Doctoral Degrees (Social Science Education)
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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Social Science Education) by Author "Manik, Sadhana."
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Item Geographic information systems (GIS) diffusion in high schools.(2023) Hlatywayo, Johane.; Manik, Sadhana.Geographical information systems (GIS), the phenomenon for this study, was introduced as a section in the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) for school Geography in 2006 in South Africa. It also appears in the latest Curriculum addition, namely the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), for Geography. It is taught in the further education and training (FET) phase of high school (Grades 10, 11 and 12) as a critical part of map work, which is assessed in Paper 2 of the geography examinations for these grades. An acknowledgement of the high failure rate of matric learners (grade 12) in the high stakes examination in Geography is testimony to the challenges that teachers and learners face. However, few studies have explored GIS diffusion locally, through the lens of teachers: their beliefs and views, the way it is taught and why, given that it is a practical component of the curriculum dependent on school resources, such as access to electricity, computers, GIS software and teachers’ innovativeness. Hence, there was a need to understand how GIS is taught and to identify the challenges which teachers face when they teach this section of the curriculum. The aim of the study was thus to explore GIS diffusion through the teaching of GIS in high schools in the Frances Baard district of the Northern Cape province of South Africa, a context where there is a dearth of research on GIS teaching in Geography. Key objectives of this study included an exploration of the pedagogical approaches used by geography teachers when they teach GIS and the reasons why they choose these approaches. The study also sought to examine teachers ’attitudes towards the inclusion of GIS in Geography in the FET phase and their views about teaching it. The study fell within the pragmatist paradigm, and a sequential explanatory mixed methods and multiple-case study design research design was adopted. Questionnaires, interviews, and classroom observations were used to generate data. Purposive convenience sampling was utilised to select the most accessible participants. In total, 60 geography teachers participated in this research. The study used Rogers’ (2003) diffusion of innovation theory and the technology acceptance model (TAM) as frameworks. The data from the interviews and classroom observations were analysed thematically using framework analysis, whilst the data from the questionnaires were analysed quantitively using SPSS, and the application of the Fisher’s test and ANOVA. The study integrated the findings and drew inferences using both qualitative and quantitative data. Teachers were found to have positive attitudes about the inclusion of GIS in the curriculum and they displayed an appreciation of its importance in society. However, the study found that the use of GIS in the classroom is constrained by several technical and non-technical challenges. It was revealed that seasoned teachers (who have been in the teaching profession for a long time) do not easily accept curriculum changes and need in-service training to enhance their knowledge and confidence in new content, such as GIS when it’s introduced into the curriculum. Further, the research noted that the majority of teachers used teacher-centred pedagogical approaches when teaching GIS, utilising mainly the textbook. It was a significant finding that the teachers lacked GIS training, and that they had inadequate GIS content knowledge. Furthermore, teachers 'integration of GIS in their geography lessons, was impaired by infrastructure challenges in the school with electricity and internet connectivity. The study makes theoretical contributions to the diffusion of innovation, as well as technology acceptance models from a GIS lens, in addition to Geography teaching in South Africa. Many teachers resorted to thus ‘teaching about GIS’ rather than ‘teaching through GIS’. As a result, ‘perfunctory GIS teaching’ was evident in the mechanical, minimal effort, unenthusiastic manner of teaching. Many teachers were ‘curriculum cramming’ - they hurtled through the GIS section of the CAPS and failed to integrate it with other Geography topics in the curriculum due to the curriculum and assessment demands for GIS. Whilst there is value in teacher-centred pedagogical approaches to teaching some aspects of GIS, the current curriculum is constructivist and teachers’ weak GIS content knowledge base contributed to influencing the pedagogical approaches which they opted to use when teaching GIS. The study advances an ecosystems model to understand and respond to the GIS teaching challenges facing Geography teachers in the Frances Baard district of the Northern Cape. Thus, the study recommends that it is critical for teachers to receive GIS support such as GIS training on compliance to CAPS and to build sufficient content and pedagogical content knowledge to be confident in teaching this section. The research also recommends that, in order to bridge the gap in GIS knowledge, a seeding model of GIS can be pursued in the province. Alternatively, the GIS lessons can be skype/zoom taught if there is a lack of access to electricity so that schools can learn simultaneously. These models can help reduce the failure rate in the GIS section of the matric exit examination and it can assist to promote the subject of geography, especially for those learners who are intent on pursuing GIS linked careers. Other insights gained from the data suggest that the pedagogical approaches used, the knowledge of GIS by teachers, and their attitudes towards GIS can be improved if other stakeholders (apart from the Department of Education and their district offices), such as the Environmental Systems Research Institute South Africa, universities and local municipalities that have access to GIS expertise and resources help to set up collaborative project endeavours to provide GIS expertise, to workshop teachers and to tutor learners in the GIS seeding of schools.Item Integrating indigenous knowledge into the teaching of weather and climate in the geography curriculum in secondary schools: the case of Manicaland in Zimbabwe.(2020) Risiro, Joshua.; Manik, Sadhana.The aim of this study was to explore integrating Indigenous Knowledge (IK) into the teaching of weather and climate in Geography in secondary schools in Manicaland Province of Zimbabwe. The study was motivated by the need to enhance and promote the integration of IK into the teaching of Geography in Zimbabwe. Available literature has shown that very little has occurred to integrate IK in the teaching of Geography in Zimbabwe. Most of the available literature has focused on the nature and importance of IK without explicitly focusing on the application of IK in teaching. This study therefore focused on the views of teachers and community elders regarding decolonisation of the curriculum and integrating IK in the teaching of weather and climate in Geography. The study further explored how IK can feature in the teaching of weather and climate in Geography. Finally, the study examined the challenges that might be faced in the process of integrating IK in the teaching of Geography. The interpretive paradigm guided the study. A Qualitative research method that made use of interviews and focus group discussions was used to collect data from the participants. The population sample included interviews with fourteen (14) community elders and sixteen (16) education practitioners. In addition, seven (7) focus group discussions with community elders and another seven (7) with educators were facilitated. Purposive sampling was adopted to select the participants of the study. The study revealed that integrating IK into the Geoography syllabus was strongly mooted as a way of decolonizing the curriculum. The community elders were of the view that the integration of IK in the teaching of Geography was a way of restoring Zimbabwean national heritage which had been lost due to foreign influences stemming from colonisation. The elders believed that, the teaching of Geography was supposed to incorporate African unhu/ubuntu values and experiences among the learners that build a total person. Teachers believed that integrating IK in Geography would enhance the use indigenous pedagogical practices resulting in a better understanding of geographical concepts. It was revealed that the teachers could use various pathways of integrating IK in the teaching of Geography. Both the community elders and teachers believed that local language/dialect usage, indigenous methods of weather forecasting and the role of spirituality should be integrated in the teaching of Geography and this would provide a much-needed authentic education in the Geography curriculum. Thus, indigenising the Geography curriculum can also be heralded as cultural and linguistic pluralism in the syllabus which is currently absent. However, disappointingly, many Geography teachers held negative beliefs of indigenous practices and they did not believe that IK held equal status with western Science. They provided simplistic ideas such as cultural songs in the lesson introduction as a way of integratiing IK into lessons on weather and climate. Several challenges to the integration of IK in the teaching of weather and climate in Geography were suggested by the participants and these included religious factors, government policies, modernisation, a lack of resources and assessment. The study advances a process model for the integration of IK in the Geography curriculum in Zimbabwe. It was observed that there was a need for future studies to research the use of indigenous knowledge and practices in classroom teaching to grow the literature in this field.Item International Phd students’ first-year experiences: the case of students at the university of Kwazulu-Natal (UKZN).(2022) Oyewo, Adetola Elizabeth.; Manik, Sadhana.This study contributes to the literature on internationalization of higher education by adding to scholarship on students' destination choice on studying abroad and their expe1iences in host count1ies. South-south migration of students is an under researched field when compared to South-nmth migration. This study, couched in transnationalism, examined the reasons for international PhD students from com1tries in Afiica exiting their home count1y to study at the University of KwaZuluNatal (UKZN) in South Africa and their first-yeai· PhD expe1iences at UK.ZN. The study is unde1pinned by push-pull theories (Ravenstein, 1885; Lee, 1966; Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002) and the social capital themy of Bourdieu (1986). The study was qualitative using interviews and focus group discussions as date generation tools. Sixteen international PhD students from Africa, studying at UKZN were selected through convenience sampling. The findings indicate that international PhD students exit their home com1tiy because of several push factors, which collectively spur them to leaving their home cmmtiy to study at UKZN. International student migration to UKZN results in a brain gain for UKZN and a brain drain to the home com1tiy. The study advances theoretical insights into the push factors from other Afiican cmmt1ies, which were numerous; however the financial pull factors comprising fee remission and oppmtunities to tutor/ lecture at UKZN in SA ove1whelmingly propelled the mobility of international students from countries in Africa to UKZN in SA. The findings illmninate both positive and negative experiences about students' first-year PhD study at UKZN. The study fom1d that the students were accessing an array of social capitals at the host institution and within South Afiica. Positive experiences included academic tutoring/ lecniring and reseai·ch training towards completion of the PhD with initiatives such as the UKZN boot camps, workshops and the coho1t model. These expe1iences developed the hmnan capital of international students. Discursive positionality influenced students' expe1iences: the inability to speak isiZulu, Afrophobia, exclusion, and perceptions of 'being an outsider/foreigner. These created significant acculturative stresses for international students during the first year PhD. The study extends on the theo1ies of Mazzarol and Soutar and Lee. It makes a fiuther theoretical contiibution by providing a framework on the push-pull factors influencing international PhD students to study at UK.ZN and advances a framework on the provision of service quality. Several recommendations are provided to stI·engthen service delive1y for African international snidents to enhance the PhD students' experiences in their first year.Item The nature of assessment tasks in secondary Business Studies textbooks in Eswatini, Lesotho and Botswana.(2022) Dlamini, Zodwa Treasure.; Manik, Sadhana.This research study focused on assessment tasks in junior secondary Business Studies textbooks in three Southern African countries: Eswatini, Lesotho and Botswana (ELB), thus addressing a gap in the scholarship on Business Studies textbook analysis. Business Studies is part of a new curriculum introduced in these countries and entrepreneurship, a significant thematic focus. The study analyzed the nature of assessment tasks against a background of problem-solving and critical thinking skills development for secondary school learners. This study analyzed two chapters in each of the three Business Studies textbooks from the three mentioned countries. Textbook content analysis was thus at the core of the study where the assessment tasks in the Business Studies textbooks were analysed. Two key themes of Entrepreneurship and Business Ownership were selected for analysis as the selected countries indicated high levels of unemployment and their new curricula showed a commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and business ownership amongst learners in the hope of building the economy. Whilst the study used a mixed-method approach, it leaned more towards a qualitative approach as the analysis involved an interpretation of the complexity of the assessment tasks in the Business Studies textbooks Literature related to textbook assessment tasks were reviewed for a general conceptual, theoretical and methodological foundation for the exploration. The study used a conceptual framework adapted from Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy and Umalusi and then further developed a Multi-Dimensional Framework (MDF) for this study to analyse the cognitive demand in the assessment study's findings highlight several gaps in postcolonial education in the two sections providing theoretical insights into the aim of Business Studies as a subject in order to ensure the sustainability of an entrepreneurial spirit in learners. Textbook quality was at risk in these two chapters for several reasons. The chapters demonstrated extensive short answer tasks that test lower order thinking skills (LOTS) facilitating superficial learning. Therefore, there is dissonance between the objective of including specific chapters in the textbooks (such as entrepreneurship and business ownership, which are innovations to the curriculum linked to neoliberalism) and the nature of the assessments and the kind of learner that would be developed in these chapters. The few essay type tasks in the textbooks, promote deep learning by assessing higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) like problem-solving and critical thinking skills which enhance the development of entrepreneurial skills. Additionally, tasks in the textbooks were sequenced in a manner that enhance continuity and progression of learning. Also, some essay tasks were authentic as they do simulate the real world situation but authentic assessment tasks did not dominate the two sections in all three textbooks. The research concludes with a framework called ‘Integrated Assessment Framework’ (IAF) to guide future analysis of end of chapter tasks. It is recommended that these chapters (Entrepreneurship and Business Ownership) be reviewed by the relevant education authorities and refined to foster greater critical thinking and problem-solving skills, to promote authentic, fit for purpose, context-driven deep learning which can serve as a germination bed for entrepreneurial activity and business ownership.Item The role of environmental education in climate change mitigation and adaptation: the case of Gwanda rural district, Zimbabwe.(2021) Sibanda, Arorisoe.; Manik, Sadhana.The purpose of this research was centred on the role of Environmental Education (EE) in climate change mitigation and adaptation. The study sought to explore the successes and challenges of EE efforts in climate change mitigation and adaptation among the communities of Gwanda rural district in Zimbabwe. An interpretive qualitative case study research approach was used to explore EE efforts in the rural drought-prone area in Zimbabwe. The participants comprised farmers whose livelihoods are dependent on natural resources and government support officials such as the Agriculture and Extension Services Department (AGTRITEX) and the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) officials). Data generation tools included semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis. A sample of 38 research participants from two wards of Gwanda rural district were used, and there were 19 research participants per ward. The Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (SRL) Framework and the Nested model of sustainability guided the study. The findings indicate a myriad of EE efforts by the government and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that require local innovations in their implementation. The research indicated that there are numerous climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies being implemented in the Gwanda rural district. Some of these strategies are ineffective, whilst some are successful. There were inconsistencies and a lack of coordination in some climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies which are being implemented. The research indicated cultural resistance by some farmers who are not implementing mitigation and adaptation strategies that have proved to be successful in the district due to traditional beliefs and practices. Therefore, there is a need to embark on EE programmes to address issues that hinder the adoption of successful climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. All cultural beliefs and practices that hinder the implementation of successful climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies should be addressed through the engagement of traditional leaders. The study revealed that for EE programmes to be effective, they have to focus on harnessing local expertise that is collaborative efforts between extension agents and communities to craft EE programmes for local use. The research also indicated that a 'one size fits all’ approach will not lead to successful implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies because there are situated vulnerabilities. COVID-19 has also worsened situated vulnerabilities in Gwanda rural district mainly due to recurring national lockdowns which inhibit the local communities’ access to treated seeds from local towns. Also, the retrenchment of workers has worsened the vulnerabilities of communities because a loss of income negatively affects capital assets which compromises generative resilience. Thus, the study advocates for the use of indigenous seeds that avoid inconveniences during national lockdowns because communities will be using locally available seeds which are well adapted to the local conditions. Two models were developed in this study towards this end, to illustrate the roles of EE in enhancing generative resilience and reducing situated vulnerability in Gwanda. The models developed are EE for Rural Sustainable Livelihoods (EERSL) and the Box Model for Rural Sustainable Livelihoods (BMRSL). The models were developed focussing on different levels of intervention: the micro, meso, and macro levels whilst extrapolating concepts of SRLF and the Nested model of sustainability. They illustrate that the key determinants of sustainable livelihoods in the context of Gwanda, are EE and financial funding. As a result, the study found that EE and capital assets are critical in reducing the vulnerability of communities in drought-prone areas. They also enhance resilience, environmental stewardship and promote sustainable livelihoods. The study suggests exploring African solutions to African problems and the harnessing of indigenous knowledge systems in developing local solutions to local problems. The data from the study can be utilised in EE programmes to boost the resilience of rural communities, which are vulnerable to climate change in Gwanda rural district, Zimbabwe.Item South African primary school migrant teachers’ school-based experiences in the Arab Gulf countries.(2020) Anganoo, Lucille-Dawn.; Manik, Sadhana.This study explored the reasons for South African teachers from primary schools migrating to teach in the Arab Gulf. It also examined what were migrant teachers’ initial school-based experiences in the Arab Gulf countries and after six months including why they have these particular experiences. Theories of international migration (neoclassical, dual labour, new economics and social networks) relevant to the migration of the highly skilled and theories on migrant teachers’ experiences (Huberman, 1989; Day & Kington, 2008; Bailey & Mulder, 2017; Miller, 2019) and acculturation (Bense, 2016), informed the study. The data was generated from a qualitative ethnographic case study using interviews, focus group discussions and diary entries. The majority of the teachers in the sample migrated to primary and secondary schools in Abu Dhabi due to feelings of ‘relative deprivation’ as a result of economic reasons and the enormous perks offered by recruitment agencies in this destination. Their profiles revealed that they were also predominantly seasoned teachers of Indian descent. The pull factors influencing their decisions were greater than the push factors and these included the high salary earned abroad, better professional development opportunities, living in an Islamic country and easy travel to other destinations from the Arab Gulf. A key finding of the present study, was that of unencumbered movers in the sample: seasoned female migrant teachers who were single, with no children. Common migrant teachers’ experiences included having an abundance of resources that assisted in curriculum delivery, perceived ill-disciplined learners and a lack of parental involvement in public schools in Abu Dhabi, the language barrier inhibiting teaching and learning and xenophobia. Migrant teachers showed initiative in quickly learning how to customize their lessons according to each learner’s ability so that learners were able to pass their assessments. The findings revealed that those migrant teachers who integrated within a year, were attached to the Gulf society and chose to remain and some had returned for a second contract in the Gulf, whereas those migrant teachers who endured unpleasant experiences such as racial and professional discrimination, felt excluded and marginalised, and harboured thoughts of returning to South Africa. The professional identities of migrant teachers were clearly not fixed but altered through acculturation in the host country.