Managing History learning and teaching in schools of South Africa over the years has been characterised by diverse opinions regarding the causes of learner underperformance, who is to be held responsible over learner performance and possible leadership influence on History learner performance. In addressing the problem of underperformance in…

Utilising a qualitative case study, we set out to investigate how learners at Hope Saturday School evoked the principles of ubuntu/humanity as they collaborated during project-based learning. The article is part of a broader study in which a mix of semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, observations, document analysis and field notes…

The advent of democracy in South Africa triggered notable reforms to the financing of quality education, and curriculum design and innovation. The ulterior motive behind this study was to underscore the correlation between inadequate financial resources and learners' achievement. School finance reform was found to contribute to learner achievement…

Various reasons for underperformance in physical sciences have been found, such as a lack of teachers' content knowledge and a lack of resources. This study looks into the extent of alignment between the various levels of the curriculum on circuit electricity (intended, implemented and attained levels). The research took place in Mpumalanga…

It is imperative to note that the study reported on attempted to reimagine a link between underachievement and attrition in curriculum implementation. The contextual factors that affected achievement and resulted in attrition were worth further scrutiny. The study further reported the results of a pilot study conducted in the Western Cape, South…

There is growing evidence of systematic underachievement of South African primary school learners in reading in English as the first additional language. There is a small but growing literature that provides insights, that is, causes, patterns and prevalence, into this phenomenon. Through a secondary analysis of a spelling component of a literacy…

The authors of papers in this special issue are in agreement that if schools are to reverse underachievement among rural and township students in the South African context the instructional space must be expanded to include students' and teachers' multilingual repertoires together with a focus on explicitly demystifying how academic language…

The state of tertiary education in South Africa is not adequately meeting the needs of its populace. The system in place does not effectively nor appropriately target the racial group of students which forms the democratic majority. This paper portrays the reasons why these students are not succeeding on the basis of a mismatch between their…

This article reports on a first cycle of a larger action research study conducted to determine how Circuit Teams could support School Management Teams of underperforming high schools towards whole-school development. Although it is a mandated requirement by the Department of Education, none of the four schools involved in the study had developed a…

The construct of mathematical identity has recently been widely used in mathematics education with the intention to understand how students relate to and engage (or disengage) with mathematics. Grootenboer and Zevenbergen (2008) define mathematical identity as the students' knowledge, abilities, skills, beliefs, dispositions, attitudes and…

In view of the fact that diversity in higher education has increased, it has become critical to deal with the needs of non-traditional students, and especially the students underprepared for the demands of higher education. In an attempt to address this issue and answer the question, "How can underprepared students be encouraged to become…

This paper is based on phenomenological interviews with teachers who worked with underachieving students in South Africa, Russia, and the United States. It focuses on the analysis of meanings that teachers constructed while describing their relationship with underachieving students and how metaphors worked to construct such meanings. The…

This report elucidates problem areas in the education of gifted pupils in the Republic of South Africa (RSA), places the problems in perspective with respect to actual educational provision, and offers guidelines for further research on developing gifted education. Chapter titles are as follows: "Survey of Educational Planning for Gifted…

This article examines the possible meaning of the construct "emotional intelligence". Two case studies of adolescent males are presented and indicate that emotional intelligence has a significant impact not only on the qualitative level of intelligence actualization but also on the quantitative level of intelligence measurement and…

The paper reviews the literature and discusses guidance services for gifted students with special application to education in the Republic of South Africa. Specific subjects considered include: guidance services for the gifted, structure of services, personnel involved in guidance services for the gifted, the school guidance program for the…