Elizabeth Henning | University of Johannesburg, South Africa (original) (raw)

Papers by Elizabeth Henning

Research paper thumbnail of School and childhood

South African Journal of Childhood Education, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Editorial:Toward More South African Research on Learning in Childhood

South African Journal of Childhood Education, Dec 30, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Crossing the digital divide safely and trustingly: how ecologies of learning scaffold the journey

Computers & Education, 2004

The article addresses the issue of learning to elearn in borderless programs in a globalised lear... more The article addresses the issue of learning to elearn in borderless programs in a globalised learning landscape and the associated problems of scaffolding the journey across the digital divide. The authors argue that the assumption underlying such courses is that cross-cultural programs are viable because they are conceived and designed to be 'global', and that they assume this design to be inclusive. Henning and Van der Westhuizen claim that the global discourse in most domains can take only marginal note of the need to infuse such programs with a local semiotic-a course design criterion for which they argue. They furthermore forward the notion that the majority of the world's prospective elearners need various bridging mechanisms in order to be able to access the broader discourse and that one of these mechanisms can be explored through the metaphor of ''information ecologies'' as proposed by Nardi and O'Day [Nardi, B.A., & O'Day, V.L. (1999). Information ecologies. Using technology with heart. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press]. They also conclude that issues of the learners' trust in the course and its system need to be considered when contemplating programs for diverse target groups. By way of a case study, consisting of three portraitures of adult learners, they explore the limitations of assumed distributed cognition and claim that learning is, in reality, contained/constrained in the familiar local narrative of the novice adult elearners in a rural South African context. The case study illustrates how the resistance to technology and its power base becomes an obstacle for the students and how the support of peers becomes the main scaffolding mechanism for their entry into electronic learning environments. The findings thus show how the social context becomes the facilitator and the scaffold for elearning, more than technology and the curriculum itself.

Research paper thumbnail of Uitdagings in die onderrig van evolusie in die lewenswetenskappeklaskamer

Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Natuurwetenskap en Tegnologie, 2013

In this article the authors report on research that was conducted about teachers’ views on evolut... more In this article the authors report on research that was conducted about teachers’ views on evolution, which was introduced as a theme in the school life sciences curriculum in 2008. This innovation in the curriculum has been met with mixed reactions. Whereas some teachers embrace this new theme, many teachers are opposed to the teaching of evolution. The article reports on an inquiry that was conducted amongst 255 teachers and in which survey questionnaires were used to collect qualitative data, which was analysed for its discourse. The discourse of the teachers shows that many of them cannot reconcile their religious faith with their teaching and that they may teach the ‘facts’ of evolution, but make sure that they discredit evolution as a theory. This raises serious concerns about teacher education and curriculum development. The authors examine these issues through the lens of conceptual change theory.

Research paper thumbnail of Teachers' Understanding of Mathematical Cognition in Childhood: Towards a Shift in Pedagogical Content Knowledge?

Perspectives in Education, 2013

This article about the discourse of pedagogy as related to child cognition in mathematics address... more This article about the discourse of pedagogy as related to child cognition in mathematics addresses the issue of what constitutes the main disciplinary content and the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of foundation-phase teachers. I argue that, unless child cognition itself is the primary disciplinary content of foundation-phase teachers' knowledge, it is likely that they will couch their pedagogical knowledge in teaching methods and materials more than in knowledge of conceptual development of learners and how such knowledge relates to teaching. In this first of a series of case studies, workshop-generated conversational and interview data were analysed qualitatively for discourse. The topics for the workshops were mathematical cognition and training in standardised test administration. The analysis showed that the discourse of teachers' expressed knowledge about their practice was embedded in the language of policy, curriculum, teaching methods of mathematics, and the o...

Research paper thumbnail of Learning to read in Afrikaans : the progress of a Grade 1 Setswana speaking girl

Research paper thumbnail of Reading as learning in the primary school

South African Journal of Childhood Education, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of An early numeracy intervention for first-graders at risk for mathematical learning difficulties

Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 2021

The aim of this study was to investigate whether early numeracy skills of South African first gra... more The aim of this study was to investigate whether early numeracy skills of South African first graders who are at-risk for mathematical learning difficulties can be improved with an intervention program. The participants were 267 children from 17 classrooms in the greater Johannesburg area. In this quasiexperimental small group intervention study (15 sessions over 5 weeks) the outcome measure was early numeracy skills. Based on pretest early numeracy scores, the children were divided into an intervention group (N = 40), a low performing control group (N = 32), and an average performing control group (N = 195). The main result was that the intervention group had improved more in numerical relational skills, compared to low-controls; this effect remained statistically significant after controlling for executive functions, language skills and kindergarten attendance, and was also observable in the delayed postmeasurement. Executive functions, language skills and kindergarten attendance all predicted the level of early numeracy skills at the beginning of the intervention, but only executive functions explained individual differences in counting skills development from pre-to delayed posttest.

Research paper thumbnail of Editorial: Building Communities of Research

South African Journal of Childhood Education, Jul 1, 2012

This issue gives a glimpse of some of the burning issues in childhood education. Authors discuss ... more This issue gives a glimpse of some of the burning issues in childhood education. Authors discuss themes ranging from preschool education, the transition from one phase in childhood education to the next, the ECD sector, and the education of teachers of young children.

Research paper thumbnail of Learning concepts, language, and literacy in hybrid linguistic codes: The multilingual maze of urban grade 1 classrooms in South Africa Introduction: a 'code-switching' conundrum in South African schools

Perspectives in Education

From the field of developmental psycholinguistics and from conceptual development theory there is... more From the field of developmental psycholinguistics and from conceptual development theory there is evidence that excessive linguistic 'code-switching' in early school education may pose some hazards for the learning of young multilingual children. In this article the author addresses the issue, invoking post-Piagetian and neo-Vygotskian ideas on children's cognitive development and its interplay with language in an argument for a linguistically 'stable' pedagogy that prepares learners for the world of written language in which they have to express most of their learning in school. She argues that language development, literacy learning, and the development of concepts are intertwined phenomena in a child's development and that semantically and semiotically unambiguous and systematic classroom communication is therefore vital for learning success in the early grades when the foundations for cognitive academic language proficiency are laid. She calls for longitu...

Research paper thumbnail of Learning concepts, language, and literacy in hybrid linguistic codes: The multilingual maze of urban grade 1 classrooms in South Africa Introduction: a 'code-switching' conundrum in South African schools

Perspectives in Education, Sep 5, 2012

From the field of developmental psycholinguistics and from conceptual development theory there is... more From the field of developmental psycholinguistics and from conceptual development theory there is evidence that excessive linguistic 'code-switching' in early school education may pose some hazards for the learning of young multilingual children. In this article the author addresses the issue, invoking post-Piagetian and neo-Vygotskian ideas on children's cognitive development and its interplay with language in an argument for a linguistically 'stable' pedagogy that prepares learners for the world of written language in which they have to express most of their learning in school. She argues that language development, literacy learning, and the development of concepts are intertwined phenomena in a child's development and that semantically and semiotically unambiguous and systematic classroom communication is therefore vital for learning success in the early grades when the foundations for cognitive academic language proficiency are laid. She calls for longitudinal research of young children's learning, investigating how language hybrids in classroom communication may impact it. Taking cognisance of linguistics theory that posits language as fluid, she hypothesizes that if language use, in mixed code, is excessive, it may lead to cognitive instability and insecure academic discourse.

Research paper thumbnail of Linguistic liminality in the early years of school: Urban South African children ‘betwixt and between’1 languages of learning

South African Journal of Childhood Education

This article is about an investigation into the English spoken language competence of 144 first g... more This article is about an investigation into the English spoken language competence of 144 first graders in two urban (‘township’) schools in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The study was conducted from an anthropological and a cognitive developmental perspective. In one school isiZulu and Sesotho are used mainly as medium of instruction, while in the other school the language of teaching and learning is English. The inquiry is part of longitudinal panel research in which children’s overall development and school progress over four years is documented by way of growth modelling. This initial assessment of the children’s basic interpersonal communication skills in English found, not unexpectedly, that the children in the first mentioned school know English mostly to the extent of the naming of objects, while the children in the other school are able to use morpho-syntactically more complex language. These findings may shed some light on the phenomenon of school culture liminalit...

Research paper thumbnail of Mismatch of the South African Foundation Phase Curriculum Demands and Learners’ Current Knowledge

African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education

Research paper thumbnail of Multi-factorial approach to early numeracy—The effects of cognitive skills, language factors and kindergarten attendance on early numeracy performance of South African first graders

International Journal of Educational Research

The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of cognitive skills (executive function), l... more The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of cognitive skills (executive function), language factors (listening comprehension, English as a second language, ESL) and kindergarten attendance on early numeracy in a cross-sectional sample of South African children (N = 442) in the beginning of Grade 1. The mean age of children was 81.62 months (SD = 5.40). Structural equation path models showed that kindergarten attendance predicted children's early numeracy performance even when controlling for executive function and language skills. Listening comprehension skills predicted the early numeracy skills more strongly than did executive function skills. ESL was associated with weaker early numeracy performance.

Research paper thumbnail of Teachers and the developing mind of the individual child

South African Journal of Childhood Education

Research paper thumbnail of Editorial: The ‘words’ of Volume 8

South African Journal of Childhood Education

Research paper thumbnail of A comparison of student teacher learning from practice in university-affiliated schools in Helsinki and Johannesburg

European Journal of Teacher Education

In a comparative study of student teachers in Finland and South Africa, the researchers aimed to ... more In a comparative study of student teachers in Finland and South Africa, the researchers aimed to capture students' views of how and what they had learned from practice in two university-affiliated primary schools. With data from survey questionnaires, we found that students in the two customized programmes accentuated different domains of teacher knowledge. The newly established teaching practice school in Johannesburg afforded closer integration of university and school practicum experiences for students than the wellestablished school in Helsinki. The authors conclude that an innovative teacher education model can be re-invented in a significantly different context, and add new dimensions to the original.

Research paper thumbnail of Editorial: School and childhood

South African Journal of Childhood Education

Research paper thumbnail of Research in the interest of children: SAJCE after five years

South African Journal of Childhood Education

Research paper thumbnail of Design refinement tools for a teacher education curriculum: The example of a service learning course

Perspectives in Education, 2010

This article addresses the issue of the theory-practice divide in pre-service teacher education f... more This article addresses the issue of the theory-practice divide in pre-service teacher education from the viewpoint of design-based research (DBR). Using the example of a course in service learning (SL), the authors discuss their reflection on a curriculum that failed to help the students convert declarative knowledge to procedures of pedagogy, or to internalise this knowledge to become part of their disposition as teachers. The students’ theoretical work had remained in an epistemological apartheid zone where it did not meet with practice in either- procedural, conditional-, or reflective knowledge-making The authors then explore part of a curriculum revision model as proposed by Ruthven et al. (2009) who use DBR principles for curriculum refinement, including some of their “intermediary framework” set of tools in a revision that aimed to create an interface for theory and practice.

Research paper thumbnail of School and childhood

South African Journal of Childhood Education, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Editorial:Toward More South African Research on Learning in Childhood

South African Journal of Childhood Education, Dec 30, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Crossing the digital divide safely and trustingly: how ecologies of learning scaffold the journey

Computers & Education, 2004

The article addresses the issue of learning to elearn in borderless programs in a globalised lear... more The article addresses the issue of learning to elearn in borderless programs in a globalised learning landscape and the associated problems of scaffolding the journey across the digital divide. The authors argue that the assumption underlying such courses is that cross-cultural programs are viable because they are conceived and designed to be 'global', and that they assume this design to be inclusive. Henning and Van der Westhuizen claim that the global discourse in most domains can take only marginal note of the need to infuse such programs with a local semiotic-a course design criterion for which they argue. They furthermore forward the notion that the majority of the world's prospective elearners need various bridging mechanisms in order to be able to access the broader discourse and that one of these mechanisms can be explored through the metaphor of ''information ecologies'' as proposed by Nardi and O'Day [Nardi, B.A., & O'Day, V.L. (1999). Information ecologies. Using technology with heart. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press]. They also conclude that issues of the learners' trust in the course and its system need to be considered when contemplating programs for diverse target groups. By way of a case study, consisting of three portraitures of adult learners, they explore the limitations of assumed distributed cognition and claim that learning is, in reality, contained/constrained in the familiar local narrative of the novice adult elearners in a rural South African context. The case study illustrates how the resistance to technology and its power base becomes an obstacle for the students and how the support of peers becomes the main scaffolding mechanism for their entry into electronic learning environments. The findings thus show how the social context becomes the facilitator and the scaffold for elearning, more than technology and the curriculum itself.

Research paper thumbnail of Uitdagings in die onderrig van evolusie in die lewenswetenskappeklaskamer

Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Natuurwetenskap en Tegnologie, 2013

In this article the authors report on research that was conducted about teachers’ views on evolut... more In this article the authors report on research that was conducted about teachers’ views on evolution, which was introduced as a theme in the school life sciences curriculum in 2008. This innovation in the curriculum has been met with mixed reactions. Whereas some teachers embrace this new theme, many teachers are opposed to the teaching of evolution. The article reports on an inquiry that was conducted amongst 255 teachers and in which survey questionnaires were used to collect qualitative data, which was analysed for its discourse. The discourse of the teachers shows that many of them cannot reconcile their religious faith with their teaching and that they may teach the ‘facts’ of evolution, but make sure that they discredit evolution as a theory. This raises serious concerns about teacher education and curriculum development. The authors examine these issues through the lens of conceptual change theory.

Research paper thumbnail of Teachers' Understanding of Mathematical Cognition in Childhood: Towards a Shift in Pedagogical Content Knowledge?

Perspectives in Education, 2013

This article about the discourse of pedagogy as related to child cognition in mathematics address... more This article about the discourse of pedagogy as related to child cognition in mathematics addresses the issue of what constitutes the main disciplinary content and the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of foundation-phase teachers. I argue that, unless child cognition itself is the primary disciplinary content of foundation-phase teachers' knowledge, it is likely that they will couch their pedagogical knowledge in teaching methods and materials more than in knowledge of conceptual development of learners and how such knowledge relates to teaching. In this first of a series of case studies, workshop-generated conversational and interview data were analysed qualitatively for discourse. The topics for the workshops were mathematical cognition and training in standardised test administration. The analysis showed that the discourse of teachers' expressed knowledge about their practice was embedded in the language of policy, curriculum, teaching methods of mathematics, and the o...

Research paper thumbnail of Learning to read in Afrikaans : the progress of a Grade 1 Setswana speaking girl

Research paper thumbnail of Reading as learning in the primary school

South African Journal of Childhood Education, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of An early numeracy intervention for first-graders at risk for mathematical learning difficulties

Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 2021

The aim of this study was to investigate whether early numeracy skills of South African first gra... more The aim of this study was to investigate whether early numeracy skills of South African first graders who are at-risk for mathematical learning difficulties can be improved with an intervention program. The participants were 267 children from 17 classrooms in the greater Johannesburg area. In this quasiexperimental small group intervention study (15 sessions over 5 weeks) the outcome measure was early numeracy skills. Based on pretest early numeracy scores, the children were divided into an intervention group (N = 40), a low performing control group (N = 32), and an average performing control group (N = 195). The main result was that the intervention group had improved more in numerical relational skills, compared to low-controls; this effect remained statistically significant after controlling for executive functions, language skills and kindergarten attendance, and was also observable in the delayed postmeasurement. Executive functions, language skills and kindergarten attendance all predicted the level of early numeracy skills at the beginning of the intervention, but only executive functions explained individual differences in counting skills development from pre-to delayed posttest.

Research paper thumbnail of Editorial: Building Communities of Research

South African Journal of Childhood Education, Jul 1, 2012

This issue gives a glimpse of some of the burning issues in childhood education. Authors discuss ... more This issue gives a glimpse of some of the burning issues in childhood education. Authors discuss themes ranging from preschool education, the transition from one phase in childhood education to the next, the ECD sector, and the education of teachers of young children.

Research paper thumbnail of Learning concepts, language, and literacy in hybrid linguistic codes: The multilingual maze of urban grade 1 classrooms in South Africa Introduction: a 'code-switching' conundrum in South African schools

Perspectives in Education

From the field of developmental psycholinguistics and from conceptual development theory there is... more From the field of developmental psycholinguistics and from conceptual development theory there is evidence that excessive linguistic 'code-switching' in early school education may pose some hazards for the learning of young multilingual children. In this article the author addresses the issue, invoking post-Piagetian and neo-Vygotskian ideas on children's cognitive development and its interplay with language in an argument for a linguistically 'stable' pedagogy that prepares learners for the world of written language in which they have to express most of their learning in school. She argues that language development, literacy learning, and the development of concepts are intertwined phenomena in a child's development and that semantically and semiotically unambiguous and systematic classroom communication is therefore vital for learning success in the early grades when the foundations for cognitive academic language proficiency are laid. She calls for longitu...

Research paper thumbnail of Learning concepts, language, and literacy in hybrid linguistic codes: The multilingual maze of urban grade 1 classrooms in South Africa Introduction: a 'code-switching' conundrum in South African schools

Perspectives in Education, Sep 5, 2012

From the field of developmental psycholinguistics and from conceptual development theory there is... more From the field of developmental psycholinguistics and from conceptual development theory there is evidence that excessive linguistic 'code-switching' in early school education may pose some hazards for the learning of young multilingual children. In this article the author addresses the issue, invoking post-Piagetian and neo-Vygotskian ideas on children's cognitive development and its interplay with language in an argument for a linguistically 'stable' pedagogy that prepares learners for the world of written language in which they have to express most of their learning in school. She argues that language development, literacy learning, and the development of concepts are intertwined phenomena in a child's development and that semantically and semiotically unambiguous and systematic classroom communication is therefore vital for learning success in the early grades when the foundations for cognitive academic language proficiency are laid. She calls for longitudinal research of young children's learning, investigating how language hybrids in classroom communication may impact it. Taking cognisance of linguistics theory that posits language as fluid, she hypothesizes that if language use, in mixed code, is excessive, it may lead to cognitive instability and insecure academic discourse.

Research paper thumbnail of Linguistic liminality in the early years of school: Urban South African children ‘betwixt and between’1 languages of learning

South African Journal of Childhood Education

This article is about an investigation into the English spoken language competence of 144 first g... more This article is about an investigation into the English spoken language competence of 144 first graders in two urban (‘township’) schools in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The study was conducted from an anthropological and a cognitive developmental perspective. In one school isiZulu and Sesotho are used mainly as medium of instruction, while in the other school the language of teaching and learning is English. The inquiry is part of longitudinal panel research in which children’s overall development and school progress over four years is documented by way of growth modelling. This initial assessment of the children’s basic interpersonal communication skills in English found, not unexpectedly, that the children in the first mentioned school know English mostly to the extent of the naming of objects, while the children in the other school are able to use morpho-syntactically more complex language. These findings may shed some light on the phenomenon of school culture liminalit...

Research paper thumbnail of Mismatch of the South African Foundation Phase Curriculum Demands and Learners’ Current Knowledge

African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education

Research paper thumbnail of Multi-factorial approach to early numeracy—The effects of cognitive skills, language factors and kindergarten attendance on early numeracy performance of South African first graders

International Journal of Educational Research

The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of cognitive skills (executive function), l... more The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of cognitive skills (executive function), language factors (listening comprehension, English as a second language, ESL) and kindergarten attendance on early numeracy in a cross-sectional sample of South African children (N = 442) in the beginning of Grade 1. The mean age of children was 81.62 months (SD = 5.40). Structural equation path models showed that kindergarten attendance predicted children's early numeracy performance even when controlling for executive function and language skills. Listening comprehension skills predicted the early numeracy skills more strongly than did executive function skills. ESL was associated with weaker early numeracy performance.

Research paper thumbnail of Teachers and the developing mind of the individual child

South African Journal of Childhood Education

Research paper thumbnail of Editorial: The ‘words’ of Volume 8

South African Journal of Childhood Education

Research paper thumbnail of A comparison of student teacher learning from practice in university-affiliated schools in Helsinki and Johannesburg

European Journal of Teacher Education

In a comparative study of student teachers in Finland and South Africa, the researchers aimed to ... more In a comparative study of student teachers in Finland and South Africa, the researchers aimed to capture students' views of how and what they had learned from practice in two university-affiliated primary schools. With data from survey questionnaires, we found that students in the two customized programmes accentuated different domains of teacher knowledge. The newly established teaching practice school in Johannesburg afforded closer integration of university and school practicum experiences for students than the wellestablished school in Helsinki. The authors conclude that an innovative teacher education model can be re-invented in a significantly different context, and add new dimensions to the original.

Research paper thumbnail of Editorial: School and childhood

South African Journal of Childhood Education

Research paper thumbnail of Research in the interest of children: SAJCE after five years

South African Journal of Childhood Education

Research paper thumbnail of Design refinement tools for a teacher education curriculum: The example of a service learning course

Perspectives in Education, 2010

This article addresses the issue of the theory-practice divide in pre-service teacher education f... more This article addresses the issue of the theory-practice divide in pre-service teacher education from the viewpoint of design-based research (DBR). Using the example of a course in service learning (SL), the authors discuss their reflection on a curriculum that failed to help the students convert declarative knowledge to procedures of pedagogy, or to internalise this knowledge to become part of their disposition as teachers. The students’ theoretical work had remained in an epistemological apartheid zone where it did not meet with practice in either- procedural, conditional-, or reflective knowledge-making The authors then explore part of a curriculum revision model as proposed by Ruthven et al. (2009) who use DBR principles for curriculum refinement, including some of their “intermediary framework” set of tools in a revision that aimed to create an interface for theory and practice.