Background: The high number of poor-performing learners in reading comprehension in South African schools is a concerning factor that calls for studies to mitigate this problem. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) of 2021 indicates that about 81% of South African Grade 4 learners who participated, failed to reach the…

The absence of a shared understanding of quality education for South African schools prompted this study to apply the capability approach of Amartya Sen to investigate the productive qualities of teachers. The study outlines the significance of integrating teachers' perspectives into discussions surrounding quality education in South Africa. More…

The 2000s saw a change in South Africa's Department of Correctional Services' theorising about adult education's potential to shift incarcerated men's thinking about their future in a proactive way. The plan was to advance active citizenship in the incarcerated. As such, the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) introduced holistic, integrated…

South Africa lags behind in terms of competing globally in science and technology. Thus, the purpose of the study was to investigate teacher factors that influenced learners' motivation to learn science in a secondary school. The study also aimed to determine whether significant differences in motivation regarding teacher influence existed among…

The phenomenon of teenage motherhood is a major concern worldwide. The teenage mothers endure many challenges that could affect their academic goals and successes if there is insufficient support. However, some teenage mothers manage to develop certain forms of flexibility to manage these adversities. This study explored the teenage mothers'…

The poor performance of learners in the 2017 National Senior Certificate accounting paper has raised concern. One way to improve the results in accounting over time is to ensure that the first introduction of accounting as financial literacy in the senior phase is done properly. The training of Grade 8 and/or 9 financial literacy teachers was…

Classroom practitioners are expected to facilitate effective learning under the "Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement" (CAPS) in South Africa. During this facilitation process, educators are required to become more resourceful in terms of their learning and teaching strategies. This article is based on a case study -- within the…

This paper explores some of the difficulties of doing research concerning young people's use of online sexually explicit materials in three high schools in South Africa. Against the backdrop of young people's sexual agency, we elaborate on the ways in which getting permission to conduct the research unsettled gatekeepers, as research on young…

This article reports on a study that explored how school-based teachers fulfilled their roles as mentors in response to challenges faced by pre-service teachers while learning to teach accounting. Pre-service teachers in their final year at a University of Technology in South Africa and practising teachers from six high schools participated in the…

South Africa has had a number of curriculum reforms since 1994 which have been based on both political and education grounds. However, there is a dearth of knowledge about the nature of the envisioned graduates, especially with respect to social challenges. This can be addressed by exploring the curriculum ideology which outlines the vision of…

In the light of the poor academic achievement in science by secondary school students in South Africa, students' motivation for science learning should be enhanced. It is argued that this can only be achieved with insight into which motivational factors to target, with due consideration of the diversity in schools. The study therefore explored the…

Racially diverse schools are often presented as places where students can learn to challenge racist discourse and practice. Yet there are a variety of processes through which such schools reproduce the very hierarchies they are meant to dismantle. Drawing on 18 months of fieldwork in two racially diverse South African high schools, I add to the…

In this paper we explore the perceived desirable characteristics of South African Life Orientation teachers for teaching sexuality and HIV/AIDS. We also investigate the extent to which these characteristics can be understood as parts of a role script for teaching HIV/AIDS and sexuality. Data were collected from teachers who taught Grade Eight and…

This paper reports on part of a study with the aim of exploring how Muslim learners' knowledge and attitudes of HIV/AIDS were influenced by family and school culture. Findings from data collected during individual semi-structured interviews with the principals, Life Orientation educators, and school guidance counsellors are discussed. Reviewed…

This paper explores how sexually marginalised black high-school students from conservative schooling contexts in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, experience schooling. It draws on queer theories through life narratives in presenting findings from a small-scale interventionist project designed by the author. The project involved 14 participants…