South African teacher education policy expects initial teacher education programmes to introduce integrated and applied knowledge to underpin a teacher’s practice in diverse classroom contexts. This paper explores how a one-year Postgraduate Certificate in Education responds to this expectation in terms of training prospective teachers to teach high school mathematics. Exploration involves a qualitative case study of semi-structured interviews with six teacher educators and five newly qualified teachers, supplemented with document analysis. The stages of research involved a literature review, piloting the semi-structured interview questions, conducting semi-structured interviews, and analysing all accessible documents linked to the Postgraduate Certificate. All collected data were merged into one document which was read to identify codes, themes and categories. The paper finds that the Postgraduate Certificate does equip individuals with professional teacher knowledge to function in diverse contexts, albeit unevenly and highly dependent on the quality of each teacher’s past engagement with mathematics. The broad nature of policy knowledge type definitions and the lack of clarity in differentiating ‘specific specialised subject matter’ and ‘specialised pedagogical content knowledge’ are key contributing factors to uneven development in a Postgraduate Certificate. As a recommendation, we suggest that policy should differentiate ‘specific specialised subject matter’ and ‘specialised pedagogical content knowledge’ in more detail to promote the development of each as important types of knowledge needed by teachers.
{"title":"Development of teacher knowledge in an initial teacher education programme qualifying mathematics teachers","authors":"J. Verster, Y. Sayed","doi":"10.38140/pie.v40i4.6654","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6654","url":null,"abstract":"South African teacher education policy expects initial teacher education programmes to introduce integrated and applied knowledge to underpin a teacher’s practice in diverse classroom contexts. This paper explores how a one-year Postgraduate Certificate in Education responds to this expectation in terms of training prospective teachers to teach high school mathematics. Exploration involves a qualitative case study of semi-structured interviews with six teacher educators and five newly qualified teachers, supplemented with document analysis. The stages of research involved a literature review, piloting the semi-structured interview questions, conducting semi-structured interviews, and analysing all accessible documents linked to the Postgraduate Certificate. All collected data were merged into one document which was read to identify codes, themes and categories. The paper finds that the Postgraduate Certificate does equip individuals with professional teacher knowledge to function in diverse contexts, albeit unevenly and highly dependent on the quality of each teacher’s past engagement with mathematics. The broad nature of policy knowledge type definitions and the lack of clarity in differentiating ‘specific specialised subject matter’ and ‘specialised pedagogical content knowledge’ are key contributing factors to uneven development in a Postgraduate Certificate. As a recommendation, we suggest that policy should differentiate ‘specific specialised subject matter’ and ‘specialised pedagogical content knowledge’ in more detail to promote the development of each as important types of knowledge needed by teachers.","PeriodicalId":19864,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives in Education","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81762992","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i1.15
S. Donitsa-Schmidt, R. Ramot, Beverley Topaz
The current research aimed to investigate the perceptions of pre-service students regarding the usefulness and contribution of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in initial teacher education programmes, particularly in times of emergency. Participants comprised 202 second-career pre-service students who enrolled in alternative teacher education programmes during COVID-19. On average, students studied 4-5 courses that were a mandatory component of their programme. Students completed an anonymous, voluntary, self-report questionnaire at the end of their studies. Findings show that students found the MOOCs to be a good teaching model. They were satisfied with their MOOC studies and reported their learning experience to be significantly more rewarding and positive than lonely and stressful. Learning outcomes were ranked high. In terms of the usefulness and contribution of the MOOCs, three student profiles were identified. The "zealous" type is enthralled by the merits of MOOCs including their impact on their future teaching, professional development and lifelong learning. The "guarded" type perceives only some of the MOOCs' attributes as positive, primarily convenience, independent learning and studying a variety of courses with well-known experts. The "pragmatic" type is highly opportunistic and utilitarian, perceiving MOOCs only as a means to overcoming barriers of time and place. Finally, students who study more MOOCs perceive them as having a positive impact on their future teaching, acknowledge their importance in times of crisis and opt for including a higher proportion of MOOCs in initial teacher education programmes. The favourable impact of studying several MOOCs as part of an initial teacher education programme is one of the main findings of the current research highlighting the importance of students experiencing several such courses during their pre-service studies.
{"title":"Shaping the future of distance learning in teacher education: MOOCS during COVID-19","authors":"S. Donitsa-Schmidt, R. Ramot, Beverley Topaz","doi":"10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i1.15","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i1.15","url":null,"abstract":"The current research aimed to investigate the perceptions of pre-service students regarding the usefulness and contribution of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in initial teacher education programmes, particularly in times of emergency. Participants comprised 202 second-career pre-service students who enrolled in alternative teacher education programmes during COVID-19. On average, students studied 4-5 courses that were a mandatory component of their programme. Students completed an anonymous, voluntary, self-report questionnaire at the end of their studies. Findings show that students found the MOOCs to be a good teaching model. They were satisfied with their MOOC studies and reported their learning experience to be significantly more rewarding and positive than lonely and stressful. Learning outcomes were ranked high. In terms of the usefulness and contribution of the MOOCs, three student profiles were identified. The \"zealous\" type is enthralled by the merits of MOOCs including their impact on their future teaching, professional development and lifelong learning. The \"guarded\" type perceives only some of the MOOCs' attributes as positive, primarily convenience, independent learning and studying a variety of courses with well-known experts. The \"pragmatic\" type is highly opportunistic and utilitarian, perceiving MOOCs only as a means to overcoming barriers of time and place. Finally, students who study more MOOCs perceive them as having a positive impact on their future teaching, acknowledge their importance in times of crisis and opt for including a higher proportion of MOOCs in initial teacher education programmes. The favourable impact of studying several MOOCs as part of an initial teacher education programme is one of the main findings of the current research highlighting the importance of students experiencing several such courses during their pre-service studies.","PeriodicalId":19864,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives in Education","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90329898","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i1.14
B. Mutongoza, B. Olawale
With the operationalisation of lockdowns and restrictions on public gatherings, education systems across the entire globe were confronted with an urgent need to reconsider alternative forms of teaching, learning and assessment. Some institutions in developing countries were especially hard-hit by the shift owing to inadequacies in training and infrastructure because unlike their more developed counterparts who had already made inroads into adopting online technologies, some institutions in the developing world had no such technologies in place. As such, the shift to online learning was rushed and somewhat a "learning on the job" experience for students and educators. While remote online teaching, learning and assessment are novel experiences for many higher education institutions, developing countries are incessantly presented with many challenges, particularly when safeguarding academic integrity. Invigilated assessments, which are often considered more secure, are not an option given the current situation, thus detecting any cheating would be significantly challenging. As a result, this study examined assessment security in the digital domain and critically evaluated the practices to safeguard academic integrity in developing countries across three Southern African universities, including associated challenges. Underpinned by the pragmatist paradigm, the study employed a mixed-methods research approach that utilised in-depth qualitative and quantitative data from university managers, lecturers and students to investigate how academic integrity is safeguarded in the advent of online learning. Our findings revealed that although the transition to online learning and assessment was abrupt, higher education institutions have generated creative strategies to secure and ensure the continuity of learning and assessment. Such strategies include administering several versions of the same examination, as well as the use of "text-matching" software to detect the originality of work done by students. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that to guarantee the authenticity of online assessment, institutions must ensure that assessment practices relate to real-world needs and the context in which students can apply acquired knowledge.
{"title":"Safeguarding academic integrity in the face of emergency remote teaching and learning in developing countries","authors":"B. Mutongoza, B. Olawale","doi":"10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i1.14","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i1.14","url":null,"abstract":"With the operationalisation of lockdowns and restrictions on public gatherings, education systems across the entire globe were confronted with an urgent need to reconsider alternative forms of teaching, learning and assessment. Some institutions in developing countries were especially hard-hit by the shift owing to inadequacies in training and infrastructure because unlike their more developed counterparts who had already made inroads into adopting online technologies, some institutions in the developing world had no such technologies in place. As such, the shift to online learning was rushed and somewhat a \"learning on the job\" experience for students and educators. While remote online teaching, learning and assessment are novel experiences for many higher education institutions, developing countries are incessantly presented with many challenges, particularly when safeguarding academic integrity. Invigilated assessments, which are often considered more secure, are not an option given the current situation, thus detecting any cheating would be significantly challenging. As a result, this study examined assessment security in the digital domain and critically evaluated the practices to safeguard academic integrity in developing countries across three Southern African universities, including associated challenges. Underpinned by the pragmatist paradigm, the study employed a mixed-methods research approach that utilised in-depth qualitative and quantitative data from university managers, lecturers and students to investigate how academic integrity is safeguarded in the advent of online learning. Our findings revealed that although the transition to online learning and assessment was abrupt, higher education institutions have generated creative strategies to secure and ensure the continuity of learning and assessment. Such strategies include administering several versions of the same examination, as well as the use of \"text-matching\" software to detect the originality of work done by students. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that to guarantee the authenticity of online assessment, institutions must ensure that assessment practices relate to real-world needs and the context in which students can apply acquired knowledge.","PeriodicalId":19864,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives in Education","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87772770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i1.1
R. Aluko, G. Krull, E. Mhlanga
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the attention of distance education issues to the fore in a way not seen before. All forms of educational provision and sectors were affected by the pandemic. The aim of this conceptual leading article is to highlight three pertinent issues that need to be taken into account in Open, Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) to ensure the relevance of the Post School Education and Training (PSET) sector in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and beyond. Based on a review of the literature, the article highlights three pillars of successful use of technology to enhance quality in PSET, especially in the wake of the worldwide transition to remote teaching and learning. The revised agenda comprises the questioning of previously held beliefs about learning and teaching, the responsiveness of curricula and ensuring the quality of ODeL offerings. It argues that unless traditional beliefs about teaching and learning are questioned and curricula are streamlined to align with the demands of the knowledge society, the value of PSET may be trivialised in a context that is so rapidly changing. It also argues that sound quality assurance mechanisms should be put in place to ensure sufficient depth in student learning experiences, rigour in assessment processes and confidence in graduates by employers and society at large. Using the theory of Connectivism as a lens, the authors provide a framework with some recommendations for sound ODeL teaching and learning practices that are relevant for the demands of the 4IR and beyond. The framework focuses on five pillars, which are foregrounding a student-centred approach, embracing appropriate technologies to support teaching and learning, strengthening the capacity to support success, ensuring appropriate assessment processes and regular curriculum revision and renewal.
{"title":"Shaping open, distance and e-learning in post school education and training: A call for a revised agenda","authors":"R. Aluko, G. Krull, E. Mhlanga","doi":"10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i1.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i1.1","url":null,"abstract":"The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the attention of distance education issues to the fore in a way not seen before. All forms of educational provision and sectors were affected by the pandemic. The aim of this conceptual leading article is to highlight three pertinent issues that need to be taken into account in Open, Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) to ensure the relevance of the Post School Education and Training (PSET) sector in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and beyond. Based on a review of the literature, the article highlights three pillars of successful use of technology to enhance quality in PSET, especially in the wake of the worldwide transition to remote teaching and learning. The revised agenda comprises the questioning of previously held beliefs about learning and teaching, the responsiveness of curricula and ensuring the quality of ODeL offerings. It argues that unless traditional beliefs about teaching and learning are questioned and curricula are streamlined to align with the demands of the knowledge society, the value of PSET may be trivialised in a context that is so rapidly changing. It also argues that sound quality assurance mechanisms should be put in place to ensure sufficient depth in student learning experiences, rigour in assessment processes and confidence in graduates by employers and society at large. Using the theory of Connectivism as a lens, the authors provide a framework with some recommendations for sound ODeL teaching and learning practices that are relevant for the demands of the 4IR and beyond. The framework focuses on five pillars, which are foregrounding a student-centred approach, embracing appropriate technologies to support teaching and learning, strengthening the capacity to support success, ensuring appropriate assessment processes and regular curriculum revision and renewal.","PeriodicalId":19864,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives in Education","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75788515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i1.19
M. Koen
{"title":"Book review: Teaching in and beyond pandemic times","authors":"M. Koen","doi":"10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i1.19","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i1.19","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19864,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives in Education","volume":"351 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76579099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Amongst the contemporary needs of societies in the fourth industrial revolution, are student-teachers who are adaptable, ethical, and literate in developing technology-mediated environments. Cultivating such teachers requires engaging them experientially in blended learning practices. We explored 155 student-teachers’ experiences of blended learning, at a South African institution for higher education, by using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) as theoretical framework. We created cognitive, social, and teaching presences within the initial teacher education module on their learning management system, Blackboard LearnTM. Utilising explanatory mixed-method as research approach enabled us to compare student-teachers’ experiences of the three presences using a Likert-type questionnaire and reflective feedback. Studentteachers’ online engagement reflected a good cognitive and teaching presence; whilst their social presence was maintained using disparate social media applications and consequently sidestepping this higher education institution’s learning management system. Social constructivists endorse socially situated knowledge, collaborative validation of understanding, and one’s own construction of meaning. Supposing that student-teachers education social studies for democratic citizenship education necessitate social presence as it precedes cognitive and teaching presences. The implication for higher education institutions is to create a sustainable online social presence within their learning management systems for prospective teacher citizens to be better prepared for technology-mediated milieus.
{"title":"Early childhood studentteachers’ experiences of blended learning using Community of Inquiry as theoretical framework","authors":"Hannelie De Preez, Joyce West","doi":"10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6186","url":null,"abstract":"Amongst the contemporary needs of societies in the fourth industrial revolution, are student-teachers who are adaptable, ethical, and literate in developing technology-mediated environments. Cultivating such teachers requires engaging them experientially in blended learning practices. We explored 155 student-teachers’ experiences of blended learning, at a South African institution for higher education, by using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) as theoretical framework. We created cognitive, social, and teaching presences within the initial teacher education module on their learning management system, Blackboard LearnTM. Utilising explanatory mixed-method as research approach enabled us to compare student-teachers’ experiences of the three presences using a Likert-type questionnaire and reflective feedback. Studentteachers’ online engagement reflected a good cognitive and teaching presence; whilst their social presence was maintained using disparate social media applications and consequently sidestepping this higher education institution’s learning management system. Social constructivists endorse socially situated knowledge, collaborative validation of understanding, and one’s own construction of meaning. Supposing that student-teachers education social studies for democratic citizenship education necessitate social presence as it precedes cognitive and teaching presences. The implication for higher education institutions is to create a sustainable online social presence within their learning management systems for prospective teacher citizens to be better prepared for technology-mediated milieus.","PeriodicalId":19864,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives in Education","volume":"64 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78696474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i3.4
Mary Gene Saudelli, E. Niemczyk
{"title":"Education for sustainable development: Insights from Canadian and South African universities","authors":"Mary Gene Saudelli, E. Niemczyk","doi":"10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i3.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i3.4","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19864,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives in Education","volume":"108 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79408121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The paper investigated the challenges faced by female students enrolled in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) field of study. The social cognitive theory (SCCT) was employed to examine the role played by the environment, goals, behaviour, and self-efficacy factors of female students studying towards Engineering and Information Technology degrees at a traditional South African university. The study examined the interdependencies between these four factors and their role in female students’ success in STEM courses at the university. The finding revealed that female students possess the selfefficacy required to excel in their studies, despite overt or covert hostilities and other challenges they face during their study. The data analysis indicate that female students need the support of their families in achieving their goals. The fear of disappointing parents or family members if they fail to obtain their qualifications seem to be a key motivation to female students in STEM courses. It is recommended that all stakeholders be positively involved in ensuring that female students in the STEM fields get the needed support. Such support, in tandem with their self-efficacy, outcome expectations and goal setting, will ensure that they overcome obstacles and are adequately equipped to realise their dream of achieving qualifications in this critical segment of the economy.
{"title":"Investigating the challenges faced by female students in STEM courses: case study of a traditional South African University","authors":"Olutoyin Olaitan, Nosipho Mavuso","doi":"10.38140/pie.v40i4.6638","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6638","url":null,"abstract":"The paper investigated the challenges faced by female students enrolled in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) field of study. The social cognitive theory (SCCT) was employed to examine the role played by the environment, goals, behaviour, and self-efficacy factors of female students studying towards Engineering and Information Technology degrees at a traditional South African university. The study examined the interdependencies between these four factors and their role in female students’ success in STEM courses at the university. The finding revealed that female students possess the selfefficacy required to excel in their studies, despite overt or covert hostilities and other challenges they face during their study. The data analysis indicate that female students need the support of their families in achieving their goals. The fear of disappointing parents or family members if they fail to obtain their qualifications seem to be a key motivation to female students in STEM courses. It is recommended that all stakeholders be positively involved in ensuring that female students in the STEM fields get the needed support. Such support, in tandem with their self-efficacy, outcome expectations and goal setting, will ensure that they overcome obstacles and are adequately equipped to realise their dream of achieving qualifications in this critical segment of the economy.","PeriodicalId":19864,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives in Education","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79765206","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i3.10
J. Nyoni
{"title":"Flexibility and agility in pedagogical contingency planning design in open, distance and e-learning","authors":"J. Nyoni","doi":"10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i3.10","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i3.10","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19864,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives in Education","volume":"05 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86075440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Utilising the theoretical frameworks of theory of power and theory of performativity, this case study explored how learners exercised agency in the construction of their identity in school discourses. Data capture incorporated a mix of a survey, semi-structured interviews and field notes. Data was analysed using content analysis. A total of 90 learners participated in the survey. Fifteen learners, three teachers and three principals participated in semistructured interviews. This paper reports on findings from the semistructured interviews. Findings were twofold. First, schools used Foucault’s mechanisms and instruments of constructing learner identity. Learners were subjected to a constant gaze at schools. Second, learners became agentic in schools and asserted their own identities. Some of these identities clashed with the identity of the ‘ideal learner’ of schools. Despite established subject positions in schools, learners created their own subject positions to counter limiting and constraining identities that were imposed by the school.
{"title":"Rupturing the laws of discourse: Learner agency in the construction of their identity in school discourses","authors":"S. Vandeyar","doi":"10.38140/pie.v40i4.6414","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38140/pie.v40i4.6414","url":null,"abstract":"Utilising the theoretical frameworks of theory of power and theory of performativity, this case study explored how learners exercised agency in the construction of their identity in school discourses. Data capture incorporated a mix of a survey, semi-structured interviews and field notes. Data was analysed using content analysis. A total of 90 learners participated in the survey. Fifteen learners, three teachers and three principals participated in semistructured interviews. This paper reports on findings from the semistructured interviews. Findings were twofold. First, schools used Foucault’s mechanisms and instruments of constructing learner identity. Learners were subjected to a constant gaze at schools. Second, learners became agentic in schools and asserted their own identities. Some of these identities clashed with the identity of the ‘ideal learner’ of schools. Despite established subject positions in schools, learners created their own subject positions to counter limiting and constraining identities that were imposed by the school.","PeriodicalId":19864,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives in Education","volume":"44 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89236454","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}