South African Journal of Education

“We need our own super heroes and their stories” – Towards decolonised teaching within the management sciences

Willie Chinyamurindi — 2023-11-09

There are growing calls for a decolonised curriculum. With the study reported on here, I offered an understanding of this critical topic through student voices. In this study, I illustrated how super heroes and their stories could contribute to decolonised teaching informed by the findings of the research. I specifically used the views of 30 final-year students enrolled in a strategic management course at a rural university in South Africa. Data were collected using a focus-group technique relying on group interviews. Students were asked to evaluate their experiences during the semester-long course, focusing on their understanding of aspects that could be improved given the decolonial tide. Two narratives emerged from the analysis as crucial findings. Firstly, the students expressed a desire for super heroes in the form of individuals that they can relate to to feature in higher education teaching. Secondly, related to the first request, the students also needed stories relatable to their context as a dominant feature in such teaching. I interrogate the role of the 2 findings in informing a decolonised curriculum and improving my teaching practice.

Improving soya mince recipes in the National School Nutrition Programme in South Africa

Carmen Muller — 2023-11-09

The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) in South Africa provides thousands of needy children with school meals on school days. One, and in some cases 2, of these meals per week are soya based. A review of the NSNP revealed that many children do not eat on those days because they find the soya mince meal unappetising. As the meal served within the NSNP may be the only meal these learners receive during a day, it is essential to ensure learners’ willingness to consume the meal, and, therefore, that the meal is made appetising and nutritious. During visits to 3 schools in the Tshwane district, interviews were conducted with school meal handlers. Information gathered from these sessions was used to develop 4 new recipes that fall within the guidelines and budget of the NSNP. The final recipes were beef bolognaise soya mince, chicken curry soya mince, chilli con carne soya mince and one-pot soya mince biryani. To evaluate the acceptability of these newly developed recipes, a sensory panel of 100 university students that formed part of the NSNP during their schooling years was assembled. The sensory evaluation was done by comparing the existing soya mince meal with the 4 new soya mince recipes. One of the new soya mince meals was found to be the preferred dish and was rated significantly higher in acceptability than the original soya mince meal.

Exploring teachers’ experiences in implementing the Screening, identification, assessment and support policy in South Africa

Carien Maree — 2023-11-09

Inclusion and equitable education, as articulated by the fourth sustainable development goal and anticipated by 2030 seems hard to attain in a context where teachers’ practices are inconsistent with inclusive national policies. In the study reported on here we investigated South African teachers’ experiences in implementing the screening, identification, assessment, and support (SIAS) policy in their classrooms. The intersectionality of colliding worldviews and the pedagogy of discomfort were used as conceptual framework. We adopted a qualitative case study within an interpretive paradigm. Twelve teachers were purposively selected from 3 focus group discussions. The results reveal that a disconnect between the inclusive policy and classroom practices occurs because teachers have negative attitudes towards using the document and feel inadequately trained to implement it. We conclude with 3 essential lessons about teachers’ disengagement with the policy: (i) teachers are reluctant to complete the SIAS documents because of the added administrative burden and a lack of knowledge about inclusive education; (ii) more experienced teachers influence the worldviews of newly qualified teachers (NQTs); and (iii) inclusive education training conducted by the district-based support team (DBST) is inadequate resulting in a disconnect between practice and pedagogical practices.

Exploring the challenges of curriculum advisors in schools in the Vhembe-West district, Limpopo province, South Africa

Nelda Mouton — 2023-11-09

Monitoring and supporting teachers in the classroom, as well as the implementation of curriculum changes, pose problems in South Africa. This is due to an array of challenges such as a lack of resources, communication barriers within the Department of Basic Education (DBE) as well as a lack of proper infrastructure. In the research reported on here we investigated the challenges that curriculum advisors in the Vhembe-West district face and provides insight into some of their daily challenges. This could assist the international platform, especially as developing countries and other Third World Countries can benefit from the outcomes of this research. A qualitative research approach was used where 12 interviews were conducted with curriculum advisors in the Vhembe-West district. The interview questions were e-mailed to them beforehand so that they could familiarise themselves with the questions to be answered. Within a period of 2 weeks thereafter, interviews were conducted and recorded for analysis on Zoom or Microsoft Teams. The data were grouped and are presented in 5 different themes with the aim of highlighting the challenges as well as providing recommendations to deal with the challenges that curriculum advisors experience. The data reveal that curriculum advisors experience that they receive minimal support from their superiors and that the resources at their disposal also prove to be minimal. This study highlights the lack of resources, insufficient infrastructure, and lack of effective communication from management needed for proper curriculum implementation at schools.

Financial management decision-making of school finance committees in public primary schools in Mpumalanga province, South Africa

Simon Diatleng Sebidi — 2023-11-09

Subject to the South African Schools Act, 84 of 1996 section 16(1), the governance of every public school is vested in its governing body and it may perform only such functions and obligations and exercise only such rights as prescribed by the Act. Section 30(1a) of this Act demands school governing bodies to establish committees and appoint members of the School Governing Body (SGB) to such committees based on expertise. With this study I investigated the financial management decision-making of school finance committees in public primary schools in the Mpumalanga province in South Africa. A qualitative approach was applied in the study. Focus-group interviews were used to collect data from the purposefully selected 2 public primary schools in which the finance committee members were involved. A case study design was applied. Thematic data analysis was used to analyse the collected data. All the participants demonstrated awareness of their financial management decision-making roles. Participants revealed that they did not perform their roles effectively due to their illiteracy levels, limited understanding of financial management legislation, inadequate training, interference of the principals in the management of finances, poor consultation and communication. I recommend to the Department of Education to provide financial committees with adequate support and training, to capacitate principals in the area of human relations and resource management and consider appointing financial management advisors at the circuit offices within districts to assist in guiding, monitoring and evaluating the financial management processes in schools on a regular basis.

More than a principal: Ubuntu at the heart of successful school leadership in the Western Cape

Michael Kramer — 2023-11-09

School leadership matters. After teachers and teaching, school leadership is the most important determinant of learner achievement in school. Despite this, there is still uncertainty regarding what successful school leadership is and what successful school leaders do in non-Western contexts. In this mixed methods study I explored successful high school leadership in South Africa. Specifically, a questionnaire was administered to 38 principals from academically high-achieving schools from a range of socioeconomic contexts throughout the Western Cape, and 14 principals were interviewed. An integrated analysis reveals the paradox of uniqueness and universality of successful school leadership in South Africa, outlining that while there is no single best approach, various similarities exist between successful school leaders and established international literature. I found that successful principals adapt to their context, amalgamate transformational, instructional and distributed leadership styles, set direction, develop people, constantly realign the school with teaching and learning, and, importantly, strive to make a difference in the lives of others. It is about leading with Ubuntu. By highlighting these characteristics and practices, I offer theoretical, practical and personal advice to current and aspiring school leaders, academics and policy makers.

Experiences of parental involvement in privileged and underprivileged schools

R Manilal — 2023-11-09

In the study reported on here we looked at experiences of parental involvement in schools in Phoenix, KwaZulu-Natal. The objectives of the study were to determine how parents were involved in schools and what their experiences were. The study was guided by Epstein’s Theory of Overlapping Spheres. A qualitative research approach within an interpretivist paradigm was followed. A multiple case design was used and the schools were drawn from privileged and underprivileged contexts in Phoenix. The methodology employed to generate data was the semi-structured interview, followed by an open-ended questionnaire completed by the participants. The sample of participants comprised 3 parents and 3 teachers from each of the 2 schools. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings show that parents from both privileged and underprivileged communities were concerned about and employed a variety of strategies to get involved in their children’s education, both academically and socially. Although parents from both schools participated in school events, the level of their participation differed, with the parents from the privileged schools being more involved than parents from the underprivileged school.

Effects and challenges to implement differentiated mathematics teaching among fourth graders in Montenegro

Veselin Mićanović — 2023-11-09

In this quasi-experimental pretest-posttest study we examined the effects of differentiated instruction (DI) in within-class ability groupings of 246 Montenegrin fourth-graders and their ability to solve algebraic equations. We assessed 2 parallel student groups at equal achievement levels to compare DI, in which teaching and work modes were adapted to students’ grouping according to previous achievement and pretest scores, and traditional whole-class instruction. Pretest-posttest evaluations were administered to both groups, and observation indicators were evaluated to assess the level and type of student activities, engagement, and individualisation. Students in the homogeneous DI experimental groups with tailored instructions were significantly more successful at solving algebraic tasks than their peers in the traditional whole-class instruction control group. DI improved students’ results, but teachers required specific training and significantly more preparation time.

An investigation of sociomathematical norms perceived by students regarding the legitimacy of solutions

Mehmet Gülburnu — 2023-11-09

With the study reported on here we aimed to determine what learners perceived as normative in the mathematics classroom. For this reason, we focused on negotiation of the problem solutions and we attempted to determine the sociomathematical norms perceived by learners (SNPS). Audio recordings of dialogues among learners, individual reports, and interviews were used as data collection instruments. The research participants were learners in the seventh grade. The study was conducted over a period of 10 weeks covering the second semester of the academic year. Three SNPS (functionality, inclusiveness, connectivity) regarding the legitimacy of the solutions were determined. The determined norms contributed to the understanding of learners’ mathematical preferences, thus bringing more inclusive and complementary understanding about the norms perceived by the learners to the literature. It has been observed that learning opportunities emerging through the negotiation of norms contribute to collective mathematics learning by shaping the interaction among class members. In this context, it was deemed necessary to continue research on norms perceived by learners to create general ideas of mathematics learning and teaching.

Promoting formative assessment practices in senior phase mathematics classrooms using meaning equivalence reusable learning objects

Lydia Omowunmi Adesanya — 2023-11-09

South African mathematics teachers in the Senior Phase (Grades 8 and 9) were introduced to the pedagogical tool, meaning equivalence reusable learning objects (MERLO), as a formative assessment (FA) strategy to promote and support teachers’ professional growth in using FA practices in the classroom. The cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) and meta-didactical transposition (MDT) were used to frame the evolution process of teachers’ praxeologies. In this study we used qualitative participatory action research that encompassed 3 phases: pre-MERLO phase, MERLO workshop and post-MERLO phase. The study was conducted in the northeast of Pretoria in the Tshwane district in the Gauteng province, South Africa. Twelve Senior Phase mathematics teachers were purposively sampled in 6 public schools before the workshop training. During the workshop training, only 5 teachers participated due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The data collection techniques included pre- and post-interviews, workshop training sessions, classroom observations, field notes, teachers’ reflective journals, teachers’ lesson plans, learners’ workbooks and learners’ worksheets, and data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings reveal that the teachers acquired adequate knowledge and skills to effectively structure and integrate the lesson plan of teachers’ didactical praxeologies as FA activities into their mathematics classrooms. The findings also reveal that the learners showed more interest and motivation, were actively involved, developed a deeper understanding of mathematics content, and showed increased autonomy in learning. Future research could involve implementing MERLO in all South African provinces and introducing MERLO to other emerging countries. However, the findings of this study are based on a limited sample of teachers and schools, and the recommendation is that, for future studies, more teachers should be involved in the MERLO professional development.

Dispositional mindfulness associated with less academic burnout among Muslim students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Aamer Aldbyani — 2023-11-09

In the study reported on here we examined the potential mediating role of perceived stress in the association between dispositional mindfulness and academic burnout among Muslim students. Seven hundred and seventy-five Yemeni university students were enlisted to complete the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). The results show that dispositional mindfulness was negatively correlated with perceived stress, emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced academic efficacy. Moreover, perceived stress was positively related to emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced academic efficacy. Structural equation modeling revealed that the mediation model fit the data well. That is, perceived stress partly mediated the dispositional mindfulness-burnout association. We found that dispositional mindfulness could predict academic burnout among Muslim students, and perceived stress may be one of the underlying factors of this association.

Social support at work and workload as predictors of satisfaction with life of Peruvian teachers

Renzo Felipe Carranza Esteban — 2023-11-09

The repercussions of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have generated effects on the working modality of teachers, in whom it is convenient to study variables associated with well-being. The objective with this research was to determine whether social support at work and workload predict satisfaction with life in a sample of Peruvian teachers. The methodology was a predictive and cross-sectional study, carried out on 584 Peruvian teachers of both genders selected in a non-probabilistic way; to whom the social support scale at work, the workload scale and the life satisfaction scale were applied. The survey was carried out virtually, and descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and structural equation modelling (SEM) were conducted to examine the hypothetical model. In the analysis of the proposed model, an adequate fit was obtained, X² (116) = 435.5, p < .001, CFI = .963, RMSEA = .069, SRMR = .059. Thus, H₁ and H₂ were confirmed on the positive effect of social support at work, B = .27, p < .001, and the negative effect of workload, B = -.28, p < .001 in satisfaction with life. Likewise, the t values of the beta regression coefficients of the predictor variables were highly significant (p < 0.01). It was concluded that social support at work and an adequate workload predict a better level of satisfaction with life in a sample of Peruvian teachers.

The moderating role of supervisor support in the effect of perceived overqualification on workplace loneliness

Ferda Üstün — 2023-11-09

The purpose of this research was to determine whether supervisor support (SS) plays a moderating role in the perception of overqualification (POQ) on workplace loneliness (WL) among music teachers in Turkey. The research was based on the assumption that loneliness, which is a negative emotional state and expresses employees’ inability to establish a healthy relationship within the organisation, may arise from music teachers’ perceived overqualification and can be shaped with the support of this relationship. With this study we discovered that perceived overqualification has a definite and significant impact on WL. It was also discovered that supervisor support moderated the relationship between perceived overqualification and WL. Consequently, although music teachers felt overqualified, they did not feel lonely at work if their supervisor provided strong support.

Reflections of South African educators on the enablement of at-risk learners with protective systems via the Read-me-to-Resilience intervention

Carmen Joubert — 2023-11-09

Resilience-promoting interventions, such as the Read-me-to-Resilience intervention strategy, that consists of culturally relevant indigenous stories has been shown to encourage resilience in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) orphans. In this study, educator participants reflected on the protective systems that the Read-me-to-Resilience stories might offer for at-risk learners within their school context. Resilience protective systems include self-regulation, attachment relationships, agency and mastery motivation systems, cultural traditions and religion, cognitive competence and meaning making. The exploration of the Read-me-to-Resilience intervention as a protective strategy was rooted in the social-ecological perspective of resilience, which focuses on positive adjustment to adversity through resilience protective systems. Fifteen South African educators were requested to implement the Read-me-to-Resilience intervention strategy within their school context. Participation in the study was voluntary. An explorative qualitative research approach was used. Three unstructured focus-group interviews were conducted, and research diaries were kept by the participants. The educator participants reported that the indigenous African stories had promoted problem-solving and leadership skills, personal positive strengths and attachment relationships and had stimulated renewed appreciation for resources within the traditional African culture. Relevant literature on protective systems for resilience development supports my research findings. It is proposed that culturally relevant stories, as an inexpensive strategy, should be utilised within the school community to promote adaptive and preventive protective systems for at-risk learners.

Guidelines for instructional design of courses for the development of self-regulated learning for teachers

Beatriz Ortega-Ruipérez — 2023-11-09

Self-regulated learning strategies are essential for learning, and to teach learners to use them, teachers must master them. The objective of this study was to identify training priorities for including these strategies in online courses for teachers, and to determine whether opinion influences the use of strategies. The design was non-experimental and cross-sectional, and involved administering the revised Cuestionario de Evaluación de las Estrategias de Aprendizaje de los Estudiantes Universitarios (CEVEAPEU questionnaire) to 285 teachers. The results allow us to differentiate between priority weaknesses, lower-priority weaknesses, and strengths in relation to metacognitive strategies (planning, objectives, self-evaluation, self-regulation, and context). To determine this, a frequency analysis was used, followed by a Mann-Whitney U (for 2-group variables) and Kruskal-Wallis (for 3 groups) test to determine whether opinion influences the use of strategies. Priority weaknesses were identified in the knowledge of objectives and evaluation criteria (planification); the ability to recognise when an exam has been passed (self-evaluation); modifying initial plans, dedicating more effort to difficult subjects, and learning new study techniques (self-regulation); and taking advantage of study time (context control). We concluded that opinions on self-regulated learning influence the use of strategies. Finally, work should be done on the recognition of the importance of self-regulated learning, time management strategies, self-evaluation techniques, flexibility, and self-control.

An empirical review of a hybrid teacher education programme: Lessons from South Africa

Folake Ruth Aluko — 2023-11-09

Scholars have recommended hybrid learning to combat education problems in emerging economies due to their challenging contexts. It potentially offers a means to address growing demand without sacrificing quality or increasing costs. In this article we report on a new “hybrid” distance teacher education programme in which we sought to address the requirements of new policies (both institutional and national) by combining the blended and distance education approach. We adopted a pragmatic qualitative approach, rooted in a communitarian perspective and distance education theory. Although progressing slower than expected, the programme’s implementation to date has provided lessons that bolster the value of blended learning theory and practice in a hybrid model. The study also highlighted the critical role that the mode adopted for teacher training can play in shaping teachers’ practice. However, to work more effectively in an emerging economy, a more substantial teaching presence is suggested, coupled with modularised and ongoing information and communication technology (ICT) training and support for staff and students as areas for further research.