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The National Curriculum Statement Grade R-12 and CAPS also provide a framework for assessment which is based on the principles of Outcome Based Education for Continuous Assessment policy (DoBE, 2012). In this study, both schools had the assessment policy to guide educators on testing, assessment and evaluation. Assessment can be done formally and informally as educators engage in classroom interactions. Assessment plays a crucial role in the progress of the individual child and will determine the outcome of each learner.
The policy encourages educators to stimulate thoughts in learners, to inspire them to ask questions, promote discussions and become critical thinkers. This ensures that learners are able to voice out their opinions and to participate.
When learners contribute in class, it leads to a dialogue where teaching and learning is stimulated through the use of assessments.
4.7.4 Lesson plans
Several lesson plans collected after and during the classroom observation lacked important details such as lesson objectives, learners‟ activities and educators‟
activities. Although educator participants carried with them textbooks or question papers as a basis for the day‟s lesson, it was difficult to understand the quality of the lesson as lesson plans were poorly written.
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4.8.1 The meaning of democracy in education
Educators expressed different views. It became clear that some were of the opinion that democratic education involves certain concepts such as equality, participation, freedom, inclusion, mutual understanding and democratic rights in the classroom. However, some participants see democratic education as a set of rules to follow or as a guide in relation to school policies such as the CAPS document. The majority of educators believe that they are democratic in their classroom contexts. Findings from document analysis are in agreement with those from interviews.
However, two participants were opposed to democratic values in the classroom.
According to them, it would depend on the challenges that may arise in class.
One participant was even honest and admitted that he sometimes used corporal punishment to maintain order in the classroom. This indicates that not all the documents analysed in this study are in line with certain methods practised by some educators. This is in contradiction to what democratic education for South Africans from a post-apartheid really means: where a collective power and control relationship between the educator and the learner should not exist (Joubert et al., 2015).
4.8.2 Incorporation of democratic principles and values in the classroom
Regarding the incorporation of democratic principles and values in the classroom, participation by learners is commonly encouraged by most educators.
Certain attributes such as respect, equality and inclusivity emerged.
Participation was one of the most voiced out democratic principles and values by educator and learner participants. This encourages dialogue where a culture of expression by the child is promoted. Findings reveal that there is a partial agreement between the documents as analysed. This finding can relate to some of the classroom observations where I witnessed participation, collaboration and co-operation amongst participants in some of the classes observed.
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In contrast, one educator participant differed as he highlighted that sometimes one cannot actually maintain a democratic status especially when teaching adolescents. Thus incorporating democratic principles and values all the time is not realistic. Corporal punishment and other tactics such as favouritism among the learners are still used. This can be supported by some learners who highlight that not all educators treat them fairly. This finding is inconsistent with the maintenance of a safe child-friendly environment proposed by the Child-Friendly Schools and the Social Reconstructionism approach. Furthermore, this finding violates Section 28 of the Bill of Rights from maltreatment, abuse or degradation.
The literature (including government policies) states that democratic principles and values should be incorporated in the classroom environment. The findings of this study reveal that there seems to be inconsistencies that exist between the practices and activities aimed at achieving an effective demonstration of democratic principles and values.
4.8.3 Understanding democratic education in curriculum
This study found differences in responses from educator participants. This shows that there is diversity in their understanding of how the integration of democratic education and curriculum can merge. Some participants argue that the CAPS document embodies democratic principles and values that give rise to democratic education. This is in line with the documents as analysed. However, in conflict with this finding, some participants acknowledge that the curriculum is non-negotiable with the learners.
Moreover, some educator participants attest that how learners can reach their goals by engaging in a variety of curriculum assessment activities can help create better individuals. In opposition, some participants disagree as some learners seem to be unable to see the importance of teaching and learning activities that they are given. Thus, not all learners are willing to comply with activities that will develop them and help them to achieve their goals. This is in line with what some of the learner participants shared, that some classes are
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problematic due to refusal to do school work and disrespect by some learners.
This indicates that certain democratic principles and values are not practised by some of the learners in schools.
There could also be that curriculum negotiation and involvement in what learners are taught is limited. Some educators believe that curriculum negotiation it could be done in groups, or simply informing the learners what they need to know regarding their academic work. However, some educators do acknowledge that the curriculum cannot be negotiated with the learners, but it is something that needs to be applied in everyday work. This is in contradiction with literature that argues that learners‟ contribution to construct knowledge by being hands on in creating the curricula empowers learners and aids in self-empowerment (Maphalala, 2017; Pring, 2016). My findings reveal this is not necessary the case with every educator.
4.8.4 Democratic use of instruction in the classroom
The majority of educator participants believe lessons should be facilitated. This is in line with the theoretical frameworks of the study, where child-centredness acts as the foundation of classroom practices. However, two of the educator participants emphasised that this would depend on the conditions of the classroom environment where if learners need to be disciplined for a proper classroom to take place, then this should be so. The CFS and Manifesto documents recommend a rights-based education which, according to educators‟
experiences, comes with freedom for learners. At the end, some learners, according to most of the educators, end up taking advantage by not doing their school activities and at times being disrespectful. Likewise, in one of the classroom observations, an educator, through his instruction, chased away more than sixty percent of the learners who were issued with textbooks, but had decided not to bring them along to school on that day. This act is in violation of the documents analysed in the study and contradicts findings from interviews with the educator.
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