The View from Above: Map Reading Skills Project

In South Africa the education system for black children is fraught with problems. These problems are the direct result of apartheid and have been compounded by poverty and illiteracy. In this article the problem of poorly qualified or unqualified teachers is discussed especially with regard to the teaching of map skills to children in their fifth school year. The project team needed to develop affordable materials which could be used in large classes by teachers after a very short period of training. Books and other materials which are available commercially were examined, but for various reasons were found to be unsuitable for local conditions. After determining the extent of the problem, the project team followed a grassroots process of developing a flip chart which teachers learnt to use with confidence and which enabled pupils to master the concepts and skills necessary for understanding a map.     

Use of the Rasch measurement model to explore the relationship between content knowledge and topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge for organic chemistry

Research has shown that a high level of content knowledge (CK) is necessary but not sufficient to develop the special knowledge base of expert teachers known as pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). This study contributes towards research to quantify the relationship between CK and PCK in science. In order to determine the proportion of the variance in PCK accounted for by the variance in CK, instruments are required which are valid and reliable as well as being unidimensional to measure person abilities for CK and PCK. An instrument consisting of two paper-and-pencil tests was designed to assess Grade 12 teachers CK and PCK in organic chemistry. We used the Rasch measurement model to convert raw score data into interval measures and to provide empirical evidence for the validity, reliability and unidimensionality of the tests. The correlation between CK and PCK was estimated as r = .66 (p < .001). We found evidence to suggest that while topic-specific PCK (TSPCK) develops with increasing teaching experience, high levels of CK can be acquired with limited teaching experience. These findings support the hypothesis that CK is a requirement for the development of TSPCK; proficiency in CK is, however, not necessarily associated with high levels of TSPCK.     

The View from Above

Abstract

In South Africa the education system for black children is fraught with problems. These problems are the direct result of apartheid and have been compounded by poverty and illiteracy. In this article the problem of poorly qualified or unqualified teachers is discussed especially with regard to the teaching of map skills to children in their fifth school year. The project team needed to develop affordable materials which could be used in large classes by teachers after a very short period of training. Books and other materials which are available commercially were examined, but for various reasons were found to be unsuitable for local conditions. After determining the extent of the problem, the project team followed a grassroots process of developing a flip chart which teachers learnt to use with confidence and which enabled pupils to master the concepts and skills necessary for understanding a map.     

Addressing South African Pre-service Teachers’ Sentiments,Attitudes and Concerns Regarding Inclusive Education

This article recounts the findings of a study that investigated pre-service teachers’ attitudes and concerns regarding inclusive education and their degree of comfort when interacting with people with disabilities after completing courses on inclusive education. One hundred and eighty pre-service teachers from one higher education institution in South Africa completed the Sentiments, Attitudes and Concerns about Inclusive Education Scale. They were all being prepared to teach at either the primary (41%) or secondary (59%) level of education. Pre-service teachers’ mean scores on the sentiments scale increased following the intervention (p < 0.001), as did the mean scores on the attitudes scale (p < 0.001). However, mean scores related to their concerns decreased (p = 0.01). With respect to the latter finding, as a result of the intervention the pre-service teachers became more worried about resources to support inclusive education (p < 0.001), the reality of large classes (p = 0.01) and their workload (p = 0.04). Recommendations based on the research findings are made, suggesting that the quality of courses on inclusive education should be enhanced in higher education institutions.     

Including Learners with Intellectual Disabilities: stressful for teachers?

Since 1994 the demand to educate learners with special needs within mainstream classrooms in South Africa has continued to grow and the implementation of inclusive education is in the final process of legislation. The result has been that an increasing number of learners with disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, are being included in mainstream classrooms. International research indicates that it is especially the acceptance of learners with intellectual disabilities that seems to raise the most sensitive issues for teachers within inclusive classrooms. This research study was designed to investigate the stressors related to the specific situation of including a learner with an intellectual disability in mainstream classrooms and the subsequent stress levels of teachers in the Gauteng and Western Cape provinces of South Africa. The design and methodology of this study was a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. Fifty-five teachers were purposefully selected to complete a questionnaire focusing on the effect of potential stressors on teachers when including a learner with an intellectual disability. In-depth structured interviews were conducted with 10 of these teachers. This project is highly significant as policies of inclusion rely on teachers' acceptance of them, belief in their worth, and ability to cope. An understanding of the conditions that are likely to cause teachers most stress during inclusion will allow for more appropriate teacher training and for more focused support to teachers in inclusive classrooms.     

Confidence versus Performance as an Indicator of the Presence of Alternative Conceptions and Inadequate Problem‐Solving Skills in Mechanics

This study investigated the use of performance–confidence relationships to signal the presence of alternative conceptions and inadequate problem‐solving skills in mechanics. A group of 33 students entering physics at a South African university participated in the project. The test instrument consisted of 20 items derived from existing standardised tests from literature, each of which was followed by a self‐reported measure of confidence of students in the correctness of their answers. Data collected for this study included students’ responses to multiple‐choice questions and open‐ended explanations for their chosen answers. Fixed response physics and confidence data were logarithmically transformed according to the Rasch model to linear measures of performance and confidence. The free response explanations were carefully analysed for accuracy of conceptual understanding. Comparison of these results with raw score data and transformed measures of performance and confidence allowed a re‐evaluation of the model developed by Hasan, Bagayoko, and Kelley in 1999 for the detection of alternative conceptions in mechanics. Application of this model to raw score data leads to inaccurate conclusions. However, application of the Hasan hypothesis to transformed measures of performance and confidence resulted in the accurate identification of items plagued by alternative conceptions. This approach also holds promise for the differentiation between over‐confidence due to alternative conceptions or due to inadequate problem‐solving skills. It could become a valuable tool for instructional design in mechanics.     

Promoting the implementation of inclusive education in primary schools in South Africa

The British Index for Inclusion was selected to be used in three primary schools in the Western Cape Province in South Africa in order to develop a South African model to assist in the development of inclusive schools. The Index for Inclusion process entails progression through a series of five developmental phases and this paper, written by Petra Engelbrecht, professor in educational psychology and special education and senior research director at Stellenbosch University, Marietjie Oswald, lecturer in special education at Stellenbosch University, and Chris Forlin, associate professor in special education at the Hong Kong Institute of Special Education, is a reflection of the first two phases. Qualitative data were generated from the consultative process followed in the schools during the first phase and both qualitative and quantitative data from questionnaires regarding the perceptions of all school community members on the inclusive practices or lack thereof in their schools during the second phase. The authors drew out the following five themes from the three sets of data: an inclusive school philosophy; democratic leadership, structures, processes and values; collaboration; addressing learner diversity; and resources. Petra Engelbrecht, Marietjie Oswald and Chris Forlin, all of whom were working on a UNESCO-funded project to trial the use of the Index for Inclusion in South Africa, suggest that these themes provided invaluable insights into both the common and unique complexities, the problems and the assets of the different school communities. The themes are discussed in detail in this article, raising fascinating issues for the development of inclusion in different contexts around the world, and will be used to inform the three remaining phases of the Index for Inclusion process.     

Beyond the Rhetoric of Empowerment: Speak the Language, Live the Experience of the Rural Poor

Growth in rural communities, along with attendant changes in social, economic and environmental conditions, challenges members of these communities to take even more responsibility for their lives than in the past. While there is a need to promote sustainable economic prosperity, it is important that developmental approaches should not compromise the potential of citizens to meet these challenges independently. The present contribution is based on a phenomenological study that explored approaches to community development in Botswana. One of the key findings was that these were dominated by a bureaucratized welfare scheme, as the government gave free food and farming implements to poor people in an approach referred to as atlhama-o-je (‘open-your-mouth-and-eat’). The present contribution reflects on the consequences of using this type of approach, arguing that instead of bringing real hope to the rural poor, it generated counterproductive attitudes. In conclusion, the authors suggest alternative strategies that take account of the life experiences of the rural poor and render them less dependent on government intervention for their well-being.