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The initial primary teacher education (IPTE) curriculum policy was revised in 2016 and implemented in 2017 in Malawi (Ministry of Education, 2021). This study investigates teacher educators' (TE) understanding and experiences in two teacher training colleges. The study is informed by the cognitivist theory of Spillane et al. (2002). Following a qualitative research design, data were collected through face-to-face interviews with teacher educators and principals. Classroom lesson observations were used to triangulate interview data. Data analysis showed that teacher educators' superficial understanding of the espoused goals, content, and pedagogy of the IPTE impedes effective teacher education. The study found that the implementation of the revised IPTE curriculum is constrained by ineffective re-education and orientation of lecturers to the revised curriculum; unavailability of qualified lecturers; the duration and mode of training; the lack of teaching and learning resources; and TEs that are not being supported by the Ministry of Education officials. The study also shows that superficial understanding and ineffective implementation of the IPTE policy by educational stakeholders, such as lecturers, also comprises the quality of primary teacher education in Malawi. Based on the findings, several recommendations are made to improve the implementation of the IPTE in the country. These recommendations have implications both in Malawi and beyond.

From a cognitivist theory stance, domain-specific subject knowledge is necessary for deep learning and cognitive advance. What opportunities for deep learning and cognitive advance are provided in geography classrooms? This analysis of teaching in geography classrooms is framed by the concepts of deep learning, pedagogic discourse, and a curriculum of engagement. This article draws on Grade 10 and 11 lessons observed, recorded, transcribed, analysed and qualitatively interpreted. Analysis of pedagogic discourse shows diminished opportunities for deep learning and cognitive advance. Geography is being taught in less elaborated ways and more for compliance, thereby hindering deep learning of the epistemic structure of geography. Furthermore, surface features of the curriculum including knowledge as "given" have displaced attention to underlying principles and conceptual meanings. These practices deny learners access to deep learning of powerful knowledge. Implications for social equality and teacher education are raised.

The 21st century has ushered in accelerated new technologies, new knowledge and new information and the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) -- causing rapid changes in the way humans live and work and resulting in an outcry for educational reforms globally. Many frameworks and debates centred on rethinking and reshaping the curriculum including what knowledge, skills, values and attitudes should be taught to prepare learners to thrive in the 21st century, have been developed. This study examined the students' conceptions of 21st century education in four diverse schools in Zimbabwe. The study is framed by the powerful theory and the complexity theory. The study used a quantitative non-experimental correlation design to collect data from four secondary schools, three of which follow the ZIMSEC syllabus and the other, a private school that follows a Cambridge syllabus. The questionnaire was adapted from the Partnership for 21st century framework (P21) and (Ravitz, 2014) to fit the Zimbabwean context. A total of 236 students and 93 took part. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and ANOVA were used to analyse the data.The results showed that the students' conception of 21st century skills is defined by three factors: the learning of self-management, learning skills and values and learning process. Students most strongly endorsed self-management.It is envisaged that the proposed model of Zimbabwean students' conceptions of 21st century skills will act as a baseline for theory, policymakers, head teachers, teachers and teacher education colleges to realign the current teaching to fit the 21st century curricula.

Social constructivism is the dominant pedagogical theory endorsed in educational discourse today. This study set out to examine teaching and learning in Grade 11 business studies classrooms from a social constructivist perspective. The data were obtained through document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and classroom observations. While the teachers were positive towards social constructivist pedagogy, they were not familiar with the epistemology that underpinned its emergence. The learning of multiple perspectives through discussion, a key tenet of the social constructivist theory of learning, was not evident. Teachers indicated that they preferred direct instruction, as it enabled curriculum coverage and better control over learners. Teachers viewed social constructivist approaches as slowing down syllabus coverage and leading to loss of control in overcrowded classrooms. Limited time and higher workload due to larger classes were common deterrents.

The initial primary teacher education (IPTE) curriculum policy was revised in 2016 and implemented in 2017 in Malawi (Ministry of Education, 2021). This study investigates teacher educators' (TE) understanding and experiences in two teacher training colleges. The study is informed by the cognitivist theory of Spillane et al. (2002). Following a qualitative research design, data were collected through face-to-face interviews with teacher educators and principals. Classroom lesson observations were used to triangulate interview data. Data analysis showed that teacher educators' superficial understanding of the espoused goals, content, and pedagogy of the IPTE impedes effective teacher education. The study found that the implementation of the revised IPTE curriculum is constrained by ineffective re-education and orientation of lecturers to the revised curriculum; unavailability of qualified lecturers; the duration and mode of training; the lack of teaching and learning resources; and TEs that are not being supported by the Ministry of Education officials. The study also shows that superficial understanding and ineffective implementation of the IPTE policy by educational stakeholders, such as lecturers, also comprises the quality of primary teacher education in Malawi. Based on the findings, several recommendations are made to improve the implementation of the IPTE in the country. These recommendations have implications both in Malawi and beyond. Keywords: cascade model, curriculum implementation, initial primary teacher education, professional development, teacher education, Introduction The quality of teachers produced in any country is greatly shaped by the government's teacher education policy, including the curriculum offered to the student teachers during their training period [...]

The Post-school Education and Training (PSET) policy seeks to address the education and training needs of post-school youth not in education, employment nor training (NEET). The problem of youth NEET has been researched from many perspectives. However, there is a dearth of knowledge about the responses, views and actions of post-school youth NEET living in this precarious situation. This paper analyses the resistance, critical agency and initiatives of youth; organisers; and facilitators at a youth development and organisation centre in a township in Gauteng. The study is framed by the notion of "critical" agency (Gramsci: 1971) and Bourdieu's concept of "strategies" that mediate structure and agency. These concepts enable a focus on critical agency that emerge within severely constraining social conditions. Data were collected through the following sources and methods: from a "youth dialogue" amongst engaged youth; ethnographic interviews with post-school youth themselves; interviews with key individuals such as organisers, leaders and facilitators of programmes; and observations of literacy classes offered at the centre. Data analysis revealed resistant counter discourses amongst the youth to school and current PSET; acceptance of education for employment; desire for higher quality education; and clear ideas of alternative pedagogies. In addition to these counter discourses the paper highlights the critical agency of key individuals in the face of debilitating structural constraints. Implications for the post school education and training system are raised and some recommendations are made.

While three million youth in South Africa are not in education, employment or training (NEETS), not much is known about their schooling experiences nor their aspirations for the future. Eighty-seven post-school youth (PSY) were enrolled at a youth development and organisation (IYDO) centre in a Black township to the south-east of Johannesburg. This paper analyses the perspectives of these post-school youths of their formal schooling experiences and their aspirations for the future. The paper is framed by Willis's (2000) theory of the basic educational paradigm at the heart of the teaching relationship and intentional resistance from working class boys. Analysis of data showed the failure of the schools attended by the participants in providing a reasonable standard and quality of education as the main cause of dropping out of school. In spite of challenging structural constraints both historical and current, these post-school youth are not disaffected nor disengaged from quality education. Contrary to the literature, they aspire for a better life and for educational opportunities that would enable them to access professional and managerial jobs and upward social mobility. Appadurai's (2004) theory of culture of aspiration enabled making sense of participants' aspirations. The issue of post school youth requires not only alternative post school programmes but also attention to schooling practices within formal secondary school education.

The national government in Malawi implemented an outcomes-based curriculum reform in 2007. To facilitate implementation, new textbooks were developed for the primary school curriculum. This study intended to explore teachers' use and perception of the new Expressive Arts textbooks. The participants consisted of 192 Expressive Arts teachers, grades 5-8, selected by purposeful sampling. Data were collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. It was found that teachers believed that the textbooks were poorly designed, contained factual inaccuracies, did not support higher-level thinking of the learners, did not represent the lived experiences of the children using them and reinforced gender stereotyping. The study therefore suggests that there is need for review of the textbooks and that it is necessary to provide textbooks timely and in adequate quantities according to the needs of each school to ensure an effective implementation of a new curriculum.

The Ministry of Education in Malawi introduced a life skills education program with the intention to empower children with appropriate information and skills to deal with social and health problems affecting the nation, including the fight against HIV infections. This study investigated factors affecting the teaching of the life skills education in four primary schools in the Zomba district, Malawi. Cornbleth's (1990) notions of the structural and social contexts and Whitaker's (1993) identification of key role players in curriculum implementation framed the study. Data was collected through interviews with teachers and principals and observations of teachers' lessons. Findings suggest that the teaching of life skills is constrained by a variety of social and structural contextual factors such as the poor conditions under which teachers are working; greater attention given to subjects such as maths and languages; the cascade model of training teachers and the short duration of training; the inaccessible language in teachers guides; hunger and poverty of learners; lack of community support for sex education; both teachers and learners being infected or affected by the AIDS/HIV pandemic; teachers felt it is inappropriate to teach sexual education to 9 and 10 year old learners. The structural and social barriers to effective life skills education within the current framework indicate the need for alternative sex HIV/AIDS education complementary to the primary school curriculum.

The post-apartheid National Physical Science Curriculum was implemented for the first time in South Africa in grade 10 during 2006. A variety of new textbooks for grade 10 have been published. This study was a comparative analysis of three popular textbooks, one prepared to support the previous curriculum, and two prepared for the new curriculum. The study employed an eclectic theoretical approach and a mixed mode (qualitative and quantitative) methodology. The comparative analysis of the three textbooks showed that the old textbook presented pure, decontextualised physical science knowledge; presented conventional academic "hard" science knowledge as strongly separated from the real world; and assumed that English was the first language of students. It emphasized factual and conceptual knowledge that students must remember and understand. It was underpinned by an objectivist epistemology and a rationalist philosophy of knowledge. One of the new textbooks was similar to the old. The other new textbook was inclusive, and presented science knowledge using a popular format and an interactive style. In addition to academic science knowledge, utilitarian knowledge was also presented. There was also an emphasis on factual and conceptual knowledge that students must remember and understand. The boundaries between science and the real world were weakened, and an obvious attempt to incorporate indigenous knowledge in the textbook was made. The new textbook seemed to be less mono-cultural, white, Eurocentric, and male-centered. Various language tools mediated English for second-language learners. In addition, it situated science knowledge in social,historical, and cultural experiences that students could identify with. Meta-cognitive reflection on the acquisition of academic and social competencies was consistently expected and there was also an expectation for higher cognitive processes, such as, analysis and evaluation. The textbook was underpinned by a social-constructivist epistemology and a humanistic philosophy of knowledge. The findings of this study support the conclusion that the new textbooks differ in terms of their potential to improve access to science for groups which have historically been marginalized. (Contains 2 figures, 8 tables and 2 footnotes.)

Against the background of vast changes in doctoral education and the emergence of non-traditional doctoral programmes, this paper investigates the habitus of non-traditional PhD students at a South African university. Bourdieu's conceptual tool of habitus informed the study. In-depth and open-ended interviews were conducted with 10 non-traditional students. Data analysis indicates non-traditional students' complex and multifaceted habitus. Non-traditional PhD students' dispositions and experiences include tenacious self-motivation and self-regulation in the face of severely constraining conditions, diverse epistemologies, hybrid goals, more communal orientations, perplexedness about "produce new knowledge" and other requirements of the PhD, vulnerability regarding funds, complex self-change ranging from elation and affirmation to humiliation and confusion and exclusion and non-recognition at the department and faculty levels. These findings indicate greater challenges for non-traditional doctoral programmes that would respond to the academic and social needs of non-traditional students.

This article explores aspects of Pierre Bourdieu's theory of social science research practice and discusses their relevance for enhancing validity when researching the "other." Aspects such as: a relational way of thinking about concepts, epistemology and methodology; the rigorous construction of the object of research; and epistemic reflexivity are analysed and illustrated by drawing on Bourdieu's own research practice and reflections.The paper draws on Bourdieu's original works as well as secondary publications on Bourdieu's work. It argues that Bourdieu's theory of research practice provides invaluable insights and guidance for enhancing validity when researching the "other."

Heterosexism and heteronormativity are pervasive in the South African society, but to what degree are they present in Life Orientation (LO) textbooks? This question, explored through a content analysis of widely used Grade 10 LO textbooks, was framed by queer theory. The paper quantitatively examines the coverage of sexualities, and qualitatively examines how sexualities are constructed and projected in the texts. The quantitative analysis reveals a low percentage of statements devoted to sexuality overall and the normalisation of heterosexuality mainly through the exclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) sexualities but also through techniques of differentiation, hierarchisation and homogenisation. The qualitative analysis reveals inadequate information about sexualities and in its place a simplistic, moralistic ideological approach. Furthermore, discussions of the family, dating, safe sex and marriage assume heterosexuality as the norm. Nineteen years after the democratisation of South Africa and 17 years after the ratification of South Africa's constitution which explicitly forbids discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, LGBT sexualities are largely invisible in school LO curricula. Since this is a subject that is compulsory for all learners and its express aim is to prepare young South Africans for participation as citizens in a just and democratic society, the absence of LGBT issues and identities helps perpetuate prejudice and violence towards LGBT communities.

Social constructivism is the dominant pedagogical theory endorsed in educational discourse today. This study set out to examine teaching and learning in Grade 11 business studies classrooms from a social constructivist perspective. The data were obtained through document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and classroom observations. While the teachers were positive towards social constructivist pedagogy, they were not familiar with the epistemology that underpinned its emergence. The learning of multiple perspectives through discussion, a key tenet of the social constructivist theory of learning, was not evident. Teachers indicated that they preferred direct instruction, as it enabled curriculum coverage and better control over learners. Teachers viewed social constructivist approaches as slowing down syllabus coverage and leading to loss of control in overcrowded classrooms. Limited time and higher workload due to larger classes were common deterrents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article foregrounds the salience of "lived experience" in the mediation of unlearning racialized habitus (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992), and in learning and relearning the "truth about reality," or the truth about others. This article emphasizes the value of positive "lived experience" for anti-racist and reconciliation pedagogies, in addition to text-based experiences that facilitate the cognitive dimensions of learning (formal knowledge). Planning and providing positive lived experience and enabling systematic reflection and symbolic representation of informal experiences are essential for triggering the necessary disequilibrium for reviewing habitus, formed by apartheid structured realities, and for creating the conditions for the metanoia--"a mental revolution, a transformation of one's whole vision of the social world". In this regard, this article represents an attempt to integrate this pedagogical dimension to current race- and diversity-related pedagogical discourses, which tend to overemphasize text-based experiences in isolation from lived experience.

The paper scrutinises the dynamics and the nature of peer review in the programme evaluation and accreditation process within the context of diverse individual and institutional legacies in South Africa. It analyses the peer review process and highlights the contestation at political, policy and epistemological levels. The paper argues that, although the diversity of the review teams very often led to consensus based more on political compromises than on sound professional and academic grounds, all participants experienced the process as educative--offering conceptual and practical opportunities for development. It points to the need for problematisation of peer review and for a critical examination of its possibilities and limits in programme review.

Now that the doors of historically white schools have officially been opened to Black learners, this paper presents a critical analysis of discourses of domination transmitted behind the doors of learning in a History classroom. While the official History curriculum (NCS, 2002) advocates multi-perspectival epistemological approaches, this paper illustrates the subordination of epistemic goals to racist and sexist ideological goals through the transmission of racist and sexist discourses. A teacher's lessons were observed, audio-taped, transcribed and analysed according to critical discourse theory. The conventional Grade 10 topic, The conquest of the Aztecs by the Spanish, was mediated through racist and sexist formal and informal discursive strategies such as the use of teacher power to silence contestation of in accurate statements; the use of metaphor, simile, and binary oppositions to convey prejudicial meanings, derogation, inferiorisation, ridicule, jokes, disclaimers, and stereotyping that subsumed the historical topic being taught. The analysis exposes the informal yet effective workings of power for the perpetuation of discourses of domination in the History lesson. Such discourses subjected learners to a form of symbolic violence which may lead students to ontological misrecognition of self and race.

The aim of this study was to analyse science teachers' language in the classroom within the context of explanation sequences, in order to determine the coherence of the explanations, and the opportunities presented for learners' exposure to the register of science. The study is framed by the concepts of semiotic mediation, register and coherent discourse drawn from Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Data were collected through observation and video recording of teachers teaching physical science topics. The unit of analysis were teachers' utterances--their words, sentences and explanation sequences, as they taught a specific science topic and a particular causal relationship. The analysis identified significant differences in the use of coherence devices in the explanation sequences that enhanced or limited transmission of the register of science. Specific cohesive devices that contribute to coherent and incoherent discourse have been distinguished. On the whole, the lesson that was characterised by stronger cohesive devices provided greater opportunities for semiotic mediation necessary for understanding and learning the register of science.

This paper provides an analysis of the extent of integration at a historically advantaged school. A qualitative multi-method case study allowed for in-depth analysis of integration in the school. Bernstein's theory of code, classification, boundary and power framed the study. Data analysis showed that: racial desegregation was achieved at student and level one staff level and lacking at management and administrative staff level; staffing integration was minimal; institutional culture integration was not evident; social boundaries enacted maintained previous race based power relations; weaker boundaries between instrumental and non-instrumental forms of knowledge legitimised students' experiences and interests but did not facilitate access to non-instrumental forms of knowledge and thinking; the dominant discursive frame of teachers was one of student deficit. These regularities point to a discursive formation (Foucault, 1977) that undermine integration and would reproduce previous racialised inequalities. Finally, an explanation of the discursive formation is touched on followed by recommendations.

This study focuses on the attitudes of a sample of Grade 9 mathematics teachers to the national mathematics Common Task Assessment (CTA) 2002 and to the official mathematics curriculum policy. The notion of pedagogic identity provided the theoretical lens to frame the study. These teachers' personal pedagogic identities are compared with official pedagogic identities constructed by curriculum policy and by the CTA. Data analysis revealed significant tension between personal and official pedagogic identities. Teachers' strong discipline-centred retrospective identities based on pure, mathematical knowledge and skills for epistemological access to the discipline, were at odds with official expectations of them as prospective identities. Teachers identify with an absolutist philosophy, purist ideology, old humanism and popular but negative images of mathematics. Furthermore, faced with the lack of official support for meaningful implementation of the new forms of knowledge and contradictory official regulation, teachers justified their teaching of formal, pure mathematical knowledge and skills on the basis of the demands of the high-stakes matric examination. These teachers experienced much cognitive dissonance and frustration and rejected, resisted or superficially complied with official expectations of them. The implications of the incongruence between official and personal pedagogic identities and contradictions within the official recontextualising field for democratic access to mathematics are raised.

While three million youth in South Africa are not in education, employment or training (NEETS), not much is known about their schooling experiences nor their aspirations for the future. Eighty-seven post-school youth (PSY) were enrolled at a youth development and organisation (IYDO) centre in a Black township to the south-east of Johannesburg. This paper analyses the perspectives of these post-school youths of their formal schooling experiences and their aspirations for the future. The paper is framed by Willis’s (2000) theory of the basic educational paradigm at the heart of the teaching relationship and intentional resistance from working class boys. Analysis of data showed the failure of the schools attended by the participants in providing a reasonable standard and quality of education as the main cause of dropping out of school. In spite of challenging structural constraints both historical and current, these post-school youth are not disaffected nor disengaged from quality education. Contrary to the literature, they aspire for a better life and for educational opportunities that would enable them to access professional and managerial jobs and upward social mobility. Appadurai’s (2004) theory of culture of aspiration enabled making sense of participants’ aspirations. The issue of post school youth requires not only alternative post school programmes but also attention to schooling practices within formal secondary school education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From a cognitivist theory stance, domain-specific subject knowledge is necessary for deep learning and cognitive advance. What opportunities for deep learning and cognitive advance are provided in geography classrooms? This analysis of teaching in geography classrooms is framed by the concepts of deep learning, pedagogic discourse, and a curriculum of engagement. This article draws on Grade 10 and 11 lessons observed, recorded, transcribed, analysed and qualitatively interpreted. Analysis of pedagogic discourse shows diminished opportunities for deep learning and cognitive advance. Geography is being taught in less elaborated ways and more for compliance, thereby hindering deep learning of the epistemic structure of geography. Furthermore, surface features of the curriculum including knowledge as "given" have displaced attention to underlying principles and conceptual meanings. These practices deny learners access to deep learning of powerful knowledge. Implications for social equality and teacher education are raised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the background of vast changes in doctoral education and the emergence of non-traditional doctoral programmes, this paper investigates the habitus of non-traditional PhD students at a South African university. Bourdieu's conceptual tool of habitus informed the study. In-depth and open-ended interviews were conducted with 10 non-traditional students. Data analysis indicates non-traditional students' complex and multifaceted habitus. Non-traditional PhD students' dispositions and experiences include tenacious self-motivation and self-regulation in the face of severely constraining conditions, diverse epistemologies, hybrid goals, more communal orientations, perplexedness about ‘produce new knowledge’ and other requirements of the PhD, vulnerability regarding funds, complex self-change ranging from elation and affirmation to humiliation and confusion and exclusion and non-recognition at the department and faculty levels. These findings indicate greater challenges for non-traditional doctoral programmes that would respond to the academic and social needs of non-traditional students. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the pedagogic boundaries in two grade 10 History teachers’ lessons, with the aim of analysing their effect on making the epistemology of History evident in the classroom. The study is framed by Bernstein's conceptualisation of pedagogy as the experiencing of instructional and regulative boundaries. The article offers a quantitative assessment of the frequency of stronger and weaker instructional and regulative boundaries in the pedagogic discourse of the teachers and a qualitative interpretation of the effectiveness of the boundaries for making the epistemic nature of History explicit. Data analysis showed markedly differing pedagogic boundaries that enabled or constrained visibility of the epistemic criteria of History. It shows that creating conditions for the learning of the epistemic attributes of History is facilitated by pedagogic boundaries that are purposively instantiated for the mediation of the epistemic attributes of History. This analysis has also shown that it is crucial to not only identify the strength and type of boundary but to also relate them to making evident the epistemic attributes of the discipline being taught. It suggests that teachers’ meta-cognitive awareness of instructional and regulative boundaries as conditions for making explicit the epistemic nature of History would assist teachers in creating conditions for epistemic access to History. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores aspects of Pierre Bourdieu's theory of social science research practiceand discusses their relevance for enhancing validity when researching the 'other'. Aspects such as: a relational way of thinking about concepts, epistemology and methodology; the rigorous construction of the object of research; and epistemic reflexivity are analysed and illustrated by drawing on Bourdieu's own research practice and reflections. The paper draws on Bourdieu's original works as well as secondary publications on Bourdieu's work. Itargues that Bourdieu's theory of research practice provides invaluable insights and guidance for enhancing validity when researching the 'other'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterosexism and heteronormativity are pervasive in the South African society, but to what degree are they present in Life Orientation (LO) textbooks? This question, explored through a content analysis of widely used Grade 10 LO textbooks, was framed by queer theory. The paper quantitatively examines the coverage of sexualities, and qualitatively examines how sexualities are constructed and projected in the texts. The quantitative analysis reveals a low percentage of statements devoted to sexuality overall and the normalisation of heterosexuality mainly through the exclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) sexualities but also through techniques of differentiation, hierarchisation and homogenisation. The qualitative analysis reveals inadequate information about sexualities and in its place a simplistic, moralistic ideological approach. Furthermore, discussions of the family, dating, safe sex and marriage assume heterosexuality as the norm. Nineteen years after the democratisation of South Africa and 17 years after the ratification of South Africa's constitution which explicitly forbids discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, LGBT sexualities are largely invisible in school LO curricula. Since this is a subject that is compulsory for all learners and its express aim is to prepare young South Africans for participation as citizens in a just and democratic society, the absence of LGBT issues and identities helps perpetuate prejudice and violence towards LGBT communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the significance of positive lived experience to learn and relearn the truth on reality and for anti-racist and reconciliation pedagogies. It mentions that positive lived experience allows systematic reflection and symbolizes informal experiences that are needed to raise disequilibrium in reviews of habitus. It discusses the elusive concepts of diversity, race, and racism as well as the argument to recognize the centrality of race and racism and their need to be addressed in South African classrooms. It explores the use of Bourdieu's habitus theory and Feuerstein's theory of mediated learning experience to create conditions to modify, diversify, and adapt cognitive structures to improve learning that will enable change of attitudes and behavior.

National and international evaluations of numeracy knowledge have shown that numeracy levels in South Africa are below the competencies specified in the curriculum. Within the broader context of ongoing poor performance in numeracy, a longitudinal research and development project – the Wits Maths Connect – Primary project (WMC–P) has been launched aimed at improving the teaching and learning of primary mathematics. As part of the baseline data collected for this project, the project team observed and videotaped a single numeracy lesson across the Grade 2 classes in the ten project schools, with a view to gaining insights about the nature of teaching and learning, and the classroom contexts of these activities. The analysis has been framed by the Systemic Functional Linguistics concept of coherence and the Variation Theory concept of structured variation. This paper presents evidence to illustrate, firstly, poor coherence in and across pedagogic communication and activities and secondly, random selection and sequencing of exercises that militate against meaning making. The ambiguous use of co-references, co-classifications and co-extensions coupled with random selection and sequencing of tasks give rise to weak coherence within practices that exhibit “extreme localization” and ‘ahistoricity’. Such practices work to severely impair possibilities for connected learning of number concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the transmission of racist and sexist discourses in history class. It is said that history, in the post-apartheid curriculum, enables the unofficial to become visible through a commitment that historical truth can undergo rigorous analysis by offering opportunities for border crossing. It presents an observation of a Grade 10 History class in which the class talked about the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs. Findings show that racist and sexist discourses occurred in class.

The clustering of traditional subjects into Learning Areas for the junior secondary school curriculum is a worldwide trend. In South Africa, the National Curriculum Statement (NCS 2002) advocates the teaching of eight Learning Areas (LAs) in the General Education and Training (GET) phase (Grades 7-9). In this paper, Grade 9 teachers' perceptions of and experiences with integrated Learning Areas are analysed and interpreted. The study is framed by social theories of identity. Following a qualitative research design, data were collected by non-participant observation, semi-structured questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Data analysis showed that the majority resisted the integrated LAs approach, less than a third were open to integration and all thought they lacked the content knowledge to teach integrated topics well. All found planning, implementation and assessing integrated topics very challenging. Teachers' perceptions of the integrated LA approach arose from a complex interplay of a combination of factors such as professional biographies and identities, experiences with teaching integrated curricula, pedagogic goals and the structure of the subject being taught. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the extent of integration at a historically advantaged school in South Africa based on a multi-method case study. Findings include racial desegregation achieved at student and level one staff level, the lack of evidence of institutional culture, and minimal staffing integration. It is concluded that the dominant discursive formation in the school are racist and not in the interest of the formation of a democratic society nor the interest of its majority Black learners.

Two fundamental pedagogical principles that underpin the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) in the General Education and Training band (Grades 7–9) are, firstly, a high level of knowledge and skills for all; and secondly, the progression and integration of knowledge. The purpose of this study was to investigate how teachers of three grade 9 classrooms in three diverse schools have responded to these principles. The study was framed by Bernstein's sociological analysis of the stratified distribution of knowledge in different social class schools. Within the case study approach, data were collected through non-participant observation of teachers’ classroom practices in the province of KwaZulu Natal (KZN) over a month followed by open-ended interviews with teachers. The findings indicate extreme variations in the subjects/Learning Areas offered across the schools, in high level knowledge and skills taught, in conceptual progression and in access to integrated knowledge. The finding, that the historically disadvantaged school was not able to provide learners with the opportunities to learn high level knowledge and skills, resonates with the findings of other researchers of classroom practices. The dominance of integration with everyday knowledge and the accompanying lack of conceptual progression typical of school knowledge resulted in impoverished learning opportunities for learners. The exemplar of the dual curriculum modality of an integrated curriculum based on a subject-based curriculum as observed in one of the advantaged schools seems to show much promise for attaining both pedagogical principles. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The post-apartheid National Physical Science Curriculum was implemented for the first time in South Africa in grade 10 during 2006. A variety of new textbooks for grade 10 have been published. This study was a comparative analysis of three popular textbooks, one prepared to support the previous curriculum, and two prepared for the new curriculum. The study employed an eclectic theoretical approach and a mixed mode (qualitative and quantitative) methodology. The comparative analysis of the three textbooks showed that the old textbook presented pure, decontextualised physical science knowledge; presented conventional academic 'hard' science knowledge as strongly separated from the real world; and assumed that English was the first language of students. It emphasized factual and conceptual knowledge that students must remember and understand. It was underpinned by an objectivist epistemology and a rationalist philosophy of knowledge. One of the new textbooks was similar to the old. The other new textbook was inclusive, and presented science knowledge using a popular format and an interactive style. In addition to academic science knowledge, utilitarian knowledge was also presented. There was also an emphasis on factual and conceptual knowledge that students must remember and understand. The boundaries between science and the real world were weakened, and an obvious attempt to incorporate indigenous knowledge in the textbook was made. The new textbook seemed to be less mono-cultural, white, Eurocentric, and male-centered. Various language tools mediated English for second-language learners. In addition, it situated science knowledge in social, historical, and cultural experiences that students could identify with. Meta-cognitive reflection on the acquisition of academic and social competencies was consistently expected and there was also an expectation for higher cognitive processes, such as, analysis and evaluation. The textbook was underpinned by a social-constructivist epistemology and a humanistic philosophy of knowledge. The findings of this study support the conclusion that the new textbooks differ in terms of their potential to improve access to science for groups which have historically been marginalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]