Doctoral Degrees (Education Studies)

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Certain the curriculum ; uncertain the practice : palliative care in context.
(2012) Campbell, Laura.; Amin, Nyna.
This study opens in a critical paradigm and explores the previously unheard experiences of caregivers who have been trained in and who practice palliative care in a context of rural African, isolated, profoundly impoverished homes. Instead of a healthcare focus, the study used curriculum theory to provide a fresh look at and to better understand palliative care in context. Curriculum theory distinguishes a curriculum as preactive (espoused) or interactive (enacted), and preactive and interactive curricula for palliative care were compared and interrogated as exemplarity of a circumstance when a curriculum is transported into a context other than that where it originated. The study offers several contributions to health sciences, including a link between curriculum theory and palliative care, and provides deep insights into the experiences of those who practice palliative care with limited guidance and support from senior healthcare professionals. In the 1970s palliative care developed in a hospital context in the United Kingdom as a response to ideas which included that society is death-denying and that medicine and associated sophisticated technology act to render patients passive spectators in care decisions. An aim is to coordinate and plan care which includes a focus on empowering patients and their families by giving them choices around living with a life-shortening illness and dying as comfortably and peacefully as possible. A common theme is an intention to relieve or prevent suffering, and palliative care services have developed throughout the world. Palliative care is delivered by healthcare professionals acting within a multidisciplinary team who provide care at various sites including hospitals, homes and hospices. Palliative care has been introduced to post-apartheid South Africa relatively recently, and the preactive palliative care curriculum is largely based on notions of palliative care which developed in a European context while the interactive curriculum is enacted in rural African homes. Ideas around palliative care may not have a universal or rigid quality, but may represent an agreement among people in a certain context and the unexplored introduction of such ideas into another context may potentially give rise to a hegemonic flow of ideas. Systemic challenges around healthcare in Africa may preclude a patient from having choices in their healthcare. The agency of patients may be undermined by their material living conditions. The study site was rural KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, where the incidence and prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus are the highest in the world. Study questions revolved around a curriculum as a source of knowledge for practice and experiences of a context and practice. Data sources were twofold: firstly a palliative care curriculum text was scrutinized and analyzed in terms of who is cared for, place of care, work of caregivers and palliative care; and secondly data from participants (nurses and home-based care workers) were analyzed to produce deep insights into their experiences of practising in context. Data were generated using a visual technique of “photo-elicitation”, where participants were invited to discuss photographs they took to convey their experiences, and analyzed inductively using naturally emerging themes. Curriculum data indicated that patients should be offered palliative care when there is awareness that they face a life-limiting illness, and a focus was on home care. The espoused curriculum foregrounded physical care and placed less emphasis on aspects such as spiritual, cultural or psychosocial care; the curriculum was delivered at a site distant to caregivers’ practice. In South Africa the legacy of apartheid lingers, and data from caregivers revealed that physical conditions are harsh in that patients are starving, housed in makeshift shelters and face profound social challenges. Spiritual care and cultural care were highly valued, as patients map onto traditional beliefs and cultural practices Data revealed that caregivers were sometimes unsure, angry, felt powerless and could be placed in physical and emotional danger. Patients and their families valued some aspects of palliative care, such as preparing for death and bereavement support, but found challenges in understanding other aspects such as why caregivers did not appear to make attempts to cure disease. Juxtaposing study findings with published literature revealed that diametric worldviews of teachers and learners have an impact on curriculum delivery. The home could be a beneficial place for care but could also create challenges. The study theorizes beyond a palliative care curriculum, and in concluding the study I found that I must move from a critical to a post-structural paradigm. A critical paradigm seeks data around oppression and marginalization so that transformation may be enacted, and data indicated that aspects of the practice of palliative care were both empowering and disempowering for caregivers; they were empowered by being able to practice in an independent, autonomous way, but were also disempowered since the curriculum did not adequately consider context. The study unearthed no universal truth for a curriculum for palliative care; an African curriculum should take cognizance of an African context. I use the study findings to put forward a thesis around certainty in curriculum, and the study prompts understanding of certain curriculum in contexts that are uncertain. Key words: Certainty, curriculum, palliative care practice, context, rural homes
A comparative analysis of problem-solving procedures of a South Korean and a South African grade six mathematics textbook.
(2020) Moodley, Sathiaveni Duel.; Amin, Nyna.; Naidoo, Jayaluxmi.
Mathematical tasks play a critical role in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Textbooks have been valued as an important tool in the teaching-learning process of Mathematics. This study aimed to analyse how problem-solving procedures are represented in selected mathematics textbooks in South Korea and South Africa using a composite framework. In the past few decades, international comparative studies have transformed the way mathematics education is perceived and has provided insight for improving student learning in many ways. In this study, 6th Grade South Korean and South African mathematics textbooks were compared with textbook analysis frameworks and Polya’s 4-stage model being used to analyse data. The comparison involved textbook design features, and the criteria for their quality (visual design, nature of approach, cognitive demand, content, learning, teaching, structure, organisation, linguistics characteristics and internal organisation). The focus included the basic structure, curriculum weighting, colour-coding or use of colour, topic representation, introduction and conclusion of topics and non- textual representations. This study revealed similarities, such as the use of visuals, models, acting it out, guess and check and identify the pattern. The heuristics were present in both textbooks; however, the key difference being the South Korean textbook had been designed according to Polya’s 4 stagemodel, with several heuristics being integrated in the design process, which created a strong foundation in developing critical thinking skills. The more salient features of the South African textbook are key words, mathematic ideas and ‘did you know?’ information boxes which aid second language students in understanding mathematical concepts. This may account for the differences in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) results of the two countries, with South Korea scoring 1st while South African had been placed 47th. The implementation of a model in the design process (e.g. Polya’s 4 stagemodel and heuristics) by curriculum developers and textbook authors will result in the improvement of the quality of mathematical results as problem-based learning improves academic performance. The enhancement of students’ attitude towards problem-solving and progress in mathematics results by including differentiated learning materials in the mathematics textbook. This will cater for their varying levels of ability and the development of critical thinking and cognitive domains of knowledge.
A critical exploration of trainee teachers’ construction of primary school context during placement=Ukuhlola okuhlaziyayo kwemicabango yothisha abaqeqeshwayo bamabanga aphansi ngenkathi besaqeqeshelwa ezikoleni.
(2022) Thondee, Meda Charisma.; Amin, Nyna.; Mariaye, Hyleen.; Ankiah-Gangadeen, Aruna.
The journey of this thesis started when I joined a teacher education institution as lecturer. My sociology background drew me towards the primary school as a placement site as I was enthusiastic about grasping the experiences of trainee teachers while being their teaching practice tutor. The negotiation that the trainee teachers made between what they acquired as theoretical knowledge and the in-situ understandings of the primary school as their future workplace was astounding. It was this first observation which triggered my curiosity to start the study with them as knowers of school contexts while considering their personal assumptions, memories, gaze, and experiences as pivotal lenses. By doing so, their stories, narratives, anecdotes are not just described as personal productions but are expressed as their social constructions situated in time, space, and place. The temporal element expresses the specific period of teacher training when the data is collected but also when the trainee produces the data. In other words, the data gets constructed in the temporal context which I term placement period. The spatial element refers to the visibility of the trainee teachers as knowers with a voice, who has an empowering presence in the knowledge production process in the sense that their voice demystifies power relationships, ideological structures about teaching and learning practices. Their participation in the study represents a breathing space to divorce themselves from the vernacular of power which might be pejorative to school administrators, mentors, and academics. The study explores those personal accounts as a force which contains a collection of personal and individualized accounts which are attached to memories and experiences of those trainees. Lastly, the notion of place also refers to physical make up of placement sites, i.e., primary schools. With the exceptions of one, all the trainee teachers participating in this study have experienced placement to more than one primary schools during their teacher training periods. This opportunity allowed them to encounter the heterogeneity of school contexts as they learn their craft. In this study I explore the nature of trainee teachers’ construction of primary school context and in doing so trace the cognitive maps of their professional journeys as knowledge producers. By doing so, the study opens avenues on policy decisions and reforms aroundteacher training and professionalization a context where teaching is constantly scrutinized and subject to adaptations school contexts. A critical interpretivist outlook is exploited to gauge at the different ways in which trainee teachers construct these contexts while being on placement. Eight participants on primary pre-service training were selected using purposive sampling strategy. The data produced are derived from participatory approaches namely, transect walks, interviews and conversations around collages and photography taken by the participants. To keep the richness and authenticity of the data, the findings were presented thematically and in verbatim as they are narrated by the participants. These themes presented enable the creation of key sociological concepts to explain how construction takes place in this study and finally leads to the thesis building, which aims at scholar contribution in the field of teacher professional socialization and sociology of knowledge. This thesis consists of ten chapters and is divided into three broad sections. Section one describes the context, background, and rationale of the study (chapter one), followed by a literature review (chapter two), theoretical framework (chapter three) and research methodology (chapter four). Section two unravels the research findings and analysis (chapter five to seven) and finally section three presents the key theorization, thesis building and conclusion (chapter eight to ten). Iqoqa Uhambo lwalolu cwaningo lwaqala kusukela ngifika esikhungweni sokuqeqesha othisha ngiyofundisa khona. Isisekelo sami somkhakha wezokuhlalisana kwabantu wangiholela esikoleni samabanga aphansi njengenkundla yokuqeqeshela ngoba nganginesasasa lokuthola amava othisha abaqeqeshwayo, lapho mina nginguthisha wabo welingekufundisa. Ukuxoxa kothisha abaqeqeshwayo ngalokho ababekuthola njengolwazi lobunjulalwazi nalokho abakuqonda-ngqo esikoleni samabanga aphansi njengendawo yokusebenza yekusasa, kwakumangaza. Yilokhu kwethamela okwaqubula ukufisa ukwazi kimi ukuba ngiqale ucwaningo nabo njengabantu abazi kangcono izimo zasesikoleni ngenkathi ngiqaphela ukuhlawumbisela kwabo, izinkumbulo, ukubheka, namava njengezinsizakubuka ezimqoka. Ngokwenza kanjalo, izindaba, izingxoxo, nezindatshana zabo akuyizo nje ezakhiwe ngumuntu ngamunye kodwa zixoxwa njengemicabango yenhlalobantu emayelana nenkathi, umkhathi nendawo. Umunxa wenkathi uveza ngqo inkathi yokuqeqeshwa kothisha lapho kwakhiwa imininingo kodwa nalapho futhi umqeqeshwa ezakhela imininingo. Ngamanye amazwi, imininingo yakhiwa esimeni senkathi engiyibizwa ngokuthi yinkathi yokujutshwa yakhe. Umkhakha womkhathi uthinta ukubonakala kothisha abaqeqeshwayo njengabaziyo futhi abanephimbo, ubukhona babo okunikeza amandla endlelenikwenzeka yokukhiqizwa kolwazi ngokomqondo othi izwi labo lisombulula ubudlelwano bamandla, ukwakheka kwemicabango ngokwenzeka ngokufundisa nokufunda. Ukuzimbandakanya kwabo kulolu cwaningo kumele indawo yokuzahlukanisa nolimi lwamandla okungenzeka lube nokwahlulela kubaphathi besikole, abalolongi nothisha. Ucwaningo luhlola lezo zindaba zangasese njengamandla aphethe iqoqo lezindaba zangasese nezomuntu ngamunye ezihambisana nezinkumbulo namava alabo baqeqeshwa. Okokugcina-ke umcabango wendawo uthinta ukwakheka kwemicabango ngezindawo abajutshwe kuzo, okungukuthi izikole zamabanga aphansi. Ngaphandle koyedwa, bonke othisha abasaqeqeshwa ababambe iqhaza kulolu cwaningo sebeke bajutshwa ngaphezu kwesikole esisodwa ngenkathi yabo yokuqeqeshwa. Leli thuba labavumela ukuthi bahlangane nezinhlobonhlobo zezimo zasezikoleni ngenkathi befunda amakhono abo. Kulolu cwaningo, ngihlola umsuka wemicabango yothisha abaqeqeshwayo basesimeni sezikole zamabanga aphansi futhi ngokwenza kanjalo ukulandela amabalazwe emicabango ezindlela zabo zobungcweti njengabakhiqizi bolwazi. Ngokwenza kanjalo, ucwaningo luvula amathuba ezinqumo ngenqubomgomo nokubuyekezwa kokuqeqeshwa kothisha nobungcweti esimweni lapho ubuthisha bubukisiswa futhi buguqulelwa ezimweni zesikole nesikole. Ukubukeka okuhumusheka ngokuhlaziya kusetshenziselwa ukukala izindlela ezahlukene lapho othisha abaqeqeshwayo behlawumbisela lezi zimo lapho besajutshiwe. Kwaqokwa ababambiqhaza abayisishiyagalombili basohlelweni olwandulela olwamabanga aphansi kusetshenziswa isu lokuqoka okuyinhloso. Imininingo ekhiqiziwe yazuzwa ngezindlela zokuzimbandakanya okuyilezi; umgudu wokuhambisana, izimposambuzo nezingxoxo ngamaqoqo nezithombe ezathathwa ngababambiqhaza. Ukwenzela ukulondolozwa komcebo ngokwethembeka kwemininigo, kwethulwa okuzuziwe ngokwezindikimba zabukhoma ngenkathi kuxoxwa nababambiqhaza. Lezi zindikimba zethulwa ukwenzela ukusungulwa kwemiqondomsuka yezenhlaliswano yabantu ukuchaza ukuthi imicabango yakheka kanjani kulolu cwaningo futhi kugcine kuholela ekwakhekeni kwale thisisi eqondee ekunikeleni kwezifundiswa emkhakheni wobungcweti bothisha nasekuzejwayezeni ngenhlalo.
Discourse analysis of teacher and parent rhetoric about teachers’ work.
(2018) Nzimande, Mildred Nomkhosi.; Amin, Nyna.
Teachers and the work they do are often at the heart of debates on education. The literature is proliferated with discussions of teacher professionalism, intensification of teachers’ work and teacher stress. This study is an exploration of what teachers and parents think about teachers’ work and the explanations thereof. The intention was to explore, not only teachers’, but also parents’ everyday talk (rhetoric); that is, their conceptions, beliefs and taken-for-granted understandings about teachers’ work. The path to insight involved the use of a case study to produce data from six high school teachers and four parents of high school going learners. In-depth data were produced through one-on-one interviews with each teacher and parent participant, and through focus groups with each group of participants (teachers and parents separately). Laclau and Mouffe’s (2001) discourse theory was used as an analytical tool which provided lenses to identify, not only the taken- for-granted, but also the competing as well as the challenged or altered discourses (in the form of rhetoric). Juxtaposing teachers’ rhetoric with parents’ rhetoric revealed their points of similarities, differences and tensions. The analyses of both sets of data enhanced understanding of teachers’ work; moving it beyond parents’ and teachers’ beliefs. The study posits that the rhetoric is a class-based perspective. The rhetoric of parents (who come from low socio- economic class) showed that, despite their disillusionment about the negative attributes of teachers (such as laziness and unprofessional behaviour) parents are sympathetic towards teachers. I argue that parents from the low socio-economic background are sympathetic because they understand the plight of teachers who have to work with ill-disciplined learners, and sometimes under unbearable conditions of work. At the same time, I argue that teachers (who are middle-class) feel unsupported by the department of education, parents and school management; and as a result, teachers feel powerless to challenge some of the departmental policies they are expected to enact. The study suggests that a multi-layered support will be beneficial for teachers and it may enhance their work experience. Moreover, collaboration between teachers, parents, learners and the Department of Education, may improve learner achievement, hence contributing positively to teachers’ work.
Exploring doctoral students' theory choices in education.
Ramson, S. M.; Sookrajh, Reshma.; Amin, Nyna.
The use of theory, regarded as a set of structured lenses or frameworks through which phenomena can be systematically analysed or explained (Klette, 2012; Johnson & Christensen, 2007), and deemed central to the entire research process, is not without contention. Contentious issues relate to theory as occupying a nebulous position due to its borrowing from the natural sciences for academic legitimacy, and an inherent hegemony that entrenches the status quo (Thomas, 1997; Carr; 2006). Given the link between knowledge production and theory, and that locating a theoretical framework forms a major part of doctoral students’ deliberations, the study sought to explore and understand the process by which doctoral students chose their theories for their doctoral research. A review of the academic literature provided the historical and definitional aspects of theory, some of the contestations about the meanings and uses of theory, and an evaluation of issues as they pertained to particular developments within tertiary education and postgraduate knowledge generation. Although the social sciences have a diverse array of theories to choose from, the literature did not specifically reveal how doctoral students choose theories. Against this background, this qualitative study, which initially adopted an interpretivist case study approach incorporating purposive sampling, was located at the Faculty of Education at a university in South Africa and focused on five doctoral students who completed their doctoral theses in Education, in the period 2006 to 2011. The study asked the key questions, how do doctoral students choose their focal theories for their study, and why do they do so? To explore doctoral students’ theory choices, the study drew on the salient features of two dominant psychological and cognitive theories, viz., the Information Processing Approach and Prospect Theory (Beresford & Sloper, 2008; Payne & Bettman, 2004). The emergent data suggested that for the students in this study, factors like academic context, sociocultural background, intuition, worldviews and knowledge influenced their theory choices. However, several deeper issues emerged which the psychological and cognitive theories of decision-making were inadequate in addressing, particularly issues of power, and the dichotomies of east/west, north/south influences on knowledge generation. Due to the lack of criticality, and the inability of these models to provide a deeper analysis for the why question, the study motivated for the shift to a critical stance, underpinned by the Decolonial Turn, which included an array of positions that viewed coloniality as the problem confronting the modern world (Maldonado-Torres, 2011). The literature on Said’s Postcolonial theoretical views on Orientlalism, Gayatri Spivak on the subaltern, Southern Theory by Connell, and Decolonial Theory by Quijano, Mignolo and Grosfoguel was reviewed, and decolonial theory was used to analyse the data from a critical stance. It is suggested that while insertions from the North and West may continue to determine particular theoretical inclinations and choices of theory on the part of doctoral students in the periphery, an epistemic shift is occurring in the South. This is supported by the observations from the data that, participants tended toward critical, feminist, gender, postcolonial and postmodern theoretical underpinnings, were conscious of the impingement of West/Eurocentricism on their choices and knowledge production, and open to alternate knowledge frameworks. Finally, the concept of epistemic dissonance is proposed as necessary to delink from the status quo, suggesting it as a means to confront our assumptions about culture and history, and re-conceptualize our research in the context of sensitivity to difference, and facilitate a change in consciousness of students towards disrupting particular epistemic gridlocks on theory choices.
In search of a sustainability marketing curriculum : a critical exploration.
(2016) Pillay, Devika.; Amin, Nyna.; Suriamurthee, Moonsamy Maistry.
Sustainability has emerged as a broad-based global trend that impacts on the concept of ‘planet and people’. Consequently, the emergence of sustainability issues in the context of marketing theory, marketing curriculum and marketing practice is what is interrogated in this research study. Accordingly, this resulted in the formulation of questions around the conceptualisations of sustainability marketing and the relevance of sustainability marketing in the marketing curriculum. In order to facilitate the “Search for a sustainability marketing curriculum” the first research question was designed to identify the status and presence of sustainability marketing in the existing marketing curriculum. This initial phase of the research process involved a content analysis of higher education institutional handbooks and in some cases, marketing course outlines. The information from this phase of the research revealed the extent to which sustainability marketing was included or silenced within the marketing curriculum. The second research question of this study focused on uncovering the perspectives of those that have influence in the design and construction of marketing curriculum. These perspectives were linked to the ideological context in which marketing theory was viewed and how this may contribute to marketing curriculum transformation. This served as the catalyst to the second phase of the research study where a qualitative researcher lens was used to explore issues around sustainability marketing and the sustainability marketing curriculum. Additionally, the critical marketing paradigmatic context justified the use of critical case studies in accessing and producing data. The method used in the acquisition of this information was through participant interviews. The paradox between the Dominant Social Paradigm in existing marketing curricula and the ‘provocation’ for a socially responsive marketing curriculum such as a sustainability marketing curriculum was included as areas of enquiry in the participant interviews. Resultantly, the extension of this debate was facilitated through an understanding of the historical context of the development of marketing theory and the use of the theoretical and conceptual framework of the academic response to marketing by Arnold and Fisher (1996). Therefore, the participants’ accounts were displayed utilising a metaphorical lens in the form television screen imagery to represent historical eras in marketing theory development, television programme channels to represent participant’s paradigmatic orientation and television programme contents to represent the individual participant voices. Hence, the participants were portrayed as “The History Channel: The Apologists”, “The Business Channel: The Social Marketers” and “The Discovery Channel: The Reconstructionists”. The third research question of the study related to the theorising component of the study through an examination of why the participants held specific viewpoints related to sustainability marketing and the sustainability marketing curriculum. The data findings from the participant portrayals were further abstracted and resulted in the creation of a new curriculum response to marketing sustainability through the proposition of three new sustainability marketing curriclulum paradigms. The new sustainability marketing curriculum paradigm responses have been entitled “Curriculum Stagnators”, “Curriculum non-Traditionalists” and “Curriculum Transformers”. Additionally, this thesis proposed four different thematic categories in the understanding of the new curriculum paradigms namely: “The Sustainability discourse trend/fad; “The Skilling rhetoric”; “Restricted academic agency” and “Student participation in curriculum development. This resulted in three Meta themes which were used in the conceptualisation of a “Sustainability consciousness and curriculum redesign hierarchy”. The hierarchy suggested that higher levels of sustainability marketing consciousness would encourage marketing curriculum transformation and redesign. In so doing these new theorisations (sustainability marketing curriculum paradigms and the sustainability marketing consciousness and sustainability marketing curriculum redesign hierarchy) have advanced knowledge in the field of marketing theory and could potentially be used in the formulation of new marketing knowledge and marketing curricula. Additionally, the advancement of knowledge in the field of marketing can be extended through the recommendation for future research in suggested areas such as student perspectives of sustainability marketing in the marketing curriculum, academic agency and competencies in sustainability marketing and pedagogical approaches to teaching sustainability marketing in the South African context.
Influence of new curriculum policies on mathematics teachers' work.
(2017) Meeran, Safura.; Amin, Nyna.
The focus of this study is teachers' work and in particular the work of mathematics teachers as they orientate themselves to each curriculum policy change. Since 1994, with the eradication of apartheid and the change to democracy, there have been several changes in education through curriculum policies. This study, therefore, sought to explore the influence of new curriculum policies on mathematics teachers' work. Through literature it has been established that teachers' work is indeed complex, so there was a need to understand and critically analyse how each curriculum change has influenced their work. This study drew on Lèvi Strauss’ (1967) 'bricolage' to theorise the phenomenon of how new curriculum policies influences mathematics teachers’ work and to find out the reasons for it being influenced in that way. The concepts of state ideology, experience, social influence, context, 'governmentality' and cultural capital were used separately and integrated with each other through the theory of 'bricolage' to pursue an in-depth understanding of reasons why curriculum polices influence the work of mathematics' teachers in the way they do. Five mathematics teachers with 20 or more years of service, teaching grades 10 to 12, were sampled for this study. A case study methodology was used, using a single case, being mathematics teachers, to research this thesis. The methods chosen for the study were: visual drawings, semi-structured interviews and a focus group interview. Participants were first asked to do a visual drawing to show their work encumbrances with each policy change. These drawings were discussed during the first semi-structured, individual interview. Secondly, semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with each participant. Finally, the data collection culminated with the focus group interview with all participants. The data was analysed within themes using content analysis. The first data analysis chapter discusses how new curriculum policies have influenced mathematics teachers’ work and a critical analysis was done to determine why policies influence mathematics teachers' work in the way it does. The next data analysis chapter sought to find the differences, contradictions, inconsistencies and ambiguities that arose from the data from the first data analysis chapter. This gave a deeper insight into the work of teachers when they implement curriculum changes. The main finding was that policies contradict their principle of equity for all. New curriculum policies advocate equitable education for students, yet the curriculum prescription defies the possibility for this. Participants have articulated that the policies limited them to time frames which do not allow them to meet the needs of all students in their classroom. They feel de-professionalised as their agency is removed by the prescription of the curriculum and participants have to follow curriculum policy dictates. The mathematics teachers in this study have admitted to becoming exam-driven in terms of their work, because of the many challenges they faced when implementing new curriculum policies, as well as, because of their own past experiences. Trying to cope with the new content areas required in new curriculum policies, the added burdens of administration tasks inherent in each policy change, challenges of context and working with diverse students, have overburdened these participants. Many are stressed and feel that the issues they experience are not heard. In some ways these participants have endeavoured to use their agency to help them cope with content area challenges. They complete the syllabus by seeking professional assistance; some make decisions of integrating methods even with the challenges of limited time frames in using new curriculum policies and one participant uses technology to ease his work burdens. However, the context was different for each participant and the work challenges differed according to the context. What is also apparent is that participants do implement new curriculum policies in the way they assume it should be implemented and show no resistance to doing so. Teachers' work is indeed burdensome, challenging and complex. Each curriculum change brings more burdens and teachers have to start all over again with more work challenges. While change is inevitable, and has been accepted by many of the participants, contextual issues, lack of pedagogical, context and content knowledge, teachers' own cultural capital and centralisation of new curriculum policies have added to the burdens of the already over-worked teachers.
The relationship between social media and academic performance: the case of high school students in a Nigerian private school.
(2019) Ngelale, Roselyn Lebari.; Amin, Nyna.
This research explores in detail the relationship between social media and academic performance of students, using a case study approach with a sample of 12 Nigerian students. This study was driven by the perception that students immersed themselves in social media activities to the detriment of their academic function. The qualitative data generated from emic accounts of participants revealed three factors that may address the inconsistencies found in previous studies. The first is tied to the longstanding historical and socio-cultural practices of schools that informs curricula definition of academic activities. The traditional definition of academic activity is narrow, and disregards digital natives’ definition of what is considered to be academic activity, thus hindering their performance. Academic performance is a relative concept; if the curriculum defines academic activity in an inclusive way, then there is a positive relationship, but if it excludes learning areas that participants find on social media and consider relevant, there is no relationship. Therefore, the relationship between social media and academic performance depends basically on the philosophy of each school and how they choose to define, interpret and implement academic activities from which academic performance is derived. Secondly, the data revealed that participants regarded a combination of both social media context and academic context as yielding more academic benefit than a single one. However, it is only when the academic instruction supports students’ needs that the academic gap between both contexts is bridged. Thirdly, participants reported that social media enabled them to learn more, know more, think deeper, do more and achieve more, making them more able to adapt their knowledge and be efficient in solving academic problems. A major concept that surfaced in the data is personal effort. Participants all attributed their academic success to hard work, meeting teachers, researching books and social media and that neither social media nor traditional settings on their own contributed to their good grades. This suggests that academic performance depends mainly on an individual student’s mind-set, intrapersonal values, skills and interests. In the game of soccer, the field does not produce goals. Rather, it is the ability of players to collaborate, coordinate, perceive and utilise available spaces to their advantage. The same goes for the relationship between students’ social media usage and their academic performance. This means that the value that students place on their academic activities has a significant influence on how they use social media.
Technology teachers' perspectives on the Technology curriculum.
(2019) Janak, Raksha.; Amin, Nyna.
South Africa‟s new democratic government adopted widespread reforms aimed at transforming the country‟s education system and redressing apartheid inequities. The new curriculum framework based on Outcomes Based Education (OBE) introduced nine new learning areas, including Technology. However, many challenges such as contextual constraints, unqualified teachers, inadequate training of teachers, the lack of resources and varied interpretations of the Technology curriculum were encountered during its implementation that led to several curriculum reviews. It is against this backdrop that this study explores Technology teachers‟ perspectives of their experiences in interpreting and implementing the Technology curriculum in the classroom. The conceptual framework that was adopted enabled an understanding of the term perspective, the philosophical background of perspectives and the kind of knowledge that could be obtained from such. The theoretical framework comprised of Nietzsche‟s (1882) theory of „perspectivism‟ on which this study relies heavily to understand Technology teachers‟ perspectives. Perspectives operate on the general notion that that they are altering all the time. Hence, Nietzsche postulates that there should be no stopping points to arrive at an understanding of a perspective. As a result of this, there were various interpretations obtained to synthesise the data obtained. Nietzsche‟s (1882) theory of affects in „perspectivism‟ namely, coherency, legitimacy and practicality, were used in understanding the perspectives of teachers. Thus, the multiplicity of perspectives used in the study crystallised the understanding of this study. The various interpretations of the data obtained as well as the findings align with Nietzsche‟s proliferation of perspectives for interpretation to be correct. A qualitative research design and an interpretive paradigm were adopted to gather rich, detailed data within the participants‟ real contexts. Four participants were purposefully selected from four different school contexts. A case study methodology was employed to gain insight into Technology teachers‟ perspectives. Data collection techniques utilised in the study included individual semi-structured interviews, a video recording of each teacher‟s Technology lesson, followed by a stimulated interview. The semi-structured interviews were believed to provide in-depth information as well as elicit perspectives that would have historical underpinnings of the participants. Video recording of a Technology lesson followed much later by a stimulated interview would ensure that richer data was generated for better understanding of individual teacher‟s perspectives on the curriculum. The data was sorted using thematic analysis. In the data analysis chapters, nine themes were constructed and analysed with the literature and understood using the conceptual and theoretical framework to assist with the ontology. The main finding in this study is that the Technology curriculum is not only widening the gap between the privileged and underprivileged schools, but is implicated in the reproduction of inequalities in South Africa. The findings reveal that South Africa‟s education system as a whole is plagued by several challenges confronting the teaching of the Technology curriculum, which include the disruption of university preparation of Technology teachers due to constant curriculum changes and the constraints of a rigid curriculum which leave little room for flexibility. Learners‟ use of technological devices is disapproved, a universal Technology curriculum for a diversity of school contexts is set and teacher beliefs and Technology curriculum pedagogy are not synchronised. The Technology curriculum is viewed as unfair in terms of its expectations in poorly resourced schools. Assessment was found to be unrealistic, impractical and irrelevant in the Technology curriculum. Furthermore, the Technology curriculum revealed how learners from underprivileged schools lacked cultural capital which hinders them from competing at a global level, creating even further inequalities. Based on these findings, it is recommended that the Department of Education (DoE) keeps Technology teachers up-to-date about curriculum matters and supports teachers during implementation and ensures that the sharing of resource on wheels be implemented so all schools have access to some resources. It is also recommended that Technology teachers should be part of the curriculum design process and that perhaps schools can be used as centres to keep parents of the community up-to-date with technological developments.

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Education Studies) by Author "Amin, Nyna."