Browsing by Author "Amin, Nyna."

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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.
Diverse school contexts and novice teachers' professional development.
(2013) Poonsamy, Vanmala.; Amin, Nyna.
This study is an exploration of the influence of different school contexts on novice teachers’ professional development and learning. The study sought to understand and interpret how 1st year novice teachers who were exposed to a new UKZN teaching practice approach, learnt and developed in varying school contexts. It also attempted to understand how these teachers exposure to knowledge/experiences of contextual diversity during their training contributed to their development in their present school contexts. A qualitative approach with an interpretive framework was used, as this approach allowed for the phenomenon (novice teachers’ development in diverse school contexts) to be studied in natural settings and it foregrounded the social and cultural context. The study was underpinned by the teacher development framework designed by Amin and Ramrathan, and Samuel’s force field model and the situated learning theory. Amin and Ramrathan’s approach foregrounded contextual diversity as this is the reality of the post-apartheid South African schools. As the study also sought to explore novice teachers’ professional development in work contexts, it drew on the situated learning theory and Samuel’s force field model as a means to assess the extent the role the various forces (biography, curriculum, institutional and contextual) play in influencing novice teacher development. The case study methodology was used to elicit insight and clear perspectives of novice teachers’ multiple truths and realities with regard to their professional development in the contexts they worked. The participants were purposefully selected. They were three 1st year teachers who had completed the B.Ed degree at the same university. They were of the same race and gender. These participants taught at different school contexts. This enabled me to assess how these varying contexts shaped their professional development. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The use of semi-structured interviews allowed for new data to be generated through probing and clarification of answers. The interviews were audio-recorded to ensure that all data was available for analysis. The findings of the study reveal that the nature of the school contexts has a direct bearing on the professional development of the participants. Factors such as the school leadership and management styles, school resources and school based professional development programmes influenced how these teachers developed. The biography of the participants had a significant role in ensuring that they were able to rise above their many challenging experiences and thereby enhance their professional growth and professional development.
An exploration of the emotional dimensions of teachers' work.
(2014) Janak, Raksha.; Amin, Nyna.
This study is an exploration of the emotional dimensions of teachers’ work. The study sought to understand the emotional experiences of high school teachers in the type of work they do at school. The research design adopted for the study was that of a qualitative approach, accompanied by an interpretive paradigm. This allowed for the researcher to be able to gather rich, detailed data within real contexts of each participant to allow for the interpretation of emotions that each participant experiences. There was six participants in this study. Each of the participants are from diverse school contexts, two of whom teach at the same school. The study was underpinned by a conceptual framework that focused on the conceptualization of feelings and a theoretical framework that comprised of seven theories of emotions. These theories were namely the Social Constructionist theory, Naturalistic theory of emotion, James-Lange theory, Cannon-Bard theory, Two-Factor theory, Broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions and the cognitive theory of emotions. The conceptual and theoretical framework assisted the researcher in understanding and interpretation of teachers’ emotions. A case study methodology with six participants was employed to derive insight on teachers’ emotional experiences. Participant selection was conducted using the purposeful sampling technique. The instruments used in the collection of data were individual semi-structured interviews and a focus group interview which comprised a group of all six teachers. The interviews were audio-recorded to prevent loss of information and to ensure that it would be available for analysis. The findings are organised under headings: what consists of teachers’ work and what are the emotions involved in such work. Further sub-headings were used to represent the data. Findings revealed that teachers were found to be involved in administrative work, extracurricular activities, learner management and leadership at school. Various emotions in teachers’ work ranged from positive to negative feelings were discovered in the data. It was found that teachers felt great dissatisfaction and frustration towards non-teaching tasks at school. Positive feelings towards teachers work were attributed to learners’ success, acknowledgement, and when teachers were rewarded or appreciated for their work. Findings provide key insights into teachers’ work and emotional experiences.
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.
Exploring orientation speeches of school principals : inspirational invitations to student teachers.
(2011) Naidoo, Somadhanum.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.; Amin, Nyna.
The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the messages conveyed by principals in one context, that of well resourced schools. The contents of the messages and how these messages are influenced by the context of the schools were interrogated. Also of relevance are principals presenting a desirably, inviting message about the teaching profession. This study is part of the TP120 project that is being conducted by the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal to evaluate the placing of context at the centre of a learning to teach approach. The school environment has become diverse and dynamic since the implementation of changes after 1994. Teacher training institutions are faced with trying to adequately prepare teachers to adapt and adjust. The thinking therefore, is to include diverse contexts as one of the major components in the teacher education curriculum. One initiative to achieve this is to enlist the help of principals, who are the experienced counterparts in schools, to assist university personnel with the training of student teachers. This is done when first year student teachers are taken to schools of varying contexts and where principals are given an opportunity to address these students. The belief is that, what principals say prepares students teachers for the world of work in a particular context. A case study using the interpretivist paradigm was conducted with the participants being principals in well resourced schools. The participating schools and the participants were selected by pre-determined criteria in keeping with the requirements of the TP120 project. The principals’ speeches were recorded and transcribed. Thereafter a discourse analysis was embarked on. The theories that underpin this study are the invitational theory of Purkey and Novak (1996) and the learning to teach approach of Amin and Ramrathan (2009). The findings show that a well resourced context is established and maintained through hard work, dedication, commitment and support of all stakeholders. The messages conveyed by the principals prepare the student teachers for the teaching profession in general and for the well resourced context in particular. The main conclusion of this study is that principals can be an invaluable source of knowledge to student teachers and can assist in teacher training. They articulated a sense of purpose and direction and inspire the student teachers by motivating, encouraging, guiding and inviting them to the teaching profession. Recommendations of the study were that the universities should continue to provide student teachers with the opportunity of experiencing different contexts, principals can be provided with guidelines on what to talk about in their orientation speeches, student teachers should prepare questions to get clarity on issues in particular contexts and principals can be provided with professional development around communicating motivational and inspirational orientation speeches. Recommendations for further research are that a variety of contexts be researched or the student teachers can be interviewed to gauge the exact message that they go away with.
Exploring principals' orientation speeches: sensitising student teachers to school context.
(2011) Poovan, Devakumari.; Mthiyane, Siphiwe Eric.; Amin, Nyna.
Abstract available in the PDF.
Exploring teaching strategies used by teachers in multi-grade classrooms in rural settings in the Umlazi District.
(2020) Mnyandu, Service Zandile.; Amin, Nyna.
This study illustrates the curriculum strategies used by teachers in the multi-grade classroom in rural settings. Two schools practising multi-grade teaching were identified to generate data related to the phenomenon reviewed under study, using the qualitative interpretive case study approach of four multi-grade teachers in the Umbumbulu area of the Umlazi District. The data was generated by using semi-structured interviews and focus group discussion for the research study. Purposeful and convenience selection was used to choose the most valuable and obtainable participants. The study analyses multi-grade teachers’ experiences of navigating how they teach in the multi-grade classroom. The following strategies were identified in the literature: (1) Mixed/multi-age classroom arrangements. (2) Quasi-mono-grade models. (3) Learner-centred approaches in multi-grade classrooms (4) Peer instruction in multi-grade classrooms. The findings from the multi-grade teachers’ experiences identified the challenges that arise within the school and the community concerning the dwindling of learner numbers and the multi-teaching of different grades in one classroom under one teacher’s instruction. The findings detected suggestions in the curriculum planning that needs close attention by the Department of Basic Education curriculum planners particularly in multi-grade classrooms that seems to be unattended to at the macro-level. The findings recommend the empowering of mono/multi-grade teachers and parents on how to build rapport amongst them and to learn to work together to improve the children’s progress. Further, they have to understand that the significance and the presence of multi-grade schools in the vicinity is meant for the benefit of learners and to support society.
Grade 10 male students' experiences of school disengagement.
(2015) Collins, Brant.; Amin, Nyna.
This study explores the experiences of grade 10 boys towards school and, in particular, towards the phenomenon of school disengagement. The reason for pursuing research of this nature was due to the scarcity of literature available on the phenomenon of disengagement, particularly from the context of privileged, private schools. Disengagement permeates schools both in South Africa, as well as internationally and, therefore, it is important to develop a holistic understanding of the phenomenon. Moreover, the researcher wants to add to the existing body of knowledge and divulge a deeper understanding of disengagement, especially with regard to the specific context of the research site. This will allow for remedial action to be implemented in the future. The ecosystemic theory provided a suitable theoretical framework of reference, due to the multidimensional nature of both the phenomenon and the participants. The research study was conducted within the qualitative paradigm and focussed on the use of case studies and open-ended questions in order to extract the meaning-rich experiences from the participants. Three, in-depth, one-on-one interviews were recorded and transcribed. The transcriptions were analysed and the common themes were identified, presented and examined against the existing literature. The findings revealed that predominately emotional, personal, family, school, and peer influences affect boys‟ experiences of school disengagement. It also revealed the highly integrated nature of the subsystems affecting the boys; the importance of analysing each participant from their unique context; the multidimensionality of the phenomenon of disengagement; and that inspirational instruction is lacking in the lives of students who empathetically seek recognition for their scholastic efforts. Finally, the researcher concludes by stating some implications that the study has, with regard to formulating a remedial response to disengagement, as well as to future recommendations for research that may shed further light on the phenomenon of disengagement.
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.
The influence of context on teachers' conceptions of professional expertise.
(2012) Moodley, Sathiaveni Duel.; Amin, Nyna.
This research involved the contextual influences on teacher professional expertise in the Central Urban area in Durban. It explores what happens to teachers when their context changes and how they cope with a challenging environment. This study documents and describes a particular group of foundation phase teachers’ experiences in a specific school and how the context of this school influences their professional expertise. The study draws on Dryfus and Dryfus (1986) five stage typology which describes how and why teachers’ abilities, attitudes, capabilities and perspectives change according to the skill levels. An empirical investigation involving a qualitative research methodology was done using the case study method to present this research. The instruments used in this exploration were individual semi-structured interviews with six foundation phase educators and a focus group interview with a group of five foundation phase teachers. A City centre school was used as a sample. One male teacher and five female teachers were selected. All the participants were Indian. Interviews were used because of the need to observe the teachers facial expressions and emotions during the interview. The study was able to identify the various challenges that presented itself to both novice and expert teachers in the profession. The findings are organised under eight themes which are: the conceptions of a novice teacher; the conceptions of an expert teacher; novice teachers and school context; expert teachers and school context; novice teachers and change in curriculum; expert teachers and change in curriculum; the role of experience for novice and expert teachers and novice and expert teachers relationships with peers/leaders and mentors. Emergent findings suggest that both expert and novice teachers experience difficulties in a complex and challenging context are further presented under seven themes in which the researcher did a cross analysis. Cross theme analysis was used to present the findings of a further seven themes which are; conceptions of expert and novice teachers are different, teaching and school context are experienced differently by novice and expert teachers, curriculum change makes teaching challenging for expert and novice teachers, experience is important for expert and novice teachers, every teacher needs a mentor, all teachers are always a novice and the need for flexibility.
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.
Lecturers and students’ views of integrating technology in the fashion curriculum.
(2019) Peter, Sweetlina Nomonde.; Amin, Nyna.
As new educational technologies become available, resources in higher education are lacking but the demand for access to better quality higher education is dramatically increasing. As such, the quest for academics to employ a variety of educational technologies that enable, extend and enhance teaching and learning is urgent and necessary. The aim of this study was to examine the views of lecturers and students on integrating technology in the fashion design programme for the purpose of teaching and learning at the Butterworth campus of the Walter Sisulu University (WSU). This study employed the post-positivist paradigm to gather quantitative data to analyse the views of both lecturers and students about the integration of technology in the fashion programme. Based on the literature review, the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework and Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) were selected as theoretical frameworks in this study. The data was gathered through a questionnaire, which was adapted and modified from a study by Hossein and Kamal. All seven lecturers and a sample of seventy-nine fashion students participated in this study. The predetermined categories identified included technology knowledge, technology content knowledge, technology pedagogical knowledge, and technological pedagogical and content knowledge. These categories were measured with the view to generalize data to a wider population and to establish if there are any relationships between them. The main findings of the study were that, even though lecturers seem to have a high pedagogical content knowledge, the inclusion of appropriate technologies in the fashion programme requires a combination of robust content knowledge, a diverse array of teaching techniques and competency with emerging teaching technologies.
Novice teachers' experiences of teaching literacy in the foundation phase.
(2014) Baker, Merle Andrea.; Amin, Nyna.; Naidoo, Jayaluxmi.
South Africa has become synonymous with disparaging headlines regarding the dismal literacy performance of learners. Most reports and research on the country’s educational progress have displayed negative headlines regarding the literacy levels of the learners. The teaching of literacy has been under discussion in this country due to the low literacy levels that have been highlighted in both media and research. The results of the Annual National Assessment and the Progress in international reading literacy studies bear testimony to this. Consequently, this study focuses one aspect of teaching literacy from the perspective of novice literacy teachers. A qualitative study, located in the interpretative paradigm was used, to explore novice teachers’ experiences of teaching literacy in the foundation phase. A case study was employed, using semi-structured interviews of the experiences of teaching literacy by three novice teachers in the foundation phase at one school in Durban. The study firstly, reviewed literature on novice teachers, secondly, the teaching of literacy in the foundation phase and thirdly, presented Kolb’s experiential learning theory as the framework, which underpinned this study. The experiential learning theory documented the learning cycles of the three novice teachers by describing their feelings, their reflections, thinking, and doing. Data emerging from the findings, suggested that, given the history of South Africa, teachers in the foundation phase encounter a plethora of challenges and contextual factors that impact on their teaching of literacy. The novice teachers in this study employed teaching strategies to cope with the challenges, by engaging in a process of experiential learning. This research study, therefore advocates a need for a more sustainable development of novice teachers as intellectuals, who will be capacitated to develop strategies to cope with the literacy challenges in this country.
A paradox of knowing : teachers' knowing about students.
(2008) Amin, Nyna.; Vithal, Renuka.; Samuel, Michael Anthony.
This study is a critical exploration and post-structural explanation of how and what teachers ' know about students. The intention has been to explore teachers' knowing beyond taken-for-granted iterations, beliefs and conceptions of those they teach and to theorise the nature of teachers' knowing. The route to insight involved deploying critical ethnography to produce data over a six-month period. The study site, a secondary school I named Amethyst, is an apartheid-era creation. Since 1990, political change has introduced uncertainties of various sorts and has destabilised the ethos and culture of the school: conflicts between teachers and students, conflicts amongst students' peers, students' participation in activities that are unacceptable and harmful, severe lack of funds to meet the financial needs of the school and lack of human and teaching resources. It is within such an uncertain space that I produced data to interrogate teachers ' knowing about students. At the site, data production was impeded by various confounding factors that eroded trust between the participants and me (the researcher). Traditionally, an ethnographic approach entails three kinds of observation: descriptive observations at the beginning, followed by focused observations narrowed to the concerns of the study and finally, selective observations to consolidate focused observations. For the data production process to continue, the researcher-researched relationship had to be assessed and reconfigured from a critical perspective. In this study the above-mentioned observations have been renamed and reconceptualised from participants' perspectives as: an innocuous phase, an invasive phase and a reciprocity phase. Furthermore, an explication is provided of how research reflexivity shaped the reconceptualisation and the data production processes. Usual forms of data production were abandoned and replaced by a conscious effort to reveal my story to participants eventuating in the form of an exchange of data - my story for their stories. Reciprocal participation enabled data production to be completed and two sets of data were generated: teachers ' stories and students ' stories. Eight teachers ' stories derived from teachers' to teachers' students' teachers' interviews were woven into texts whilst fourteen students' autobiographical accounts comprising lived ex peri ences were re-presented as they narrated them. Juxtapos ing stud ents' accounts with teachers' knowing has yielded three revelations. Firstly, unveil ing how teachers constitute students through knowing them in particul ar ways. Second ly, it reveals how students' constitution as subjects at home and at school a llow them to be known in parti cular ways and thirdl y, revealing the ways students consc iously prevent teachers from knowing about their li ved ex peri ences. The analyses of both sets of stories have dee pened understanding of teachers' knowing, taking it beyond teachers' persona l be lief systems. Plac ing both sets of data und er a criti cal gaze has yie lded three ways of teacher knowing (so li cited, un solic ited and common) and fi ve kind s of teacher knowing (rac ia li sed, gendered, cultu ra l, c lassed, and profess ional). From th e analyses, I have inferred that teachers' knowing about students, when j uxtaposed with and med iated by students' li ved experi ences, is flawed, incomplete, parti al, complex, contradictory, and uni-dimens ional. I put fo rward a th es is predicated on two abstractions from th e anal yses: one, that teachers ' knowing is dangerous because it prope ls teachers towards act ions that can result in d isastrous consequences for students; and two, that not knowing is use ful because it is a more criti ca lly and soc ia lly j ust approach to teaching as it a llows teachers to functi on without succumbing to marginali sing the non-traumati sed and those without chall enges at the persona l level. In effect it tran slates into practices that treat all students equally in an academic settin g, so that in one in stantiati on, students are dri ven to stri ve for academic ac hievement in stead of focusing on emotiona lly debilitating di stractions th at cannot be resolved by teachers' knowing, understanding, and empathy. Not knowing, I argue, offers viable poss ibilities for working with students whose li ves are compromised by low socioeconomic cond iti ons and pro bl ematic family re lati ons. This in vers ion of common-sense instincts about teachers ' knowing and not knowing IS theorised by deploying a topologica l metaphor, the Mii bius strip, to demonstrate that teachers' knowing and not knowing about stud ents are not polar oppos ites on a continuum, but are paradoxically, cohabitants of a common space, refl ections of each other, res iding in each other. Additiona lly, I charge that teachin g and caring, mediated by knowing, form the foundation of teachers' work, and argue that at Amethyst, teaching and caring cannot be activated simul ta neo us ly within an indi vidual teacher. Kcy words: critica l ethnography, teachers' knowing, paradox of knowin g.
The reading experiences of grade four children.
(2010) Ganasi, Romy.; Amin, Nyna.
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.
The relationship between teachers' conceptions of "globalisation" and professional learning.
(2012) Cafun, Wade Cesaree.; Amin, Nyna.
At present globalisation has engulfed the world in what has been described as a whirl wind effect, in that is has swirled around the globe and encapsulated it; almost to the extent that the effects of globalisation appear completely inescapable to most nations and citizens. One can assume thus that the influence of globalisation on education, and in particular teacher education, is inevitable. This study focuses on teachers' conceptions of globalisation and its relationship to teacher professional learning with an aim to understand how six teachers exposed to global discourses conceive globalisation and its effect on their professional learning. Given that an effect of globalisation is the merging of various ideas and the exertion of simultaneous influences on such ideas from a variety of sources, a single focus group discussion was used for the generation of dat in this study to produce an environment very similar to the one achieved by globalisation (i.e. an environment in which various ideas are generated simultaneously and are subjected to influences from a variety of sources). From this, rich data emerged highlighting that the teachers in this study have very similar and in some cases very different conceptions of globalisation, teacher professional learning, and the relationship between the two. Interestingly, what stands out is the teachers involved in this study conceive that context, plays an integral role in contemporary teacher learning. The analysis generated theses such as retrogression, inequity, contradictions as well as the experiences of these teachers in learning and not learning. In essence, globalisation and teacher professional learning are shown to be inseparable in this area in which teachers are currently forced to learn for specific contexts and in most cases have to relearn as their contexts change in accordance with the ever evolving nature of globalisation. Indeed teacher professional learning at present is placed under tremendous strain, and so an understanding of the links between globalisation and teacher professional learning is expressed in this study. In addition, what emerges as a plausible solution to the problem of how teacher professional learning may keep up with globalisation, appears to be a need for teachers to take charge of their professional learning and to move away from positions of dependency and passivity to a position of active agency.