scholarly journals Strengthening maths learning dispositions through ‘math clubs’

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mellony Graven
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Mathematics Learning ◽  
School Mathematics ◽  
After School ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Project Lead ◽  
Learning Dispositions

In this paper, I argue that the establishment of after-school mathematics clubs in early grades holds rich potential for supporting the development of increasingly participatory and sensemaking maths learning dispositions. Within the South African Numeracy Chair project, lead by the author, multiple after-school mathematics clubs have been set up for learners in Grades 3–6 across Eastern Cape schools. These clubs are a complementary initiative to teacher development, aimed at improving low levels of numeracy learning across the majority of schools in the province. Two sources of data, learner interviews and teacher questionnaires, from one case study club, are shared in this article to illuminate the potential such clubs hold in developing increasingly participatory mathematics learning dispositions.

scholarly journals Application of the concept of reflection in majejahitan activity by Bali Mulia society

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-20
Author(s):  
Jero Budi Darmayasa ◽  
Wahyudin Wahyudin ◽  
Tatang Mulyana
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Mathematics Learning ◽  
Research Data ◽  
School Mathematics ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Mathematical Concepts ◽  
Exploration Phase

This research is qualitative research with case study method. The focus of this research is to explore the value of ethnomathematics in the culture of the Bali Mula society in the Kintamani sub-district, Bali Province. The research starts from the exploration phase of ethnomathematics, mapping ethnomathematics with school mathematics, explores aspects of pedagogy in the preservation of ethnomathematics and concludes on how ethnomathematics is applied to mathematics learning in schools. Data collection was carried out through observation of Mejejahitan activities carried out by Bali Mula women. Data from observations are then linked to the results of documentation analysis and strengthened by the results of interviews. The triangulation method is carried out to check the validity of the research data. Based on the results of data analysis there is a relationship between the activities of Mejejahitan with school mathematics. The mathematical concepts contained in the Majejahitan activity that is reflecting (reflecting) and predicting or predicting patterns. Because there is a relationship between Majejahitan activities with school mathematics, it can be said that there are ethnomathematics values in the culture of the Bali Mula society in Kintamani District, Bali Province.

scholarly journals The experiences and challenges faced by rehabilitation community service therapists within the South African Primary Healthcare health system

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lieketseng Ned ◽  
Lizahn Cloete ◽  
Gubela Mji
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Community Service ◽  
Health Determinants ◽  
Rehabilitation Services ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Rehabilitation Professionals ◽  
Service Package

Background: Twenty-two years after the promulgation of a plethora of progressive health policies since 1994, the South African public health system reflects a number of stumbling blocks regarding implementation. Rehabilitation professionals are not sufficiently equipped nor allowed the opportunity to comprehensively implement Primary Healthcare (PHC) from a bottom-up approach, thus engaging communities. Training on addressing social health determinants and their impact on ill-health and health outcomes is inadequate. The inadequate understanding of the advocacy role that rehabilitation professionals could play in addressing social health determinants remains a challenge in healthcare. Rehabilitation, a pillar of PHC, remains poorly understood in terms of its role within the health system.Aim: We argue for rehabilitation as a vehicle for addressing social determinants of health with community service practitioners playing a critical role in addressing the inequities within the healthcare package.Setting: The article reflects the opportunities and challenges faced by rehabilitation community service therapists in the delivery of rehabilitation services in a rural area of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.Methods: A single case study from the perspective of a researcher was used to explore the experience and reflection of the first author during her community service as an occupational therapist.Results: The case study highlights some existing gaps within the delivery of rehabilitation services in the rural Eastern Cape. A community service package with a specific approach towards addressing social determinants of health for persons with disability at a community level is suggested.Conclusion: Advocating for a rehabilitation service package to shift to community-based levels is critical. It is envisaged that a community-based approach will facilitate an understanding of the barriers faced by persons with disabilities as constituting disability, thus facilitating learning about the disabling consequences of the rural environment coupled with the system as experienced by persons with disabilities.

Challenges facing sanitation-provision partnerships for informal settlements: a South African case study

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 230-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Taing ◽  
S. Pan ◽  
J. Hilligan ◽  
A. Spiegel ◽  
N. P. Armitage
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Management Group ◽  
African Context ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The University ◽  
Partnership Approach

The Barcelona Settled Sewerage Pilot Project was established as a collaborative partnership between researchers from the University of Cape Town's Urban Water Management Group, City of Cape Town Water and Sanitation officials and Barcelona Informal Settlement Street Committee members. Its goal is to test collaboratively the viability of a settled sewerage system in an informal settlement (slum), Barcelona, located on a former landfill site. Direct engagement by officials and researchers with beneficiaries is crucial for such a project's success; therefore, a partnership approach was adopted. This also permitted researchers to assist municipal officials, since they faced capacity constraints. It became apparent over the course of the project that the partnership had been poorly set up and that partners' roles and responsibilities required renegotiation. Much literature emphasises the significance of ‘people-centred’ approaches, focusing on the ultimate users, in this instance as ‘owners’ of toilets. However, the study found that, in a South African context, partnerships need to designate the municipality as the responsible owner and managing partner of municipality-funded services. The critical challenges facing such a partnership approach suggest a need to build effective municipality-led and managed partnerships that simultaneously address each partner's needs and constraints.

scholarly journals Good Governance in Public Procurement: A South African Case Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 124
Author(s):  
Rolien Roos ◽  
Stephen De la Harpe ◽  
C Rijken
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Government Procurement ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Model Law ◽  
Procurement System

In this article good governance in public procurement, with particular reference to accountability is discussed. The principle of providing adequate remedies in public procurement is put under the spotlight. This is done with reference to the decision in Steenkamp NO v Provincial Tender Board, Eastern Cape. In this case the Constitutional Court had to consider whether an initially successful tenderer could lodge a delictual claim for damages to compensate for expenses incurred after conclusion of a contract, which was subsequently rendered void on an application for review of the tender award. The applicable principles of good governance and the applicable provisions of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement and the WTO plurilateral Government Procurement Agreement are analysed. This is done to enable an evaluation of the decision by the Constitutional Court in the above case. It is concluded that the South African public procurement system does in this instance comply with the basic principles of good governance with regard to accountability.

An exploration of the mathematical learner identities of high school learners who participated in after school mathematics clubs in primary school

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Wellington Munetsi Hokonya
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Mathematics Education ◽  
Primary School ◽  
South African ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
School Mathematics ◽  
After School ◽  
Primary Mathematics ◽  
Mathematical Identities ◽  
Learner Identities

This study focuses on understanding mathematics learner identities of high school learners who participated in the South African Numeracy Chair Project after school mathematics clubs, an environment that afforded different mathematics identities from the traditional South African classroom. Mathematics learner identities feature prominently in current research on mathematics education because they affect whether and how learners engage in mathematics. They play a critical role in enhancing (or detracting from) learners’ attitudes, dispositions, emotional development, and general sense of self as they learn mathematics. Development of positive learner mathematical identity is therefore useful in making learners commit to their mathematics work. South African primary mathematics education is described as being in a state of crisis, and various programmes are being implemented to develop intervention models to improve quality and ensure the effective teaching and learning of primary mathematics. The South African Numeracy Chair Project initiative at Rhodes University provides for longitudinal research and development programmes with primary mathematics teachers and learners from previously disadvantaged schools, in order to find ways of mitigating the crisis. The after school mathematics clubs provide extra-curricular activities focused on developing a supportive learning community where learners’ active mathematical participation, engagement, enjoyment, and sense making are the focus. The clubs provide a supportive learning environment that is different to the traditional classroom and in which learners can participate actively and freely in mathematical activities. The study explores the nature of mathematics learner identities as learning trajectories that connect the past and future in negotiation of the present. It also seeks to discover how primary school club participation and experiences feature in the learners’ mathematical identities. The study employs two theoretical frameworks to analyse qualitative data that was gathered in the form of spoken and written stories, by 14 learners who participated in the after school mathematics clubs in primary school. The stories covered learners’ engagement in mathematics in different landscapes of practice that promoted the construction of different learner mathematical identities. A close analysis of the qualitative data revealed that learners’ mathematical identities are heavily influenced by the values that were foregrounded in the after school mathematics clubs. The clubs valued hard work and encouraged learners to ask for assistance when in doubt. In line with the club ethos, the learners storied resilience and hard work in their narratives. In addition, although many learners storied Mathematics as difficult in high school, they chose to continue taking the subject.

The Socio-Economic Challenges of South African Indigenous Musicians: A Case Study of Venda-Based Vho-Ntshengedzeni Mamphodo

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
N G Mugovhani ◽  
Lebogang Lance Nawa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Arts Management ◽  
Black South African ◽  
Indigenous Music ◽  
Entire Country

This article discusses and raises awareness about the socio-economic plight of indigenous musicians in South Africa. Through a qualitative case study of the Venda musician, Vho-Talelani Andries Ntshengedzeni Mamphodo, dubbed the “Father of mbila music,” the article highlights the fact that the welfare of Black South African artists, particularly indigenous musicians in South Africa, is generally a precarious affair. Their popularity, at the height of their careers, sometimes masks shocking details of exploitation, neglect, and the poverty they are subjected to, which are exposed only after they have died. Empirical data identifies this as a symptom of, among other things, cultural policy and arts management deficiencies in the promotion of indigenous music. The article aims to find ways to redress this unfortunate situation, which is partially a product of general apathy and scant regard that these artists have perennially been subjected to, even by their own governments, as well as some members of their societies. All these factors mentioned are compounded by ignorance on the part of South African artists. Part of the objective of this study was to establish whether the exposition of the Vhavenda musicians is a typical example of all Black South African indigenous musicians and, if this is the case, whether the suggested ways to redress this unfortunate situation could contribute to or play a role in alleviating the plight of such artists in the entire country.

Exploring the South African Government Communication on Land Expropriation without Compensation

2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (1-3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lungisani Moyo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Food Security ◽  
South African ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
South African Government ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
The South ◽  
Land Expropriation ◽  
African Government ◽  
Government Communication

ABSTRACT This paper used qualitative methodology to explore the South African government communication and land expropriation without compensation and its effects on food security using Alice town located in the Eastern Cape Province South Africa as its case study. This was done to allow the participants to give their perceptions on the role of government communication on land expropriation without compensation and its effects on South African food security. In this paper, a total population of 30 comprising of 26 small scale farmers in rural Alice and 4 employees from the Department of Agriculture (Alice), Eastern Cape, South Africa were interviewed to get their perception and views on government communications and land expropriation without compensation and its effects on South African food security. The findings of this paper revealed that the agricultural sector plays a vital role in the South African economy hence there is a great need to speed up transformation in the sector.

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