Department of Early Childhood Education
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Item Open Access Educational achievement tracking for teen mothers in South Africa with specific reference to Vhembe District(2015-02-06) Mudau, Thizwilondi Josephine; Mutshaeni, H. N.; Runhare, T.The purpose of this study was to explore the educational participation and achievement of teen mothers in South Africa with specific reference to the Vhembe District of the Limpopo Province. This study also aimed to find out the prevalence of teenage pregnancy, attendance at school, and academic perfomance by teen mothers in the Vhembe District schools. The study sought to establish whether teenage motherhood has an effect on academic performance as perceived by educators. Sixty teenage mothers, eighteen teachers and six principals were purposively sampled for the study. Data was collected using in-depth interviews and focus group interviews to give the researcher a platform to ask open-response questions and to explore the educators’ perspective about academic performance, attendance at school and the educational achievements of teenage mothers. The data was analysed thematically. This was done by carefully identifying and expanding significant themes that emerged from the informants’ perceptions about the academic performance, attendance, and educational achievement of teenage mothers. The study revealed that the prevalence of teenage pregnancy and teen motherhood have a negative effect on school attendance and the academic perfomanceof the teenagers compared to their peers who are not pregnant.The study recommends that sex education should be taken seriously in secondary schools; educators should be trained and given skills to deal with both pregnant learners and teen mothers. Government should introduce a new method of disbursing the child support grant. There should be a provision of moblie clinics in schools so that both pregnant learners and teen mothers can be supported and not humiliated or stigmatized by peers and educators.Item Open Access The impact of guidance and counselling on learning outcomes: A comparative of two high schools in Vhembe District(2018-09-21) Muluvhu, Khathutshelo; Runhare, T.; Bere, A.; Thenga, E. N.This study examined the impact of guidance and counselling on learning outcomes. The study was comparative study of two high schools in Vhembe district located in the Northern part of Limpopo Province, South Africa. A mixed method design was employed, consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches. For the quantitative part an experimental design and a questionnaire were used. Independent samples entailed t-tests to compare the performance of the experimental and control group, a chi-square of association was used to determine the presence/absence of alignment between career and subject choices after counselling, while paired samples t-tests were used to ascertain if there was any improvement in the performance of the two groups. In addition, written mark schedules of pre-test, post-test and a short questionnaire for learners were analysed quantitatively. For the qualitative component face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were used while the purposive sampling technique was used to select 8 Life Orientation teachers, of which 4 were from school A and the other 4 were from school B. In addition, 2 Life Orientation heads of department were interviewed on challenges in implementing Guidance and Counselling in the school curriculum. For the quantitative data analysis, the chi-square and t- test of association was used to determine if there was any difference in career and subject choices alignment and performance between learners exposed to counselling and those not exposed to the program. The overall mean scores were calculated, and the chi-square test was used to indicate if there was any significant difference in career choices and subject alignment and performance between the group that received guidance and counselling and the group which did not receive such support. Fifty learners from the two selected schools were randomly selected, whereby 25 were used for the experiment and the other 25 as a control group. The experimental results indicated that learners who were exposed to guidance and counselling showed improvement in their learning outcomes while those who were not exposed to counselling showed no improvement in their learning outcomes. The fact that group that received guidance and counselling improved suggest that guidance and counselling services should be strengthened in all schools through departmental policy review meetings.Item Open Access Strengthening English Second language competence of Foundation Phase teachers in Vhembe District, South Africa(2020) Makhwathana, Rendani Mercy; Mulaudzi, M. P.; Muthambi, S. K.This study sought to investigate strategies to strengthen the English Second Language competence of Foundation Phase teachers in selected primary schools in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province. Teachers are key role players in the transformation of education in South Africa. Despite the phase or grade, they teach, teachers need to be competent and skillful users of the English language to ensure appropriate skills transfer and effective teaching. The study adopted an exploratory qualitative approach with the use of phenomenological research design. The population for this study encompassed all Foundation Phase teachers, all Foundation Phase Heads of Departments (HoDs) and all primary school principals in the Vhembe District. A purposive sampling technique was used to select participants for the study. The sample comprised 15 Foundation Phase teachers, 5 heads of departments and 5 primary school principals from 5 different schools. Data was collected through individual face-to-face interviews, classroom observation and document analysis. Data was categorised and analysed thematically. The study found out that most teachers tried to maintain the consistent use of English during teaching. However, to some, it was difficult to consistently use the English language, as a result, teachers switched to their Home Language to explain difficult vocabulary to learners and ultimately ended up teaching using the Home Language instead of the English Language. The study recommends that teachers should engage themselves in continuous professional teachers’ development trainings and use various strategies that promote consistent and effective use of the English Language.Item Open Access Pedagogic gender sensitivity in the teaching and learning of science and technology: A comparative case study of single and mixed sex high schools in Zimbabwe(2020-03) Zigara, Herbert; Runhare, T.; Litshani, N. F.The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of boys’ and girls’ access to and their performance in science and technology subjects at one mixed sex and one single sex school in Zimbabwe. The research was anchored on the mixed methods research design which combined quantitative and qualitative research designs in a single study. The study’s quantitative objective was to establish if there was any significant difference in access to and performance in science and technology subjects between girls in a single sex school and their counterparts in a mixed sex school. A comparison of boys and girls learning together at a mixed sex school as well as boys in a mixed sex school and girls in a single sex school was undertaken to determine the presence or absence of any significant difference in terms of their access to and performance in science and technology subjects. The main objective that generated qualitative data sought to explore factors that could influence access to and performance of boys and girls in science and technology subjects at single sex and mixed sex schools. The case study comprised of two research sites; a mixed sex and a single sex school in Zimbabwe. The probability stratified random sampling technique was adopted for the quantitative sample size which comprised of 112 boys and girls from a mixed sex school and 81 girls from a single sex school. The qualitative sample size from the two study sites was purposively selected. The sample at a mixed sex school consisted of 1 head of school, 1 deputy head, 2 science and technology subjects HODs, 11 science and technology subjects class teachers and 8 science and technology subject teachers. The sample at a single sex school comprised of 1 head of school, 1 deputy head, 2 science and technology subject HODs, 10 science and technology subjects class teachers and 7 science and technology subject teachers. Quantitative data was collected using survey questionnaires administered to learners and document analysis. Qualitative data was gathered using Individual face-to-face semi-structured interviews with teachers. Quantitative data analysis was done statistically using chi-square and binomial tests while qualitative data were analysed thematically and in purely descriptive form. Quantitative findings revealed that there was significant difference (p<0.05) in terms of access to subjects at school which favoured single sex school girls compared to mixed sex school girls. On subjects offered, mixed sex school girls had more subjects taught at their school and therefore, had more access. With regards to access between boys and girls at a mixed sex school, statistical findings revealed significant difference (p<0.05) in favour of boys. In terms of subjects offered, both mixed sex school boys and girls had access to all subjects which were the focus of this study except building. Statistical findings on access between girls at a single sex school and boys at a mixed sex school indicated significant difference (p<0.05) in favour of single sex school girls. In terms of subjects offered, mixed sex school boys had more access as they are exposed to more science and technology related subjects than girls at a single sex school. With regards to performance between mixed sex school girls and those at a single sex school, statistical findings depicted significant difference (p<0.05) in favour of single sex school girls. Statistical findings on performance indicated no significant difference (p>0.05) between boys and girls learning together at the same school. Chisquare results revealed that single sex school girls performed better (p<0.05) than mixed sex school boys. Qualitative findings revealed that socialising agents namely, the media, home, school and peers promote a patriarchal ideology which favours boys than girls and help to track more boys than girls into science and technology subjects. On factors that influence school performance in science and technology subjects on gender lines; it emerged that patriarchal ideologies embedded in society create a notion of male superiority over females. The school, home, peers and the media portray boys as more powerful than girls, thereby enhancing their performance in science and technology subjects compared to girls. The study recommended family dialogues on gender roles, gender sensitive seminars in communities, government advocacy programmes, gender sensitive textbooks in communities and schools, gender sensitive modules to student teachers, deployment of gender experts in schools and crafting of policies to make the teaching of science and technology subjects mandatory. The study also recommended provision of national legislative platforms as well as dialogue and review of national, regional and international statutes on gender inequalities to redress the perception that boys are more capable than girls in science and technology subjects.