Life Sciences is the name of the subject that was called biology in the curriculum before the reform. I also thank the Schools of Life Sciences and Education for financial support during my studies.
Appendices
ORIENTATION OF THE STUDY
- Introduction
- Continuous Professional Teacher Development: A South African context
- Qualification programmes
- Non-qualification programmes
- The development of the new South African curriculum
- The development of the Life Sciences curriculum
- Continuous Professional Development for teachers of Life Sciences
- Formulation of the problem
- Objectives and significance of the study
- Overview of thesis structure
- Introduction
- Literature review
- Theoretical framework
- Data analysis and discussion
- Data analysis and discussion
- Summary of findings, conclusion and recommendations
This research thus focuses on the continuous professional development of teachers, which was a result of the curriculum renewal. The study also examines the perceived professional development needs of Life Sciences teachers for subject knowledge and general pedagogical content in relation to curriculum change.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Introduction
Globally, there is a shift towards improving continuous professional development for teachers and South Africa is no exception.
Conceptualising Teachers’ Professional Development
Huberman (2001) also sees teachers' professional development as having different stages starting from entry level to retirement. Understood, Fullan; Huberman; Bell and Gilbert (ibid) consider teacher professional development as lifelong or ongoing opportunities for teachers to learn, which can take both a formal, structured and less formal approach.
Professional development and Professional learning: contested concepts concepts
Bell and Gilbert view teacher professional development as teachers learning rather than others encouraging teachers to change. Fullan emphasizes that teacher professional development does not mean only workshops and courses, but learning should be an ongoing process that occurs every day in a teacher's life.
Need for Continuous Professional Teacher Development
According to DBE and DHET (2011), the decline in overall teacher performance can be attributed to poor teacher training on the implementation of the National Curriculum Statement.
Continuous Professional Development for Science Teachers
25 Despite criticism of constructivist approaches, many developing countries, including South Africa, have followed suit, bringing aspects of research-based teaching and learning into their curriculum. Inquiry-based teaching is really an abstract idea for many of the practicing teachers as they themselves have never encountered it during their education (Kazempour, 2009).
Principles Underlying Continuous Professional Teacher Development
Based on the literature review above, there is general agreement on the principles underlying effective teacher professional development. 28 themselves must see their professional development as a lifelong learning process (Fullan, 1991; Day & Sachs, 2004; Friedman & Phillips, 2004).
Identifying teachers’ professional development needs
In contrast, the needs of teachers from developing countries are more focused on improving teacher self-competence (Kamriah, Rubba, Tomera, & Zurub, 1998), mainly due to the lower qualification levels of teachers in the developing countries (UNESCO, 2006). Without this information, CPD initiatives may not be able to adequately meet the needs of teachers, especially with so many curriculum revisions in South Africa.
Continuous Professional Teacher Development Programmes
- Non-qualification models
- Qualification-driven models
In South Africa, heterogeneity in teacher development needs across the system would be particularly evident in areas such as content/subject knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. This means that 72% of teachers qualified with a degree in education previously offered at colleges of education.
Professional Development as Teacher change
Guskey's linear model of teacher turnover assumes that participation in professional development leads to changes in teachers. Thus, teachers' motivation to engage in professional development is considered to be a significant determinant of teacher turnover (Bell & Gilbert, 1994; Smith & Gillespie, 2007).
Domains of Teacher Knowledge – ‘Knowledge base for Teaching’
- Subject matter knowledge in Life Sciences
- Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Life/Biological Sciences
Subject knowledge as defined by Shulman aligns with Specific Objectives of the South African Life Sciences curriculum. Consequently, teachers must have proper knowledge of the curriculum to implement the new changes.
Challenges relating to teacher knowledge in South Africa
64 lack of resources, large classes (as usually reported) which has an impact on the teaching of practical work skills. The results of these studies clearly indicate a persistent gap between theory and teachers' classroom practices.
Development of teacher knowledge through learning through CPTD programmes
65 research studies have paid little attention to the effects of continuing professional development courses on the expansion of science content (PCK) teachers' knowledge. Van Driel's (2010) continuing professional development model for science teacher PCK borrows heavily from some elements of Clark and Hollingsworth's (2002) existing model for teacher professional growth.
Development of teacher knowledge through CPTD: A South African context context
Teacher training workshops can also develop teachers' PCK, for example by modeling new teaching methods. Such curriculum improvements should, however, go hand in hand with the development of teachers' knowledge of the curriculum, teaching materials and general pedagogical knowledge.
Conclusion
Shulman's position is that teachers must be aware of the pedagogical rationales for organizing the discipline in a particular way. The literature presented here however suggests that Life Science teachers may not have been particularly adept at implementing the changes, and therefore, are seen to be teaching more at basic levels.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
- Introduction
- The Constructivist Epistemology
- Communities of Practice
- Adult learning theories
- Pedagogical content knowledge
- Conclusion
A critical component of 'situated learning' is social interaction between members engaged in learning practices that form a 'community of practice' (Lave & Wenger, 1991). In Palmer's view, constructivist theory includes motivation as a 'necessary prerequisite and co-presupposition of learning' (p. 1855).
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
Research approach
The underlying argument for this comprehensive definition has been to bring together different viewpoints to better understand mixed methods as a research process. With all these views put together, Tashakkori and Teddlie (2010) nevertheless caution against a broad conceptualization of mixed methods that could potentially raise the problem of.
Research design
As described by Creswell and Plano Clark (2007), a validation model is used when a researcher wants to confirm and extend quantitative findings from a. These qualitative responses, along with in-depth interviews, provided the data used to confirm and refine the quantitative findings of the survey.
Sampling procedure
One of the main objectives of this study was to examine teachers' needs for professional development in life science knowledge and skills. During the second phase of the study, the sample was narrowed to include District 2 only.
Profile of the districts
This district had been without a Life Sciences Subject Advisor for at least 18 months at the time of data collection. Being a subject advisor for another subject meant that this advisor was not a life sciences specialist.
Sample size
Fifty-one teachers completed the questionnaire from District 2, representing 34% of all Life Sciences teachers from this district. Thirty-nine teachers completed the questionnaire from District 3, which constituted 26% of the district's teacher population.
Data Collection process
In Districts 1 and 3, where there were only Caretaker Subject Advisers, the questionnaire was distributed through a single workshop held at a central location. Many of the teachers did not fill in the questionnaire that was distributed at the end of the workshop.
Instruments
The last part of this section also includes items relating to teachers. attitudes, motivation and perceived development as a result of participation in qualification programmes. Other items in this section also sought reasons for teachers' non-participation in CPD programmes.
Validity and Reliability
Consequently, gaining credibility in the findings of the study was sufficient to establish its reliability. Because the study used a large survey design, where representativeness was achieved with the sampling of the participants, the generalizability of the findings to other similar contexts was achieved.
Internal Consistency
All items in the above categories had Cronbach's alpha above 0.8, indicating good internal consistency of the items. 104 The items in the above categories had a Cronbach's alpha value of 0.9, indicating very good internal consistency reliability for the scale in these items.
Ethical Considerations
In order to ensure confidentiality, the data, mainly in the form of questionnaires, were stored in a secure place to which only the researcher had access.
Data analysis approach
106 Multivariate statistics, such as logistic regression analysis, were used to determine whether any combination of explanatory variables explained the variation in the perceived dependent variable. Thematic analysis was used in the analysis of qualitative data from interviews and open-ended responses from questionnaires.
Limitations on the Research methodology
Conclusion
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS Phase One 3
- Introduction
- A brief history of teacher qualifications in South Africa
- The Profile of Life Sciences teachers in Kwazulu-Natal province
- Life Sciences teachers’ professional training, academic level and experience experience
- Participation in CPD programmes by teachers of Life Sciences in three districts of KZN
Seventeen percent of teachers were younger than 30 years old (early career), while 13% were older than 49 years old (late career). Half of qualified teachers (including Honours) had a BSc/BSc Honors or B Ed or B Paed degree (a prior qualification from four years of initial teacher training).
Perceived gains from qualification-driven CPD programmes
The subject advisor found out about an ACE (Biological Science) course to be offered at UKZN (one of the local universities in the KZN province). Knowledge set 4 was the most sought after according to the results of the survey on the needs of science teachers presented in the next section.
Perceived development through participation in training workshops
The following comment from one of the Subject Advisers clearly outlined the challenges they face. Then in the middle of the year we call them (teachers) again for another workshop, the Content workshop.
Participation in cluster-based CPD and perceived benefits
As one teacher pointed out, cluster groups should be formally endorsed as programs for inclusive continuing teacher development. The level of development of the school's PD approach was generally towards the upper end of the scale.
Participation in Mentoring and Coaching
As outlined in the KZN School Management Team (SMT) Handbook, mentoring and support falls under the auspices of the IQMS. Although participation in mentoring and coaching was much lower than participation in cluster and school-based CPD, life sciences teachers found the benefits of this type of teacher development to be just as great.
Teachers’ motivation for engaging in qualification-driven CPD programmes
149 Only a handful of teachers (about 20%) received the subsidy from the Ministry of Education. This also implied that the majority of teachers have reached the level of 'self-actualization'.
Non-participation in qualification-driven professional development programmes
- Non-participation by district
- Reasons for non-participation in qualification CPD programmes
152 The results in table 5.8.2 show that lack of financial support was the biggest contributor to non-participation in qualification CPD programs by teachers, with 67% of the teachers indicating this. A further analysis was conducted to determine how lack of finance in particular, as a perceived barrier to non-participation in qualification PD programs, affected teachers differently in different districts.
Life Sciences teachers’ professional development needs
- Content needs
Slightly more than half (52%) of the respondents indicated a great need for development in this area of knowledge. While the overall need for development in the remaining subjects was still high and ranged between the upper sixty and eighty percentiles, a larger percentage of teachers identified a fairly moderate need.
Life at the molecular, cellular and tissue level
Life processes in plants and animals
Environmental studies
Diversity, change and continuity
- Pedagogical needs
- Conclusion
The figure below provides a summary of Life Science teachers' educational needs for development in the seven categories. Above, Life Science teachers' needs for development within the seven categories of pedagogy are presented.
