Browsing by Author "Muller, Johan"
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- ItemOpen AccessAdaptive responses to curriculum restructuring policy in two South African universities : an enquiry into the identity projections of academics disposed towards change(2003) Moore, Robin Stanley; Muller, Johan
- ItemOpen AccessAn analysis of the impact of a transformative action reflection inset model on teachers' understanding and classroom behaviour(1997) Reeves, Cheryl Ann; Muller, JohanThis dissertation tests the core assumptions of a particular model for INSET (teacher in-service education and training). The study uses as an illustrative case study an INSET programme for junior primary teachers which self-consciously aligns itself with the assumptions underpinning the transformative action reflection model. The assumption of this model is that it is the impact of Courses on teachers' understanding and classroom behaviour of the model both in terms of technical practice and in terms of teachers' ability to employ appropriate practices which will bring about improvement in the quality of teaching and learning in classrooms. The enquiry entailed operationalising measures through which the core assumptions of the model could be tested. In particular the research entailed measuring whether an INSET course based on this model impacts on 1. a) teachers' understanding of a model for teaching; b) teachers' practice of the model in the classroom; and 2. assessing whether the impact can be judged as improvement in teaching quality. Instruments to measure the impact of the course on teachers' understanding and practice of new pedagogies have been constructed on the basis of explicit criteria drawn from the objectives of two Courses from the particular INSET programme used for the study. Qualitative and quantitative data are used to measure the impact of the two Courses on teachers' understanding and practice of the model. Assessing whether the impact can be said to be improvement in the quality of teaching involved using two independent experts in the field of junior primary teacher training. The craft experts used specially constructed schedules to observe videos of the lessons of a mixed sample of teachers who had attended the INSET course and judge the appropriateness of teachers' practices within specific contexts. Data from the study reveals reasonable evidence to support the assumption that, in terms of its objectives, the claims of the INSET model appear to be valid. The appropriateness of the classroom behaviour of those teachers who according to the study have demonstrated evidence of adequate understanding and practice or mastery of the model was singled out by the craft experts. However, data from the study also reveals that overall only a small band of teachers demonstrate adequate understanding and practice of the model and that, in spite of a quality intervention based on the INSET model, the focus of the teaching of most teachers in the sample selected is on teaching content and vocabulary rather than on teaching concepts, skills and strategies.
- ItemOpen AccessAssessment, equity and language of learning : key issues for higher education selection in South Africa(2001) Yeld, Nan; Muller, Johan; Dunne, TimThe central problem investigated by this study arises from the fact that South African Senior Certificate results are not, for the majority of educationally disadvantaged candidates, reliable predictors of academic success in Higher Education. Despite this limitation, however, the Senior Certificate examination plays a vital role in the education system. The aims of the study are thus to investigate procedures that could be used in addition to, rather than instead of, the Senior Certificate, and that would provide useful information about the future academic performance of educationally disadvantaged candidates. The purpose of these procedures is to widen effective access opportunities for such students. It is clear that such procedures need to provide different information from that provided by the Senior Certificate which, like all achievement tests, aims to test learners' understandings in terms of the knowledge and skills covered in a preceding course of instruction. In contexts where great educational disparities exist, as is the case in the South African education system, it is neither fair nor defensible to base key gate-keeping events (such as entry to Higher Education) entirely on performance on such an examination. Apart from issues of fairness, however, for students whose prior opportunities to learn have been grossly inadequate, achievement (curriculum-aligned) tests yield little useful information about candidates' underlying capacities and abilities. The study therefore investigates alternatives to achievement tests, and concludes that non curriculum-aligned testing of core skills and abilities could provide a workable alternative. However, moving from curriculum-aligned to non curriculum-aligned tests can not in itself address the assessment challenge posed in identifying talented students in highly heterogeneous populations, in terms of educational preparation. In such contexts, educationally disadvantaged students will inevitably perform poorly in competition with their more advantaged peers, regardless of the basis of the tests. The study therefore reviews various approaches to what has become known as dynamic assessment, and concludes that non curriculum-aligned, core skills tests developed as far as possible on dynamic lines may represent the most effective and fair approach to assessment in this context. After reviewing major theories of knowing and learning, the roles of language in teaching and learning processes, and the history and possibilities of language testing, a set of specifications (a construct) is developed and proposed as the basis for an academic literacy test designed on dynamic lines. The study then sets out to examine the Placement Tests in English for Educational Purposes (PTEEP), developed by the Alternative Admissions Research Project at the University of Cape Town. These tests aim to provide access opportunities for students whose Senior Certificate results do not necessarily reveal their potential to succeed at UCT. The investigation focuses on the extent to which the tests can be said to be (i) valid in terms of the construct established earlier, and (ii) useful in terms of providing useful, additional information about educationally disadvantaged candidates for selection purposes. In other words, the first part of the study is devoted to developing, on the basis of an extensive literature review, a set of requirements for an academic literacy test for selection to Higher Education in South Africa. The second part of the study assesses the extent to which a series of tests developed by the author and currently being used for selection in this context, can be considered to be valid in terms of the construct established in part one. Given the importance of English Second Language Higher Grade (ESL-HG) as the largest single subject registration in the Senior Certificate, and of English as language of learning, the study includes an investigation of the validity of the ESL-HG examinations, and of the usefulness of ESL-HG results for selection purposes. . The investigation employs both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. in summary, the analysis leads to the following major conclusions: + overall, the PTEEP tests can be considered to be valid in terms of construct and content validity; + the use of scaffolding within a test, for talented educationally disadvantaged candidates, can significantly enhance test performance; + on the basis of survival analysis techniques (Polakow 1999), the PTEEP tests are effective in predicting academic success at UCT. That is, students who score in the top quintile of their candidate pool are significantly less likely to be excluded than are comparable students who are admitted on the basis of their Senior Certificate resits alone. Students who score in the bottom quintile, however, have a very significantly higher risk of exclusion than their peers admitted on the basis of their Senior Certificate results alone; + the PTEEP tests and the ESL-HG examinations exhibit divergent validity (that is, they are not positively associated, but reveal either random or inverse correlations); and + ESL-HG and performance at UCT are not significantly associated. On the basis of these conclusions, the study recommends that Higher Education institutions include, as part of their selection criteria and in addition to Senior Certificate results, a test that is non curriculum-aligned; based on the domain of academic literacy as defined in the study; and developed on the basis of dynamic principles. The study also recommends that the potential contribution of such a test to strengthen quality assurance at the school-leaving/Higher Education interface be investigated by the national Department of Education. Finally, it is recommended that as a matter of urgency, the examining of ESL-HG be investigated, with particular reference to the extent to which the examination targets (and therefore contributes to promoting the development of) cognitive academic language proficiency.
- ItemOpen AccessCognitive change in out-of-school learners in a Western Cape intervention programme(2005) Mosito, Cina P; Ensor, Paula; Muller, Johan; Hardman, JoanneThe study reported on here, analysed and described cognitive change in out-of-school and overage learners who were involved in a 12 month educational intervention informed by Mediationla Learning Experience (MLE). The questions which the thesis addressed are as follows: 1. What kind of cognitive change(s), if any, do learners on a 12 month intervention project undergo? 2. What is the meaning of this change or lack thereof?
- ItemOpen AccessThe constitution of the field of higher education institutions in Mozambique(2006) Langa, Patrício Vitorino; Muller, JohanThe aim of this study is to investigate the implications of the expansion and diversification of public and private higher education institutions in Mozambique. There are two distinct stages of that expansion. The first stage is characterised by the establishment of two public higher education institutions, namely, the Higher Pedagogic Institute (ISP) in 1985, and the Higher Institute for International Relations (ISRI) in 1986, joining the University Eduardo Mondlane (UEM) founded in 1962. The second stage is characterised by the emergence both of more public higher education institutions, but particularly by the emergence of a new type of higher education service supplier, the private higher education institution. An accelerated process of expansion and diversification of higher education institutions begins in the mid 1990's. The first non-governmental higher education institution to open was the Higher Polytechnic and University Institute (ISPU), and the second was the Catholic University (UCM), a religious institution, both established in 1995. ISPU and UCM were followed in 1998 by Higher Institute of Science and Technology of Mozambique (ISCTEM) , a technological institute, and by the Mussa Bin Bique University (UMBB), an Islamic university. In 2000 the Higher Institute of Transport and Communication (ISUTC) was also established. Currently; there are 23 legal higher education institutions both public and private. Drawing on Bourdieu's theory of social field, this study analyses whether the constellation of higher institutions is functioning as a field. I hypothesise that as a result of the expansion and diversification of higher education institutions a very specific constellation is taking place leading to constitutive patterns and forms of interaction which resemble those identified by Bourdieu as typical of a field. The empirical work takes the form of an exploratory study designed to establish the structure of positions of higher education institutions in a social space of capital. The dissertation finds that institutions can be positioned in a hierarchical and structured space of capital on the basis of the differential distribution of different form of capital (cultural, economic, scientific, and social).The findings also suggest that well-established institutions are likely to have more capital and thus to be positioned in a dominant position in terms of symbolic capital. This is the case of UEM amongst the public institutions, displaying a high level of cultural capital (highly qualified academic staff), with significant number of its academic staff in higher positions in the academy, as also having a relatively larger number of income sources compared to Pedagogic University (UP), Higher Institute of International relations (ISRI) and the Police Academy (ACIPOL).
- ItemOpen AccessDisciplines and engagement in African universities : a study of the distribution of scientific capital and academic networking in social sciences(2010) Langa, Patrício Vitorino; Muller, JohanDrawing on Pierre Bourdieu's theory of field and capital, this thesis examines the disciplinary differences in the social sciences concerning the possession of scientific capital and levels of engagement with academic and non-academic constituencies in three African universities, Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique, Makerere University in Uganda and the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. Contrary to approaches that regard disciplinary fields as homogeneous epistemic and social spaces on the grounds of the principles of the stratification of scientific fields, this study investigates the relationship between the hierarchical position of selected discipline-clusters and the levels of engagement with both internal and external constituencies. The study reveals that levels of possession of scientific capital have a significant effect on the differentiation of the disciplinary fields, both within and across institutions, and on the levels of engagement with (internal) academic and (external) non-academic entities. The analysis shows that scientific capital does not determine the level and forms of engagement with different constituencies. However, the differences across discipline-clusters at institutional level reflect the engagement with academic rather than with non-academic constituencies. In other words, this means that the level of engagement varies more between different disciplines when the engagement is related to academic entities than is the case when non-academic entities are concerned. Therefore, engagement is not a major discriminator amongst institutions. Scientific capital is what gives academics prestige and symbolic capital to the institution. The significance of this is that academics from different discipline-clusters might have different experiences of engagement with different constituencies. I further conclude that the growing importance that the notion of engagement has for the university is, perhaps, too simple if it does not account for the complex and multifaceted characteristics of disciplinary and institutional fields.
- ItemOpen AccessThe effect of 'opportunity-to-learn' and classroom pedagogy on mathematics achievement in schools serving low socio-economic status communities in the Cape Peninsula(2005) Reeves, Cheryl Ann; Muller, JohanAn assumption evident in South African education policy documents is that making available a learner-centred pedagogy is the most effective approach to improving educational quality in classrooms and achieving greater equality in achievement outcomes for socio-economically disadvantaged learners. This thesis investigates whether the existing South African policy approach is supported through research, or whether, in accordance with the international evidence, 'Opportunity-to-Learn (the curriculum content and skills actually made available to learners in classrooms) has a greater effect on achievement and is therefore a policy variable worth taking more seriously for narrowing the gap in achievement outcomes between South African learners of different socio-economic backgrounds.
- ItemOpen AccessFractured pedagogy : the design and implementation fault line in architectural knowledge : a conceptual and historical analysis(2007) Carter, Francis; Muller, JohanThere appears to be a gap in architectural knowledge between design theory and implementation practice which is difficult to bridge in teaching, learning and work. As evidence of the existence of this gap two sources of data are contrasted: exhibition catalogues which convey what individual architects say to each other about their work, and official reports which convey what institutional representatives of the organised profession say about failures in the work of architects. These data sets are contradictory, reinforcing the possibility of a fault-line between design knowledge and implementation. The question then arises as to whether this tension in professional knowledge in the field of production is reflected in the pedagogisation of the knowledge, reinforced through its transmission. As the architectural curriculum in Commonwealth countries has a generic format, this generic curriculum is analysed next, in terms of Bernstein's concepts of classification of framing, and integration of collection.
- ItemOpen AccessFractured pedagogy: the design and implementation fault line in architectural knowledge - a conceptual and historical analysis(2007) Carter, Francis; Muller, JohanThere appears to be a gap in architectural knowledge between design theory and implementation practice which is difficult to bridge in teaching, learning and work. As evidence of the existence of this gap two sources of data are contrasted: exhibition catalogues which convey what individual architects say to each other about their work, and official reports which convey what institutional representatives of the organised profession say about failures in the work of architects. These data sets are contradictory, reinforcing the possibility of a fault-line between design knowledge and implementation. The question then arises as to whether this tension in professional knowledge in the field of production is reflected in the pedagogisation of the knowledge, reinforced through its transmission. As the architectural curriculum in Commonwealth countries has a generic format, this generic curriculum is analysed next, in terms of Bernstein's concepts of classification/ framing, and integration I collection. The analysis is ambiguous, as both strong and weak criteria co-exist with dual coding, complicated by the horizontality and tacit nature of spatial design knowledge on the one hand, and the extent of regionalised knowledge on the other which recontextualises contradictory knowledge systems from sources in arts and sciences. Tacit implementation knowledge sits uncomfortably in this mix as a largely segmental horizontal discourse. To understand the default pattern in this pedagogy more clearly, the research then tracks back to the initial definition of the knowledge system at the time of the formation of the modern profession. In this analysis Bernstein's pedagogic device is used as the framework for locating and unraveling the historic data in terms of the production and recontextualisation of knowledge, distributive rules and power relations between agents. The history maps neatly onto this theoretical model, confirming in-built tensions in the knowledge system which marginalise knowledge of implementation and which construct a professional consciousness centered around spatial imagination primarily and technical innovation secondarily. The research is thus an initial attempt at a historical analysis of a region of professional knowledge.
- ItemOpen AccessThe impact of a practice-based inquiry in-service teacher education model on teachers'understanding and classroom practice(2000) Pomuti, Hertha Ndategomuwa; Muller, JohanBibliography: leaves 98-107.
- ItemOpen AccessThe impact of co-operative learning on the academic success of educationally disadvantaged first year engineering students at the University of Cape Town(1998) Taft, Trevor; Muller, JohanThe aim of this research report was an attempt to measure the impact of co-operative learning workshops on the academic achievement of 1st year Physics 110w [ASPECT] students from the ex- Department of Education and Training [DET] and Transkei [TK] schools in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Cape Town in 1995. At the time of doing the research for the investigation there were two concerns amongst the ASPECT staff at UCT. Firstly, how to address the issues of high failure rates and low retention of disadvantaged 1st year Engineering students, and low graduation rates. Secondly, what was the impact of the many innovative initiatives undertaken on the human resources that South Africa is thought to need in Engineering. The Engineering Faculty at UCT established the Academic Support Programme in Engineering at Cape Town [ASPECT] with the aim of addressing the needs of the increased number of black students from disadvantaged education and social backgrounds. The Physics 11Ow course was introduced into the ASPECT programme in 1995 and the academic support was given in the form of co-operative learning workshops.
- ItemOpen AccessInstructional technologies in social science instructions in South Africa(Elsevier Ltd., 2009) Louw, Johann; Brown, Cheryl; Muller, Johan; Soudien, CrainThis study describes the results of a survey and a description of instructional technologies in place in the social sciences in South African Universities. Lecturers in the social sciences reported a well-established practice of information and communication technologies (ICTs) use for general purposes (although frequent use tended to be for email and searching the Internet). They had a high self-efficacy in terms of using ICTs both generally and for teaching and learning, and a high enthusiasm for the use of ICTs for teaching and learning. Half the lecturers had started using ICTs recently with the introduction of learning management systems (LMSs) whereas the other half had established practices that preceded the mainstreaming of LMSs across universities. Only about a quarter of the respondents felt able to develop and update ICTs themselves which indicates that support is a necessary part of teaching with technology. In terms of different types of use the focus was on putting content on the web and course administration. Use of ICTs for teaching of skills (whether information literacy, problem solving or critical thinking) was infrequent. There were different types of ICT use across the different sub-disciplines. Lecturers reported factors which constrained their use of ICTs for teaching and learning, such as inadequate technology, pedagogical issues (e.g. plagiarism), and students opting out of lectures when materials were available online. It is argued that user studies in are relevant to the future delivery of educational material, in terms of removing barriers to use and targeting training and supportive activities.
- ItemOpen AccessInternational elementary schools and interrupted students : a study of curriculum, pedagogically-engaged time and reading development(2008) Pritchard, Catherine Cutchins; Muller, JohanThis dissertation is concerned with the question of how reading development is influenced by the increase of pedagogically-engaged time amongst interrupted students within a particular curriculum. The study arose from observations that students of an interrupted educational background seemed to be achieving at a lower reading level than uninterrupted students - and thus, the study sought to establish the possible reasons and remedies for this problem. This study was primarily located at the American International School of Cape Town (AISCT), Cape Town, South Africa; and secondarily located at the Washington International School, Washington, D.C., United States of America.
- ItemOpen AccessLanguage and the opportunity to learn science in bilingual classrooms in the Eastern Cape, South Africa(2016) Probyn, Margaret Joan; Muller, Johan; Hoadley, Ursula KateThe problem that prompted this research was the general poor performance of South African learners in national and international science assessments, and in particular, the poor achievement levels of Grade 8 learners in successive TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) science assessments. It was suggested in the TIMSS South Africa reports that the language of the tests, when different to learners' home language, contributed to their poor performance in the assessments. However the reports also noted that language factors were intertwined with other factors such as low socio-economic status. Large-scale quantitative studies such as TIMSS can tell us the 'what' in an education system; however such studies are not able to tell us much about 'why': for example why South African learners have continued to perform so poorly in assessments such as TIMSS. The notion of 'opportunity to learn' proposes that learners cannot be held accountable for their performance in such assessments if they have not been provided with the opportunity to learn the content assessed. This small-scale qualitative research study therefore set out to drill down from the TIMSS studies to investigate the opportunity to learn science in classrooms in the Eastern Cape where the home language of learners and teachers (isiXhosa) was different to the language of assessment (English). Opportunity to learn science was conceptualized in terms of the science content of lesson and the language used to construct that science knowledge. Classroom language was further disaggregated into the classroom discourse interaction patterns; and the bilingual languaging practices of teachers and learners. The research thus drew on literature and research from the fields of science teaching, classroom discourse, and bilingual education - fields not usually combined - to develop a complex picture of classroom practices. A multiple case study was undertaken in eight township and rural schools in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, one of the most under-developed and poorest of the nine provinces. Data was collected from five consecutive Grade 8 science lessons that were observed and videotaped for each of eight classes; the teachers were interviewed about their personal histories, attitudes towards teaching and learning science in the context where learners were learning through an additional language; and their classroom practices. In addition, detailed fieldnotes were kept. Transcripts were made of the lessons and interviews; and the isiXhosa in the lessons was translated where it occurred. The lesson transcripts were analysed using socio-cultural discourse analysis and this included coding and content analysis to arrive at patterns in the data, which were exemplified by extracts from the data; some of these were of necessity fairly long, so as to take account of both the content and language of the lessons and to trace how ideas were developed over time, within and across lessons, though language. The teacher interviews provided the contextual detail; and teachers' practices were probed using simulated recall based on video clips from their lessons. The fine-grained analysis of the science content of lessons allowed for the elaboration of a hierarchy of necessary conditions that needed to be in place for the opportunity to learn science to be actualized; and a key condition was that the science content should be conceptually coherent, with facts linked to generalized principles and conceptual frameworks and that the generalized principles were supported by factual detail. It appeared that the classroom discourse was important for engaging learners in this process of moving from description of observations, to explanation, to generalizing and concept building. In addition a skilled teacher was able to effect a bridging discourse that supported learners in moving from everyday language and understandings to scientific language and understandings; from practical to theoretical knowledge; and from oral to written modes. These are necessary conditions for all learners to be afforded the opportunity to learn science. A further condition in the bilingual contexts that these classrooms typified, was the need for the teacher to support learners in developing conceptual understanding in their home language and then teaching for transfer of that understanding into the language of assessment, English. The analysis was able to demonstrate how the nuanced interplay of content and language in the practice of one teacher appeared to successfully construct the opportunity to learn science; and how in the practices of the other teachers, the opportunity to learn science broke down at different points. This indicated the points of leverage in the enacted curriculum that could be addressed in teacher education to break the logjam of factors contributing to underperformance in science achievement.
- ItemOpen AccessMeasuring institutional change : the application of two theoretical models to two South African higher education institutions(2002) Bunting, Lisa; Muller, JohanThe purpose of this study is to compare and assess two theoretical models of higher education institutional change: the policy response and the adaptational model. The policy response model is essentially a measurement of policy impact, and through the application of an indicator framework allows the evaluation of the extent to which a higher education institution has applied a government policy directive. The adaptational model is based on the idea that institutional change can be explained in terms of the categorisation of the strategic choices an institution makes in order to adapt to and survive in a constantly changing environment. The application of the two models is demonstrated through case studies of two South African higher education institutions: the University of Port Elizabeth and Peninsula Technikon.
- ItemOpen AccessThe nature of engineering and science knowledge in curriculum: a case study in thermodynamics(2017) Smit, Reneé; Case, Jennifer M; Muller, JohanAbstract The study explores the nature of disciplinary knowledge differences and similarities between the sciences and the engineering sciences as these appear in curriculum texts. The work is presented as a case study of curriculum knowledge in thermodynamics, and the epistemic properties are investigated in four sub-cases in mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, physics and chemistry. Data was collected from prescribed undergraduate textbooks in the four disciplinary fields. The work is theoretically informed by two fields of scholarly work: the sociology of educational knowledge (in particular the work of Basil Bernstein) and the applied philosophies of science and engineering science, in order to develop a theoretical framework for analysis of the data. The framework allows the study to move beyond the typical binary classification of the sciences as 'hard-pure' and engineering sciences as 'hard-applied' disciplines. Starting from broad teleological considerations, the philosophical concepts of specialisation, idealisation and normativity are explored and developed into modalities and modal continua of variance to allow investigation of the epistemic differences and similarities in the recontextualised disciplinary knowledge from these contiguous conceptual fields. The empirical study identifies important differences in thermodynamics curriculum knowledge in terms of specialisation, normativity and idealisation across the broad disciplinary fields, rendering more complex Bernstein's notions of singulars and regions. The epistemic modalities and modes provide a way to conceive in more detail how the professional engineering science knowledge is orientated towards its field of practice. Curriculum knowledge in the engineering sciences is shown to be remarkably different from the knowledge in the sciences: both mechanical and chemical engineering knowledge emphasise particulars, rather than universals, have stronger normative aspects, and employ a limited form of idealisation in their commitment to physical realisability. By contrast, knowledge in the sciences is more universal, normativity is incidental, and idealisation is used expansively. In addition, the research findings suggest a negative correlation between idealisation and normativity as epistemic modalities: a commitment to normative concerns in the engineering sciences constrains the extent to which knowledge idealisation is pursued, compared to what is observed in the bodies of science curriculum knowledge. Furthermore, over and above differences in curriculum knowledge between the broad fields of science and engineering science, discernible variation exists between the engineering sciences investigated, raising cautions against a monolithic view of curricular epistemic properties across broad disciplinary areas.
- ItemOpen AccessPicking up the pace: Variation in the structure and organisation of learning school mathematics(2005) Reeves, Cheryl; Muller, JohanWhat is it about curriculum and pedagogy that really makes the difference to pupil learning?1 Do particular pedagogic features matter in teaching learners thematics? Or is it rather the range of factors associated with making mathematics available to learners for learning? What makes the real difference: pedagogic style or opportunity to learn? The paper discusses why it is plausible to study opportunity to learn (OTL) in South Africa. It outlines some of the methods used to operationalise particular dimensions of OTL and measure variation in the structure and organization of school mathematics. Data are presented on the mathematics knowledge made available to low SES grade 5 and 6 learners in the first three terms of 2003 in terms of content complexity and across grade developmental complexity. The effects of this availability on learning will be reported on in future papers.
- ItemOpen AccessPleasure and pedagogic discourse in school mathematics: a case study of a problem-centred pedagogic modality(2005) Davis, Zain; Muller, Johan[pages missing: 245 - 304] This thesis is concerned with the production of an account of the relation between the reproduction of specialised knowledge and the moral discourse within pedagogic practice. The internal mechanism that knots together knowledge and moral discourse is elaborated by way of an analysis of texts produced by the originators of a pedagogic modality they refer to as the "problem-centred approach." The particular texts analysed are: (1) the Grade 1 to 4 textbooks and the corresponding teacher's guides, and (2) video records, supplied by the originators, of what they consider to be exemplary realisations of the pedagogy in practice of the "approach." The thesis opens with a discussion of a proposition, derived from Bernsteinian studies of curriculum and pedagogy, stating that everyday and academic know ledges are incommensurable, and from which it is claimed that the insistent contemporary attempts at incorporating the everyday into the academic in curricula and pedagogy, under the banner of "relevance," are educationally problematic. Against the Bernsteinian position, a central feature of the "problem-centred approach" is the extensive recruitment of extra-mathematical referents for the purposes of the reproduction of school mathematics. A more general examination of school mathematics texts that recruit the everyday reveal that such texts also associate the everyday with the pleasure of the student, so rendering "relevance," and hence moral discourse, as utilitarian. The manner in which the moral discourse operates within pedagogy was described in terms of Hegel's theory of judgement and Freudian-Lacanian accounts of imaginary and symbolic identification. Hegel enabled a description of pedagogic discourse at the level of the instructional content, and Freud-Lacan at the level of moral discourse. Hegel also enabled the location of the point at which the moral attaches to the instructional. What our analysis revealed is as follows: (1) the "problem-centred approach" is a competence-type pedagogy that employs strategies encouraging an initial imaginary identification with the everyday and pleasure, which is used to effect symbolic identification with school mathematics; (2) moral discourse drives pedagogic judgement by means of the imaginary-symbolic dialectic pertaining to identification; (3) evaluation drives pedagogic judgement aimed at the knowledge statements produced by students; and that (4) while the moral discourse is a pervasive and formally necessary component of pedagogy, it is ultimately embedded in the organisation and elaboration of the instructional contents, working in the service of the reproduction of instructional contents, but in accord with dominant ideological imperatives.
- ItemOpen AccessRadical visible pedagogy and specializing the everyday(2022) Joubert, Leandri; Hoadley, Ursula; Muller, JohanStudies in pursuit of understanding a pedagogic practice to optimise learning across socioeconomic classes have taken various forms, with classroom-based studies ranging from focussing on single pedagogic elements to Bernsteinian-type studies allowing for the investigation of the relationship between elements. What has been less prevalent is understanding the relationship between knowledge and pedagogy within the pedagogic discourse. In this study the aim was to explore this relationship as it operates within an apparent optimal pedagogy, especially in relation to a classroom comprising learners from mixed socio-economic backgrounds. The study was done via classroom observations of two teachers at a high achieving high school serving learners of mixed socio-economic status. In high school the subjects are more specialised and the selection of two different subjects, with different knowledge structures, was done to foreground and optimise the knowledge component. Teacher competence was selected for using qualifications and experience. The analysis was done in two parts: first, developing the concept of a teaching episode to generate units for analysis, and second, coding each episode in terms of strength of classification, framing and the purpose of the horizontal discourse, where present. Analysis showed that both teachers used a dynamic variable pedagogy, which constituted of a dominant traditional visible pedagogy, but moments of weakened framing occurred where it temporarily took the form of a mixed pedagogy. Investigation into these moments revealed, firstly, that they were intentionally used, and secondly, the weakening was enacted by the strategic and managed introduction of the horizontal discourse. The latter was recruited for different purposes in the different subjects but operationalised in the same manner through “specializing” the everyday by relocating it into the meaning structure of the vertical discourse. The impact thereof resulted in the differentiation of the class rather than the individual and generating a cultural connectedness via a new common specialised discourse, thus potentially showing in operation Bernstein's radical visible pedagogy.
- ItemOpen AccessThe recruitment and recognition of prior informal experience in the pedagogy of two university courses in labour law(2003) Breier, Mignonne; Muller, Johan; Ensor, PaulaThis thesis explores the epistemological complexities associated with the long-standing principle in adult education that the experience of the adult student should be valued, taken account of and built upon in the pedagogic process, to the extent that it can even be 'recognized' for purposes of access or credit. It asks how prior experience is recruited and recognized in a higher education context where commitment to the adult student is espoused but the curriculum is non-negotiable . Multiple research methods are used to pursue this question in two courses in Labour Law at separate universities . One, a certificate course, had admitted students with Grade 10 or less. The other, a post-graduate diploma, had admitted students without degrees. The thesis opens with a discussion of the ways in which formal and informal knowledge have been constructed in various theories of knowledge and thought, as well as in discourses on the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). Thereafter, drawing on Bernstein, Dowling and Bourdieu , and in dialogue with the empirical data, a language of localizing and generalizing strategies is developed to identify various forms of informal and formal knowledge and to describe their interplay. The range and interrelationships of these strategies is shown in the form of semantic networks. Attention is paid to the structure of law and its sub-field labour law as fields of practice and of study and it is noted that both are characterized by a deductive relationship between formal and informal knowledge. The practice of law is essentially about the application of rules, concepts and principles to actual events (a deductive process) while the development of laws themselves is in response to social conditions (an inductive process). There is always the potential for inequity between the generality of the law and the particularities of an individual case. The courses differ in the extent to which they follow the deductive logic of the practice of law. It is argued that the higher level course which explores the complexities of labour law and its application to actual reported cases and events, is closer to that logic than the lower level course which presents the law in terms of sets of rules and procedures and tries to simplify its application by the use of the hypothetical. The postgraduate course also offers students an opportunity to recruit prior experience in assignments, even though it has to be researched and recontextualized for the purpose. The research finds that both lecturers and students use localizing strategies, including the recruitment of prior personal experience. Three different pedagogic styles are identified, with the recruitment and recognition of prior informal experience as a major feature of variation . The lecturers' localizations have a generalizing trajectory in that they are expressed in relation to general rules, principles or concepts or case law. The localizations of students who have mastered or submitted themselves to the recognition and realization rules of the courses have a similar trajectory. A few students show a localizing trajectory, limited to personalizing strategies often used to challenge the general rule by asserting the particularity and difference of personal experience. These localizing orientations are associated with very limited formal education but not exclusively so. They are also associated with expectations that prior informal experience is valuable in a formal educational context and will be recognized. This promise, engendered by discourses on RPL and adult education, obfuscates the transmission/acquisition purposes of a formal education programme. The theoretical contribution of the thesis lies with the language of description which it develops to analyse the interplay between the multiple dimensions of formal and informal knowledge. The research also has important implications for two theories of Basil Bernstein's. It shows that it is difficult to identify horizontal discourse empirically and to separate it from vertical discourse. The two are inextricably intertwined. The discussion of students' orientation to the local and the general shows the relevance of Bernstein's notions of elaborated and restricted codes to adult education. At the same time it exposes the crudity of these notions, showing, through fine-tuned analysis, the multiple different ways in which context-dependent and -independent knowledge is combined in practice. Finally, the research shows that students with limited formal education can and do succeed in formal education programmes. Factors influencing their achievement include the nature of their work experience and the extent to which it has exposed them to formal literacies, and dispositional factors including a willingness to accept pedagogic hierarchy, to assume an individual rather than collective identity and to expend symbolic labour.