OBE in action.

How Key Stage 1 teachers from different resource contexts engage with the emphasis on science in the OBE curriculum. How Year 1 learners from different resource contexts engage with the science focus of the OBE curriculum.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RESEARCH

Therefore, it is important to understand how teachers and students engaged the new curriculum in these different resource contexts. Do educators, in different resource contexts, have different reasons for engaging with a science focus in an OBE curriculum in different ways and how does this affect students.

A BRIEF REVIEW OF LITERATURE IN THE FIELD

In South Africa, many teachers are expected to deal with the implementation of the new curriculum and also with the lack/absence or poor allocation of resources in their schools. The research literature that does exist is based on how teachers implement OBE in different resource contexts.

METHODOLOGY

One/two/five 1st grade educators from each school engaged (planned, presented and reflected) on the curriculum for his/her 1st grade students over a period of 5 consecutive days. I observed Grade 1 educators presenting the curriculum to students during March 1999.

DATA ANALYSIS STRATEGY

VALIDATION

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

THE RESEARCH PLAN

Chapter five is an analytical synthesis of the trends observed from each case study. Possible reasons for the findings are suggested along with recommendations and implications for future research.

Literature on curriculum research Introduction

Teachers in South Africa were disempowered before the implementation of the new curriculum even took place. This is eloquently expressed in the following statement, 'The school is a reflection of the community' (grade 1 educator).

Figure 2.1. Outline of the curriculum process (Taylor, N. 1999).

Theoretical framework

Constructivist learning theory is used to give meaning to the role of the educator and the learner, where the 'educator is seen as a facilitator and the learners as active participants in the teaching and learning process' (Scott, P. et al 1986). This research investigates this inventive aspect of the educator and the connection between this inventiveness and the educators' involvement in a learning program.

Conceptual framework

Terms to review and discuss include teacher involvement, student involvement, resources, and a scholarly focus in an OBE curriculum. During the presentation of the learning program, the feelings, ideas and actions of teachers and their views on students are discussed.

Figure 2.3. Foundation Phase Learning Programmes

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

Section 1 dealing with data collection and Section 2 dealing with data analysis.

Data collection

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

Choice of schools
Timing of research
Research data collection techniques

SETTING THE SCENE
ACTION School - C

I arrived at school on the first day of the 2nd week of March, fully equipped. I asked each teacher to keep a reflective journal for the five days, (week) of the research.

Table 3.1. Plan of research instruments INSTRUMENT

Data analysis

Each case study was reported according to a specific framework (see Appendix A.2), with section 1 dealing with the context of the learning resource of the learning location (school) and section 2 dealing with teacher and student involvement in a learning environment. curriculum. Descriptive/display cross-case interpretive reports, where for each case study a comparison of the three case studies was made based on the trends observed.

CASE STUDIES

Educator qualifications and experience
Race of educators
Educator to learner ratio

The structural condition of the building was good, as the school was in good condition, no repairs were needed at all. Other facilities around the school were a sports field, a swimming pool and a garden, all in good condition. The teaching experience at this school has had teachers ranging from zero to twenty-five years of age.

More than half of all teachers had more than twenty years of service, this school had an old teaching staff. All (100%) of Year 1 pupils attended nursery school, either a registered school or a private 'nursery'. The story category contained stories about 'animals in the garden' and the students had to reconstruct passages of the story.

ENGAGEMENT WITH THE LEARNING PROGRAMME

PLANNING 1.1. Timetable arrangement

educator aspects

I argue that this influenced the educator's ideas about what could be included in the learning program. The teachers were now sure of what they had planned for the learning program and this influenced the range of ideas they had. They said that this was the difficulty they had experienced when planning the learning program.

Educator Sue and Rose planned the curriculum together, but they recorded their planning separately. I contend that educators understood some of the planning requirements for planning a curriculum, but essential features were missing, i.e., at no time did educator Rose or Sue plan just any part of the curriculum.

THE PRESENTATION OF THE LEARNING PROGRAMME

Learning programme presentation (Observation sessions)
a. Grade 1 Educators
C. Time management
Grade 1 learners
Assessment

The teacher asked the students to draw trees, birds and insects in the garden of the house. The teacher then prepared the students together with the gardener for the planting session in the garden. The teacher and students then went to the garden to observe the garden shed and garden tools.

After all the students planted the seeds in the garden, they prepared for the next activity. Connections were made to the composting that the students observed in the garden, session 1 of day 3. The educator then directed the students to draw plants in their workbooks, page 9 (Appendix B - Student Workbook).

Table A. 4.3. Descriptors for Educators Rose and Sue for presentation of the learning programme

FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS

THE RESOURCE CONTEXT

Educators' understanding of how learning programs should be integrated influenced educators' planning of learning programs and their decisions about when to introduce science-focused learning. The educators' feelings differed, but their ideas and actions were similar and this influenced the educators' presentation of the curriculum. Educators' knowledge and assumptions about the availability of resources for teachers and students influenced their delivery of the curriculum, e.g.

The teachers' understanding of what resources to use and how to use them during the presentation of the learning program influenced the teachers' presentation of the learning program. The teachers' understanding of assessment had an impact on the assessment of the students during the presentation of the learning program. Thirty-one (94%) students had attended preschool and only three (6%) of the students had not attended preschool.

Table B 4.1. Educator to learner ratio in each grade Grade 1

ED (>&

A detailed descriptive-interpretive discussion of how these materials were incorporated during the program organizer's presentation will be detailed in Section 2 on engagement with the program organizer. The OBE materials that the school had for Year 1 teachers to refer to when delivering OBE were the Foundation Stage Policy Papers which gave basic guidance on what the different learning areas were for the Foundation Stage.

Learning programme presentation (Observation sessions)

Then the educator and the students returned to the classroom where the students discussed among themselves what they saw in the garden in an informal way. During this session the educator and students used a worksheet with questions focused on the garden (Appendix C). The activity started with the teacher asking the students to make sentences about what they had seen in the garden the day before.

The educator then demonstrated the water cycle to the learners with a kettle filled with water and a mirror. If these resources were not available, the learners would have experienced the demonstration of the water cycle. I claim that the educator was resourceful, innovative and creative in the type of activity given to the learners.

I claim that this session was integrated in terms of learning areas - Numeracy and Life Skills. Educator Pat felt exhausted after presenting the curriculum to the students for a week. Could this be an indication of the effect of extending different teaching and learning resources or was this a good indicator of the teacher's ability and competence in delivering an OBE curriculum of both.

Educator Pat was aware of students' abilities as she checked on certain individuals more often than on other individuals. The students were given an activity to complete, discussion of the activity took place, and assessment of the activity was done formally or informally. 10% of the time a hasty time management was evident, on day 1 - garden activity and day 5 - drawing activity.

E. The educators use of resources

During the presentation of the learning program, the students' understanding and misunderstanding of scientific concepts and processes was looked at. The teacher stated that in future, when planning and presenting a learning programme, she would consider including many more practical activities in the learning programme. They did not experience problems with any aspects of OBE policies in terms of planning and presenting the learning program b) Teachers - Planning the learning program.

Educators' understanding of how curricula should be integrated influenced how educators presented their own curricula. The educator had time to include and complete all learning experiences for the curriculum. The educators' experience in curriculum planning and delivery influenced her future considerations for the types of activities to include in the curriculum.

The educator post planned the learning program for the actual sessions where the learners worked in large groups. I claim that the educators at this learning place are not aware of their learners' abilities when they presented the learning program. 2.2.b.4. I cannot say that the educators assessed them when they worked with the large group of learners.

I can say that the educators asked the students questions and the students answered the questions. Educators learned how to integrate learning programs while presenting the learning program Me in the Garden to the students in the garden. The time manager influenced the assessment of students during the presentation of the curriculum.

Table C. 4.1. Learner to educator ratio in each grade

SYNTHESIS

The resource context of the schools
Facilities a. Basic
Financial Resources

Preparation for OBE Life Skills implementation
Involvement in curriculum development Schools
Engagement with a science focused learning programme

The teachers at school B were not confident/felt confident and rated themselves as moderate/high on their level of confidence to facilitate OBE. Teachers at School C were unsure whether they felt confident and rated themselves as moderate in their confidence to facilitate OBE Life Skills. The teachers at school A felt competent and rated themselves highly on their competence to facilitate OBE Life Skills.

Teachers in School B were not sure if they were competent and rated themselves as moderate in their level of competence to facilitate OBE life skills. Educators in School B were unsure/yes of their confidence and were unsure of their competence to facilitate OBE life skills. The educator at school B understood it in terms of (1) and (3) and the educators at school understood it in terms of (3).