Browsing by Author "Ismail, Raeesa."

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Exploring how Science teachers engage in curriculum innovating in environment and sustainability education.
(2017) Ismail, Raeesa.; Mudaly, Ronicka.
Life Sciences and Natural Sciences teachers are expected to adapt and to implement curriculum changes that are designed by the Department of Basic Education. The new Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Life Sciences and Natural Sciences stipulates that teachers are expected to integrate environment and sustainability content knowledge in their science teaching. In order for this to materialise, a specialised multi-pronged approach is necessary. It is argued that teachers work in diverse contexts and need to be innovative in order to teach science that is relevant to the lives of learners. I argue that effective professional development incorporating innovation can enable teachers to successfully teach environment and sustainability education. This study was located within a critical paradigm which was underpinned by a qualitative approach. This study involved ten practicing Life Sciences/Natural Sciences teachers who were purposively selected to form the research sample. These participants were part of the Science and Mathematics Education Honours programme and studied a module which required them to engage with the idea and practice of curriculum innovating, as part of the programme. The study was conducted at a teacher training institution in Kwa-Zulu Natal. This qualitative case study sought to explore the experiences and challenges of participants as they engaged in curriculum innovating in environment and sustainability education. The factors that enabled or constrained participants’ efforts to engage in curriculum innovating were also examined. This study also focused on the role of professional development in capacity building for the purpose of curriculum innovating. Drawing on the theoretical constructs of Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), Rogan’s Zone of Feasible Innovation (ZFI) and Vygotsky’s Engagement Theory the experiences and challenges of participants were analysed. Multiple data generation strategies were employed, namely: individual interviews, reflective journals, photo narratives and document analysis. Content analysis was used to analyse the data sets that emerged from the data generation strategies. The use of coding was employed to develop categories and patterns within the data sets. The findings included challenges and experiences of curriculum innovating in environment and sustainability education. A key finding was that participants expressed a need for the inclusion of innovating in more of the modules of the Honours programme. Findings from this study also revealed that the individual school context, iii resources and support from Heads of Department (HODs) were factors that enabled or constrained participants in their efforts to engage in curriculum innovating. The study provides insights into how a professional development module can provide teachers with strategies for critically appraising their context, thinking deeply about the type of support they need and how this can be leveraged, planning lessons in order to prepare for curriculum innovating, engaging more knowledgeable others to critique their lesson plans, implementing new strategies and reflecting on their experiences. The participants reported feeling renewed, refreshed, re-invigorated and intrinsically motivated to experiment with new ideas in order to engage in curriculum innovating. Recommendations from this study will be significant to curriculum designers, higher education department officials involved in teacher professional development, teacher education institutions and school teachers.
Pre-service teachers' experiences of learning to teach culturally inclusive science.
(2013) Ismail, Raeesa.; Mudaly, Ronicka.
Pre-service teachers training at tertiary institutions are expected to adapt to and implement curriculum changes in several subjects, including Natural Sciences, which are designed by the Department of Basic Education. According to the new Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Natural Sciences (2011), teachers are expected to embrace indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) in order to deliver culturally inclusive science lessons. Specific aim three in the Natural Sciences curriculum (CAPS, 2011) postulates the inclusion of indigenous knowledge systems and states that learners should understand the different cultural contexts in which indigenous knowledge systems were developed. However, a review of literature indicates that this is not being practiced in many schools because teachers do not have adequate knowledge, background and teacher education to integrate culture rooted in indigenous knowledge systems in their science lessons. At the tertiary institution where my study was located, pre-service teachers were being taught to infuse cultural knowledge rooted in IKS in science lessons. This qualitative case study sought to explore 20 purposefully selected pre-service teachers' experiences and views of learning to teach culturally inclusive science in a pedagogic content knowledge module at a tertiary institution in KwaZulu-Natal. In this study, culturally inclusive science included school science which engages with alternate knowledge systems, which are rooted in indigenous knowledge systems. This research used an interpretive paradigm with multiple data generating methods which comprised of reflective journals, video recorded observations, document analysis, focus groups, and individual interviews in order to understand pre-service teachers' experiences and views of learning to teach a culturally inclusive science which is embedded in indigenous knowledge systems. Drawing on the constructs of socio-cultural theory and the Zone of Proximal Development, pre-service teachers‟ learning experiences were analysed. Content analysis was used to analyse the data obtained. Categories were developed with meaningful words, phrases and sentences. Thereafter, patterns, trends and links were established, and finally conclusions were developed. The findings included pre-service teachers‟ views and experiences of the integration of culture whilst learning to teach science. Pre-service teachers express two broad views regarding the integration of culture. The first view was the lack of integration of cultural knowledge, rooted in IKS, in Natural Sciences content modules. The second view related to the potential benefits of the integration of cultural knowledge in science lessons. The experiences of pre-service teachers' learning to teach culturally inclusive science revealed both challenges and opportunities. The pre-service teachers involved in this research expressed a lack of cultural knowledge rooted in IKS, insufficient teacher education, a lack of resources, time constraints, and inadequate details provided by the CAPS document as challenges. In spite of these challenges, the pre-service teachers who participated in this study expressed that working in groups and the use of external human resources were opportunities for them to learn to teach culturally inclusive science. Recommendations which evolved from insights from this study were directed to teacher education institutions, curriculum designers and university educators.