Teachers In South African Schools Research Articles

A Scoping Review of Learners' Perceptions on What Influences Teachers' Approaches to Teaching Comprehensive Sexuality Education in South African Schools

Recent arguments regarding the South African comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) curriculum indicate that the existing programme neglects to incorporate factors that influence the behaviour of school learners in South Africa such as learners' and teachers' perceptions of cultural, social, and gender norms. Based on a literature search, it is evident that there is a paucity of research that reflects the voices of learners regarding their experience of how the CSE subject is taught as compared to what they want to learn. Therefore, this article aimed to conduct a scoping review to map learners' perceptions of what influences their teachers' approach to teaching CSE subject matter in South Africa. The Cochrane, EBSCOhost, Scopus, ProQuest, JSTOR, and Google Scholar databases were searched for studies (a) published from January 2010 till May 2021, (b) with an explicit focus on learner feedback on their perceptions of influences to teachers teaching CSE, (c) that were qualitative studies, and (d) were published in English in peer-reviewed journals. Four studies were identified that reported on data collected from learners aged 14-18 years using in-depth interviews (N = 1), focus group discussions (N = 2), and an ethnographic study (N = 1). A qualitative analysis of the findings identified three major themes: (1) an inherent bias towards heterosexuality as normal and natural, (2) the belief that learners need to be taught to uphold culturally dictated normative gender roles, and (3) an avoidance of subject matter relating to the LGBTQI+ community, influenced by beliefs that limited interactions would lead to limited gender and sexual fluidity. Findings conclude that transformative communication needs to take place to update the curriculum to create a space for all learners to learn about healthy life choices.

Reimagining Responsible Research Innovations Regarding Professional Teaching Standards for Curriculum Practice

Applying teacher capabilities is widely considered to be a technique for enriching the quality of teaching in all teaching spaces, worldwide. Education reformists have a responsibility to ensure that education accommodates the best interests of all learners. Standards depend largely on teacher capabilities and the context of a country. This paper reflects on responsible research innovation techniques that are crucial for improving teacher capabilities and advancing professional standards that are needed to improve education in South African schools. An architecture theory, which draws heavily on the famous quotation of Adolf Loos, was used as the main lens for the study. Critical participatory action research (CPAR) was used to generate data. CPAR was preferred, since it pilgrimages three principles of responsible research innovations, that is, recognising participants, establishing professional learning communities, and engaging in critical reflection that deliberately embraces capabilities, to address the inequalities that characterise the context of the South African education space. Critical discourse analysis was used to arrive at the following broad findings: (i) A practical learning experience must be created for all teachers; and (ii) Teacher training institutions are central to edifying teacher capabilities. The paper concludes with a recommendation that the preconfigured standards for professional teaching practices should be reconfigured to involve a de-hierarchical list, and to avoid decontextualized performance and false dichotomies.

Teaching critical literacy in South African English classrooms: Constraints and affordances

Critical literacy is an approach to teaching that addresses the relationship between language and power. This study sought to ascertain whether or not PGCE (Post-Graduate Certificate in Education) graduates from the University of the Witwatersrand were able to apply what they had learned about critical literacy in their English teaching after graduation and how subjective experience, context and identity can influence the ways that teachers take up critical literacy. Three research participants, one of whom was the researcher, provided data on their experiences of attempting to teach from a critical literacy perspective, one in the form of the author’s auto-ethnographic narratives and two in the form of interviews. Narrative analysis was applied to all three sets of data. The findings suggest that English teachers in South African schools may be constrained by a chronic lack of time, lack of support from colleagues and institutions for the teaching of critical literacy, the overly prescriptive application of the current curriculum and schools’ own particular versions of performativity and accountability cultures. Despite these constraints, teaching critical literacy is eminently possible and efforts to practise critical literacy are aided by cultivating positive relationships with learners.

A serial model of the interrelationship between perceived vulnerability to disease, fear of COVID-19, and psychological distress among teachers in South Africa

The current study examined the serial relationship between perceived vulnerability to disease, fear of COVID-19, anxiety, and psychological distress among school teachers. Participants were South African school teachers (n=355) who completed the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Questionnaire, Fear of COVID-19 Scale, trait scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Beck Hopelessness Scale, and the Centre for Epidemiological Depression Scale. A path analysis confirmed that teachers who appraised themselves as more susceptible to disease, experienced heightened levels of fear of COVID-19, which led to heightened levels of anxiety, depression, and hopelessness. Specifically, germ aversion and perceived infectability were separately associated with heightened fear of COVID-19, which in turn was associated with heightened anxiety. This serial relationship was associated with heightened levels of hopelessness and depression. The current study extends research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among a distinct subgroup of the population.

Immigrant Parents' Voices on Children's Right to Education in South African Schools: Connecting the Disconnected

This paper focuses on the school's protection of the right to education for immigrant learners as perceived by their parents. With its approach to the subject from the human rights-based educational perspective, this paper sought to examine immigrant parents' views on their children's right to education against their background as vulnerable and marginalised school community members. The assumption on which the study presented in this paper is based is that meaningful discussion on the right to education for immigrant learners cannot be disconnected from the challenges their parents face in educating them. Immigrant parents have their views and experiences relating to children's educational rights, which are seldom studied. Guided by this view, a qualitative approach was followed to gather data through semi-structured individual interviews held with parents of immigrant learners from four purposively selected South African township schools. The results show that immigrant parents experience enormous challenges in the education of their children in South African schools. While some of the challenges are transferred from them to their children because of non-citizenship, they attribute most of the challenges to people who teach their children, namely, teachers. 
 
 Received: 2 August 2021 / Accepted: 3 October 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021

The challenges of inclusive education and its implementation in schools: The South African perspective

Inclusive education is the term used to describe an education system in which all learners are accepted and fully included, educationally and socially. The process of inclusion proves to have challenges in developing countries such as South Africa which adopted it a bit later than the developed countries. Research has mentioned that amongst other challenges is the lack of resources and overcrowding. Hence, this paper debates and discusses the challenges in the implementation of inclusive education in South African schools. The study was designed as a multiple case study research in which a qualitative research approach was employed. Three schools in the Buffalo City Metro and three participants per school participated in the study. Qualitative data analysis was grounded on an interpretive philosophy. The findings revealed that overcrowding, insufficient training, lack of knowledge and skills of educators were the overarching themes that resulted in educators feeling a sense of inadequacy to teach in an inclusive education classroom. The study will cover the challenges faced in the implementation of inclusive education. Therefore, the study recommends that inclusive education should cater to all learners irrespective of the type of disability.

Managing Conflict to be Functional between Principals and Teachers in South African Schools

Principal-teacher conflict has become one of the most serious school-related battles. This type of conflict is detrimental to the school, and this problem is mainly attributed to the conflict that is left unattended or unmanaged. This study, therefore, investigates how the conflict between principals and teachers can be managed. This qualitative study was conducted in the ZF Mgcawu district in the Northern Cape, South Africa. This study followed a case study research design, selecting participants using the purposeful sampling method. Data were collected through the use of open-ended questionnaires and analysed thematically. The study's findings revealed that conflict management should play an important role in managing and reducing principal-teacher conflict. It also confirmed that unattended conflict between principals and teachers have detrimental effects on school culture and that functional conflict management strategies are necessary for conflict to be less destructive in the school environment. It is therefore recommended greater awareness about this topic in general. Specific strategies should be implemented to guide principals as well as teachers on how to manage conflict functionally.

The dream of Sisyphus: Mathematics education in South Africa

Background: South African schooling is caught in a vicious cycle, characterised by weak initial teacher education (ITE) and weaker-than-average learning outcomes, resulting in low teacher status and attempts to reform schooling by means of continuous professional development (CPD). Aim: The paper attempts to understand the reasons for poor performance in mathematics and to explore avenues for improvement. Setting: Teaching in South African schools. Method: Three mechanisms for improving teaching and learning are identified: ITE, CPD and the management of and support to teachers. Drawing on the research literature, the paper examines the potential of each for reforming the system. Results: Tests based on the school curriculum indicate that final-year BEd students are quite unprepared to teach mathematics in primary schools, revealing very significant shortcomings in ITE curricula. CPD, where it is well designed and rigorously evaluated, has been shown to have small effects on both teacher knowledge and learner performance. However, unless ITE is reformed at the same time, CPD becomes a never ending task of making marginal differences to the shortcomings of each successive cohort of qualified but incompetent teachers emerging from the universities. Conclusion: While the weak state of governance in the civil service remains a major obstacle to improved schooling, and while every effort must be made to raise the capacity of inservice teachers, maximal leverage in boosting teacher capacity sits firmly with the universities. While CPD has, at most a few hours a month to bridge huge gaps in teacher knowledge, ITE has at its disposal four years of full-time study with young, plastic minds.

STUDENT EXPERIENCES OF IMMIGRANT TEACHERS IN SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS

1. Introduction Educational reforms in South Africa have been framed by legislative policies that promote democracy and human rights. The South African Schools Act (Act No 37 of 1997) catalysed by the Bill of Rights and the South African Constitution formalised the process of desegregation of schools in South Africa. As a result of these constitutional measures, the public schooling system in South Africa has undergone radical changes. It created the opportunity for students from diverse cultural backgrounds to attend public schools of their choice; as much as this choice was determined by extraneous factors such as high school fees, travelling distances, language of instruction, amongst others. It also created the opportunity for teachers of any race group to teach at public schools. Furthermore, it created the opportunity for black (Indian/ African) immigrant teachers to be employed at public schools in South Africa. A vast number of black (Africa/Indian) immigrant teachers who are employed at South African schools come from the African continent, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Consequently, many South African learners have for the first time been exposed to these immigrant teachers. What is the ethos of reception that South African learners provide to immigrant teachers? What are the reactions of South African learners towards immigrant teachers? What are some of the challenges that South African learners encounter? What are some of the opportunities? What lessons can be learnt from these experiences? Accordingly, this study asks, what are students' experiences of immigrant teachers in South African schools? Against this context we developed a project to look at experiences of immigrant teachers in general and more specifically how they reconstruct and renegotiate their professional identities in this new context. The findings are discussed in some publications (Vandeyar, Vandeyar & Elufisan 2013). In focusing on students that were taught by these immigrant teachers, as a means of triangulating the data, it became evident that talking about their experiences of immigrant teachers meant also that they expressed views and opinions about South African teachers. The portrait that unfolded was one of immigrant teachers juxtaposed against South African teachers. The picture they created about South African teachers is troublesome in its negativity. The purpose of this paper is twofold; to explore South African learners' experiences of immigrant teachers and to establish in detail what the negative picture of South African teachers is about and what implications it holds for South African society. The findings are presented and subsequently analysed and discussed in an attempt to unpack learners' experiences of immigrant teachers in South African schools? 2. Background context The advent of democracy in South Africa witnessed the reincorporation of South Africa into the international arena and also the dissolution of South Africa's fortified borders which allowed more people and goods to enter the country effortlessly (Klotz 2000). Before 1994 only white Europeans were allowed to enter South Africa as professionals while black Africans were restricted to the supply of unskilled labour such as farm labourers and mine workers (Adepoju 2003). During the apartheid era it was government policy to relentlessly limit black immigration and actively encourage white immigration (Morris 1998: 1118). The relaxation of fortified borders particularly afforded immigrants from other African countries that were previously denied access, to now freely enter South Africa. This easier access brought about challenges and opportunities for black immigrants. First, it exposed many black immigrants, especially those from African countries, to xenophobic violence (Sharp 2008; Steinberg 2008). One of the reasons for these attacks is that some South Africans, especially black African South Africans (1) perceive immigrants from African countries as competitors for available jobs and resources (Stemmett 2008; Hassim, Kupe & Worby 2008). …

Funding inclusive education for equity and social justice in South African schools

The implementation of inclusive education in South African schools has resulted in more demands being placed on them to make provision for the inclusion of learners with special educational needs in mainstream classrooms. This has brought about substantial changes regarding school financing in order to cater for a diverse learner population. This generic qualitative study conducted through interviews with 9 secondary school principals from formerly disadvantaged and advantaged schools, as well as policy document analysis, investigated the current school financing practices for inclusive education in schools aimed at attaining equity and social justice. During this study data were analysed using inductive content analysis. The findings of the study suggest that although provision has been made in terms of the National Norms and Standards for School Funding policy, schools, especially those in previously disadvantaged communities, are not adequately and suitably resourced to implement inclusive education fully.

Reconceptualising the Physical Sciences Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement in a South African Context

Post-apartheid South African curriculum reforms, from outcomes-based education (OBE) to the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), resulted in different challenges. Teachers, in particular those teaching Physical Sciences in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase from Grades 10-12, were expected to cope with changes and master Physical Sciences curriculum for the attainment of good results, but were unable to do so because they were missing an understanding of curriculum concepts. The success of any curriculum depends on ten fundamental and broad curriculum concepts: rationale, goals, activities, assessment, accessibility, resources, content, roles, environment, and time. However, empirical findings show that Grade 12 Physical Science teachers in South African schools still struggle to understand and contextualise curriculum concepts in order to redefine specific CAPS Physical Science concepts. Consequently, this conceptual study uses Van den Akker (2004) curriculum spider web concept framework in reconceptualising Grade 12 CAPS Physical Science concepts. This study argues that teaching without knowing specific subject curriculum concepts can lead to poor teacher performance and poor subject results, this study concludes by proposing a formal, non-formal and informal framework for CAPS Physical Science to resolve this.

Inclusive Education at a South African University: Awakening the Sensitivities and Democratic Consciousness of Pre-Service Teachers

One of the chief goals of inclusive education is to provide pre-service teachers with a learning environment and prospects that enable them to become independent, responsible and critical educators. This study sought to determine how pre-service teachers at a South African university experienced inclusive education training. A purposeful sample of 6 pre-service teachers was selected. Data were collected using open-ended questionnaires which were exploratory in nature, and then analysed thematically. Findings showed inter alia that studying inclusive education proved to be an “eye opener”: students were enlightened to various aspects of being an educator: (i) curriculum differentiation, (ii) diversity, (iii) learners’ rights and (iv) the fact that learners experiencing various barriers to learning can be accommodated successfully in regular classrooms. It was revealed that studying inclusive education allowed pre-service teachers to appreciate the scope, value and higher purpose of teaching. The study shows that awareness of inclusive education enriches the training of pre-service teachers in South African schools.

Perspectives of GIS Education in High Schools: An Evaluation of uMgungundlovu District, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) education in South Africa and elsewhere has been envisioned to be a strategy that can contribute to new ways of teaching, learning and understanding. However, very few studies have assessed how GIS is taught in South African high schools. Consequently, this study aims to analyze GIS education dynamics and perspectives in uMgungundlovu District, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. A survey with both open and close-ended questions was conducted with geography educators and geography students. Questions focused on GIS content, how the content is taught, challenges in GIS education, educators’ GIS proficiency and GIS education perspectives. The sample was guided by purposive sampling that intentionally selected schools with the desired qualities. From the results, it was evident that GIS is progressively taught in secondary schools. However, the full potential of GIS education has been restricted by challenges such as inadequate resources and limited exposure of students to GIS’s practical uses. Subsequently, the study recommends that GIS education in South African schools should be accompanied by appropriate hardware, software and opportunities for exposing students and educators to practical methods of teaching and learning GIS. Furthermore, educators should also be trained to be able to adequately equip students with GIS skills and knowledge.

THE SUPPORTIVE ROLE OF SCHOOL MANAGEMENT ON THE WORK SATISFACTION OF MALE TEACHERS IN A SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOL DISTRICT

The paper focused on a specific research group (male teachers); firstly because of the shortage of male teachers in South African schools, and secondly, because male teachers are more dissatisfied in their overall work environment than female teachers. This study aimed to investigate, from an educational management perspective, the factors that influence job satisfaction amongst male teachers in schools in a sampled school district in Mpumalanga province. Throughout the study, it became apparent that male teachers are more likely to leave the South African education system than their female counterparts. A quantitative research approach was used to investigate factors affecting job satisfaction amongst male teachers distributing Likert-scale questionnaires amongst male teachers in selected schools in the district. The results of the study provide an outline of the crises that teachers in South Africa schools are facing, while the statistics and information portrayed in this study help to paint a picture of their work environment. A shortage of teachers, increasing learner enrolment and work overload are enough to create a highly stressful profession. Aspects identified as factors that affect job satisfaction amongst male teachers are the professional development of teachers, capacity building of teachers through collaboration and teamwork, effective support systems to teachers by management, workload of teachers, effective leadership of the principal, effective management of learner behaviour, positive work experiences by teachers, emotional distress of teachers and positive feelings towards teaching as a profession.

Analysing the hegemonic discourses on comprehensive sexuality education in South African schools

Despite the mixed public responses, the South African Department of Basic Education decided to issue its detailed comprehensive sexuality education scripted lesson plans for testing in schools. I conducted a desktop review by searching for digital newspapers in the online archive Sabinet References using six key terms such as "comprehensive sexuality education", "schools", and "South Africa." In total, I retrieved 128 newspaper articles and selected 83 for a Foucauldian discourse analysis underpinned by governmentality theory. The newspapers reported on marches, letters, and press conferences from various stakeholders such as parents, learners, teachers, and other social figures. Some stakeholders were in favour of the rollout while others were against, but of interest was the seemingly neutral position of those whose reporting was presented in a balanced, non-biased manner. In this paper, I aim to make sense of this neutrality in addition to the views in favour of and against the rollout while suggesting implications for educational settings.

An approach to re-skilling of in-service teachers in Physical Education in South African schools

During the past two decades, curriculum restructuring in South Africa has had some unintended consequences; one of these being the unrealistic demands expected from Life Skills (LS) and Life Orientation (LO) teachers. Physical Education (PE) finds itself within the multi-faceted subject of LS/LO, therefore the teacher, often without requisite training, has to be accountable for the dissimilar demands of this multidisciplinary subject. The continuing professional development needs are undoubtedly just as diverse as the subject itself is. The aim of the study was to explore an approach for capacitating in-service LS/LO teachers responsible for teaching PE. The research reported in this article employed a qualitative design, which comprised semi-structured interviews with 10 Subject Advisors of LS/LO in the Free State. Themes that emerged from the data analysis were assessment problems, inappropriate allocation of teachers; rotation of teachers; and lack of knowledge and understanding; which culminates in the need for in-service training. The results of this study indicate the necessity for re-skilling of in-service LS/LO teachers and propose an approach for a re-skilling programme to equip these teachers with the essential knowledge and skills to teach PE proficiently. Keywords: continuing professional development; Life Orientation; LO teachers’ needs; Physical Education; re-skilling

Investigating sexuality education in South African schools: A matter of space, place and culture

Sexuality education has faced various challenges in being successfully implemented within secondary schools in South Africa. Research points towards barriers thereto, which include teacher bias and limited knowledge as core mediators to socially-just education. Research in the subject of Life Orientation, specifically the theme of sexuality education, has largely focused on teacher responses and challenges within the teaching of sexuality. Scant research, however, exists on how schools as a systemic whole manifest and sustain sexuality education. This research article is guided by the primary question: how do schools, from a systemic level, mediate sexuality education in relation to space, place and culture? As such, the research reported in this article encompasses a systemic approach to understand how sexuality education is maintained within schools. Through purposive sampling, 12 participants from 6 schools in the Free State province were chosen to take part in semi-structured interviews. The sample of participants comprised Life Orientation teachers and school principals and co-managerial staff. Through the framework of cybernetics, it was found that schools face different challenges in relation to their geographical place, as well as the space within which they reside socio-economically. Core themes that emerged from the data include curriculum boundaries and teacher knowledge. We further found that culture influences how sexuality education manifests within a specific context.

Home as a primary space: Exploring out-of-school literacy practices in early childhood education in a township in South Africa

Background: Early childhood education is essential in bridging home and school literacy practices; however, recognising the home as a literacy space remains a challenge to educators in South African schools. Aim: The aim of this article was to explore children’s literacy practices, often through play, and the potential implications this might hold for their future careers as readers and writers. The article conceptualises home as the primary domain where literacy develops. Setting: The study was conducted in a multilingual township in South Africa. Methods: We engage with key theories in sociocultural studies and new literacy studies, as well as key ideas from young children’s learning experiences with family members and peers during play. Methodologically, we undertook a case study in which we conducted interviews with parents, guardians and educators, as well as conducting home observations of the children’s literacy practices. Results: We confirmed that children’s out-of-school practices have the potential to support literacy development in school, and we concluded that children interact with multiple discourses during their everyday practices and play. Conclusion: Although there is a general lack of knowledge and understanding of these discourses by educators, these interactions have the potential to enhance schooled literacies.

Sexuality education in South African schools: deconstructing the dominant response to young people’s sexualities in contemporary schooling contexts

ABSTRACTSouth African schools are tasked with providing sexuality education through the Life Orientation curriculum as a means of challenging continued high rates of HIV, unwanted pregnancy and gender-based violence. While in theory schools are well positioned to provide appropriate knowledge for reproductive health and navigating sexual challenges within a gender justice framework, research on sexuality education in South African schools indicates that this is not the reality in practice. This paper draws on a growing body of qualitative studies, with both educators and learners in South African schools, to understand the issues undermining the goal of a critical and social justice pedagogy of sexuality in Life Orientation classrooms. We argue that sexuality education has been deployed to regulate and discipline young sexualities, reinforce and perpetuate gender binarisms and heteronormativity, re-establish global northern family values of the nuclear family within a pro-family discourse, and represent continued assumptions of adult authority in a civilising mission over young people. We suggest that the failure to make critical use of Life Orientation is linked to the dominance of ‘expert’-based didactic pedagogy, and argue the possibilities of sexuality education as a productive space for young people’s active participation and agency in making meaning of gender and sexualities.

Analysing Principals’ Policy Perceptions of Educators’ Disciplinary Procedures: Cases in Gauteng Province, South Africa

A disciplinary process in respect of educators in South African schools can be a tedious and sometimes a lengthy process. The disciplinary process has sometimes yielded positive results but there is also a concern by school leaders about the effectiveness of this policy, as in some instances results have shown the opposite. Therefore, this study analyses the perceptions of principals in respect of the policy on educator’s disciplinary procedure. The study adopted a generic qualitative research design. Qualitative data was collected from a purposefully selected sample of twenty principals by means of in-depth interviews. An inductive analysis framework was used to analyse qualitative data. Among the findings was that principals seemed less confident about the effectiveness of the policy on disciplinary procedure in respect of educators. One of the recommendations then is that a policy review is necessary to deal with perceived policy flaws.