Browsing by Author "Mudaly, Ronicka."

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Addressing sustainable development goals by leveraging indigenous knowledge: experiences of Science and Mathematics teachers.
(2022) Sanjigadu, Sebastian.; Mudaly, Ronicka.
The post-COVID era has illuminated the crucial role of education in reducing inequalities and promoting inclusive and sustainable growth. Literature is replete with rationales for higher education programmes to be aligned with the sustainable development goals through partnerships to ensure that programmes are globally and locally relevant. Based on these insights I adopted the Ubuntucurrere and decolonial theories as intellectual resources as I departed from traditional education norms which valourise only Euro-Western science and mathematics. I did this by exploring possibilities for leveraging indigenous knowledge to address the sustainable development goals in the curriculum. My study demonstrated the potential for transforming understandings of Education for Sustainable Development to include “low voices” in the production of valuable knowledge about sustainable living. I engaged 36 purposefully selected, practicing science and mathematics teachers who were enrolled in an Honours in Education module to generate qualitative data. I explored how science and mathematics teachers integrated indigenous knowledge to address sustainable development goals. Teachers participated in focus group interviews and engaged collaboratively with indigenous knowledge holders to develop portfolios of evidence, where they documented the stages of their work. They also taught lessons in micro-teaching sessions during which they demonstrated their ideas related to context, content, and pedagogy as they constructed and utilised IK to address the sustainable development goals. Among the strategies that teachers used was to engage Chilisa’s (2012) processes of “Dreaming, Commitment, and Action” by re-imaging and practically enacting lessons for sustainable development using a decolonial lens. Specific ideologies from Ubuntu-currere such as social interactions through collaboration and challenging epistemic othering of IK informed teacher thinking and action. The findings from this study revealed that science and mathematics teachers address sustainable development using indigenous knowledge in sparse, indirect ways in the curriculum. Findings also showed that teachers were committed to exploring indigenous pedagogy and content as a strategy to address sustainable development goals in the curriculum. Furthermore, my study revealed that science and mathematics teachers adopted specific strategies which resonated with work done during the teacher professional development programme in which they had engaged. This study also revealed factors that enabled or constrained teachers who sought to address the sustainable development goals by leveraging indigenous knowledge. The obstructive factors included issues of time management and an inherent lack of teacher capacity about content and pedagogy linked to indigenous ideologies and sustainable development. Enabling factors were linked to the “democratic interactions” that teachers experienced through their engagements with indigenous knowledge holders, with their lecturers, and with one another. Teachers addressed obstructive factors by developing teacher agency and seeking assistance from more knowledgeable individuals who were supportive of their learning processes.
Empowering secondary school learners to explore risk perceptions and the role of gender among young people in the context of HIV/AIDS.
(2006) Mudaly, Ronicka.; Sookrajh, Reshma.
The challenge that confronts South Africa 's emerging democracy is that an increasing percentage of its population is being infected with HIV/AIDS daily . The socio-political impact of the disease has resulted in the development of a variety of macro-level interventions. Despite these initiatives, there has been no decline in the spread of the epidemic. The increasing prevalence of HIV infection among young South Africans in particular, has necessitated an exploration into their risky sexual behaviour. A closer study of the social fields of practice, where knowledge is not only produced, but is constantly contested, negotiated, reproduced and embedded, is suggested. This study uses the principles of feminist theory to focus on gender roles and the related issues of power and risky behaviour. The central argument of this work is that the traditional construction of sexuality, which encourages sexual aggression and promiscuity among young men, alongside female sexual passivity and ignorance, are gendered factors which fuel the spread of HIV/AIDS . In order to examine young peoples' perceptions of the role of gender and risky behaviour, I engaged young people, who were already in the field, to conduct the research. An exploration into the processes of enabling young people to conduct research, while linking the production of meaning to the possibility of human agency and transformative social action, formed an evolving methodology in this work. The research was designed to provide young people with a space for active engagement, participation, immersion and reflection, en route to becoming researchers. Young researchers who conducted research in their youth communities served as deep insider researchers, who possessed an awareness of the slogan systems and semiotics which operated within the cultural norms of the community. The young researchers conducted the inquiry by using a multiplicity of methods, which included visual methodologies, individual interviews and questionnaires. They solicited most of the data from a wider group of 15 to 19 year old African and Indian learners . These learners, who were mainly from a lower socio-economic background, attended the co-educational school, in the province ofKwaZulu Natal in South Africa. The findings of this study reveal how young researchers become empowered by acquiring increased competence in doing research and achieving a greater understanding of the influences of gender and power on risky behaviour. The research report offers methodological insights into the training and enablement of young people as researchers. It reveals how catalytic validity enables a transformation in the young researchers, who, having achieved a heightened understanding of the purpose of the research , actively participated in the research process. The study is significant because it reveals the gradual effacement of the main researcher from the research process, as a natural consequence of engaging young researchers to solicit, generate and interpret data. These new insights evolved as a result of taking the risk of allowing oneself, as a main researcher, to "get off track" and to enter uneven social spaces by doing research differently.
An exploration of factors which influence the performance of grade 12 life science learners in two high schools in the rural areas surrounding Mthatha: voices of learners.
(2019) Sihele, Thamsanqa.; Mudaly, Ronicka.
Abstract available in pdf.
An exploration of pre-service Geography teachers’ understanding and learning of environmental education at a University in Zimbabwe.
(2019) Gamira, Daniel.; Singh-Pillay, Asheena.; Mudaly, Ronicka.
Official Zimbabwean policy emphasises the need for communities to address environmental issues and develop values, skills and behaviour consistent with natural resource management for sustainable development. However, people of all ages engage in activities that degrade the biophysical environment. Thus, there is a need to transform the way the Zimbabwean population thinks and acts towards the environment. I argue, first, that teachers are key role players in the implementation of environmental education (EE) as well as raising awareness of environmental issues among learners and the communities in which they live and, second, that what teachers think, believe and know about EE affects and facilitates their teaching. Thus teachers need to be equipped with knowledge of environmental processes and systems and be committed to spurring learners towards appropriate environmental concern and action. In order to explore how pre-service geography teachers (PSGTs) can best understand and learn EE, this qualitative case study is located within the interpretative paradigm. Experiential learning theory (ELT) and participatory action research (PAR) underpin the study. The study site was a university in Zimbabwe. The study sought to ascertain pre-service geography teachers’ understanding of EE, their attitude towards teaching of EE and how they learn EE. Twenty pre-service geography teachers in their second year of study at the university were purposively selected to participate in this study. Data were generated through questionnaires, focus group interviews, photo-narratives and reflective diaries. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings indicated that PSGTs understand that EE teaches people to conserve natural resources, develops their understanding of human-environment interactions and of the Earth’s processes, develops their skills in science and geography and promotes safe sustainable interactions. Pre-service geography teachers also believe that it is important to teach EE and that having sufficient pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and a positive attitude would enable them to teach EE. Insufficient PCK and lack of resources are factors that would constrain the teaching of EE. The findings of this study highlight that teachers are more than mere subject matter specialists who are au fait with content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge, they also carry with them into the classroom their disposition. Their disposition is an innate part of who they are, influences their intuitions, their ability to make judgements, how they develop content, interpret curriculum, improvise, respond to situations as they occur whilst teaching and reflect on their teaching. Hence, the study makes a recommendation for the inclusion of an affective component in the current model of PCK, which has until now fore grounded only cognitive components.
An exploration of pre-service science and mathematics teachers' use of visualisation in a problem solving context : a case study at a South African university.
(2015) Govender, Levashnee.; Mudaly, Ronicka.; Mudaly, Vimolan.
The poor performance of learners in Science and Mathematics in South Africa is a persistent cause for concern to stakeholders in education, and to society at large. Teacher training institutes form crucial stakeholders in Science and Mathematics education. This has been the underlying motivation for this case study, which is based on an exploration of pre-service Science and Mathematics teachers’ use of visualisation within a problem solving context. The study is grounded in the interpretivist paradigm. The purpose of this study stems from anecdotal evidence that has showed teachers’ reluctance to teach problem solving because they are unequipped and/or not confident in solving problems. The exploration of pre-service Science and Mathematics teachers’ use of visualisation in a problem solving context revolved around the following critical questions: 1. What do pre-service Science and Mathematics teachers understand by problem solving within a visualisation context? 2. Why do pre-service Science and Mathematics teachers choose to use the visualisation strategies they use when teaching problem solving? 3. How do pre-service Science and Mathematics teachers plan the use of visualisation when preparing their lessons? The framework used to guide this study falls within the interpretivist paradigm and the theory used is the metacognition theory. This theory refers to a higher order of thinking and, simply put, thinking about thinking. In this study, it was analysed how pre-service teachers view their teaching and what their understanding of visualisation is within a problem solving context. The pilot group comprised five pre-service Science and Mathematics teachers at a South African teacher training institute who were registered for two modules, namely Natural Science Method Two, and Mathematics Method Two. These modules include the teaching of problem solving. A purposive sample population of eighty pre-service teachers were invited to participate in this project, and twelve completed part of the project, while five pre-service teachers participated until the conclusion of the project. A qualitative methodological approach was used and pre-service teachers participated in four stages of data collection. Firstly, a semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the biographical data of the participating pre-service teachers, and their understanding of problem solving and visualisation. Secondly, a task sheet was administered, which included a Science as well as a Mathematics selection of problems for the pre-service teachers to solve. All problems were purposively selected because visualisation methods could have been used to solve them. This tool was used to decipher what visualisation strategies pre-service teachers use when solving problems and why they use these strategies. Thirdly, a lesson plan was developed by participants to enable an exploration of how they taught problem solving using visualisation, as well as what cognitive processes they used to incorporate visualisation into problem solving. The fourth stage involved engaging participants in individual, face-to-face interviews. Semi structured interview schedules were used for both interviews. All responses were analysed and focused on the three research questions. The findings revealed that the majority of the pre-service teachers understood visualisation as a set of teaching aids that made solving problems easier. The majority of participating pre-service teachers solved Mathematics problems accurately when they used a combination of diagrams and formulae. The responses to the Science problems revealed that the majority of participating pre-service teachers used formulae instead of diagrams to solve them. However, the opposite scenario was presented by these participants when they generated their lesson plans. A greater variety of visualisation strategies were used in the Science lesson plans than in the Mathematics lesson plans. The findings show that the use of visualisation in problem solving helped pre-service teachers solve Science and Mathematics problems successfully. It is anticipated that the pre-service teachers will take this finding and make use of it in their classes in the near future, which should in turn develop more competent problem solvers at schooling level.
Exploration of use of the science resource centre by physical sciences teachers.
(2012) Xulu, Nokuthula Pamela.; Mudaly, Ronicka.
Science Resource Centres (SRCs) were initiated by an educational non-governmental organisation in various districts of the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. These SRCs were intended to assist with professional development of Physical Sciences and Mathematics teachers, and to assist the under-resourced schools of KwaZulu-Natal with science resources, including Physical Sciences experiment kits, physics and chemistry apparatus and other educational resources. Science resources encompassed specialists, objects, policies and facilities to enhance the teaching of Physical Sciences. These science resources were usually coupled with professional development programmes that addressed content knowledge and effective use of science equipment through workshops on specific science topics and classroom support to teachers. Workshops were funded by the SRCs, and the focus was on physics and chemistry topics that teachers found challenging to teach. This study explored the use of the SRC by Physical Sciences teachers of the Empangeni education district in KwaZulu-Natal, and also aimed to determine whether the SRC was serving its intended purpose. In gathering data this qualitative study utilised individual interviews with Physical Sciences teachers whose schools were affiliated to the SRC. Document analysis produced data with regard to the frequency of loaning of science equipment by Physical Sciences teachers. The findings of this study revealed that the level of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) development of Physical Sciences teachers was one of the key factors that influenced the use of science resources in science teaching. This emerged through an analysis of teachers’ PCK, specifically using the frames of Content Representations (CoRes) and Pedagogical and Professional experience Repertoires (PaP-eRs). Lack of support from school management, lack of funding for affiliation and shortage of resources at the SRC were some of the factors that had an impact on use of the SRC by Physical Sciences teachers.
Exploring gender representations in selected science textbooks.
(2019) Ndlovu, Penelope Princess Zandile.; Mudaly, Ronicka.
South African education policies such as Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements of 2010, and legislation such as National Education Policy Act of 1997, and South African Schools Act of 1996, were established after 1994 to deal with (among other things) gender inequalities in education. However, women continue to be under-represented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers, while men dominate in these fields. This study provides the analysis of selected science textbooks that are used to teach science in South Africa, to establish if science textbooks could be the reason for women’s under-representation in STEM fields. This qualitative study was located in the critical paradigm and Critical Discourse Analysis was adopted as the method of data generation and analysis. The sample comprised of four purposefully selected science textbooks that are used for teaching and learning from the Intermediate Phase to Further Education and Training phase in the South African context. The Feminist Post-Structuralist Discourse Analysis was used as a lens to guide the interpretation of the findings. The implication of the findings is that science education continues to be permeated with patriarchy. Science teachers have the responsibility to critically evaluate science textbooks to verify whether they are gender inclusive or possess gender bias. In the cases where there is evidence of gender bias, teachers need to point out the bias to the learners. They must then work with learners to develop strategies of how to resist symbolic violence and political ideology presented by print media. This study concludes by proposing that science textbooks portray males and females as producers of scientific knowledge and as possessors of scientific inventions, to address masculinist science that is presented in patriarchal view. In this way conducive environments for science teaching and learning will be attained, and possibly advance women’s representation and participation in STEM fields.
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.
Exploring how Science teachers engage with the curriculum to teach socially responsive Science.
(2020) Naidoo, Thishen.; Mudaly, Ronicka.
Abstract available in PDF.
Exploring learners' participation in school environmental clubs.
(2013) Collings, Ursula Colette.; Mudaly, Ronicka.
The United Nations declared 2005–2014 to be the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Environmental clubs (ECs) within an education system could play an important role in making positive change for sustainable environmental development in a society, by offering learners environmental knowledge and practical activities that they can participate in. This participation strategy is different from the learners receiving direct instructions on what to do from a teacher. The research questions that underpin this research are: Why do learners participate in environmental clubs and how do learners participate in environmental clubs? The theoretical framework that underpins this research is an adaption of the Contextual Model of Learning (CML) where learning is inextricably linked to participation. The CML is used to address the participation of learners which flows from the basic elements of personal, sociocultural and physical contexts, which overlap with one another. Insights from Agarwal’s typology of participation (2001) also inform the design and analysis of this study. This qualitative study is located in an interpretivist paradigm. The research sites were two schools in KwaZulu-Natal which had established environmental clubs. Executive members from the environmental club from one school, and executive and non-executive club members from another school, were purposively selected to form the sample in this study. Data collection methods comprised semi-structured interviews and observations. Data was analysed using the constructs from the CML as well as Agarwal’s (2001) typology of participation. The findings of this study are presented using the frames of sociocultural, physical and personal contexts, as explicated in the CML. The findings provide insight into how learners as EC members, participate in non-sequential learning, based on their prior knowledge, interests, and experiences. Their societies’ influence about what is valuable learning, within and outside of groups, as well as ways in which they navigate their learning environments physically and intellectually, offer insights into how and why learners participate in environmental clubs. Based on these findings, recommendations related learners’ participation in ECs are made.
Exploring the views of pre-service science teachers about how they learn to teach environmental education.
(2014) Adebayo, Oluwakemi Ayodeji.; Mudaly, Ronicka.; Chirikure, Tamirirofa.
There is a global urgency to engage with environmental education (EE), based on, among other things, environmental crises related to climate change and environmental degradation. School curricular are viewed as one way of making citizens more conscious of environmental issues. EE is a relatively new knowledge and skill area for South African teachers. Curriculum policy stipulates that environmental problems be addressed in a specific manner. The views of pre-service science teachers about their experiences when they learn to teach EE were central to this study. The purpose of this research was to explore how pre-service science teachers learn to teach EE. The focus of this study was to gain insight into the content and pedagogical content knowledge of these pre-service science teachers when they worked with topics related to EE. Twenty five pre-service science teachers, who were training to teach in the intermediate and senior phases (Grades 4-9) of the South African School System, were purposively selected to participate in this qualitative study. This work was located in the interpretive paradigm, and an understanding of pre-service science teachers‟ views of their practice within a South African teacher education context was sought. Qualitative data were generated using focus group interviews, individual interviews and reflective diaries. Vygotsky‟s Zone of Proximal Development, and theoretical constructs embedded in constructivism, informed the analysis of the data. Pre-service science teachers who participated in this study expressed the views that teaching EE was important due to human dependence on the environment, the need to transform societies and consideration of the current environmental challenges. The challenges which participants experienced when learning to teach topics related to EE included integrating indigenous knowledge systems and EE in Natural Sciences, designing practical work, limited foundational knowledge, insufficient exposure to EE, inadequate resources, and inability to experience teaching EE during Teaching Practice or Work Integrated Learning (WIL) periods, amongst others. In spite of these challenges, the pre-service science teacher participants suggested various ways of overcoming the challenges of learning how to teach EE in Natural Sciences, including working in groups, collaborative learning with peers, independent research, use of digital technology (internet), engaging with external human resources and improvisation. These suggestions demonstrated scaffolding which helped the pre-service science teachers to move to their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) in learning and development as described by Vygotsky. Recommendations that evolved from insights emanating from this research will be significant to teacher education institutions, university lecturers and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
Exploring university-community engagement by pre-service Science teachers through the study of a Biology module.
(2019) Adebayo, Oluwakemi Ayodeji.; Mudaly, Ronicka.
Abstract available in PDF.
Indigenous knowledge and infectious diseases: rethinking the teacher education Biology curriculum.
(2022) Trinos, Kutenda.; Mudaly, Ronicka.
In most African countries, the ontological and epistemological standard that shapes university curricula is a pre-programmed Euro-Western educational model. This is true regardless of the fact that most African countries gained their independence many decades ago. African countries pride themselves on political independence rather than epistemological and ontological autonomy. The legacy of socio-political histories has resulted in indigenous knowledge of Africa to continue to be despised. This coloniality underpins the intellectual colonialism which is evident in the marginalisation of indigenous knowledge systems and their community sages in formal education currently. This has been normalised and accepted as the default setting because the colonised have learned to live with an alien curriculum. Consequently, this contributed to the dearth of African indigenous scholarship and the erosion of the indigenous knowledge base as globalisation, modernity, urbanisation, and technological advancement come to the fore. This study selectively explored part of the university curriculum by examining content knowledge and pedagogical approaches in four Biology modules for pre-service teachers, relative to a specific field, namely, infectious diseases, at Midlands State University in Zimbabwe. The study also sought to identify knowledge of infectious diseases and the practises of Karanga healers and to suggest how these could be integrated into the Biology curriculum for pre-service teachers. The study was motivated by the lack of contextualisation in science education which is perpetuated by privileging a predominantly Euro-Western university curriculum. In order to peer through the decolonial lens that promotes indigenisation of science modules, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten Karanga healers to understand indigenous knowledge of infectious diseases. Exploration of main themes revealed that disease management is seen in terms of causes of infections, diagnosis, prevention and treatment, and traditional health education to promote a disease-free community. The knowledge shared by the Karanga healers illuminated the holistic perspective of indigenous Africans on health, from both the physical and spiritual perspectives. The study also examined the nature of four health-related modules for Biology pre-service teachers and found that the Euro-Western worldview dominated over the African-Indigenous worldview. Therefore, the content and pedagogy that shaped and continue to shape these modules are predominantly Euro-Western. A comparison of the two knowledge systems reveals points of dissonance and concurrence. Synthesis of research data revealed gaps, connections, and opportunities through which indigenous knowledge can be integrated into Biology modules. Using an emancipatory approach situated within the critical paradigm, the study developed practical transformational approaches rooted in promoting a poly-epistemic university curriculum. The study proposed an integrative curriculum model informed by the need to give students the opportunity to reflect on their formal learning experiences against their lived experiences. In this way work towards an inclusive curriculum and inclusive pedagogy could be achieved.
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.
Towards decolonising a unit of work in the curriculum: exploring the inclusion of scientists of non-western descent in the science curriculum, by pre-service teachers.
(2021) Khan, Riaan Kazan.; Mudaly, Ronicka.
Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements of 2010, was established after 1994 to deal with several things such as gender and racial inequalities in education. However, women and individuals of non-western descent continue to be under-represented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers, while white, euro-western men dominate in these fields. This study provided an opportunity to pre-service teachers to analyse the school science curriculum in South Africa. To develop a lesson plan based on a unit of work in the science curriculum in which they could incorporate scientists of non-western descent. This qualitative study was located in critical and decolonial theory. Data generation involved; document analysis of lesson plans which pre-service teachers were instructed to develop within groups and individual interviews which were conducted via WhatsApp. Participants were sampled from the registered stream of students in the Natural Sciences 211 module of the first semester of the 2020 academic year. The implication of the findings was that white euro-western male scientists continue to be perpetuated as the holders of scientific knowledge in school science education. This study concludes by proposing that curriculum designers portray males and females of non-western descent as equal producers of scientific knowledge, therefore addressing the colonial nature of the school science curriculum. In this way, more conducive environments for science teaching and learning will be attained, and possibly advance female and non-western representation and participation in STEM fields.
An understanding of adolescents who self-harm and their meaning-making of school.
(2020) Appadoo, Neeteeyavathee.; Mudaly, Ronicka.; Bholah, Ravhee.
Rates of self-harm are constantly on the increase in adolescence compared to adulthood. It is important to understand why adolescents engage in self-harming behaviour. Adolescents who self-harm are at higher risk of a repeated episode and self-harm is a key risk factor in completed suicide. Only a few studies have directly explored adolescents’ views of their self-harm using their personal accounts. The present study employed a qualitative design using the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (APA) to explore the subjective experiences of twelve adolescents who self-harmed, and to gain understanding of how they assigned meaning to their experiences within the context of their school. Data were gathered via interviews, solicited diaries, photos and drawings elicitations. Session recordings of the participants formed the dataset. Data were transcribed, and from the analysis, five super-ordinate themes were developed: (1) Disconnected at home (2) Traumatic Pain leading to self-harm (3) Coping strategies at school (4) School connectedness and (5) Fostering resilience. Accounts highlighted the complex interplay between self-harm and depression across episodes of self-harm. Self-harm was a means of communicating distress as well as managing emotions. Encouragingly, many participants described being able to resist self-harm, often mirroring why the adolescents harmed themselves in the first place. Results indicated that participants reported adversities at home, butexperienced a high-level of connectedness to school, including peers and teachers, and this resulted in positive coping strategies. Several protective factors have been found to alleviate conditions, including resiliency building, leading to cessation of self-harm. Ultimately a recovery from self-harm model was developed. Findings were discussed in relation to the literature along with strengths, limitations, clinical implications and future research. Results suggest schools may benefit from improving their approach to preparing for students’ self-harming behaviours, by providing an environment that is conducive to the development of the students’ mental health.