Summary of data collection procedure

The first task involved before-lesson interviews which determined what contextual knowledge Grade 9 NS teachers possessed. Secondly, direct lesson observations of teachers’ practices in their classrooms were made using RTOP (Sawada, et al., 2000), which explored teachers’ representations of the teaching and learning process as they incorporated learners’ socio-cultural practices, experiences and beliefs. It also sought information on how the knowledge of contextual factors served as a conduit for teachers to develop their PCK. Thirdly, through interviews done after the lessons, information on how teachers conceptualised their teaching in terms of their knowledge bases was investigated. The researcher could also determine what the teachers knew and the reasons for their actions. As a result, the teachers’ reflections of how CK functions as a component of their PCK, was investigated.

Lastly analysis of documents helped in validating teachers’ actions. Figure 3.2 is a summary of how data was collected in the study and how this was linked to professional development activities.

Figure 3.2: Phases of data collection and professional development

Analysis of documents was done throughout the study as indicated in Table 3.5 and hence could not be placed anywhere in Figure 3.2.

In order to ensure that each research question was addressed appropriately, and to help in formulating appropriate interview questions, the researcher adapted a summary table indicated below from Park (2005). The table below shows how each research question was addressed by each data source.

Professional development Professional development Professional development

The study’s conception of Contextual Knowledge and its tenets

Identifying CK suitable for incorporation in some NS topics and identifying appropriate methods and activities to be used in NS teaching

Evaluating the teaching strategies and activities used in the previous lessons and identifying ways of improving the upcoming lessons

Pre - lesson interviews

Lesson observation

Table 3.6: How each research question was addressed by each data source

Research question

Aspect to be known

How it could be known

Data sources Specific questions to be addressed What do Grade 9 NS teachers know about learners’ socio-cultural practices and beliefs in relation to teaching topics in NS? Teachers’ knowledge about learners’ norms and values, religion and beliefs,

socioeconomic and political issues and IKS in relation to NS topics.

Interviews done after the lessons

- What do you think are the learners’ socio-cultural practices, experiences and beliefs they are likely to hold when teaching NS?

-How can you take into consideration the learners’ socio-cultural practices and beliefs in your teaching of particular NS topics?

-What are the instructional challenges you anticipate to encounter as a result of unique learners’ socio-cultural practices and beliefs when teaching different NS topics?

-How do you expect to handle these challenges? How teachers characterise learners’ sociocultural practices, experience and beliefs. Interviews done before the lessons

-Could you give an example of a moment when a lesson turned to a debate about different learners’ sociocultural practices, experience and beliefsand experiences?

-In what way do such debates help to make learners understand the science concepts?

-What are some of the activities you intend to give learners in when teaching particular NS topics? -Why do you plan to use these particular activities?

How do teachers incorporate learners’ sociocultural practices, experience and beliefs when teaching some NS topics? Pedagogical approaches teachers employed when incorporating CK in NS teaching. Activities teachers used when incorporating learners’ sociocultural practices, experience and beliefs in their teaching. Lesson observations

-What are some of the questions you intend to ask learners, and what are your expected answers?

-What are the problems you envisage will be faced by learners in this topic? How do you intend to help them? -How do you intend to relate everyday phenomena with scientific concepts? -What kind of help do you give to learners who hold different sociocultural views from yours? -How do you respond to a situation where your learners’ home

experiences contradict with scientific concepts that you are teaching?

What role does CK play in the PCK of Grade 9 NS teachers in township schools? How PCK of teachers at township schools was framed due to their CK, before and during the actual teaching.

Interviews done before the lessons

Lesson observations

- What is the nature of their PCK in terms of ways of representing science subject matter?

- What is the nature of their PCK in terms of ways to interact with learners?

- What is the nature of their PCK in terms of teaching strategies, classroom activities or classroom management skills?

- What is the nature of their PCK in terms of the depth and broadness of their subject-matter knowledge?

- What are the learners’ misconceptions associated with this unit have been observed?

- How did the teachers address the misconceptions?

Sources of teachers’ PCK. Lesson observations Analysis of documents Interviews done after the lessons

-How do you take into consideration the different learners’ socio-cultural beliefs and practices in your teaching and assessment tasks?

-What are instructional challenges you encountered, which were caused by different learners’ socio-cultural

practices, experiences and

beliefs? - How did you handle those challenges?

-How do you use community leaders, infrastructure and resources when teaching NS?

How do teachers reflect on the role of CK in the teaching of NS?

Teaching aspects teachers changed due to their CK. How CK influenced the changes. Lesson observations Interviews done after the lessons

-Given what you have said about your teaching, how do you perceive the role of contextual knowledge in

influencing your teaching strategies? -How do you think this influences learners’ understanding of science concepts?

-Have you recently made any changes in ways that you represent science subject matter? If so, why? How has the consideration of learners’ sociocultural issues influenced the changes?

-Have you recently made any changes in ways that you interact with learners? If so, why?

The above table summarises the whole process of data collection. As can be deduced from the table, one research question could be addressed by different data sources which therefore helped to triangulate the data.