Social constructivism is the dominant pedagogical theory endorsed in educational discourse today. This study set out to examine teaching and learning in Grade 11 business studies classrooms from a social constructivist perspective. The data were obtained through document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and classroom observations. While the…

Purpose: This article responds to the topic of 'postcolonial social science education' by exploring strategies for decolonizing the social science 'archive'. Design/methodology/approach: The paper takes a decolonial-critical social science approach to explore the limit and test cases for decolonizing social science education, using two examples: a…

Learners who experience learning challenges are at risk of not accessing equitable education opportunities in South African schools. This is despite teacher education and system reform initiatives towards more inclusive education. To discover what constrains inclusive teaching, we conducted a qualitative study at four schools in a South African…

This paper is part of a larger study that investigated the 'Effectiveness of collaboration on low and high achieving school students' comprehension of electrochemistry in South Africa'. The study occurred in the Ximhungwe circuit of the Bohlabela district in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. The theoretical framework for this study was…

The current research is conducted in the context of Second Life (SL) users in Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The research uses the Symbolic Interactionism Theory (SIT), a social science based theory as theoretical framework to underpin it and help inform the research. The overriding purpose is to analyze evidence of…

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 paper reports on the initial stages of a small-scale project involving the use of "spreadsheet algebra programs" in the professional development of eight teachers from three township high schools. In terms of the education context, the paper draws on social practice theory. It then details what is meant by spreadsheet algebra. An…

The contemporary South African subject English classroom is a complex space requiring ongoing attention to issues of cultural and linguistic diversity, and frequently manifesting the need to work across historically constructed differences in race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. This article reports on one aspect of a broader research…

Drawing on a study that explores university students' experiences of doing laboratory work in physics, this article outlines a proposed conceptual framework for extending the exploration of the gendered experience of learning. In this framework situated cognition and post-structural gender theory are merged together. By drawing on data that aim at…

By definition and purpose, education is the development of human capital towards meeting the individual and social needs of learners and their societies. This transdisciplinary collaboration parallels the underpinning principle of Lave and Wenger's Legitimate Peripheral Participation (Lave & Wenger, 1990) to South Africa's post-colonial…