Parents and graduates expect a better return on their investment in HEIs in terms of both educational value and employability, as the transition from HEI to global industries or the labour market can be problematic (Stukalina, 2018).

Mckenzie, Coldwell-Neilson and Palmer (2017) and Mutula and Van Brakel (2007) assert that graduating ICT students in computer science and software engineering do not always have the required employability skills, aptitudes, or knowledge-based skills when given the opportunity in the ICT industry. This is a hindrance that can limit the productivity of newly employed graduates, or even stop them from entering the industry. Mckenzie et al. (2017) hold that it is even more difficult and complex for ICT graduates to change job roles in the IT industry.

Hamilton et al. (2015) report that in 2014, about 39% of employers had challenges in finding sufficient ICT graduates for open positions in IT. Janz and Nichols (2010) presented a report on statistics from the US. The Agency of Labour Statistics predicted that the demand for ICT/IT professionals would continue to rise for the foreseeable future. Regrettably, investigations across several universities in the south-eastern parts of the US indicate that the number of ICT/IT core majors has decreased to a point that the demand will not be met. This implies that the problem of employability of ICT graduates affects the globe in general, not only South Africa (Mckenzie et al., 2017). Mutula and Van Brakel in 2007 emphasised that there is a serious global shortage of highly skilled professionals and hands-on employees essential for advancing the ever-changing digital economy both in developed and developing nations.

Many other international reports, according to Mncayi (2016), reveal that some graduates have unrealistic expectations about what is required from their employers. Graduates also do not have relevant skills or career maturity that empower them to engage with their potential employers (Mckenzie et al., 2017; AIIA, 2016). It is important to highlight that the term ‘career maturity’ means the ability to make appropriate, decisive and suitable decisions that support an all-encompassing career choice (Mckenzie et al., 2017). Employers advise that HEIs need to engage actively to prepare graduates adequately for employment.

The process and development of employability skills not only gives graduates an advantage in building their employability profile, but also gives them confidence and support in establishing their own career capabilities and competences (Hamilton et al., 2015; Mckenzie et al., 2017). Career competences are those essential skills obtained through a specified profession, as opposed to those acquired from previous knowledge. It is also the ability of a particular student to self-guide their activities towards further skills development (Mckenzie et al., 2017). This implies that students have the obligation to reflect vigorously on their professional desires and drive, and then to build or establish their career experiences in such a way that they are not disadvantaged in the labour market but that add value to the workplace (Hamilton et al., 2015; Kirlidog et al., 2018).

South Africa has a lengthy past of marginalisation and deprivation and was renowned for being among the most unequal societies in the world. The implications and consequences of this still affect the country today (Roodt, 2018; Rogan & Reynolds, 2016). Training and education play a fundamental role in enabling graduates to escape poverty and unemployment. Unemployment in the country is perceived as a macro-economic as well as socio-economic problem due to the shortage and non-creation of jobs to cater for the up-and-coming population of graduates. Those who are currently employed are fearful of being jobless due to job insecurity and retrenchment of workers in South Africa.

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In 2015, 8.4% of graduates who had a qualification higher than a matric certificate lived in poverty. A noticeable phenomenon can be observed in relation to the impact of education on employability. Statistics SA (2018) reports that the number of graduates with a tertiary qualification who were unemployed in 2017 amounted to 13%. This rose to 28% for individuals who had finished their secondary education, while unemployment among those who had some secondary education was 35%.

These statistics reflect the failure of the government to create an enabling environment for an economy that is more inclusive and creates more employment for graduates. The government has done relatively well in expanding basic services to all South Africans, but only a comparatively small margin of individuals have been able to benefit from the South African economy, which otherwise prevents many individuals from being employed. Given the expected large returns on obtaining a university degree, this early failure of the education system has massive implications for the labour market and thus for social mobility. Low quality education is, for many, a poverty trap. The main problem in South Africa is an unequal educational system (Van der Berg & Hofmeyr, 2018). The university system has failed to produce graduates who have the required skills to take up employment in the South African labour market. The flow of producing academic graduates through the university system is slow. After six years of study, barely half the intake of undergraduate students would have completed a three- or four-year degree programme (Van der Berg & Hofmeyr, 2018).

HEI context

The ability of ICT graduates to build, mature and become accustomed to repackaging their capabilities is a fundamental aspect in employability. HEIs are considered a crucial asset that is purported to support, promote and enable students to develop their employability capabilities and prepare them for highly professional skilled employment (Abel, Deitz & Su, 2014). Those who invested in HEIs ought to benefit substantially from economic aspects and continue to benefit from them over their lifetime. With the pronounced recession and the inactive labour market, there have been reports of university graduates who are struggling to secure jobs that match their educational qualifications. New graduates are finding it increasingly difficult to secure a job, and those who are able to do so are often limited to low-wage positions. This raises disturbing questions about whether a university degree still offers avenues for graduates to find well-paying jobs (Abel et al., 2014).

Research has highlighted that the relative labour market interests of HEIs in South Africa may be on the decline (Van Broekhuizen, 2016). The decrease in graduate labour market productivity in South Africa is attributed time and time again to, among other things, the HEIs’ lack of receptiveness to structural changes in the domestic economy since 1994. In an analysis of the South African discourse on joblessness among people with the highest level of educational qualification, Kraak (2010) contends that this skills mismatch has intensified in South Africa, resulting in skills shortages and adversely affecting graduate employability and subsequent labour market prospects to a greater degree than any other scholastic cohort.

Employability

Edayi (2016) and Bhorat, Mayet and Visser (2012) define employability as a set of qualities, skills, knowledge and experience that a person who wishes to participate in the labour market should possess to guarantee that the person has the competence to be productive in the workplace. It will not only benefit that particular individual, but also his/her employer and the wider economy. Pool (2017) defines employability as a set of talents, experiences, thoughtfulness and personal characteristics that distinguishes an individual, or makes that individual more likely to choose and secure a job in which they can be fulfilled and successful. The rationale is that graduates need to be well prepared and are expected to have certain generic or self-attributed qualities.

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Hard and soft skills For many companies, finding the right candidate or graduate to take up employment is about recognising a specific person who has the right skills and quality traits and is capable of fulfilling the duties of the role and ultimately adding value to the organisation’s growth (Rosenberg, Heimler & Morote, 2012). Graduates may have the educational qualifications and hard skills desired to fulfil the job description, but without a combination of soft skills and other related quality traits, employers are likely to be less motivated to employ them (Edayi, 2016).

Soft skills entail reliability, intellectual ability, collaboration and teamwork, logical and problem-solving skills, generic communication skills and an appreciation of the workplace in the sense that the graduate can function proficiently (Griesel & Parker, 2009). Other related quality traits and basic skills are computer knowledge, verbal demonstration skills, practical capability, expertise in an academic field of study, and the ability to find and access information (Griesel & Parker, 2009).

Issues surrounding graduate unemploymentVan Broekhuizen (2016) points out a misalignment between theory and application through practical work and programmes at universities. University courses are based primarily on theory and have neglected the technical aspects to prepare their graduates for the workplace. Several studies show that this might be seen as a mismatch between the requirements of companies and what graduates bring to the table (Mncayi, 2016; Griesel & Parker, 2009; Livingstone, 2018). A skills mismatch occurs when the higher education system is ineffective in producing quality graduates that have the skills needed in the labour market. It also occurs when a graduate/employee has a lower skill level than is expected to function adequately in their job (Berlingieri & Erdsiek, 2012; Farooq, 2011).

Career pathway is another area of mismatch. It is often believed that a career pathway in ICT results in definite employability. This suggests that a qualification obtained in an ICT career path or any other related field influences graduates’ opportunities of securing a desirable job that is in line with their profession. This is why the quality of a graduate often depends on the level of education that the institution has to offer (Edayi, 2016; Mncayi, 2016).

Edayi (2016) and Bhorat et al. (2012) found that graduates who attended historically and underprivileged institutions that were established for black South Africans have a lower chance of getting into the labour market compared to a graduate from privileged institutions that were established for whites pre-1994. This is due to a school system that promoted fragmentation, segregation through race and inequality in terms of funding for teachers, learning materials and schools (Roodt, 2018; Powell & McGrath, 2014). The apartheid education system was dissolved in 1994 and an ‘independent’ education system for all was created (Van Broekhuizen, 2016). Nevertheless, employers often have either a positive or a negative perception about the quality of graduates, depending on the HEI from which the qualification was attained. This influences employers’ choice of candidate.

Another area of mismatch is that graduates often have high expectations that their first job will be a highly paid and a desirable position in line with their profession. They then discover that many entry-level jobs do not even come close to what they anticipated or planned (Mncayi, 2016).

The mixed methods approach was used in this study. For the quantitative research, a questionnaire was used as the data gathering technique, focusing mainly on graduates of Applied Information Systems at the University of Johannesburg. The questionnaire was sent to a qualified statistician for verification and to ensure that the structure of the questions met ethical principles and that the participants would not encounter problems when answering the questions. Demographic, education and employment information were obtained. A probability sampling method was applied. The questionnaire targeted 400 graduates of

METHODOLOGY

34


Applied Information Systems and 220 responses were received. The respondents were selected randomly from the university’s alumni database.

For the qualitative research, structured interviews were held to collect data from a selected number of employers within ICT/IT-related organisations. The interview question guide included questions about the employer’s background and employment history to establish a rapport and an atmosphere conducive to participation. The interviews were held at a location suggested by the participants. Forty companies were targeted and 25 participants gave consent to be interviewed. The dataset recoverable and useable was only 25 due to unavailability of employers. Each interview was audio recorded. Data analysisDuring data analysis, diverse software tools were employed. ATLAS.ti version 8 was employed as a qualitative data analysis instrument for analysing the interviews. The information from interviewees had to be structured, arranged and interpreted. The qualitative data gathering process delivered the primary data, which was supported by the addition of secondary data obtained from the literature study discussed previously.

The initial data analysis involved open coding and a process of defining the data, identifying categories, making summaries and accounting for every data segment (Creswell, 2015). SPSS version 22 and Microsoft Excel were used for descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequencies, tables, figures and percentages.

In line with these techniques adopted, the nested or embedded mixed methods research design was suitable for this study. This design was adopted to realise quantitative findings through qualitative means. The researchers further validated the dataset to determine whether issues of ICT graduate employability as discussed in the literature were contributing factors to graduate unemployment. Thus, a consolidation approach was used to obtain a holistic view of the data gathered from the interviews to support the quantitative findings.

Ethical and procedural issuesTo ensure ethical compliance with academic research standards, permission was obtained through all appropriate ethical channels. Voluntary participation, anonymity and confidentiality were ensured throughout the study.

Figure 1 on gender representation shows that more males were represented in this study: 61% compared to females, 39%.

Figure 1:Gender

RESULTS, DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS

39.0%61.0%

35


79.9% of the graduates indicated that they were African, followed by 9.2% white, 4.9% Indian/Asian, 3.7% coloured and 1.2% who did not indicate their race. The qualifications of the graduates are shown in Figure 2 below. The findings show that the majority of graduates who hold a three-year Bachelor’s degree qualification was 34%, followed by those who graduated with a National Diploma qualification, 24.2%. The result also indicated that 16% of graduates continued with their studies to Honours degree, while 13% of graduates have a B.Tech degree; the rest are minorities.

Figure 2:Qualifications

With the emergence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it is certain that technology will play a fundamental role in almost every aspect of our lives. According to the research conducted by Statistics SA (2018), by 2020, there will be 1.5 million new digitised jobs across the globe. About 90% of organisations/industries currently experience a shortage of graduates with ICT skills. About 75% of educators and students feel there is a gap in their ability to meet the skills needs of the IT workforce. To prepare the talent required for the digital economy, HEIs ought to adapt quickly as the demand for IT skills is growing and evolving. It was therefore deemed relevant to determine why most ICT graduates are not able to find their ideal job placement related to their professional area and qualification, what issues are causing graduate unemployment and what strategies are available to address these challenges.

To obtain answers to these questions, graduates were asked about their employment status from 2014 to 2018. Employers were asked about their recruitment of ICT graduates. The results from both types of respondents suggest that high unemployment in a country is associated with poor economic conditions. Consequently, people at all levels and qualifications struggle to get jobs, notwithstanding their qualification. ICT graduates are struggling to find work due to the lack of job creation.

3-year Bachelor's degree

National Diploma/Diploma

Honours degree

B.Tech degree

4-year Bachelor's degree

Postgraduate Diploma

Advanced Diploma

High Certificate

None of the above

Advanced Certificate

8%

13%

16%

24%

34%

0%

0%1%2%2%

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Figure 3:Employment status of graduates

Graduates were required to indicate their employment status currently and while studying, as well as how long they had been in the job market. The results shown in Figure 3 demonstrates there was an increase in the percentage of graduates who were unemployed and a decline in graduates who were employed over the period 2014-2018.

Graduates who were employed were required to indicate how long it took them to find employment within the period 2014 to 2018. Of 220 graduate respondents, 42% found employment within six months, 35% within nine months and 23% within 12 months. In support of these findings, employers maintained that the longer graduates take to find a job or desirable employment, the more likely they will work or move into professional areas which are not aligned with their career choice or area studied. They further suggested that the ‘critical’ period for this movement is from the fourth month onwards. The results imply that there is a need for HEIs to produce quality graduates who will create their own employability profile and work opportunities, given the lack of formal employment. Nonetheless, while this claim may serve as a hypothetical suggestion, it is certainly not going to solve all the issues of graduate employability.

Reasons why ICT graduates are unable to find their desired jobs

With the current economic crisis and issues surrounding the job market, the unemployment rate in South Africa has increased by 1.2% in the past few years (2014 and 2015), to 26.7% in 2018, which is about 6.2 million people who are unemployed (Statistics SA, 2018). The questions of where, what, when and why (4Ws) regarding employability are valid. ‘Where’ refers to the industry/employer; ‘what’ implies the kind of job position available or accessible; ‘when’ means duration, and ‘why’ refers to the challenges that graduates experience in finding employment in their desired job.

ICT graduates were required to indicate aspects that might have contributed to their struggle to secure employment. These are listed in Figure 4.

Unemployed

Studies

Employed

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

15.7

17.8

18.2

18.5

21.5

17.0

12.6

14.7

14.8

20.3

67.3 69.6 67.1 66.758.2

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Figure 4:Reasons for not securing jobs

The employers who participated in the study revealed that the majority of graduates who apply for jobs do not have the required working experience. They further stated that this played a major role in their appointment of employees. Notably, 85% of graduates also believed that not having work experience was a reason why they were not shortlisted.

Employers expected a graduate to have at least minimal working experience through formal or informal education in conjunction with hard and soft skills. This confirms the claims in literature that for graduates to penetrate the job market, hard and soft skills and several other ICT-related skills are fundamental for employability. Other skills that the respondents indicated as important for employability are problem-solving skills (76%), ability to plan and execute tasks independently (69%) and communication and computer literacy skills (68% each).

The results also show that graduates who had a job while studying at university were those with Honours qualifications (39.5%) and BTech degrees (39.0%). The majority of the BTech graduates worked in the same field during their studies as their current career.

In an attempt to gain a more holistic view of the impact of graduate unemployment, a comparative analysis was done between the qualifications obtained and the concepts of ‘employed’, ‘unemployed’ and ‘education studies’ as shown in Table 1 below.

Reasons for graduate struggles obtaining employment

0 50 100

Flexibility, creativity and innovation

Ability to plan and execute tasks independently

Leadership and problem solving skills

Intellectual ability and competence

Computer literacy skills

Communication skills

Work place skills

Soft and hard skills

Work experience

57%

69%

72%

50%

68%

64%

62%

76%

85%

Percentages

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Table 1:Cross-tabulation of qualification vs employed, unemployed and studies

Main Emp. Status All ND B.T B-D3yrs

B-D4yrs

H

% % % % % %

Emp Permanent 22.3 16.2 31 14.7 32.6 34.6

Contract 13.6 10.7 16.1 9.8 19 19.3

Temporary 3.4 4 3.1 3.2 2.6 3.3

Self-employed 1.4 1.9 1.9 0.7 2.2 1.1

Internship/Articles 12.4 11.7 9.5 11.7 12.1 16.7

FT work; PT student - UG 0.8 2 0 0.4 1.1 0

FT work; PT student - PG 3.8 3.5 3.3 4.3 4.8 2.6

Unemp Unemployed 21.5 27.6 23.4 20.8 16.8 14.4

Studies FT-student – UG 3 7.7 0.9 2.7 0.7 0

FT-student – PG 17.3 13.9 10.2 31 7.3 7.6

FT-student, PT work 0.4 0.4 0 0.6 0 0.4

Study FT; Work FT 0.2 0.2 0.7 0 0.4 0

Study PT; No work 0.1 0.1 0 0.1 0.4 0

Total 100 100 100 100 100 100

Main Emp Status = Main employer status; Emp = Employed; Unemp = Unemployed; ND = National Diploma; B.T = BTech; B. D3yrs = 3-year bachelor’s degree; B. D4yrs = 4-year bachelor’s degree; H = Honours; FT = Full-time; PT = Part-time; UG = Undergraduate; PG = Postgraduate

Causes of ICT graduate unemployment

ICT courses and programmes offered to students at various universities are not producing skilled graduates as discussed above. It appears that there is no proper alignment between students, universities and employers in relation to viable feedback about employers’ expectations from the graduates. The findings from the employers suggest that many ICT students and graduates do not meet the ICT skills demanded in the industry. In addition, most ICT graduates who have gained access to the labour market are not working in their desired profession.

Kirlidog et al. (2018) identify from students’ perspectives important issues and reasons for the skills gap in the desired professions. They found that students had negative perceptions about ICT careers, e.g. ICT professions are uninteresting and boring, ICT jobs are not certain and unemployment rates are high. The findings in the current study are listed in the table below.

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Table 2:Causes of graduate unemployment

Causes of graduate unemployment Graduates %

Employers’ expectations, requirements and criteria 93%

Skills mismatches 85%

Skills shortage 92%

Type of education received 74%

Graduates’ inability to demonstrate knowledge acquired through university 85%

Employers’ perceptions and past experiences 50%

Graduates’ job search attitude 69%

Work experience 85%

Quality of graduates 71%

To some extent, employers supported some of these core reasons given by students as to why they were unemployed. A few employers believed that graduates lack the ability to put into practice the techniques and skills learned at university. Others thought that graduates lacked basic work experience, or that there were no work opportunities in their field of study.

Strategies to counter ICT graduate unemployment

The ability of ICT graduates to build, mature and become accustomed to repackaging their capabilities is a fundamental aspect in employability. Respondents expressed their concerns about how unemployment affected their psychological and mental well-being. They felt that unemployment deprived them of access to the basic necessities of life, and they consequently lacked a sense of belonging and felt social unrest. One of the questions in the questionnaire and interview question guide required both graduates and employers to suggest how best these issues may be addressed. Employers suggested that universities should engage more with employers in order to align the curriculum and programme delivery with the employers’ requirements. Graduates believed that the educators are not doing enough to link them with potential employers. Others believed that universities, specifically educators, need to engage with students to help develop the skills needed for employability. Very few graduates mentioned that one of the reasons for their being unemployable was simply due to their inability to develop their career profile, as opposed to relying on educators. Employers maintained that graduates ought to establish their own career capabilities and competences in preparation for the labour market.

HEIs may have to integrate work-integrated learning (WIL) as a strategy in addressing and enhancing the employability of graduates. Brink (2014) describes WIL as a programme where learning in the classroom alternates with learning in the workplace and allows for the competencies of students to be developed and nurtured by mentors. This is in line with Todd, Zydney and Keller (2011), who define cooperative education as a learning approach that integrates theory and practice by having students alternate their work and university terms. Thus, effective WIL is largely reliant on managing new information gained by the graduates, educators/HEIs and industry. Without the effective flow of information, the WIL component will be generally less useful and of minimal value to the three parties. Brink adds that the success of WIL should take into account the quality of the relationship between the three parties. This relationship is highly information dependent and information rich and the management of information will most likely be necessary in the WIL process.

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The South African Council on Higher Education (2011) and Badat and Sayed (2014) state that curriculum development always has to address multiple interests and needs. It should encompass processes of designing, implementing, evaluating and adjusting programmes of study in the triad partnership.

The necessity to probe the prevailing issues surrounding ICT graduate employability in the South African context arose from the fact that most ICT graduates struggle to secure a job after completing their qualification. Those who are employed are not in their desired positions or jobs, or are in jobs that are not in line with their profession. This study is relevant given that graduate unemployability has been recognised as a global economic problem and has been classified as an impediment to social progress in South Africa. Aside from the fact that unemployability of graduates signifies a huge waste of the country’s human resources, it also creates welfare loss in the sense of lower output, leading to lower income and a poor standard of living. This creates a severe economic crisis and societal consequences that affect the people themselves as well as the country.

This paper contributes significantly to the body of knowledge as new concepts and knowledge surrounding ICT graduate employability are brought to the fore. While the findings from this study reveal possible reasons why graduates are unable to find employment in line with their field of study, it also highlights the causes of ICT graduate unemployment. A possible strategic approach to dealing with ICT unemployment of graduates is to implement a well-developed and effective WIL process. The triad partners (graduates, educators/HEI and industry) must share all the relevant information to ensure that the process works and those students are prepared for employment in industry upon graduation. It is critical to ensure that the focus is on graduate employability by producing well-prepared academic individuals who enhance the employment milieu.

Abel, J., Deitz, R. & Su, Y. (2014) Are recent college graduates finding good jobs? Current Issues in Economics and Finance 20(1) pp.1-8.

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CONCLUSION

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The study reports the methods as well as sources for information seeking used by commerce and management academicians of Saurashtra University, Rajkot, to fulfil their information needs. The study was conducted to understand the needs of the library professionals and how those needs can be fulfilled. This study is descriptive as well as cross-sectional in nature. A detailed, structured questionnaire was prepared to collect the required data from the academics of commerce and management fields of the university. The findings showed that most of the academicians preferred conferences and their proceedings as the basic source of information. The respondents prefer all the formats including printed and digital methods to seek information. Also, it was noted that the gender sensitiveness and age groups do not act as a barrier for any language preference or specific formats for preparing the course material. Since this study was confined to the commerce and management academics of Saurashtra University, future studies could cover more departments in more universities. Libraries and information centres play a major role in the information transfer cycle. This study helps library professionals to understand the needs of the academicians and overcome the challenges faced by them.1

Keywords: information needs, information-seeking behaviour, information needs behaviour, commerce and management academicians

The study aims to understand the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of commerce and management academicians. The information needs of academicians vary according to gender, educational qualifications, designation and work experience. These academicians may include students, research scholars, assistant professors, associate professors and professors. According to these differences, their information-seeking behaviour differs. To fulfil these information needs, the academicians can use appropriate resources to seek information. For instance, an assistant professor who has to complete his/her PhD thesis/dissertation needs to seek information from various sources for his/her research. On the other hand, a professor might need to seek information for his/her related subject, so he/she will opt for reference materials. Thus, it is evident that irrespective of their ages, designations or years of experience, the academicians need to have access to the information they require.

1 Date of submission 25 October 2018 Date of review outcome 23 January 2019 Date of acceptance 29 March 2019

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

The information needs and information-seeking behaviour of commerce and management academics: A study of Saurashtra University − Rajkot1

Dr Ankit Katrodia, North West University, South Africa

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The information needs may vary in respect of the interest of the study and research work. Various sources which fulfil these information needs and contributing to information-seeking behaviour include:

• correspondence through mail or a visit to a library (e-mail alerts, current awareness services of libraries, conversations with library staff, publisher catalogues and flyers, visiting bookstores)

• information through attending conferences or as research supervisor (browsing the collections in libraries, electronic databases, review articles, research articles, bibliographies, attending conferences, seminars and workshops)

• information through journals (indexing journals, abstracting journals)

• library work (book reviews, library catalogues)

• electronic and print media (consultation with experts in the field, media: TV, radio and newspapers)

• information through search engines (Internet search engines, by chance searching on a specific topic, one may find valuable information on an entirely different topic).

In this study, a questionnaire was prepared to understand the purpose, methods and sources of seeking information among the academicians of commerce and management departments in Saurashtra University.

Information needs

The term ‘information needs’ refers to the necessities, wants or demands of getting information. These needs can be the result of different purposes for which different users require the information. There are various methods of attaining information, which may include research work, references for some topics, awareness and much more. It is important for the user to understand what type of information need he/she requires to ensure access to the right source for seeking that information. Often, the information need is used interchangeably with simple awareness (Ishimura & Bartlett, 2014). Information-seeking behaviour

Igwe (2012) defines the information-seeking behaviour of the user as a way of collecting and gathering information for various purposes, be it personal use or updating of knowledge. When the user understands the information needs, the next step is to seek information. Previously, the information-seeking sources were confined to books, newspapers, journals, magazines and other print media sources. However, with the advancement of time and emergence of the digital era, various Information Technology (IT) services as well as Internet services have come up as the crucial sources of information seeking. The information-seeking behaviour involves the methods and sources adopted by the users as well as challenges they face in this process of seeking information. Abdul (2012) reported information-seeking behaviour to be mainly concerned with the type of needs one has, and the various sources from which information has to be collected.

REVIEW OF LITERATUREThanuskodi (2012) identified various information channels adopted by the faculty members, their preferred information sources, various methods of getting the information needed and the pattern in which they used the library. The findings showed that books were the most preferable source for academicians to seek information, though among the IT resources, the Open Public Access Catalogue was most preferred. Additionally, among the Internet services, E-mail was rated the highest source for getting the information needed.

Narayanamma and Narasimham (2012) in their study investigated the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of academicians to understand the awareness level of information services available in

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

45


the library. It was found that a majority of the academicians visited the library for borrowing books while the rate of using periodicals was relatively low. It was also revealed that the awareness level of information services was more among science students as compared to arts and commerce students. Natarajan (2012) found that a majority of students visits the library on a daily basis and used the sources available effectively. In addition, the students were satisfied with the library collections.

Catalano (2013) suggested ways to draw different patterns for information-seeking behaviour, specifically of graduate students. In his study, he analysed the impact of the Internet as a resource for seeking information for graduate students. It was found that the graduates like to seek information from faculty members and from library resources. The study further suggested the pattern in which librarians help the students to seek information for their needs, thereby explaining the difference in information needs among graduate students, post-graduate students and research scholars.

Kumari et al. (2013) found that a majority of teachers went to the library in order to borrow books, for using periodicals, various journals and different reference materials according to their information needs but the frequency of going to the library varied. At the same time, a majority of teachers did not rely on audio-visual material to get the information they needed. The study also revealed that a large number of respondents (teachers) were not concerned with the government documents, the dissertation/thesis or proceedings of conferences when it came to seeking the information they needed. Around 97.4% of the teachers were aware of the back volumes of the referred journals. Lastly, it was seen that almost all the teachers were satisfied with the different sources of information that the library provided. Among the services, a majority of teachers used a circulation service, a computerised service, a reference service, as well as a photocopying service.

Oak, Meenal and Patil (2014) explored the information-seeking behaviour of the faculty members in the higher education institutions of MES. The study established that the respondents had different needs of information ranging from the completion of research projects to references for teaching purposes. Additionally, it was found that only 8% of the respondents visited the library for seeking information on a daily basis, while most of the respondents (faculty members) preferred remote access to the electronic information resources.

Ngozi et al. (2015) studied the information-seeking behaviour of the faculty members of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPR). By way of a questionnaire it was found that books were the preferred source of information for the respondents (faculty members). However, some of the faculty members were not satisfied with the library collections and preferred Google as the source of the information they needed; but the poor internet facilities, lack of proper power supply and lack of appropriate time were major challenges. Singh et al. (2015) examined the information needs as well as the information-seeking behaviour of foreign students. The findings of the study were that, on one hand where the post-graduate students needed information related to their academic programme, the research scholars needed information, which could help them in completing their research work. It was found that most of the respondents preferred the Internet as the source for seeking information. Out of the total respondents, 88.6% additionally preferred books for seeking related information. In addition, the respondents (students) were satisfied with the library collections but complained about the issues related to infrastructure of computer labs. Thilagavathi and Thirunavukkarasu (2015) studied the information needs and seeking behaviour of faculty members with the help of a structured questionnaire. From among 334 faculty members of the university, it was found that the primary resources that the respondents used for seeking information included books, journals and the Internet. The study also showed that major problems which their faculty members faced while seeking information were overflowing of information, low Internet speed and lack of support from library staff.

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Though the sources were revealed through the study, the study failed to detect the pattern in which the resources were used.

Ibrahim et al. (2018) studied the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of the foreign students studying in the University of Madras. The study established that the foreign students preferred printed material as a great source of information. They were satisfied with the library collection but raised the importance of better literacy programmes.

Problem statement

Through the literature review conducted, it is evident that there are limited studies which have discussed the pattern in which information needs and information-seeking behaviour is affected by the resources available. The previous studies generalised the resources from which the academicians can seek the information, irrespective of gender and qualification differences. To bridge these research gaps, the present study was conducted.

Aim and objectives of the study

According to the research gaps that were witnessed in the previous studies, the present study was undertaken to study the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of academicians according to the gender, experience as well as qualification of the academician. Also, it analysed how the information in different languages can turn as obstacle or opportunity for the academician to seek the required information. The aims are:

• To investigate the methods and sources used by academicians to acquire information related to their research work

• To study the purpose of seeking information by academicians

• To analyse problems faced by academicians in gathering information related to research work

• To study the association between gender in relation with age group and preferred language of information material

• To investigate the association between gender in relation with age group and preferred format of information resources.

Hypothesis testing

Inferences on population characteristics (or parameters) are often made based on sample observations, especially when the population is large, and it may not be possible to enumerate all the sampling units belonging to the population. In doing so, one has to have the help of certain assumptions (or hypothetical values) about the characteristics of the population if such information is available. The following hypotheses were formulated:

H1: With reference to different age groups, gender sensitiveness is not a barrier for any language preferences for preparing course materials.

H2: With reference to different age groups, gender sensitiveness is not a barrier for any specific format for seeking information while preparing course materials.

Data collection instruments and procedures

Data collection was administered through a structured questionnaire, having two distinct sections. The first section collected general information, including demographic profiles, working with the university,

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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preferred language of information material and preferred format of information resources. The second section comprised academic information-seeking behaviour, which included methods and sources of required information, purposes of information seeking, and problems faced by respondents in information seeking. The questionnaire was administered personally as well as through an electronic medium (i.e. web-based survey).

In order to keep the survey instrument manageable, 24 items include methods and sources of required information, 12 items represent purposes of information seeking and 15 items represent problems faced by respondents in information seeking.

Respondents were requested to rate the frequency of use of each dimension on a five-point Likert scale to rate the statement on their level of agreement ranging from (1) strongly agree to (5) strongly disagree.

Limitations of the study

The present study is limited to the academicians of commerce and management of Saurashtra University, Rajkot. The sample of the data is very small as compared to the number of institutions across India. Further, the factors affecting information needs and information-seeking behaviour of the academicians are limited.

The present study has undertaken many sources from which one can seek the desired information. But in the fast-changing world and growing technology, there are a vast number of sources which can fulfil the information needs. Thus, the study can be short of the different sources which are used. At the same time, a great number of methods are evolving to extract the information from these sources but only a limited number of methods have been undertaken for the study. Further, there may be more challenges that academicians might be facing while seeking information. But as far as the present study is concerned, only a limited number of challenges have been considered. Thus, the factors that have been considered in the study are limited because of the lack of great knowledge and exposure to the data collected.

Demographic profile of respondents

The study, predominantly descriptive and cross-sectional in nature, focused on the teaching faculty across designations from commerce and management departments of Saurashtra University in Rajkot region, India (see Table 1).

Table 1: Profile of respondents

Characteristics Frequency Percentage (%)

Gender Male 50 58.8

Female 35 41.2

Age group 25-35 47 55.3

36-45 25 29.4

46-55 11 12.9

Above 55 2 2.4

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Characteristics Frequency Percentage (%)

Designation Professor 9 10.6

Associate Professor 8 9.4

Assistant Professor 43 50.6

Lecturer 14 16.5

Placement Officer 8 9.4

Doctoral Fellow 3 3.5

Working inSaurashtra University

1-5 years 36 42.4

6-10 years 10 11.8

11-15 years 5 5.9

More than 15 years 34 40.0

Among the 85 respondents who participated, 59% were male and 41% were female. The majority of faculty have the designation of assistant professor, followed by lecturer, professor and doctoral fellow. Fifty-five percent of the faculty are in the age group of 25-35 years followed by 25% in the age group of 36-45 years and only 2% in age group of above 55 years. Forty percent of faculty members have working experience of more than 15 years, and 42% have working experience between one to five years.

As shown in Table 2, from the age group of 25-35 years, 90.9% males and 92.9% females have been working for one to five years, while 57.9% of males have worked for more than 15 years in the age group of 46-55 years.

Table 2: Demographic profiling of respondents

Working in Saurashtra University Age group Total

25-35 36-45 46-55 Above 55

1-5 years Gender Male Frequency 20 2 0 0 22

Percentage 90.9% 9.1% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%

Female Frequency 13 1 0 0 14

Percentage 92.9% 7.1% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%


Percentage 50.0% 50.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%


Percentage 66.7% 33.3% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%


Percentage 0.0% 100.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%

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Working in Saurashtra University Age group Total

25-35 36-45 46-55 Above 55

More than 15 years

Gender Male Frequency 0 6 11 2 19

Percentage 0.0% 31.6% 57.9% 10.5% 100.0%


Percentage 53.3% 46.7% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%

Table 3 shows that 80% of males in the age group of 36-45 years preferred English as a language of information material, 72% of females in the age group of 25-35 years preferred English. In the age group 46-55, 54.5% of males preferred Gujarati as a language of information material.

Table 3: Profiling of preferred languages of information material

Age group Preferred languages of information material Total

English Hindi Gujarati All the above

25-35 Gender Male Frequency 7 2 %5 8 22

Percentage 31.8% 9.1% 22.7% 36.4% 100.0%


Percentage 72.0% 4.0% 8.0% 16.0% 100.0%

36-45 Gender Male Frequency 12 0 2 1 15

Percentage 80.0% 0.0% 13.3% 6.7% 100.0%


Percentage 60.0% 0.0% 10.0% 30.0% 100.0%


Percentage 27.3% 0.0% 54.5% 18.2% 100.0%

Above 55 Gender Male Frequency 1 0 1 0 2

Percentage 50.0% 0.0% 50.0% 0.0% 100.0%

From Table 4, 70% of females in the age group 36-45 years preferred all formats of information resources; whereas, 20% of females in the same age group preferred print media as a format of information resources. In the age group 25-35 years, 68.2% of males preferred all formats of information resources while 36% of females in the same age group preferred electronic media, and 26.7% of males in the age 36-45 years preferred print media, Lastly, 54.5% of males in the age group 46-55 years preferred all formats of information resources.

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Table 4: Profiling of preferred format of information resources

Age group Preferred languages of information material Total

Print Electronic Audio Visual

All the above


Percentage 13.6% 9.1% 9.1% 68.2% 100.0%


Percentage 20.0% 36.0% 12.0% 32.0% 100.0%


Percentage 26.7% 13.3% 6.7% 53.3% 100.0%


Percentage 20.0% 0.0% 10.0% 70.0% 100.0%


Percentage 18.2% 27.3% 0.0% 54.5% 100.0%

Above 55 Gender Male Frequency 0 1 1 0 2

Percentage 0.0% 50.0% 50.0% 0.0% 100.0%

Reliability test

Cronbach’s alpha is conducted on the data in the abovementioned study as a measure of the internal consistency of a test or scale; it is expressed as a number between zero and one. Table 5 indicates that the value of alpha is 0.895; therefore, the reliability of the data for the study is 89%.

Table 5: Reliability test

Cronbach’s alpha Cronbach’s alpha based on standardised items N of items

0.895 0.901 51

The Shapiro-Wilks test for normality is one of three general normality tests designed to detect all departures from normality. It is comparable in power to the reliability test. The test rejects the hypothesis of normality when the p-value is less than or equal to 0.05. Failing the normality test allows you to state with 95% confidence the data does not fit the normal distribution.

The Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodness of fit test (K-S test) compares the given data with a known distribution. Although the test is nonparametric, it does not assume any particular underlying distribution; it is commonly used as a test for normality to see if data are distributed. It is also used to check the assumption of normality in analysis of variance. If the p- value is small, it can be concluded that the two groups were sampled from populations with different distributions. The populations may differ in their median, variability or the shape of the distribution as shown in Table 6.

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Table 6: Test of normality

Kolmogorov-Smirnov Shapiro-Wilk

df Sig df Sig

Methods and sources of required information 78 0.000 78 0.000

Purposes of information seeking 83 0.000 83 0.000

Problems faced by respondents in information seeking 81 0.000 81 0.000

In this study, the hypothesis of normality is rejected as the p-value is less than or equal to 0.05. As a result, only non-parametric statistical tests have been conducted for testing of hypotheses.

A chi-squared test is a statistical hypothesis test in which the sampling distribution of the test statistic is a chi-squared distribution when the null hypothesis is true.

Table 7(a): Chi-square test

Value df Asymp. sig. (2-sided)

Pearson chi-square 5.898 3 .117

Likelihood ratio 6.319 3 .097

Linear-by-linear association 2.699 1 .100

N of valid cases 85

For testing the hypothesis, the test result indicates that p > 0.05 (Table 7a) and the study fails to reject the null hypothesis; hence, the author believes that for any age group, gender sensitiveness is not a barrier for any language preferences for preparing course material.

Table 7(b): Chi-square test

Value df Asymp. sig. (2-sided)

Total Pearson chi-square 2.184 3 .535

Likelihood ratio 2.181 3 .536

Linear-by-linear association 1.155 1 .283

N of valid cases 85

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Further, from Table 7(b) the study fails to reject the null hypothesis; hence, the author believes that for any age group, gender sensitiveness is not a barrier for any specific format for seeking information while preparing course materials.

In this study, factor analysis was used as a data reduction statistical technique that allows simplifying the correlational relationships between numbers of continuous variables. Exploratory factor analysis is a general name denoting a class of procedures used for data reduction and summarisation. Exploratory factor analysis allows researchers to condense a large set of variables or scale items into a smaller, more manageable number of factors or components.

In Table 8, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) is the measure of sampling adequacy, which varies between zero and one. The values closer to one are better and the value of 0.6 is the suggested minimum. If KMO is > 0.5, the sample is adequate.

Table 8: KMO and Bartlett’s test

KMO and Bartlett's Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy

0.640 0.713 0.786

Bartlett's test of sphericity Approx. chi-square 1431.948 548.947 947.741

Df 276 78 105

Sig. 0.000* 0.000** 0.000***

*Methods and sources of required information** Purposes of information seeking*** Problems faced by respondents in information seeking

Bartlett’s test of sphericity is the test for null hypothesis that the correlation matrix has an identity matrix. Taking this into consideration, these tests provide the minimum standard to proceed for factor analysis. If p-value (sig.) < 0.05, then the factor analysis is valid.

Factors that accounted for eigenvalue ≥1 were retained. In the first category, six factors met the threshold criteria of eigenvalue with 73.01% variance explained, followed by three factors each for the remaining two categories met the threshold criteria of Eigen values with 64.74% and 69.39% variance explained. The factors extracted along with factor loadings for all three categories are shown in Table 9.

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Table 9: Exploratory factor analysis

Factor Variables included Loadings Category

1. Correspondence through mail or a visit to a library

Listservs / e-mail alerts 0.780 1

Current awareness services of libraries 0.775

Conversations with library staff 0.765

Publisher catalogues and flyers 0.719

Visiting bookstores 0.643

2. Information gathered through attending conferences or as research supervisor

Browsing the collections in libraries 0.801

Electronic databases 0.792

Review articles 0.687

Research article and research supervisor 0.683

Bibliographies 0.630

Attending conferences, seminars and workshops 0.613

3. Information through Journals

Indexing journals 0.859

Abstracting journals 0.811

4. Library work Book reviews 0.683

Library catalogues 0.564

5. Electronic and print media

Consultation with experts in the field 0.833

Media: TV, radio and newspapers 0.607

6. Information through search engines

Internet search engines 0.829

By chance (e.g., while searching on a specific topic, you find valuable information on an entirely different topic)

0.694

1. As a researcher Keep up with current developments 0.782 2

Support own research 0.775

Workshop and seminar presentations 0.757

Develop competence 0.754

2. As a programme host For programme co-ordinator 0.859

Preparation for TV and radio 0.832

3. As a reader Reading purposes only 0.865

Service or job requirement 0.766

Carry out administrative work 0.612

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1. Lack of time Language barrier (most of the material is in foreign languages)

0.807 3

Non-availability of electronic resource (e-journals and databases)

0.784

Lack of information about available sources 0.737

Too many classes or administrative work 0.703

2. Incompetent staff Library staff is incompetent or not well-trained 0.874

Lack of technical support 0.869

Lack of computer hardware or software 0.862

3. Information explosion Information is scattered in too many sources 0.837

Information explosion or too much information 0.829

Category 1: Methods and sources of required information Category 2: Purposes of information seekingCategory 3: Problems faced by respondents in information seeking

The factor loadings range from 0.564 to 0.874. In the first category, ‘Methods and sources of required information’, out of 24 items, six factors were labelled that had 19 items with factor loadings ranging from 0.564 to 0.859. In the second category, purposes of information seeking, out of 12 items, three factors were labelled that had nine items with factor loadings ranging from 0.612 to 0.865. In the third category, problems faced by respondents in information seeking, out of 15 items, three factors were labelled that had nine items with factor loadings ranging from 0.703 to 0.874.

The study reveals, firstly, that there are six factors that act as the best methods among academicians to seek information. These include: correspondence through mail or a visit to the library, information gathered through attending conferences or as research supervisor, information through journals, library work, electronic and printed media, and information through search engines. Out of these six factors, the best method is to get information through attending conferences or as research supervisors.

Secondly, the study focuses on three factors as purposes for seeking information. These factors include seeking information as a researcher, seeking information as a programme host and seeking information as a reader. Among these factors, the main purpose for seeking information is seeking information as a researcher for completing research work.

Thirdly, the study focuses on three main factors that act as challenges and obstacles. These factors include lack of time, incompetent staff and information explosion. Among these factors, the most alarming challenge is lack of time. According to the rejection of the hypothesis H2, it can be understood that gender sensitiveness is not a barrier for any language preference for preparing course materials for any age group, since the majority of the respondents prefer English as the language of information material.

Finally, according to the rejection of the hypothesis H1, it can be understood that gender sensitiveness is not a barrier for the specific format for preparing course materials for any age group, since the majority of males and females prefer all the formats.

CONCLUSION

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It can be concluded from the study that all its objectives have been successfully met. The information needs and information-seeking behaviour of commerce and management academicians can be met if more exposure is given to conferences and their proceedings. The university needs to work on making its staff more competent and make the library collection efficient.

The findings of this study indicate that information seeking may be motivated by a wide variety of needs, including those that are personal, professional, entertainment, etc. The academics need to be enlightened about search strategies and techniques through information literacy programmes either in manual or electronic form. The main role of the librarian is to be familiar with the information requirements of the users. Libraries need to understand information-seeking behaviour of users. The university administration should provide more books (electronic and print) and journals (electronic and print) to meet faculty members’ academic and research needs.

Abdul, M.K. (2012) Use of Information Sources by Faculty Members, Research scholars and Students of the Faculty of Commerce, AMU, Aligarh: A Survey Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal). http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac?utm_source=digitalcommons.unl.edu%2Flibphilprac%2F782&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages (Accessed 24 September 2018).

Atkin, C. (1973) Instrumental Utilities and Information Seeking. In P. Clarke (Ed.) New models for mass communication research. Beverly Hill, USA: Sage Pub, pp.205-242.

Catalano, A. (2013) Patterns of graduate students’ information seeking behaviour: a meta-synthesis of the literature. Journal of Documentation 69(2) pp.243-274.

Ibrahim, D.M. & Perumal, A. (2018) Information needs and information seeking behaviours of foreign students in University of Madras. International Journal of Next Generation Library and Technologies 4(3) pp.1-14.

Igwe, K.N. (2012) Introduction to information science. Offa: Department of library and information science, Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Kwara State, Nigeria, doi: 10.1633/JISTaP.2014.2.3.5

Ishimura, Y. & Bartlett, J.C. (2014) Are librarians equipped to teach international students? a survey of current practices and recommendations for training. Journal of Academic Librarianship 40(3-4) pp.313-321.

Kumari, S., Kumari, S. & Saroj, D. (2013) A Study of Information Needs and Information Seeking Behaviour of Teachers of NIT, Kurukshetra, India. Educationia Confab 2(6) pp.64-69.

Leckie, G.J., Pettigrew, K.E. & Sylvain, C. (1996) Modeling the Information Seeking of Professionals and Lawyers. The Library Quarterly 66(2) pp.161-193, doi: 10.1086/602864

Muomen, N., Morris, A. & Maynard, S. (2012) Modelling information seeking behavior of graduate students in Kuwait university. Journal of Documentation 68(4) pp.430-459.

Narayanamma, R. & Narasimham, Y. (2012) Information needs and Information seeking behaviour of users of P.G. Women Colleges in Vishakhapatnam city. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Educational Research 1(2) pp.114-121.

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Natarajan, M. (2012) Information seeking behaviour of students of Management institutions in NCR of Delhi. Trends in Information Management (TRIM). July-Dec 2012, pp.100-110.

Okonoko, V.N., Uche, E-U. & Ayomanor, K.E. (2015) Information Seeking Behaviour of Faculty Members in a Nigerian University. International Journal of Academic Research and Reflection 3(4) pp.95-102.

Oak, M. & Patil, S.K. (2014) Information Seeking Behaviour of Faculty Members in MES’s Institutions, International. Journal of Information Technology and Library Science 3(1) pp.37-51.

Singh, K.P., Kumar, M. & Khanchandani, V. (2015) Information Needs and Information Seeking Behaviour of Foreign Students in University of Delhi: A Survey. International Journal of Knowledge Content Development & Technology 5(2) pp.25-43.

Thanuskodi, S. (2012) The Information Needs and Seeking Behaviour of The Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University Faculty Members. International Journal of Information Science 2(4) pp.42-46, doi: 10.5923/j.ijis.20120204.03

Thilagavathi, T. & Thirunavukkarasu, A. (2015) Information Needs and Seeking Behaviour of Faculty Members of Avinashilingham University, Coimbatore. International Journal of Digital Library Services 5(3) pp.69-76.


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The teaching of science and mathematics in African languages has been debated at various academic platforms that include seminars, conferences and publications where the major concern that has recurred is how it could be possibly done. The questions raised are mainly about the inadequacies of these African languages ranging from orthographies, terminologies to reading materials. For the reading materials to be produced there has to be agreed upon terminologies and the thrust of this paper is to delve on how such terminologies can be produced and how the teaching and learning can be done in African languages. Four secondary schools, two rural and two urban, were used as case studies, two in Bulawayo, and the other two in Matabeleland South province in Zimbabwe. The perceptions of science and mathematics teachers about translanguaging as a method of teaching science and mathematics were sought through interviews from eight teachers, that is, two from each of the four schools. The results showed that teachers have always been applying translanguaging as an instructional method in the teaching of science and mathematics although they were not aware that translanguaging is a concept that can be singled out amongst other strategies of instruction. The paper concludes that adopting translanguaging as a teaching method in bilingual classroom contexts aids learners’ cognition thereby enhancing comprehension of concepts better than when only English language is used in teaching and learning.1

Keywords: translanguaging, teaching and learning, mathematics and science, African languages

African languages in education have for a long time played non-important roles despite being the first languages of the majority of Africans (Web & Du Pleiss, 2016: 50; Or & Shohany, 2017: 67). Those few local languages in Zimbabwe that have enjoyed recognition have been taught as subjects. At times when these languages are taught as subjects, they do not have the liberty to enjoy autonomy since a European language dominates as the medium of instruction (Web & Du Pleiss, 2016). An ex-colonial language dominates in all subjects that are taught at school except where the subject is an African language. Learners are faced with the burden of trying to learn new concepts that are introduced to them through a language that they are still trying to grasp. Research has shown that African languages have not been considered to be at par with European languages as indicated by Bamgbose (2015: 22) who argues as follows:

1 Date of submission 16 May 2019 Date of review outcome 26 August 2019 Date of acceptance 25 September 2019

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

Translanguaging as an instructional method in science and mathematics education in English second language classroom contexts1

Raphael Nhongo, University of Fort Hare, South AfricaBaba Primrose Tshotsho, University of Fort Hare, South Africa

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How can a language be used for literacy and as medium of instruction if it is yet to be reduced to writing?; How can a language be used for teaching Science if there is no terminology already worked out in such languages for the scientific concepts to be encountered?

Such statements like that of Bamgbose are bound to create negative attitudes towards the teaching and learning of science and mathematics in African languages, and the development of orthographies and terminologies of these languages. Leaners who have an African language as their first language are already at an advantage because that African language should be treated as a resource in learning process and not as a problem (Bialystok, 2001; Cenoz, 2003; Rodriguez, Carrasquillo & Lee, 2014; Grammes & Hu, 2014; Goral, 2015). According to Garcia (2011), Vygotsky is one of the first researchers in bilingualism who concluded that children who are bilinguals have better cognitive advantages than those who are monolingual. It is an undoubtable fact that a learner understands better when concepts are introduced to him or her in his or her first language. In studies carried out by Bialystok (2001); Cenoz (2003); Rodriguez, Carrasquillo and Lee (2014); Li (2015) and MacWhiney and O’Grady (2015), it was proved that bilingualism improves mind development and that the use of the learner’s first language in learning understanding of academic content. Cognitively, a learner would grasp concepts better if such concepts are availed in the learner’s first language (Garcia, 2011; Radriguez & Carrasquillo, 2014). However, English cannot be done away with in the teaching of science and mathematics and this paper does not advocate for the total abandonment of English but to have English language and African languages being used together in teaching and learning since these languages coexist in the Zimbabwe speech community. The coexistence of English with African languages has continued to be downplayed when it comes to the classroom (Bangura, 2014) which this paper regards as a wrong approach to teaching and learning. Bangura (2014) argues that the mother tongue has been greatly neglected in the teaching of mathematics in Africa. The paper advocates for the adoption of translanguaging in situations where an African language is in coexistence with English language. Canagarajah (2011: 40) defines translanguaging as ‘the ability of multilingual speakers to shuttle between languages, treating the diverse languages that form their repertoire as an integrated system’. Translanguaging does not make clear cut boundaries between the learner’s L1 (first language) and L2 (second language). According to Garcia and Wei (2014: 21), translanguaging does not refer to ‘two separate languages, nor to a synthesis of different language practices, nor to a hybrid mixture’ but to ‘new language practices that that make visible the complexity of language exchanges among people with different histories (Makoe, 2018: 17). Translanguaging carries the promise of recognising all the languages and linguistic resources presenting in the learning space; all the politically and historically situated sets of resources (Heller 2007). It promises to bring to an end a ‘hidden curriculum that favors some and excludes others’ (Gamede 2005: 58).

One of the imagined problems of teaching science and mathematics in African languages revolves around the multiplicity of languages in each African state. In Africa there exists more than 2100 African languages (Bangura 2014: 15). Many nation states view policies that promote linguistic diversity as a problem rather than a right or resource (Kibler, 2005; Kriel, 2003). Denying the existence of multilingualism in the African education system can be viewed as a serious violation of linguistic rights because multilingualism is synonymous with Africa. Makalela (2015: 15) argues that ‘African multilingualism has always been construed from a monoglossic (i.e., one language at a time) lens despite the pretensions of plural language policies in Sub-Saharan Africa’. The studies that have been done reveal that classes in African schools Africa, particularly in urban settings, are composed of learners from diverse linguistic backgrounds (Brijlall, 2008; Henning, 2012; Makalela, 2015; van der Walt, 2016). Henning (2012: 69) in a study done in South Africa concurred that when young children go to school in urban areas the chances of them entering ‘a monolingual environment are almost none’. Brijlall (2008) observes that learners in

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a multilingual classroom do not perform well when they are taught in English and proposes that the learning process should involve switching between the languages of the learners. Van der Walt (2016) concludes that classes in higher learning institutions in Africa are composed of students from diverse linguistic backgrounds, and therefore proposes that there is need to come up with strategies that can be used to handle such classes effectively. The conclusions and recommendations from predecessor research show that mathematics poses some challenges to the learners in bilingual and multilingual settings, and that there is a need to come up with strategies that will be suitable for such linguistic settings so that at the end learners can perform better. This paper therefore explores translanguaging as an instructional method in the teaching of mathematics and science because other research not mentioned in the introduction has shown that science is also a challenge to the learners when only English is used as a sole language of instruction. Researchers in the field of language teaching and learning who include Makalela (2015), Mwinda and van der Walt (2015), Ngcobo, Ndaba et al. (2016), Mbirimi-Hungwe and Hungwe (2018), Ngcobo (2018), Wildsmith-Cromarty (2018) and Hungwe (2019), have proved that translanguaging is an important vehicle in the delivery of instruction in the classroom with learners from diverse linguistic backgrounds and even in a classroom where learners would be having the same first language (L1) but also using English as a second language (L2). The paper contextualises the use of translanguaging in the multilingual science and mathematics classrooms in Zimbabwe’s Bulawayo Metropolitan province and Matobo District in Matabeleland South province. Bulawayo is an urban setting and Matobo is a rural setting. Class composition in Bulawayo is normally multilingual with learners mainly speaking Shona, Ndebele and some other languages that are found in Zimbabwe. In Matobo, the predominant language is Ndebele although there are cases where learners with languages such as Sotho, Kalanga and Shona as their L1 are found. Teachers in the two focus areas of research mainly speak either Shona or Ndebele as their L1 although there are a few cases where some would be speaking other languages found in Zimbabwe as their L1. The main language of instruction in science and mathematics is English although the curriculum of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (2014: 34) of Zimbabwe stipulates that

The introduction of a second language and its alternate use with the indigenous language in the learning environment helps learners master concepts and achieve linguistic competency for learning and communicative purposes.

This implies that the languages of the learners found in the classroom can also be used although the main language of instruction remains as English. The major interest in the paper is on how the learners’ L1 is utilised where the main language of instruction is English.

A lot of debates by scholars and researchers who include Rugemalira et al. (1990), Dlodlo (1999); Weddirage (2009), Bangura (2014), Bamgbose (2015), Mbiriri-Hungwe and Hungwe (2018), Venter and van Niekerk (2018) among others have been made regarding the use of African languages in science and mathematics education. Some of the debates have totally regarded the African languages as unfit for handling science and mathematics in the classroom but others have raised positivity towards the adoption of such an approach as will be shown in the discussion. Science and mathematics education in African languages has remained a dream because those who support the idea of the use of African languages want to adopt the idea of totally doing away with English and a good example is Dlodlo (1999) who is taking a radical approach by advocating for an approach that totally dislodges English in the arena of science and mathematics. If proper approaches are made that recognise the coexistence of African languages and English which this paper proposes, then the teaching of science and mathematics in African languages will see the light of day. It is important to first look at what predecessor researchers have found and proposed towards mathematics and science education in African languages.

BACKGROUND TO THE TEACHING OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS IN AFRICAN LANGUAGES

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Bamgbose (2015: 22) proposes that instead of teaching science and mathematics in African Language the easier option will be to ‘simply go for an imported language such as English’ because African languages orthographies and terminologies are not adequately developed. According to IBE-UNSESCO (2017: 41), ‘Even if it is true that there are no orthographies for the majority of African languages, this fact provides little reason to object generally to the use of African languages in education’. Rugemalira et al. (1990: 31) argue that

It should be demonstrated that countries such as Finland, Norway, China or Japan, which do not teach their children through the medium of an ‘International’ language, are isolated and have lost track of technological developments beyond their borders.

In addition, Osborn (2010), although writing positively about the use of African languages in a digitalising world, is on the other hand sceptical about the inclusion of these languages in the teaching and learning of science and mathematics which he says according to Ethnologue are over 2000 and constituting a third of the total number of languages in the world. The concerns bring negativity towards finding ways of including African languages in the teaching of science and mathematics.

These negative ideas towards the inclusion of African languages in the teaching of science and mathematics are stemming from the idea that English should be totally removed yet the idea is to utilise all the languages that are available to the learner. When English is used together with African languages then there is no way in which Africans can be isolated from the rest of the world in terms of cognition and innovativeness. Each language can develop as long as its speakers make use of it and it is the prerogative of the speakers of any particular language who should take the task of developing it so that it communicates their needs. In Papua New Guinea, according to IBE-UNESCO (2017), 450 languages are used in teaching and this shows that the problem of multiplicity of African languages is surmountable.

Weddirage (2009) questions where the belief comes from that science is better learnt in English than in other languages and that ‘English is the language of Science and technology’. Babaci-Wilhite (2016: 6) observes that ‘… engagement with local language and local knowledge is necessary to facilitate the teaching and learning process’. Dlodlo (1999) argues that the fact that science and technology in Sub-Saharan Africa is not taught in an African language implies that no scientific ideas could be formulated in an African language or from an African perspective in the present education system. The problem that results in fear of using African languages is because both concepts and language used in science and mathematics are imported. It is argued that African languages need not to be isolated from English when it comes to the teaching of science and mathematics but should be included through the process of translanguaging.

Those that advocate for the teaching of science and mathematics in African languages argue that learners understand better when they are taught in their first languages. Babaci-Wilhite (2016: xiv) argues that students face challenges in comprehension when they are taught science and mathematics in English at the expense of their local languages. Ranaweera (1976: 423) commenting on the shift from English to Sinhala and Tamil in the teaching and learning of science in Sri Lanka said

… it helped to destroy the great barrier that existed between the privileged English educated classes; between the Science educated elite and non-Science educated masses; between Science itself and the people.

It gave confidence to the common man that science is within his reach and to the teachers and pupils that a knowledge of English need not necessarily be a pre-requisite for learning science (Ranaweera, 1976). Mbiriri-Hungwe and Hungwe (2018) carried out research on the use of translanguaging in a multilingual

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second-year computer science class at a university in South Africa and the research showed that students perceive translanguaging to be helpful learning strategy which should be adopted by the whole faculty. Taking from Mbiriri-Hungwe’s (2018) research this study is looking at how translanguaging is being implemented in secondary schools in Zimbabwe.

It is a common opinion amongst various researchers that African languages should be used in teaching and learning but the problem is that most of these researchers end at making it an opinion without showing how these languages can be utilised in a platform where English has already dominated and where people have developed a negative attitude towards these African languages. Asabere-Ameyaw and Ayelsoma (2012: 55) observe that ‘language is crucial to the teaching and learning of Science’. They go on to say that words, tenses and sentence structure would influence the learners’ understanding during a teaching-learning encounter (Asabere-Ameyaw & Ayelsoma, 2012). Babaci-Wilhite (2016) is also of the view that using a local language in science teaching will improve teaching and learning and will form a basis for new innovative learning. The general idea is that the learners’ first language (L1) is the best instructional tool that should be used in teaching and learning. However, although the idea being shared here is that the learners should be taught in their L1, it is not clear how that can be done and the proposal made in this paper is that such should be done through translanguaging which is going to be explained in detail later.

Sutman (1993) and Asabere-Ameyaw and Ayelsoma (2012) have observed that limited English language proficiency is the major factor that contributes to lack of academic success in science and mathematics. It has been proven beyond doubt through studies that limited English proficiency inhibited students’ science achievement when learning in English (Bamgbose, 1984; Curtis & Millar, 1988; Brock-Utne, 1997; Torres & Zeidler, 2002; Asabere-Ameyaw & Ayelsoma, 2012). Proficiency in the language of instruction, which in most cases is English in Southern Africa, is a key determinant to science achievement (Asabere-Ameyaw & Ayelsoma, 2012). Asabere-Ameyaw and Ayelsoma (2012: 56) argue that ‘For a learner to be able to understand scientific concepts and communicate effectively using the concepts, the learner must first understand the language in which the concepts are being presented’. The language that is used determines success in the learning of science and mathematics (Dlodo, 1999; Bandura, 2014; Mbirimi & Hungwe, 2018). Asabere-Ameyaw and Ayelsoma (2012: 57) write that it is a misconception that in bilingual or multilingual settings, English should be settled as the best option for language of teaching and learning because of its neutrality. Asabere-Ameyaw and Ayelsoma (2012: 58) relate the example of Ghana where an experiment was carried out by giving mathematics and science tests to level eight students and it was proven that they performed better when they wrote in their home language than in English language.

Asabere-Ameyaw and Ayelsoma (2012) argue that the imposition of English on bilingual children is done by educators on the assumption that they are helping the learners to use only one language so that they can comprehend easily. The shortcoming from the ideas advanced by these researchers is their preference of using an African language only in the teaching of science and mathematics, which some sections of the society may not accept. The best option in such bilingual situations where English is the L2 will be to use both the learners’ L1 and L2 through translanguaging as a method. What is important is for the learners to have what Asabere-Ameyaw and Ayelsoma (2012: 56) refer to as ‘cognitive academic language proficiency’ (CALP) as opposed to ‘basic interpersonal communication skills’ (BICS). Rao (2018: 30) refers to BICS or social language as that which learners acquire in the first two years of exposure to English, and CALP or academic language, as the language which learners acquire after seven to 10 years of exposure to English and is the language of the text books, class lectures and essays. Cognitive academic language proficiency is required by the learner to be able to read, to dialogue, to debate and to provide written responses (Asabere-Ameyaw & Ayelsoma, 2012). The cognitive academic competence is important to the learner so that comprehension is facilitated in understanding the science and mathematics concept.

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The mistake that is made by others who advocate the teaching of science and mathematics in African languages is that they make an assumption that when these two subjects are communicated in African languages, they should become general to the learner. That is a wrong approach altogether because they forget that science and mathematics are specialised subject fields so much that they are not general even to the L1 speakers of English.

It has been shown that education in African countries takes place within a bilingual context although such a bilingual reality is ignored in favour of English language (Kotze, 2013; Makalela, 2015). However, it has been proven that the use of more than one language in learning enhances comprehension and therefore such a bilingual situation should be taken advantage of. Use of more than one language in teaching and learning also enhances cognition amongst the learners (Saville-Troike, 2006; Kovelman, Baker & Petitto, 2008; Bialystok, 2009; Braun & Cline, 2014; Sharwood Smith, 2017). The general idea is that in African education contexts, a learner inevitably finds him- or herself operating in his or her home language and a language of instruction, which is an ex-colonial language and in this case English. Of the many factors that can influence learners’ comprehension in science and mathematics, the key determinant factor is the degree to which learners are bilingual (Asabere-Ameyaw & Ayelsoma, 2012).

In the teaching of science and mathematics, the first option where both languages are used simultaneously is opted for. Using the learner’s L1 together with the L2 has advantages in that the learner will be able to grasp concepts easily by using the two languages, which are learning resources, at his or her disposal and then later on may shift exclusively to the L2 now having grasped the concepts fully well. UNESCO proposed that learners should be taught in their L1 in the first six years of their schooling (IBE-UNESCO, 2017), but it is argued here that both the L1 and the L2 should be used with the L1 dominating the teaching and learning so that learners are not faced with another burden of comprehension when the L2 is introduced at a later stage. The other proposal is that both the L1 and the L2 should be used throughout the learner’s education even up to tertiary level because the learner will still be getting introduced to concepts that demand higher-level cognitive processes as he or she goes up. When the learner is operating in both the L1 and the L2 then that learner will be translanguaging and therefore it is important to briefly contextualise translanguaging in this study.

Translanguaging was briefly defined in the introduction for purposes of providing a working definition since the whole discussion revolves around issues of translanguaging. A deeper understanding of translanguaging is necessary and it is the reason why a more elaborate discussion about translanguaging is done under this section. The term ‘translanguaging’ was first used by Cen Williams as trawsieithu, a Welsh word, to describe a teaching methodology adopted in Welsh-English bilingual classrooms to strengthen and develop children’s dual language listening, speaking, reading, and writing (Chumak-Horbatsch, 2012). Lubliner and Grisham (2017: 1) reveal that ‘Translanguaging builds on research conducted by Moll and his colleagues in 1962, stressing the importance of historically accumulated and culturally developed bodies of knowledge and skills essential for functioning’. Otheguy, Garcia and Reid (2015: 283) define translanguaging as ‘the deployment of a speaker’s full linguistic repertoire without regard for watchful adherence to the socially and politically defined boundaries of named and usually national and state languages’. Translanguaging is a reality in the use of language in multilingual settings and this should not be downplayed in the teaching and learning in African educational contexts. Lubliner and Grisham (2017: 1) argue that ‘Translanguaging is reality-based; it is the way bilingual children and adults use a full repertoire of linguistic resources to communicate with one another’. Garcia (2011: 43) argues that translanguaging is a communicative norm for all bilinguals throughout the world. Since translanguaging is a communicative norm for all bilinguals then this should be adopted in African education particularly in the teaching of mathematics and science where African languages have been tabooed.

CONTEXTUALISING TRANSLANGUAGING IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

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Chumak-Horbatsch (2012: 56) argues that as bilinguals translanguage, they ‘make use of multiple communicative possibilities, practices, and choices. They use their language flexibly, shifting, mixing, and blending linguistic features’. In the process of translanguaging, ‘they go back and forth from one language to the other, combining elements from each language to convey their language and social skills and their cultural knowledge and understanding’ (Chumak-Horbatsch, 2012: 56). Translanguaging dismisses the idea of monolingualism in education and the treatment of the learners’ L1 and L2 as autonomous. Lubliner and Grisham (2017: 1) observe that ‘the movement toward translanguaging reflects a tremendous change in perspective and practice regarding the education of children who enter schools speaking languages other than English’. Translanguaging is important for bilingual children in that the ‘opportunity to use home languages in the classroom gives them a voice and builds and capitalises on their home language practices, allowing them to take ownership of their home language’ (Chumak-Horbatsch, 2012: 56). Childs (2016) points out that it is vital that the language that the learners bring be valued and included in the classroom. Translanguaging strategies work better in multilingual contexts as learners have a good chance of succeeding and where the teacher shares the same language with the learners (Mwinda & van der Walt, 2015; Garcia, 2016). However, the question that may arise is what then would happen in situations where the teacher has a different L1 from that of the learners? Garcia (2016) answers this by saying that, in circumstances where the teacher is not familiar with students’ first language, they would need to be prepared to be a co-learner and to organise the classroom activities so that the learners are able to engage in collaborative groupings that are constructed according to home languages.

A qualitative approach was adopted in data collection, presentation and analysis. The qualitative approach was adopted because the discussion is narrative and descriptive of cases of translanguaging in science and mathematics classrooms. Four secondary schools were used as case study in collecting data making the study adopt a case study design. Two were urban schools in Bulawayo and two were rural schools in Matobo District. A total of eight non-participant lesson observations were conducted. The observations were non-participant because the researchers did not interfere or make any contributions during the lessons but were there physically just to observe how language was used during the lessons. From each of these eight schools, two lesson non-participant observations were conducted, one in mathematics and one in science. Form 3 and Form 4 classes were observed where Form 3 is the 10th year level of schooling and Form 4 the 11th. The researchers targeted double period lessons with each lasting for 70 minutes. The researchers were mainly interested in establishing how communication between the teacher and the learners, and between learners themselves takes place in these bilingual contexts. Cases of translanguaging were observed to be taking place although the teachers and learners seemed not to be aware that they were translanguaging. Shifting from one language to the other was the most dominating strategy more than translanguaging although shifting from one language to the other language was accompanied by translanguaging. After the lesson observations, semi-structured interviews were conducted with each of the eight teachers with the aim of establishing how language is used on a daily basis during mathematics and science lessons. Each semi-structured interview lasted for an average of 30 minutes. The main idea was to inquire how the teachers engage learners in multilingual classrooms.

Data were presented and analysed qualitatively. The presentation of data was done through describing and narrating how language was used during the non-participant observation of lessons. Data from semi-structured interviews with the eight teachers were also presented in a narrative form. Data were analysed through the lenses of dynamic bilingualism as a theory and tracing how translanguaging took place.

As way of adhering to research ethics, the researchers sought clearance from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education before going to seek permission from the school heads. The researchers did not directly involve themselves with the learners or interact with them in any way. The researchers also did not

METHODOLOGICAL PATH

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coerce teachers to be allowed to carry out observations in their classrooms and the interviews were done on a voluntary basis with the teachers. The purpose of the study was also fully explained to the teachers who were research participants. The purpose of the presence of the researchers was explained to the learners by their teachers, and not by the researchers since the researchers were not supposed to interact with learners.

Dynamic bilingualism, a theory that informs the ideas that are advanced in this paper, ‘refers to the development of different language practices to varying degrees in order to interact with increasingly multilingual communities and bilinguals along all points of the bilingual continuum’ (Garcia & Kleifgen, 2018: 57). Garcia (2011: 144) defines dynamic bilingualism as ‘language practices that are multiple and ever adjusting to the multilingual multimodal terrain of the communicative act’. Chumak-Horbatsch (2012: 54) explains that Garcia proposed dynamic bilingualism in response to globalisation and changes in communication technology. Garcia and Kleifgen (2018: 57) explain that dynamic bilingualism is not about adding a second language but is about ‘developing complex language practices that encompass several social contexts’. Dynamic bilingualism here should not be confused with Sanchez’s (1983: 44) concept of bilingualism, who says that it is typical among people ‘on the move socially and geographically’. Sanchez’s idea of bilingualism here is that of a person who is moving from place to place assuming different L2s which is not the understanding of dynamic bilingualism in this paper. Garcia and Kleigen (2018: 57) note that ‘within a bilingual perspective, languages are not simply perceived as autonomous and separate systems that people ‘have’, but rather as linguistic and multimodal features of a semiotic meaning-making repertoire from which people select and ‘do’. Chumak-Horbatsch (2012: 53) is of the idea that dynamic bilingualism is ‘a theory that focuses on languages that speakers use rather than on separate languages they have’. In other words, dynamic bilingualism focuses on natural language competence in a bilingual or multilingual setting without any conscious restriction to L2 mental lexicon of the speaker. This means that an individual who is a dynamic bilingual is one who also translanguages. This theory is used in this paper to deconstruct the idea that language is an isolated, autonomous, and self-contained system in education in a multilingual setting. It is proven here that dynamic bilingualism is an important approach in the teaching of science and mathematics where learners already have their L1 and are also adding the L2 to their learning without relegating the L1 so as to achieve the best results at the end.

The mode of instruction in science and mathematics classroom contexts

The non-participant observations that were conducted showed that translanguaging is now taking place during teaching and learning although the teachers and learners will be unaware that they will be actually translanguaging. There was a significant number of cases where languages would be used separately and interchangeably in the classroom showing that although these research participants are dynamic bilinguals it did not follow that they always translanguage when they engage. However, although the learners’ first languages were also used during lessons, the teachers gave contradicting views as to whether the ministry allowed them to use African languages in the teaching of science and mathematics or not. However, two of the teachers who were interviewed from an urban school who also indicated that they are examiners, pointed out that the new curriculum allows teachers to use the learners’ L1 where learners did not understand but such use of the learners’ L1 should be restricted as is not supposed to be the sole medium of instruction. The curriculum states that English shall be the main medium of instruction although the learners’ L1 can also be used as resources (Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, 2014: 34). The teachers from both urban and rural schools mentioned that whilst they were aware that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education did not allow them to use African languages as the sole medium of instruction in the classroom, it was necessary for them to go against the regulation because they know of the positives that come from the use of the learners’ L1. One of the teachers from a rural school who teaches science said that

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

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I am not very sure about the position of the ministry in teaching the learners in isiNdebele but the head is very strict on that as he does not want learners to be taught in isiNdebele at all. We sometimes explain to him that this is a rural school and learners have no exposure to English, they don’t even understand simple grammatical constructions but the head has always advised us to simplify the language that is used in science because once learners are aware that we also explain in Ndebele they will never at all put an effort to make themselves proficient in the English language.

Five of the eight who were interviewed were also not clear about the position of the ministry regarding the use of the learners’ L1 in teaching science and mathematics. However, the general consensus amongst the research participants was that the ministry should come up with a policy in the curriculum that would allow teachers to also use African languages instead of sticking to English language as the sole medium.

During a total of the eight lesson observations which took 70 minutes each, it was observed that learners participated more when isiNdebele, their L1, was used. In most instances the teacher would speak in English and then make explanations or emphasis in isiNdebele. One example that was observed in the science lesson at a rural school was where a teacher was talking about an energy chain:

As you can see at the top we have the sun, followed by vegetation - trees and grass, then grazers and herbivores impala, ondlovu, amadube, lenkonkoni (impala, elephants, zebras and wild beasts), then carnivores right below. So liyabona ukuthi ilanga liqakathekile ngoba yilo eliletha impilo. Yonke Ienergy isukela elangeni kusiya kusehla yikho abadala babengadli inyamazana ezidla inyama ngoba azila kudla ukuqakathekileyo emzimbeni. (So you see that the sun is important in bringing life. All the energy in foods comes from the sun that is the reason why our elders never ate animals that feed on meat because they are not rich in nutrients that are required the body).

What is deduced from this excerpt is that the teacher was not translating what was said in English but would make further clarifications using isiNdebele. Also, there is use of both isiNdebele and English at the same time but a clear message to the learner is still maintained.

In such scenarios where Ndebele was used, many learners raised their hands when questions were asked, but in situations where English only was used only a few hands were raised. In a Form 3 science classroom, where the lesson was on ecosystems in a rural setting, the teacher used English first throughout and then afterwards asked questions in English and only one learner raised the hand and answered correctly in English but had challenges in constructing grammatically correct sentences. The teacher then explained the same concepts of ecosystems using Ndebele and asked questions afterwards mixing Ndebele and English and many hands were raised. This experience demonstrates the importance of shuttling between the teaching of science and mathematics. All the eight science and mathematics teachers who were interviewed concurred that learner participation becomes high when the use of language is not restricted to English only. The general view coming from all the teachers was that the learners’ L1 should be used in teaching and learning. All of them were also of the idea that both the learners’ L1 and L2 should be used in teaching and not exclusively one or the other. Some of the sentiments that were raised by the teachers were as follows:

Some of the concepts cannot be easily explained in English especially here in rural areas. If you don’t use vernacular you cannot meet the set objectives of the lesson.

The other teacher said:

Using Ndebele would make learners understand better. For the teacher to flow together with the learners, use the language that they understand better. It is proper for Ndebele to be used for delivering concepts but teachers should also use English because it is the language that is used for assessment.

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Another teacher who is also a mathematics examiner said:

Use of vernacular cannot be ruled out. When solving word problem maths learners lose out when these are given in English. A teacher has to make explanations in English at the same time throwing in vernacular here and there. Where they don’t understand then vernacular only can be used but mindful of the fact that they will at the end be assessed in English.

Although translanguaging is an ideal strategy that can be used, these classrooms seem to be using more of code switching. However, it is clear that these learners and teachers are dynamic bilinguals meaning that they can translanguage during the lessons if the idea is made known to them.

The researchers also wanted to find out whether the teachers introduce new concepts in English, then explain in the learners’ L1, or they begin with the learners’ L1 then explain in English, or they use both languages concurrently, or they use the languages without necessarily looking at the boundaries and the linguistic repertoires of each language. Of the eight teachers who were interviewed, four said that they begin by giving instruction in English and then move on to vernacular when they explain the concept, one science teacher indicated that he begins with vernacular then English, and three said that they mix English and vernacular throughout. However, two of those who said they begin with English indicated that sometimes they mix depending on the nature of the concept being taught. The mixing of languages is evidence of dynamic bilingualism and the subsequent translanguaging process. Gracia (2009) argues that translanguaging has much value for the bilingual learners since they are given an opportunity to use their home language which they understand best. What should be noted here is that all these approaches that teachers use in bringing the learners’ home language on board to the teaching of science and mathematics are all important in the sense that what is more vital is to include the learners’ L1 which is a valuable resource instead of sticking to their L2 in which they are not even proficient.

Another important dimension that was revealed by the research participants during interviews was the issue of using local resources in teaching and learning of which the learners’ L1 was also considered to be one of the resources. The three who demonstrated knowledge of the contents of the science and mathematics curriculum mentioned that over and above language, teachers are supposed to contextualise the contents of the topic to objects and ideas that fall within the physical environment of the learners and which are communicated in their language. One of the mathematics teachers who was interviewed said that the curriculum stipulates that

Locally available resources should be used and the learners’ local language is one of those resources. Indigenous knowledge systems should be used together with any other tools that are available in the learners’ environment.

Bangura (2014: 12) argues that ‘children in Africa should be taught African-centred Mathematics as such an approach would lead to development’. The language of the learner is a key resource that makes concepts being learnt a reality and relevant thereby boosting curiosity and cognitive ability of the learner.

The most striking issue that comes to the minds of many when translanguaging is used as a teaching and learning method is the issue of assessment. This issue was addressed earlier on but it is important to revisit it again here to see what those teaching involved in teaching say about it. The teachers were very clear that assessment is and should be done in English. It was pointed out that the inclusion of learners’ L1 during learning does not have negative effects as compared to its exclusion. All the eight teachers who were interviewed concurred that the learners L1 should be included in learning but assessment should be done in English so that learners are not isolated from the rest of the world. One of the teachers said:

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It is proper to include vernacular in teaching because it helps learners grasp concepts which they can write in English in the examinations. The ministry is strict on assessment as it stipulates that learners should write their exercises in English. We are allowed to teach in vernacular where learners do not understand but it should not be vernacular throughout. I can tell you that in one year I was using English throughout in teaching maths and the pass rate was very low but in the following year when I also used vernacular students passed very well.

The most important thing for learners is to develop an understanding of the concepts that they will be learning, and that can be achieved through translanguaging. The whole point behind translanguaging is to develop towards the L2, to carry concepts from the L1 to the L2. Therefore, that means that if learning is done through translanguaging then learners are better equipped to present their understanding in the L2 because the L1 would have been used as a resource towards cognitive development.

Translanguaging has been shown to be one of the methods of instruction in teaching science and mathematics in bilingual contexts and multilingual contexts of Bulawayo and Matobo in Zimbabwe. However, code switching proved to be the most common method as compared to translanguaging. There was general consensus amongst all teachers of science and mathematics that the learners’ L1 should be utilised in teaching as doing so has proved to yield positive results on the part of the learner. In bilingual contexts both languages should be included in learning because they are all valuable resources that aid cognition. Involving the learners’ L1 improves participation in the classroom which then helps the teacher to know whether learners have understood the concepts or not. English only silences the learners and leads to lack of improvement in English itself as a language and lack of comprehension of the concepts that are taught through it. The co-existence of ESL (English as a second language) and African languages as L1 should not mean viewing African languages as inferior but as important resources that aid the understanding of concepts. What came to light here was that although the ministry recommends the use of the learners’ L1 to a limited extent, it is not clear to the teachers how they should use these African languages together with ESL in science and mathematics classrooms. The use of African languages in the teaching of science and mathematics should not be perceived as the total abandonment of English but as utilising the learners’ L1 as valuable resources in teaching and learning.

There is a need for the ministry to come up with a clear strategy as to how the learners’ L1 should be applied in the classroom because what is happening now is that each teacher is doing what they think is right. There is need for thorough research that will inform recommendations as to how translanguaging should be applied in the classroom. It was also realised that teachers are not aware what the policy says about the use of African languages in science and mathematics classrooms as they gave contradicting opinions. It is important also for the responsible ministry to conscientise teachers on the position of African languages in classrooms. For assessment to be done in English only is not a problem as learners would have translanguaged between their L1 and ESL and now are in a position to communicate knowledge gained in both their L1 and in ESL.

Asabere-Ameyaw, A. & Ayelsoma, S.J. (2012) Language proficiency and Science learning. In A. Asabere-Ameyaw & G.J. Sefa Dei (Eds.) Contemporary issues in African Sciences and Science education. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, pp.55-62.

CONCLUSION

RECOMMENDATIONS

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A major desire of many African nations today is to be technologically developed. In South Africa there tends to be an acute shortage of skilled manpower in the field of science, engineering and technology. The fundamental importance of mathematics to humans could be explained in terms of the interrelationship between mathematics and the development of humans to advance the cause of humanity. Science and technology rely on the application of trigonometry in real life situations which affect the daily lives of people. In this paper, we report on a qualitative study which explored the mental constructions made by Grade 12 learners when solving for the unknown properties of triangles in trigonometry. The study was carried out at a school in KwaZulu-Natal (n=30) in South Africa. The data were collected from written responses of students to a structured activity sheet consisting of questions on 2-dimensional shapes, and subsequently analysed using Action, Process, Object and Schema (APOS) theory. Findings emanating from the data analysis informed a modification of the initial genetic decomposition, which raised some didactical implications for basic education, specifically for the learning and teaching of trigonometry.1

Keywords: teaching, learning, trigonometry, APOS theory

Brijlall and Maharaj (2015) assert that mathematics, as part of the broader family of sciences such as physical science, for example, has as a result of its fundamental importance and significance to humans and their advancement and development received increased attention both at policy level and teaching and learning practice around the world. In other words, this explains the reasons behind the emerging and growing interest and debate among policy-makers and other related stakeholders with regard to how mathematics as a formal school subject has to be designed and also be dispatched for learning in various school systems around the world. Particularly the construction and understanding of knowledge by learners when responding to mathematical tasks (Jojo, 2014).

To enable learners to perform at the highest level in mathematics, learners need to be taught the relevant mathematical knowledge and skills, coupled with effective teaching strategies that can help learners exercise their reasoning powers or imaginations in the mathematics classroom. Mathematics as a body

1 Date of submission 12 October 2018 Date of review outcome 7 February 2019 Date of acceptance 25 September 2019

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

The teaching and learningof trigonometry1

Annatoria Zanele Ngcobo, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South AfricaSethembiso Promise Madonsela, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South AfricaDeonarain Brijlall, Durban University of Technology, South Africa

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of knowledge embodies problem solving, deductive and inductive reasoning, among other things. Proficiency and competencies in these areas are essential when pursuing studies in science, engineering and technology (Orhun, 2010). Ndlovu & Brijlall (2015) state that the ability to reason mathematically can only develop once an individual or learner cognitively constructs the necessary mental schema needed to make sense of a particular mathematical concept.

The poor mathematical performance of many students as evidenced in literature (see, for example, Dündar, 2015; Orhun, 2010) suggests the need to ensure that students’ achievement in mathematics is improved. In South Africa, among other factors, the problem of students’ underachievement in mathematics has been attributed to the poor strategies employed by school teachers in the teaching and learning of mathematics, and teachers’ lack of appropriate depth in pedagogical content knowledge (Brijlall & Maharaj, 2015). In South Africa, the situation is very critical; there is so much evidence of students’ poor performance in mathematics (Makgato, 2007). In 2018, Motshekga (DoBE, 2018) in her national report compared grade 12 learner performance. The lowest performance was in Mathematics. The percentage pass rate for the 2017 senior certificate examinations appears in Table 1.

Table 1: The 2017 grade 12 learner performance in Mathematics

Number wrote Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark

≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

245 103 22.9 15.3 10.6 7.0 4.8 3.1 1.3

The overall pass rate for 2017 was 65%. This means that 35% of the learners failed mathematics. This is based on the pass rate being greater than or equal to 30%. If we had to consider the pass rate as 40%, we observe that more than half the number of learners would have failed. A recent survey shows that most learners find a number of topics in mathematics difficult to learn – particularly Trigonometric rules (Atagana et al., 2009). In their study, 103 out of the sample of 222 learners between Grades 10-12 (representing 46% of the sample) reported that they find it difficult to learn Trigonometry. Many students tend to encounter difficulties with trigonometry, particularly the trigonometric functions (Siyepu, 2015) and concepts related to 2-D shapes (Department of Education diagnostic report, 2017).

Trigonometry is a fundamental topic in mathematics that finds several applications in other branches of mathematics as well as in statistics, economics, surveying, architecture and many branches of engineering (Weber, 2005). Developing understanding based on trigonometric links is not easy for learners, and traditional ways of teaching trigonometry do not overcome students’ difficulties (Demir, Sutton-Brown & Czermiak, 2012). The traditional ways involved a teacher-centred approach with the teacher as giver of knowledge and the use of chalk-and-talk.

The research work we report on is an original attempt of exploring an APOS study of Grade 12 learners solving problems on 2D shapes. Literature survey has shown that there are no Action, Process, Object and Schema (APOS) studies on trigonometrical concepts either nationally or internationally. This study also contributes to APOS theory in providing a modified model on the solution of triangles. Further its contribution is made for pedagogy of the solution of triangles in Trigonometry.

The concept of mental constructions as learning processes has roots in ancient times, going back to Socrates's dialogues with his followers in which he asked directed questions that led his learners to realise

LITERATURE REVIEW

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for themselves the weaknesses in their thinking (Baartman & De Bruijn, 2011). The Socratic dialogue is still an important tool in the way constructivist educators assess their students' learning and plan new learning experiences. Psychologists have made different philosophic assumptions about the nature of the learning process (Baartman & De Bruijn, 2011). For example, Dewey (1938: 89) asserted that ‘It is that reconstruction or reorganization of experience which adds to the meaning of experience, and which increases ability to direct the course of subsequent experience’.

Piaget (1979) pointed out that every normal student is capable of good mathematical reasoning if attention (and care) is directed to activities of their interest, and if by this method the emotional inhibitions that too often give them a feeling of inferiority in lessons in mathematics are removed. Building on Piaget’s ideas of reflective abstraction, Dubinsky (1991) introduced APOS theory, which is a theory aiming to explain the mental construction of mathematical concepts.

The descriptions of action, process, object and schema that follow are based on those given by Weller, Arnon & Dubinsky (2009) and Maharaj (2010, 2013). A transformation is first conceived as an action, when it is a reaction to stimuli which an individual perceives as external. It requires specific instructions, and the need to perform each step of the transformation explicitly. As an individual repeats and reflects on an action, it may be interiorised into a mental process. A process is a mental structure that performs the same operation as the action, but wholly in the mind of the individual. Specifically, the individual can imagine performing the transformation without having to execute each step explicitly. If one becomes aware of a process as a totality, realises that transformations can act on that totality and can actually construct such transformations (explicitly or in one’s imagination), then we say the individual has encapsulated the process into a cognitive object. A mathematical topic often involves many actions, processes and objects that need to be organised and linked into a coherent framework, called a schema. It is coherent in that it provides an individual with a way of deciding, when presented with a particular mathematical situation, whether the schema applies. In the schema stage the learner has a collection of actions, processes, objects and other schemas that the learner understands in relation to calculus. According to Arnon et al. (2014) a genetic decomposition is a hypothetical model that describes the mental structures and mechanisms that students might need to construct in order to learn a specific mathematical concept.

There are many studies on learners’ mental constructions, which are done using APOS theory in South Africa and abroad (e.g. Bansilal, Brijlall & Trigueros, 2017; Bijlall & Ndlovu, 2013; Brijlall & Maharaj, 2015; Dubinsky, 1991). These studies indicate that students’ difficulties with construction of correct schema emanate from the incorrect conception of pre-requisite concepts, for example, continuity, differentiability and integration, are related to their difficulties with limits. Brijlall and Ndlovu (2013) investigated high school learners’ mental construction during solving optimisation problems in Calculus in a rural Umgungundlovu District school in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In that study, 10 learners who did Mathematics as a subject on grade 12 level participated, and data were collected through structured activity sheets and semi-structured interviews. Structured activity sheets with three tasks were given to 10 learners; these tasks were done in two groups of three and one group of four and the group leaders were interviewed.

Brijlall and Ndlovu (2013) also formulated itemised genetic decompositions for particular tasks, which contribute to APOS theory as also adopted for the theoretical framework for this study. The study revealed that most students did not operate at the object level and so did not formulate effective schema. Ndlovu and Brijlall (2015) investigated the level of mental constructions of concepts in matrix algebra by pre-service teachers. The study was guided by the belief that understanding the mental constructions the pre-service teachers make when learning matrix algebra concepts, leads to improved instructional methods. The findings revealed that the mental constructions made by pre-service teachers in most cases concur with the preliminary genetic decomposition. This study is aligned with the two studies (Brijlall & Ndlovu,

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2013; Ndlovu & Brijlall, 2015) in that we extend the use of APOS as an analytic tool and formulate a genetic decomposition. Furthermore, Ndlovu and Brijlall (2013) emphasise the need to analyse learners’ difficulties by means of research and this study adopts the use of genetic decomposition to analyse learners’ difficulties in trigonometric concepts.

Jojo (2014) reports on a study that used APOS theory that the key mechanism for an individual to obtain new mathematical meaning is for him/her to construct mental constructions of direct experiences relevant to that concept. She asserts that a structured set of mental constructs, which might describe how the concept can develop in the mind of an individual, is called the genetic decomposition of that particular concept. Jojo (2014) also used mental constructions as a tool to explore how first-year engineering students conceptualise mathematical learning in the context of calculus with specific reference to the chain rule in South Africa.

In their study, Ndlovu and Brijlall (2015) uses preliminary genetic decompositions in APOS theory to explain mental constructions made or not made by learners. They noted that those students who had a weak schema of basic algebra were not able to make the necessary mental constructions or vice versa. Ndlovu and Brijlall (2015) revealed that the mental constructions made by pre-service teachers, in most cases, concur with the preliminary genetic decompositions for problems involving optimisation in Calculus. The findings from the study by Arnawa et al. (2007) have indicated that students who were taught how to prove that a maximum or minimum exists when solving optimisation problems using the APOS approach performed better than those taught using a traditional method such as a teacher-centred approach with the teacher as giver of knowledge and the use of chalk-and-talk.

Dubinsky (1991), on the other hand, proposed that in mental constructions the learner might include Actions, Processes, Objects and Schemas. APOS ascertains that for learners to understand a mathematical concept, they must begin with manipulating previously constructed mental or physical objects in their minds to form actions; actions would then be interiorised to form processes, which are then encapsulated to form objects (Dubinsky 1991). Therefore, these objects could be de-encapsulated back to the processes from which they were formed, which would be finally organised in schemas. Understanding the chain rule was explored in relation to the schema relevant to it.

Trigueros, Oktaç and Kú (2010) conducted a study to determine the role of mental constructions of undergraduate students in understanding the concept of a spanning set in Linear Algebra. In the study they used APOS theory to propose a genetic decomposition for the concept of a spanning set in Linear Algebra. One of the results that was obtained in their research is in line with the results reported by Nardi (1997) and Arnawa et al. (2007) on the difficulty in distinguishing a spanning set from a basis which was also explored by Mutumabara and Bansilal (2018). Nardi (1997) states that students have varying levels of difficulty when working with different types of vector spaces. Similarly, Mutumabara et al. (2018) confirmed that students’ mental construction of vector space is at the action level, suggesting weak schema evolution. In the findings of the study exploring connections students make among concepts of linear independence/dependence, basis, linear combination, dimension, spanning set and generated vector space, Mutumabara et al. (2018) argue that the concept of linear combination plays a very important role in the understanding of the notion of ‘spanning’. Their analysis so far indicates that it will be necessary to make certain modifications in the preliminary genetic decomposition, but the general model is in line with data.

The effective design of genetic decompositions in the APOS studies discussed in this literature survey suggested the formulation of the research question: How can the solving of problems involving 2-dimensional shapes inform the teaching and learning of trigonometry in schools?

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To unpack this critical research question, we asked the following sub-questions:

1) What is the nature of Grade 12 learners’ mental constructions of solutions of triangles?

2) To what extent do learners’ mental constructions of triangles align with genetic decomposition?

3) Why do these mental constructions arise?

Qualitative research methodology by its nature permits the use of different research strategies to gather data. It allows the voice of the participant to be heard. Cohen, Manion & Morrison (2013) asserted that research design is qualitative if there are no numbers used in categorising, organising and interpreting relevant information that has to be gathered. Flick (2006: 79) described this type of research as follows

Qualitative approaches allow for more diversity in responses as well as the capacity to adapt to new developments or issues. In qualitative methods, the data collected can include interviews and reflection, field notes, various texts, pictures and other materials.

This study was located within the interpretative quality research paradigm. Learners’ performance on solutions of triangles was explored by means of an activity sheet. According to Dhlamini and Mogari (2013) knowledge is constructed as opposed to how it was created. In order to verify or interrogate the learners’ mental constructions, written responses and interviews were used to analyse learners’ responses to a particular set of questions. Ndlovu and Brijlall (2015) point out that having a correct answer does not necessarily mean an individual has constructed the necessary mental constructions and further that the written responses in mathematics need to be verified by means of an interview.

The study reported in this paper was conducted at one of the high schools in the Umlazi District. The school comprises black African learners and educators. Most of the learners are from nearby townships and some are shack dwellers, from low socio-economic backgrounds. Thirty Grade 12 learners who took Mathematics as a subject participated in this study. Activity sheets were given to all of them to work individually so as to get their mental construction on the solution of triangles. After they had completed their tasks, results were analysed using APOS. After the analysis of the written response, in some cases we needed to verify the APOS stages the learners were at as we could not with certainty deduce this. In these cases the affected learners were selected for interviews. Also, we selected one learner from each category of achievement. These categories were ‘achieved’, ‘not achieved’ and ‘no response’.

Purposive sampling was adopted in this study. This sampling was chosen as it is not planned to generalise the findings with other schools. The researcher’s choice to use a Grade 12 class was because of easy access to the participants since she was the one who was teaching that particular group. According to Bertram (2012), purposive sampling means that the researcher makes specific choices about which people to include.

Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2013) state that qualitative analysis frequently concerns individual cases and unique instances, and may involve personal and sensitive matters. It raises the question of identifiability, confidentiality and privacy of individuals. The researcher has an ethical obligation to reflect on the principle of primum non nocere be addressed first, do no harm (to participants). Permission was obtained from parents and guardians as well as from the learners to voluntarily participate in the study without any rewards. Participation was totally voluntary and had no impact or bearing on evaluation or assessment of the learner in any studies or course while at school. Participants were asked to take part in the interviews after the worksheets had been completed. All participants were written on transcripts

METHODOLOGY

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and data collections by a pseudonym (i.e. fabricated names). The identities of the interviewees were kept strictly confidential.

All data were kept secured and were not used for any other purpose except for the research. Participants were allowed to leave the study at any time by notifying the researcher. Gatekeeper’s permission was sought with Department of Education and ethical clearance no HSS\0320\016m was granted. According to Cohen et.al. (2013), the essence of anonymity is that information provided by participants should in no way reveal their identity. They further state that a participant is considered anonymous when neither the researcher nor another person can identify the participant from the information provided. In this study, the learner activity worksheets contained a learner number, not the names of participants and for the sake of the research, names were given privately. Their privacy was guaranteed. Cohen et al. (2013) explain that a research instrument that has no identifying marks such as names, addresses, occupational details or coding symbols ensures complete and total anonymity.

Cohen et al. (2013) state that the way of protecting a participant’s right to privacy is through the promise of confidentiality: not to disclose information about a participant in any way that might enable the individual to be traced. The boundaries surrounding the shared information will be protected. The researcher explained to the participants the meaning of confidentiality. The consent letters explain in detail the steps taken to ensure confidentiality; data collected were stored in a secure place. The issue of reliability and trustworthiness was addressed through triangulation.

Table 2 provides details on how data collected were used to answer the research questions and, in addition, the possible limitations that each method had.

Table 2:The research sub-questions with their relevant data capture tools

Research Sub-Question Methods of Data collection Limitations

1. What is the nature of Grade 12 learners’ mental constructions of solutions of triangles?

Activity worksheets with three questions were given to learners to work individually to check their understanding of problems in two dimensions.

In some questions there were no responses which made it difficult to decide if the mental construction is made or not. However the interviews will assist in getting insight on how the participants have constructed meaning on problems.

2. To what extent do learners’ mental constructions of triangles align with genetic decomposition?

Activity worksheets were given to the participants to work individually in class and were analysed by means of APOS to explore the mental construction made or not made.

Same as above

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Research Sub-Question Methods of Data collection Limitations

3. Why do these APOS mental constructions arise?

Interviews: Learners were selected based on their responses and performance in tasks and the categories that were used: i) achieved, ii) not achieved, and iii) not attempted.

In the cases where the researchers were unsure of the actual APOS stage the learners were operating at, verification interviews had to be carried out with those individuals. These interviewees were probed into providing information about the processes of his/her version of his/her thoughts and ideas relating to the 2-D problems. In this way triangulation of data was sorted and the researchers could justifiably place the learners written responses on the relevant APOS stage at which the participant was operating.

Learners’ written responses to the 2-D problems were categorised into three categories which were:

• Achieved – represents those learners who made some or all mental-constructions proposed by genetic decomposition regarding the concept tested.

• Not Achieved – in this category learners made fragments of mental constructions of concepts, incomplete responses with computational errors in between steps. There was no reasoning to justify their responses, and others used wrong formulas to solve problems.

• Not Attempted – Learners who failed to attempt questions. Based on written responses, there was no mental construction of concepts since there were no written responses. However, they were probed through an interview.

Data presentation and discussion of written response to question one

Question one (see Figure 1) had three sub-questions. In this paper, the sub-questions will be referred to as items. All three items focused on solving a right-angled triangle (finding angles and sides). Item 1 intended to provide insight into whether the learner had developed at least an action conception of the sum of angles of a triangle. Items 2 and 3 sought to explore if the learners were beyond the action conception of trigonometric ratios of sine, cosine and tangent. In terms of APOS stages, mental constructions are hierarchical. The learners at Grade 12 level are expected to be at least at the process of understanding of the solution of right-angled triangles. Therefore, all learners were expected to solve all items in Question one, since these items mainly required the learners to perform external transformations.

In question one, which is shown in Figure 1, the triangle ABC has a right angle at A with BC = χ and angle C = θ

Figure 1: Illustration of item 1, 2 and 3 of question one

Item 1: Find angle B in terms of θ

Item 2: Find the length of AB in terms of θ and χ

Item 3: Find the length of AC in terms of θ and χ

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In Figure 2, the itemised genetic decomposition (IGD) (Brijlall & Ndlovu, 2013) for question one is illustrated. The researchers used the IGD to explain the mental constructions evident in a learner’s response and used the IGD as a basis to probe learners’ responses during the interview.

Within this IGD, as part of his/her schema of solutions of right-angled triangle a learner should:

• Perform the sum of angles of a triangle to solve for an interior angle (item 1)

• Use trigonometric ratios to solve sides of triangles (items 2 and 3)

• Apply the knowledge of solving equations (items 2 and 3).

The responses were first grouped according to categories in Table 3. This was purposely done in order to assist the researcher to present the analysis of the mental constructions evident in the responses per category.

Figure 2: IGD for solving a right-angled triangle

The IGD (Brijlall & Ndlovu, 2013) in this study is not for statistical purposes but is used to reveal the mental constructions that learners made or failed to make, and to discuss the impact of the analysis in relation to the development of the concepts assessed. Table 3 shows the performance of learners to each item of question one.

Table 3: Analysis of learner’s performance to question one

Question one Achieved Not Achieved Not Attempted Total

Item 1 28 2 0 30

Item 2 25 5 0 30

Item 3 26 4 0 30

Analysis and discussion of Item 1 of question one

For Item 1, a learner with fully developed action conception would use the formula of finding the sum angles of a triangle correctly in order to find one angle when given two other angles. He/she would carry

Solution of triangles

ACTIONGiven two angles

ACTIONGiven one side and

one anglePerform actions todetermine sides

Perform action tofind third angle

process(Interiorised action)Present the solutionwithout performing

the steps

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out all the steps of finding the sum angles of a triangle, in order to solve the third angle in terms of θ and provide a correct response.

What we noticed in question one was that all learners attempted all the items and more than 83% showed evidence of making the mental constructions as specified in the IGD. In Item 1 the results revealed that 28 learners were categorised as achieved, which meant that they had made the necessary mental constructions as indicated in the IGD. However, only six learners made all the necessary mental constructions. These six learners displayed the process conception. Their responses showed that they had interiorised the geometric actions and algebraic actions to find the third angle into a process, which made it possible to interpret the magnitude of angle B in terms of the quadrants. According to Arnon et al. (2014), when a learner invents appropriate shortcuts, he/she is thus showing the evolution of the process conception of the concept. At this level, learners could easily write the formula of finding angles in a right-angled triangle without struggling to think about the formula as evident in the written and interview response below.

Extract 1:Suzuki written response for item 1 of question one.

The written response in Extract 1 displayed that Suzuki could successfully find the third angle when given two angles in a triangle without performing all the steps, thus confirming that she had interiorised the action into a process.

Researcher: How do you know that your answer is correct?

Suzuki: Ma’am, in geometry we know that sum angles of a triangle is 180°,then angle B = 90° − θ

Researcher: In your answer, are you sure about the sign between angle 90° and θ is + or –? Please explain.

Suzuki: Ma’am, I know exactly that my answer is 90° − θ because when removing brackets the sign changes, and from 90° I have subtracted θ.

Researcher: In your understanding, what is the meaning of finding angle B in terms of θ?

Suzuki: I need to have θ in my answer. I have to make angle B the subject of the formula so as to get 90° − θ

Researcher: You never showed all those steps. Why?

Suzuki: Ma’am, angle 90 is given and θ and the sum is 180° mine is to subtract those given angles from 180°.

Suzuki’s interview responseWhile Suzuki’s response seemed to emphasise the theorem instead of paying particular attention in explaining the concept, her response confirmed that she had developed a process understanding of the solution of the sum of angles of a triangle as she performed the steps cognitively to represent her solution. The probing by the interviewer made Suzuki reflect on her thought processes in keeping with the claims made by Baartman & De Bruijn (2011). From the response it was evident that Suzuki must have performed these actions repeatedly until she had constructed the relationship between the geometric

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actions and algebraic actions and was then able to coordinate these into the single process of determining the magnitude of a third angle and explained its meaning without the numerical values.

Unlike the six learners who displayed the process conception, 22 learners’ responses revealed that they had the action conception of finding the sum of interior angles of a triangle. These learners applied the formula of finding the sum of a triangle and no step was omitted until they determined the solution. Nevertheless, Melly’s response lacked accuracy (see Extract 2). While this could be considered as a slip, it in fact confirms the finding by Brijlall and Maharaj (2015) that learners do not engage with what they wrote. Having angle B = 90°+ θ contradicts the theorem that holds that the ‘sum of angles of a triangle =180°’, which is the rule she was applying.

Extract 2:Melly’s written response for item 1 of question one.

During the interview, Melly did identify the procedural error she had made which thus confirms that she had an action conception. Nevertheless, she could not explain the meaning of the answer in relation to the question, thus showing that although she can perform the actions, those actions have not been interiorised into a process. Having the process conception would have allowed her to formulate the concept image informed by the correct concept definition of the meaning of the properties of the triangle.

Analysis and discussion of item 2 of question oneItem 2 (see Figure 3) focused on learners’ understanding of the concept of trigonometric ratios. They were expected to determine the unknown side unlike Item 1 where they had to find the unknown angle.

Figure 3: Illustration of item 2 question one

Find the length of AB in terms of θ and χ.

Item 2 intended to provide insight into whether a learner had developed an action and process conception of the concept of trigonometric ratios. A learner must be able to find the length of AB using trigonometric ratios and be able to solve equations. A learner on action level (Weller, Arnon & Dubinsky, 2009) of APOS will be also able to carry out all the steps of finding AB using trigonometric ratios. However, a learner at process stage will work out her responses mentally and express side AB = χSinθ without physically writing down all the steps.

In Item 2 the analysis displayed that 25 learners were categorised as achieved. These learners’ responses displayed the evolution of the necessary mental constructions. However, similar to Item 1, the majority

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displayed the action conception of solution of triangles. We observed that in Item 2, the numbers of achieved learners dropped as compared to Item 1. The main reason was that many learners were making errors. Three learners out of the 28 who were categorised as achieved in Item 1 could not determine the unknown sides because they tried to use Pythagoras theorem while only given one side instead of using trigonometric ratios (see Extract 3.)

Extract 3: Ado’s response in item 2 of question one

The question required the angle but Ado determined the side using Pythagoras theorem. His response confirms that previous knowledge when instrumentally understood can negatively impact on the construction of new knowledge. The above response showed Pythagoras theorem has been instrumentally understood, as a result, it was used in the wrong context and incorrectly.

Analysis and discussion of Item 3 of question one

In Item 3 (see Figure 4), learners were expected to find the lengths of AC in terms of θ and χ using trigonometric ratios. While Item 3 seemed to be similar to Item 2, in Item 3 learners needed to integrate concepts before determining an answer to Item 3. They needed the schema of co-functions and reduction formula if they were to use trigonometric ratios to solve the sum or just use the sine rule. Learners limited to an action level (Weller, Arnon & Dubinsky, 2009) will apply trigonometric ratios without identifying the need to apply co-functions. In addition, they would be limited to using trigonometric ratios since the triangle given is a right-angle triangle without seeing the possibility of applying the sine rule. Such constructions are possible to be made by learners with process understanding of solution of triangles.

Figure 4:Illustration of item 3 of question one

Find the length of AC in terms of θ and χ.

The analysis of learners’ responses to Item 3 showed that 26 learners had a procedural conception to determine the solution. This meant that they had made at least an action conception of the concept as specified in the IGD (Brijlall & Ndlovu, 2013) for question one. As it was shown in Table 2, 26 learners provided correct responses to Item 3. While 26 learners provided the correct responses, only six learners displayed a process conception as explained in Figure 2 (IGD) of the concept assessed. The action of applying the sine rule and the action of determining the unknown was coordinated into a single action which was interiorised as process. These learners performed the steps internally and could determine the answer without explicitly writing down the steps. Contrary to the six learners, 20 displayed an action conception. This was evident as they carried out a step-by-step procedure for determining the solution as evident in Nonhle’s response in Extract 4.

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Extract 4: Nonhle’s response to item 3 of question one

Data presentation and discussion of written response to question two

Question two differed from question one in that it assessed the learners’ understanding of the solution of non-right-angle triangles.

Figure 5:Illustration of question two

Item 1) Find angle D in terms of ß and θ

Item 2) Show that BC = (χ sinß+θ)

sinß

In Figure 6 we present the IGD for question two. Within this IGD, as part of his/her schema of solution of triangle a learner should:

• Have the action understanding of solving interior angles of a triangle

• Have a schema of trigonometric ratios

• Have the process understanding of application of the sine rule

• Have the schema of solving algebraic fractions and different algebraic equations.

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Figure 6:The IGD for the solution of non-right-angled triangle as described in APOS

The above IGD (Brijlall & Ndlovu, 2013) describes the mental constructions a learner should make in order to provide correct solutions and construct conceptual understanding of solutions of a non-right-angle triangle. A learner who has constructed an action conception of finding the sum of interior angles will perform all the steps for finding the third angle when given other two angles. However, for a learner to display a process stage, they will present the solutions without performing steps or do appropriate constructions to relate the non-right angle triangle to a right-angled triangle. It is expected that such a learner would have interiorised (Weller, Arnon & Dubinsky, 2009) the solution of right-angle triangle to construct a complete concept image of the solution of non-right-angle triangle. The process of deconstructing and reconstructing the triangle is coordinated with the action of solving for interior angles to generate a new process of constructing a relationship between acute and obtuse angle; thus seeing angle D as the difference between 180 degrees and the sum of the two acute angles. When determining the sides, a learner with an action conception would identify the appropriate rule and apply it correctly when given numerical values of the given sides and angles. However, the learner with a process conception would have identified the appropriate rule and generalised the formula of solution of triangles given numerical values to solving triangles with abstract information.

The analysis of the participants’ responses was grouped according to the categories in Table 4. The categories assist in presenting the analysis of the learners’ performance in terms of determining correctness/incorrectness of the solution. It reveals the nature of their mental constructions within the IGD (Brijlall & Ndlovu, 2013). The categories are necessary in order to explore the various APOS stages at which the learner could be operating. The IGD then would reveal the level of each learner.

Given twoangles

Process - Construct a perpendicular line ( l ) to construct right angle triangle tosolve for the third angle.

Process - Present the solutionwithout performing the steps.

Action - Perform action tofind the third angle.

Given one sideand two angles

Process - Use the rule todetermine the solution in its

abstract form.

Action - Identifyingappropriate rule.

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Table 4: Learners’ performance in question two

Question two Achieved Not Achieved Not Attempted Total

Item 1 26 2 2 30

Item 2 11 16 3 30

Item 1 (see Figure 7) was aimed at revealing the APOS level learners could be operating at and how this links with the IGD.

Find angle D in terms of β and θ

Figure 7: Illustration of item 1 of question two

The results showed that 26 out of 30 learners could solve for the third angle when given the two angles. In this item, we observed that the majority were operating at the process stage, which shows some evolution of the concept schema. Of the 26 learners who provided the correct answer, four showed the action conception of the solution of interior angles of a triangle. These learners correctly performed step-by-step procedures in order to find the third angle. The other 22 presented their solution without carrying out all the steps, indicating an interiorisation of action level. Extract 5 shows one of the responses of learners who displayed process conception of the solution of interior angles of a triangle.

Lolly’s response to Item 1 displayed a process conception as it is portrayed that the whole idea of finding the third angle had been interiorised as she expressed the third angle as 180° - (β + θ), without explicitly showing all the steps. During an interview she was asked to explain why she only gave the answer without showing her manipulations, she responded as follows:

Lolly’s interview response

Lolly: I know that in order to get the third angle in a triangle, you need to subtract given angles from 180°.

Researcher: Why? Could you please explain your statement?

Lolly: Ma’am I know that the sum angles of triangle is 180° and I have to subtract those two angles from 180°.Those angles are β and θ I have added them and their sum is subtracted from 180°.

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Lolly displayed an understanding of sum angles of a triangle as it was evident from her response that she had interiorised the action of finding the third angle when given two other angles in a triangle into a process. The probing by the interviewer made Lolly reflect on her thought processes in keeping with the claims made by Baartman & De Bruijn (2011). Even during the interview, Lolly was clear on the concept of solving triangles when given two angles. This was evident as she explained the steps mentally and expressed the answer as a whole entity without writing down all the steps. Other than Lolly, the researchers noticed that 25 other learners displayed a process understanding of Item 1 in question two. In question one the learners had to seek the one angle in terms of the other two angles in the right-angled triangle provided. In question two the triangle is now an obtuse angled one. The reasons for the developmental understanding from action to process may be attributed to the similarity in the application of the angle sum of a triangle in both questions and question one was already discussed in class. In this way the learners might have improved their understanding of the concepts from action to process. The aim of Item 2 (see Figure 8) was to explore learners’ mental constructions of determining the sides of a triangle using the sine rule. That was to understand the level at which learners were able to integrate the sine rule with an angle that is in terms of symbols. The ability of learners to integrate concepts and determine the solution of triangles in its abstract form would mean that such learners have developed the process understanding of the concept.

Figure 8: Illustration of Item 2 of question two

Show that BC = χ Sin (β+θ)

Sinβ

In Item 2 learners who were at an action level were expected to identify the appropriate rule. They must know that the sine rule is used when you are given two angles and one side of which must be opposite to the given angle. Learners who have constructed a process understanding were expected to use the rule to determine the solution in its abstract form. In other words, these learners must be able to use the reduction formulas and be able to make BC the subject of the formula through cross multiplication. All these procedures needed to be comprehended mentally in order to arrive at the process stage. For this item, the analysis (see Table 4) displayed that 11 learners were categorised as achieved, of which five were at an action stage. They were able to identify the correct rule, which is the sine rule. Six of the 11 learners displayed a process conception as mentioned in the IGD in Figure 6. These learners identified and used the correct formula to determine the solution in fewer steps. An illustration of this type of response appears in Figure 9.

Figure 9: Eli’s response to item 2 of question two

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Eli identified the correct formula and solved the equation in its abstract form as indicated in the IGD. Moreover, he identified the side BC and the corresponding angle, which is Sin[180° - (β + θ)] and was able to convert it to sin(β + θ) and find solutions of triangles in its abstract form. Although Item 2 was abstract, Eli completed certain steps implicitly, thus showing the interiorisation of the concept.

In answering the research question, what is the nature of Grade 12 learners’ mental constructions of solutions of triangles? We observed that for Item 1 of question one a learner (under the category of achieved) with fully developed action conception would use the formula of finding the sum angles of a triangle correctly in order to find one angle when given two other angles. He/she would carry out all the steps of finding the sum angles of a triangle, in order to solve the third angle in terms of θ and provide a correct response. For item 2 of question one, 85% of the learners’ responses displayed the evolution of the necessary mental constructions. However, similar to Item 1, the majority displayed the action conception of solution of triangles. For item 3 of question one, 20 learners displayed the action conception whereas six learners demonstrated that they were operating at the process conception (Weller, Arnon & Dubinsky, 2009) of APOS. For item 1 of question two, the results showed that 26 out of 30 learners could solve for the third angle when given the two angles. In this item, we observed that the majority (87%) were operating at the process stage, which shows some evolution of the concept schema. For item 2 of question two, only 37% of the participants achieved the mathematically correct solutions. Learners therefore did not reach an object stage of APOS. This meant that learners could operate at the lower conceptions of APOS but challenges arose when problems demanded higher order thinking.

In answering the research question to what extent do learners’ mental constructions when dealing with problems involving triangles align with the IGD, the data analysis shows that the IGD (Brijlall & Ndlovu, 2013) was an effective analytic tool. We could place the learners’ written response in the corresponding category and we were able to identify the APOS conception of the participants via their written or verbal responses. For instance, we noticed in question one that all learners attempted all the items and more than 83% showed evidence of making the mental constructions as specified in the IGD. For question two, the analysis helped us identify that five learners were at an action stage and six of the 11 learners displayed a process conception as mentioned in the IGD in Figure 6. In answering the research question why do these mental constructions arise, we deduce from the analysis of the data that certain previous mathematical conceptions are necessary for successful problem solving of problems involving 2D shapes in trigonometry.

Many APOS studies (Bansilal, Brijlall & Trigueros, 2017; Bijlall & Ndlovu, 2013; Brijlall & Maharaj, 2015; Dubinsky, 1991) indicate that students’ difficulties with the construction of correct schema emanate from the incorrect conception of pre-requisite concepts. For example, continuity, differentiability and integration are related to their difficulties with limits. The necessary mathematical conceptions for solution of triangles for our study are presented in Figure 9a below.

The prerequisite mathematical conceptions, which we identified from the data discussion and the mental constructions we identified from the learners’ written and verbal responses helped us modify our previous IGDs (Figures 2 and 6). This modified genetic decomposition is shown in Figure 9b below.

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Figure 9a: Revised/Modified Genetic Decomposition of solution of triangles

Previousconstructions

Processconceptionof algebra

Equation schema

Process conceptionof geometric

concepts

Functionschema

Development of computational

fluencyDevelopmentof proceduralknowledge

Process conception

of trig ratios and solution oftriangles

Conception of reductionformula

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Figure 9b:Modified Genetic Decomposition of solution of triangles

APOS theory was used as the theoretical framework to underpin this study. Based on the findings it was concluded that the majority of the participants were still operating at the action stage. While the action stage is necessary for the development of the other stages, such as process and object, it was rather troubling that 67% of the participants at Grade 12 level had not even developed the object conception. The main concern was the lack of the development of necessary schemas of the prerequisite concepts, thus showing that while learners progress from grade to grade, their conceptualisation of mathematical concepts remains at the action stage for many. In addition, the nature of the mental construction displayed by the participants in this study revealed that the development of schemas as prerequisites (see Figure 9a) are needed in the development of conceptual understanding by Grade 12 learners when solving problems involving triangles.

It was further evident that having the genetic decomposition for problems involving 2D shapes as a data analytic tool assists immensely with explaining the mental constructions made and also helps in understanding the difficulties learners have with a concept. As pointed out by Ndlovu and Brijlall (2015), it is critical for teachers of mathematics to have appropriate tools to use to understand how learners learn and, therefore, in this study we presented a genetic decomposition for the solution of triangles. The data

Action (physical repeated action/ step-by-step computations)• Action to calculate the sum of angles in a triangle• Action to determine the subject of the formula• Action of solving right angle triangles in numerical form• Presenting the correct solution with using correct procedures

Object• Encapsulate the process of proving to provide new structure to

which other process is merged.• Encapsulate the process of constructing and deconstructing 3D

into an object to perform actions and processes to form a new structure.

Process (actions internalised and performed mentally)• The action of solving right angle triangles is interiorised when the learner

uses trig ratios to solve any triangles in abstract form• The application of trig ratios is interiorised into a process when the learner

can apply its integrated form or think of trig ratios as• The construction of rules are interiorised as processes rather than facts.• The process of determining angles in a triangle is coordinated with the

process of determining the sides of the triangle to produce a new process of providing proofs.

Encapsulate into an

Interiorised into a

Pre

limin

ary

gen

etic

dec

om

posi

tion o

f Si

ne

and C

osi

ne

rule

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

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analysis findings helped us formulate the revised genetic decomposition as illustrated in Figure 9. The revised genetic decomposition is empirically based and hence is a realistic tool to inform mathematics teachers, curriculum developers and other relevant stakeholders of more meaningful ways of teaching this section in trigonometry. This study is hoped to contribute to the better performance by school learners in their senior certificate examinations. It is hoped that it will lead to a better grounding for school learners entering into tertiary education when studying engineering, computer science and other related fields of study which depend on mathematics. These disciplines are vital in developing a better technological South Africa.

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This paper has emerged from a qualitative study based on exploring Grade 10 rural mathematics teachers’ discourses and teaching approaches while teaching algebraic functions in Acornhoek, Mpumalanga Province in South Africa. The topic was explored through individual semi-structured interviews, unstructured classroom observations and Video-Stimulated Recall Interviews (VSRIs) with five teachers from five different school sites representing multiple cases. Both participating schools and teachers were purposively selected for the study. The current paper focuses primarily on the data from VSRIs, which allowed teachers to revisit and reflect on recorded lessons. Teachers’ reflections and comments made during the viewing of the video footages were analysed using Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis in relation to Professional Learning and Change theoretical framework. The benefit of using VSRIs is that it enabled teachers to question their own teaching, in turn positioning them better to interrogate and problematise the taken-for-granted nature of their classroom work. This method did not only complement the data from the other two methods used in the study, but also allowed teachers to configure alternative courses of action and utterances during teaching in the classroom that challenge and modify their teaching practices.1

Keywords: mathematics, algebraic function, Video-Stimulated Recall Interview, rural, teaching

In current education research globally, there is a continuing need for ‘more and better data-based studies on rural schooling dynamics, coupled with a great deal of literature on administrative issues and problems in the operation of these institutions’ (DeYoung, 1987: 129). DeYoung’s argument was that there ‘exist[ed] an urban bias to most educational research’ in the United States at that era ‘and, for that matter, around the world’ (DeYoung, 1987: 128). While this postulation was made three decades ago, the dearth of educational research located within rural areas and schools still prevails globally and in South Africa. There is very limited high-quality rural education research with teachers and learners, particularly in mathematics education due to the continued dominance of urbanised research (Nkambule et al., 2011; Balfour, 2012). According to Nkambule et al. (2011: 341), ‘rurality and rural education have been marginalised bodies of knowledge in South Africa’ in both the apartheid and democratic dispensations. This results in the silencing of rural teachers’ and learners’ voices about their educational experiences as

1 Date of submission 21 April 2019 Date of review outcome 26 July 2019 Date of acceptance 8 September 2019

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

Using video-stimulated recall interviews: teachers’ reflections on the teaching of algebraic functions in rural classrooms1

Hlamulo Wiseman Mbhiza, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa

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well as overlooking the alternative forms of knowledge which can be accessed only through researching within rural contexts and schools.

In South Africa, some scholars are slowly focusing on researching various aspects of rural education (Moletsane, 2012; Masinire, 2015; Mafunganyika, 2016; Mbhiza, 2017; Nkambule, 2017). However, to date, the paucity of mathematics education research focusing on rural teaching and learning in South Africa has not been able to offer rigorous insights into rural teachers’ mathematics teaching and their experiences of teaching the subject within rural contexts. Accordingly, if the urgency of improving the standard of rural education in South Africa generally, and mathematics performance in particular is seriously considered, research that fosters rural practicing teachers to reflect on their classroom practices for the purpose of professional learning should be understood. Notwithstanding the need to research more with rural teachers to expand the scope of the research locale in mathematics education research, the use of Video-Stimulated Recall Interviews (VSRIs) in mathematics and other school subjects can be of help even for teachers in urban and township schools. Teacher professional learning can be promoted when teachers value disruptions and doubts as rich sites for learning about their work and when they make links between their practical knowledge and experience of teaching within their classrooms (Field & Latta, 2001). According to Dewey (1938), teachers’ participation in classroom activities does not necessarily lead to ‘educative experiences’ unless it is attuned to purpose and directed with specific curricular ends in mind. This resonates with Field and Latta’s (2001: 887) iterations that ‘the possibility of becoming more experienced arises only when something happens to us beyond what we anticipate’, suggesting that practising teachers’ development of craft knowledge comes about through the acknowledgement of effective and defective teaching practices in their classrooms (Reitano, 2006). One way of supporting teachers to reflect on their teaching is through conducting VSRIs, which is helpful in the identification and examination of teachers’ thinking and decisions during teaching, as well as the reasons for particular actions during the teaching and learning processes in the classroom (Reitano, 2005).

Reitano (2005: 382) posited that conducting VSRI with teachers allow them to ‘relive’ an episode of classroom teaching by ‘providing, in retrospect, an accurate verbalised account of his/her thought processes’. In the study that is reported in this article, videotapes of observed lessons on algebraic function within rural mathematics classrooms allowed teachers to watch videos of their own teaching, revisit scenes from the videos and reflect on their teaching practices. This article intersects with Kennedy’s (2006) research on the development of teachers’ ‘craft knowledge’ which includes concerns about lesson structure and flow, coverage of content and learners’ learning. That is, the use of VSRIs allowed rural mathematics teachers in this study to reflect on their teaching of algebraic function in terms of the relationships between their teaching practices and learning outcomes in observed lessons.

Defining a rural area and rural teaching

The conceptualisation of the term ‘rural’ remains neither consensual nor uncomplicated, considering different perspectives about what constitutes rural which results in different interpretations across different countries and sometimes even within a country. Rural areas are almost always viewed with deficit perspective which associate them with social ills such as poverty, illiteracy, poor learner achievement, underdevelopment, to mention just a few (Hlalele, 2012; Mukeredzi, 2013). For example, Mukeredzi (2013) draws from Chikoko (2011: 92) and defined rurality as ‘synonymous with remote area and refers to an underclass model describing a notion of rurality in social development’ resulting in viewing these contexts in negative terms. Taking a non-deficit paradigm of rurality, I view a rural area as a space in which human existence, daily activities such as teaching and learning as well as community development

LITERATURE REVIEW

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is sustained without help of the jurisdiction of the metropolitan authority (Maringe, Masirire & Nkambule, 2015). While the challenge for rural researchers is how to define ‘rural’, for rural teachers the challenge entails grappling with their own identities as well as their specific perceptions of what rurality entails and how the opportunities unique to their rural areas influence their teaching.

In order to understand teachers’ teaching of algebraic functions within rural mathematics classrooms, I situate the discussions of teachers’ mathematics teaching in Walker-Gibbs, Ludecke and Kline’s (2015) notion of ‘Pedagogy of the Rural’. Pedagogy of the Rural is an approach that captures the complexity of rural place and space through challenging deficit understandings of what teaching within rural contexts really means. Walker-Gibbs et al. (2015: 1) stated that

Pedagogy of the rural is an approach to conceptualise rural understandings as a pedagogy that is not a pedagogy ‘for’ or ‘about’ but rather ‘of’ the rural’.

In this sense, pedagogy is the way in which teachers’ daily activities and realities in the rural ‘acknowledge and are sensitive to what the rural brings to their teaching, and about pedagogical tact: knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do’ (Walker-Gibbs, Ludecke & Kline, 2018: 302).

Of concern for this paper is that, although some studies exist on teachers’ teaching of algebraic functions in mathematics in South Africa (Mugwagwa, 2017; Malahlela, 2017), rural mathematics classrooms, with their unique knowledge base, remain under-researched in post-apartheid South Africa. Notwithstanding the deficit understanding of rural areas briefly discussed above, some research studies presented some evidence suggesting that the quality of teachers within rural schools may be lower than of urban teachers (Hlalele, 2012). For example, Gardiner (2008: 13) states that rural areas and schools are difficult to reach ‘… as the physical conditions in schools are inadequate and learner performance in comparison to schools elsewhere (e.g. townships) is at a lower level’. Despite prominent emphases that teachers remain important players in ensuring quality learning and teaching within rural schools, limited research has been conducted to assist teachers in rural areas in South Africa, especially in mathematics education.

While the challenge for rural researchers is how to define ‘rural’, for rural teachers the challenge entails ‘grappling with their identities and specific perceptions of the rural’ and how the opportunities unique to their rural areas influence their teaching (Walker-Gibbs, Ludecke & Kline, 2018: 302). Thus, in this study, having conversations with teachers about their classroom practices with an aid of videos of their teaching presented opportunities to understand how teachers’ experiences of rurality helpfully shape their teaching of mathematics within rural classrooms.

Dearth of mathematics education research in rural schools

In South Africa, mathematics education is frequently viewed to be of appalling standards, especially in rural and farm areas which have traditionally been viewed as deficient, as discussed above (Moletsane, 2012). According to Mbatha (2014), understanding the different challenges and success stories that occur within rural schools is essential, considering that 62% of South African schools are located in rural areas. While this is the case, Venkat et al. (2009: 11) mentioned that the dearth of mathematics education research ‘done in rural schools is problematic given that the majority of South African learners are educated in these contexts, as urban contexts continue to be explicitly and solely focused upon…’. Despite this acknowledgement of marginalising rural schools in research, the research locale bias is still noticeable a decade later in mathematics education research, even from Venkat and colleagues. In an attempt to address the research gap, this paper focuses on teachers’ reflections on their classroom discourses and approaches while teaching algebraic functions within rural mathematics classrooms.

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Regarding teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogical approaches, Nkambule (2017: 192) argues that ‘teaching in rural settings ostensibly requires relevant knowledge and skills to cope with various eventualities and challenges, and teacher’s ability to meet the challenges and responsibilities’. In this paper I suggest that in order for teachers’ professional learning and change to occur, researchers should desist from ‘researching on’ (rural) teachers but adopt a position of ‘researching with’ teachers if the urgency of helping teachers reflect on their teaching practices and configure strategies to improve their classroom practices is a goal of research. By researching on teachers, I mean research that treats teachers as objects of research, where a researcher adopts a position of power over research processes and owns analyses and interprets the information provided by participants, on their own. In contrast, researching with teachers entails research in which teachers and researchers share power over research processes, and where teachers themselves, with some guidance from the researcher interpret the data that are available to them. While research processes such as member checking could have same ‘validation effect’, I am of a belief that teachers’ interpretations of their own teaching practices can suggest areas for their learning needs about their classroom practices.

Mathematics education research has broadened to include the variety of factors such as language and mathematics, ethnomathematics, mathematics discourse, to mention just a few (Khuzwayo, 2005; Adler & Ronda, 2015). However, it is noticeable that researching with rural mathematics teachers has been overlooked, especially focusing on their discourses and approaches while teaching the subject. One way of enabling rural teachers’ reflections about their classroom practices and supporting effective ways to teach mathematical contents is engaging in video-stimulated recall conversations about their classroom discourses and approaches during teaching (Reitano, 2005). Making explicit the thinking behind the classroom teaching practices of rural mathematics teachers was made possible in the current study through the use of observations of the participants’ teaching and associated VSRIs. VSRIs provided another means for the teachers to articulate their personal constructions of good and bad teaching of algebraic functions based on their experiences as rural mathematics teachers. Below, I discuss how professional learning and change in relation to Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (1997) are used in this paper as a theoretical framework.

Professional learning and change and Critical Discourse Analysis

Various studies have argued that there are limited opportunities within rural settings that foster in-service teachers’ professional development (Masinire, 2015; Barrett, Cowen, Toma & Troske, 2015). The current view of mathematics teacher professional learning is that professional learning programmes that focus on teachers’ learning about their teaching in and from practice are reported to be more likely to result in long-term changes in their teaching practices (Brodie, 2014). According to Muir and Beswick (2007), professional learning focuses on teachers’ learning and reflection on their classroom practices for the purpose of improving their teaching and in turn learners’ academic performances. In relation to this, Lovitt and Clarke (1988) posited that in order for successful learning to take place, reflections should take place as close to teachers’ working contexts as possible. These authors proposed that doing this offers teachers opportunities to reflect and receive feedback from a critical friend. In this study the researcher and the reflection process entails a conscious commitment by rural mathematics teachers. The general consensus is that for research to effectively foster teacher professional learning and change, they must be willing to challenge their own teaching practices and capitulate perennial beliefs should these be found to be defective (Brodie, 2014).

While the aim of using VSRIs in the current study was to help rural mathematics teachers reflect and configure appropriate teaching practices during mathematics teaching, I did not advocate a prescribed programme for teachers. Similar to some previous studies (Reitano, 2005; Rosaen, Lundeberg, Cooper, Fritzen & Terpstra, 2008), a partnership was established with participating mathematics teachers within

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rural schools to engage in professional dialogue about their observed teaching practices. In line with the focus of the reported study, Clarke (1997) illuminated that the researcher plays a crucial role in guiding teachers’ reflections and this can bring about changes in teachers’ teaching practices. One way of enhancing teachers’ reflection on their teaching practices is through VSRIs with teachers as will be discussed later below.

In relation to professional learning and change, I used Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to derive categories from the responses given by the teachers, which includes the nature of their reflective responses (Muir & Beswick, 2007). Professional learning and change are limited to what is said and represented during conversations with the participants about their teaching practices, while CDA also focuses on how participants speak about and represent phenomena through language. This means participants’ responses during reflective conversations cannot be limited to the structures of the social system, but are shaped by multitude of issues that CDA reveal and interrogate. CDA helps in ‘uncovering the relationship between language, society, power, ideology, values and opinions’ (Rahimi & Riasati, 2011: 108). The aspect of language is essential in the construction of knowledge and ‘reality’, and is contended to be influenced by socio-cultural and political dynamics of which professional learning and change does not pay attention (Fairclough & Wodak, 1997). Thus, all VSRI transcripts in the form of written texts were analysed by using professional learning and change in relation to CDA to deconstruct these texts ‘to come up with their intended ideologies’ relating to mathematics teaching in general, specifically the teaching of algebraic functions in rural classrooms (Rahimi & Riasati, 2011: 111). The following section details the methodology espoused for this study.

This study was located within a post-structural research paradigm that aimed to gain insight into rural Grade 10 mathematics teachers’ discourses and approaches in the process of teaching algebraic functions. I used a qualitative research approach for this study (Creswell, 2013). The qualitative approach is appropriate for this study considering that it is regarded to be ‘a systematic subjective approach used to describe life experiences and situations to give them meaning’ (Burns & Grove, 2003: 19). This approach enabled me to understand rural teachers’ teaching practices in their uniqueness, the nature of the rural setting as well as what it means for them to live and teach in that setting. In this study, I immersed myself into the lives of the participants to understand the teaching of algebraic function as experienced by teachers within rural contexts and mathematics classrooms.

The study reported in this paper was developed as a multiple case study in that it presents multiple realities in the context as reported through the perspectives of five teachers from five different school sites as the information about their teaching of algebraic function was observed, analysed and interpreted (Simons, 2009). The use of a case study design enables the researcher to understand a particular phenomenon within some bounded context and activity of boundary (Creswell, 2013). The bounded context in this study is rural Acornhoek mathematics classrooms, and the activity of boundary is the teaching of algebraic functions. The schools were purposively selected on the basis of their participation in various projects conducted by the Wits School of Education, which includes Wits Rural Teaching Experience (WRTE). The five teachers were also purposively selected since teachers needed to have knowledge and experience of teaching Grade 10 algebraic functions within rural mathematics classrooms. Table 1 below illustrate some of the teachers’ biographical information for each of the five participating teachers. I use pseudonyms to conceal teachers’ true identities for the purpose of ensuring anonymity in the study.

METHODOLOGY

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Table 1: Teachers’ biographical information

Pseudonym Gender Mathematics Education qualifications

Number of years teaching

Institution trained at to become a teacher

Zelda Female Bachelor of Education 5 years University of North West, South Africa

Mafada Male Honours inMathematics Education

20 years2 Giyani College of Education, South Africa

Tinyiko Female Bachelor of Education 5 years University of Venda, South Africa

Mutsakisi Female Bachelor of Education 30 years University of Zimbabwe

Jaden Male Bachelor of Education 17 years College of Education in India

In line with the qualitative research approach, Creswell (2013: 52) stated that ‘the backbone of qualitative research is extensive collection of data, typically from multiple sources of information’. In the larger study, I used three data generation methods: individual semi-structured interviews, unstructured non-participatory classroom observations and video-stimulated recall interviews. In this paper I mainly focus on the information teachers provided during video-stimulated recall interviews in relation to their observed teaching practices in the classroom. I observed and videotaped a sequence of mathematics lessons on algebraic functions and used the videos to engage the teachers in a process termed ‘video-stimulated recall interview’.

Paskins, Sanders, Croft and Hassel (2017: 1) define VSRIs as ‘a method whereby researchers show research participants a video of their own behavior to prompt and enhance their recall and interpretation after the event’. Along similar lines, Gamoran (2003: 13-14) postulated that using VSRI enables teachers to develop ‘a different kind of knowledge for teaching-knowledge not of what to do next’, but rather knowledge of how to interpret and reflect on classroom practices’. In the study reported here, following each observed lesson, the video footage was viewed by the researcher and each individual teacher and discussions related to the viewing and interpretations of the video footages were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim.

All viewings of the videos for all five teachers were conducted in private rooms, prior to which each teacher was given a set of their footages to watch and make any comments about their teaching and whether or not there were any critical incidences that stood out for them. Giving the teachers the video footages allowed them ‘to decide for themselves what they want to focus on…’ which supports them to be

in control of stopping the tape at any time when they see themselves making decisions, describe what they were doing at the time, what alternatives they had considered and what they decided (Reitano, 2006: 3).

Data analysis

Marshall and Rossman (1999) described data analysis as a process in which researchers bring order, structure and meanings to the mass of the data generated to address the purpose of the study. In

2 While Mafada has 20 years teaching experience, he stated that he sees himself as a beginner mathematics teacher because it was his first time teaching mathematics in 2018 since his teaching career started. While he is a qualified mathematics teacher, he has been teaching Physical Sciences throughout the years.

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qualitative research, data analysis entails the process of making sense from the information provided by the participants about a phenomenon under scrutiny, themes, categories and regular similarities (Creswell, 2013). Nieuwenhuis (2007: 99-100) captured the essence of qualitative data analysis well when he opined that ‘… qualitative data analysis tends to be an ongoing and iterative process, implying that data collection, processing, analysis and reporting are intertwined, and not necessarily a successive process’. Thus, data analysis for the study commenced during the process of data generation and I created units of analysis through assigning codes to the information provided by the teachers (Muir & Beswick, 2007). Data from classroom observations were also analysed according to categories of which were frequently referred to during discussions with teachers. Teachers’ responses showed complexity with the understanding of the teaching of mathematics, specifically algebraic functions within rural classrooms, and I was careful during the coding of the information that they provided which resulted in three themes: examining current actions and envisioning future actions, disowning self, and rushing to complete work for compliance.

The study findings and discussion presented in this sub-section focuses particularly on the impact that the video-stimulated recall interview process had on teachers’ practices as well as the nature of their reflective comments resulting from the cooperative viewing of the video footages and from having professional discussions with the researcher. In this paper, I focus primarily on three themes: examining current actions and envisioning future actions, disowning self, and rushing to complete work for compliance. The first theme focuses on teachers’ reflective comments which suggest an awareness of key aspects of their teaching that constrained the creation of a supportive classroom environment for all learners, and teachers’ willingness to implement changes in subsequent lessons. Examining current actions and envisioning future actions comprises of three sub-themes: inadequate content knowledge requiring thorough lesson preparation, inappropriate choice of examples requiring better choice, and focus on active learners requiring a balance. The second theme addresses teachers’ positioning in relation to reflecting on their teaching. That is, in cases where teachers felt some parts of their lessons were not carried out effectively, they indicated that the person on the video was someone else and not them. The last theme focuses on teachers’ reflections on why they adopt particular pedagogical actions even in cases where such actions do not promote learners’ mathematical learning. Jaden and Mutsakisi reflected that the reason why they rush to finish the work is that they want to be on par with the pace-setter to ensure compliance.

Examining current actions and envisioning future actions

This theme represents instances of teachers’ self-awareness about their own cognition-in-actions as we engaged in stimulated recall interviews. Teachers’ comments demonstrated that they became aware of aspects in their own actions during teaching. Mafada, Tinyiko and Zelda reflected on their actions in relation to their lack of understanding of concepts due to lack of lesson preparation, use of inappropriate examples and focus only on active learners respectively. Of importance for this theme is that these teachers reflected and talked about the ways they intend to do things differently in future lessons to ensure effective teaching of algebraic functions. Teachers’ reflections were prompted by the questions in the video-stimulated recall interviews, and while they cooperatively watched the videos of their observed lessons.

Inadequate content knowledge requiring thorough lesson preparation

Lesson planning is an important first step in the teaching process which helps in identifying a course of action to effectively reach goals and lesson objectives (du Plessis, 2017). In the current study, Mafada reflected on the content he taught in his first observed lesson and admitted that his lesson was not coherent due to lack of planning (see picture 1 below).

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

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Picture 1: Mafada’s introduction

At the beginning of the lesson, Mafada wrote the different families of algebraic functions on the board, explaining to the learners the names of each function written on the board. Picture 1 shows what Mafada wrote on the board at the beginning of his lesson. The following excerpt represents Mafada’s explanatory talk during the introductory stage of his lesson:

That one represents (he reaches for a textbook to remind himself of the type of function y = χ 2 represents), we said that one represents (paging through the textbook), represents a parabola. So, we haven’t started with this one. We said the third one is where y is equals to one over x, and what did we say that one? We said that one represents (reaching for a textbook), we said that one represents a hyperbola, we haven’t started with the parabola, I said this one will be our third lesson.

While it is expected that a textbook is used as a reference tool during teaching, Mafada appeared not to know what type of a function y = χ 2 represents. This was evidenced by paging through the textbook before saying that the equation represents a parabolic function. During VSRI, Mafada acknowledged that he never consulted the curriculum documents to understand the contents specifications and sequence of the topics for Grade 10 mathematics. While this is the case, he stated that the questions I asked him about the curriculum and lesson planning prompted him to check the curriculum documents to ensure relevance for the grade he is teaching as well as lesson planning to ensure that his explanatory talk during teaching is effective (Adler & Ronda, 2015). Mafada said:

Now, I won’t take chances niya nghena tlilasini being unprepared (now I won’t take chances, I will not go to class unprepared) because ni fikelele level yin’wani (I have reached a new level, I think also the learners will benefit. That day we looked at the small function of y is equals to x squared and how to draw a table, so now we are going to look at the shape, to see what influences the shape and the shifting, because I think it will be fine. And I think it will be good because we are going into the same class.

Mafada iterated that by participating in the study, he realised that thorough planning for his lessons was necessary since for the first observed lesson he just went to class to teach the contents from his own vestiges of memory of what the topic on functions entailed. That is, he taught the lesson without first checking content specifications and delimitations for the topic in Grade 10 as enshrined in the curriculum document. According to Lotz-Sisitka (2009: 63), vestiges of teacher memory are ‘linked to the past curriculum or their

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own life world experience’. Thus, considering that Mafada acknowledged that he did not prepare for the lesson and the last time he taught mathematics was 20 years ago, the response above suggests that he taught the lesson from own experience of how the topic should be taught from 20 years ago. This is further elucidated by his response during VSRI when asked about content specifications in the CAPS curriculum for algebraic functions at Grade 10 level. He stated that

Remember last week when we spoke neh, I said I did not look at CAPS, but you advised me to go and check the policy so that I can also see what the government requires me to cover. Isn’t because of the strike we just came back to school today, so I will check with the teacher that was teaching to see what the policy say.

This response illustrates that Mafada did not check the content specifications from the curriculum document to understand the delimitations for the algebraic functions’ topic in Grade 10, which could be interpreted as one of the factors that shaped the manner in which he taught the lesson. His choice of words ‘I won’t take chances’ in the earlier excerpt and ‘I will check with the teacher’ in the excerpt above suggests that he has realised from our conversations that lesson planning is an essential aspect of teaching. While it could be argued that this should be part of any teacher’s repertoire, engaging in VSRI with Mafada seems to have made him realise the need for thorough lesson preparation instead of teaching from vestiges of own memory. Rural teachers such as Mafada were not trained adequately and are not conversant with the content specifications in the curriculum documents. Accordingly, it is important that teachers in rural schools are constantly reminded through workshops and research about what the curriculum entails. Although it can be argued that the Department of Education does all it can to offer teachers support through school visits by subject advisors and workshops in which teachers are re-skilled, there are still challenges in rural areas and schools. Inappropriate choice of examples requiring better choice

VSRIs involve examining actions that teachers took ‘and their consequences, questioning the results, and envisioning future actions’ (El-Dib, 2007: 28). In this study, Tinyiko noted that some of the examples she used during teaching did not serve the purposes intended. She reflected on the relationship between her espoused examples and the quality of learners’ responses during classroom interaction. She said

that was a weird example, cutting a ball into two equal halves, it becomes a sphere, it is not even a semi-circle, so (she laughs), at least if I could have used a circle, that is why kids were giving me something, their answers were just nje. When I use demonstrations of something physical, next time I will make sure that it has an impact on what I am teaching.

This response suggests that Tinyiko realised during the viewing of the recorded lesson that the examples she used did not represent the general principles of the algebraic functions concept. Her choice of words ‘I could have used a circle, that is why kids were giving me something, their answers were just nje’ demonstrate that she is aware that the examples she used during teaching did not have relevance to the topic and they did not explicate the properties of specific concepts related to algebraic functions as well as the rules associated with the concepts she was exemplifying.

Throughout the classroom observations for Tinyiko, it became clear that the examples she used during teaching were constructed spontaneously during teaching and not pre-planned, resulting in the disjuncture between the examples and the explanations of the principles of the concept. Tsamir, Tirosh and Lovenson (2008) define an example as the description of the concept definitions and the features of the concept. Of importance to note is that the reflection process with an aid of videos of recorded lessons allowed Tinyiko to examine her exemplification, evaluate their consequences for the learning of algebraic functions and realised that they did not represent the key features of the concept. Tinyiko’s utterance

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When I use demonstrations of something physical, next time I will make sure that it has an impact on what I am teaching

suggests that the reflective conversations allowed her to reflect and envision future actions when it comes to the choice of examples to ensure relevance and links with the concept of algebraic functions.

Focus on active learners requiring a balance

Teachers have a teaching responsibility to ensure that all learners are actively engaged during teaching and learning processes. While this is the case, some teachers find it difficult to configure strategies to best involve learners in the learning process, especially in classrooms characterised by conditions that are not conducive for learning such as overcrowded classrooms. The following excerpt demonstrates Zelda’s realisation during VSRI that during teaching, she tends to focus only on the learners who actively participate in learning and leaves the ones who do not interact with her.

Researcher: Do you see anything wrong with this learner?

Zelda: Who is this? oh Neo (she laughs)

Researcher: Is he the only learner who is disengaged during learning? Because you seem to focus more on those who are active in class.

Zelda: (she laughs), yeah I see now… but it’s overcrowded, I have seventy something now in class, it is difficult to attend to all the learners’ needs, sometimes you can’t even move between the desks, but I see I leave some behind. I will try to check more on who is not participating next time and engage them when I am teaching.

This excerpt reveals that classroom conditions such as overcrowded classrooms, which is prevalent in rural schools can result in a teacher focusing only on learners that are active participants during teaching and learning, which could result in biased learning affordances for learners who do not participate. Of importance to note is that engaging in a stimulated recall interview made Zelda to come to a realisation that she leaves other learners behind during teaching. The statement ‘sometimes you can’t even move between desks, but I see I leave some behind’ signifies that Zelda acknowledges the challenge of teaching in an overcrowded classroom, but also the need to ensure that all learners are active in classroom participation. In addition, the choice of words ‘I will try to check more on who is not participating’ suggests that Zelda envisions a course for future action when it comes to involving learners in learning. However, she is also aware that it is not going to be easy considering the class size especially considering her choice of words ‘I will try’. Furthermore, previous studies demonstrated several benefits of using video recordings for teacher reflection (Fadde & Rich, 2010; Brouwer, 2011). However, very few studies explicated how video-stimulated recall conversations influenced the process that resulted in teachers seeing the need to change their teaching. In this study, teachers’ reflective comments illustrated that videos facilitated change because it helped them to: (a) focus on parts of the lessons that facilitated and/or constrained learners’ learning, (b) identify areas that needs much work in their teaching such as meeting the curricular specifications, and (c) configure alternative strategies to facilitate learners’ learning of mathematical concepts. Teachers’ utterances during video-stimulated interviews reveal that this process creates opportunities for changes in teachers’ own beliefs and their practices during mathematics teaching, especially considering their choice of words, ‘Now, I won’t take chances’ (Mafada), ‘yeah I see now’ (Zelda) (Warfield, Wood & Lehman, 2005). While this is the case, some teachers’ responses suggested that they viewed the reflective activity as a ‘vilifying process’. Thus, Tinyiko made utterances that the teacher on the videos is ‘not her’, especially in parts of the lessons where she felt her classroom explanatory talks and interactions with learners were not effective.

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Disowning self

My theoretical assumption was that the process of viewing video footages with teachers would be a great tool to stimulate reflections and raise awareness about their classroom practices. However, one of the teachers, Tinyiko, iterated that the teacher in the video footages was someone else and not her. She referred to some issues such as how she spoke during teaching, her physical appearance and the ways she communicated mathematical ideas during teaching. Some of the comments were unsurprising, especially considering that the process of teachers viewing video footages of their own classroom practices is not intricately part of their professional work. Thus, the theme discerned from the information provided by Tinyiko is called ‘disowning self’ and details the teacher’s utterances that the appearance, actions and statements she exuded during teaching does not resonate with how she views herself as a mathematics teacher. To exemplify this, Tinyiko stated that

This woman is not me, she does look like me, but it’s not me, maybe she is my twin sister. Just look at the mouth.

As we continued watching the video, Tinyiko further stated that

You could even listen to the English, ayayayaya! (the sound signifying that something is unusual), iyoo! The faults!

Researcher: Why are you specifying that now you are moving from ‘linear into functions’? Is linear not a type of function?

Tinyiko: It is, that is why I am saying it wasn’t me!

I searched the literature for similar accounts in previous studies that used VSRIs but there seemed to be a lack thereof. Of importance to note is that, in cases where Tinyiko viewed her teaching and content knowledge as effective and ‘correct’ respectively, she did not ‘abandon self’. One reason for this could be that Tinyiko viewed the process as a way to vilify her teaching practices instead of engaging in conversations for reflective purposes to improve her teaching. Tinyiko’s case is not an isolated case, in the sense that various similar cases have been noted with some of the other participating teachers, especially in cases where they believed they had not taught their lessons effectively. Rushing to complete work for compliance

Rushing to complete and being on par with the pace-setter while learners do not understand the contents of the subject matter might constrain learners’ successful learning (Msimanga, 2017). During VSRIs in the current study, Jaden emphasised the need to always be on par with the pace-setter to ensure that when the curriculum advisors visit their schools, he can be seen as compliant when it comes to the pacing of the topics. When asked about why they rush through examples even in cases where learners appear not to understand the contents, Jaden and Mutsakisi stated that they focus specifically on curriculum coverage since the curriculum advisors monitor teachers’ progress according to the pace-setter. Consider the excerpt below:

Jaden: I am following the curriculum neh, so then each and every topic that I am supposed to teach yeah I have a pace-setter and everything is there… our time is too limited you see, so I haven’t finished the specified work and our CAs (Curriculum Advisors) are coming, they are checking. I must follow the pace-setter, so if I want to teach these functions, I can give them class activities, investigations and assignments, but all this will waste time, I won’t finish the work on time and Grade 10, too many chapters are there.

Researcher: So, you are rushing to finish the topic?

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Jaden: Yeah, yeah, then after that I can go back and do revision, so then I do a smaller test and if they don’t understand that particular topic I do corrections on that.

Researcher: But what would happen if the CA was to come and you are not done with the topic?

Jaden: It’s not possible here, (he laughs). You are teaching in a school, it is not possible; you have to finish the topic in time, so each and every week there is a content tracker there, so you see we have to complete the tracker.

The teacher’s responses above suggest that he views the learning and teaching processes to be about curriculum coverage and completing written activities rather than to be about learning. The words ‘I must follow the pace-setter… and ‘you have to finish the topic in time’ in Jaden’s statements above suggest that he fears that should he not cover all contents specified in the pace-setter by the specified time, when the CAs come and review content coverage there would be consequences. Similar to Jaden’s utterances, Mutsakisi also mentioned the need to cover topics in time to ensure compliance, she said:

I understand that functions require much time for learners to understand, but there is not much one can do because we are rushing to finish the curriculum in time or else heads must roll. The district officials want to see proof that you have covered the topics on time as specified in the pace-setter they give us.

From this statement, it can be discerned that Mutsakisi is aware of the prevalent difficulty related to learners’ understanding of algebraic functions. However, due to fear that ‘heads must roll’ if the district officials visit the school for monitoring and evaluation and there is no ‘proof that you have covered the topics’ within a specific time, she rushes through the concepts to ensure that she is on par with the pace-setter. The time provided to teachers to cover the syllabus in schools is inadequate, and as a result, teachers often rush through concepts even when learners do not understand so that they can be seen as compliant whenever district officials visit their schools to assess their progress. According to Mavuso and Moyo (2014), the core purpose of educational districts and subject advisors in South Africa is to support the delivery of the curriculum content and also to provide pedagogical evaluation of teachers’ teaching as well as to advise for improvement. Of concern from the teachers’ statements above is that supervision and monitoring from subject advisors seem to be a veritable tool for checking and vilifying teachers’ job performance rather than seeing the process as enhancing the professional development of the teachers and improving the techniques of teaching. Thus, the discussion suggests the need for training subject advisors and teachers to understand that education supervision and monitoring is the art and science of improving teaching and learning.

In summary, the teachers saw the engagement in video-stimulated conversations as important because it gave them the opportunity to reflect and learn more about their classroom practices which they often take for granted during mathematics teaching. Video-Stimulated Recall Interviews prompted teachers to plan lessons that would be more relevant to their learners’ and context’s needs. An interesting learning experience that was cited was the deepening of teachers’ knowledge of the curriculum specifications, which some teachers overlooked and others were not informed about. In addition, engaging in post-lesson discussions allowed me to critically assess teachers’ intentions and motivations for presenting the lessons in the manner they did during teaching, to understand their thinking about the topics taught as well as their communication with learners during classroom interactions. Based on previous studies, it has been demonstrated that the teachers would teach differently if they reflected on their teaching practices (Wood, Cobb & Yackel, 1991). The teachers’ engagement in reflection activity in my study shows that the process is beneficial for their professional learning and change of their classroom practice as it becomes a generative development.

CONCLUSION

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Support strategies to assist foundation phase teachers with implementation of inclusive education: A case of selected Johannesburg West schools1

Ambeck Celyne Tebid, State Supported Living Center, Abilene, Texas, US

School-based support teams (SBSTs) have been established in full-service and mainstream public schools in South Africa to serve as one of the tools to deal with the challenges teachers faced in implementing inclusive education (IE) daily. Although the SBSTs are working very hard towards strengthening teacher capacity, it can be argued that their hard work does not seem to have any visible quality effect compared to the challenges that teachers have to deal with in schools. This paper focused on support strategies which the SBSTs can use, to assist with practical implementation of inclusive practices in mainstream schools in South Africa. Participants were purposefully drawn from two full-service schools and one mainstream school. Six foundation phase teachers, three principals and three SBST members were interviewed to get different perspectives of the phenomenon under study. The instruments utilised were: semi-structured interviews, document analysis and observation. The data analysis involved scanning, sorting, synthesising, pattern searching and categorising. The findings revealed several support strategies as proposed by teachers including the following: (1) need for change in the way support is channelled; (2) teacher training on specific skills; (3) regulate the pull-out system; (4) SBST meetings and workshops should be properly coordinated; (5) time for teachers and SBST to sit and reflect on practices, and (6) inclusive education should focus on teachers and not on SBST coordinators and learning support educators. The paper concluded that if these support strategies are given attention, teachers rather than learners will be given support on how to address learning difficulties within their classrooms; SBSTs will work in collaboration with the classroom teachers. The overall effect would be that more learners will be supported in real inclusive settings.1

Keywords: Foundation Phase, inclusive education, learning difficulties, school-based support teams, teacher support

Most nations are currently rethinking educational provision and moving towards inclusive education (IE). Governments are attempting changes at policy level to align their education systems with democratic principles such as human rights, equality and social justice. Walton (2016) applauds the efforts of many

1 Date of submission 13 July 2018 Date of review outcome 19 December 2018 Date of acceptance 29 March 2019

ABSTRACT

Practitioners’ Corner

INTRODUCTION

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nations, especially in Africa, for embracing inclusive education. However, she warns that the idea of implementing IE in developing countries on the same grounds as in developed countries is bound to fail. While South Africa as a nation has much to learn from the international experience, we need to be mindful of our unique context if we want to implement the policy of IE meaningfully.

The reality of providing for inclusion in schools is without a doubt a complex issue, and should not be seen as an idea of placing learners with diverse needs and barriers in regular classes, without the support related to their actual barriers (Swart & Pettipher, 2011; Weeks & Erradu, 2013). Teachers are worried that schools and other learning establishments in South Africa are not equipped to handle an IE system. Swart and Pettipher (2011) determined that most teachers supported inclusion on condition that adequate funding, appropriate legislation, and collaborative support from administrators, parents, educational professionals, and the community, accompanied the move to an inclusive system.

The Education White Paper 6 (EWP6) on Special Education – Building an Inclusive Education and Training System (Department of Education, 2001) in South Africa - is the policy document which requires that inclusive practices be made available to everybody, everywhere and all the time (Ferguson, 2008). This therefore implies that the role of teachers, especially those at the foundation phase, has to change very rapidly as responsibilities mount. Policies such as the Draft National Strategy on Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS) which was first published in 2008 and later revised in 2014 (Department of Basic Education, 2014), spells out the role of teachers especially in the foundation phase, parents, managers and support staff within the new framework of how support should be organised. Accordingly, teachers are expected to identify learners experiencing learning difficulties as early as possible within their phase and give the necessary support in collaboration with the SBST, observing learners carefully so that necessary adaptations can be made. Teachers are expected to identify and support learners who: are in need of an enriched programme; are in need of a support programme; require diagnostic help in specific aspects of a learning programme; have a learning barrier; have problems because of a mismatch between home language and the language of teaching (Department of Basic Education, 2014). How then are teachers expected to perform these responsibilities when they were trained as ordinary classroom teachers?

It is worth mentioning here that before the introduction of IE, the responsibility of assisting learners with barriers to learning lay with specially qualified persons employed either by educational support services or special schools. This implied that teachers and schools did not view the assistance of learners experiencing barriers to learning as their responsibility, but rather their duty was only to identify and refer the learners to more specialised people (Mahlo, 2011). It has become evident that the procedure for learning support as prescribed in the SIAS document requires teachers to have specific knowledge and skills to enable them to identify and help learners who experience learning difficulties in their classes. Therefore, teachers need to be developed into a competent, confident, critical and well-informed corps (Gallant, 2012).

For this empowerment to occur, the researcher concurs with Swart and Pettipher (2011) and Ferguson (2008) that systemic changes as well as levels of support were perceived as needing to increase, in relation to the increased demands that were placed on teachers when managing a diverse range of individual learning needs within a single classroom. Such levels of support in this research have been interpreted in relation to Bronfenbrenner’s model, which explores the eco-systemic framework of thinking which forms the basis for inclusive paradigms in education and the broader society. The theory explains how the environment should be viewed as a set of nested structures; i.e. macro, meso, exo, micro and chrono and how each of these structures influences the development of the learner (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). According to Dale (2012), Systems Theory suggests that the child should be seen as the product of a system of units that interacts and the child’s behaviour is the outcome of various causes rather than

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a unitary cause. The idea is that if one component of the system has no regard for the total system, a negative effect on the learner can result.

Accordingly, the EWP6 (Department of Education, 2001) makes provision for support by recommending the development of a tier support system and collaboration between these systems (Landsberg, Kruger & Nel, 2005). At the top tier is the National Department of Education whose main focus is to establish EWP6 and a broad management framework for support. The National Department of Education was responsible for higher education, primary and secondary education until 2009 when two departments were formed; one for further and higher education and the other for basic education. The Department of Basic Education now oversees primary and secondary education, in close collaboration with its district and provincial offices. The provincial departments in the nine provinces focus on coordinating implementation of a national framework of support in relation to provincial needs. The district-based support teams are responsible for providing a co-ordinated professional support service that draws on expertise in further and higher education and local communities, targeting special schools and specialised settings. Designated full-service and other primary schools and educational institutions and SBSTs are to co-ordinate support services within the school by identifying and addressing learner, educator and institutional needs. They are also in charge of developing learner support programmes for learners, to provide training for teachers and to encourage collegial collaborative support and, ultimately, liaise with the District-Based Support Team (DBST) (Nel et.al., 2016).

The essence of using Bronfenbrenner’s systemic theory is to show how individuals and groups at different levels of these social systems, such as above, are linked in dynamic interdependence and interacting relationships (Donald, Lazarus & Lolwana, 2009). For the purpose of this paper, the Department of Basic Education relates to the macro system; the provincial department - the exo system; the districts – meso system and the micro system - to the schools (SBST). The Department of Basic Education (macro) is the umbrella structure and it informs the micro, meso and exo systems. It extends to the wider society such as customs and traditions as well as national policies. It makes decisions, for example, through the EWP6, on how IE education should be structured in terms of support as well as how it should operate in collaboration with other government departments (Mahlo, 2011). The macro must also delegate responsibilities and develop job descriptions. They are responsible for issuing guidelines to the provinces (exo system) in this regard (Mahlo, 2011), and prioritise improvement of support and capacity of the education and training of the other three systems in order to assist learners experiencing barriers to learning. These different systems are in a chain interaction with each other, as well as with other wider systems, thereby shaping and limiting each other.

Since our focus is the SBST and foundation phase teachers, the eco-systemic perspective is used to demonstrate, for example, how in a micro subsystem such as the school, the SBST is supposed to come directly into contact with the learners experiencing barriers to learning as well as foundation phase teachers who need knowledge and guidance on how to support them. A school is made up of learners, teachers, heads of department, deputy principal(s), principal, and the larger community, serving as subsystems that are all working together towards one goal: that is, the education of a learner. Thus, there should be links between the school, the family and the community as a whole. If there is a change in the family or school, this could affect the whole system and the child will likewise be affected.

Encompassing the above-mentioned four systems is what Bronfenbrenner refers to as the chrono system. Swart and Pettipher (2005) describe this system as ‘time-frames’ that cross through and affect the interactions between the systems and, in turn, their influences on individual development. Within the IE framework, one should be aware of the potential barriers, assets and support factors (both internal and external) that exist for children, teachers and all the other systems that exist in and around a school (Mahlo, 2011). This

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means that at this level, the attention will be on the learner, whether he or she has developed or showed an improvement as the systems interacted overtime.

The Department of Basic Education has continued after the EWP6 to issue several comprehensive policy documents as forms of its strategy to direct the implementation of IE. These include: the revised strategy for the screening, identification, assessment and support (SIAS) of learners who are experiencing learning challenges (2014); and the Gauteng inclusion strategy (Department of Basic Education, 2011), amongst others. One of the key recommendations of the SIAS policy document, in terms of how the SBST should function, is that the SBST should collectively identify school needs and, in particular, barriers to learning at learner, teacher, curriculum and school levels; and also, to collectively develop strategies to address these needs. This should include a major focus on teacher development and support through training (Department of Basic Education, 2014).

Despite the establishment of the SBSTs in schools, as well as the publication of all these support – guideline documents; finding practical ways to empower teachers to address learner diversity have received relatively little attention in South African research. Teachers are still grappling with implementation of IE. There is currently a huge need for specific, well-structured and coordinated support strategies that will address the needs of foundation phase teachers and ensure successful implementation of IE. There has been increasing research advocating teacher support and professional development (Pieterse, 2010; Mahlo, 2011; Gallant, 2012; Weeks & Erradu, 2013; Engelbrecht, Nel & Tlale, 2015; Pantic & Florian, 2015) but these do not foreground how foundation phase teachers should be supported. Research by Pantic and Florian (2015), for example, has endeavoured to rethink and to clarify the meaning of teachers as agents of change in the context of inclusion and social justice. Their research is still on advocacy for change. It is high time we turn focus to the schools and deal directly with teachers as in the study by Walton et al. (2014) which looked at teacher professional learning in a full-service school.

Walton et al. (2014) explored the value and impact of a workshop on multilevel teaching as a means to promote teacher professional learning in a full-service school. Their findings revealed the complexity of teacher professional learning; and they took a stand by arguing that education for inclusion must consider individual teachers, the learning activities presented to teachers, and the institutional context. They concluded by recommending that professional learning communities should be pursued as an alternative to the workshop model (Walton et al., 2014). Although their recommendation is worth considering, we cannot, be content with such insufficient level of teacher training as has been the case in their research. Teachers at the foundation phase need continuous hands-on, higher level knowledge on IE which is far beyond the scope of a day’s workshop.

Meanwhile in a previous study (Tebid, 2017) the researcher zoomed in on the factors affecting the implementation of IE at the foundation phase. The findings revealed several factors affecting implementation including: the policy itself is ambiguous; learners not school ready in an overcrowded classroom; unrealistic workload; minimal parental involvement; lack of knowledge on how to use learning support materials. There is limited information on practical ways in which SBST can effectively empower foundation phase teachers. Therefore, this paper aims to contribute to the emerging scholarship on effective classroom teacher support as we turn the focus into the schools, and deal directly with teachers; specifically exploring support strategies which the SBSTs can use to assist with implementation of IE.

The next section explores literature on the SBST and the DBST with particular reference to Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) theory, which is followed by a discussion on the research design. The paper ends with an outline and discussions of the findings as well as recommendations and conclusion.

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This section reviews two main support structures which have been put in place nationally to facilitate the implementation of IE: the district-based support and the school-based support teams (DBST & SBST). With the belief that IE may be failing because of systemic reasons, this paper uses Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) eco-systemic theory to discuss these structures. According to Woolfolk (2007), every child lives within a micro system, inside a meso system, embedded in an exo system, all of which are part of the macro system. They all interact with the chrono system. As mentioned earlier, these subsystems are in constant interaction with each other, as well as with other whole systems, thereby shaping and limiting each other. A minor shift at one level will affect the entire structure. It can therefore be inferred that the way the SBSTs support foundation phase teachers is not sufficient without paying attention to relationships which develop between these different systems and which may in turn affect the learner. If the Department of Basic Education fails to provide practical guidelines which govern the manner in which the DBSTs coordinate their support to the SBST as well as how SBSTs should relay support to the foundation phase teachers, this will in turn affect the learner who is supposed to benefit from their services. Hence an understanding of these systems is helpful to all stakeholders because it gives them something to hold onto in their attempt to realise the vision of IE.

The District-Based Support Team (meso system)

The districts are expected to implement the policy according to their different needs. At this level the kind of collaboration that exists between the SBST and the district will be the main point of focus – corresponding to Bronfenbrenner’s meso system. The DBST manages support for the curriculum, including IE at the district level, and is the channel through which support should be provided. The EWP6 (Department of Education, 2001) maintains that the focus of the DBST is also to introduce in-service training for all involved in the education system, in order to upgrade their knowledge and skills and to provide a framework for service delivery at district level and learning sites. DBST coordinators can play a vital role in building effective teaching and learning as well as in designing a flexible curriculum in order to address the barriers to learning and encourage the participation of learners.

The DBST must identify all special schools and resource centres (SSRCs) and should ensure that mainstream schools are clustered around these SSRCs. The district’s role is also to ensure that these SSRCs should be linked to the schools so that they will be providing specialised support to teachers, learners and the community (Makhalemele, 2011). Furthermore, the DBST should make sure that the full-service schools are equipped with the human, material and physical resources which they need, as well as make provision for schools to have access to support programmes which involve the use of skilled and specialised personnel and use of assertive devices (Nel, et.al., 2016). This meso system is very strategic given the fact that it is the main source that coordinates support to the schools. It is imperative that collaborative relationships should be developed between role players at this stage which would in turn contribute to the school, teachers and learner improvement.

In line with the above, research by Makhalemele (2011) found that DBST members have come to terms with the fact that their roles have changed over time, and that they now include, amongst other things; the provision of resources to schools; the evaluation programmes and suggestions for modifications; the provision of collaborative formal and informal support with communities, educational institutions and other sectors. Their findings also revealed that the DBST members find it difficult to fulfil these roles. The DBST roles are not being executed successfully, due to insufficient support received from the Department of Basic Education (macro level) and exo levels and because there are gaps in the responsibilities of the provincial departments and the districts. In addition, there are other barriers that hinder the DBST's service delivery. An example is the inadequate facilities and infrastructure that are available to DBST members to provide

LITERATURE REVIEW

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education support services at the district level, more specifically, the inadequate availability of human resource and transport for officials to visit schools (Makhalemele, 2011). The district where this research was conducted has four circuits, and each circuit has over 35 schools. One can begin to imagine what it means when only one or two district officials are expected to meet the needs in all the schools in one circuit.

The School Based Support Team (micro system)

The EWP6 (Department of Education, 2001) recommends the development of SBSTs, whose function is to identify and address specific barriers to learning through problem-solving. The SBST is a dedicated and specially skilled group of teachers who identify problems and give support in the schools. Teachers cannot meet all the challenges alone and need support to deal with the problems that exist in the schools on a daily basis. The SBST supports class teachers by making recommendations for intervention within the school and classroom. This level of support thus relates to Bronfenbrenner’s micro system, as it refers to the immediate environments in which an individual develops and which proximal processes, interaction between the individual and the immediate environment, occur. This micro system is further explained by Berns (2012) as the innermost structure where the earliest effect on the learner is the interaction between the family, peers, childcare and school. It is also at this stage where the SBST comes directly into contact with the learners experiencing barriers to learning and teachers who need their support. If learners are not properly supported by the adult at this early stage, a barrier is bound to occur. In addition, it also has an impact on the development of the learner when the adult (the caregiver and teacher) is not supported by other adults, such as colleagues and other professionals, in his or her endeavours to support learners with barriers to learning (Nel et.al., 2016).

The SBST is thus made up of a team of teachers present at schools, whose focus and functions are to develop and empower colleagues in the identification of learning difficulties, intervention and preventative strategies, if at all possible (Schenectady City School District, 2015). Thus, the primary function of the SBST is to discuss specific needs and problems referred by teachers in the school and to come up with ideas and solutions for intervention. The SBST is therefore a fast, practical and effective way in which foundation phase teachers help to identify issues in education that need to be addressed as they emerge. The SBST and foundation phase teachers are engaged in a pattern of activities, roles and interpersonal relationship to share ideas, emotions, feelings, thoughts and understandings (Mahlo, 2011).

According to Walton et al. (2014), if the SBST is not in a position to support learners and teachers, it is advised that the DBST should step in and provide additional support necessary as well as monitor its implementation. Therefore, one of the primary functions of the DBST is to support the SBST by strengthening the school support system and to promote the systematic and effective accommodation of learner diversity (Department of Education, 2001).

One of the ways the DBST has shown its commitment to empower teachers in school through the SBST is by appointing learning support educators to address those on the spot issues which the DBST could not reach. The learning support educators are permanent in schools and they are expected to provide support to teachers on issues regarding curriculum and whole school improvement to ensure that the teaching and learning framework is responsive to the full range of learning needs (Mahlo, 2011). Where necessary, the learning support educator provides one-on-one and or small-group learning support to learners. Furthermore, in situations where learners need an individual support plan (ISP) or need outplacement, the DBST needs to assist the learning support teacher. However, comments made by an inclusive education coordinator at the district as well as from anecdotal evidence show that the learning support educators have not been given clear guidelines on what and how they should be doing in schools in terms of supporting teachers (Tebid, 2017).

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Collaboration among inclusive support units within the district is reported to be lacking and this has been acknowledged by several sources to be the first step towards successful IE. The Department of Education (2005) stresses the need for support services to develop a framework of collaboration or teamwork where the different role-players work together in order to address the challenges presented in the class and school in a comprehensive way. Education and support without collaboration is doomed to fail, as children learn at home, in school and in the community (Department of Education, 2005). This emphasises that collaboration within DBST, SBST and teachers, parents, schools and communities is vital in order to deal effectively with barriers to learning and development, which may be present at various levels of the system.

To synthesise the various systems, the Department of Basic Education is at the macro level where policy is formulated after which the provincial departments at the exo system level, are responsible for implementing it according to their provincial needs; followed by districts at the meso level. Finally, at the micro level, the schools through the SBST are required to implement IE in the classroom. To ensure that every system is collaborating together, and to avoid gaps, there should be critical reflection on current practices, collaboration, feedback, monitoring and reporting strategies from the bottom up. Presently, there are still some loopholes between all the systems. Based on previous research (Tebid, 2017), at the micro level for example, foundation phase teachers and the SBST seldom find time to reflect on implementation, rather, they are mostly concerned with the screening and identification of learners with special needs and their focus is mostly to refer the learners for further support in a restrictive environment. This is in line with the argument raised by Makoelle (2014) that schools have mostly specialised in diagnosing learners for barriers rather than assessing the relevance of educational structures and pedagogic practices to address the specific barrier.

Taking into consideration the theories discussed in the above sections, substantial educational support is influenced by interactions, and influences and interrelations at all the levels of the systems as mentioned in the theories. Hence before departments of education, teachers, SBSTs or parents can advocate the inclusion of learners experiencing learning barriers in mainstream schools, these stakeholders should focus on ensuring that there are adequate inclusive support structures, which mirror a holistic, integrated, systemic-based approach, put in place to implement effectively IE for the benefit of the country and all learners, including those experiencing difficulties in learning. In addition, knowledge of the theories is helpful to teachers because these theories give teachers a lead to follow whenever they attempt to identify barriers to learning.

The aim of this study was to develop an understanding of what participants perceived as strategies which could be used by the SBSTs to assist foundation phase teachers with the implementation of IE. The research also explored the different constructions and meanings that participants have with issues regarding SBSTs’ functioning, and IE implementation as a whole (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2005).

This research used the phenomenological research design which is located in a qualitative approach and interpretive paradigm, to collect data from a group of individuals who have experienced the phenomenon. The researcher developed a composite description of the essence of the experience for all participants, and this consists of ‘what’ they experienced and ‘how’ differently they would have wished to experience it.

Purposive sampling was used because according to Creswell (2003) it is a technique used to select certain persons, settings or events on the grounds that they can provide the information desired. Therefore, three mainstream schools were initially selected to form the population and thereafter the sample for this study.

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The researcher operated on the assumption that these schools had established SBSTs which were already supporting learners and teachers implementing IE as indicated in the policy document.

However, in conducting a pilot study in two of the three schools, the researcher discovered that the population initially chosen (mainstream public schools) and the sample (foundation phase teachers) would not yield the most relevant information about the research topic. This was because during the pilot study, all six participants in the mainstream schools pointed out that they do not have functional SBSTs. With that realisation, the researcher had to consult with the District under which the research was conducted. The researcher had an informal interview with the coordinator of the SBSTs at the District: sharing the pilot study experience at the schools. The district coordinator for IE also confirmed what the teachers at the mainstream schools had said: SBSTs at many mainstream schools were not serving their purpose at the schools due to lack of human resources as well as knowledge of what to do. She said the District on their part is overloaded given the fact that there are so many schools under her district and very few IE specialists to serve in all the schools. She further mentioned that it was very difficult for the few district staff to visit and train, let alone make follow-up visits in all the schools. She, however, recommended three schools for the researcher to conduct the study stating that those were the schools with functional SBSTs. Two of these schools turned out to be full service (in the township) and one was a mainstream (inner city) school.

It is worthy to note that in the EWP6 (2001) policy document, the Department of Education had promised to establish 30 full-service schools in South Africa as part of its short-term goals in implementing IE. Accordingly, these full-service schools carry a weight of expectations as they are supposed to be fully equipped to give support to neighbouring mainstream schools whenever the need arises.

Having ensured that ethical procedures were observed, one-on-one interviews were conducted after working hours, not exceeding one hour with six foundation phase teachers (FPTs) (two from each school). In addition to this, three SBST members who are in charge of coordinating support to foundation phase teachers were also interviewed so that data could be validated. The deputy principals (DP) of the three schools in which the research was done were also interviewed. The rationale behind this being that for SBSTs to function effectively at schools, the deputy principals needed to acknowledge and support what the SBSTs were doing. Observations and filed notes were kept during the entire data collection process and procedures. Document analysis included an overview of the SBST structure, minutes of SBST meetings and the SIAS document. These documents provided data about the structure of the SBST, how support is channelled to the foundation phase teacher as well as the intervention programmes to support those learners.

A qualitative phenomenological data analysis strategy was used with the aim of yielding important and valid answers to the research question. This is a procedure whereby the researcher blends the general qualitative data analysis steps with the specific research strategy steps (in this case: phenomenological strategy). The research question is as follows:

• What strategies can the SBST use to improve on the implementation of IE in the foundation phase?

In an attempt to identify units of meaning regarding the research question, the researchers adopted an approach from Creswell (2013). The researcher started by transcribing the data through making a text from taped interviews, field notes and typing them into a Word document; and sorting and arranging the data into different types (interviews and observations). The researcher read through all data several times to get a sense of what it contains, for example: what general ideas are participants saying with regards to their experiences of support as well as suggested strategies as to how they wish to be supported by the

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SBST; the tone of the ideas; the impression of the overall depth, credibility and use of the information. The researcher developed a list of important statements and then looked out for statements from the data about what individuals are experiencing in terms of support from the SBSTs and how differently, they would have wanted to experience the phenomenon.

The researcher listed these important statements and treated each statement as having equal worth. The researcher then developed a list of non-repetitive, non-overlapping statements and took these important statements and grouped them into larger units of information called themes or meaning units. Next, the researcher wrote a description of ‘what’ the participants experienced and ‘how’ the participants in the study would like the SBSTs to function. (What happened? and how they would have loved it to happen? including verbatim examples from the data.) Here, the researcher reflected on the setting and context in which the foundation phase teachers experience their SBSTs (classrooms, SBST meetings, training sessions, along the corridors, and so forth). Finally, from the ‘what’ (textural) and the ‘how’ (structural) descriptions, the researchers wrote a composite description that presents the ‘essence’ of the phenomenon. This study is however less concerned with revealing the essences of an experience and more on discovering the essential aspects of strategies to support teachers implement IE as recommended by the teachers themselves, which may help to effect change.

The following abbreviations were used to distinguish between respondents: FPt (Foundation Phase teacher); DP (Deputy Principals); and SBST (School Based Support Team). The main theme and subthemes which emerged during data analysis are discussed in detail as follows.

Need for change in the way support is channelled

In responding to the question: ‘How can the SBST strategise to improve the implementation of IE in the foundation phase?’ Some of the participants acknowledged that something needs to be done in terms of how teachers are currently receiving support from the SBST. The kind of support provided, be it from the District to the coordinators of the SBST or from the SBST to the classroom teachers, determines whether the implementation of IE will be successful. In their suggestions for change, participants’ recommendations were summarised in comments such as:

I think maybe we need to change the way we present information to the teachers after coming back from a workshop. Rather than sitting and blaming that teachers didn’t do this or that, we should rather see how we train them practically on what we learnt from workshops. So that when they take it back to the learners, we make a follow up to check if is working. (#SBST 2)

I do believe that we need to find more ways of empowering the teachers. The teachers have quite a lot of paperwork to go through and a very demanding curriculum. And on top of that she struggles to address behaviour problem; it becomes too much for the teacher. Actually, more information, more trainings for the teachers. (#DP3)

The findings of this theme revealed that the participants have taken ownership of the problem and are reflecting positively on it. The participants have voiced the necessity of finding more ways of empowering the foundation phase teachers and this can only be through more training and open dialogue. They also voiced that their performances have been affected negatively due to too much paper work. Implying that, if the teachers could be freed from all the forms which keep pouring in from the District, they will save that time to support learners in the classroom.

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Teacher training on specific skills

All participants expressed desperate need of training on how to deal with specific learning difficulties as a strategy which will assist them in implementing IE. Although literature revealed that participants do receive some training, they claimed that such training is not enough given the realities in their classrooms. One participant expressed her frustration by commenting:

Basically, it is training! training! training! I mean how else do we help them? I have only got a Higher Diploma in Education. I never did IE. How do we help with specific barriers? I mean like autism? That is terrible! She actually had to come into the classroom every day with a helper from home that was trained to help the child. The child will swear badly the whole day in the class. How can we stop that? Yes, she got her nanny all day in the classroom, but that does not stop her from swearing. We need tips on dealing with specific issues such as this. (# FPt4)

The data indicate that in order for teachers to function to the optimum, in-depth support from the SBST through the DBST was essential and training should focus on specific skills such as mentioned above as well as the development of good teaching strategies that will be of benefit to all learners.

Regulate the pull-out system

All the participants mentioned that they do respect the principle of classroom support before referral; however, the rate and speed at which they refer is overwhelming hence causing a big IE implementation challenge. Participants still felt responsible for the learners and are worried about the way learners are constantly being pulled out of the classroom for support. This was summarised in a comment such as:

One thing that does bother me with the way we do it here is that, with this pull-out system, you got children out of the classroom constantly. I mean my Wednesdays are nightmares. Before school starts until home time. There is somebody out of my classroom all the time on a Wednesday. One point in time there are 10 of them that are out for therapy at the same time, which makes teaching very difficult and I don’t know… that is something we need to find a way to regulate. (#FPt2)

Most participants felt strongly about the pull-out system which is a commonly practised form of formal support in schools and they are stressed by the fact that the constant pulling out of learners from the classrooms by the learning support teacher disrupts the free flow of lessons and it disadvantages the learners who miss out on a lot of things.

Pull out system hampers IE! (#FPT5)

This argument was supported by Pieterse (2010) who mentions that, not only does that model of special education in a separate setting deprive students with disabilities of interaction with their peers and full access to the curriculum, but also it can involve duplicate systems and resources that are costly for schools to maintain.

SBST meetings and workshops should be properly coordinated

Participants suggested that it will make a huge difference if workshops are coordinated in a manner that will meet their needs. Almost all participants complained that when they do squeeze time to attend SBST meetings, the coordination falls far below their expectations. The nature of the SBST meetings in terms of time allocated, frequency, issues discussed during the meetings and the workshops provided by the districts to the teachers will indicate whether the implementation of IE will be successful or not. Their resentments were clear in the following statements:

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I think people resist going for meetings because some of them is not worth the while. I don’t think any of us will resist going for a training meeting if we got to learn something or if we got to get some help or guidance. But unfortunately, we often get called to such meetings where we go and they might just hand us a piece of paper where they just read to you and that’s it… I can also read! I don’t need to go seat the whole afternoon to listen to someone reading to me. (# FPt 6)

The analysis of the above revealed that participants are demotivated due to limited time brought about by a heavy workload and the overwhelming number of meetings taking place within the schools. In addition, the fact that when teachers attend workshops or meetings organised by these structures, all they get is verbal motivation or they will be handed more documents to add to their already saturated desks.

Inclusive education should focus on teachers and not on SBST coordinators and learning support educators

The EWP6 (Department of Education, 2001) indicates that the DBST should support the SBST in coordinating learner and teacher support. It is from this call that support for teachers should be strengthened by the DBST through the SBST. The core function of this team is to ensure that schools establish SBSTs that coordinate both learner and teacher support. This relates to the meso system discussed in detailed in the previous section above. Teachers in this study mentioned that IE is over focusing on learning support teachers and SBST coordinators while the teachers, who are expected to deal directly with the learners experiencing learning difficulties, are being neglected. One deputy principal commented:

You know, IE is mostly focusing on the coordinators or the learning support teacher. Teachers are the ones having these learners in their classrooms. So, if the coaches come here and have a meeting with the coordinators and learning support teacher and avoid talking to the teachers; I wonder what support they are giving. To me, there must be collaboration and everybody must be involved in every information sharing session. (DP3)

One can deduct from this statement that the DBST makes appearances in the schools to coach and empower the leadership of the SBST. However, the question arises as to whether the SBST or learning support teachers translate this support to the classroom teachers who are the core drivers of the policy. And if they do, how is it done and why do teachers feel disconnected from the team? These questions were, however, answered by another teacher when she stated:

The SBST needs to be involved with us… They do not come to us as teachers to see how we are coping. They need to put us together as foundation phase teachers and find out where we are having challenges. Because we are the ones in the classrooms. They just give us instructions, do this, do that, nobody bothers if we are doing the right thing or not. (FPt5)

Time for teachers and SBST to sit and reflect on practices

One of the key strategies as recommended by participants is the need for foundation phase teachers and their SBSTs to find time to sit together and reflect on their current practices as they battle to move the IE dream further. Most participants commented that they seldom sit down as a team to reflect on their practices as they go about supporting learners. The teachers are left to try on their own while the SBST is equally busy supporting those learners referred to them. One teacher mentioned:

But I think if we have smaller meetings where all the FP teachers could sit with the SBST and discuss our challenges, discuss on the things we do and ways forward that will work. But the SBSTs are the ones who can call such a meeting not us. When they give us information on how to implement new things in the class, they should call a meeting like that and we discuss what is happening with what they asked us to do. But usually they just leave us to do it any how and nobody follows up to see if it is working or not. (#FPt1)

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During the observation at SBST meetings, it was noticed that in applying formal support, the SBST does not personally go through the cases of learners referred to them especially to do some form of classroom observation to orientate herself before bringing up the issue during SBST meetings. Furthermore, during SBST meetings, class teachers and parents are not invited, and the deliberations are mostly rushed over: what do we do with this one? What do we do with that one in grade two ‘A’ and so on? The emphasis is on referrals and individual learner support. The issue of teachers reflecting on their actions is a good way to effect change. In supporting this view, another participant mentioned:

Yes, and also the reflection time are very important. Because there, we can sit and say since we have tried ABC and it didn’t work, what can we then do? Yeah it can work rather than complaining every year and nothing is been done. (#SBST 1)

The teachers are assuming that this method of reflection would be a good communication channel as well between the SBST and the teachers; an aspect which has been neglected.

Furthermore, results from observation and document analysis showed that full-service schools in this research have not yet been transformed as envisaged by the Department. The findings revealed that although SBSTs have been created in full-service and mainstream schools, the quality of academic support rendered to the learners and the teachers is greatly influenced by the support specialists serving in the team. Mainstream schools in the inner cities have more functional SBSTs because of the parents’ level of income and their commitment in the school governing body (SGB). The mainstream schools are able to hire the services of extra specialists to help serve in the SBST. Meanwhile, the SBSTs in the two full-service township schools, where the need is very high, are still grappling with how to support teachers largely due to a lack of experts to help coordinate or serve in the teams. Furthermore, where there were trained learning support educators in township full-service schools, you find out that one learning support teacher is expected to serve up to 600 learners due to a lack of human resources in the schools.

The research revealed how the SBST is the ‘pillar’ of the school in terms of support to teachers and the school system as a whole; hence it needs to be strengthened so that it deals with these challenges adequately. As mentioned earlier, adequate educational support is greatly influenced by interactions and inter-linkages at all levels of the system. The findings revealed that the culture of collaboration is not entrenched in the schools. Collaborative consultative relationships need to be established following a holistic, integrated approach in order to deal effectively with barriers to learning and development, which may be present at various levels of the system as outlined in the theory above. Therefore, at the micro level such as in the school, when the SBST is developing learning support strategies, the focus needs to be on creating environments where problem-solving and decision-making are done in a collaborative and participative manner. This was supported by Engelbrecht and Green (2007) who stated that the establishment of collaborative support teams, based on a trans-disciplinary approach within schools and districts, including groups of therapists, can be regarded as a strategy that will facilitate effective interventions and support learners and teachers in classrooms.

The research further found that the teachers are very quick on referring learners for further assistance out of the classrooms. The pull-out system, which is the most preferred and widely practised model of IE in the South African public-school context, is when learners identified as experiencing learning difficulties are extracted from the regular classrooms at certain points of the day and given their own classrooms within the school premises and maintain separate learning environments from learners who are coping with the curriculum. During the interviews with participants, the impact of the pull-out system was argued deeply. Participants argued that they are not skilled to implement some of the learning support tips in the

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regular classrooms. The results indicate that while it is not an impossible thing for teachers to support all the learners in her classroom, the situation is further complicated due to overcrowding and the diverse learning needs for a single teacher. Teachers are forced to refer the learner quickly so as to take the responsibility off their shoulders given the limited time they have to spend with the learners in a day. This stream of referral is causing a backlog because learners wait endlessly to have a turn to be assisted by specialists especially in the full-service township schools which lack human resources. A learner is pulled out for learning support once a month, and by the time the child gets pulled out again, he or she must have forgotten what they learnt during the last intervention. And at the end, nothing seems to change in terms of learner improvement. It is worth mentioning that countries such as Australia and the UK, where the pull-out systems have been practised, are beginning to scrap the system due to its ineffectiveness to raise academic achievement. New research into schools in England found that splitting pupils as young as six into classes based on ability, makes the brightest children brighter but does little to help the rest to catch up (Adams, 2014).

Two-thirds of the research in this paper was conducted in full-service schools which are seen as the front runners for inclusive education in South Africa, yet they lack staffing capacity which permits them to support learners experiencing difficulties. It is vital that for the Department to meet its long-term vision for all schools to become inclusive schools, it must put in place capacity-building mechanisms that will enable DBSTs to respond speedily to requests for support from the teachers. More learning support specialists, psychologists, social workers are needed to be placed on a permanent basis in the schools. Evidence from this research found that there is only one educational psychologist based at the District who rotates and renders counselling to learners in all the schools in that circuit. Pillay and Di Terlizzi (2009) in their research concur with the above statements by mentioning that the current South African socio-economic context may not allow IE to be successfully implemented as there is a dire need for access to resources and facilities.

Furthermore, another reason why there is an endless stream of referrals is because teachers and SBSTs are still overwhelmed and confused in their roles and responsibilities in terms of what kind support to give to who and by whom. The researcher suggests that the District should map out the type of support foundation phase teachers are expected to be giving to learners within their classrooms and how it should be done before they can refer. We recognise foundation phase teachers as the key implementers of IE, therefore their area of support to learners should be mainly academic. This implies that teachers should be empowered to focus their creativity in addressing literacy and numeracy difficulties because the interactions that take place between teachers and learners during these learning processes go a long way to contribute to every learner’s academic, social and emotional development. Teachers therefore need special training on inclusive teaching as far as possible to be able to provide content or materials in multiple formats, give learners multiple ways to show what they know as well as use multiple methods of motivating learners (Florian & Black-Hawkins, 2011).

Furthermore, within the micro and meso systems, the participants reflected that teachers are unwilling to attend meetings and workshops due to limited time brought about by the heavy workload as well as the fact that the workshops are not meeting their needs. This seems to suggest that there is a disconnect between the teachers, the SBSTs and the District. It was evident from the results that there seems to be very minimal communication between what the learning support teacher is doing in her SBST classroom and what the class teacher is doing in her classroom especially in the two township full-service schools. This is contrary to what is set out in the policy whereby it is expected that the teachers and SBST should see each other as resources to tap from and that this can be achieved only if there are open channels of communication throughout the school staff (Department of Basic Education, 2014).

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It is recommended that the SBST and District need to first of all conduct a needs analysis to pinpoint the specific kind of support teachers need so as to be able to tailor their training and workshops to address those needs. It is further suggested that before teachers are called to attend workshops, the trainers must have undergone training on how to train so that teachers will not find the workshops boring and time wasting as this research found. It is important to note that teaching at the foundation phase should be a fun exercise both for the teacher and her learners. It is advised that the trainer should not play an expert’s role; rather, ensure there is a friendly atmosphere to make teachers relax, and ask questions freely. The activities should be practical, whereby teachers do relevant activities, talk about what they are doing, write short stories about what they just did (Harcombe, 2008). The training should be systematic, based on certain principles so that teachers will learn by doing, hence will be motivated to apply it in their classrooms. Furthermore, the SBST coaches who have been pulled out of the schools should be retrained and reinstated in schools so as to provide explicit guidance on each aspect in which teachers have been trained.

Findings from interviews with participants revealed that IE is more concerned with empowering SBST coordinators and learning support teachers. The foundation phase teachers who should be the ones being supported have been left to continue their trial and error approaches at learner support. In line with the findings, the Department of Basic Education showed its commitment to addressing the barriers of learners by employing learning support teachers to address those issues which the district officials could not reach. Where necessary, learning support teachers provide direct learning support to learners where the SBST is unable to respond (Mahlo, 2011). However, despite the Department’s commitments, inconsistent support from the SBST was strongly emphasised by the teachers. They believed that if they could be appropriately supported after coordinators come back from workshops and observed during and after implementation with learners in the classrooms, then they would not feel so lost or neglected. Evidence from the research also pointed that most often, when the district officials make appearances in the schools, they focus their visits on checking foundation phase teacher’s files to ensure much of the syllabus has been covered. The implications of this is that teachers tend to be rushing to get through the curriculum with learners and often times learners are being passed on to the next grade without fully achieving the requirements for their current grade. Time constriction, together with adapting the overly ambitious curriculum to meet a wide range of diverse learning needs have been reported in several studies to be a critical barrier for teachers being unable to implement successful inclusion (Engelbrecht et al., 2015). The participants blamed their frustration on the Department of Basic Education’s pressure to produce good literacy and numeracy results at the Annual Assessment (ANA). Since the Department of Basic Education is focusing on ANA results, the participants claimed that they have decided to teach children as if preparing them for some sort of a show. This is something which needs to be addressed by stakeholders.

In addition, results seem to suggest that foundation phase teachers and their SBSTs seldom sit down as a team to reflect on their practices as they go about supporting learners. The teachers are left to try on their own while the SBST is equally busy supporting those learners referred to them in their specialised settings. According to Makoelle (2014) the SBSTs are focused mostly on the technical aspects of inclusion, with much less emphasis on teaching methodology. All the participants shared a common view that the need for change in the way support is currently done is the way forward.

This research argues that equipping foundation phase teachers to be able to teach effectively in inclusive schools cannot be achieved without systemic supportive procedures such as a very functional SBST being put in place. It is imperative that the team be capacitated with human resources for it to render the kind of quality support as envisaged by the Department of Basic Education for the successful implementation of IE. Furthermore, the research has demonstrated that the success of educational support provisioning in one setting, such as the classroom, is dependent on the quality of support provided in other settings, such

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as the SBST, the home, the peer group, the school and the local and wider community as a whole. These strategies and recommendations are within the context of Bronfenbrenner’s systemic model which argues that educational support within an inclusive classroom is understood as the responsibility of everyone, at all levels of the system. As a summary of the various systems at the micro level, the schools are expected to implement IE on a more practical level through the SBSTs. The SBSTs work in collaboration with all stakeholders including teachers, learners, parents, specialists, the wider community as well as the district at the meso level. The District informs the Provincial Department of Basic Education, which has been assigned to implement the policy based on their provincial needs. The province is expected to give feedback to the macro level (Department of Basic Education) where policies are formulated. The suggestions for change as recommended by the participants have the potential to ensure that systems are working together so that a complete whole can be achieved. This can be feasible if bureaucratic ways of doing things are eliminated and there are clear channels of communication, monitoring, feedback commencing from the bottom to the top tiers of the system.

This paper has demonstrated the urgent need to improve the functioning of the SBSTs as well as moderate the rate at which learners are currently being pulled out of the class to receive support in specialised settings. Furthermore, the paper has exposed the necessity for the SBST to find more practical ways of empowering foundation phase teachers and this can be achieved through persistent training and genuine dialogue. The paper raised an argument that if these strategies as recommended by participants could be considered and perhaps improved upon through further research, teachers rather than learners will be given support on how to address learning difficulties within their classrooms. Furthermore, the SBST will work in collaboration with the classroom teachers. In addition to this, teachers will be helped with the planning of multi-level teaching and support specialists will give direct support to just a few learners in small group settings out of the classroom. The overall effect would be that more learners will be supported in real inclusive settings.

Adams, R. (2014) School streaming helps brightest pupils but nobody else. The Guardian.com https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/sep/25/school-streaming-pupils-english-primaries (Accessed 19 May 2017).

Berns, R. (2012) Child, family, school community: Socialization and support. Wadsworth Publishing: Belmont, CA.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979) Ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge: Harvard Press.

Cohen, L., Manion, L. & Morrisson, K. (2005) Research methods in education. 2nd ed. New York: Rutledge.

Creswell, J.W. (2003) Research design: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. California: Sage.

Creswell, J.W. (2013) Qualitative enquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. 3rd ed. California: Sage.

Dale, H.S. (2012) Learning theories: An educational perspective. 6th ed. New York: Pearson.

CONCLUSION

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125 Doctoral CornerRESEARCH TITLE

Enhancing the employability of young adults from socio-economically challenged contexts

Name: Dr Erna Wilhelmina (E.W.) GerrytsSupervisor: Professor Kobus (J.G.) Maree Institution: University of Pretoria, South AfricaYear of Award: 2018Qualification: PhD

The devastating unemployment rate in South-Africa has the biggest effect on young adults from socio-economically challenged backgrounds. This study used career counselling with life design principles to explore the growth capacity of unemployed young adults’ career adaptability skills to enhance their employability. The study is embedded in a constructivist paradigm with elements of social constructivist and pragmatism with an interpretive stance. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were implemented, using a quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test comparison group-design to explore the possible effect of the intervention. The outcomes of the study show it was possible to positively influence the career adaptability and employability skills of young adults in socio-economically disadvantaged contexts through career and employability counselling.

Keywords: employability, career adaptability, career counselling, unemployed, young adults, socio-economically challenged

The full thesis can be found at http://hdl.handle.net/2263/68014

ABSTRACT


126RESEARCH TITLE

Statistics education for a developmental economy:The development of a coherent reasoning and thinking intervention

Name: Dr Sophie Thandiwe Joana (S.T.J.) MparutsaSupervisors: Professor M. Glencross Dr S. SprouleInstitution: The Da Vinci Institute for Technology Management,

South AfricaYear of Award: 2017Qualification: PhD

South Africa implemented a new curriculum in secondary schools known as Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) which was examined for the first time in November 2014 (DoBE, 2011). This curriculum includes new topics in statistics and probability. The emerging importance of statistical knowledge has led to statistics being introduced into school curricula internationally. South Africa, recognising this importance, has also introduced statistics into the secondary school system. The aim of this research is to examine areas of concern in the development of statistical knowledge as students move through the secondary school education system, concentrating on grades 10 to 12.

The introduction of new and unfamiliar topics in a curriculum is often accompanied by a variety of challenges. The challenges that most schools face, in South Africa and internationally, is providing teachers who can effectively teach for the development of statistical understanding, rather than merely doing some calculations.

The purpose of this study is to identify the cognitive levels of statistical knowledge that students attain as they progress through the secondary school system, and then develop a teaching framework to help teachers approach the teaching of statistics in a manner that would enhance statistical reasoning and thinking.

A mixed methods methodology was used in this research. Data were collected in two stages. The first stage involved quantitative data collection. Three written assessment instruments (one each for Grades 10, 11 and 12) were developed, checked for reliability and administered to about 400 learners. The objectives of these instruments were to establish concepts and skills that learners had successfully mastered, concepts that they had been unsuccessful in and concepts that they had failed to apply successfully.

ABSTRACT

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Data analysis was done, and 13 students were selected for interviews, representing the second stage of data collection. The interviews provided qualitative data for the study. Deeper insight into students’ understanding and misconceptions was obtained during the interviews.

The overall findings from Grade 10 to Grade 12 reveal that most students managed to achieve statistical knowledge at the basic level of statistical literacy. This cognitive level does not equip learners with tools to reason and think statistically. The results also revealed that learners used formulae to learn statistics, without understanding their foundation. In most cases students have achieved at this level by simply demonstrating their ability to use calculators and/or some given formula to determine statistical values. Most students have not yet successfully achieved at the level of statistical reasoning and statistical thinking. The results also indicate that students do not have a coherent and connected knowledge of statistical concepts. Students lack knowledge of the relationship between statistical concepts. The statistical skills and concepts learned are all isolated from one another.

Modern technology makes calculations instant and more accurate, minimising the importance of the ability to perform manual calculations. This implies that the focus on statistical knowledge should be on reasoning and thinking. From these results, it is recommended that statistics teaching that enhances development of reasoning and thinking needs to include the importance of context, computing, comparing, contrasting and connection between statistical concepts.

The limitations of the study were that the findings of the study could have been influenced by the cross-sectional studies approach that was applied to the study rather than longitudinal studies. A further limitation was that the choice of the participating schools could have had an influence on the results of the study. Schools were selected due to their proximity to the researcher in order to make access to the students during the school day possible for both the researcher and the students. The schools were limited to schools in the Johannesburg area. The proximity to Johannesburg could also have influenced the level of teachers’ statistical content and pedagogical knowledge. This would then have had an impact on the level of statistical knowledge attained by students.

The value of this study is multi-faceted. Theoretically, this research can therefore contribute to theories of teaching and learning statistics. The results of the study can pinpoint the areas that need more attention in teaching and learning statistics. Of special note in the findings of this research is that the concepts of standard deviation, graph interpretations and grouped data are a cause for concern. The findings also indicate that students have acquired statistical concepts in isolation from each other. These results can be used to structure alternative and appropriate interventions in statistics pedagogy that would be more effective in enhancing the learning of statistics to the expected cognitive levels.

The value from a methodological perspective is that methodology and the research instrument of this research study could also be used by many educational institutions to assess teachers’ statistical content as well as pedagogical knowledge as they progress through the training process. Knowledge of teachers’ level of cognition can assist the specialist training personnel plan effective intervention programmes for the trainees, so that after training they are better equipped for effective teaching of statistics in their classrooms.

The practical significance is that the study provided the necessary information about the concepts that students struggle with in understanding as well as in application. The study also provided deeper insights into why students have difficulties in understanding and applying particular concepts.

Another immediate practical result of the research findings is the formulation of a teaching framework

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that can be used by teachers to help them plan lessons that develop understanding of statistical concepts and the required statistical cognitive levels. The findings of this study were used to design a framework consisting of five components. The 5C-PST framework was created to move statistics learning from statistics literacy to statistics reasoning and statistics thinking. The 5C-PST framework is founded on the basis that the use of these five components will provide teachers with a focus on teaching strategies that will promote understanding of statistical concepts. The framework is designed to also help inexperienced teachers understand statistics deeply and flexibly so that they, in turn, can help their students relate ideas in statistics and form cognitive maps of statistics.

Keywords: statistical cognitive levels, statistical literacy, statistical reasoning, statistical thinking, statistics pedagogy

The full thesis can be found at http://www.openthesis.org/documents/Statistics-education-South-Africa-literacy-603373.html


129RESEARCH TITLE

A professional development programme for Ghanaian kindergarten teachers to implement an indigenous play-based pedagogy

Name: Dr Felicia (F.) AgbagblaSupervisor: Dr Judy (J.) van HeerdenInstitution: University of Pretoria, South AfricaYear of Award: 2019Qualification: PhD

The focus of this study was on the development and implementation of a professional development programme to equip kindergarten teachers with relevant competencies that could enable them to implement the kindergarten curriculum effectively through an indigenous play-based pedagogy. In Ghana, the introduction of the 2004 play-based kindergarten curriculum required teachers to adapt their teaching and children’s learning in order to ensure a successful implementation of the curriculum. However, a 2012 report on the operational plan to scale up kindergarten education in Ghana revealed that kindergarten teachers were struggling to implement the curriculum. They were found to be employing the traditional teacher-centred approaches, with the focus on numbers and shapes. These approaches were neither child-centred nor activity-based, which resulted in low-quality kindergarten teaching and learning. The present study firstly sought to answer the research question how Ghanaian indigenous Anansi stories and games could be employed to develop an indigenous play-based professional development programme that would provide opportunities for enhancing teachers’ knowledge of, skills in and attitudes towards implementing a play curriculum. Secondly, the study examined whether the indigenous play-based pedagogy ultimately improves the learning and development of kindergarten children in different kindergarten settings. A qualitative research approach was used involving the socio-constructionist methodology with a participatory action research design within an interpretive paradigm to investigate the indigenous play-based pedagogical practices of eight purposively selected kindergarten teachers. The qualitative research approach was used because it provided in-depth understanding and rich descriptions of the views, experiences and practices of the kindergarten teachers as they engaged with their classroom practices. Data were obtained from different sources, which included visual and written narratives, observation and individual semi-structured interviews over a period of three months for the purpose of triangulation. The data were thematically analysed and the results were categorised into themes and sub-themes. The overarching findings showed that analysis and application of the Anansi stories in the implementation of the indigenous play-based professional development programme enhanced teachers’ knowledge of, skills in and attitudes towards the implementation of the kindergarten curriculum.

ABSTRACT

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Keywords: Anansi stories, early childhood education, indigenous play, indigenous play-based pedagogy, indigenous play-based professional development programme, kindergarten education, kindergarten curriculum, kindergarten teacher, professional development programmes



131RESEARCH TITLE

A human-centered design approach to fashion design education

Name: Dr Reshma Neshane (R.N.) HarveySupervisors: Professor Piet (P.J.) Ankiewicz Dr Francois (C.F.) van AsInstitution: University of Johannesburg, South AfricaYear of Award: 2019Qualification: PhD

Historically, design has taken place within a technology-driven design paradigm, in which the designer, based on inward-looking practice, knowledge and values, shapes material products for mass-market consumption. However, national and international design discourse is shifting towards a human-centered design paradigm that foregrounds the needs of users and positions the user as an active, collaborative participant in the design process. Aligning with this shift, there is a need for general design education to transform from an inward-looking, lone-genius ethos to one that considers inclusive, collaborative design with users. However, when it comes to fashion design education, pedagogy continues to align predominantly with a technology-driven design paradigm that fosters an inward-looking, lone-genius ethos where students design for themselves or for imagined users. This study challenges such conventional pedagogy in fashion design education, by proposing a human-centered design approach in which students are educated to become agents of change in transforming the existing design situation to a preferred one upon entering the professional world. However, fashion design education, particularly from a human-centered design approach, is an underdeveloped researched area, and it lacks academic rigor and scientific investigation. Nonetheless, such research is important given the national and international shifts in design praxis and education. The extent to which such an approach might add value to pedagogical activity within fashion design education in the South African higher education context has not been scientifically explored as yet. As such, this study aimed to explore and establish underlying design principles for a human-centered design approach and its effects to fashion design education at an urban South African higher education institution. In this study, effects refer not to cause and effect relations, but to participant views and experiences regarding the design principles of human-centered design. This aim was guided by the overarching research question: what are the pedagogical strategies and underlying design principles of a human-centered design approach and its effects to fashion design education at a higher education level? This study employed design-based research, which was selected due to the need to establish theoretical design principles with which to design and implement human-centered teaching and learning interventions

ABSTRACT

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within fashion design education. Embedded in design-based research, the study employed an interpretive paradigm and a qualitative research approach that utilised multiple methods of data collection from multiple sub-sets including a theoretical, professional and educational scope. Through a series of teaching and learning interventions, this study contributes to scholarship on fashion design education. It proposes nine human-centered design, 16 fashion design praxis, and 16 design education pedagogy design principles that, in combination, constitute the elements of a philosophy underlying fashion design education in higher education from a human-centered design perspective. The contribution of this study is ground-breaking, research-led teaching as there does not appear to be similar doctoral study undertaken in fashion design education in higher education either in South Africa or internationally. Moreover, research-led teaching embedded in a human-centered design approach to fashion design education in a higher education context has never been scientifically explored through iteration cycles. From a pragmatic perspective, the study contributes a refined teaching and learning intervention for adaption and evaluation in future research which, it is hoped, may improve fashion design educational practice.

Keywords: fashion design education, human-centered design, design-based research, teaching and learning interventions, design education pedagogy, fashion design praxis



133

List of reviewers

The Editors wish to express their gratitude to the following experts who offered their knowledge and insights in the double-blind peer-review process, ensuring all authors received valuable feedback:

• Dr Wafa Almansoori, Education and Training Quality Authority, Kingdom of Bahrain

• Professor Ag. Bambang Setiyadi, Lampung University, Indonesia

• S.A. Benvenuti, The Independent Institute of Education, South Africa

• Professor R. Bhagwan, Durban University of Technology, South Africa

• Dr P. Biccard, University of South Africa, South Africa

• Dr E. Charamba, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

• Dr M. Childs, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa

• Dr Elisha R.T. Chiware, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa

• Dr S.A. David, The British University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

• Professor E.C. du Plessis, University of South Africa, South Africa

• H. Goode, The Da Vinci Institute for Technology Management, South Africa

• Professor R. Govender, University of the Western Cape, South Africa

• Dr L. Jacobs, University of South Africa, South Africa

• Dr J.P. Joorst, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

• Dr K.E. Junqueira, University of the Free State, South Africa

• Professor M.S. Maharaj, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

• Dr N. Makaluza, Funda Wande, South Africa

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• Dr V. Mbirimi-Hungwe, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, South Africa

• Professor B.J. Mostert, University of Zululand, South Africa

• Dr J.M.C. Motitswe, University of South Africa, South Africa

• Dr P.P. Nalube, University of Zambia, Zambia

• W.L. Nthsinga, The Independent Institute of Education, South Africa

• Dr N. Rosado, Universidad del Norte, Colombia

• J. Weber, Varsity College, The Independent Institute of Education, South Africa

Manuscripts should be submitted online at htttps://ijtl.iie.ac.za They should be typed in one-and-a-half spacing, Times New Roman, font size 12, in A4 format, in MS Word. Manuscripts should generally not exceed 6000 words in length, excluding tables, figures and references. The overall style for abstract, title, headings, figures and references should be in accordance with the Harvard reference style. Tables and figures should be numbered using Arabic numerals. Each manuscript should be accompanied by all the requirements on the checklist that appear on the journal website. Click on the Publish in IJTL Tab on https://ijtl.iie.ac.za/Publish-In-IJTL Manuscripts that do not meet these requirements will not be considered for publication.

Proofs will be sent to authors if there is sufficient time to do so. They should be corrected and returned within 48 hours of receipt. The Editor reserves the right to publish without proofs having been signed off by the author.

Notes for contributors


DIGI-LITHO 011 914 5192 (N002919)

The Independent Instituteof Education (Pty) Ltd

The Independent Institute of Education is a private higher education institution operating across 21 sites offering more than 90 registered and accredited higher education programmes from Higher Certificate to Masters level on its Varsity College, Vega, and Rosebank College sites. The IIE also offers a range of Short Learning Programmes. The IIE is accredited by the British Accreditation Council as an Independent Higher Education Institution.

The IIE has multiple associations and endorsements with leading organisations and professional bodies and works with several other public and private higher education institutions.

The IIE brands have sites across South Africa; qualifications which are offered on the sites are directly linked to their mission and target student market. This means that students on each site will be able to study with other students with similar interests and ambitions. The IIE also offers qualifications in the distance mode of delivery. The flagship programme is a Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education.

The IIE has a strong central national academic and quality assurance team based in Sandton that provides academic leadership for the sites and qualifications across the country. The team is also responsible for the registration, curriculum, quality of delivery, and assessment and certification (graduation) of all the qualifications, meaning that students on a site in one city receive an educational experience that is guaranteed to match that which is offered in any other city. This experience includes the same access to key academic resources and facilities. Each site adds to this academic base with its own specific group of well-qualified lecturers who are subject-matter and discipline experts, and collectively have a wealth of knowledge and industry-based experience in the areas in which they teach, as well as the individualised student support that the sites give. An IIE student is, therefore, rounded both academically and socially, thus maximising student success.

The IIE is a founding member of SA Private Higher Education (SAPHE). This is an association of South Africa's leading private providers of higher education which has two objectives. Firstly, to promote the understanding of the general public about the role that private higher education plays in offering choices to students; secondly, to promote the quality of provision and thirdly to play an advocacy role with the regulators. The Independent Journal of Teaching and Learning, as a peer-reviewed journal that appears on the DHET’s approved list of South African accredited journals, is one of the many ways in which The IIE is ensuring academic leadership within the higher education landscape of South Africa and, in particular, in private higher education.

For more information about The IIE, its academic opportunities, qualifications offered and sites of delivery, or SAPHE, please go to www.iie.ac.za or email [email protected]

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