This exploratory qualitative case study inquired into teachers' Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge and the teaching and learning of Grade 12 Mathematics at two selected secondary schools. Four Mathematics teachers shared their enactment of the teaching and learning of Grade 12 Mathematics when semistructured interview questions were posed.…

This paper reports on the relationship between the pre-service teachers' enacted Topic Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge (eTSPCK) observable in the classroom teaching of Organic Chemistry and learner achievement in the topic. The study employed a mixed-methods research design with a sample of 17 pre-service teachers (PSTs). The PSTs were…

This study investigated the impact of work-integrated learning (WIL) experiences for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) lecturers on their industry expertise and teaching skills. WIL was introduced to address the inadequate work experience of TVET lecturers and improve their capacity to deliver quality teaching. The study used…

Using a critical race theoretical lens, we examine how South African secondary mathematics teachers of Black students characterised their preparation in the post-apartheid era, how they portrayed good mathematics instruction, and what challenges they identified as barriers to becoming a good mathematics instructor. We found that teachers…

Pre-service teachers should be taught how to use technology so that they are equipped to use the knowledge and skills acquired in their professional practice. However, studies have shown that pre-service teachers are not adequately prepared to teach with technology. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore pre-service teachers'…

Background: South African schooling is caught in a vicious cycle, characterised by weak initial teacher education (ITE) and weaker-than-average learning outcomes, resulting in low teacher status and attempts to reform schooling by means of continuous professional development (CPD). Aim: The paper attempts to understand the reasons for poor…

Paying attention to the planning of lessons represents a crucial teaching task. This paper analyses teachers' framing of lesson objectives and their descriptions of how they would introduce particular mathematics topics. Connections between the objectives and the instructional strategies employed, were also studied. The study involved 75 South…

The 1994 democratic government of South Africa brought greater responsibility and growth of school-based management in schools which impacted on the role and workload of school leaders (Rosenfeld, Ehrich & Cranston, 2009). Principals of public secondary schools delegated greater responsibility to Heads of Departments who had to ensure that…

In this case study, Mathematical Literacy teachers were interviewed and observed in the classroom in order to provide insight into the way this subject, relatively new in South African schools, is handled. The focus of this research was the instructional practice of these teachers specifically in terms of their mathematical knowledge regarding the…

This study focuses on quantifying the quality of mathematics teaching in 183 randomly selected sixth grade classrooms: 100 from the North West province of South Africa and 83 from South East Botswana. The teaching quality is measured by coding videotaped lessons for three different components: mathematical proficiency, level of cognitive demand,…

This study was prompted by concerns around mathematics teaching and learning in the South African education system. Contributory factors to this situation are the lack of competent mathematics teachers in the classroom and mathematics "at-risk" students entering teacher education programmes. This paper reports on how a mathematics…

There is an abundance of research in support of interdisciplinary approaches to teaching Environmental Education (EE). Research has also supported the use of a holistic and systemic approach to the teaching and learning of environmental content. Curriculum planning in South Africa has followed a cross curricular approach to teaching Environmental…

In the drive to achieve universal primary education as one of the Millennium Development Goals, there is an increasing recognition of the urgency of focusing on teacher education to both meet the demand for more than one million qualified teachers required to achieve this goal within sub-Saharan Africa, as well as to combat the sometimes poor…

This article presents the case of the South African curriculum reform, which chose--on ideological rather than pragmatic grounds--a radical progressive/constructivist pedagogy model, with the expectation that it would help to redress the educational (as well as political, social and economic) inequalities of the country's inglorious racist past.…