Themes in Mathematics Teacher Professional Learning Research in South Africa: A review of the period 2006-215 (original) (raw)
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ICME-13 Monographs, 2018
In this chapter, I review and identify themes in in-service mathematics teacher professional development/learning research in South Africa over a 10-year period from 2006 to 2015. No less than 92 journal articles were reviewed. Nine themes were identified as characterising research during this period. Mathematical knowledge for teaching and pedagogical content knowledge were the two most dominant themes. Subject matter knowledge was the fourth and closely aligned to the first two. Curriculum knowledge was the third most frequently occurring research theme and was also closely aligned to the first two. Together the first four themes constituted 54% of the research output for this period, an indication of the centrality of practising teachers' professional knowledge of school mathematics. Under-researched themes included the integration of ICTs in mathematics education as well as impact studies that were apparently constrained by lack of funding for large-scale research.
Ndlovu 2018 Themes in Mathematics Teacher TPL Research in South Africa20191209 127517 79ewae
In this chapter, I review and identify themes in in-service mathematics teacher professional development/learning research in South Africa over a 10-year period from 2006 to 2015. No less than 92 journal articles were reviewed. Nine themes were identified as characterising research during this period. Mathematical knowledge for teaching and pedagogical content knowledge were the two most dominant themes. Subject matter knowledge was the fourth and closely aligned to the first two. Curriculum knowledge was the third most frequently occurring research theme and was also closely aligned to the first two. Together the first four themes constituted 54% of the research output for this period, an indication of the centrality of practising teachers' professional knowledge of school mathematics. Under-researched themes included the integration of ICTs in mathematics education as well as impact studies that were apparently constrained by lack of funding for large-scale research.
Paradigms in mathematics teacher professional learning research: a review of South Africa’s literature for 2006-2015, Chapter in K Luneta (Ed), Mathematics Teaching and Professional Learning in sub-Sahara Africa, , 2021
The purpose of this literature review study was to quantitatively examine the dominant paradigms in mathematics teacher professional learning/development research in South Africa for the 10 year period from 2006-2015, to complement an earlier study on research themes (Ndlovu, 2018). The research questions which guided the study were a) what were the dominant paradigms in mathematics teacher professional development research in South Africa during the 10 year period under review?, b) What was the impact of the research? Seventy-two journal articles were purposefully selected for review by means of a Google Scholar search for journal articles. This was a shorter list compared with the previous list of reviewed articles largely due to the deletion of journals which got delisted. To answer the first question, the abstracts of the journal articles were analysed for the methodological approach adopted to classify them as either qualitative (interpretivist), quantitative (positivist) or mixed-methods (pragmatic). Where there was ambiguity in the abstract, the methodology section of the article was scrutinized. To answer the second question, Google Scholar citation rates drawn in June 2019 of the 72 journal articles were analysed. Findings were that 64% of studies fell within the interpretivist paradigm, 26% fell within the pragmatic paradigm, in terms of publication volumes. Citation rates for interpretivist studies stood at 64% and thus matched the publication rate perfectly. Studies in the pragmatic paradigm were cited less frequently at 22%, which was less than the publication rate. Studies in the positivist paradigm achieved the least number of citations collectively (136) but were the most cited per capita. An article-by-article citation rate showed the most frequently cited interpretivist themes to have been language in mathematics, professional learning communities as a sustainable vehicle for TP, mathematical knowledge for teaching, and making connections in mathematics teaching and learning. The most frequently cited themes in the pragmatic paradigm were utilising learning environment assessment to improve teaching practices, school-based teacher professional learning (TPL) and mentoring as strategies for TPL, and. The most cited positivist themes were technology integration into the teaching and learning of mathematics and understanding of Mathematical Literacy.
ejmste, 2019
This paper discusses the extent to which the professional development (cascade model) met its goal of improving mathematics teaching and learning during the implementation of National Curriculum Statement in South Africa. Fifty mathematics teachers from ten public secondary schools in Vhembe District in Limpopo Province of South Africa were chosen purposively. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected through a focus group discussion with five mathematics teachers at each of the ten schools. Teachers disapproved the manner in which the workshops were conducted claiming that they were disconnected from classroom practices. The conclusion was that: (a) the success of in-service programs should be determined by the way that the ideas, knowledge and skills learnt are implemented in a classroom setting; (b) for any in-service program that introduces teachers to a different instructional approach from the traditional one, it has to impact on teachers' concerns (be they self-oriented, task-oriented or impact-oriented).
African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education
This paper reports on the professional development of four mathematics teachers in South Africa. The four teachers all participated in a Mathematical Thinking (MT) course before taking an Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE) in mathematics. The research, which aimed to understand these teachers' ongoing professional development, took place two years after they had completed the ACE course, at a time when they were helping to run a subsequent MT course, taking the role of teaching assistants (TAs). The teachers provided written 'stories' of their experiences during and after the two courses and were interviewed twice after the two courses; the first interview drew on the stories and the second drew on the first interview. The qualitative data gathered were analysed using a three-part framework of outcomes: personal, professional and cultural/social. In terms of personal outcomes, they reported renewed confidence and passion for teaching mathematics, changed beliefs and values, and acknowledged new learning experiences; they did not, however, report on learning about mathematics, the curriculum or planning. In terms of professional outcomes, they reported changes in both their own classroom teaching practice and their approaches to leadership. Finally, there was little evidence of cultural/social outcomes, but participants reported on opportunities that had been offered to them and on new collaborations in their communities. We have called these 'community outcomes' and suggest that cultural/social outcomes might be renamed community outcomes so that it is extended to include these sorts of opportunities.
Training of Mathematics Teachers in a South African University
The research reported in this paper examined the types of knowledge prioritized in two mathematics teacher training programmes in a South African university. To do this, focus was placed on the time spent training the future teachers in mathematics content knowledge, mathematics pedagogy knowledge and general pedagogy knowledge. Teacher trainees' surveys and institutional surveys and other programmatic material available online and at the university provided data that described the two teacher training programmes: the general education and training and the further education and training programmes. Descriptive analysis of teacher trainees' surveys and institutional surveys were also conducted. The findings revealed that the amount of time spent on mathematics content, mathematics pedagogy and general pedagogy in training teacher trainees and related programmatic characteristics is related to the proficiencies teacher trainees exit with from their preparation programmes.
2016
School mathematics education in South Africa is not doing very well at present, and has not done so for some time. There are many problems, historically and socially. However, amidst such a problematic situation, there are mathematicians who completed their school education in South Africa and have become excellent in their field. As a mathematics teacher, I explored the stories of such research mathematicians, specifically examining their perspectives of mathematical knowledge for teaching. Avoiding all abbreviations and acronyms, in an attempt to make this study more accessible to teachers, I used an interpretive narrative research design and email-interviewed a number of these mathematicians, analysed the generated data in three ways and then compared the results and findings with those of leading researchers and mathematics educationists. All of them consider a teachers' mathematical content knowledge to be of utmost importance. Not one of the mathematicians worked alone to gain their knowledge and understanding of mathematics, but collaborated in some way with teachers, parents or fellow learners. In addition, according to them, the use of different types of knowledge is instrumental for teachers, to realise the goal of meaningful learning of mathematical concepts. To this end, effective continuous professional development is essential.
Problems of Education in the 21st Century, 2019
This qualitative research reports the results of a short learning intervention programme conducted by South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) Chair in Science and Mathematics Education to enhance the mathematical knowledge of teachers in some South African schools. The short learning programme comprised the fostering of teachers’ mathematical knowledge and the formation of lesson study groups to apply the knowledge gained from the intervention programme in different schools in the country. The sample comprised 53 male and 72 female Mathematics teachers who were nominated from several school districts in the country. The participants were trained using Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) which included the topics of probability/ratio and proportion (grades 1-9). The MKT consisted of these sets of expertise: Common Content Knowledge (CCK), Specialised Content Knowledge (SCK), Knowledge of Contents and Students (KCS), and Knowledge of Content and Teaching (KCT). The ...
Book of Proceedings, 27th Annual Conference of the Southern African Association for Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education (SAARMSTE), 2019
Recently, initial teacher education for primary mathematics teachers has drawn much attention worldwide due to its importance and contribution to childhood development. In South Africa, in response to a quest for relevant and quality primary mathematics teachers, the Primary Teacher Education (PrimTEd) project has been established as a collaboration between all higher education institutions (HEIs). Different workstreams in PrimTEd are mandated to develop sets of commonly agreed standards, materials and assessments of knowledge for teaching primary mathematics. A common assessment in mathematics was deemed necessary to allow each HEI to reflect on their student intake, and design of their Bachelor of Education programmes (B.Eds). The assessment workstream constructed an online test of 90 minutes, consisting of 50 items on different mathematics concepts pertaining to foundation and intermediate phase school mathematics for teaching. The authors, analysed the performance of the 2017 pilot testing with first year students (n = 317) from two universities, and the 2018 national assessment (n = 1 117), where students from seven higher education institutions participated. The results from the 2017 pilot (í µí±¥̅ =45.89%,í µí±í µí°·= 14.8) and 2018 national assessment (í µí±¥̅ =48.46%,í µí±í µí°·= 16.8) reveal similar patterns of performance. As the test was set at the level of mathematics at which the students are expected to teach, it is concerning that the majority of students (71%) were not able to obtain more than 60%. This brings into question the assumptions made about the mathematics skills and competencies that entrants into the B.Ed programme bring with them into tertiary education. It is recommended that the lower than expected starting point, should be taking into account, when reflecting on the relevance of the preparation of primary mathematics teacher education for quality teachers of primary mathematics in South Africa.
Pythagoras, 2004
Various studies have shown that what teachers consider to be optimal ways of teaching mathematics is influenced by their beliefs about the nature of mathematics, and that it is advantageous to determine teachers' conceptions of the nature of mathematics before developing curriculum interventions. With the imminent introduction of Mathematical Literacy in the FET phase in South Africa this study provides a snapshot of beliefs of teachers in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Various methods were employed to stimulate teachers to both reflect on their beliefs and to make them explicit. A questionnaire was administered to 339 in-service teachers in urban and rural areas of the Eastern Cape. A sample of ninetyfive of these teachers completed a second questionnaire based on videotapes of lessons recorded during the TIMSS (1995) study that they had viewed. These teachers also ranked their own teaching on a continuum ranging from traditional to constructivist approaches and provided explanations for their ranking. A further sub-sample of thirty-six teachers participated in individual interviews, which explored their perceptions of the nature of mathematics and their own teaching practice. In order to investigate whether these beliefs were mirrored in practice, four teachers were observed and videotaped in their classrooms. The data generated by this study suggest that the participating teachers' espoused beliefs of the nature of mathematics tended to be innovative, and correlated with innovative views of teaching and learning; however these views were often not reflected in their practice. The implications that the apparent inability of teachers to translate their beliefs into practice have for the introduction of a contextual, problem-based Mathematical Literacy curriculum for teachers is explored.