Learning In South Africa Research Articles

COVID-19 and the Digital Transformation of Education: What Are We Learning on 4IR in South Africa?

The study sought to assess the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic in motivating digital transformation in the education sector in South Africa. The study was premised on the fact that learning in South Africa and the rest of the world came to a standstill due to the lockdown necessitated by COVID-19. To assess the impact, the study tracked the rate at which the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) tools were used by various institutions during the COVID-19 lockdown. Data were obtained from secondary sources. The findings are that, in South Africa, during the lockdown, a variety of 4IR tools were unleashed from primary education to higher and tertiary education where educational activities switched to remote (online) learning. These observations reflect that South Africa generally has some pockets of excellence to drive the education sector into the 4IR, which has the potential to increase access. Access to education, particularly at a higher education level, has always been a challenge due to a limited number of spaces available. Much as this pandemic has brought with it massive human suffering across the globe, it has presented an opportunity to assess successes and failures of deployed technologies, costs associated with them, and scaling these technologies to improve access.

Rural online learning in the context of COVID 19 in South Africa: Evoking an inclusive education approach

This paper discusses the challenges faced by rural learners in South Africa in the context of the world pandemic commonly known as COVID-19. Rural learners face unprecedented challenges in adjusting to a new mode of life and learning, the latter being characterised by the predominant use of online, learning management systems and low-tech applications. The paper is informed by critical emancipatory research, I used participatory action research. A total of 10 learners and five teachers participated via Whatsapp. The paper answers two questions: what are the learning challenges faced by rural learners in South Africa, and how can online learning be enhanced in the context of COVID-19? The findings suggest that, while the South African government is promoting online learning as the only alternative in the context of COVID-19, this mode excludes many rural learners from teaching and learning, due to a lack of resources to connect to the internet, the learning management system, and low-tech software. The paper argues that rural learners are critical stakeholders in education and in the fight against COVID-19, and they cannot be left behind in efforts to fight the pandemic.

Decolonising Design Education through Playful Learning in a Tertiary Communication Design Programme in South Africa

AbstractThis article introduces playful learning as part of the decolonising project at institutes of higher learning in South Africa with specific reference to the discipline of communication design. Not only does the article interrogate the content of design education, specifically design for development, but more specifically the way that design for social innovation is taught. The article begins with a contextualisation of the decolonisation debate both locally and internationally, which is followed by a brief historical overview of formal design education. Design education’s trajectory informs the contemporary conception of design as a form of rhetoric. Design and play are then interfaced theoretically, and pragmatically through a case study to explore how deeper learning was made possible by play in a curriculum‐based project. Ultimately, the article aims to highlight the value of playful learning in design higher education to nurture alternate modes of design thinking that favour localised practice, intersubjective relationships between designers and their stakeholders and the enabling of students’ self‐realisation through real world experience.

The effect of limited sign language as barrier to teaching and learning among Deaf learners in South Africa

In the study reported on here we investigated the effects of sign language barriers among Deaf learners in special schools for the Deaf and Blind in the Motheo District in the Free State province of South Africa. Semi-structured focus group interviews were held with 7 teachers (2 males and 5 females) and 10 Grade 8 learners (6 males and 4 females) who used sign language as their first language. We employed a qualitative research approach and data were collected, themes identified, and learners were observed in their natural classroom environment. Open-ended questions were used when interviewing the teachers and learners of the selected school. South African Sign Language (SASL) is used as language of learning and teaching in schools for the Deaf. A qualified sign language interpreter translated the data. The results of the study show a lack of in-service training in SASL for teachers. It was found that learners acquired language at school rather than in the home environment, and a lack of physical resources were responsible for the learners’ poor performance. We recommend that universities offer SASL as common subject – especially for education students. Keywords: Deaf learner; medium of instruction; performance; sign language

Language and Identity: Multilingual Immigrant Learners in South Africa

Increased multilingualism and mobility have witnessed an increased focus on multilingual immigrant learners. This study aims to help educators understand experiences of immigrant students in South Africa that relate to language and identity by comparing such experiences across three different school settings: an urban school with a high (Black) immigrant and indigenous population, a former Indian school, and a former White school. Drawing on semi-structured interviews from a larger case study, this study makes visible the immigrant learner experience in multilingual settings in which xenophobic conditions arise. The findings reveal similarities as well as differences in individual identity construction and negotiation and its vital connection to language. Furthermore, they illustrate ways in which these learners must navigate xenophobic trends, exclusive language pedagogies, and language loss. The implications of this study point to a call for policy, practice, and research to take into account multilingual immigrant learners as well as a need to attend to the social construction of identities.

An investigation into the early literacy skills of English second language learners in South Africa

This study employs the Comprehensive Emergent Literacy Model (CELM) theoretical framework, as it refers to the impact of context on learning early literacy skills. It is relevant to this study as the participants were English second language learners from cultures, communities, and demographics different from those of English first language speakers in South Africa. Early literacy skills, specifically phonological awareness (PA), are predictive of later literacy success. Many English second language (EL2) learners are unable to develop language and early literacy skills. Foundational skills such as general PA skills, often need explicit instruction to prepare the learners to learn to read in English. Twenty-one EL2 Grade 1 learners in an English medium private school in South Africa were selected as participants. Early literacy skills were assessed at the beginning of Grade 1. Reading, spelling, and reading comprehension skills were assessed after two terms in Grade 1 to determine if there is a correlation between early and later literacy skills. Results indicated significantly strong positive correlations between early literacy and later literacy skills. These results and previous research suggest that EL2 learners must be exposed to high-quality early literacy skills as early as possible to provide them with a foundation for future literacy success.

Exploring video games and learning in South Africa: An integrative review

Exploring video games and learning in South Africa: An integrative review

Translanguaging pedagogy in selected English First Additional Language writing classrooms

Research shows that English language proficiency remains a barrier to learning among second language learners in South Africa. This article foregrounds the utility of translanguaging practices in teaching writing to English First Additional Language, Further Education and Training (FET) learners in South Africa. Five secondary schools in the Pinetown District participated in the study. Qualitative methodologies were adopted, using classroom observations of English writing lessons in the five schools. Guided by sociocultural theory, the study highlights the extent to and ways in which translanguaging is useful in enhancing learning of writing in this context. The findings suggest that bilingual teachers creatively employed translanguaging practices for pedagogical and pastoral purposes. In situations where the integration of isiZulu and English better explained writing concepts, translanguaging was found to enhance learners’ cognition of the writing concepts and to stimulate active participation in the learning of writing. The findings also suggest that translanguaging is a useful learning resource in multilingual contexts where the use of English only is an obstacle to effective learning. Finally, translanguaging recognises values and respects languages that bilingual learners bring to the school from home, and this restores learners’ identity.

Perceptions of cyber bullying in primary and secondary schools among student teachers in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

AbstractCyber bullying has become a topical issue among school learners in South Africa. However, there is very little guidance for schools on how to deal with cyber bullying from the South African Department of Basic Education. This study investigated the perceptions of cyber bullying in primary and secondary schools among student teachers in the Eastern Cape. The study made use of a quantitative survey approach to collect data from 150 student teachers at a university in the Eastern Cape. The student teachers were representative of all four of the school phases. The results indicated that cyber bullying is a serious issue at the schools but that the topic has not been incorporated into policy or the school curriculum yet. The recommendation of the study is that the South African Department of Basic Education must provide a standardized policy that schools can use to implement and enforce cyber safety behavior in the schools.

Contribution of teaching assistants to quality education in Grade 1 classrooms

Grade 1 learners in South Africa are not receiving the quality education they deserve. Early Childhood Education forms the basis of all education; however, numerous challenges in the South African education system impede the teaching and learning of young children. In this article we investigate Grade 1 teachers’ responsibilities in the class and the teachers’ management of the complex teaching environments. Qualitative data using semi-structured interviews with 9 Grade 1 teachers and teaching assistants (TAs) at 6 schools were used to gain insight into and explore various perspectives on the need for the services of teaching assistants in Grade 1 classrooms. The participants were selected from public, private and rural schools, using purposeful sampling, to allow for a broad spectrum of inputs. Findings indicate that participants regard the presence of teaching assistants as a necessity in Grade 1 classrooms as it allows the teacher to focus on quality teaching. The support provided by teaching assistants contributes to the quality of the learning facilitated by the teacher and allows learners access to the individualised attention that they need. Keywords: assistant; early childhood education; educational challenges; Foundation Phase; Grade 1; learners; support; teacher; teaching assistant

Exploring the Psychometric Properties of Two Primary Domains in the Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (R-OBVQ) among Primary School Learners in South Africa

This study examined the psychometric properties of two primary domains in the Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (R-OBVQ) in a convenience sample of 272 Grade 6 and 7 primary school learners in Gauteng, South Africa. This appears to be the first study to explore the psychometric properties of the self-report scale among a South African sample of primary school learners in Grade 6 and 7. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed that two distinct factors lay beneath the surface of the items tested (i.e., ‘being victimised’ and ‘bullying others’), and in combination explained 48.63% of the variance. Further results from the item analysis indicated that both factors were soundly reliable, yielding Cronbach Alpha values of .85 and .81, respectively. Notwithstanding the insight indicative in the results, the current study adopted only one technique to explore the factor solution in the data. As such, only modest support for the validity and reliability of the R-OBVQ is provided. Further research of the scale using (partial) confirmatory factor analysis among South African primary school learners is warranted.

Perplexing the Liquid University

Recent confrontations across institutions of higher learning in South Africa have brought into sharp focus that universities, though they may market themselves as spaces of critical citizenship, are not satisfying the desires of a large section of the students who occupy them. The outbreaks of protests that are untidy and discomfiting – students disrupting classes, occupying the built fabric of the university, or staging spectacular demonstrations – have signaled the possibility that the economy of knowledge-exchange symbolized by universities is exclusionary for these students. The psychic cost of these disruptions has yet to truly be measured. But what has become apparent is that we have entered a transitional after-moment that warrants reading. Indeed, as the surging waters of ‘Fallism’ ebb from the university, it becomes necessary to rethink the ways in which the forms of violence enacted by the universities to defend their solidity demonstrated the limitations of their current form. This article is impelled by the notion that there is no single ‘university’ approached by both students and the network of employees who orchestrate its functions. It asks what other potentials might be realized if we think of the university as a liquid space, rather than a rigidly unyielding one.

Learner Support through a Supplementary Learner Support Program for Marginalized Rural Learners in South Africa

Learner Support through a Supplementary Learner Support Program for Marginalized Rural Learners in South Africa

Kinds of Support Offered by the Disability Unit to Students with Disabilities at Institutions of Higher Learning in South Africa: A Case Study of the University of Venda

More and more tertiary institutions are now focusing on the mainstreaming and inclusion of students with disabilities. Some higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa have established so‑called Disability Units (DUs) to offer specialised services to students with disabilities, to facilitate access and integration of these students at their institutions. For many students with disabilities, the DU services are the first point of contact. These units work to facilitate access and ensure participation in the university for students with disabilities. This involves making “reasonable adjustments” and providing support for students with disabilities to ensure full participation and equal opportunities. Students with disabilities who will need support and alternative arrangements range from students with hearing impairments, visual impairments, physical impairments, health impairments (such as chronic illness), learning impairments, or psychiatric disabilities. Although universities, both locally and internationally, may systematise support in slightly different ways, many universities follow similar trends to accommodate and support students with specific disabilities as per their needs. Appropriate support systems in teaching and learning are vital in ensuring equal access for students with disabilities. The commitment of the institution to facilitating support and participation depends on its willingness to change admission, curricular and assessment procedures, as well as physical accessibility of the institution. We have seen from the literature that support for students with disabilities varies from country to country (Lane, 2017; Mantsha, 2016). We followed a qualitative research approach and adopted a case study research design to understand the phenomenon of student support better. We used classroom observations, document analysis and focus group interviews to collect data. Ten students with disabilities participated in the study. The study found that the DU of the university played an important role in supporting their studies. However, the students did not receive adequate additional support from their lecturers such as tutorials and differentiation of the curriculum. Shortage of learning materials specifically adapted for students with disabilities was mentioned as a weakness. The study recommends that lecturers should be trained on how to teach and support students with disabilities as this will enhance the quality of teaching and learning for these students. Other recommendations include that the DU should establish an online interactive portal for its registered students to increase communication between students and the university.

Radical inclusion: Students with disabilities’ professional learning in South African higher learning

Abstract Inclusion of all in learning and workplace spaces has continued to be an urgent agenda for democratic governments and relevant stakeholders in higher learning, globally and in South Africa particularly. However, whilst the focus is on this, the original idea of inclusion has been lost, resulting in different versions which stakeholders ‘tick off” as meaning inclusion. By virtue of a misconstrued idea of inclusion, students with disabilities in higher learning contexts are individually accommodated rather than included. This empirical paper isolates what the key stakeholders supporting disability at a specific institution of higher learning in South Africa, consider as inclusion and how students with disabilities are fitted into the system, rather than a total institutional transformation, in which all students are included in their diversities. The paper recommends a radical inclusion as a re-invention that can recapture the original idea and discourse of inclusion which has been lost.

Exploring the effects of an environmental education course on the awareness and perceptions of climate change risks among seventh and eighth grade learners in South Africa

Anthropogenic climate change caused by the release of excessive greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere is the biggest challenge of the 21st century. Man-made climate change threatens the biosphere on which all forms of life depend. Climate change requires human effort to manage the impact of extreme events such as droughts, flooding, and heatwaves. As such, human decision-making processes are crucial for the successful management of climate change impacts. The decision-making process include awareness and perception of climate change risks. Awareness and perceptions of (natural) hazard risk are determinants of human response (adaptation) to environmental shocks (climate change and variability). To this end, this study explores the effects of an environmental education course on the awareness and perception of climate change risks among seventh and eighth grade learners in South Africa. This exploratory study collected primary data through the implementation of emergent participation tools in focus group discussions with learners (n = 23). These emergent participation tools are the Problem tree and the Hazard, Impact and Vulnerability matrix. Responses from a comparison group were juxtaposed with those of environmental education beneficiaries through a qualitative content analysis technique. Findings reveal that environmental awareness has an effect on perceptions of current and future climate change risks. Learners are concerned about short-term risks more than long-term risks. Short-term risks such as meeting basic needs and dealing with criminality are priorities over long-term risks such as climate change. A daily struggle to meet these basic needs represent the local context and discourse within which learners view and experience their world. Learners do perceive the causal linkages between different climatic and non-climatic risks. Drawing such causal linkages raises awareness and perception and this cause-effect relationship is necessary for behavioural change. Environmental education is necessary to raise the awareness and perceptions of learners to environmental risks such as climate change. More studies are required to explore the topic of environmental education on raising awareness and perceptions of environmental risks such as climate change with head of households.

Piloting national diagnostic assessment for strategic calculation

In this paper, we share the results of the piloting of national diagnostic assessments for strategic calculation with Grade 3 learners in South Africa. The diagnostic assessment pilot intervention was focused on promoting strategic use of calculation strategies and aimed to move learners on from the concrete one-to-one counting methods that persist in this grade and into higher grades. Working with a broader team of mathematics education specialists, including international leaders in the field and department of education representatives, we designed a series of assessments that focus on key calculation strategies such as bridging through ten. Each assessment, comprised a pre- and repeat post-assessment, was accompanied by interim lesson starters for teacher use in eight 10-min mental mathematics sessions. These were designed to develop learner fluency in each of the focal strategies and related skills. The pre- and post-assessments allow teachers to track improvement in student learning. The pilot focused on the “bridging through ten” strategy in seven classes across the Eastern Cape and Gauteng provinces. Positive results indicate that the format of these assessments paired with the lesson starters is potentially useful for broader national trialling and implementation. This work feeds into the need for diagnostic assessments that inform teaching focused on strategic efficiency rather than simply accepting correct answers produced through highly inefficient methods.

A comparative study on teaching and learning Chinese characters by primary non-native Chinese learners in South Africa and China

Given China’s fast-growing economy, more people have been motivated to learn Mandarin; however, many encounter challenges in learning the complex characters and consequently abandon it. In view of South Africa’s decision to introduce Mandarin as a second additional language in schools (by choice) and China having to cater for non-native Chinese learners in certain schools, the University of South Africa and the Zhejiang International Studies University agreed to embark on a collaborative research project with an emphasis on the teaching and learning of Chinese characters. Qualitative comparative case studies were employed and multiple data collection tools were used, including interviews, questionnaires, lesson observations, and volunteer participant learners and researchers involved in a Chinese characters exercise. A qualitative comparative case study was conducted in order to narrate a cross-unit comparison, comparing and contrasting the findings. Inductive qualitative content analysis of both sets of data (South Africa and China) was done, and three common themes emerged. The data from South Africa and China are discussed individually under the three themes. Common considerations or factors regarding the teaching and learning of Chinese characters are identified, which makes it possible to incorporate them in an eclectic approach (based on lessons learnt by both research parties) in South Africa and China. This comparative study also informs a facilitative process to implement the introduction of Mandarin as a second additional language in South African schools.

Students' perceptions of some factors influencing academic achievement at a rural South African university

Research has shown that a major challenge facing higher education institutions in South Africa is the success of students in their studies. The long-term plan to increase the participation rate in higher education in South Africa highlights the need for universities to investigate the factors that influence students' success. The present study explored participants' perceptions of factors influencing academic excellence achievement. A qualitative design was used. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire with open-ended questions. The ten respondents (5 males and 5 females) for the study were conveniently selected from a historically black institution of higher learning in South Africa. The data were analyzed through content analysis. The results indicate that students' academic achievements are influenced by various factors, such as self-motivation, self-discipline, peer support, and lecturers' teaching approaches.

Attitudes of academicians towards Gender Equality at Institutions of higher learning in South Africa

Attitudes of academicians towards Gender Equality at Institutions of higher learning in South Africa