Journal of Education

Editorial

2025-01-09T06:24:15+00:00

edoitorial

Conceptualising a framework for digitally transforming teacher education in the South African context

2025-01-09T07:41:50+00:00

While the COVID-19 pandemic may have been subdued, online learning has come to stay not only because of
its numerous advantages but because the digitised global trend continues to unravel. This necessitated a project
aimed at understanding how a School of Education (SoE) in South Africa prepares future teachers for the
digitised classroom. Since then, diverse aspects of the digital pedagogical practices in the Bachelor of Education
programme have been investigated including the digital curricular readiness of the SoE, its e-textbook
capabilities, and academics’ and students’ experiences of digital pedagogy. In this paper, we draw from these
empirical findings to conceptualise a framework for shaping educational futures. We employ the Technological,
Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge and Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition models
to explain the requirements for the digital transformation of teacher education in South Africa. We used a
qualitative case study research design to conceptualise an Active Digital Pedagogies framework that academics
can employ to develop student teachers for the future workplace. The framework contributes access to quality
education for all by guiding policy directions at classroom, institutional, and national higher education system
levels.

Development of the Sisonke Supervision Mentoring Programme

2025-01-09T07:49:56+00:00

In this paper we map new ways of supporting and capacitating novice supervisors. During the COVID 19
pandemic, we hosted weekly online collaborative workshops designed to reflect on a process of common
learning, in which established and novice supervisors engaged with and discussed their individual supervisory
needs. This process revealed, with particular clarity, the complexities of mentoring supervisors at a University
of Technology (UoT) and enabled the development of the Sisonke Supervision Mentoring Programme (SSMP).
This new identification of key aspects offers insight and benefit to similar programmes. The Community of
Practice (CoP) theory was appropriate for this context since it allowed the construction of mentoring spaces in
which people could engage mutually in activities to improve their supervisory practices. Using an interpretivist
paradigm and inductively and qualitatively analysing transcripts revealed four key subjects for discussion:
learning should be non-hierarchical; collaboration and reflection take place in in CoPs; care rather than
competition should be paramount; and mentorship supervision is a joint responsibility.

Systemic inarticulation as an obstacle to the education aspirations of mature women ECD practitioners

2025-01-09T08:15:43+00:00

Recent research in South Africa indicates that notwithstanding official policies on articulation, Early Childhood
Development (ECD) practitioners who obtain a qualification in their field at a Technical and Vocational
Education and Training (TVET) college face significant hurdles in trying to access a university degree. In this
article, we report on research conducted among a group of mature women who completed ECD programmes at
TVET colleges, and their learning pathways toward the university Bachelor of Education qualification.
Applying a narrative methodology, we conducted in-depth life history interviews to map the learning pathways
of mature women ECD practitioners and to understand their education and training endeavours. Their stories
revealed a number of barriers they encountered as mature women students, but in this article we highlight in
particular the blockage they faced in seeking vertical progression through articulation of the ECD Level 5 and
Level 6 Certificates with the Bachelor of Education degree, which led to a curriculum mapping exercise that
attempted to shed light on this aspect. A key finding was that of programme and institutional inarticulation,
resulting in stymied higher education aspirations for the majority of women in this study.

Playful pedagogy as a tool through memory work to enhance professional learning and teaching practice

2025-01-09T08:34:56+00:00

Memory-work is inevitable in any study that uses participants to reflect on their past so the research strategies
we used in the study, on which this paper is based, helped us to recall and reflect on our experiences as primary
school learners. In this article, we explore memory-work as a self-study approach to educational research that
calls on the distinctive personal memories of three South African primary school teachers. The memories we
share are positioned in stories as we reminisce on some childhood and adolescent encounters and our reflections
expose what we learned from these experiences as narrated in pertinent excerpts. We adopted sociocultural
theory since we understand that learners’ actions take place in sociocultural settings. This theory allows
individuals to understand their learning as being embedded in social experiences. The key notion we discuss is
that play enhances learning since it allows children and young people to solve problems, make decisions, and
interact as they discuss their ideas. Our voices therefore unite in dialogue, and we reveal our reciprocal learning
as we narrate and reflect on our personal memories. Our writing, which is both reflective and questioning as we
explore these memories, emphasises the pedagogic meanings we attach to some childhood and adolescent
encounters, particularly those that were embedded in childhood culture. Furthermore, our analyses of our voices
reveal various emerging perceptions that have strengthened our learning and teaching as educational
practitioners. Additionally, the memory-work in which we engaged allowed us to position ourselves in a grateful
yet critical position to better understand our past experiences and how these had aided both our educational and
social change. In this paper, we aim to promote the use of playful pedagogy for individual growth. It is
envisaged that other teachers could foster the sociocultural advancement of learners through a playful
pedagogical context.

It has given us a title: Identity-transitions in first generation students at a South African university

2025-01-09T08:53:40+00:00

Most South African students are the first in their families to attend higher education. Like students across the
world, they negotiate various personal, relational, and cultural transitions while at university. First-generation
South African students are confronted with unique challenges during these transitions. In this study, we explored
the salient identity experiences of first-generation university students in South Africa. A group of 17 first
generation students participated in interviews to share their experiences, which were analysed using a
descriptive phenomenological approach. First-generation status was an essential marker and critical component
of the identity of the students and their families. Being accepted to university was seen as a family achievement
and signified not only an academic opportunity but hope for a better future. In their family relationships,
participants had to negotiate carefully the expectation to respect their role as their parents’ children while
simultaneously taking on the responsibility of breaking the generational cycle of poverty. In contrast, the
freedom of the university environment, the experience of belonging to campus culture, and what might be called
a new family of university friends supported identity transition processes. While most participants experienced
the university as an inclusive and enabling environment, they remarked on the conflicting demands of the
westernised systems prominent on campus and their African cultural values. The findings of this research study
emphasise the value of the university context as a space for authentic identity transitions and the importance of
creating spaces where personal, relational, and cultural identities can be negotiated.

Multimodality and a diverse pedagogical mix: Insights into the 21st century South African secondary school learning environment

2025-01-09T09:04:11+00:00

Over the years there have been repeated calls to reconceptualise schooling in the 21st century. Instead, the
response has been to digitise traditional classroom practices thereby equating contemporary learning with
technology adoption. In this paper, I report on the findings of a mixed methods study involving five secondary
schools in Johannesburg that explored the characteristics of the 21st century secondary school learning
environment. I examined teachers’ appropriation of digital technologies as well as their pedagogical practices.
While acknowledging the differences in classroom contexts, perspectives on the 21st century classroom were
informed by teachers’ best practices and the key literature that framed the research. I concluded that
multimodality is an important feature of the 21st century learning environment and within which the
appropriation of digital technologies is located. Another important characteristic is teachers’ pedagogical mix
that harnesses learners’ epistemological diversity. The findings of this study would help to inform multimodal
pedagogical change, particularly in secondary schools.

Khelobedu-L1 parents’ attitudes towards using Khelobedu as a medium of instruction

2025-01-09T09:22:06+00:00

Learners who speak Khelobedu are taught in Sepedi because their language, Khelobedu, is classified as a
dialect. Dialects are currently not accommodated in South African classrooms. The Khelobedu-L1 learners
therefore do not enjoy the constitutional and linguistic rights of being taught in their mother tongue as other
learners are enjoying. Given this situation, we deemed it necessary to explore the attitudes of Kheloebdu-L1
parents towards the possibilities of using Khelobedu as a Medium of Instruction in the Foundation Phase. We
conducted this study with 142 parents of Bolobedu South region, in Limpopo province. We used both
quantitative and qualitative approaches and followed a case study design. Data was gathered through a
questionnaire and semi-structured interviews and was analysed through descriptive statistics and thematic
analysis. The results of the study revealed that Khelobedu-L1 parents embraced the use of Khelobedu as a MoI.
The results also reflected that parents are wary that the use of Sepedi forces their children to follow other
peoples’ cultures, while suppressing theirs. In this paper, we discuss the factors that shape this attitude in
parents.

Exploration of curriculum changes in the learning and teaching methods of economic and management sciences

2025-01-09T09:42:02+00:00

The phasing out of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) in intermediate phase has had a negative
influence on the performance of learners in the senior phase and the Further Education and Training (FET)
band. There is, therefore, an urgent need to engage with this issue, but there is dearth of information related to
the methods of teaching EMS in the senior phase. This necessitated our study that is aimed at determining
methods that could be used to implement successfully the curriculum of EMS in the senior phase. We adopted a
qualitative research approach. The population of the study consisted of circuit manager, teachers, curriculum
advisor and principals, selected using a purposive sampling method. Data was collected through semi-structured
face-to-face interviews. We found that the recommended teaching strategies should incorporate the use of non
conventional methods that include demonstration, instructional media, co-operation, group discussion,
brainstorming, and a problem-based method depending on the topic.

How is the science concept of force conveyed in a physics grade 9 textbook in South Africa? A cultural historical analysis.

2025-01-10T04:59:02+00:00

South African school children tend to perform poorly in international mathematics and science benchmarking
tests such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Various reasons underpin poor
performance, but in this paper, we concern ourselves with curriculum challenges in science by analysing a
science topic from a Grade 9 science textbook, the most significant tool for delivering curriculum outside of a
teacher. Adopting the model designed by Morris et al. (2016), we analyse a single topic, force, from two science
textbooks to ascertain if the abstraction of the topic is explicated and whether it is linked to any real-world
application. Our findings indicate that the science concept of force in the textbooks that we analyse is presented
in problematic ways that require teachers to elaborate on concepts outside of the text, which may not be possible
when such content knowledge is unfamiliar.

Mathematics club learners’ mathematical identities: Narratives of learners and their class teacher

2025-01-10T05:07:49+00:00

Research into mathematics clubs has shown that learners enjoy mathematics in the clubs more than in their
regular classrooms, while research on mathematical identities has shown a relationship between learners’
mathematical identities and classroom practices. Bringing these two ideas together, I investigated learners’
mathematical identities in a mathematics club and their regular mathematics classrooms. I used a mixed
methods design to explore the mathematical identities of learners who participated in an after-school
mathematics club. The learners responded to a mathematical identity questionnaire before they started in an
after-school mathematics club and after the club ended. Some learners were purposively selected to respond to
two semi-structured interviews, one before and one after participating in the club activities. A teacher who was
teaching the interviewed learners responded to a semi-structured interview about their mathematical identities in
class after they had participated in the club activities. Two paired samples t-test analyses of the questionnaire
responses show a statistically significant difference between the learners’ mathematical identity scores before
and after participating in the club activities. Interview findings show that the learners’ mathematical identities
were supported through participating in the mathematics club, which encouraged mutual engagement, meaning
making, and a sense of belonging. The teacher observed changes in the learners’ participation in the class,
suggesting that participation in a mathematics club that supports strong mathematical identities can influence
participation in the mathematics classroom.

Towards data-driven interventions: Leveraging learning analytics to support programming education for grade 10 learners in South African schools

2025-01-10T05:17:47+00:00

Programming is increasingly incorporated into school curricula worldwide to foster essential 21st century skills.
However, many educational systems face challenges in integrating it effectively because of limited resources
and support. In South Africa, a lack of tools further compounds these challenges, making it difficult for teachers
to identify and address learners’ specific needs. In recognising these challenges, we aimed in this study to
develop and validate a Learning Analytics (LA) model to identify challenging programming concepts for Grade
10 learners in South Africa. Using the LA five-step model, we employed Microsoft Power BI for its analytical,
visualisation, and AI-driven forecasting capabilities to analyse historical examination data systematically. The
resulting forecasting model identified five key areas in which learners struggle: conditional statements; problem
conceptualisation/solution design; debugging/exception handling; abstraction/pattern recognition; and
class/object differentiation. Our findings demonstrate the potential of LA-powered models to guide targeted,
data-driven interventions, supporting improved learning outcomes, and engagement in programming for Grade
10 learners.

Evolution of classroom languaging over the years: Prospects for teaching mathematics differently

2025-01-10T05:27:57+00:00

In this theoretical paper, we trace diverse language practices representative of equally diverse conceptions of
language. To be dynamic with languaging, one should appreciate nuanced languaging practices, their
challenges, and prospects. Here, we present what we envision as three major conceptions of language that give
impetus to diverse language practices. We examine theoretical models of the bilingual mental lexicon and how
they inform languaging practices that have been promulgated and experimented with over the years. We proceed
on the premise that interactive and dynamic languaging depends on one’s nuanced beliefs, assumptions, and
understandings of the concept of language, how languaging has evolved over the years, and the diverse learner
profiles and the linguistic resources they bring. Because languaging is an evolving phenomenon, it is disruptive
and fluid since it responds to the complexities of human experience and socio-cultural, technological, and
environmental shifts characterising those experiences. Languaging offers prospects for creativity and
innovation, as well as linguistic flexibility. Using mathematics as a proxy for languaging, we advocate for the
deployment of multisensory semiotic systems to complement linguistic classroom communication and an
acknowledgment of the validity of learners’ linguistic and semiotic resources in the learning enterprise. We
demonstrate how many different linguistic, semiotic, and symbolic resources converge in classroom languaging,
and how dynamic languaging has a constant and dialogic shift between and among known languages, and
between formal and informal language in a fluid nature. We recommend the enactment of specific multimodal
languaging clauses in education policies and curriculum documents that empower classroom interactants to
exercise discretion in languaging practices.

South African rural high school teachers’ experiences of teaching English poetry

2025-01-10T05:38:07+00:00

Research suggests a reluctance by teachers to teach poetry in South African English Second Language (ESL)
classrooms. The teaching of poetry is shaped by issues such as resources, professional and personal experiences,
societal influences, learners’ attitudes toward poetry, and professional development opportunities. In this
qualitative case study, we aimed to understand ESL teachers’ experiences of teaching poetry in rural South
African high schools by considering their Pedagogical Content Knowledge and how they align what they know
about teaching with what they teach. Data was generated using reflective journals and individual semi-structured
interviews from ten purposefully sampled ESL teachers from rural schools. The findings indicate that ESL
teachers in rural settings rely heavily on their own personal, professional, or social experiences when teaching
poetry, lack ongoing professional development, and do not appear to be aware of effective teaching strategies to
teach poetry.

Exploring breathwork concepts vis-à-vis the South African life skills curriculum and assessment policy statement

2025-01-10T05:48:02+00:00

In this study, we address a gap in existing literature by proposing the Singing Education Breathwork Quotient
(SingEdBWQ), a framework aimed at enhancing the articulation of breathwork in South Africa’s Life Skills
curriculum. Employing qualitative methods, we collected empirical data through synchronous interviews and
document analysis involving nine participants, including educators and breathwork experts. Key themes
identified include awareness, purposeful inhalation, non-tension, intake sufficiency, resistance, exhalation
management, continuity, and performance regulation. Notable findings emphasise the significance of intake
sufficiency for optimal singing and the role of breath leading in musical performance. The implications of the
SingEdBWQ are substantial: it provides a structured approach for teacher training; promotes student well-being;
and enhances communication across music education. By incorporating breathwork exercises effectively into
curricula, educators can foster resilience and stress management among students. Ultimately, the SingEdBWQ
serves as a vital tool for improving educational outcomes and holistic well-being in schools in alignment with
the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for health and quality education.

From prefect system to Student Representative Councils via Representative Councils of Learners in South African schools: Which representative government is considered the best?

2025-01-10T06:09:28+00:00

In the history of South Africa there have been three conflicting traditions to represent learners in school
governance structures: rule by prefects; rule by Student Representative Councils (SRCs); and rule by
Representative Councils of Learners (RCLs). I use Pitkin’s (1967) views on representation and Aristotle’s
(ca.350 BCE/1943) ideal types of government to map out a conceptual geography of learner governments in
South African schools. The problem is that the national Department of Education (1999) policy Guides for
Representative Councils of Learners set the outer limits of what counts as representation for the benefit of all
learners in South African schools. I assert that a prototype polity, which means rule or government by citizen as
a fusion of RCLs and SRCs that lean towards SRCs is the best form of government for schools in South Africa.
In the end, I advocate for a prototypical polity-government that expresses and secures the good of every learner
as a viable government in post-apartheid South African schools.

The influence of cultural African traditions and power relations on senior women leaders in education district offices

2025-01-10T06:27:36+00:00

In this paper, we focus on the understudied topic of women’s leadership in education district offices. Despite
government legislation, women are still under-represented in senior leadership positions in education. They are
confronted with discriminatory power relations and insubordination that impacts their leadership. We used a
qualitative methodology and African feminist theory to frame the study. Two important themes emerged from
the analysis of the data: both cultural African traditions and power relations impact women negatively. We also
learned that the women experienced respect and cooperation from colleagues (particularly males) given
relationships forged while holding previous leadership roles. Their ability to reflect on past experiences
contributed significantly to their self-confidence and to their feeling successful in their new posts