Browsing by Author "Ankiah-Gangadeen, Aruna."

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Biographies, experiences and language practices : teachers of early childhood education in Mauritius.
(2013) Ankiah-Gangadeen, Aruna.; Samuel, Michael Anthony.
This study explores Early Childhood Education teachers’ experiences of learning English in multi-lingual Mauritius and the way these influence their pedagogical practices. English is the official language of instruction despite not being the first language of the majority of teachers and learners. Consequently, the children’s first language has become an inexorable feature of Mauritian classrooms. Studying the construction of language pedagogy through teachers’ accounts is a significant step towards understanding the existing dynamics among languages used in the classroom − more so in Early Childhood Education, a key stage that lays the foundation for further language development. My study examines my participants’ experiences of learning and teaching English in a range of contexts. The interpretative paradigm informs the choice of life history as research methodology. This methodology allows the researcher to co-construct the voice of the participants as agents and critics of their own experiences and practices. It provides the researcher with an insight into their experiences of language learning and teaching practices. Data was produced through biographic narrative interviews, classroom observations, informal conversations, and assemblage and commentary on selected artifacts. The data production process was directed towards producing deeper textured insights into the challenges and potential of the use of English. The data was analysed through a grounded and inductive approach. The production of the narratives constituted the first level of analysis. In the second level of analysis, themes identified in the five narratives were analysed through a cross-case comparison. The third level of analysis acted as a validatory move wherein antithetical cases (‘outliers’) were further scrutinised to test initial findings. The findings indicate that the process of teacher development spans across time and contexts that teachers occupy from the time of birth onward. Formal and informal as well as local and foreign contexts influence the teachers’ language experiences in various ways at different points in time. The findings further draw attention to the individualised nature of teachers’ becoming in the midst of blurred boundaries wherein a multiplicity of interacting factors mutually impact upon one another. Teacher agency also emerges as a salient feature of the process. A model of teacher professional development is then presented using the biological construct of evolution to show the intricate link between biographies, experiences and practices. The metaphor of the evolutionary drift depicts teacher development as a process that comprises change through transformation, adaptation and assimilation. The double-edged nature of this process is however indicated since teachers can also modify their environment. The “double helix model of teacher professional development” is then proposed to represent the nuanced complexities of negotiating language learning in Early Childhood Education classrooms. The upward movement of the spiralling double helix highlights teacher professional development as a continuing process whereby biography and pedagogical practices evolve in the light of teachers’ on-going experiences. Teachers enact the interpretation and re-interpretation of these experiences in their pedagogical practices. The thesis concludes by elaborating on the ways in which the study has pushed methodological, contextual and theoretical boundaries. It states the implications of the findings on teachers, teacher educators and policy makers while pointing to the limitations of the study and proposing possibilities for future research.
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.
Learners’ learning through digitized learning resources in Mauritian primary schools.
(2019) Udhin, Waaiza.; Govender, Desmond Wesley.; James, Angela Antoinette.; Ankiah-Gangadeen, Aruna.
With the fourth Industrial Revolution on our doorstep, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) continue to have a major impact on our everyday living, and more so in education. There have been many initiatives to integrate the use of ICTs in teaching and learning, worldwide. The Mauritian National Curriculum Framework, Grade 1-6 (NCF, 2016) advocates an emphasis on the integration of ICT in Mauritian Primary Schools. In the context of this initiative, Mauritius has embarked on the digitisation of the print-based curriculum. In classrooms, the interactive digitised learning resources are displayed on ‘Interactive hiteboards’ (IWBs) to support teaching and learning.Hence, this resulted in the reconceptualisation of the teaching and learning processes within the classrooms. Moreover, since the use of technologies in primary classrooms is relatively new, minimal research has been done to analyse learning through digitised resources in Mauritius. This study contributed to addressing this gap by providing a critical examination of learners’ learning through digitised learning resources in Mauritian primary schools. Moreover, analysing learners’ learning through digitised resources was an important step that would eventually inform policy. The goal of this study has been to explore learning through technology in the metamodern era. The framework used for this study as ‘metamodernism’. The route to gain insights into learners’ learning deploys an analysis of the participants’ interactions through the digitised learning resources in Grade 4 primary classrooms. The interpretative paradigm determined the choice of case study as a research methodology. Purposive sampling was used to select eight to nine-year-old learners from two different schools. The sample size was seven learners from both schools. Collection of data was made possible through semistructured interviews, observations and children’s creative drawings. An assemblage of the data collected from the different sources was carried out. To better foreground the richness and authenticity of the children’s learning, the findings were presented through short stories. The short stories were woven into texts that depicted the learning patterns and the influential factors that informed learning through digitised resources. The findings were analysed through the inductive approach. They revealed that ‘all learning is narrative’ and that learning happens within context. They also indicated that habits or culture, learners’ experiences and personality of learners largely determine the ways the learners learn through digitised resources. Moreover, blurred boundaries wherein a multiplicity of intersecting factors provided explanations of the ways learners learn through digitised resources. In the same vein, a ‘narrative model of learning’ was presented. The thesis concludes by elaborating on the theoretical, methodological, conceptual and scholarly contributions of the study. The main scholarly contribution is that enabling conditions combine to bring the learner’s learning to a higher level of cognition, which refers to virtual reality.
Teacher agency: a case study of Mauritius.
(2022) Appadoo-Ramsamy, Wedsha.; Ankiah-Gangadeen, Aruna.; Samuel, Michael Anthony.
A narrative inquiry methodology within an interpretivist paradigm was adopted to immerse in teachers’ multi-layered experiences. Data was produced through various methods: interviews, classroom observations, informal conversations and artefact construction activities that triggered responses and provided insights into teachers’ biographical experiences, beliefs and practices. The data was re-presented through an ethnodrama of interlocuting participants. This creative form enabled me to co-construct three-dimensional characters inhabiting complex temporal and spatial dimensions. The fieldwork revealed that teachers' personal and professional experiences could not be isolated from an evolving broader global space grappling with digital pedagogical evolution. Furthermore, unique nationalistic strategies to enhance the country's small island developing state socioeconomic landscape exerted additional pressure on teachers’ choices of representation of their actions. Teachers' career experiences reflect divergent agencies and agendas characterised by fluid, complex and complementary contradictions and stabilities. An assessment and performativity regime of outputs of the schooling system featured prominently as a backdrop. The thesis developed a model of diffracted and entangled agencies that emphasise a kaleidoscope of possibilities of understanding teacher agency. Rather than being conceptualised as a stable characteristic trait of teachers, teacher agency was seen as constantly adapting to temporal and spatial changes, adopting new beliefs, revisiting past experiences and reconstructing their professional roles. Teacher agency was further considered as dialogical choices of representations amongst varied audiences, co-participants and role-players, with varied agendas. This study’s unique contextual policy reform parameters are potentially representative of any significant change that causes diffraction of a relational teacher agency. The thesis emphasises agentic responsiveness to space and time specificities that intersect with teachers’ personal and professional experiences. Teacher agency is not simply a singular identity and political construction, but also a strategic negotiated shifting set of performances of responsiveness to situational contexts that in themselves are not stable, or coherent. The report concludes with the theoretical, methodological and contextual implications of the proposed reconceptualised notion of teacher agency, discusses the study's limitations, and highlights the possibilities for future research.
Teacher agency: a case study of Mauritius.
(2022) Appadoo-Ramsamy, Wedsha.; Samuel, Michael Anthony.; Ankiah-Gangadeen, Aruna.
This study explores the phenomenon of teacher agency within a dynamic socio-cultural space where a landmark national schooling curriculum policy reform was introduced by Mauritian educational authorities. It contributes to an understanding of teachers' experiences, their interpretations of their experiences and the ways in which they exercised agency as they revisited pedagogies and personal beliefs in relation to a changing macro-policy and micro institutional environment. A narrative inquiry methodology within an interpretivist paradigm was adopted to immerse in teachers’ multi-layered experiences. Data was produced through various methods: interviews, classroom observations, informal conversations and artefact construction activities that triggered responses and provided insights into teachers’ biographical experiences, beliefs and practices. The data was re-presented through an ethnodrama of interlocuting participants. This creative form enabled me to co-construct three-dimensional characters inhabiting complex temporal and spatial dimensions. The fieldwork revealed that teachers' personal and professional experiences could not be isolated from an evolving broader global space grappling with digital pedagogical evolution. Furthermore, unique nationalistic strategies to enhance the country's small island developing state socioeconomic landscape exerted additional pressure on teachers’ choices of representation of their actions. Teachers' career experiences reflect divergent agencies and agendas characterised by fluid, complex and complementary contradictions and stabilities. An assessment and performativity regime of outputs of the schooling system featured prominently as a backdrop. The thesis developed a model of diffracted and entangled agencies that emphasise a kaleidoscope of possibilities of understanding teacher agency. Rather than being conceptualised as a stable characteristic trait of teachers, teacher agency was seen as constantly adapting to temporal and spatial changes, adopting new beliefs, revisiting past experiences and reconstructing their professional roles. Teacher agency was further considered as dialogical choices of representations amongst varied audiences, co-participants and role-players, with varied agendas. This study’s unique contextual policy reform parameters are potentially representative of any significant change that causes diffraction of a relational teacher agency. The thesis emphasises agentic responsiveness to space and time specificities that intersect with teachers’ personal and professional experiences. Teacher agency is not simply a singular identity and political construction, but also a strategic negotiated shifting set of performances of responsiveness to situational contexts that in themselves are not stable, or coherent. The report concludes with the theoretical, methodological and contextual implications of the proposed reconceptualised notion of teacher agency, discusses the study's limitations, and highlights the possibilities for future research.