Summary of teaching methods adopted by educators in all four schools This section gives a brief description of the teaching methods adopted by the

educators as observed and documented by the researcher and HODs of schools used for this study. The summary of the description was based on the class observations by the researcher which was enriched with the class observation of the HODs of the participating schools (also see Appendix D and Appendix E; Table 4.1).

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Table 4.1: Summary of teaching method used by educator CE1 Lesson preparation

The educator always prepared a lesson plan for the activity for the day. The lesson plan contained the topic to be taught for the day, the learning outcome on which the topic was based and the type of exercises (i.e. homework, class work) to give learners at the end of the lesson.

Teaching aids

Educator makes use of learners’ textbooks

Educator/Learner activities

Educator Learners

 The educator starts the lesson by going straight to implement his lesson preparation. He uses a step- by-step textbook explanation to explain concepts to learners.

 The educator periodically asks learners questions which most of the time went unanswered or were answered incorrectly.

 Educator refers learners to exercises from the workbook and asks them to write answers.

 Learners write the step-by-step explanation as written by the educator on the chalkboard and try to answer questions posed by the educator.  The only role the learners played in the

learning activity was copying what the educator wrote on the chalkboard and writing solutions to the assessment task the educator referred them to in their workbooks.

 The learners worked independently and were passive rather than active receivers of knowledge during the entire learning process.

Lesson evaluation

To evaluate the lesson, the educator refers to exercises in the learners’ workbook and asked learners to write the exercise and submit their books.

In educator CE1’s lesson the learners were not active in the creation of knowledge as the educator did close to ninety percent of the talking in trying to impart mathematical

84 concepts to learners. All the learners wrote activities on their own with no form of discussion among themselves or between learners and educator. Also, evidence in the educators’ lessons showed that the educator did not give clear specifics on what activities learners should perform in order to show their understanding of the concepts. Table 4.2 describes the teaching methods as observed for educator CE2.

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Table 4.2: Summary of teaching method used by educator CE2 Lesson preparation

The educator always prepared his lesson plans which was in line with the CAPs’ curriculum and linked up with the previous lessons.

Teaching aids

No available teaching aids were used in this lesson.

Educator/Learner activities

Educator Learners

 The educator gives a thorough explanation of the concept being taught with his own prepared notes without engaging learners in the process.

 After the educator’s explanation of the topic, the educator writes questions on the chalkboard and nominates learners to write the solutions on the chalkboard.  Based on learners’ answers, the

educator further explains and gives clarity to the misconceptions identified and where necessary offers corrective measures.

 Learners write notes on the chalkboard, as directed by the educator.

 Nominated learners write answers on the chalkboard as directed by the educator.

 All learners in the class write the educator’s corrected answers.

Lesson evaluation

The educator gave learners hardly any activity at the end of the lesson. This was largely because of the time factor as most of the time was used to explain the procedures in the concepts being taught.

Educator CE2’s lessons were generally educator-centred, as the educator did all the talking but engaged a few learners during the latter part of the learning process. Generally, most learners remained inactive in the learning process and wrote the notes

86 the educator wrote on the chalkboard as directed by the educator. The lesson plan by this educator also did not outline a clear sequence of activity by learners to develop the concept being taught and the lesson did not incorporate any real-life context in the teaching and learning process. Table 4.3 describes a sample of the teaching method adopted by educator EE1.

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Table 4.3: Summary of teaching method used by educator EE1 Lesson preparation

The educator always prepares her lesson plan which was in line with the CAPS curriculum.

Teaching aids

The educator makes use of educators’ teaching guides and learners’ workbooks.

Educator/Learner activities

Educator Learners

 The educator implements her activities set out in the lesson plan.  The educator uses textbook worked examples to explain the concepts to learners.

 She then uses the remainder of the time to give learners activities that were taken directly from the learners’ textbook which learners answered individually.

 Learners write the notes as directed by the educator.

 Learners write their solutions to activities given by educator.

Lesson evaluation

The educator uses the activities given to the learners to evaluate the success of the lesson.

Apart from the lesson being largely educator-centred, there was no incorporation of authentic real-life problems into the learning process. The only activity learners were observed doing were copying the notes on the board and writing activities as directed by the educator which they answered individually. As in previous lessons the educator did not demonstrate a clear strategy on how she intended to impart these concepts to the learners. Table 4.4 describes a sample model of the teaching method adopted by educator EE2.

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Table 4.4: Summary of teaching method used by educator EE2 Lesson preparation

All lesson plans for lessons prepared were in line with the lesson and the CAPs’ policy document.

Teaching aids Educator made use of learners’ workbooks

Educator/Learner activities

Educator Learners

 Educator starts his lessons by giving a brief description of the content being taught.

 Educator gives learners the

opportunity to ask questions on his description of the content.

 Educator answer learners’ questions without brainstorming the concepts in these questions with them.

 The educator then refers learners to an activity in their workbook where learners are supposed to answer individually and submit before the class comes to an end.

 Learners listened to educator’s explanation.

 Learners asked educator questions to gain clarity on some of the questions.

 Learners worked on the activities individually as directed by the educator.

Lesson evaluation

The educator in this class also used the activities given to the learners to evaluate the success of the lesson.

In Table 4.4 the educator explained concepts to the learners without actively engaging them in the learning process. The educator’s explanations generated some questions from the learners but in the process of answering the learners’ questions the educator did not access their individual thinking and mathematical development processes regarding the concepts but gave learners direct answers. The educator did not

89 incorporate any real-life context into his teaching and there was no evidence of a clear sequence of activities learners should undergo to develop their conceptual understanding of the concept being taught.