Wits School of Education (ETDs)

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A social realist perspective of academic advising in a South African higher education context: a study of practices and practitioners
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) De Klerk, Danie
The South African higher education sector has numerous challenges to contend with. Students' prospects of success are often vulnerable to uneven secondary schooling, structural and material constraints, massification of the sector, and a range of other factors. In this thesis, I argue that academic advising has the potential to help find responsive and sustainable solutions to address these challenges. Academic advising is well established in the global north. In contrast, it remains an emerging field of practice in South Africa, with a dearth of literature about how advising is developed and practiced within the country’s unique higher education context. This thesis aims to contribute to the limited knowledge base about advising as a practice and the work of academic advisors as practitioners in South Africa. The study provides a social realist perspective of the emergence of advising within a South African higher education context. It draws on Margaret Archer’s work on structure, culture, and agency, the morphogenetic approach, and the notion of stratified layers of social reality to analyse data, make inferences, and draw conclusions. This is a qualitative study that adopts a mixed methods approach. The research paradigm is phenomenological, while phenomenographic principles are used selectively to advance the objectives of the study. The data that informs the study consists of a quantitative baseline dataset and qualitative data collected through semi structured interviews with 15 academic advisors working at the University of the Witwatersrand. As this is a PhD by publication, the thesis consists of four interconnected papers (i.e., chapters), bookended by introduction and conclusion chapters. The first paper provides insights about advising as gleaned from the baseline data, while the second draws on the same data to highlight the impact of students’ structural and material constraints on the work of academic advisors. Papers three and four use interview data to glean academic advisor insights about advising prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. The thesis concludes by highlighting the transformative potential of academic advising for South African higher education yet cautions that a major shift in the way advising is perceived and practiced is required for its potential to be realized.
An investigation of challenges experienced by Physical Sciences novice teachers when teaching Electric circuits in Grade 10 science classrooms: A case of Johannesburg North District schools
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-10) Nkuna, Hlayisani Tracy; Stephen, Mmapaseka; Mushayikwa, Emmanuel
The National Senior Certificate (NSC) diagnostic reports over the years have shown that learners perform poorly in electric circuits in the Grade 12 Physical sciences final examinations. This has raised concerns to identify the underlying reasons behind this. The learners’ performance is often linked to the teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. This study sought to understand the challenges that physical sciences novice teachers experience when teaching electric circuits in Grade 10 as well as the factors that contribute to these challenges. In understanding the challenges experienced by the novice teachers, this study was underpinned by Bhaskar’s (1978) theory on Critical Realism as a theoretical framework to reveal the teachers’ challenges in relation to their content and pedagogical knowledge. In conjunction to this, the study was guided by Archers’ (1995) constructs of the Social Realist Theory. The two theoretical frameworks were used to analyse the data, using stratified levels of reality from critical realism and analytical dualism from the social realist theory as an analytical tool. Employed in this study was the qualitative case study research design. The data was collected through twenty online questionnaires and five individual online semi-structured interviews with physical sciences novice teachers from the schools in the Johannesburg North district. These instruments were used to provide an in-depth account of the challenges experienced by the novice teachers and their contributing factors. The study found that the novice teachers experienced challenges with the lack of specialized resources such as fully functional laboratories and content related challenges, such as misconceptions, gate-keeping concepts and teacher centred approaches. The findings also revealed that despite being technologically oriented themselves. The findings also revealed that the novice teachers experienced challenges with the use of ICT in their teaching of electric circuits, owing to a variety of reasons related to the context of the school, their pre-service training as well as general beliefs about ICT. The study recommends that teacher training programmes should perhaps look into firstly, teaching the pre-service teachers more on how to improvise, given that most schools lack resources and secondly, the methodology courses need to consider focusing on how to equip the teachers with the correct conceptions of the main concepts of electric circuits in order to minimise the misconception perpetuated by the novice teachers as well as build they confidence in the instruction of electric circuits. The rationale for this study was on the grounds that there is not much physical science education research clearly accounting for the challenges experienced by the novice teachers post the millennial generation and the COVID-19 pandemic. This study provides ground for other researchers to explore the nature of science teaching with this current generation (generation Z). The findings from the research study reveal that the current generation experience challenges beyond content knowledge, such as a short attention span. In light of this finding, this study suggests that future research should be aimed at incorporating the technological aspect of teaching in science topics in order to make the science topics interesting and relevant to the learners.
An investigation of Grade 6 learners’ conceptual understanding of task words and subject terminology in Natural Science and Technology formative assessments on the topic ‘Electric circuits’
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-09) Soloman, Bridgette; Padayachee, Kershree; Mandikonza, Caleb
The purpose of this study was to gain insights into grade 6 learners conceptual understanding of the task words (used in Bloom’s taxonomy) and key words (subject terminology) in the subject Natural Science and Technology (NST). This study was motivated by wanting to understand whether the possible cause of learners’ poor performance in assessments was due to their lack of understanding of assessment questions. This was investigated through a case study conducted on 101 grade six learners at a South African primary school. Learners wrote a written test on the topic: electric circuits which was subsequently marked using a memo. Based on their scores obtained 14 learners were selected and grouped into 4 focus groups based on high, average, low scores, and a mixed group. The focus group discussions explore what were learners interpretations of the task words and subject terminology used in formative assessments. The transcripts were analysed both deductively and inductively. The data analysis revealed that grade 6 learners do not conceptually understand the task words and subject terminology used in NST formative assessments. The findings revealed that learners’ interpretations depended on their understanding of either the task word or subject terminology, that the different meanings of words in colloquial English compared to academic language influenced their understanding of words, and that learners did not know how to approach assessment questions. The implication of this study is that NST teachers need to both tap into learner prior knowledge and collaborate with English teachers to assist learners understand assessment questions. The recommendation is that more time needs to be allocated for teaching task words and subject terminologies.
An investigation of how a lecturer uses discussion to promote meaning making during the teaching of the topic of Excretion to 3rd year preservice Life Sciences teachers
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-10) Nyaloku, Malebo; Mandikonza, Caleb
This study seeks to investigate how a lecturer uses discussion to promote meaning making during the teaching of the topic of Excretion to 3rd year preservice Life Sciences teacher. The process of meaning making includes how people understand and make sense of the content. Qualitative research was conducted to investigate how a lecturer uses discussion to promote meaning making. In this study, I used an interview and observations of video-recorded lectures on Excretion. The participant in this study is a Life Sciences lecturer at the university of the Witwatersrand. Data analysis involved watching the video-recorded lectures, transcribing them and coding transcripts to identify how discussion was used to promote meaning making and having a semi-structured interview with the lecturer responsible for teaching Excretion to 3rd year preservice teachers. The findings from this study shows that discussion promotes meaning making when students engage with the lecturer, the teaching and learning materials and with other students, which allows them to share ideas and make meaning of the intended knowledge.
Exploration of calculation strategies in doubling and halving with grade 3 learners
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-03) Mtsweni, Thobile; Asvat, Zaheera Jina
A crisis reported is that the majority of learners do not achieve development in number sense. Unit counting is the preferred method of counting, and consequently, fluency and conceptual understanding of numbers are lost. This study addresses the need for early intervention that focuses on the progression of learners towards the use of more efficient strategies. Specifically, the study aimed to explore doubling and halving strategies with Grade 3 learners through an intervention to develop learners’ calculation strategies using the adapted pre-test, intervention, and post-test from the Mental Starter Assessment Project (MSAP). The sample included 24 Grade 3 learners, which comprised a control group and an intervention group. The study employed Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, which focuses on how learners process new knowledge. Findings indicate that before the intervention, the learners in the control and intervention groups relied on counting strategies to solve doubling and halving problems, and the alternative strategies that were used were not clear. The intervention group was exposed to the various doubling and halving representations of the strategy. However, the findings show that the intervention group performed only slightly better in the strategic calculating and strategic thinking categories than the control group. These findings indicate that a shift in learning can happen, albeit slower than expected. Further research is needed across contexts and learners to indicate ways in which the intervention could be improved.
How are the relationships between South African universities and development understood?
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Molebatsi, Palesa Malehlohonolo
Many development scholars argue that universities can and should address societal problems of poverty, inequality and unemployment. There is international literature that argues, in particular, two things: firstly, that certain economies thrive because they are knowledge driven; and secondly, that universities play a central role in preparing workers for the labour market. That same literature also goes on to argue that under-developed countries should emulate these economies, because this is a good way of achieving development. Thus, an increasing number of researchers and policy-makers in South Africa are interested in how universities do today, and can in the future, contribute to development. Empirical studies have been conducted analysing the relationship between South African universities and development. Yet, the evidence that exists, while useful, remains superficial. Specifically, it gives partial or incomplete analyses of the dynamics underlying the relationships between universities in South Africa, and development. The purpose of this study is to build an understanding of those dynamics. I develop an extended analytic framework with three ideal types (The Abstract University, the Entrepreneurial University and the Developmental University) and analyse two data sets, with the main finding that South African universities do not make significant entrepreneurial or developmental contributions to development. Simultaneously, they are expected to perform more welfare activities as part of their functions. I argue that a Welfare ideal-type university is emerging in South Africa which seems to undermine the essential core of the university: the development and acquisition of knowledge. A floundering can be observed with respect to the purpose, the norms and the form of the university in South Africa, with the result that the role of universities is increasingly loosely defined. This analysis illuminates a specific aspect of the relationship between universities and development in South Africa, namely that it is a two-way one: different approaches to development nationally and within universities lead to changes in the nature of the university, which in turn affects development. In the case of South Africa, where emphasis is placed on welfare activities, the question arises whether universities will continue to be universities in the future
Investigating the psycho-social challenges of Implementing Inclusive Education among Learning Support Teachers at Metropole East Education District, Western Cape
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Khoboko, Nkepeng Esther; Charamba, Erasmos; Aloka, Peter
The Implementation of inclusive education in schools is yet to reach expected levels in South African schools. Previous research has focused on teachers but very scanty research has been done among learning support teachers. This study examined psychological and social challenges of implementing inclusive education among South African learning support teachers. The following research questions were addressed in this study: (a) What are the psychological challenges of implementing inclusive education among learning support teachers? (b) What are the social challenges of implementing inclusive education among learning support teachers? (c) What kind of support do learning support teachers require to successfully implement inclusive education? The study adopted a qualitative approach and a multiple case study of five primary schools in the Metropole East Education District, Western Cape, was conducted. Through semi-structured interviews, data from ten participants was gathered. The five criteria of credibility, dependability, confirmability, transferability and authenticity were used to assure the trustworthiness of qualitative data. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The study found that learning support teachers are psychologically and socially challenged when they have to implement inclusive education. The learning support teachers did get some support from the district officials but this was not sufficient to make them fully implement inclusive education in schools. Teachers expressed their deep concern about the lack of parental involvement, as it makes the SIAS policy referral process challenging. Moreover, teachers expressed that they were stressed out and burned out as a result of a variety of events that made their job to be stressful. The study concludes that the learning support teachers’ psychosocial challenges when implementing inclusive education remains a major concern for teachers in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Although the education department has implemented a number of strategies to help manage the psychosocial challenges of teachers, these methods mostly focus on the learners, leaving teachers with ongoing social and mental health issues. The study recommends that social workers, psychologists, and therapists should be stationed in schools, or alternatively, ordinary mainstream schools should be transformed into full-service schools.
Investigating the usefulness of careership theory for understanding career decision-making among Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) engineering students
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-09) Mamogopodi, Lesley Thuso; Tshabalala, Themba; Ramsurap, Presha
Most of the South African research on career guidance and career decision-making is focussed in the schooling sector and towards university pathways. There is little research with regards to career decision-making in the TVET sector except for the recent research of Maluleke (2022a) who investigated student views regarding what influences their career decisions. This current research study aimed at investigating the usefulness of careership theory for understanding career decisions among TVET engineering students at a selected TVET college in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Since the theory informing the study was conceptualised and used to understand the UK TVET context, this study sought to test its affordances for understanding career decision-making in the South African TVET context. The study firstly determined the factors that affect career decision-making and secondly investigated the usefulness of careership theory in understanding those factors. Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews, the study firstly examined the factors that influenced career decisions among first and final year engineering students. Secondly, since the study was aimed at testing careership theory in the South African TVET context, the theory was used as a conceptual framework for analysing the data. The three aspects of the careership model of career decision-making that derive from careership theory were used to interrogate the data to firstly uncover the factors at play in the career decision-making process and secondly, to investigate whether those factors can be explained in light of careership theory. Significant others were not only found to influence career decision-making but they proved to wield power of influence over respondents. Career decision making among TVET engineering students showed to be characterised by turning points. Careership theory proved to be an ideal theory in explaining career decision making in a South African TVET context. The young people proved to have a sense of urgency in their career decision-making and most of them did not receive career guidance prior to enrolling at the TVET college.
Professional learning communities for inclusive pedagogy: what teacher talk in professional communities reveals about teacher professional identity and agency
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Kimani, Anne Wacango Muguro
In-service teacher learning for inclusive pedagogy seeks to address the perceived lack of capacity for teaching in inclusive classrooms in South Africa. Research suggests that teachers feel underprepared for this task, and that the prevalent delivery models for this learning, workshops, and short courses, have done little to enable sustained inclusive practices. This study took a new direction, arguing that simply acquiring knowledge and skills for inclusive teaching misses the need to focus on teacher professional identity and agency. The professional and institutional change required for teachers to be pedagogically responsive to a range of learners, demands that professional learning address teachers’ immediate realities, be a long term, school-based professional learning programme. A three-year study in a full-service school in Johannesburg, South Africa, investigated teacher talk within professional learning communities (PLCs). PLCs are situated in practice and can promote and sustain teachers’ learning over an extended period. Wenger’s (1998) theory of learning as social practice and Sfard and Prusak’s (2005) theory of identity as narrative provided analytical insights into identity and agency in the PLCs. The subject focus of the PLCs was inclusive pedagogy, and the analysis was based on the Inclusive Pedagogical Approach in Action (IPAA) (Florian & Spratt, 2013). Using a Critical interpretivism perspective, teacher talk in the PLCs and individual teacher interviews were analysed. Analysis of teacher talk in relation to the IPAA revealed two themes of talk: Inclusive Talk and Difference Talk. “Difference Talk” showed that the enactment of inclusion cannot be rigidly defined and demarcated in advance in every situation or in every instance or be abstracted from time and place. A nuanced interpretation of difference may help researchers avoid the binary distinctions about inclusive education and inclusive pedagogy and deficit interpretations about teachers’ practices. The findings show that even though teachers talked about enacting inclusive pedagogy they did not consider themselves inclusive educators. They implied that since they had not had ‘special education training’ they could not consider themselves as inclusive educators despite saying that they had taught in an inclusive manner. Participation in the PLCs enabled teachers to negotiate meaning and create a coherent community. A coherent community allowed teachers to challenge their perspectives about teaching inclusively and to share their experiences. This study contributes a conceptual understanding of the interplay between teachers’ professional identity and the sociocultural contexts of PLCs, and how teacher talk can mediate teacher learning for inclusive pedagogy. The findings could be of interest to teacher educators in designing professional learning communities for inclusive pedagogy
Rethinking Physical Science Practical Work in the remote teaching and learning context: A case of a South African University
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-10) Mashaphu, Tshegofatso; Zulu, Sphamandla I.; Mushayikwa, Emmanuel
This study focuses on exploring pedagogical and learning practices and approaches to practical work in the remote teaching and learning context. The aim was to investigate the physics practical work under remote teaching and learning conditions given that the practical work is traditionally laboratory based. The study used Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) and Vygotsky’s concept of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). This case study generated its data through the analysis of practical work manual documents and individual semi-structured interviews with participants. The participants included a physics education lecturer, a physics education specialist who was the consultant in charge of creating practical work manuals for remote practical work, 3 laboratory demonstrators, and 3 pre-service teachers. The findings of this study revealed that physics practical work was conducted in the form of kitchen-table experiments to give a sense of hands-on practical work to pre-service teachers. Also, in the remote teaching and learning context, the designed practical work presented some Challenges for teaching and learning, even though opportunities were also imminent with this approach. Moreover, the findings indicate that several factors influenced the design, implementation and learning of the practical work. Such factors included network connectivity, limited availability/access of the recommended simple materials, and the preservice teachers’ willingness to actively participate in the practical work sessions on the WhatsApp platform and lastly the findings suggested that the use of digital technologies was central to both teaching and learning practical work under the remote context.
Teachers’ experiences of giving support and implementing inclusive education in a township school in Kimberley, Northern Cape
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-08) Yeboah, Adu; Charamba, Erasmos; Aloka, Peter
Implementation of an inclusive education policy in South African schools was a major milestone because it corresponded with the advancement of the theory of Ubuntu, which is at the heart of South Africa's educational framework. The policy's implementation in schools was also consistent with the right to education for all, as enshrined in the Republic of South Africa's Constitution of 1996. However, despite the initiatives on inclusive education, the level of implementation is still below expected standards. The study aimed at examining the experiences of teachers in giving support and implementing inclusive education in a selected mainstream township public secondary school in the Frances Baard education district of Kimberley, Northern Cape. The study adopted a case study design within the qualitative research approach. Purposive sampling was used for the selection of 12 teacher participants from one mainstream public secondary school in the township of the Frances Baard education district of Kimberley. Semi-structured individual interviews were used to collect data from the 12 teacher participants, and the collected data was thematically analysed. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems theory and Social Model of Disability guided the studies. According to the findings of the study, teachers implemented a variety of inclusive practises; however, teachers perceive inclusive practises differently, and how they are implemented varies. Furthermore, the findings revealed that some teachers are unable to implement the inclusive education policy due to barriers related to the teachers themselves, barriers within the school system, and barriers emanating from the community in which a school is located. It was also revealed that teachers used a variety of support strategies to assist students, such as changing seating arrangements, implementing remedial lessons, and allocating extra reading time to struggling students. In contrast, some teachers prefer to work collaboratively with learners' parents to provide needed support, whereas others prefer to work alone. The study concludes that, in terms of implementing inclusive education in South Africa, there is a mismatch between what is happening on the ground and what is supposed to happen in the classroom. Despite this, pockets of success have been recorded in the implementation process. The study recommends that the Department of Education consider retooling teachers, instituting teacher training programmes, raising awareness, investing in the policy, and adopting a collaborative approach.
Understanding Anxiety, and its Implications for Teaching and Learning: A Perspective on Freud and Others
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-06) Ally, Adila; Aloka, Peter
This dissertation is conceptual in nature rather than empirically-oriented and explores an understanding of learning and motivational theory in an attempt to study various formulations of the concept of anxiety, dating back to those presented by the foundational figure of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. It is noted that Freud did not develop a single theory of anxiety- but at least three and arguably as many as eight over the lifetime of his career. Such hesitancy and uncertainty is not interpreted by this dissertation as indecision, rather it is read as uncertainty being a core element in the meta-modelling of anxiety itself. Refracted through Lacan -- who performs a reinterpretation of Freud in a way that produces a unique formulation of the concept that seems to invert Freud's own definition -- and through J. B. Watson, this dissertation develops a novel concept of anxiety as being mimetic in nature, relying Girard's concept of mimetic desire for this purpose. Moscovici's social representation theory, Latour's inter-objectivity, Bandura's triadic structure of observational learning, Foot's studies on Double-Effect problems, the Rashōmon Effect in the narrativisation of data and Seligman's learned helplessness are also used in developing the novel concept of mimetic anxiety. Thus after recognising four variants of anxiety -- a unified Freudian "object-loss" anxiety, Lacanian "overabundance" anxiety, Watsonian "commodity" anxiety and the novel concept of "mimetic anxiety" -- this dissertation proceeds to gauge interaction between these and the learning theories of Pavlov, Skinner, Piaget, Vygotsky and Gagné, and the motivational theories of expectancy value, achievement goal, and self-determination theory. In observing a case study of the flipped classroom model of teaching, Gagné and expectancy value seem to predict the emergence of Watsonian anxiety, the only variant of the four which allows for extinction of anxiety. However, the flipped classroom model, expectancy value motivation and Gagné's methodology together continue to address deeper challenges developed by mimetic anxiety and the synetic (not synthetic) demand placed on Girardian interdividual subjects by technology. Further use of the flipped classroom study is made to explore Freud's throwaway comment that economics might explain the concept of anxiety-as-signal, whereupon Hayek is found to introduce the concept of price-as-signal. This synchronicity forms the basis for considering Freud as necessarily heterogeneous and yielding of increased depth if paired with outside disciplines. In conclusion, the Flynn Effect is suggested as a significant driver of Freudian recession into insularity and from digitally mediated interaction, insinuating advocacy for the flipped classroom model.
Variation in Teachers’ Choice and Use of Examples within a Mathematics Department: Affordances in The Introduction of Functions
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-10) McLachlan, Kathryn Anne; Essien, Anthony A.
In mathematics classrooms, the examples that teachers choose and use impact the affordances for learning that are offered to their students. This study investigates to what extent such affordances for learning might differ within different teachers’ classes within one mathematics department at a school in Johannesburg. In the department that was analysed, teachers have the agency to choose their own examples and to structure the teaching of mathematical topics themselves. In a case study design, three teachers from this department were observed teaching their two introductory lessons on Grade 10 functions. All of the examples used in their lessons were extracted and analysed using variation theory. The examples were first analysed in and of themselves, and then with the teachers’ mediation. The teachers were also interviewed to provide insight into their intended object of learning for the lessons. Of interest in the analysis was how the multiple representations of functions were integrated in the lessons. The analysis indicates that the affordances for learning across the three classes differed substantially, both regarding the sequencing of objects of learning within the topic of functions, and in the aspects and features that were opened up for discernment. These findings raise questions regarding how much agency teachers within one department should have in structuring the teaching of objects of learning and in selecting examples to use in their lessons.

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