Faculty of Education

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Browsing Faculty of Education by Author "Ahiaku, Philip Kwashi Atiso"

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    Effects of curriculum change on teaching and learning of geography in grade 12
    (University of Zululand, 2020) Ahiaku, Philip Kwashi Atiso
    The deteriorating of educational level in the country has resulted in the need to look at the implementation of educational curricula especially newly introduced ones. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of curriculum change on classroom practices. This was achieved by organising 129 Geography educators in King Cetshwayo District in KwaZulu-Natal Province to answer questionnaires and 5 were interviewed using semi-structure interview schedule. The Results show that the curriculum was changed to correct not only political and social injustices of the past but also to promote teaching and learning among the marginalised majority African. The approach to the formation of the new curriculum was described as a typical top-down and did not include the views of the majority. Educators expressed their dissatisfaction about their exclusion from the formulation process. Evidence suggests that educators were adequately prepared to implement the new curriculum. However, the practices in the classroom and the prescriptions of the new curriculum were not aligned. Most educators failed to uphold the learner-centred teaching approach philosophy and seemed to have limited knowledge about appropriate teaching methods towards achieving it. Much could have been achieved in the classrooms had the appropriate infrastructure and resources been provided. The study therefore recommended intensive in-service training for educators according to their needs especially in teaching strategies. Appropriate infrastructure and resources must as matter of fact be provided to especially the previous disadvantaged schools.
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    Factors influencing learners’ performance in Geography in the National Senior Certificate Examination in selected public high schools within uThungulu District
    (University of Zululand, 2017) Ahiaku, Philip Kwashi Atiso; Duma, M.A.N; Mncube, D.W
    The purpose of this study was to identify factors that influence the low academic performance of learners in geography during the National Senior Certificate examination within the uThungulu District. The study made use of the national and district matriculation results from the examination directorate of the Department of Basic Education. The conceptualisation developed from the contemporary literature was used to develop instruments for data collection. A questionnaire was developed to collect views from Grade 12 geography educators on factors influencing learner performance in the district. It also solicited ideas about what should be done to improve learner performance in the subject. The second phase of data collection was qualitative study, which was conducted to augment the quantitative findings, which took place at the same time. Fifty (50) questionnaires were issued and only forty (40) educators responded and ten (10) other educators were taken through an interview. The district geography subject adviser was also interviewed. The results indicate that there are various factors that impede learner performances in geography in the district. The results from both descriptive and inferential statistics reveal factors such as educator characteristics, school management and resource availability, parental involvement in education and learner characteristics as emerging factors influencing the performance of learners in geography. Learners’ average matriculation (matric) results from the schools were estimated against educators’ characteristics such as qualifications, experience in teaching the subject, approaches used in teaching, and matric marking experience. The relationship between the independent and the dependent variables was determined using the t-test at 0.05 level of significance. The result indicated that in the uThungulu District learners’ performance in geography is strongly influenced by educators’ qualifications, and experience in matric marking. Findings from the this study were compared with the existing contemporary literature to enable the researcher to make recommendations to stakeholders to remedy deficiencies found to impede learners’ performance in geography in the National Senior Certificate in public high schools within the uThungulu District.
University of Zululand