ICAP is a framework that classifies learning processes based on students' explicit behaviors. The framework is developed for testing the hypothesis that interactive exercises are better than constructive exercises, and active exercises are better than the passive exercises for higher cognitive engagement and better learning outcomes. The ICAP…

Background: This article critically examines the nature of isiXhosa translations in mathematics learning materials, specifically focusing on the doubling and halving unit within the 'South African Grade 3 Mental Starters Assessment Project (MSAP): Teacher Guide'. Teaching in home languages is encouraged in the Foundation Phase, but unfamiliar…

Teachers experience learner challenging behaviour in primary schools worldwide. In South Africa, learner behaviour is undermining teaching and learning and compromising safety in some primary schools. To understand teachers' experiences of learner challenging behaviour, a qualitative data-collection approach was applied. Data from 15 teachers from…

Mathematics is not seen as an absolute corpus of well-founded knowledge anymore, but as a human activity, a social phenomenon, part of human culture that evolves historically and intelligibly in a social context. By harnessing the indigenous cultures and their knowledge systems in-depth, this article aims to evaluate how the sustainable…

The aim of this study was to investigate the quality of the Annual National Assessment (ANA) Grade 6 Mathematics assessment instrument, administered in the year 2012 guided by the main question: to what extent does the 2012 Grade 6 Mathematics assessment instrument provide meaningful and consistent information for making appropriate…

Background: Pre-service teachers (PSTs) training does not equip students with adequate skills and knowledge of geometry to enable them to teach this section of mathematics competently. Inadequate teacher knowledge of transformation geometry, in particular, requires intervention that targets PSTs' faulty reasoning displayed in errors they make.…

This paper explores and compares the language learning strategies of high and low performing second language (L2) learners participating in peer tutoring. The participating learners were grouped into high and low performing learners based on their scores in English second language. The classification of strategies by Griffiths into base, core and…

This study examined the existence of latent classes in TIMSS 2015 data from three countries, Singapure, Turkey and South Africa, were analyzed using Mixture Item Response Theory (MixIRT) models (Rasch, 1PL, 2PL and 3PL) on 18 multiple-choice items in the science subtest. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the data obtained from TIMSS…

This paper focuses on the ways in which five- to seven-year-old primary school children in a Black/African township in South Africa construct and experience 'free play' in the classroom. Findings highlight the gendered manner in which play is constructed and constantly policed by these young children during 'free play'. By foregrounding the young…

This paper interrogates the complexity of language use at the Grade Three-Four transition, using the South African context as a microcosm of similar educational systems. The paper describes the complex nature of the transition, particularly within a second language (L2) instructional context. It explores the dissonance between and among theory,…

Although the general development of mathematical abilities in primary school has been the focus of many researchers, the development of place value understanding has rarely been investigated to date. This is possibly due to the lack of conceptual approaches and empirical studies related to this topic. To fill this gap, a theory-driven and…

The purpose of this research project was to understand how Cambourne's theory of social constructivism, particularly his four instructional principles, was applied to the teaching of writing in two rural multigrade Foundation Phase classrooms in the Western Cape. Multigrade schools account for 30% of all primary schools in South Africa, but in…

This article analyses interview data from 54 women school principals in South Africa to explore how women position their identities in relation to their gender, ethnicity and other characteristics. While grounded in their own context, the women's strategies resonate with those of women in many parts of the world. Five strategies are discerned:…

This case study describes and investigates the instructional practices of Grades 1 to 5 teachers and the levels of geometry thinking of the learners, according to the Van Hiele model, with a view to determining whether there is a match between the instructional practice and the learners' level of thinking. The instructional practices of the…

The aim of this research was to explore and describe primary school learners' experiences of relational aggression at school. This was done within a qualitative research design with a phenomenological approach. In order to give a voice to primary school learners' lived experiences of relational aggression, 25 individual interviews were conducted…