Browsing by Author "Wassermann, Johannes Michiel."

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Analysing the dominant discourses on the Holocaust in Grade 9 South African history textbooks.
(2012) Koekemoer, Michelle.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
Abstract available in PDF version.
An analysis of the construction of African consciousness in contemporary South African history textbooks.
(2014) Maposa, Marshall Tamuka.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
This study is rooted in the move by the South African government at the turn of the 21st century to spearhead the conception of what then President Thabo Mbeki referred to as an African Renaissance. This move entailed cultivating an African consciousness; education being one of the key tools. With textbooks still playing a critical role in the education system, I therefore set out to analyse contemporary South African History textbooks in order to understand the type of African consciousness that they construct for their audience. I conceptually framed this study within a conceptual architecture of African consciousness, adapted from Rüsen’s (1993) typology of historical consciousness. Theoretically, the study is framed within discursive postcolonialism and oriented in a social constructionist paradigm. The sample consisted of four Grade 12 History textbooks with a focus on the themes on post-colonial Africa, on which I conducted Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis. At a descriptive level of analysis, the findings are that Africa is constructed in the analysed textbooks as four-dimensional: the spatial, the temporal, the humanised and the experiential notions. Correspondingly, the African being is constructed as five-dimensional: the spatial, the physical, the philosophical, the cultural and the experiential notions. The interpretation is that Africa and the African being are constructed as multidimensional and largely ambiguous. I argue that the revelation that the analysed textbooks contain a bricolage of three forms of African consciousness (traditional, exemplary and critical) implies a consciousness conundrum that is a manifestation of the hybridity characteristic of postcolonial representations. In fact, the research shows that while the macro-level of power produces the dominant discourses, the micro-level of the citizen also contributes to the discourses that permeate the History textbooks. Indeed, the production of textbooks is influenced by multifarious factors that when the discourses from the top and from below meet at the meso-level of textbook production, there is not just articulation but also resistance, thus producing heteroglossic representation of African consciousness. On one hand, South Africa is constructed as part and parcel of postcolonial Africa. But more dominantly, there is on the other hand, the exceptionalism of South Africa and the South African from the construction of Africa and the African being. I argue that the kind of African consciousness that is promoted in the textbooks to a greater extent leads to the polar affect, which is a preference of the group one identifies with over others.
An analysis of the depiction of "big men" in apartheid and post-apartheid school history textbooks.
(2014) Naidoo, Anand.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
Male historical figures or “big men” as I refer to them in this study have appeared in South African history textbooks since their inception. I learnt about these “big men” when I studied history at school and thereafter when I began teaching history at school. I taught history in both the apartheid and post-apartheid eras and used the textbooks from both. I was therefore curious to discover whether the new democratic dispensation and the associated curricula had an impact on the depiction of “big men” in contemporary history textbooks in South Africa. Since I am an educator who uses history textbooks in my teaching, I wanted to research this topic and therefore contribute to the discourse on the portrayal of “big men” in history textbooks. Hence I analysed the depiction of “big men” in selected South African history textbooks of the apartheid and post-apartheid eras for this dissertation. . This study is informed by the interpretivist paradigm as the aim of the study was to reach some understanding of how “big men” were portrayed in history textbooks of both political eras and why they were portrayed in such a manner. The research approach is qualitative in nature and I employed qualitative textual analysis as the research methodology. Content analysis and open-coding were used as the data analysis methods for the study. The sample constituted eight selected primary and secondary school history textbooks from the apartheid and post-apartheid eras. Connell’s theory of masculinity was employed to justify that the “big men” who appear in the textbooks embody the ideals and practices of the hegemonic man. The study revealed that “big men” and their characteristics have in some ways evolved but in others stayed the same since apartheid to the post-apartheid era history textbooks. Although different narratives have been constructed about “big men” in history textbooks of both political eras in South Africa, the reality is that “big men” are still present in the history textbooks. These “big men” are still attributed with “enduring” characteristics which transcend from the apartheid to post-apartheid history textbooks. Based on the findings although this cannot be generalised to all school history textbooks, this study has concluded that patriarchy although challenged after 1994, is still entrenched in history textbooks and consequently history teaching and learning in South Africa.
An analysis of the portrayal of women in junior secondary school history textbooks in Malawi.
(2014) Chiponda, Annie Fatsireni.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
This study examines the portrayal of women in junior secondary school history textbooks in Malawi. It seeks to explore how women are portrayed and establishes reasons for the portrayal of women in particular ways in these textbooks. The visual and verbal text of three history textbooks used at junior secondary level in Malawi was analysed. The study is guided by the critical paradigm and the qualitative feminist approach to research using documentary or secondary data studies design. It uses feminist theory to analyse and understand the portrayal of women in the textbooks studied. Specifically the study uses a bricolage of six feminist theories namely liberal, radical, Marxist, socialist, black and African feminisms. Three methods of textual analysis were used to analyse the textbooks and these are content analysis, visual semiotic analysis, and open coding. It was concluded in this study that women are oppressed in their portrayal in junior secondary school history textbooks in Malawi and that their oppression manifested through marginalisation, stereotyping, silencing and limited representation as exceptional historical characters. Furthermore, it was found that Malawian women were under-represented despite the fact that the textbooks were produced in their own country. Malawian women comprised a negligible population of the women contained in the textbooks studied which portrays them as being non-existent in history. This finding is not supported by literature and therefore I would argue that it adds a new dimension to the existing literature on the portrayal of women in history textbooks. Among other factors such as race, Capitalism and the African culture, it was concluded that patriarchal beliefs were the major reason for the oppression of women in these textbooks. Therefore, unless patriarchy is uprooted in the minds of people, the oppression of women in society in all its manifestations, which permeates history textbooks, will largely remain the same as evidenced by the corroboration of findings between this study and previous studies conducted in history textbooks. This study makes a significant contribution to history textbook research and feminist research in textbooks. It carries on the tradition of researching women in textbooks which was started by Catherine de Pisan in the first century AD. Unlike previous studies which only revealed under-representation of women, this study documents the frequency in which the few women mentioned in the text were referred. My study therefore enhances the debate on the under-representation of women both in history textbooks and textbooks of other subjects by highlighting less frequent mentioning of women as a form of marginalisation.
An analysis of the visual images of women in grade 12 South African history textbooks.
(2014) Nene, Ntombikayise Promise.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
This dissertation has contributed to the debate of the depiction of women in visual images in selected Grade 12 history textbooks. This dissertation was triggered by what I read in the South African Constitution and the History curriculum statement about promoting gender equity in schools as well as the fair treatment of women and in all spheres of life. I was, in the light of this, curious in finding out how women as historical characters are portrayed in visual images in history textbooks. Since I am an educator, living in contemporary South Africa I took an initiative in analysing the depiction of visual images of women in selected South African history textbooks for grade 12.The analysis part was completed by employing textual analysis as it assisted in analysing both the content and the visual components of the textbooks. The research questions of this study manifested and produced rich data that has revealed how history textbooks through the visual portrayal of women reinforced gender stereotypes and inequalities. The findings showed that severe gender inequality existed in the visual images in the selected history textbooks which is in contradiction to both the Constitution of South Africa and the curriculum. My study has revealed that women are silenced in history textbooks by the manner they are portrayed in, the roles they are showed in and by the number of images that I have counted in the chapters. This dissertation has concluded that the portrayal of women in visual images in history textbooks is still a barrier in promoting gender equity in South African schools. By adopting feminism theory I have understood how and why images of women in history textbooks are used the way they are and that this is greatly related to patriarchy.
Black African parents and school history: a narrative inquiry.
(2019) Langa, Mauricio Paulo.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.; Maposa, Marshall Tamuka.
This study set to explore narratives on how Black African parents experienced school history in the apartheid era and how these experiences informed the parents’ views of school history in post-apartheid South Africa. Literature on schooling during apartheid shows that most Black Africans’ experiences were characterised by difficulty. It also shows how school history was abused as a tool to promote the apartheid ideology. However, Black Africans’ experiences of school history are under-researched. This motivated the need to explore narratives of Black Africans, especially if one considers the fact that these Africans are now parents whose views may inform their children’s decisions on studying school history. This study was guided by two research questions: What are the narratives of Black African parents as they relate to school history in both apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa; and How do their narratives explain why their children do or do not do school history? The Narrative Inquiry methodology was employed to make sense of the lived experiences of the participants (Black African parents). The study was situated within the critical paradigm, which tallies with Critical Race Theory, which is the theoretical framework. The sample comprised ten participants, who were purposively chosen middle class Black African parents. The data was generated through semi-structured interviews enhanced by photo elicitation and was analysed through open-coding. The first level of analysis generated narratives which both diverged and converged. The findings from the second level of analysis showed that the participants had negative experiences of education in general and school history in particular during the apartheid era. As a result of these negative experiences, Black African parents admit to not wanting their children to study history, despite the acknowledgement that the post-apartheid school history curriculum has improved. This shows that the parents project their negative experiences of school history onto their children. This is not helped by the finding that while the apartheid government’s conception of school history deterred the participants from promoting history, the post-apartheid government has inadvertently continued to solidify the parents’ anti-history resolve because of the promotion of sciences over humanities. This phenomenon is theorised as Perpetual Stagnation a model that explains how Black African parents’ narratives in relation to school history have remained largely negative regardless of change in time and circumstances. Therefore, the study concludes that Black African parents viewed apartheid as monstrous and evil as well as oppressive system. Also, school history education under apartheid was viewed by participants as meaningless and memory discipline thus leading the participants to dislike the subject. Furthermore, the study showed that in post-apartheid South Africa Black African parents have much expectations for their children while at the same time admitting that school history curriculum has changed for the better since apartheid. In nutshell, the study concludes that while apartheid policies made the school history unlikable to participants, the post-apartheid policies of prioritising mathematics and science has equally made school history unlikable. This stagnation shows how some things have changed in post-apartheid era, while some have remained the same.
A comparative analysis of reunification discourses in selected Cameroonian history textbooks.
(2017) Fru, Nkwenti Raymond.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
More than five decades after the (re)unification on October 1st 1961 of the former UNO trusteeship territories of French and British Southern Cameroons, to form a single nation-state, the phenomenon remains a hotly contentious and controversial discourse in both public and academic space of the Cameroonian society. Most often than not, the tensions around discourses on reunification have resulted in activities that have threatened the fabric of peaceful coexistence and social harmony between the Anglophone and Francophone communities of reunified Cameroon. Remnants of Anglo-French colonial heritage in the form of language, legal and educational systems, curricula and textbooks amongst others have most often been at the heart of the contention. In an era where textbooks in general and history textbooks in particular have been recognised to go beyond their core pedagogic purposes to also serve ideological and political functions, the need for their content to be constantly analysed with regard to their depiction of contentious phenomenon such as reunification has become a matter of absolute necessity. Against this backdrop, this study adopted a qualitative research approach and an interpretive paradigm to analyse six school history textbooks purposively selected from the Anglophone and Francophone sub-systems of education in Cameroon – three each from each of the sub systems. Making use of a bricolage of tenets of the qualitative content analyses methodology, nuanced with the discursive postcolonial theoretical framework, the analysis of the historical genre and historical knowledge types of the texts revealed certain dominant and supporting consistent and conflicting discourses on the nature of representation of reunification in Cameroonian history textbooks. These discourses include: an uncritical nature of school history and textbooks as it relates to reunification; an adoption of old styled school history characterised by substantive rather than procedural form of historical genre and knowledge; Cameroon as an imagined state; presence of single and master symbols/narratives; identity and nationalism discourse; big men historiography, male chauvinism; and exclusion. In explaining the reasons for the presence of these discourses, the analysis revealed the following notions: the nature of school history and textbooks as a colonial legacy performing the same ideological function in Cameroon as during the different periods of German, British and French colonisation; the complex nature of reunification as a phenomenon with a similar context of the reunification controversy in Germany; the ideological nature of history textbooks at the disposal of government authorities with examples such as the presence of vi master symbols in apartheid and post-apartheid South African school textbooks and the ideological use of history textbooks in the defunct German Democratic Republic (GDR) of post-WWII Germany. The postcolonial theoretical explanations of the discourse were linked to the notions of the postcolonial voiceless subaltern; the challenges of textbooks and author hybridity; and internal colonisation. The study recommends a harmonisation of the textbooks’ content, a more robust system of checks and balances in selection of history textbooks for use in schools, a review of the history syllabus and curriculum to be more inclusive of the contributions of women and ordinary Cameroonians in significant historical developments of Cameroon, to ensure a more critical curriculum that incorporates critical enquiry skills and multiperspectivity from learners and discards rote learning of history, and finally that both trainee and in-service history teachers be workshopped on these curricula improvements for history education in Cameroon schools.
A comparative investigation into the representation of Russia in apartheid and post-apartheid history textbooks.
(2016) Halsall, Tarryn Chanel.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
South Africa’s relationship with Russia has been determined by the significant shifts in the political ideologies within South Africa. It is this changing relationship that will be examined in order to identify the representation of Russia within Apartheid and post-Apartheid era history textbooks and how the changing relationship affected the representation of Russia in each textbook of each era. This study, analysed three Apartheid era and three post-Apartheid era textbooks. My study seeks to understand the representation of Russia within era different textbooks which is underpinned by the interpretivist paradigm and is further supported by the method of qualitative content analysis. Various findings emerged from the comparative analysis of the sampled Apartheid era and post-Apartheid era textbooks. The three Apartheid era textbooks displayed a contrasting image which mirrored the different stages of Apartheid. Book A1 (1974) and Book A2 (1987) both represent Russia in a similar fashion as they perpetuate the same anti-Tsarist, anti-Communist and pro-West narrative throughout. Book A1 (1974) was written when South Africa was entrenched in Apartheid as well as anti-Communist motions (as was the rest of the world) and Book A2 (1987) was written during the death throes of Apartheid and petty Apartheid. Both books perpetuate the similar discourse perhaps as a way to perpetuate the ideals maintained by the Apartheid regime. In contrast, Book A3 (1989), which was written at the end of the Apartheid era as well as at the fall of the Berlin Wall which marked the end of European Communism, offers a less critical representation of Communist Russia perhaps, in order to accommodate the changing world and ideological perspectives. All three post-Apartheid era textbooks are written in an era where the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) share a strong bond and thus the perception of Communism has altered. All three post-Apartheid textbooks continue the perpetuation of the anti-Tsarist discourse but there was no anti-Communist discourse evident as well as a less significant pro-West discourse. Despite these differences, all six textbooks portrayed the identical main characters within the Russian chapter highlighting, to a certain extent, the continued Big Men discourse and the unchanging nature portrayed of Russian history within history textbooks.
Conceptualising historical literacy in Zimbabwe : a textbook analysis.
(2009) Maposa, Marshall Tamuka.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
While debates rage over the relevance and worth of school history, history has been one of the five compulsory subjects up to Ordinary Level in Zimbabwe. However, far away from the corridors of power, it is essential that research be conducted on what school history is for and what represents that which the learner of school history acquires through at least eleven years of school history studies in Zimbabwe. Using the concept of historical literacy as its framework, this study is an analysis of three Ordinary Level history textbooks in Zimbabwe to explore how historical literacy manifests itself in Zimbabwean school history textbooks. In a context of increased government concern over what and how school history should be taught, the study explains how the textbooks that were produced more than ten years ago can still be turned into resources for the propagation of patriotic history, which emerged in the last decade. While conceptualisations of historical literacy continue, I argue for multiple historical literacies, that is, historical literacy which actually takes different forms in different times, spaces and contexts. Thus, what is represented as historical literacy in Zimbabwean history textbooks is not necessarily what historical literacy is elsewhere. This research is a qualitative textual analysis which was conducted in an interpretivist paradigm. I employed historical discourse analysis, question analysis and visual analysis as the analysis methods. The analysis was conducted through an instrument created from the benchmarks of the conceptual framework. The study concluded that despite attempt to push for an activitybased curriculum, historical knowledge, especially the nationalist narrative, is still the dominant benchmark of historical literacy in Zimbabwean textbooks. As a result, the current textbooks can be used, not only for a state sanitised version of historical literacy, but also a version of political literacy.
The experiences of history educators in facilitating oral history projects in the Further Education and Training Phase.
Singh, Shobana.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
This study focuses on the experiences of educators in facilitating the oral history projects with their learners in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase in selected schools in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). Whereby the voices of senior history educators as well as by the viewing of the learners completed projects provide further insight into the experiences of facilitating the oral history projects with their learners. To understand the educators’ experiences in facilitating the oral history project I used qualitative research methodology. This included the use of convenience sampling, semi-structured interviews and project analysis of the learners’ work. The project analysis followed using the method of coding. My research has revealed that educators themselves had prior knowledge and experiences of oral history that impacted on their facilitation of the oral history projects with their learners. The experiences of educators in the facilitation of the oral history projects with their learners has been positive and challenging, yet despite the challenges educators were successful in the facilitation of the oral history projects with their learners. The findings reveal that there is a need for educators to be provided with a clear conceptual understanding of what oral history is, secondly to get educators to understand as to why this aspect was included in the curriculum, thirdly there has to be a link between the training of educators and professional support by the Department of Basic Education and Training (DoE/DoBET)in the facilitating of the oral history projects with the learners, fourthly educators need to understand that there is no fixed way to get learners involved in oral history as this would also depend on their enthusiasm, training, experiences and interest, fifthly the choice of topics and finding suitable participants who learners could interview were also a challenge, lastly there are technological challenges that both educators and learners had to contend with.
The experiences of Rwandan secondary schools' history teachers in teaching the genocide against the Tutsi and its related controversial issues.
(2017) Buhigiro, Jean Leonard.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
After the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994, a moratorium was placed on the teaching of history in Rwandan secondary schools. This was done because the subject was considered as one of the causes of the Genocide. When reintroduced the subject contained content related to the Genocide. This study was motivated by the idea of understanding the experiences of Rwandan secondary schools’ history teachers on teaching the Genocide against the Tutsi and its related controversial issues. This study adopted a qualitative approach with a sample of seven history teachers from across Rwanda. A range of research methods, including drawings, photo-elicitation, semi-structured interviews and self-interviews, were used for gathering the data for this thesis. It was found that the commencement of teaching the Genocide was a daunting task which inspired fear and anxiety. This was due to the fact that the Genocide is a recent event and the wounds are still fresh in the minds of both teachers and learners who were affected in one way or another by the event. Due to the sensitivity of the topic the participating teachers, as stipulated by the curriculum, hardly used the participatory approach. Equally, parents feared talking to learners about certain topics related to the Genocide. The overarching reasoning being to prevent hatred ideas, that could contradict the official version of the history of the Genocide, from finding its way into classrooms. Consequently, teachers were more inclined to use teacher centred methods and comply with the curricula and official version of the history of the Genocide. This was done so as to educate patriots capable of preventing genocide, and promote unity and harmonious living. Moreover, the prevalence of teacher centred methods led the teacher to avoid the actual Genocide by focusing on topics such as the pre- and post-colonial histories of Rwanda. In the teaching process, a range of issues including the content, the curriculum, the collaboration with parents and the teaching methods have been identified as controversial. Issues such as, for example, the double genocide theory and the naming of the Genocide were considered as controversial. Additionally, certain vi resources such as films proved to be inappropriate because they traumatised learners. Consequently learners’ emotions also hindered the achievement of the stated aims as most of the teachers lacked the ability to deal with such situations. Evidence from teachers’ experiences indicated that most controversial issues were actually raised by the learners. In the analysis process, the theoretical framework on teaching controversial issues by Stradling (1984) and other scholars did not totally fit the Rwandan context. Some specific positions, such as playing devil’s advocate and risk-taking, were avoided for not propagating Genocide denial or divisive ideas. Instead alongside indoctrination and stated commitment, compliance for self-care emerged as the best explanation for why the history teachers taught the Genocide and its related controversial issues the way they did.
Heritage in contemporary grade 10 South African history textbooks : a case study.
(2011) Fru, Nkwenti Raymond.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.; Maposa, Marshall Tamuka.
Drawing on two research questions, this study presents an understanding of the nature of heritage in selected contemporary Grade 10 South African history textbooks, and elucidates factors responsible for the depiction of heritage in a particular way. The context that informed this study was that of South Africa as a post-conflict society. Using the interpretivist paradigm and approached from a qualitative perspective, this case study produced data on three purposively selected contemporary (post-1994) South African history textbooks with regards to their representation of heritage. Lexicalisation, a form of the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was used as method to analyse the pre generated data from the selected textbooks following Fairclough’s (2003) three dimensions of describing, interpreting, and explaining the text. The study adopted a holistic approach to heritage as a conceptual framework whilst following social constructionism as the lens through which heritage was explored in the selected textbooks. My findings from this study concluded that although educational policy in the form of the NCS-History clearly stipulates the expectations to be achieved from the teaching and learning of heritage at Grade 10 level, there are inconsistencies and contradictions at the level of implementation of the heritage outcome in the history textbooks. Key among the finding are the absence of representation of natural heritage, lack of clear conceptualisation of heritage, many diverse pedagogic approaches towards heritage depiction, a gender and race representation of heritage that suggests an inclination towards patriarchy and a desire to retain apartheid and colonial dogma respectively,and finally a confirmation of the tension in the heritage/history relationship. The study discovered that factors such as the commercial and political nature of textbooks, the lack of understanding of the debates around the heritage/history partnership, and the difficulties involved in post-conflict reconstruction are responsible for this type of heritage depiction in the textbooks.
HIStory : masculinity and history in an independent boys' school.
(2013) Rogers, Adam.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
Boys do not learn history in isolation. They learn history in genderised and genderising institutions. Many all-boys’ schools construct their own particular kind of masculinity that is unique to the school. This may be the result of the needs of the particular clientele or may have been constructed over time or in the case of long-established schools it may even be a by-product of a by-gone era. Thus the construction of masculinity is strategic. Few studies have sought to highlight the impact that masculine gender construction plays in boys’ understanding of history particularly within the context of an independent boys’ secondary school in South Africa. The subjects of this study were all born in 1991 or 1992 - at the time of this country’s political and educational transformation. In growing up they have known nothing but a democratic South Africa and their history education has been entirely in keeping with Outcomes Based Education (O.B.E) and that of the official history curriculum as outlined in the National Curriculum Statement (N.C.S) – History. However, these boys have also grown up male in this democratic South Africa characterized by, amongst other things, gender equality. What this study sought to uncover was how boys’ understanding of history interplays with the construction of their personal and collective masculine identity. Furthermore this study also sought to understand whether boys in learning history come to some understanding of a just sense of masculine construction. Using the script of the play The History Boys as one of the mirrors against which I held my study, I also made use of the post-structuralist Lacan’s (1949) Mirror Stage model to make sense of the data generated by my research. Immersing myself in boy-centred research I made use of a bounded case study using a purposive sample. The qualitative methods of narrative inquiry and focus group interviews were used to generate the data that was then coded and analysed using open coding. In addition I drew on the epistemology of the pro-feminist theorists in order to frame my research. Ultimately this case study sought to give voice to boys’ experiences in order to investigate the impact of masculinity on their understanding of history and how history education in turn informs the boys’ masculine identity. Through an intertwining vine of unofficial history made up of influential role players such as family members and friends, the school as a masculine regimenting agent and official school history over both primary and secondary schools, the boys of this study sometimes found themselves to be lacking because they did not measure up to the ideals of the traditional hegemonic form of masculinity. At other times, through their study of official history, these boys were able to dominate other boys because of their possession of historical knowledge thus formulating their own hegemonic masculinity as embodied in the history boy. Masculine hierarchies were therefore found to be constructed by institutions, teachers, subjects like history and boys themselves. The official South African history curriculum is a transformative one that seeks to achieve an appreciation of gender equity and a sensitization to power dynamics at play in a constantly evolving South African society. However, the institution in which the boys found themselves is not evolving. It is a traditional one that essentially aims to maintain old-fashioned or “time honoured” values. These independent school history boys learnt many contradictory lessons on what it means to be a man from the independent boys’ only boarding school in which they all found themselves as well as through official school history. These contradictory lessons all led to the conflicting and ambiguous notions of what it means to be a man. This in turn led to the creation of the hegemonic masculine form of the history boy that is established towards the top end of the masculinity hierarchy within this South African independent boys’ school.
History teachers’ experiences of the implementation of the Eswatini (Swaziland) general certificate of secondary education (SGCSE) history curriculum.
(2019) Dlamini, Rejoice Khanyisile.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
This study is a qualitative interpretive multiple case study. It aimed to investigate history teachers’ experiences of the implementation of the SGCSE history curriculum in eight senior secondary schools in the Manzini region in Eswatini. It further sought to understand why history teachers experienced the implementation of this curriculum the way they experienced it. Purposive sampling was used to select participants who helped generate data. The participants were selected based on their location and their involvement in the implementation of the SGCSE history curriculum as well as on the type of school in which they taught. Data was collected through the use of semi-structured interviews, group interviews and document analysis. Pinar’s (2004) curriculum theory and Gross, Giacquinta and Bernstein’s (1971) theory on implementation of educational change were used to theorise that since curriculum is a social construction, curriculum implementation should be a product of teacher reflection on his work. Teachers’ constant interaction with the learners positions teachers well in coming up with informed decisions on the best learning experiences and implementation strategies that can constitute the curriculum since they are familiar with both the learner and the school context. The findings revealed that the school context was not considered before rolling out the new curriculum. Schools were presumed to be the same yet they are not. It emerged from the data that some history teachers still had negative experiences of the implementation of this curriculum despite receiving training before the implementation process because of inadequate training and the lack of congruence between the teachers’ contextual factors and the reform. It also emerged that the country was severely constrained financially to change the school context. It also became clear from the study that history teachers need to be entrusted with the work of developing learning experiences and the means of transmitting these experiences to learners as they are better placed to do that since such an exercise would be informed by their knowledge of the learner and their contextual realities.
"History through drama" : perceptions, opinions, and experiences of history educators in the further education and training (FET) band at schools in the eThekwini region, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
(2007) Pillay, Ansurie.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
The National Curriculum Statement for history aims to make history accessible and enjoyable to all learners. To do this, educators have to interest and engage their charges in the classroom by using learner-centred methodologies, including drama strategies. This study aimed to determine the perceptions, opinions, and experiences of history educators in the Further Education and Training (FET) band at schools in the eThekwini region, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). To determine such perceptions, opinions, and experiences, mixed research was undertaken using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The research process began with the quantitative method using a questionnaire, and was followed by the qualitative methods using interviews and observations. However, data analysis of both strands of the research process was integrated, following the requirements of mixed research. The research revealed that while the sampled educators experienced many frustrations in their classrooms, they claimed to want to improve their methods of teaching. They alleged to believe in the power of drama strategies to engage their learners and build historical skills, but very rarely used these strategies. Because they perceived drama to imply putting on a play, they could not envision drama strategies to serve as effective teaching methodologies, and generally used traditional methods of talking and reading in their history classrooms to feed facts to learners. The system in which they worked appeared to conspire against them as it demanded prescriptive requirements while advocating creative methodologies. Thus, sampled history educators resorted to what had worked in the past, and used methodologies which no longer conformed to the present curriculum's requirements.
How does historical literacy manifest itself in South African grade 10 history textbooks?
(2009) Waller, Brenda Jane.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
The aim of this study was to identify how historical literacy manifested itself in Grade 10 history textbooks. The use of two distinct time periods was used in my study to chart the changes in history education, in South Africa. Pre-1994 detailed the nature of history education and history textbooks during the times of the Boer and British Republics to apartheid era history education. Post-1994, on the other hand, depicted the change, or lack thereof, of history education and history textbooks from the 1994 democratic elections to its current state. Despite the changes in history education between the two eras, the use of history textbooks was, in the context of this study, the vehicle to deliver the curriculum. In the light of the progression of history education and its link to history textbooks, the purpose of this study was threefold, which was purported through the use of three research questions, namely to firstly ascertain what kind of historical literacy was envisaged by the NCS – history. Secondly, to examine the views of history textbook authors concerning their opinion of school history (historical literacy). Thereafter, it was imperative to analyse Grade 10 textbooks in order to ascertain how historical literacy manifested itself therein so as to satiate the question of the thesis. My data sources were the National Curriculum Statement for history (2003), Grade 10 history textbook authors and three Grade 10 history textbooks. The methodology was qualitative and informed by an interpretivist approach. Open coding and Fairclough’s (2005) analytic instrument for discourse analysis was applied to data. Thereafter, a deeper conceptual understanding of historical literacy was engendered through the use of the Toolkit for Historical Literacy. Historical literacy is a complex process wherein a number of criteria facilitated the concept. Attainment of these factors of historical literacy would ensure mastery of the discipline. Historical literacy comprised of historical content knowledge which was a balance between knowing information as well understanding the past. Multiple sources, together with historical skills and historical concepts were vital for historical literacy to construct and evaluate knowledge. In addition, historical literacy furthered a case for developing a moral and ethical framework wherein the past could be judged. Historical consciousness, born of historical literacy, allowed for learners to make a connection with the past. Furthermore, historical literacy encompasses a number of modern concepts for the case of historical literacy, namely ICTunderstandings and representational expression. Therefore, historical literacy should be multi-disciplinary and multi-dimensional. The findings of this study were numerous. Historical skills, historical concepts, understanding and knowing the past, moral judgements in history and a source-based methodology was the encompassing form of historical literacy from the Grade 10 history textbook authors. At the core of historical literacy in Grade 10 history textbooks, are the role of the historian and the political influence of the NCS - history. The NCS - history endorsed all history textbooks in South Africa. The Grade 10 history textbooks revealed a potentially alarming factor for the case of historical literacy. The historical literacy advocated by the Grade 10 history textbooks is a far cry from the international version of historical literacy. No modern features of historical literacy were represented (ICT-understandings, representational expression, applied science, contention and contestability and historical consciousness). Moreover, more traditional features of historical concepts of change, cause and effect as well a means of morally judging the past through empathy are missing or not appropriately dealt with. Historical literacy in Grade 10 history textbooks is functional in terms of sourcing, contextualising and corroborating information so as to understand an event rather than know it. Historical skills are needed to complete this process. Ultimately, the type of historical literacy found in Grade 10 history textbooks is reminiscent of the Schools History Project. Historical literacy in South African Grade 10 history textbooks is not evolving or dynamic and it does not meet the requirements of the international version of historical literacy. However, it does partially satisfy the NCS - history requirements for historical literacy.
Investigating Holocaust education through the personal stories of history teachers.
(2017) Gouws, Brenda Raie.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
This study is an investigation into Holocaust education through the personal stories of history teachers. It answers two research questions: what are the personal stories of history teachers and how do these stories shape their teaching of the Holocaust? Following narrative inquiry theory and methodology, the study examines the personal stories of seven history teachers in KwaZulu-Natal who teach the Holocaust as part of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement for History in a post-apartheid, post-colonial context. Whilst some history teachers in South Africa have taken part in targeted Holocaust education workshops, the majority have not. This study focuses on those history teachers who teach the Holocaust with only the curriculum, textbook and personal stories at hand. Responding to the first research question, the restoried stories of the seven participants are told. To answer the second research question, I conducted a cross-story thematic analysis of the restoried stories to find common themes and categories and thereby develop a deeper understanding of how the Holocaust is taught in South African schools. The study draws on the theories of Clandinin and Connelly to theorise that history teachers use their personal stories to teach this complex, emotive topic to fourteen- and sixteenyear-old learners, the majority of whom have had little or no contact with Jews. It also seeks to expand the body of methodological knowledge and pushes narrative inquiry boundaries by telling the restoried stories in a manner that narrativises real events and places them in a creative setting. The result is a model for assessing history teachers’ personal story usage in Holocaust education. It illustrates that history teachers tell both overt and veiled stories. Overt stories are educative, societal, connective and biographical in nature, while veiled stories are both seen and unseen. There are even irrelevant stories, depending on what transpires in the Holocaust classroom. And finally, there are stories that are not told; submerged stories that lie below the surface but nonetheless shape the teaching of the Holocaust. The study concludes with ways in which the thesis adds new knowledge to the body of work on Holocaust education and history teachers’ personal stories.
Investigating Holocaust education through the work of the museum educators at the Durban Holocaust Centre : a case study.
(2011) Gouws, Brenda Raie.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
What is the work of the Durban Holocaust Centre museum educators and how are they shaping Holocaust education there? These questions provided the impetus for this study. Education about the Holocaust has been included in curricula not only in South African schools but in various countries around the world. The reasons for this extends beyond the hard historical facts and figures and go to the heart of a human search for meaning and the desire to promote democracy and human rights in society. The Holocaust was an event in which millions of Jewish men, women and children were murdered as well other ethnic groups. The dilemmas they faced and the decisions taken at that time differentiated the participants into victims, perpetrators, bystanders and upstanders. In the years since the end of World War II, people have strived to extract meaning from those events and to teach it to new generations in order to create a better world - a world in which bullying, racial and ethnic taunts and tensions, violence, discrimination against minorities and strangers, and genocide still occur. The findings show that as in other places in the world, this is the educational focus at the DHC. Teaching the history and events is the bedrock on which this social Holocaust education rests but it takes second place in the educational programme to this social goal. The findings show the local context for this learning is significant and that apartheid, racism and xenophobia all underpin the museum educators' educational philosophies while mother-tongue language moulds their teaching strategies. The museum educators play a pivotal role in presenting the educational programme and in so doing shaping the Holocaust for the visiting learners and teachers.
An investigation into how history learners view history as a subject in the secondary phase of schooling.
(2016) Subbiah, Charmaine.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
This study investigates how history learners view history as a subject in the secondary phase of schooling in a South African context. The study was guided by two research questions namely: how do history learners in the secondary phase of schooling view history as a subject and; why do history learners in the secondary phase of schooling view the subject the way they do? Although history is perceived as a subject with great value in a democratic South Africa, twenty-one years after the apartheid system was dismantled; South Africans seem to be faced with a scenario where the number of learners taking history at secondary school level is declining. Understanding how school history is viewed in the secondary phase by history learners can lend to an investigation into the declining history learner population in a democratic South Africa. The research methodology that was adopted to explore this topic was qualitative. To guide this qualitative inquiry I decided the most suitable paradigm for the investigation was ‘interpretivism’ from the epistemological stance of constructionism. This linked well with the theoretical framework for the study which was ‘symbolic interactionism’ which guided me as the researcher as I moved from theory to data and from data to theory. The sample for the study consisted of four chosen schools and seventeen learners within the schools. Learners involved in the study fell between the ages of 16 to 18 years old and were grade 11 learners who chose to do history as a subject at secondary school level. The methods used to collect data were creative arts-based research in the form of collages. Other related methods revolving around the collages included presentations of the collages in the form of a gallery walk, group discussions and field-notes. The research data for the study was analysed on two levels. The first level of analysis was based on analysing individual collages using an ‘open coding’ method. The second level of analysis was conducted using an instrument based on six benchmarks which I devised to further analyse the collages and the related methods used in the research study. The major findings that emerged in an inter-textual manner from the study included broad ideas about the content such as school history is viewed as being about South African political history; school history is more than a South African story; school history is about people and school history is about war and violence. Additional findings that emerged were related to school history being about the conceptual and pedagogical idea of the subject and school history is viewed as having an affective/emotive side. Findings revealed that the learners’ participating in this study, as per the theory of symbolic interactionism seem to be very idealistic by dint of their age and way of thinking. Thus, grand ideas of love, and critical views of school history were demonstrated. These participating learners related school history assertively to ‘big truths’. This kind of thinking can be attributed to the fact that as 16 -18 year old learners of grade 11 are so-called philosophical thinkers, according to Egan (1997). Overall, the study has contributed to the literature on how history learners view history as a subject in the secondary phase of their schooling as well as why history learners view the subject the way they do, therefore contributing to filling the gap in the literature for the particular context in which it was conducted.
An investigation into the implementation of oral history in the further education and training (FET) phase in selected KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) schools.
(2008) Wahlberg, Barbara Clair.; Wassermann, Johannes Michiel.
The National Curriculum Statement (NCS) for history, in accordance with the pedagogy of Outcomes Based Education (OBE) and Curriculum 2005 (c2005), aims to make history learner-centred, emancipatory and skills-based . The inclusion of oral history in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase speaks to this methodology and aim , along with addressing the need to rewrite South Africa 's history and acknowledge the biases that exist in the written record. This study aimed to determine the perceptions, opinions and experiences in the implementation of oral history in the FET phase in selected schools in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) through the 'voices' of history subject advisors, history teachers and former history learners. To determine such perceptions, opinions and experiences, the methodology of qualitative research was employed. This included convenient sampling, semi-structured interviews and a document study. Data and document analysis followed, using the methods of coding. The research revealed that while the sampled history subject advisors, teachers and former learners view oral history in the FET classroom in a positive light, problems and difficulties are being encountered. The implementers of oral history and of all official curriculum policy documents are the subject advisors and the teachers. The various levels of implementation that take place based on the Department of Education (DoE) and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education (KZNDOE) policy documents, are being carried out to the best of the implementers' abilities under difficulties that can be associated with a new curriculum, new methodologies, and a new content that has to be delivered in accordance with the NCS and c2005.