7.3. Stakeholders and Leadership of the Mathematics Group
7.3.4. School community (Learners, principals)
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because they were doing Mathematics instead of Mathematical Literacy. According to the report on the Analysis of Grade 12 results, the average Mathematics results of the Mathematics Group shows a slight improvement in each year starting from 2011;
2011– 37.1%
2012 – 38.1%
2013 – 43.9%
Although the NGO, through its director, maintains that the Mathematics results are closely linked to teacher competence, this study did not track teachers to their classroom to check their competence in teaching Mathematics. From a CHAT perspective, the improvement in the Mathematics pass rate and the high correlation when compared with workshops appear to be the outcome of Mathematics activity systems. In this case, Mathematics teachers learnt and became competent in teaching new and difficult topics hence there was a slight improvement in the Mathematics results. For example, one of the participants highlighted the results of participating in Mathematics workshops:
… With the material we get from the group, the support from our co- ordinator and the support we get from the other educators who are also members of the group that creates a positive atmosphere for you as an individual. For example if there was a concept I am not sure about or a concept that I have been teaching incorrectly or a concept s that was a challenge to you as an individual. (Interview held with Jabulani on the 1st of October 2013)
The object pursued by the subjects (Mathematics Teachers) is learning Mathematics;
therefore, this quotation suggests the outcome of object enactment by subjects (Mathematics teachers).
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project) runs the workshop (Interview held with Jabulani on 1st of October 2015).
Jabulani has introduced another Mathematics activity system which includes learners. The Saturday workshops are held twice a term in a central venue within the circuit. These workshops are run by the NGO facilitator and teachers who are part of the Mathematics Group. The lead teachers who are in the Laptop project facilitate in the workshop after being guided by the NGO facilitator. The Laptop project, as mentioned earlier in this chapter, is the project within the Mathematics Group aiming at equipping Mathematics teachers with the technological skills of teaching Mathematics in the classroom situation. Siza, the NGO facilitator, also highlighted how the learners that are now in grade 12 were selected from the member-schools.
There are grade 12 learners that we started with Mathematics teachers.
We take 10% of Maths learners from each school, 10 best learners from each school. They come here and they meet with other schools with educators and work through Mathematics the whole day.
I did not observe the Saturday Mathematics workshops (activity systems) for learners, given that the focus of the study is on Mathematics teachers who are the subjects of the activity.
The following CHAT triangle, Figure 19, draws from the interviews held with the four participants, and is used to explain how Mathematics teachers as subjects, enact the object (learning and teaching of Mathematics).
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Figure 22: Model of Activity System for the Mathematics Group
Mathematics teachers as subjects enact the object learning of Mathematics. The subject of the activity is not fixed, it depends on the object. In this case, Grade 12 learners are the community and the Mathematics teachers teach them in the central venue. In this activity system, chosen learners pursue the learning of Mathematics. However, the Mathematics teachers (lead teachers) still remain as subject because they enact the object teaching of Mathematics after the NGO facilitator (community) has demonstrated what and how to teach a certain topic. The Object of the activity system is the learning of Mathematics which is facilitated by the NGO facilitator and the Mathematics teachers (lead teachers). The mediating tools that are used during the enactment of the object (learning Mathematics) consist of physical tools such as laptop, data projector and screen.
I take the material, power point presentation, I show teachers what I want them to do and how, and they do that.
Tools: Physical tools: Laptops, projectors, Handouts and learners Psychological tools: Language, knowledge, experience, Maths signs
Outcomes: Mastery of Maths concepts /teaching skills / Maths software /Maths room
Subject: Lead teachers
Mathematics teachers Object: Learning and teaching Mathematics
Rules: Maths
Rules Attendance Community:
NGO Facilitator
Principals
Division of labour
NGO Demonstrate, organise resources, Principals organise Maths room, Maths teachers do the task, learn Maths, Observe, supervise learners.
Lead teachers teach other
Maths teachers, Lead teachers teach learners while other teachers observe
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From this quote it is evident that the NGO facilitator organises the physical tools such as the power point presentation. The psychological tools consist of knowledge and skills demonstrated by the NGO facilitator when she shows the lead teachers how to teach a certain Mathematics topic. From a CHAT perspective, internalisation seemingly occurred when the Mathematics lead teachers observed demonstrations of topics by the NGO facilitator.
Externalisation is manifested when the Mathematics lead teachers are able to teach learners what they have been taught by the NGO Facilitator. Furthermore, the lead teachers also get an opportunity to practice their internalised knowledge during the workshops while other Mathematics teachers observe. Division of labour during the Saturday workshops is visible as the NGO facilitator demonstrates what should be done, Mathematics lead teachers observe and teach the learners, other Mathematics teachers of the Mathematics Group bring the chosen learners to the central venue and observe the lessons. There is evidence that suggests another division of labour is the Mathematics lead teachers, who also conduct workshops for the Mathematics Group. Bongani, who is a Mathematics lead teacher, discusses the role of the Mathematics lead teachers:
And we conduct workshops on our own. We come together as Mathematics lead teachers and discuss how the workshop will be conducted, depending on the need, what is needed by the teachers. We then organise the workshop for the Mathematics Group.
In this case, the subjects (Mathematics teachers) enact the learning of Mathematics themselves. The Mathematics rules govern the object enactment by the subjects (lead teachers). This situation concurs with Maistry (2009) who says that teacher learning communities allow teachers to come together and learn from one another and to engage with curricular issues. The outcome of this activity is the mastery of Mathematics concepts by learners as the community. The Mathematics lead teachers further acquire different strategies to teach Mathematics. For example, one of the Mathematics lead teachers said:
I have learnt cyclic geometry and how to teach it using a computer especially the software that we are using. There is Mathematics software called a Geometal Sketch Pad. I have learnt how to use the Geometal Sketch Pad in the classroom.
This outcome is tentative because the Mathematics lead teachers, as well as other Mathematics teachers of the Mathematics Group, were not tracked in their classroom to find out if they were applying what they have learnt. The principals are part of the community of
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the Mathematics Group because they are responsible for organizing the Mathematics rooms in the schools. Siza, the NGO facilitator explained:
Then what I do is, I talk to the principals and ask them if I can ask one of their educators to be part of the laptop group of the Mathematics Group. I then tell them what they have to do which is to support the teacher and the teacher must teach in a room that should be turned into Mathematics room. In return I lend them a laptop and the data projector. They come every term usually in the last week of the term for two days training.
There are five of them in this Mathematics Group (Interview held with the NGO facilitator on the 20th of November 2014).
Here, the NGO facilitator elaborated on the division of labour of the principals as part of the community of the Mathematics Group. The laptop and the data projector are physical mediational tools for the subjects to mediate the object (Mathematics) in their schools. The findings have shown that the stakeholders of the Mathematics Group include the Mathematics teachers, Mathematics subject advisor, the Non-Governmental Organisation and principals.
These stakeholders seem to be the same as the key player in PLCs that are envisaged in the Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development (ISPTED).
However the ISPTED focusses on the PLCs that are inside of the school. According to the DBE and DHET (2011) these stakeholders need to work together in order to change professional practices and improve learning outcomes.