Pub Date : 2023-04-27DOI: 10.17159/2221-4070/2023/v12i1a3
Makeresemese R. Qhosola
This study aimed to design a strategy to improve the academic performance of early childhood education and care (ECEC) learners in mathematics, and thence accounting, in a sustainable manner. Accounting is not taught as a separate subject to mathematics at the ECEC level, therefore we focused on those aspects of mathematics that link directly with central learning areas in accounting. We used participatory action research, and posthuman theory framed the study. Multistakeholder participation was used to encourage five key skills of the 21st century (collaboration, communication, compassion, critical thinking, and creativity) in the learners as co-researchers in order to promote sustainability in their learning of mathematics in ECEC as basis for accounting in the future.
{"title":"Early Childhood Education and Care Towards Sustainable Academic Performance in Accounting","authors":"Makeresemese R. Qhosola","doi":"10.17159/2221-4070/2023/v12i1a3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/2221-4070/2023/v12i1a3","url":null,"abstract":"This study aimed to design a strategy to improve the academic performance of early childhood education and care (ECEC) learners in mathematics, and thence accounting, in a sustainable manner. Accounting is not taught as a separate subject to mathematics at the ECEC level, therefore we focused on those aspects of mathematics that link directly with central learning areas in accounting. We used participatory action research, and posthuman theory framed the study. Multistakeholder participation was used to encourage five key skills of the 21st century (collaboration, communication, compassion, critical thinking, and creativity) in the learners as co-researchers in order to promote sustainability in their learning of mathematics in ECEC as basis for accounting in the future.","PeriodicalId":43084,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research for Social Change","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47662771","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 : 2023-04-27DOI: 10.17159/2221-4070/2023/v12i1a5
N. Mthiyane, D. Malema, Nompumelelo Madonda
Early childhood development (ECD) centres are strategically positioned to create quality early learning opportunities that prepare children for adulthood, providing the necessary holistic sustainable learning. However, many ECD facilities in the informal settlements in South Africa function under a variety of psychosocial and contextual challenges that impact directly on the well-being of supervisors and practitioners. This study explored the need to enable, and the ways to relationally promote, the well-being of supervisors. Underpinned by posthumanism, and consistent with participatory action learning and action research cycles, we recognised that the challenges facing humanity today require new understandings and responsive solutions, which include engagements and contributions with and by nonhuman relationalities for sustainable early childhood learning. In this paper, we argue that focus on the promotion of the well-being of ECD supervisors in informal settlements is crucial. Data generation was conducted with an action team of six participants, that is, three ECD supervisors and three researchers utilising reflective drawings and group meetings that provided opportunities for action and reflection. A critical thematic analysis of data concluded that innovative collaborative ways to solve own problems in own contexts utilising responsive solutions promotes social change. An adaption to the decentralisation of supervisors' power using interdisciplinary interventions makes communities feel responsible, valued, and accountable for the ECD centres-thus, relational interconnections are improved at human and nonhuman levels. This study has the potential to contribute to the well-being of supervisors, which may filter down to improved well-being for teachers and learners, resulting in sustainable ECD in informal settlements.
{"title":"Promoting the Well-Being of Supervisors for Sustainable Early Childhood Development in an Informal Settlement","authors":"N. Mthiyane, D. Malema, Nompumelelo Madonda","doi":"10.17159/2221-4070/2023/v12i1a5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/2221-4070/2023/v12i1a5","url":null,"abstract":"Early childhood development (ECD) centres are strategically positioned to create quality early learning opportunities that prepare children for adulthood, providing the necessary holistic sustainable learning. However, many ECD facilities in the informal settlements in South Africa function under a variety of psychosocial and contextual challenges that impact directly on the well-being of supervisors and practitioners. This study explored the need to enable, and the ways to relationally promote, the well-being of supervisors. Underpinned by posthumanism, and consistent with participatory action learning and action research cycles, we recognised that the challenges facing humanity today require new understandings and responsive solutions, which include engagements and contributions with and by nonhuman relationalities for sustainable early childhood learning. In this paper, we argue that focus on the promotion of the well-being of ECD supervisors in informal settlements is crucial. Data generation was conducted with an action team of six participants, that is, three ECD supervisors and three researchers utilising reflective drawings and group meetings that provided opportunities for action and reflection. A critical thematic analysis of data concluded that innovative collaborative ways to solve own problems in own contexts utilising responsive solutions promotes social change. An adaption to the decentralisation of supervisors' power using interdisciplinary interventions makes communities feel responsible, valued, and accountable for the ECD centres-thus, relational interconnections are improved at human and nonhuman levels. This study has the potential to contribute to the well-being of supervisors, which may filter down to improved well-being for teachers and learners, resulting in sustainable ECD in informal settlements.","PeriodicalId":43084,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research for Social Change","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47839017","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 : 2023-04-27DOI: 10.17159/2221-4070/2023/v12i1a4
M. Tlali
It is imperative to offer equal quality learning opportunities for young children at both deprived and advantaged early childhood development centres (ECDCs). To this end, substantive involvement by young children in the envisioned quality learning that should take place, even in constrained contexts, warrants thoughtful exploration. Consequently, this study investigated the development of young children's communication and mathematical skills to explore the affordances of the South African National Curriculum Framework for children from birth to 4 years in relation to incorporating science concepts. Our proposition for privileging science concepts relevant to early learning and development areas of the curriculum framework was premised on the urge to respond to young children's current learning needs in order to make learning in the future sustainable. We adopted a participatory action research design, undergirded by principles of intra-relationality, to develop an assessment and activity plan consistent with our proposition. Using the principles of free attitude interviews and brainstorming as techniques, rich qualitative data were generated during meetings, workshops, and reflection sessions with study team member participants. The team made the following observations and findings: the transition of young children from ECD to Grade R is marred by challenges that make the learning of young children beyond ECD unsustainable because of the absence of continual communication between the ECD and Grade R teachers and, to some extent, between the parents (home) and the ECDC. Through the knowledge gained from regular participatory action-oriented meetings, workshops, and reflections, the study contributed to the development of participants and benefited the ECDC involved in this study in several respects.
{"title":"Towards Developing a Science-Language Learning Programme for the Equality of Sustainable Learning Opportunities for Young Children","authors":"M. Tlali","doi":"10.17159/2221-4070/2023/v12i1a4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/2221-4070/2023/v12i1a4","url":null,"abstract":"It is imperative to offer equal quality learning opportunities for young children at both deprived and advantaged early childhood development centres (ECDCs). To this end, substantive involvement by young children in the envisioned quality learning that should take place, even in constrained contexts, warrants thoughtful exploration. Consequently, this study investigated the development of young children's communication and mathematical skills to explore the affordances of the South African National Curriculum Framework for children from birth to 4 years in relation to incorporating science concepts. Our proposition for privileging science concepts relevant to early learning and development areas of the curriculum framework was premised on the urge to respond to young children's current learning needs in order to make learning in the future sustainable. We adopted a participatory action research design, undergirded by principles of intra-relationality, to develop an assessment and activity plan consistent with our proposition. Using the principles of free attitude interviews and brainstorming as techniques, rich qualitative data were generated during meetings, workshops, and reflection sessions with study team member participants. The team made the following observations and findings: the transition of young children from ECD to Grade R is marred by challenges that make the learning of young children beyond ECD unsustainable because of the absence of continual communication between the ECD and Grade R teachers and, to some extent, between the parents (home) and the ECDC. Through the knowledge gained from regular participatory action-oriented meetings, workshops, and reflections, the study contributed to the development of participants and benefited the ECDC involved in this study in several respects.","PeriodicalId":43084,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research for Social Change","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44007999","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 : 2023-04-27DOI: 10.17159/2221-4070/2023/v12i1a1
Ashnie Mahadew
Despite global and national imperatives to build an inclusive society, incidences of discrimination on the basis of numerous marginalised identity markers are widely reported. The early years are an ideal moment for children to form initial attitudes towards different groups of people. In fact, the early years are regarded as a means for social and economic transformation, according to the South African National Development Plan. This article is a segment of a study on a group of early childhood care and education teachers and teacher trainers who explored inclusion using a participatory action learning and action research design. Eight members formed an action learning set and engaged in mutual and collaborative learning to transform their learning environments to become more inclusive. Data were generated in two iterative cycles using a baseline questionnaire, reflective journals, and purposeful conversations. Underpinned by the posthumanist perspective, the findings highlight that diversity needs to be regarded as a strength to be valued, rather than as an impediment. The findings also suggest the need for collectivism in opposition to individualism, and a reconfiguration of the child's identity as posthuman. The study thus contributes to positive outcomes by identifying ways to transform early learning environments to become more inclusive. This not only leads to a more democratic and socially just learning environment but also contributes to wider positive societal change.
{"title":"Reimagining Inclusion in Early Childhood Care and Education: A Posthuman Perspective","authors":"Ashnie Mahadew","doi":"10.17159/2221-4070/2023/v12i1a1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/2221-4070/2023/v12i1a1","url":null,"abstract":"Despite global and national imperatives to build an inclusive society, incidences of discrimination on the basis of numerous marginalised identity markers are widely reported. The early years are an ideal moment for children to form initial attitudes towards different groups of people. In fact, the early years are regarded as a means for social and economic transformation, according to the South African National Development Plan. This article is a segment of a study on a group of early childhood care and education teachers and teacher trainers who explored inclusion using a participatory action learning and action research design. Eight members formed an action learning set and engaged in mutual and collaborative learning to transform their learning environments to become more inclusive. Data were generated in two iterative cycles using a baseline questionnaire, reflective journals, and purposeful conversations. Underpinned by the posthumanist perspective, the findings highlight that diversity needs to be regarded as a strength to be valued, rather than as an impediment. The findings also suggest the need for collectivism in opposition to individualism, and a reconfiguration of the child's identity as posthuman. The study thus contributes to positive outcomes by identifying ways to transform early learning environments to become more inclusive. This not only leads to a more democratic and socially just learning environment but also contributes to wider positive societal change.","PeriodicalId":43084,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research for Social Change","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48931304","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 : 2023-04-27DOI: 10.17159/2221-4070/2023/v12i1a6
Fran Hughes
In this paper, I provide insights into how action research influenced the movement of Australian early childhood educators' worldviews, identities, and their agency in relation to education for sustainability (EfS) in natural outdoor settings. This was integral to a larger study that explored early childhood educators' understandings of a nature-sustainability nexus and its influence on their pedagogies in Australian immersive nature play programmes. The findings indicated personal transformations for some participants as individuals and as teams of early childhood professionals, resulting in new discourses for EfS-with others engaging in an ongoing journey of disrupting dominant anthropocentric ways of thinking.
{"title":"Early Childhood Educators' Professional Learning for Sustainability Through Action Research in Australian Immersive Nature Play Programmes","authors":"Fran Hughes","doi":"10.17159/2221-4070/2023/v12i1a6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/2221-4070/2023/v12i1a6","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, I provide insights into how action research influenced the movement of Australian early childhood educators' worldviews, identities, and their agency in relation to education for sustainability (EfS) in natural outdoor settings. This was integral to a larger study that explored early childhood educators' understandings of a nature-sustainability nexus and its influence on their pedagogies in Australian immersive nature play programmes. The findings indicated personal transformations for some participants as individuals and as teams of early childhood professionals, resulting in new discourses for EfS-with others engaging in an ongoing journey of disrupting dominant anthropocentric ways of thinking.","PeriodicalId":43084,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research for Social Change","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41839351","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 : 2022-10-28DOI: 10.17159/2221-4070/2021/v11i2a6
Obakeng Kagola, Robin Notshulwana
Foundation Phase (FP) classrooms are not immune to incidents directly related to sexuality. Sexuality education, which is part of the FP life skills curriculum, is an essential part of the holistic development of FP learners. Studies about FP sexuality education report that FP teachers' formal approach to sexuality education is often restrictive. In this article, we use life history methodology to explore a single case study of a same-sex desiring male FP teacher in the Eastern Cape, South Africa to make meaning of how incidental moments that relate to sexuality education are addressed. Applying a feminist post-structural lens, we discuss how the participant and the participant's colleagues implicitly perpetuate heteronormative discourses in their pedagogical approaches to the teaching of sexuality education. The topic of sexuality features in one South African university's FP teacher education curriculum with the intention of raising pre-service teacher awareness about FP sexuality education. This research allowed us to reflect on the redesign of this fourth-year FP life skills module and to reimage the learning experiences offered to FP pre-service teachers.
{"title":"Reflecting on Sexuality Education in Teacher Education: Using a Life History Methodology of a Same-Sex Desiring Male Foundation Phase Teacher","authors":"Obakeng Kagola, Robin Notshulwana","doi":"10.17159/2221-4070/2021/v11i2a6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/2221-4070/2021/v11i2a6","url":null,"abstract":"Foundation Phase (FP) classrooms are not immune to incidents directly related to sexuality. Sexuality education, which is part of the FP life skills curriculum, is an essential part of the holistic development of FP learners. Studies about FP sexuality education report that FP teachers' formal approach to sexuality education is often restrictive. In this article, we use life history methodology to explore a single case study of a same-sex desiring male FP teacher in the Eastern Cape, South Africa to make meaning of how incidental moments that relate to sexuality education are addressed. Applying a feminist post-structural lens, we discuss how the participant and the participant's colleagues implicitly perpetuate heteronormative discourses in their pedagogical approaches to the teaching of sexuality education. The topic of sexuality features in one South African university's FP teacher education curriculum with the intention of raising pre-service teacher awareness about FP sexuality education. This research allowed us to reflect on the redesign of this fourth-year FP life skills module and to reimage the learning experiences offered to FP pre-service teachers.","PeriodicalId":43084,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research for Social Change","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42795007","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 : 2022-10-28DOI: 10.17159/2221-4070/2021/v11i2a7
J. Goebel, S. Maistry
National policy goals have made doctoral research a priority for academics in South African higher education. For many, the study of their own educational practice has strong appeal, and has led them to "cross over" and become novice educational researchers at doctoral level, pursuing qualitative research that could present ontological and epistemological challenges for those whose home disciplines (and training) are steeped in positivist quantitative methodologies. Concurrently, the need to be responsive to broader national imperatives for the decolonising of universities has underlined the importance of seeking inclusive participatory research methodologies that have potential to elevate participant voice. Interactive qualitative analysis (IQA) is a variant of participatory research that, we argue, offers advantages in view of these transformative shifts in South African higher education. IQA may appeal to cross-over researchers because it provides a structured and rigorous path through qualitative research. Moreover, IQA disrupts power relations that cast the researcher as "expert"; it grants participants control over data generation and preliminary analysis, and foregrounds their voices. We introduce IQA, and outline its key steps and protocols. Drawing on our application of IQA in a study at a South African university, we reflect critically on its affordances, limitations, and possible modifications.
{"title":"In Search of an Inclusive Participatory Research Methodology: The Appeal of Interactive Qualitative Analysis to Novice Qualitative Researchers","authors":"J. Goebel, S. Maistry","doi":"10.17159/2221-4070/2021/v11i2a7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/2221-4070/2021/v11i2a7","url":null,"abstract":"National policy goals have made doctoral research a priority for academics in South African higher education. For many, the study of their own educational practice has strong appeal, and has led them to \"cross over\" and become novice educational researchers at doctoral level, pursuing qualitative research that could present ontological and epistemological challenges for those whose home disciplines (and training) are steeped in positivist quantitative methodologies. Concurrently, the need to be responsive to broader national imperatives for the decolonising of universities has underlined the importance of seeking inclusive participatory research methodologies that have potential to elevate participant voice. Interactive qualitative analysis (IQA) is a variant of participatory research that, we argue, offers advantages in view of these transformative shifts in South African higher education. IQA may appeal to cross-over researchers because it provides a structured and rigorous path through qualitative research. Moreover, IQA disrupts power relations that cast the researcher as \"expert\"; it grants participants control over data generation and preliminary analysis, and foregrounds their voices. We introduce IQA, and outline its key steps and protocols. Drawing on our application of IQA in a study at a South African university, we reflect critically on its affordances, limitations, and possible modifications.","PeriodicalId":43084,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research for Social Change","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43891410","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 : 2022-10-28DOI: 10.17159/2221-4070/2021/v11i2a1
J. Whitehead, M. Huxtable
What educational practitioners have in common is the intention of contributing to the learning of communities and those who comprise them, to live values of human flourishing, and to help other people and communities to do so too. Professional educational-practitioner researchers can contribute to communities creating positive futures locally and globally by making public valid values-laden explanations of educational influence in learning. Whitehead (1989) coined the term llvlng-educatlonal-theory for such explanations. The implications of educational practitioners accepting professional responsibility for realising their humane values as fully as possible in practice, and contributing to the growth of a global educational knowledgebase by developing a Living Educational Theory Research approach to community-based educational research, are explored in this article. These include individuals and communities identifying where they experience their educational-practitioner self as a living contradiction and their values negated, and creating constructive ways forward-testing the validity of claims of improving educational practice that enhances educational, values-laden influences in learning-and strengthening accounts of learning to make positive social change in this complex and interconnected world through a process of social validation. Illustrative examples are given and limitations, challenges, and next steps identified.
{"title":"Developing a Living Educational Theory Research Approach to Community-Based Educational Research","authors":"J. Whitehead, M. Huxtable","doi":"10.17159/2221-4070/2021/v11i2a1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/2221-4070/2021/v11i2a1","url":null,"abstract":"What educational practitioners have in common is the intention of contributing to the learning of communities and those who comprise them, to live values of human flourishing, and to help other people and communities to do so too. Professional educational-practitioner researchers can contribute to communities creating positive futures locally and globally by making public valid values-laden explanations of educational influence in learning. Whitehead (1989) coined the term llvlng-educatlonal-theory for such explanations. The implications of educational practitioners accepting professional responsibility for realising their humane values as fully as possible in practice, and contributing to the growth of a global educational knowledgebase by developing a Living Educational Theory Research approach to community-based educational research, are explored in this article. These include individuals and communities identifying where they experience their educational-practitioner self as a living contradiction and their values negated, and creating constructive ways forward-testing the validity of claims of improving educational practice that enhances educational, values-laden influences in learning-and strengthening accounts of learning to make positive social change in this complex and interconnected world through a process of social validation. Illustrative examples are given and limitations, challenges, and next steps identified.","PeriodicalId":43084,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research for Social Change","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41502532","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 : 2022-10-28DOI: 10.17159/2221-4070/2021/v11i2a2
Ntokozo S. Mkhize-Mthembu, Khulekani Luthuli, Nontuthuko Phewa, S. Madondo
We are South African self-study researchers who started building our collaborative relationship as critical friends completing our doctoral studies. We have a keen interest in self-study research, and we all received our doctorates through self-study using arts-based research. Our collective self-study explores our doctoral work as critical friends teaching and learning using arts-based research in education. This article presents how we used memory work in a self-study project to elicit childhood memories for teacher-learner engagement and mentor-mentee knowledge sharing. We understand that a sociocultural theoretical perspective highlights the fundamental requirement of working together in educational contexts to make sense of collective and personal experiences. In addition, employing self-study research and revisiting our learning has assisted or even encouraged us to engage deeply with past life experiences to improve our teaching practice. We understand that our past experiences have the power to shape our teaching practices now and in the future. Although these experiences occur both inside and outside the classroom, the principles that we endorse remain the same: collaborative and interactive teaching and learning, and acknowledging the children's and our own earlier learning and backgrounds.
{"title":"Using Memory Work To Recall Childhood Experiences of Learning: Collaborative Reflections on Four Self-Study Projects","authors":"Ntokozo S. Mkhize-Mthembu, Khulekani Luthuli, Nontuthuko Phewa, S. Madondo","doi":"10.17159/2221-4070/2021/v11i2a2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/2221-4070/2021/v11i2a2","url":null,"abstract":"We are South African self-study researchers who started building our collaborative relationship as critical friends completing our doctoral studies. We have a keen interest in self-study research, and we all received our doctorates through self-study using arts-based research. Our collective self-study explores our doctoral work as critical friends teaching and learning using arts-based research in education. This article presents how we used memory work in a self-study project to elicit childhood memories for teacher-learner engagement and mentor-mentee knowledge sharing. We understand that a sociocultural theoretical perspective highlights the fundamental requirement of working together in educational contexts to make sense of collective and personal experiences. In addition, employing self-study research and revisiting our learning has assisted or even encouraged us to engage deeply with past life experiences to improve our teaching practice. We understand that our past experiences have the power to shape our teaching practices now and in the future. Although these experiences occur both inside and outside the classroom, the principles that we endorse remain the same: collaborative and interactive teaching and learning, and acknowledging the children's and our own earlier learning and backgrounds.","PeriodicalId":43084,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research for Social Change","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41591374","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 : 2022-10-28DOI: 10.17159/2221-4070/2021/v11i2a3
B. Verster, C. van den Berg
In this paper, we explore the possibilities offered by sociomateriality for academics to engage with complex learning environments. The focus is on a longitudinal design-based research (DBR) study that includes an interdisciplinary, collaborative student project between Information Systems (IS) and Urban Planning (URP) from two different higher education institutions in Cape Town, South Africa. In the project, student groups collaborate to find potential digital innovations for sustainability challenges in their local communities. The aim is to position the student as an active community member with intimate knowledge of local sustainability challenges, and to develop social digital innovations for the benefit of local communities. We apply sociomateriality as a theoretical lens to rethink socio-technical learning environments and propose four pedagogical propositions of relationality, reflexivity, responsiveness, and recognition to guide the pedagogical decision-making when designing complex learning environments. We conclude the paper by mapping student reflections and experiences to the four pedagogical propositions to illustrate how the theoretical sociomaterial elements translate into the learning environment.
{"title":"Theorising With Sociomateriality: Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Socio-Technical Learning Environments","authors":"B. Verster, C. van den Berg","doi":"10.17159/2221-4070/2021/v11i2a3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17159/2221-4070/2021/v11i2a3","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, we explore the possibilities offered by sociomateriality for academics to engage with complex learning environments. The focus is on a longitudinal design-based research (DBR) study that includes an interdisciplinary, collaborative student project between Information Systems (IS) and Urban Planning (URP) from two different higher education institutions in Cape Town, South Africa. In the project, student groups collaborate to find potential digital innovations for sustainability challenges in their local communities. The aim is to position the student as an active community member with intimate knowledge of local sustainability challenges, and to develop social digital innovations for the benefit of local communities. We apply sociomateriality as a theoretical lens to rethink socio-technical learning environments and propose four pedagogical propositions of relationality, reflexivity, responsiveness, and recognition to guide the pedagogical decision-making when designing complex learning environments. We conclude the paper by mapping student reflections and experiences to the four pedagogical propositions to illustrate how the theoretical sociomaterial elements translate into the learning environment.","PeriodicalId":43084,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research for Social Change","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45372287","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}
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