The purpose of this study was to determine the current difficulties experienced by 10th grade mathematics teachers following the implementation of the new curriculum in 9th grade (Higher Phase). The questions were based on the current difficulties educators were experiencing in the 10th grade following the implementation of the new 9th grade curriculum in 2002.
SOME CONCLUDING
BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
- INTRODUCTION
- THE PURPOSE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE RESEARCH STUDY
- RESEARCH PROBLEM
- RESEARCH METHODS
- THEORETICAL LOCATION OF THE STUDY
- STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION
- CONCLUSION
The educators were not trained or received insufficient training for implementing the new curriculum. Educators will find it difficult to meet the demands of the new curriculum as set out in the Mathematics policy document.
LITERATURE REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
- REVISED NATIONAL CURRICULUM STATEMENT {RNCS} AND OUTCOMES
- CONSTRUCTIVISM AND THE TEACHING OF MATHEMATICS The constructivist paradigm emphasizes that in the teaching and learning process,
The introduction of the curriculum in 2006 will give the department enough time to do this. The delayed implementation will ensure that adequate attention is given to Foundation and Intermediate phases. Skills learned through play and practice can be applied to solve a set of tasks. The effectiveness of teaching mathematics in schools will only be possible if educators give their learners the work that will engage them and lead them to eventually become experts in mathematical writing in the context of school mathematics.
FACTORS INFLUENCING MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM CHANGE .1 BARRIERS TO CURRICULUM INNOVATIONS
- FORCES THAT IMPEDE CHANGE
- FACTORS RELATED TO SUCCESSFUL CHANGE
Essentially, there are ways to help within constructivism: There is a 'widely accepted view that students actively construct their mathematical ways of knowing as they strive to be effective by restoring coherence to the world of their personal experiences. They mention that teachers can be the most important determinant of innovations. related to factors such as curriculum or teaching style and that it is important that educators have a role to play in all innovations that impact the school. They also mention that educators review or evaluate proposals when deciding whether to adopt an innovative change or practice.
Marsh also reveals that for curriculum changes to be successful they need to be more effective in improving learning, they need to be aligned with the values, experiences and needs of the recipients, they need to be pilot tested, they need to be demonstrated in practice where educators can see a live demonstration with pupils, and the pedagogues must have special training. Rust and Per Dalin (1990) also refer to Doyle and Ponder (1977), who say that educators use three main criteria in their decision about an innovation. Information received by the educators must be perceived as sufficient and accurate, and there should be feedback channels for educators to convey their experiences to the coordinators of the innovation.
The results of the innovation must relate to the values of educators in such a way that they are perceived as useful. They also mentioned that the remuneration, status, self-confidence and working conditions of educators often influence their ability to innovate.
IDENTIFIED DIFFICULTIES OF THE NEW CURRICULUM .1 The Critics ofthe New Curriculum in South Africa
- FINDINGS OF THE C2005 REVIEW COMMITTEE
The careful execution of the orchestration requires the clear direction of many players; a team is needed to oversee the implementation plan and guide it through the correct alchemy of pressure and support. Educators were not fully involved in the planning of OBE, so difficulties in implementation are foreseen. Teachers were not allowed to conceptualize and make sense of OBE as a curriculum policy.
The researcher believes that OBE should also be introduced in 10th grade in 2003 in order to prevent problems that both educators and students might encounter. The researcher believes that Jonathan Jansen is right when he says that the introduction of OBE will not go well. In February 2000, the Minister of State for Education, Professor Kader Asmal, announced the establishment of the C2005 Review Committee to investigate C2005.
Despite the perceived shortcomings of C2005, the vast majority of people seem to support the underlying principles of C2005. The lack of clarity and conceptual confusion around C2005 stems from the complex language and vague terminology used in the C2005 documents, the overcrowding of the new curriculum with many learning areas and progression and pace.
RESEARCHER'S COMMENTS ON THE LITERATURE REVIEW STUDY This literature review has revealed that many authors writing about OBE have not
It has been suggested that the curriculum and associated documentation should be streamlined, that its design features should be rationalized, that teaching time should be reallocated to languages and basic mathematics and that the promotion of progression, pace and sequencing should be enabled. There are differences in views on what C2005 is within and between schools, but also between and between teachers, trainers and officials.
CONCLUSION
Provincial departments and school leadership teams provided very little support to teachers in classrooms. As a result of these problems faced by educators, there is limited transfer of learning to classroom practice.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
- INTRODUCTION
- THE SETTING IRESEACRH SITE AND CHOICE OF PARTICIPANTS The study was conducted amongst 20 grade 10-mathematics educators, who are all
- NEGOTIATING ACCESS TO THE RESEARCH SITE
- METHODS
The scenario, which the researcher presented above, shows that the contextual. situations in the schools where the study was undertaken differed. After the approval was granted, the researcher visited the principals of the schools where the research was conducted to get money and assess the conditions of schools in general. The researcher then reassured participants that the research was for academic purposes and that all information would be treated as confidential.
The researcher had initially planned that the questionnaires would be followed by in-depth interviews to gain some clarity on certain questions from the questionnaires, but most teachers complained about the time as they were busy checking the half-yearly grades. The researcher was satisfied with the responses he received from the participants and subsequently decided to cancel the interviews and the tape recording. The researcher was fortunate to find replacements for these teachers from other schools with similar backgrounds.
In this study, the researcher mostly used open questions to facilitate a diversity of responses. It is a widely used and useful tool for collecting data that provides structured, can be administered without the presence of the researcher and is often relatively simple to analyze.
RESEARCH RESULTS
INTRODUCTION
Learners who failed math in grade 9 wanted to do it in grade 10 due to parental pressure. 34; In general, learners are not prepared by the OBE paradigm to do pure mathematics in grade 10. Learners are not adequately prepared for the content they have to learn in grade 10.
Some teachers commented on the effects of OBE on the teaching and learning of mathematics in Grade 10. 34;Students in Grade 10 simply choose mathematics, but they do not know their abilities in mathematics. All teachers who participated in the study have no problems with the textbooks used in grade 10.
They said that the textbooks used in Grade 10 are of high quality, especially 'Maths in the Classroom'. The difficulties that Year 10 mathematics teachers have had following the implementation of OBE in Year 9 are revealing.
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF THE FINDINGS OF THE RESEARCH
The main reason they gave was that the content of grade 9 is completely different from that of grade 10. These teachers clearly stated that OBE does not prepare the students for the kind of mathematics that is done in grade la. . In grade 9 the students follow a new curriculum and in grade 10 they have to go back and do pure math (intermediate syllabus).
The researcher believes that the biggest problem that the teachers indicated was that they were not prepared for the new curriculum and the way it was introduced is totally unfair to the students who plan to do mathematics in class 10. The researcher suspects that these teachers are teaching in the interim. syllabus in grade 9 not C2005 as they said. The majority of educators who participated in this research study indicated that these textbooks, which are used in 8th and 9th grades, are not related to the textbooks still used in 10th grade.
Educators said in one voice that these CTAs do not prepare learners for the type of math done in 10th grade. Many educators who teach 10th grade are working overtime to try to repair the damage caused by the implementation of OBE in 9th grade. .
SOME CONCLUDING COMMENTS
- INTRODUCTION
- REFLECTIVE COMMENTS
- RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADDRESSING DIFFICULTIES THAT GRADE 10 MATHEMATICS EDUCATORS ARE EXPERIENCING
- LIMITATIONS OF THIS RESEARCH STUDY
- SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
- CONCLUSION
- REVISED NATIONAL CURRICULUM STATEMENT GRADES R-9 :Teacher's Guide for the development oflearning Programmes in
Other teachers rely on their experience as math teachers to overcome some of the challenges. 10th grade teachers need to make sure they know what's going on in 9th grade. This is the subject's responsibility. The researcher agrees with the review board's findings on C200S that the cascading training model is problematic.
Perhaps a further study would be useful to look at the relationship between mathematics done in grades 9 and 10 after the implementation of the new curriculum at the FET stage. The researcher also suggests that a further study on the impact of writing common maths assessment tasks as an exit point in grade 10 should be carried out, especially after the implementation of the new curriculum at the FET stage. IMPLEMENTATION; A CASE STUDY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS IN A COLLEGE OF EDUCATION IN THE EASTERN CAPE.Rhodes University.
SPEAKING POINTS FOR THE ASSOCIATION OF SCIENCE EDUCATORS IN SOUTH AFRICA (ASESA) CONFERENCE. Proceedings of the 1st Annual Conference of the Southern African Association for Research in Mathematics and Science Education.
APPENDIX A
BACKGROUND
- WHAT WERE THE DIFFICULTIES YOU EXPERIENCED AS A STD 8/ GRADE 10 MATHEMATICS EDUCATORS PRIOR TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OBE /
- WHAT ARE THE DIFFICULTIES EXPERIENCED BY YOU IN GRADE 10 MATHEMATICS AFTER THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OBE/MLMMS IN
- THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS ARE BASED ON COMMON TASK ASSESSMENT {eTAs}
- WHAT CAN BE DONE TO ADRESS THE DIFFICULTIES EXPERIENCED BY THESE GRADES 10 EDUCATORS?
- WHAT ARE YOUR GENERAL COMMENTS ABOUT THIS RESEARCH OR ANY THING THAT YOU THINK IT WILL BE USEFULL IN MY RESEARCH?
WHAT WERE THE DIFFICULTIES YOU EXPERIENCED AS A STD 8/GRADE 10 MATHEMATICS EDUCATORS BEFORE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OBE / 10 MATHEMATICS EDUCATORS BEFORE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OBE / MLMMS IN GRADE 8 & 9. was used in grade lO. WHAT ARE THE DIFFICULTIES YOU EXPERIENCE IN GRADE 10 MATHEMATICS AFTER IMPLEMENTING OFOBE/MLMMS IN MATHEMATICS AFTER IMPLEMENTING OFOBE/MLMMS IN GRADE 8&9.
Students in Year 9 were taught in the OBE style and were again to be taught in the OBE style in the IO class. Have you been to a workshop on this new teaching method to accommodate these students coming from 9th grade? How do you deal with a situation where most of the important parts were not thoroughly covered or were not covered at all in 9th grade. What is your opinion on the validity of CTA in terms of preparing students for pure mathematics in Grade 1?
Do you think CTAs are appropriate for the type of math done in grade l0. What is helping you cope with the difficulties you are experiencing in learning mathematics in the 10th grade.
