The purpose of the study reported on here was to explore the extent to which the role of the principal as ex officio member of the School Governing Body (SGB) facilitated or hindered the development of strategies that are effective and sustainable for the maintenance of school facilities. The rationale for this study was that the South African…

COVID-19 and the resultant national lockdown saw thousands of initial teacher education students in South Africa moving at short notice to online learning. For teacher educators this represented significant technical and pedagogical challenges, as they faced the task of adapting their teaching to an online modality, while simultaneously…

This article's purpose is directed by three, previously unanswered questions. First, which parent-figures (i.e., biological and social parents), if any, do adolescents from two disadvantaged communities in South Africa identify when they explain the process of their personal resilience? Second, do rural and urban adolescents report the same…

Recognition of prior learning (RPL) is based on the principle that valuable learning, worthy of recognition, takes place outside formal education. In the context of higher education, legislation provides an enabling framework for the implementation of RPL. However, RPL will only gain its rightful position if it can ensure the RPL candidates'…

This article argues that imaginative play can fulfil a valuable role in the development of reading among pre-school children. It uses Feuerstein's Mediated Learning Experience as a theoretical lens and defines the concepts related to imaginative play, focussing particularly on symbolic and dramatic play. Drawing on an ethnographic case study of…

Being aware of our thinking as we perform learning tasks and then using this knowledge to actively self-regulate what we are doing, is commonly known as metacognition. This study investigated the influence of a story-based intervention on the development of metacognition among Intermediate Phase learners engaged in content area learning. Two…

Background: Universities, specifically faculties of education, have the responsibility to ensure that student teachers are introduced to the complexities involved in planning conceptually sound, coherent and cohesive lessons. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine how prepared students teachers are to plan children's literature…

Background: Academic achievement is influenced by a system of internal and external stimuli. Internal stimuli include interest, willingness and academic motivation. In South Africa, efforts to improve the quality of education have mostly focused on the provision of physical resources rather than emotional resources. Aim: The aim of this study was…

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed South African historically disadvantaged institutions, that had not yet reached advanced levels of technology use in teaching and learning, to find immediate solutions to salvage the disrupted academic year. Interactions with students, which had predominantly been face-to-face, shifted to various online…

Noise, although ubiquitous, is seldom considered as a factor that may impede learning. In South Africa, most learners are multilingual and learn in English, which is their second language. Most noise studies have been conducted in the Global North, where the school context differs from the Global South. In this article, using questions selected…

This study investigates the impact of an innovative conservation action campaign called "Penguin Promises" implemented at uShaka Sea World in Durban, South Africa. Communication tools included interpretive signage, exhibits with and without animals, presentations, and personal interactions, along with a specially designed postcard, on…

Promoting teacher professionalism is regarded as a strategy to address the disparate quality of learning in South African classrooms. Through a qualitative analysis of initial teacher education (ITE) programmes offered by five universities, this paper analyses the messages of teacher professionalism transmitted to pre-service teachers. Findings…

This article reports on the influence of communication skills on rural students' resilience and well-being. Purposive sampling was used to retrospectively select 40 (f: n = 20; m: n = 20) Grade 9 students in a rural school that were involved in a larger youth project that aimed to deliver pathways towards resilience in rural schools through…

This article reports on the effect of a community-based social support programme offered through a government-linked centre that works on the resilience of children of families from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Purposive sampling was used to select four parents (mothers) and nine school-going children (N = 13) who all benefit from and attend a…

This study uses the agentic capability theory of Albert Bandura (Bandura 2009; 2012) as its lens to explore international students' experiences in a South African higher educational institution. The agentic capability theory "adopts an agentic perspective toward human development, adaptation, and change" (Bandura 2006:164). This implies…