scholarly journals Middle Management and Instructional Leadership: The Case of Natural Sciences’ Heads of Departments in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
Cynthia B Malinga ◽  
Loyiso C Jita ◽  
Abiodun A Bada
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Instructional Leadership ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Science Curriculum ◽  
Classroom Teacher ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Instructional Leaders ◽  
Disciplinary Culture

Natural sciences heads of departments often find themselves in the middle, shuttling between one role as part of the school management team, and another as an ordinary classroom teacher whose role as subject and instructional leaders is made even more complex because of the several duties incorporated in the subject which brings together other science disciplines, with each having its own disciplinary culture and expectations. The crucial role played by this group of teachers in the area of management and instructional leadership can go a long way in determining effective output in teaching and learning. This study reports on a mixed methods approach to explore the practices of natural sciences heads of department, as they provide instructional leadership to the teachers in a multidisciplinary context of their subject. This research involved 30 participants who responded to the questionnaire and 6 purposively selected subject heads of department interviewed and observed from four districts in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The data collected through questionnaire, semi-structured interview and observations were analysed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. The results from this investigation revealed that natural science heads of departments devise creative ways to mitigate the challenge of differently qualified natural science teachers. These study concludes that the effectiveness of heads of departments as instructional leaders is influenced by the immense pressure from the dual roles of managing from the middle, which also appear to affect the optimal implementation of the natural science curriculum.

scholarly journals Instructional Leadership Capacity of Secondary School Science Heads of Department in Gauteng, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 267-293
Author(s):  
Cynthia B Malinga ◽  
Loyiso C Jita ◽  
Abiodun A Bada
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Instructional Leadership ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
School Science ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Leadership Capacity ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Science Disciplines

Natural sciences (NS) is an amalgam of five science disciplines, but the teachers of this subject are usually generalists, or have specialised in a maximum of two of the disciplines. This poses a major challenge to heads of department (HoDs), who are expected to lead instruction in these disciplines. We investigate science HoDs’ capacity to provide instructional leadership in South African secondary schools. The study was quantitative in nature and adopted the survey design. The investigation involved 77 secondary schools out of the 243 schools in the Gauteng province of South Africa. A data set from 142 participants (HoDs = 30; teachers = 112) was used to explore the capacity of science HoDs to provide instructional leadership in secondary schools, using questionnaires. The findings suggest that the capacity of science HoDs to lead instruction is limited by their inability to differentiate between curriculum management and instructional leadership and the relatively insufficient time allocated to provide instructional leadership. Unless schools and local district offices review the grouping of subjects in science departments and in the allocation of natural science teachers and HoDs, much stronger subject-based instructional leadership may potentially continue to remain a mirage. We recommend more focused subject-specific training in natural sciences for both teachers and HoDs, and that leadership should be distributed along science disciplines.

Scientific Reasoning in Higher Education

2015 ◽  
Vol 223 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Hartmann ◽  
Annette Upmeier zu Belzen ◽  
Dirk Krüger ◽  
Hans Anand Pant
Keyword(s):  
Science Teachers ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Scientific Reasoning ◽  
Standardized Test ◽  
Multiple Choice ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Preservice Science Teachers ◽  
Reasoning Skills ◽  
Scientific Reasoning Skills ◽  
Better Than

The aim of this study was to develop a standardized test addressed to measure preservice science teachers’ scientific reasoning skills, and to initially evaluate its psychometric properties. We constructed 123 multiple-choice items, using 259 students’ conceptions to generate highly attractive multiple-choice response options. In an item response theory-based validation study (N = 2,247), we applied multiple regression analyses to test hypotheses based on groups with known attributes. As predicted, graduate students performed better than undergraduate students, and students who studied two natural science disciplines performed better than students who studied only one natural science discipline. In contrast to our initial hypothesis, preservice science teachers performed less well than a control group of natural sciences students. Remarkably, an interaction effect of the degree program (bachelor vs. master) and the qualification (natural sciences student vs. preservice teacher) was found, suggesting that preservice science teachers’ learning opportunities to explicitly discuss and reflect on the inquiry process have a positive effect on the development of their scientific reasoning skills. We conclude that the evidence provides support for the criterion-based validity of our interpretation of the test scores as measures of scientific reasoning competencies.

scholarly journals Working with Mathematics and Science Teachers on IBL Approaches: Teacher Concerns [VISIONS 2011: Teacher Education]

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Svein Arne Sikko ◽  
Ragnhild Lyngved ◽  
Birgit Pepin
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Beliefs ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Instructional Leaders ◽  
Teacher Concerns ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Mathematics And Science Teachers ◽  
Mathematics And Science

This paper reports on mathematics and science teachers’ beliefs concerning the use of inquiry-based teaching strategies. Two different surveys were conducted: one with 24 teachers who were to become future instructional leaders; and one with 75 teachers as part of an international baseline study. We found that teachers in Norway would like to use more IBL strategies in their day-to-day teaching. They were also asking for more, and more relevant, continuous professional development courses. Textbooks were not seen as a main hindrance to the use of IBL, but these would need to include more IBL approaches. Even if the curriculum, particularly in the natural sciences, did not represent an important hindrance, in their view, it would need to advocate IBL more explicitly. The results provide deeper insights into teacher beliefs related to IBL, in particular the constraints that prevent them from working in such a manner, and into potential ‘openings’ for using IBL to enhance pupil engagement and deeper learning. Methodologically, the study uses a quantitative approach to investigate teacher beliefs related to IBL that adds to the literature in the field.

scholarly journals THE DETERMINATION OF OPINIONS OF PRE-SERVICE SCIENCE TEACHERS ON THE CURRICULUM OF SCIENCE COURSES ON THE BASIS OF THE 3-IDIOTS MOVIE

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 366-378
Author(s):  
Ayşe Nesibe Köklükaya
Keyword(s):  
Science Teachers ◽  
Science Curriculum ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Service Science ◽  
Science Lesson ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
Audiovisual Aids ◽  
New Research

Science teaching emerged due to an attempt to understand the world around us and a sense of wonder at nature and survived until today by means of being supported by new research and findings. The implementation of science in schools is carried out with curriculums. The main purpose of the curriculum of science courses is to train all students in science literacy regardless of their individual differences. According to the educational program of sciences courses, audiovisual aids used in education with a learning objective which is one of these aids is one of the most effective ways to ensure permanent learning. Within this concept the purpose of the study is to determine the opinions of pre-service science teachers about the curriculum of the science lesson based upon the stories in the 3-Idiots movie. In this research, phenomenology research was used. As a data gathering tool, three semi-structured interview questions prepared accordingly to “3- Idiots” movie were used. According to the participants, the science curriculum must be lead in investigating, interrogating, criticising, curiosity and reconnoitering in terms of features that must be acquired for being scientifically literate individuals. Key words: Pre-service science teachers’ perceptions, science, science curriculum, 3-idiots movie.

scholarly journals ANALYSIS OF THE STATE OF COLLABORATION BETWEEN NATURAL SCIENCE SCHOOL DISTRICT OFFICIALS AND PRIMARY SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHERS IN SOUTH AFRICA

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 586-598
Author(s):  
Bongani D. Bantwini
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
School Science ◽  
The State ◽  
Policy Document ◽  
Effective Collaboration

Collaboration and synergy among education stakeholders is a fundamental pillar for any educational reform success. The reported research analyses the state of collaboration and work dynamics that existed between natural science district officials and primary school teachers in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Data were collected through interviews conducted with science district officials and teachers and policy document review. The results focuses on past previous experiences with officials as barrier towards effective collaboration, work dynamics between science district officials and science teachers in their districts, impact on and implications for curriculum reform implementation and professional development. It is argued that effective collaboration between district officials and teachers is a hallmark of curriculum reform success, teacher growth and success in the workplace, which result in student academic achievement. Effective collaborations are built around trust in individual’s professional integrity and are characterised by professional candour, appreciation of individuals and understanding. In conclusion, it is imperative for district officials and teachers to improve communication and strive for effective collaboration, mutual respect, and power sharing rather than domination of one group by the other. Key words: district officials, science teachers, primary schools, collaboration, South Africa.

scholarly journals NEW NATURAL SCIENCE LITERACIES OF ONLINE RESEARCH AND COMPREHENSION: TO TEACH OR NOT TO TEACH

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 460-473
Author(s):  
Metka Kordigel Aberšek ◽  
Kosta Dolenc ◽  
Andrej Flogie ◽  
Ana Koritnik
Keyword(s):  
Science Teachers ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Science Literacy ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Science Curriculum ◽  
University Education ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Science Class ◽  
Science Knowledge

This study describes a research focused on science teachers’ evaluation of natural science literacy of research and comprehension competence in their students. Natural science literacy of research and comprehension competence is defined as an essential part of science literacy – as a competence to find, evaluate and use science knowledge stored on the Internet (as a part of extended memory) to solve a problem in a science class and to construct students’ own science knowledge. Online science literacy was defined in terms of the following aspects: basic skills (which include computer basics, web searching basics, and general navigation basics), locating information, finding a suitable website, locating the information on the website, critically evaluating the information according to its reliability and according to its relevance for the science class assessment. The data were collected through a 53-item Likert – scale questionnaire. The items were adopted from the TICA questionnaire for assessing students’ general online reading competence. Science teachers from 5 different levels of pre-university education assessed their students’ online science literacy in order to evaluate their students’ competence to use the Internet as a storage and as a source of knowledge for teaching/learning process in the science class, to re-evaluate their online teaching practice and the need for implementation of natural science literacy of research and comprehension competence in their science curriculum. Key words: ICT, Internet in natural science education, natural science literacy of research and comprehension competence.

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