Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The new Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications document envisages a particular type of teacher (DHET, 2011). These teachers need to be, amongst other things, reflective, committed, critical practitioners with sound... more
The new Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications document envisages a particular type of teacher (DHET, 2011). These teachers need to be, amongst other things, reflective, committed, critical practitioners with sound content knowledge (DHET, 2011). It is with this in mind that a remark made by Foundation Phase teachers in Limpopo raised several questions for the research team investigating communities of practice in the Foundation Phase. The fact that teachers considered themselves to be ‘workshopped’, where something is done to them, is in opposition to the kind of teacher envisaged by government which sees teachers as pivotal to educational transformation. This paper unpacks the implications of teachers constructing themselves as ‘workshopped’ and its relation to workshops as vehicles through which knowledge is acquired. Using a critical discourse analysis of interviews and classroom observations conducted with Foundation Phase teachers, we explore the extent wh...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... The story of the evolution of the literature review for Kerryn's research is intertwined with the story of her evolving relationship with Hilary, her research 'super-visor'. We will return to... more
... The story of the evolution of the literature review for Kerryn's research is intertwined with the story of her evolving relationship with Hilary, her research 'super-visor'. We will return to discuss and question the metaphorical implications of this curious term later. ...
Research Interests:
The teaching of literacy is an embodied practice. Teacher’s pedagogical practices are directed onto children’s bodies. These practices are informed by teachers’ own knowledge, experiences and beliefs about literacy as well as... more
The teaching of literacy is an embodied practice. Teacher’s pedagogical practices are directed onto children’s bodies. These practices are informed by teachers’ own knowledge, experiences and beliefs about literacy as well as constructions of literacy in the curriculum. These shape literate subjects children become. It is through these practices that children become literate subjects. This article explores how children become ‘writers’, by using Foucault’s work on power and the spatial as theoretical lenses. The article is underpinned by the view that everything happens in space. We construct space and space constructs us, social relations can only happen in space. But, because space and social relations are mutually constitutive, they can transform each other. Data is drawn from a research project using ethnographic methods in early years classrooms in South Africa. A spatial and temporal lens is applied to observations of the teaching of writing in two preschool classrooms (4-5 ye...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
As an international team of scholars, we have individually and collectively encountered a range of summative and formative assessment practices. Some of these assessment practices have originated from other parts of the world as policy... more
As an international team of scholars, we have individually and collectively encountered a range of summative and formative assessment practices. Some of these assessment practices have originated from other parts of the world as policy practices increasingly entail global borrowing. We open this chapter with two compelling views of childhood; one places the onus on leading, directing, and controlling children's learning; the other views learning as idiosyncratic, unpredictable, and stunningly contingent on each child's vision of the world. We then introduce readers to a summative assessment associated with three countries (Australia, South Africa, and the United States) to explore how the use of these assessments contributes to the proliferation of particular views of childhood. Finally, we discuss the use of three formative literacy assessments that have gained international attention and present alternative visions of childhood and literacy learning.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Although the literature on picture books is extensive, very little work focuses on how they are integrated into teacher education curricula. We contend that effective use of these resources requires an understanding of the relationship... more
Although the literature on picture books is extensive, very little work focuses on how they are integrated into teacher education curricula. We contend that effective use of these resources requires an understanding of the relationship between preservice teachers’ conceptions of children and of picture books. Second-year South African undergraduate preservice teachers were asked to review 12 picture books of their own choosing, discuss some of these books with children, and write reflections on what they learnt from the children’s responses. Two hundred and thirty picture-book reviews and 62 reflections were analyzed. The data show that preservice teachers’ criteria for choosing books were disrupted by children’s views. We conclude by considering our own assumptions about our students and the implications for teacher education curriculum design.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In South Africa, students come to university from a variety of different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Often, English is not a first language, and students experience challenges when entering an English academic setting. This... more
In South Africa, students come to university from a variety of different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Often, English is not a first language, and students experience challenges when entering an English academic setting. This chapter explores the issue and describes how we adapted our first-year course to enable our multilingual and multicultural students cross the boundaries between home, school and university. By doing so, we reinforced various graduate attributes associated with the Citizen Scholar outlined by Arvanitakis and Hornsby in this book.
Research Interests:
This paper explores a multidimensional mentorship model implemented between lecturers from the foundation phase at the Wits School of Education and four master’s students from the University of Limpopo, as part of the Departments of... more
This paper explores a multidimensional mentorship model implemented between lecturers from the foundation phase at the Wits School of Education and four master’s students from the University of Limpopo, as part of the Departments of Education’s research initiative to strengthen foundation phase teacher education. Using three critical incidents, we interrogate mentors’ experiences of their mentoring practices. Two sets of literature, mentoring and social capital are used as a lens for analysing these incidents. Initial findings suggest the relationship has moved from the initiation to cultivation stage (Kram, 1985; Ragins & Kram, 2007). But, cultural preconceptions, implicit assumptions and institutional practices can impede or enhance information flows and trust. It is argued that weak ties characterised by mentors’ heterogeneity is a strength that has resulted in growing professional development. Through a process of reflection-on-practice, we have begun to think of ourselves as a ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Advances in technology, changes in communication practices, and the imperatives of the workplace have led to the repositioning of the role of writing in the global context. This has implications for the teaching of writing in schools.... more
Advances in technology, changes in communication practices, and the imperatives of the workplace have led to the repositioning of the role of writing in the global context. This has implications for the teaching of writing in schools. This article focuses on the argumentative essay, which is a high-stakes genre. A sample of work from one Grade 10 student identified as high performing in a township school in Cape Town (South Africa) is analysed. Drawing on the work of Ormerod and Ivanic, who argue that writing practices can be inferred from material artifacts, as well as critical discourse analysis, we show that the argumentative genre is complex, especially for novice first additional language English writers. This complexity is confounded by the conflation of the process and genre approaches in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) document. Based on the analysis we discuss the implications of planning, particularly in relation to thinking and reasoning, the need to...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This article applies Foucault's (1977. Discipline and punish) theory of spatial distribution in relation to the teaching of writing in English medium classrooms in early schooling. It aims to highlight the value of working with... more
This article applies Foucault's (1977. Discipline and punish) theory of spatial distribution in relation to the teaching of writing in English medium classrooms in early schooling. It aims to highlight the value of working with spatial theory, by attempting to show the relationship between spatial configurations and writing practices that work to produce particular subjectivities. The research sites were two