Masters Degrees (Curriculum Studies)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Curriculum Studies) by Author "Badenhorst, Corlischa Amanda"

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    Graad 8-leerders se geleefde ervaring van die gebruik van fiktiewe karakters in die Lewensoriënteringklaskamer
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012-12) Badenhorst, Corlischa Amanda; Le Grange, L. L.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The political and social changes that occurred after 1994 in South Africa, inevitably led to the emergence of a new educational era. Life Orientation (LO) was introduced as a new learning area within the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) and seeks to preventatively empower learners to take up their legitimate place as citizens within the national and international society (DoE, 2003:2). LO cannot only be liable for the holistic development of individual learners. The community in which learners grow up are faced with unique challenges that will inescapably influence their development. I highlight the influence of “Ubuntu” and “Ukama” on the process of becoming of each individual and therefore use the ecosystemic perspective as a theoretical framework for this study. I reflect on my own experiences within the LO classroom that led to the creation of fictional characters and case studies as a teaching strategy. In this study I distinguish between case study as a teaching strategy and a research methodology. I determine the lived experiences of Grade 8 learners in a secondary school where this teaching strategy was used within the LO classroom. A case study as research methodology is used where qualitative data was produced through personal documentation. A random sample of ten participants from the case study is used to obtain a thorough understanding of their lived experiences. Qualitative data was further produced by twenty individual and two focus group interviews with the sample group. I used the constant comparative method to ensure that I identify the units of meaning and discuss the findings on the basis of three categories. First, the data indicated that the participants found guidance through the case studies of the characters. Secondly, it appeared that the experiences of the characters influenced the participants’ decision making processes. Thirdly, the data indicated that participants used this teaching strategy as a platform to voice their own personal emotions and experiences. On the basis of Gilles Deleuze (in Wallin, 2010) and Magdeleine Grumet (1981) this study emphasizes the potential role that an evolving, active form of curriculum can play in the becoming processes of each individual learner and teacher. I conclude by recommending that uniqueness and diversity must be encouraged within the classroom to ensure that curriculum will not be a homogeneous policy document, but that it will be active and developmental in nature. I use the work of Wallin (2010), Sutton and Martin-Jones (2008) and Grumet (1981) to offer new insights about the pedagogical making process within the South African context.