The Revised NCS Policy Paper (RNCS) (DoBE, 2005) states that teachers should use a variety of teaching approaches in the classroom to improve student performance. In light of the concerns of the KZN Minister of Education, I conducted this study to investigate the teaching approaches Life Sciences teachers use in the classroom.
RATIONALE
DoBE in KZN is concerned about the overall poor performance of students in science subjects in the Further Education and Training (FET) band, particularly in Year 12. Based on the poor student performance I observed in our cluster moderation meetings and the statistics above, I therefore became interested in how teachers teach and why they teach the way they do.
FOCUS AND PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The aim of this research is to make a contribution to raising the standards in the teaching of Life Sciences in order to improve learner performance. By examining the teaching approaches, I will examine the role of the teacher in the classroom during teaching.
CRITICAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Finding out what teachers do in the classroom when they teach will lead me to gain a deeper understanding of why teachers use these approaches. Of these seven teacher roles set out in the National Education Policy, Act 27 of 1996, the seventh role is most important for the purpose of this study because it relates to practical teaching in the classroom.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Carrying out this research will make a contribution to making Life Sciences teachers aware of all the teachers' roles, especially the seventh role, and therefore be able to adopt a variety of teaching approaches related to the learners' context take to promote teaching and learning. Through this study, I intend to contribute to the development of teachers' pedagogical practice, specifically in Life Sciences, in the sense that the study serves as a reflection of their practice.
CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND
OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
Suggestions for recommendations to the DoBE are outlined, and the overall conclusion of the study is provided. A review of the literature related to teaching approaches and the theoretical framework of this study follows in Chapter Two.
CHAPTER TWO
- LITERATURE REVIEW ON TEACHING APPROACHES .1 INTRODUCTION
- TEACHING APPROACHES
- Context-based teaching approach
- Experiential approach to instruction
- Facilitative teaching approach
- Executive teaching approach
- Environmental awareness teaching approaches
- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
- CONCLUSION
I then discuss the five teaching approaches reviewed from the literature in the following paragraph starting with the context-based teaching approach. It is this type of constructivist teaching that this study seeks to investigate, referring to the teaching approaches that science teachers use in the classroom.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
- INTRODUCTION
- QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
- CASE STUDY
- DATA COLLECTION
- Document analysis and field notes
- Classroom observations
- Semi-structured interviews
- ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
- CONCLUSION
I chose a case study approach so that I would be able to obtain data about the teaching approaches that science teachers use in the classroom and why these approaches are used. In order to investigate why the teachers in the case study used the teaching approaches they chose, I had to generate 'thick descriptions' of the reality of the teachers' practice by conducting interviews. I therefore chose the case study method to collect data from three Life Science teachers in order to closely examine the teaching approaches they use in the classroom.
In this context, I used a case study to explore the teaching approaches that Grade 12 Life Sciences teachers use in the classroom, and the impact these approaches have on the quality of teaching. This allowed me to observe the teaching approaches they use when teaching an environmental studies component in the classroom. In this study, for confidentiality reasons, semi-structured interviews were conducted with each of the three teachers who participated in the study, individually and in a location free from disruptions.
In the next chapter I will present the results of this study and an analysis of the data.
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
- INTRODUCTION
- TEACHER BIOGRAPHIES .1 Zodwa
- Ruth
- Lihle
- DATA FROM LESSON OBSERVATIONS
- Lesson Observation 2: Teacher Ruth
- Lesson observation 3: Teacher Lihle
- INTERVIEW SUMMARIES
- CONCLUSION
The school is located in a rural area of Pietermaritzburg, and science teaching takes place in the classroom. The three teacher participants used the group method and the whole-class teaching method in the observed lessons. Responses from teacher participants in the semi-structured interviews enabled me to answer the study's second critical research question.
43 in this chapter relate to the different teaching approaches that teachers use in the classroom. Zodwa wanted students to be able to relate new concepts she learned in the classroom to the natural environment students are familiar with. Having students mark the bean seeds helped students remember what they actually did in class related to the given task.
Evidence of the emergence of the fifth theme is also shown in the use of the blackboard that the three participating teachers used during the lesson.
INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION
- INTRODUCTION
- DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
- Finding 1: Pedagogical concrete science – context-based teaching approach and environmental awareness teaching
- Finding 3: Teacher as knower – transmission teaching approach
- Finding 4: Interactive science teaching – inquiry-based teaching approach
- Finding 5: Teacher in action – facilitative teaching approach
- RECOMMENDATIONS
- CONCLUSION
The teaching approaches that this teacher used are referred to as context-based teaching and environmentally conscious teaching approach. Such teaching in science classrooms is preferred by constructivist theorists, who call this type of teaching 'facilitative teaching approach'. In view of the vast content knowledge that teachers possess, they tend to switch to the transmission teaching approach.
The teacher works with the environment to create resources for use in the chosen teaching approach. Findings from the analysis of lesson observation data showed that the teachers participating in this study used a research approach to teaching. For example, it showed that the most commonly used learning approaches in environmental studies are the contextual approach, the facilitation approach, and the environmental learning approach.
60 understanding of teaching approaches and teachers' practices in order for the research approach, the facilitation approach and the contextual approach to teaching to be successful.
My research will be an interpretive study conducted within a qualitative research paradigm. Teachers participating in this study do so on a voluntary basis and are purposefully selected because they are grade 12 Life Sciences teachers. The data will be stored in a secure location during data collection and will be stored at the School of Education, UKZN for a period of five years after submission, after which it will be deleted.
A copy of the results will be submitted to the Regional Senior Manager in connection with the completion of my studies. The research that I will be doing involves videotaping Life Science lessons in grade 12 classes. The data will be stored in a secure location during data collection and upon submission of the thesis will be stored at the School of Education, UKZN for a period of five years, after which it will be disposed of.
A copy of the findings will be submitted to the Regional Senior Manager upon completion of my studies.
Appendix D
Classroom observation schedule Guidelines for observations
Context and environment
Lesson topic
Lesson planning
Subject matter
Teaching approaches and teaching methods used
Involvement of learners
Questions
Homework
Teacher Lihle went around all the groups to see what the groups were doing) "Faster..faster". Teacher Lihle then went around the groups and checked the count of the marked sample seeds, she then said;. Teacher Lihle went around all the groups and said that all groups should finish counting by that time.
Teacher Lihle went to one group and spoke softly to them, helping the group with calculations using a calculator. Teacher Lihle moved to other groups and admitted that they were right with their calculations. Teacher Lihle then told the class that they were supposed to do this research on non-living things because they were supposed to do it on living organisms.
Okay, I'm going to read and explain the questions to you; see appendix D for the questions that teacher Lihle explained to learners.
Appendix F
I wanted them to apply the knowledge they already have and now put it into practice to see it in reality. That's why they had to go to the environment so they could take the abstract and bring it into the environment so they could create it. concretely". What the teacher needs to do is just give a direction because in the end the people who are going to write the exams will be the students, so if they have their hands behind them it will be easier, they will easily remember the things that they have touched, that they have seen that they have heard, as opposed to listening to the teacher most of the time.” It was even easier today because they were talking to each other, to the teacher, so it was easier to see that there was there are gaps, that there are spaces between the understanding of this and that, so that is where I have taken my stand.”
I just thought I'd familiarize them with what we're doing in theory so they don't get lost when approaching the practical aspect of it so they feel good and it made them feel good so they could continue with their work, so I sometimes thought to introduce them, to summarize was a better one”. In terms of them coming back together as a larger group, we find that they need to interact with each other so that they can share the information and by bringing the different approaches that they need to work in their groups so that they are able to interact and after that a larger group so that they are also able to share information”. Just to make sure that they were comfortable with what they were doing, they understood what they were doing, and if there was a misunderstanding that needed to be cleared up, so that they would be guided at the right time, and so they didn't went to go all the way down and find that they were doing it wrong, so I just needed feedback on the lesson”.
So in the way I introduced my lesson about the oranges, I wanted to make sure they understood that there is a connection or relationship between the size of the population and the resources available in the habitat.”
