Faculty of Education
Department of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
Over the last couple of years, monitoring and feedback of learner performance has became a major policy issue in South Africa. The cornerstone of monitoring performance is obtaining data from which inferences can be drawn. However, the way in which information is presented to schools and teachers is of the utmost importance if the information is to be used for improvement purposes. The aim of this research was to explore what information schools felt they needed, based on two monitoring systems used in this South Africa-Netherlands Programme on Alternatives in Development (SANPAD) research development project, namely the South African Secondary School Information System (SASSIS) and the South African Monitoring System in Primary Schools (SAMP). A further aim was to explore how schools used the information. The idea of data literacy emerged in terms of how schools and teachers identify the information needed for decision-making, interpret the information and use it for improvement purposes. The research team was also given the opportunity to explore different forms of feedback, including the development of benchmarks against which academic gains could be mapped. It also became clear that several data paths were possible, as well as how and when the data travels to key role players, depending on the culture of schools. While data utilisation can be difficult to ascertain, it became clear that the use of performance data for improvement purposes is a gradual process and that it is important to uncover obvious, as well as less obvious forms of data use.
Contact person: Dr V Scherman.
What kind of professional development would be effective for upgrading the content knowledge and professional competence of underqualified teachers in townships and rural schools? The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of a professional development approach, called mentorship, by master Mathematics teachers. Where mentorship usually focuses on the induction of beginning or student teachers, the Teacher Mentorship Programme (TMP) in this case had experienced teachers who had been teaching Mathematics for years, but without appropriate qualifications in township schools, as its target. Due to no fault of their own, the mentee teachers had never previously been exposed to excellent teaching practices as learners, student teachers or practicing teachers. The impact of the four-year programme (2003–2006) showed that teachers mostly needed support with subject conceptualisation, pedagogic content knowledge (how to teach challenging concepts) and portfolio assessment. In conclusion, this research offers a possible theoretical framework for designing and negotiating an individualised professional development plan. The suggested theoretical framework departs from the zone of feasible development (ZFD), in analogy to Vygotsky’s ZFD that describes the “distance” between actual performance and the idealised performance an individual can achieve with the guidance of an expert.
Contact person: Prof A Hattingh.
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