Browsing by Author "Naicker, Subramunian Anand."

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African secondary school pupils' and their teachers' perceptions of their performance in selected schools.
(1999) Arsiradam, Prema.; Naicker, Subramunian Anand.
The concept of racially-desegregated state schooling in South Africa was officially implemented in 1991. This change to racially-mixed schooling was not without problems. There are, to date, few known studies on this theme in South Africa although there are many overseas studies. The focus of the present study is on the implications of racially-desegregated schooling for the disadvantaged African population. The study examines African secondary school pupils' and their teachers' perceptions of their performance in the context of racially-desegregated schools. It also aims to study these perceptions in the context of striving for 'equality of opportunity' in the light of current educational refonns in South Africa. This study is located in the sociology of education framework, using a symbolic interactionist approach of analysis. Six schools in the suburb of Phoenix in Durban, originally designed for the Indian population, were used. A sample of 150 pupils belonging to both the middle and working class groups in the senior and junior phases of schooling was calculated. A sample of 68 teachers who teach pupils in the sample was also chosen. Questionnaires were administered to and interviews were conducted with both teachers and pupils. Objective data was also collected in the form of pupils' examination results over a period of a year. The Chi-square test of significance was used to establish if there were differences in performances of pupils within the social groups and within the phases of schooling.
Biosocial issues as a component of biology education.
(1993) Magi, Nomathemba Virginia.; Naicker, Subramunian Anand.; Isaac, T.
This study was designed to investigate the extent to which the biology teachers and student teachers are aware and understand biology-related problems that affect the African communities in the Natal north-coastal region. The basis of the research is modelled on the premise that because biology-related problems such as health, shortage of food and water resources, population explosion, pollution are prevalent in South Africa, biology teachers may well be teaching about ways of coping with these problems. In essence the aims of the study are to: (1) Identify the most important biology-related social problems that impinge on life in the African community, the extent to which they are understood, and the sources of information used by teachers and student-teachers to obtain information about biosocial issues. (2) Establish whether biosocial issues form a constituent part of the current biology curriculum at senior secondary school level, and to identify important biology-related issues that should be included in the biology curriculum. The procedure used surveys from two separate sample populations practising biology teachers (N=99) and student teachers (N=93 who were at final year of their Secondary Teachers Diploma. Data were computer-analyzed using frequencies and percentages, ranking and cross tabulations. The study is broadly structured around nine chapters. The first chapter gives an overall orientation to the study and further elucidation of methodology is in Chapter 5. Chapter 2 specifically treats the impact of African education on biology education in South Africa. Chapters 3 and 4 discuss the conceptual sources and relationships which exist between science, technology, society and the relevance of biology education in the African communities of South Africa. Chapters 6, 7 and 8 deal with empirical data in the form of field survey responses, analysis and interpretation. The overall summary of the study, its implications and conclusions are presented in Chapter 9. The major conclusions of the study are: First, that biology teachers and student-teachers identified the most important biology-related problems in the north-coastal region of Natal as food and water resources, health and diseases, energy resources and nature conservation. Secondly, that whereas most teachers and student-teachers indicated that they were knowledgeable about these problems, the nature of their understanding was mostly a narrow and factual view of the concepts which neglected the social perspective. Thirdly, both teachers and student-teachers rely heavily on the schools and textbooks as sources of information. However evidence from an analysis of biology syllabuses used in secondary schools indicates that there is over-emphasis of factual knowledge and little reference to the application of that knowledge to life situations. As a result, textbooks which are closely modelled along the dictates of syllabuses, have little or no worthwhile information on biosocial issues. Fourthly, that to make the biology curriculum relevant to the needs and interest of the African community, biosocial issues that were identified as important should be incorporated in the biology curriculum. The study has important implications for the goals of biology education, the selection of biology content offered in schools, and the involvement of teachers in curriculum development. In the north coastal region of Natal, biology education does not contribute to better understanding of one's environment that could lead to the solution of problems and improving the quality of life in the community. Involvement of teachers in the selection of biology content which is viewed as important for fulfilling community needs and interests should be considered because teachers know and can articulate the aspirations of their local communities.
The effectiveness of current preschool education programmes with special reference to children's readiness for formal schooling.
(1993) Singh, Dhanaluxmi.; Ramphal, Anandpaul.; Naicker, Subramunian Anand.
The two principal aims of this study were: (a) to evaluate the effectiveness of existing pre-primary education for Indian children and (b) to determine the relative effectiveness of three current school readiness programmes. Random samples of pupils, with varying preschool backgrounds, were drawn from Class i children attending selected Indian primary schools in the Greater Durban area. Information relating to the four groups formed in this way are given below: Sample A: pupils who had attended registered private pre-primary schools (N = 50); Sample B: pupils who had attended departmental bridging module classes (N = 40); Sample C: pupils who had attended community-run preprimary classes (N = 50) ; and Sample D: pupils who had had no formal preschool education (N = 30). To make the four groups comparable, variables such as age, sex, intelligence and socio-economic status were controlled. In keeping with the abovementioned aims the following sets of comparisons were made: (a) the performances, on a test of school readiness, of those pupils who had had some form of formal preschool education (Groups A, B and C) were compared with those who did not receive any such education (Group D); and (b) the performances, on a test of school readiness, of pupils who came from the three different types of preschool backgrounds (A, B and C) were compared with one another. Questionnaires were also completed by a sample of Class i Junior Primary teachers in the Greater Durban area (N = 35). Teachers were asked to comment and report on issues relating to pre-primary schools and classes, the extent of pupil readiness for Class i, the effectiveness of school readiness tests, and matters relating to the Class i curriculum. The purpose of this part of the study was to identify problems in subject areas related to preschool education so that appropriate remedial action could be suggested. There was consensus among Class i teachers that preschool education promotes school readiness. This was confirmed by the results of this study. Groups A, Band C which had received preschool education performed significantly better than group D which comprised pupils who had had no preschool education. The findings also indicated that the preschool programme offered by the departmental bridging module classes was more effective in promoting school readiness than the programme offered by either the registered private pre-primary schools or community-run preprimary classes. Teachers rated the programme offered by Departmental bridging module class to be the most effective for preparing children for formal education. The registered, private pre-primary schools came second, and the community-run classes, third. This rating was again confirmed by the findings of this study. When it came to rating the various subjects in the Class i curriculum in order of difficulty, the following rank-orders were obtained: English (most difficult) followed by Mathematics, Writing, Environmental Studies, Art and Music. They also identified specific short-comings among Class i pupils in each subject area. A number of recommendations are made so that the problems identified by the investigation can be addressed. These relate to pre-primary educational provision, resources and support services, the environment as a resource, teaching, testing and the curriculum. Education authorities, pre-primary teachers, parents and Junior primary teachers are urged to adopt a team approach in the solution of problems relating to young children's education.
The effectiveness of the social condition of education in an Indian pre-primary school.
(1987) Singh, Sundrakanthi.; Naicker, Subramunian Anand.; Stears, Louw-Haardt.
No abstract available.
An investigation into the social and cultural aspects of the home background of two contrasting social class groups of Indian primary school pupils in the Merebank area of Durban, and its implications for education.
(1979) Naicker, Subramunian Anand.; Bekker, J. H.; Behr, Abraham Leslie.
Though the influence of social class and home background upon school achievement is a well established field of research in Britain and certain other oversea countries, research of this type is almost non-existent in South Africa. The present study was therefore designed as a sociological investigation of differential school performance to establish basic research in this field, with particular reference to home-school relationships in the Indian context. This study, which is set within the integrated theoretical framework of the old and new sociology of education, seeks to give some insight into the intricate nature of home background, and to shed some light on the complex relationship between social class and educational performance. In a review of pertinent literature in this field, it also traces the shift in emphasis from the more traditional, normative macro-studies of family, class and education to the more recent interpretative, micro-studies. Through the use of an eclectic approach, the empirical design incorporated both the normative and interpretative paradigms which aimed at studying the social and cultural aspects of the home background of two contrasting social class groups of pupils in six primary schools in the Merebank area of Durban. The proportionately stratified random sample consisting of 50 middle class and 100 lower working class pupils was representative of the social class structure of this neighbourhood. The home environment of each child in the entire sample was assessed during a personal visit to his home. The four main dimensions of the home which were investigated included: the material environment; general cultural and educational experiences; educational motivations and aspirations of parents; and family size. The pupils' cumulative school performance was assessed by scaling their composite examination results into standard scores which enabled marks from different schools and from different classes within the same school to be compared. This general educational performance is the criterion with which the various social and cultural factors have been related. The results of this study were analysed mainly through the use of chi-square, z tests of significance, analyses of variance, and correlation analyses. The main findings indicate that: (a) the general educational performance of the middle class pupils is consistently better than that of the lower working class pupils; (b) the two most important dimensions of the home which emphasise the greatest social class differences between the two groups, and which account for the most amount of variation in school performance are the general cultural and educational experiences, and the educational motivations and aspirations of patents. To achieve equality of opportunity for all pupils, this study recommends a broad policy of linking home and school through effective joint educational and social reform. This policy aims at improving the quality of life both at home and at school. In particular, it stresses the importance of increasing the educational awareness of the home, and of developing social consciousness in schools.
Pupil career aspirations and the influence of parental involvement and school guidance : a sociological study of Indian senior secondary pupils of Tongaat.
(1991) Pillay, Joyce Krishnambal.; Naicker, Subramunian Anand.; Stears, Louw-Haardt.
No abstract available.
A sociological study of the educational and career routes of a group of Indian secondary school students in the Durban area : the transition from school to work.
(1988) Naicker, Subramunian Anand.; Muir, Robert K.
This longitudinal study on the transition from school to work of a group of Indian school-leavers from two co-educational schools in Durban is an attempt to analyse the processes underlying the construction of educational and career routes. It deals with the lived experiences of boys and girls from different social-class backgrounds within the school, the family, and the work situation. This passage from school to work, which also includes the experiences of unemployment, is examined against the background of social interactions in micro settings, as well as the influences of social, structural and cultural forces. In particular, the career pathways are studied within the context of the cultural background of Indians, and their socio-historical location in the South African society as a minority and an intermediate status group in a racially-divided society. As the students proceeded through the last three years at school and into the first few months of work various qualitative, field research methods were used to get some insight into the changing and complex nature of the transitional process. These methods included participant observation, focus sed and unfocussed interviews, and discussions. Such qualitative research methods were valuable for an understanding' of the meanings and values on which the students' actions were based. The structural and interpretive analysis of the family, the school, the labour market, and a patriarchal, capitalist, apartheid society points to the significance of ideological values, hegemony, class relations, racial, gender, and political and economic influences on the construction of educational and career identities. The analysis also indicates the close relationship which exists on the one hand between the cultural interpretations and practices of various social actors; and on the other hand, the structural conditions in which these are located. The findings provide some account of how social-class relations are continued and sustained via related and different inequalities such as race and gender. Race, class and gender exist side by side in this reproduction process. By focussing on the close relationship which exists between the actions and decisions of the students, and the structures of society, this study attempts to bridge the gap between structural and interpretive explanations. The students' interpretations of their educational and career choices are brought into a closer relationship with the structures of society.
"We shouldn't have to do this; we're girls!" an examination of gender, self-efficacy and conceptual understanding in electro-technology for a class of teacher trainees in Design and Technology at a South African University.
(2011) Mackay, Ross James.; Hobden, Paul Anthony.; Naicker, Subramunian Anand.; Memela, N.
Abstract available in the PDF.