Do Teachers’ Learning Styles Influence Their Classroom Practices? A Case of Primary School Natural Science Teachers from South Africa

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bongani D. Bantwini
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Classroom Practices

scholarly journals ANALYSIS OF THE STATE OF COLLABORATION BETWEEN NATURAL SCIENCE SCHOOL DISTRICT OFFICIALS AND PRIMARY SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHERS IN SOUTH AFRICA

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 586-598
Author(s):  
Bongani D. Bantwini
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
School Science ◽  
The State ◽  
Policy Document ◽  
Effective Collaboration

Collaboration and synergy among education stakeholders is a fundamental pillar for any educational reform success. The reported research analyses the state of collaboration and work dynamics that existed between natural science district officials and primary school teachers in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Data were collected through interviews conducted with science district officials and teachers and policy document review. The results focuses on past previous experiences with officials as barrier towards effective collaboration, work dynamics between science district officials and science teachers in their districts, impact on and implications for curriculum reform implementation and professional development. It is argued that effective collaboration between district officials and teachers is a hallmark of curriculum reform success, teacher growth and success in the workplace, which result in student academic achievement. Effective collaborations are built around trust in individual’s professional integrity and are characterised by professional candour, appreciation of individuals and understanding. In conclusion, it is imperative for district officials and teachers to improve communication and strive for effective collaboration, mutual respect, and power sharing rather than domination of one group by the other. Key words: district officials, science teachers, primary schools, collaboration, South Africa.

scholarly journals A snapshot of the use of reading methods in primary schools in three provinces of South Africa

Per Linguam ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-44
Author(s):  
Anna Johanna Hugo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Intermediate Phase ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Primary School Teachers ◽  
Know How ◽  
Reading Methods ◽  
Teaching Of Reading

The teaching of reading is not as easy as it may seem. It requires specific knowledge and the use of reading methods by teachers. Learners’ reading needs and learning styles also have to be considered. According to the Progress in International Reading Literacy (PIRLS) results for 2016, the reading abilities of South African learners are far below the international standard as set out by PIRLS. There is a lack of research about the strategies and methods that primary school teachers use to teach reading. In this article, the feedback regarding reading methods – gathered from 36 primary school teachers in three provinces – is discussed. The data revealed that most of the Grade 1 to 7 teachers who participated in the research knew and used some of the six reading methods under discussion. However, the results did not indicate how well the teachers applied these methods and how versatile they were in using the different reading methods. The data revealed that Foundation phase teachers used some of the methods statistically significantly more often than the comparison group of Intermediate phase teachers in a nonexperimental static-group observational design study. According to Spaull (McBride 2019:1), a well-known researcher in South Africa, one of the three main reasons why Foundation phase readers are struggling with reading is that their teachers do not know how to teach reading systematically. Teachers do not know how to change and adapt the methods that they use to teach reading and not enough research has been done to address the problems with the teaching of reading in the classroom specifically. Often the reading problems experienced in the Foundation phase are carried over to the Intermediate phase.

scholarly journals Middle Management and Instructional Leadership: The Case of Natural Sciences’ Heads of Departments in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
Cynthia B Malinga ◽  
Loyiso C Jita ◽  
Abiodun A Bada
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Instructional Leadership ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Science Curriculum ◽  
Classroom Teacher ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Instructional Leaders ◽  
Disciplinary Culture

Natural sciences heads of departments often find themselves in the middle, shuttling between one role as part of the school management team, and another as an ordinary classroom teacher whose role as subject and instructional leaders is made even more complex because of the several duties incorporated in the subject which brings together other science disciplines, with each having its own disciplinary culture and expectations. The crucial role played by this group of teachers in the area of management and instructional leadership can go a long way in determining effective output in teaching and learning. This study reports on a mixed methods approach to explore the practices of natural sciences heads of department, as they provide instructional leadership to the teachers in a multidisciplinary context of their subject. This research involved 30 participants who responded to the questionnaire and 6 purposively selected subject heads of department interviewed and observed from four districts in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The data collected through questionnaire, semi-structured interview and observations were analysed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. The results from this investigation revealed that natural science heads of departments devise creative ways to mitigate the challenge of differently qualified natural science teachers. These study concludes that the effectiveness of heads of departments as instructional leaders is influenced by the immense pressure from the dual roles of managing from the middle, which also appear to affect the optimal implementation of the natural science curriculum.

scholarly journals PENGARUH PENDEKATAN PEMBELAJARAN CONTEXTUAL TEACHING AND LEARNING DAN KREATIVITAS PESERTA DIDIK TERHADAP HASIL BELAJAR IPA KELAS V DI SDN 147 KOTA JAMBI

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-49
Author(s):  
Lina Herlina
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Science Learning ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Research Result ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Quasi Experimental

Learning approach is the first step toward the learning process that based, inspires and becomes a background of learning methods with specitif theoretical scope. CTL is learning that related daily life context to find new insight. The end of this research is to know the result of the e examination result in Primary School. The sampling use non probability sampling technic. It was based on researched subjective asessment toward students characteristic. The data collection used test and non test technic (quesioner). This researdh is quasi experimental research. The subject war the students of V grade of SDN 147/IV Jambi City consisting of experimental class 5A and controll class 5B, the number of participants is 61 students. The research  result showed: 1) CTL  approach give  more significant effect than expository methode approch towards the learning result, 2) the students with higher creativity have higher learning result than students with low creativity, 3) the students with higher creativity using CTL approach have higher natural science learning research than students with high creativity using expository learning menthode, 4) learner who have low creativity are taught to approach CTL higher learning results of students who are teaching method in ekspository, 5) there is no significant interarctive effects betwen CTL approach and expositoty methode and teh creativity of natural science learning result. Based on the result: it is highly reconed that teachers, expecially natural science teachers in Primary School to apply CTL approach in their learning process and give space for the development of student creativity. 

scholarly journals NATURAL SCIENCE EDUCATION IN PRIMARY SCHOOL: THE CONTEXT OF SCI-ENTIFIC RESEARCH

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 4-11
Author(s):  
Vincentas Lamanauskas
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Teaching Quality ◽  
Academic Science ◽  
Teaching Methodology ◽  
Natural Science Education ◽  
The Impact

The patterning, correction and expansion of primary natural science education that is based on ex-haustive research are necessary to perceive the peculiarities of natural science education of the junior pupils aged from 6 to 12. The revision of particular training issues of the junior period (content, methods and forms) is insufficient in order children should become the equal members of society, nation and the world yet in childhood. Foreign scientists carry out a number of different investigations in the field of primary natural science education. In fact, the importance of natural science education is accepted putting emphasis on primary school. In considering the place of the natural sciences in the curriculum of schools, one cannot fail to recog-nize their centrality in the lives and work of those of us living in the industrialized countries around the globe (Shafer, 1996). After 1950 the subsequent positions were more frequent: primary natural science education has to be a creative process, sciences teaching cannot be only nature study. Scrupulous attention is devoted to chemistry issues in primary school. It is underlined that the field should be revised more attentively as the child faces plenty of chemical substances in daily life. The proceeding following moments are worth to be mentioned: • children have a natural sense of wonder and curiosity about their world (Qualter, 1994; Alford, 1997); • exists a distinction between children’s life knowledge and scientific knowledge. The transition from the first to the second is not always automatic or linear (Black, Lucas, 1993); • learning in primary science is most effective when children can interpret their own experience and in-vestigations in scientific terms (Wenham, 1995). It can be concluded that: • one of the burning issues is natural science and technological literacy; • much attention is devoted to broadening children’s cognitive abilities, it is emphasized that the suc-cess of primary natural science education should depend on teaching quality that is given to chil-dren; • a consistent important didactic pattern is stressed – from simple visions to the interpretation, devel-opment, etc. of scientific concepts; • It is sought to examine the impact of the cognitive factors on the success of learning (achievements) as well as that of motivation, teaching methodology, classroom microclimate, a social environment, etc.; • more and more attention is focused on the alteration of natural science education paradigms – from academic science subjects teaching to “science for all”. The most important directions of research are the final goals of natural science education of the present century and the most effective strate-gies of teaching; • primary teachers’ natural science competency is given very close attention. Different approaches are searched for making primary natural science education more effective. Akvileva ir Klepinina (2001, p.3) state that one of the weakest links in the training of primary natural science teachers are limited students’ abilities to transfer theoretic knowledge into practical activities; • natural science education curricula and its planning are very important aspects. Though a curriculum itself does not guarantee the quality of natural science education, it is a suitable instrument for the teacher. Designing of primary natural science education curricula is one of the obligatory compo-nents of the teacher’s competency. The content of the curricula of the main science subjects re-mains problematic. It is clear that the content of primary natural science education should be inte-grated. However, it does not mean that the knowledge of biology, chemistry, and physics is not in-troduced. The question about the balance of the main fields arises. Assessment shows that the knowledge of chemistry is very poor and requires obligatory and exhaustive research in the field. Unusually prominent “biologization” makes pupils’ natural science education poor, lays down pre-conditions to give up on chemistry and physics.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document