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Faculty of Arts and Design

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    Further Education and Training (FET) mathematics teacher professional learning through teacher roles and its influence on pedagogical practices in one district in Eastern Cape province
    (2022-09) Shoko, Needyarms; Mukeredzi, Tabitha; Preece, Julia
    Mathematics, like science, technology and engineering, has been given a prominent position in the school curriculum to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) industries vital for economic growth and employment creation. However, in South Africa, mathematics education in secondary schools has been in a crisis regarding matric learner failure and this has been blamed on teacher content knowledge gaps. Learners across all education phases have performed poorly in international and national assessments. While research has been undertaken, questions around how mathematics teachers learn and develop in their roles have not been adequately answered. An understanding of these issues is critical. The purpose of this study was to explore FET Grade 12 mathematics teachers’ professional learning through their teaching roles, the kinds of professional knowledge that they gain and how the learning influences their pedagogical practices. Through a qualitative case study located in an interpretive paradigm, a purposive sample of 26 FET Grade 12 mathematics teachers in a CHE District in the South African Eastern Cape Province provided data through focus group discussions and individual face-to-face interviews, complemented by photo-elicitation. Manual data analysis employed a Six-Step coding process. Two theories – the triple lens and the mathematical knowledge for teaching – were used to unpack and understand data, and explain findings. Professional learning of FET Grade 12 mathematics teachers through teaching roles emerged in interaction and collaboration during formal, non-formal and informal spheres of action within the school and in wider professional sites. The learning was generally prompted by a combination of personal, occupational and social domains of influence and facilitated through the transmission, transitional and transformative strategies. Professional learning occurred through practice and in interaction with colleagues and resources. Findings indicated that the FET Grade 12 mathematics teachers gained professional knowledge of general pedagogy, content, pedagogical content knowledge, knowledge of learners and teaching attributes. This study discovered that professional learning influenced FET Grade 12 mathematics teacher confidence in lesson delivery, creativity, communication of facts and concepts, content mastery, general pedagogy, learner discipline and management of resources. The study also established that FET Grade 12 mathematics teachers were generally reluctant to attend workshops and seminars. Given that most professional learning occurs in interaction, instructional leaders need to increase opportunities for teacher interaction and make workshops and seminars more interactive to develop and inculcate teacher interest in these in-school and out-of-school professional learning gatherings. With regard to mathematical knowledge for teaching theory, findings revealed that albeit useful for analysing and explaining subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge, this theory was insufficient on its own as it excluded other knowledge domains, like general pedagogical knowledge and knowledge of learners, which emerged in my data. I, therefore, had to draw on conceptual frameworks. My thesis, therefore, argues for an additive model to mathematical knowledge for teaching theory, which includes all the common domains of professional knowledge to expand the framework and deepen its applicability specifically in trying to understand professional learning issues. The thesis, therefore, suggests the need for more studies, drawing on the framework and developing it to determine its applicability beyond this particular inquiry.
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    Student teachers’ conceptions and experiences of pedagogical practices in mathematics education in teacher training colleges in Zimbabwe
    (2021-10) Manyadze, Constance; Mukeredzi, Tabitha; Preece, Julia
    Conceptions about mathematics are crucial as they are conscious formations that convey personal meanings towards mathematics. They are critical for teaching and learning and need to be addressed in teacher education. Many student teachers who enter teacher education struggle to pass the national O level mathematics examinations, sitting at least twice to gain entry into teacher training. Such experiences may shape their conceptions regarding mathematics, and consequently influence learning and teaching of mathematics when they qualify as teachers. This study sought to understand student teachers’ conceptions of and experiences during mathematics pedagogical practices in mathematics education in teacher training. It was those student teachers who struggled to pass O level mathematics to gain entry into teacher training colleges in Zimbabwe who were investigated in this study. This qualitative study was located in the interpretive paradigm, and adopted a multiple-site case design where data were generated from 40 student teachers and four lecturers. Sampling of participants involved convenience and purposive selection for student teachers and self-selection for lecturers. A questionnaire served as the springboard to determine the number of sittings for purposive sampling of the student teachers and data were generated through focus group discussions, individual face-to-face interviews and lecture observations. Data analysis employed manual, eight-step open coding. Theoretical frameworks: Conceptions about mathematics (Dionne 1984) and Socio-constructivist theory (Vygotsky 1978; Kim 2001) guided the study. Findings showed that the student teachers held traditionalistic conceptions about mathematics, but conceived interactive, student-centred pedagogies as crucial during mathematics pedagogical practices. However, student teachers across the four colleges explored were only exposed to the lecture method where there was no student engagement during mathematics pedagogical practices, and only experienced interactive strategies in research. Drawing on the conceptions theory, I argue that student teachers were exposed to traditionalist classrooms (Dionne 1984) where they passively received mathematical knowledge during pedagogical practices. Findings also revealed that these student teachers who struggled to pass mathematics at O level were exposed more to pedagogical knowledge than to mathematics content knowledge which they needed. Private colleges were grossly structurally and materially under-resourced and students did not experience use of technology during lectures. The student teachers explored, who struggled to pass O level mathematics to enter teacher education still struggled with the subject in teacher training. Their conceptions and prior experiences strongly influenced their cognitive and behavioural engagement during mathematics pedagogical practices. They feared mathematics and only studied it because they had to, given that primary school teachers were required to teach all curriculum subjects to the primary school child. The student teachers viewed mathematics as a difficult subject, meant for ‘a select few’. The study recommends bridging programmes for student teachers who struggled to pass mathematics at O level to enter teacher education, and adoption of constructivist pedagogies with active ‘noisy’ classrooms in mathematics education, contrary to the dominant lecture method. The study further recommends provision of adequate physical and material resources in private colleges to ensure student comfort, and enhance learning effectiveness and engagement, during mathematics pedagogical practices. In relation to the theoretical framework (Dionne 1984) my argument is that the framework provides a useful generic, analytical tool for thinking through conceptions about mathematics in pedagogical practices in mathematics education. However, on its own it does not provide a complete lens to make sense of the variations in students teachers’ learning experiences. The thesis therefore argues for an additive model to Dionne’s conceptions theory that may expand the framework and deepen its applicability specifically, in trying to understand issues around student teacher conceptions and experiences during pedagogical practices in mathematics education. The thesis therefore suggests the need for more studies, drawing on the framework and developing it to determine its applicability beyond this particular inquiry.