Doctoral Degrees (Curriculum Studies)

Permanent URI for this collection

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/741

Browse

Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Curriculum Studies) by Subject "Accounting teachers -- South Africa -- Western Cape"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A phenomenological investigation into the lived experience of selected accounting teachers in the Western Cape Province
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-03) Koopman, Karen Joy; Le Grange, L.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT : This study investigates the lived experiences of selected Further Education and Training Accounting teachers residing in the Western Cape Province in South Africa. The main research question is: What are the lived experiences of selected Accounting teachers in the Western Cape province? The subsidiary research questions are: (i) How do Accounting teachers experience the circumstances (contexts) in which they teach? (ii) How did the various changes in the curriculum over the last two decade impact on their disposition towards the curriculum? (iii) How do the Accounting teachers’ convictions (passion, confidence, certainty, belief) about who they are influence the way in which they experience their work? (iv) What motivates Accounting teachers to do what they do? To answer the main research questions and sub-questions accurately, I purposively selected five research participants. Three of the five participants teach at historically disadvantaged schools with a quintile index rating ranging from 1 to 2, while the other two participants teach at historically advantaged schools with the quintile index rating ranging from 4 to 5. To elicit rich descriptions of the teachers’ subjective experiences, this study conducted in-depth semi-structured phenomenological interviews augmented with field notes for the data construction process. Each interview was divided into two parts. The first part of each interview captured the childhood and early adulthood experiences of the research participants. Their childhood and early adulthood experiences included where they grew up, the influential roles of their parents, their Accounting teachers and their Accounting lecturers at the institutions of higher learning where they acquired their teacher’s training. The second part of each interview focused mainly on their practices as in-service Accounting teachers. The research participants’ experiences as in-service Accounting teachers were captured from four perspectives. First, their challenges, fears and convictions as Accounting teachers were captured as well as the way they cope with the conditions within which they teach. Secondly, their teaching strategies were noted. Thirdly, their experiences of the changing landscape in education in South Africa over the last two decades were recorded. Finally, their drive to remain in the teaching profession despite the daily challenges they are confronted with was documented. Theoretically I drew on Edmund Husserl’s ‘life world’ theory, Martin Heidegger’s notion of Dasein and Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s ‘lived body’ theory. These theories formed the essence of the conceptual and data explicitation frameworks. Husserl’s ‘lifeworld theory’ was used to craft a descriptive narrative for each research participant, which laid the foundation for the interpretive narrative based on Heidegger’s notion of Dasein. The descriptive and interpretive narratives guided the construction of the anticipatory interpretive narrative that was based on the ‘lived body theory’ of Merleau-Ponty. The findings revealed that there is a significant match between each research participant’s childhood experiences and teacher training with their professional trajectories as Accounting teachers. This means that their perception of Accounting as a school subject was constructed and shaped by their experiences as learners and as pre-service teachers. Despite all the frustrations and concerns around the subject Accounting, the research participants all agree that they want to remain in the teaching profession. These finding have implications for policy-makers, curriculum designers, teacher educators and phenomenological researchers.