Chapter 5: INDUCTIVE ANALYSIS OF DATA
5.4 KEY THEMES FROM AN INDUCTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE DATA
5.4.5 Theme 5: Teachers’ professional development needs are addressed through the cluster activities
Because the clusters are viewed as an alternative model for CPD and in my literature review I had looked at the PD models, I asked the teachers what their professional needs were. I wanted to establish to what extent the cluster activities are helping to address their needs. The following responses were given by the teachers:
Ja, we wish to like, especially on the, we workshop on, because the syllabus was changed from NCS to CAPS (Ok) ja so we actually have to be developed in order to know more about the CAPS because certain of questions is not the same like it used to be before (Ok) Ja, so we need to know the contents, the context seriously and how to implement that in the class. (Ziduli)
154 My professional developmental needs in teaching mostly is based mostly in how to help learners to understand the strategies that are needed to help the learners, especially in this time we are living in, although you try your level best in many forms you will find that things are still not going well. (Makutu)
I would like to be developed on teaching genetics (Uh hum) and DNA in this subject since I only have experience in the field but not having the qualifications beyond that, yes. (Bume)
Ok, I can need to be developed in strategic, to do strategic planning, like to do different strategies that I can be able to teach the learners and be able to understand the Life Sciences because it’s little bit tricky to them because some of them for example, some of them are coming from Grade 9 (Uh hum) they are not used to Life Sciences (Uh hum) therefore you need different strategies to, strategies and methods so that you can use, so that they can be familiar with the subject. So that they can understand it better (Slhoqo)
Most of the teachers understand their professional development needs to have everything to do with teaching Life Sciences. They want to do better in teaching the subject so that they can contribute to the betterment of the results for the Grade 12 learners. As far as they are concerned, the cluster has been able to contribute to their professional development. Those who feel they are not benefiting do not teach Grade 12 and they feel that Grades 10 and11 are not given the attention that is given to Grade 12 teachers:
Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t, (the respondent is referring to the workshops that are held, which are mostly focusing on Grades 11 and 12 teachers) and because I’m teaching Grade 10 and most of the time they talk about Grade 12. Like, these genetics, and I don’t teach genetics in Grade 10. So, most of the time as Grade 10 teachers ... I think maybe what can be done, they can call Grade 10 cluster meetings and where we discuss content with other Grade 10 educators and not to mix with Grade 12, because Grade 12 is like a priority, they prioritise Grade 12, other than the lower grades. (Yeye)
Experience, I just started with this, like I said I’ve been new in the clusters but I would say that ... it’s... I wouldn't say that one hundred percent so, I would come back ready or. Yah, but then being new I haven't really but with intervention workshops when we get there we discuss i-contenti. (Neo)
The departmental officials (Subject head and the Subject advisor) seem to have a similar understanding as well, that the CPD is confined to the teachers becoming
155 better teachers who produce good results for the Life Sciences. When I asked what their understanding of CPD was, this is what they had to say:
This entails, workshops, teachers being work-shopped and getting a service provider to train them on certain topics. Identified topics that are sometimes considered to be challenging by internal moderators (Punky)
PD, the field of teacher development, the support we are giving to the content, support we are giving to the methodology of teaching, support the teachers in the classrooms, support by encouraging further development, arranging bursaries for further training;
that is PD; it’s development of quality in the classroom and in the content and teaching as a group, as a cluster, getting opinions of others to develop further for cluster development. (Mbinzi)
Key from the responses of the participants, in regard to professional development, is the better understanding of the content, especially the challenging topics because they contribute to the poor performance of the learners, the teaching strategies so that the pass rate is improved, better planning and sticking to the exam guide and the Annual Teaching Plan.
5.4.6 Theme 6: The nature of teacher learning is influenced by the Department’s focus on learner achievement
In an ideal situation, highly performing teachers learn to search information and broaden their knowledge base. These teachers achieve this by learning through collaboration and professional development. In this study, the teachers have learnt in various ways from the workshops but the main goal of that learning is to improve their learners’ achievements in the exam. The Department of Education decides what teachers need to be taught, why they should be taught the content that is taught to them, of what benefit it is to the Department of Education. The teachers are not given an opportunity to direct the agenda for their professional learning.
My interest is on learning that takes place in the sessions and how that learning takes place. Teachers are extending their formal and informal learning through participating in subject networks and clusters. Through this theme I was able to get a better understanding of how these teachers learn. Various means of learning are shared below:
156 Ja, I remember, last year, but this it was for Grade 12, isn’t it myself I am teaching Grade 10 and 11 (11, yes) there was a problem with that evolution on how are you going to start teaching evolution, how can you explain to the learners in order to understand for you that if you are talking about evolution, like this you see. So, they choose, they chose one teacher who is good on explaining, discussing and explaining all about evolution , So, that guy he explained a lot about evolution even myself I (Interviewer: You learned something?) Ja I learned something from that topic but it was last year. (Marhoza)
Duke had a problem with the topic of evolution and the session he attended the previous year and he got assistance in regards to how you present the topic of evolution:
Yes, so that the teacher will do a presentation on that, to say guys when you explain genetics you must make sure that the learner prioritise on this and that. (Duke)
Duke’s emphasis is on learning strategies to present the challenging topic in a manner that learners understand and know what to read with understanding so that they increase the chances of passing at the end of the year.
I learnt that, especially, from the practical part, cause Life Sciences has the practical and the test that we are supposed to have evidence when giving a learner a practical for activity by taking photos of videos if possible. All that must be done practically, not theoretically. (Yeye)
Yeye learnt how to present a practical lesson and the importance of using resources in the form of teaching aids, like plants and the raw material to conduct a practical.
I also managed to instil the group work because I was helped through a group and I came and grouped my learners (Ok) I took the leaders of those groups as those who are capable in these subjects (Oh ok) and then they are leading those who are a bit
struggling (Ok) so they form some groups and each time they had difficulties they would first ask their group leaders if they still don’t resolve the issues they will then come to me with a question then we discuss it in the that particular group and then into the
classroom as a whole unit. (Ziduli)
Ziduli learnt a different method of presenting a lesson using group work. The reason why Ziduli was so confident about this strategy was the fact that they engaged in groups while they were attending the workshops. She found it easy to engage other teachers in a small group on content matters.
Then I have just learned that I have to make sure that learners master the terms of each chapter before they continue and be able to understand and differentiated them whether there are little similarities based on them. (Makutu)
157 What Makutu learnt was, that for her learners to improve performance they must master terminology. So the whole point is to engage strategies that will contribute to the improvement of the results. For that to happen, a teacher must learn the different stages of presenting a lesson and the point of departure, e.g., teaching terminology.
I learnt that it is not always you, we must not rely on textbooks because textbooks are written by human beings so what we need to do is, we need to take note of the
handouts that we are given and I also managed to learn how to teach DNA and genetics in particular (Bume)
As teachers, they are encouraged to be teachers and not only rely on the prescribed books. The handouts that are issued at the workshops are meant to provide a
narrow prescription in the sense that the teachers are supposed to present the
lessons within those prescripts and are expected to refer to the memo when teaching and assessing their learners.
The workshops that I observed have the same learning formula: two topics that are viewed as challenging (Genetics and Evolution). The content is taught; teachers are grouped and given activities. They are given clear instructions for group activities and, when they finish, they present to the entire group. Discussions follow and the Subject Advisor summarises the important points. The pedagogy element is dealt with in the district workshops. This is done through asking teachers with a better understanding of the problematic sections to present and clarity seeking questions would be asked. In the process, then, the teachers learn from the “best practices” of the other teachers. Because of this formula, it is difficult to determine how the
learning takes place. In the end, when the teachers go back most of them would have learnt something.
These are the key points that I am picking from the data that I gathered: that the teachers are taught different methods of presenting the lesson; the whole exercise is meant to improve the results at the end of the year; the introduction of a chapter should be characterised by introducing terms to the learners, as they carry more marks in the examination; there is limited professional development, the emphasis is on strategies to improve marks; the teachers assist in meeting deadlines set by the DBE; and the teachers play a role of cascading information to the lowest level, which is the school. Thus, the professional development activities are focused on how to
158 enable the learners to pass the examination, rather than critically engaging with the concepts and ideas of Life Science.