Securing the future of the human race will require an improved understanding of the environment as well as of technological solutions, mindsets and behaviors in line with modes of development that the ecosphere of our planet can support. Some experts see the only solution in a global deflation of the currently unsustainable exploitation of…

The purpose of this study was to comprehensively capture teachers' classroom experiences and establish what educational and psychological support would help them as they were trying to include learners from child-headed homes in their classrooms and schools. The sample of teachers from two different Gauteng districts included members from the…

This article reports on a reading intervention project undertaken in a high poverty primary school in Gauteng where reading levels in both the home language, Northern Sotho, and in English were very low. Some of the factors associated with school effectiveness (SE) are first examined and thereafter the nature of the reading intervention programme…

This paper reports the findings of a study on pre-service teachers' background and confidence in music and visual arts education. The study involved 939 non-specialist pre-service primary teachers from five countries. Initially the paper identifies the students' perceptions of their background and confidence in relation to music and visual arts…

The aims in this research were to determine the perceptions of school climate held by educators of primary schools in the southern Cape. Six primary schools with a staff complement of 178 educators participated in the investigation. Two instruments were used: the Organisational Climate Description Questionnaire Rutgers Elementary (OCDQ-RE) and…

This paper focuses on the ways in which a selected group of early childhood teachers in grades one and two, located in a predominantly white middle-class context in Durban, South Africa ascribe meaning to young boys they teach. The study finds that early childhood teachers are bearers of masculinity and incorporate taken-for-granted assumptions of…

Recognizing that teacher commitments are consequential for classroom practice, this study sets out to determine the extent to which the ethos of South African schools has been transformed towards integration in the truest sense. Findings emanating from this research indicate that teachers do not enter their classrooms as "blank slates"…

Language and education are interrelated because all teaching is given through the medium of language. Language is considered to be both a precondition for thought and a bearer of thought and therefore influences the extent to which a child's intelligence is actualised. In the South African context linguistic diversity is a complex issue. It has…

We were prompted by the prevalence of English Second or Other Language (ESOL) learners identified by educators as having language disorders and being referred for Speech-Language Therapy. We describe challenges faced by Grade 1, 2 and 3 educators at government schools in the Cape Metropolitan area who were working with such learners. Applying a…

We examined the viability of using feedback from a learning environment instrument to guide improvements in the teaching practices of in-service teachers undertaking a distance-education programme. The 31 teachers involved administered a primary school version of the What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC-Primary) questionnaire to their 1,077…

Based on life history accounts of two elementary school teachers in South Africa, this article examines the construction of two teachers' mathematics identities. In the article we juxtapose these identities with the identity forms that are envisaged by the policymakers and the mathematics reforms currently underway in the country. Using the data…

There is a direct correlation between (teacher) morale and (learner) discipline at school. Since the scrapping of corporal punishment, a sense of despair seems to have taken over amongst teachers in South Africa. The findings of this study indicated that more than 65% of teachers, out of a sample population of 80 respondents from schools located…

It has been claimed that homework is an effective means of developing good study habits (Cooper, 1994) and fostering positive attitudes (Marzano & Pickering, 2007) and self-responsibility (Brown, in Plato, 2000). If we are to believe this, then we need to ensure that all learners have equal or at least similar opportunities to gain these…

Teachers' views on practical work and their classroom practices were investigated to confirm or refute existing assumptions and literature claims. The teachers were from two primary schools in a rural area of the Hammarsdale Circuit in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Questionnaires in which teachers expressed their views on practical work and…

In this article, the author aims to explore the roles of knowledge in constructions of democracy. First, she discusses theoretical ways to differentiate among some of the existing perspectives on democracy and citizenship within democratic states. She also examines Western conceptions of democracy and democratic citizenship, which draw…