The call for improving students' academic achievement in science education has increased in urgency in recent years. It has also increased in complexity in the face of the growing cultural and linguistic diversity of present-day classrooms following inter- and intra-state migration. Although "translanguaging" pedagogy, where languages of…

The rise in global migration means that immigrant learners have become an integral part of the South African schooling system. Educational transformation in South Africa has made diversity in schools a norm, with many schools having varied learners in terms of race, language, ethnicity, religion and culture. The move towards inclusive education…

In South Africa, where multilingualism is prevalent, codeswitching--a practice of alternating between languages--plays a significant role in shaping classroom dynamics and learning outcomes. This study explores the beliefs of both teachers and learners regarding code-switching in Life Sciences classrooms. Utilizing quantitative methods, the…

Background: Globally, teaching practice has been at the heart of teacher education programmes. For quality teaching and learning, literacy student teachers are expected to develop metacognitive attributes and critical thinking to integrate theory and practice. Because of the dominance of autonomous models in literacy teaching and learning…

In this article we share the findings emanating from a 20 year (2003-2022) review of South African Early Grade Mathematics (EGM) research articles published in key international and local/regional journals. The review shows a substantial increase in the volume of published EGM articles in the second decade (2013-2022), nationally and…

The quality of education is a predictor of a country's economic performance -- which is why comparative international education surveys are important. South Africa performed poorly in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2019. The score of 374 for mathematics and 324 for science is poor compared to the mid-point of…

Students bring their own unique stories, shaped by history, culture and language, to the higher education context. Developing a sense of place-belonging on a diverse university campus is intrinsically intertwined with the intersectionality between race, ethnicity, gender and language. This study uses narrative inquiry to understand one student's…

African township schools are characterised by cultural and linguistic diversity, hence, teachers have the dual task of ensuring that learners grasp scientific concepts, while also catering for the diversity in the learners' backgrounds. The study reported on here was aimed at investigating teachers' beliefs and practices in teaching life sciences…

South Africa's classrooms are characterised by a wide variety of cultural and linguistic differences, providing teachers with educational challenges, particularly in mathematics and science subjects. In response, various mobile learning systems have been developed and piloted in the North West and Gauteng Provinces of South Africa. A framework has…

We argue that opening a space for dialogic, imaginative writing in the classroom can create entry points for a culturally responsive writing pedagogy (CRWP). We explore how collaborative writing for a pre-existing community digital platform (FundZa) and audience aids the implementation of CRWP in a creative writing course for South African…

Stellenbosch University has a unique history in the South African higher education context and has made significant strides in attracting more students of colour. Taking in to account the University's strategic commitment to the expansion of its diversity profile among newcomer first-year students from 24 per cent in 2010 to 33 per cent by 2015,…

Diversity--social, cultural, linguistic and ethnic--poses a challenge to all educational systems. Some authorities, schools and teachers look upon it as a problem, an obstacle to the achievement of national educational goals, while for others it offers new opportunities. Successive PISA reports have laid bare the relative lack of success in…

Through a review of the literature, this article argues that it is imperative that lecturers at institutions of higher education not just embrace multiliteracy for teaching and learning, but accept, incorporate and affirm the many literacies that students bring with them to the lecture room. Multiliteracy in the lecture room supplements…

This paper reports on an investigation into what teacher educators consider to be best practices in how to prepare pre-service teachers to effectively deal with the challenges of teaching Mathematics in multilingual contexts, and how what teacher educators consider as best practices inform their own classroom practice. Twelve teacher educators…