Exploring Teaching Perspectives Embraced by Teachers in Teaching Agricultural Sciences in Secondary Schools in South Africa

Nonhlanhla Fortunate Nduku ORCID iD

Issue: Vol.5  No.16 Issue Article 24 pp.2986-2996
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202451624 | Published online 19th December, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Views: 53
27 Downloads

DOWNLOAD PDF

The South African Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) document stipulates that in teaching Agricultural Sciences (AGRIS), teachers should cement their pedagogical practices in three aspects: knowledge, skill, and values/attitudes. The statement contends for the interwoven prescriptive (knowledge), communal (skills), and habitual (values/attitudes) perspectives, which are apropos of balancing three aspects of teaching AGRIS. The study, therefore, explored teachers’ perspectives when teaching AGRIS in secondary schools. The study was grounded in the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), shaped by Vygotsky. From the critical paradigm, the study employed reflective activities, interviews, observations, and focus groups as data generation methods through action research. Six participants were purposefully selected to bring an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon. The findings exhibited that teachers embrace the prescriptive perspective when teaching AGRIS in secondary schools. On the one hand, teachers impart content knowledge during AGRIS teaching. On the other hand, the CAPS document is silent about how teachers should instill skills and values/attitudes in learners. It is recommended that the AGRIS curriculum developers amend the enactment of skills and values/attitudes driven by communal and habitual perspectives. Nonetheless, the researcher calls for aligning prescriptive, communal, and habitual perspectives for teachers to impart knowledge, skill, and values/attitudes successfully. This alignment may balance the quality of the AGRIS South African curriculum.

Keywords: Perspective, Prescriptive, Communal, Habitual

Bantwini, Bongani D. “Analysis of the State of Collaboration between Natural Science School District Officials and Primary School Science Teachers in South Africa.” Journal of Baltic Science Education 14, no. 5 (2015): 586–98.

Baptista, Geilsa Costa Santos, and Adela Molina-Andrade. “Science Teachers’ Conceptions about the Importance of Teaching and How to Teach Western Science to Students from Traditional Communities.” Human Arenas 6, no. 4 (2023): 704–31.

Berkvens, J., van den Akker, J., & Brugman, M. Addressing the quality challenge: Reflections on the post-2015 UNESCO education agenda. Netherlands National Commission for UNESCO(2014).

Biswas, Nupur, Kalyan Ghadei, and Nirupam Biswas. “Perception of Students and Teachers towards Reforms on Agricultural Education Subject Matter.” Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 9, no. 2 (2020): 322–25.

Blackburn, J Joey, J Shane Robinson, and Harry Field. “Preservice Agriculture Teachers’ Perceived Level of Readiness in an Agricultural Mechanics Course.” Journal of Agricultural Education 56, no. 1 (2015): 172–88.

Çelik, Handan, and Ece Zehir Topkaya. “Preservice English Teachers’ Preparedness to Teach: Stakeholders’ Perceptions in Teaching Practicum.” Journal of Teacher Education 75, no. 1 (2024): 92–106.

Czerniewicz, L., & Brown, C. “The habitus and technological practices of rural students: a case study.” South African Journal of Education, 34(1), (2014).1-14.

Dlamini, Nqobile Faith. “Factors influencing the choice of Agriculture as a study discipline by undergraduates: A case study of a distance university’s Agriculture Department.” Unpublished Thesis, University of South Africa (2017).

Fomunyam, Kehdinga George. “Curriculum Theorizing and Individualism: An Exploration of the Curriculum’s Relation to the Social, Personal and Political Dimensions of Schooling.” Mevlana International Journal of Education (MIJE) 4, no. 2 (2014): 122–31.

Fomunyan, K. G. “ The Ideological Ware as Key to Improve Learner Performance.” Journal of Education 16, no. 1 (2017): 108–25.

Garner, Nicole, Antje Siol, and Ingo Eilks. “The Potential of Non-Formal Laboratory Environments for Innovating the Chemistry Curriculum and Promoting Secondary School Level Students Education for Sustainability.” Sustainability 7, no. 2 (2015): 1798–1818.

Grange, L Le. “Decolonising the University Curriculum.” South African Journal of Higher Education 30, no. 2 (2016): 1–12.

Hoadley, U, and J Jansen. Curriculum: Organizing Knowledge for the Classroom. OUP Southern Africa, 2009. https://books.google.com.gh/books?id=DX_9nQEACAAJ.

Hoadley, & Muller, J. Codes, pedagogy and knowledge Advances in Bernstein sociology of education: Routledge. (2009).

Hyndman, Brendon P, and Shane Pill. “The Influences on Teaching Perspectives of Australian Physical Education Teacher Education Students: The First-Year Influences on Teaching Perspectives Exploratory (FIT-PE) Study.” Australian Journal of Teacher Education (Online) 41, no. 5 (2016): 99–118.

Jamil, Muhammad, Maria Anwar, and Muhammad Jafar Ali. “Developing Critical Thinking Skills In English Classrooms At The Secondary Level: Teachers’perspective.” Journal of Social Sciences Development 3, no. 1 (2024): 76–85.

Khoza, Simon Bheki. “Can Turnitin Come to the Rescue: From Teachers’ Reflections?” South African Journal of Education 35, no. 4 (2015).

———. “Master of Education Students’ Reflections: Which Curriculum Reasons Are Promoted or Limited by Skype Resources?” Progressio 39, no. 2 (2017): 19-pages.

Khoza, Simon Bheki, and Audrey Thabile Biyela. “Decolonising Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge of First Year Mathematics Students.” Education and Information Technologies 25, no. 4 (July 18, 2020): 2665–79. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-019-10084-4.

Khoza, Simon Bhekimuzi. “Lecturers’ Reflections on Curricular Spider Web Concepts as Transformation Strategies.” In Transformation of Higher Education Institutions in Post-Apartheid South Africa, 15–26. Routledge, 2019.

Khoza, S. B. “Student teachers’ reflections on their practices of Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement.” South African Journal of Higher Education, 29(4), (2015b). 179-197.

Khoza, S. B. “Can curriculum managers’ reflections produce new strategies through Moodle visions and resources?”South African Journal of Education, 36(4), (2016a). 1- 9.

Khoza, S. B. “Is Teaching without Understanding Curriculum Visions and Goals a High Risk?” South African Journal of Higher Education, 30(5), (2016b). 104-119.

Lupión-Cobos, Teresa, Jesús Ramón Girón-Gambero, and Cristina García-Ruiz. “Building STEM Inquiry-Based Teaching Proposal through Collaborations between Schools and Research Centres: Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions.,” 2022.

Modebelu, M N, and G M Nwakpadolu. “Effective Teaching and Learning of Agricultural Science for Food Security and National Sustainability.” Journal of Educational and Social Research 3, no. 4 (2013): 161–70.

Mothwa, Melida Modiane. Teachers’ Experiences of Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge in the Life Sciences Classroom. University of Johannesburg (South Africa), 2011.

Mpungose, C. “ Digital Divide in Rural South African Schools: An Empirical Study.” South African Journal of Education., 2020.

Mpungose, Cedric B. “Is Moodle a Platform to Decolonise the University Curriculum? Lecturers’ Reflections.” Africa Education Review 17, no. 1 (January 2, 2020): 100–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/18146627.2018.1479645.

Mpungose, Cedric Bheki. “Exploring Lecturers’ Reflections on the Use of Moodle to Teach Physical Science Modules at a South African University,” 2017.

Nkohla, M. S. “ Educators’ Reflections on Their Practices of Agricultural Sciences Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement. .” University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2017.

Peden, Moraig. “Education for Sustainable Agriculture: The Old and New Curricula for Agricultural Sciences in South African Schools.” Journal of Education, no. 60 (2015): 63–100.

Pourdavood, Ronald G. “Perspectives on Teaching Mathematics and Science in Historical and Cultural Contexts.” North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, 2016.

Rotidi, Georgia, John B Collins, Thanassis Karalis, and Konstantinos Lavidas. “Using the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI) to Examine the Relationship between Teaching Perspectives and Disciplines in Higher Education.” Journal of Further and Higher Education 41, no. 5 (2017): 611–24.

Waghid, Yusef, and Nuraan Davids. “Educational Leadership as Action: Towards an Opening of Rhythm.” South African Journal of Higher Education 30, no. 1 (2016): 123–37.

Dr Nonhlanhla Nduku is a lecturer at the University of the Free State, South Africa. Her research interests lie within the teaching and learning of Agricultural Sciences. She also explores the role of professional teacher development in Agricultural Sciences’ pedagogical practices in the Further Education and Training phase.

Nduku, Nonhlanhla Fortunate. “Exploring Teaching Perspectives Embraced by Teachers in Teaching Agricultural Sciences in Secondary Schools in South Africa,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.16 (2024):2986-2996. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202451624

© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Articles in this Issue

About Journal