The focus of this study is on the provision of school libraries in public high schools in Limpopo Province. In view of this focus, the study is underpinned by constructivism as a teaching and learning theory. The theory advocates for the provision of quality education for all and this is significant for social, economic and political empowerment and development of all learners. Since the dawn of the new political dispensation in 1994, the post-apartheid government has been faced with a challenge to provide quality education to all learners in the country despite past inequalities and disparities (Du Toit & Stilwell 2012). However, Paton-Ash and Wilmot (2015:1) reiterate that “achieving quality education is a problem for many developing countries including South Africa and results in poor learning outcomes of school children”. In South Africa, education reform and transformation are areas that have needed a critical government intervention to address and redress effects of the previous apartheid education system in the country (Mouton, Louw & Strydom 2012; Spreen & Vally 2010). Post- apartheid, constructivist and progressive curriculum was crucial to ensure rapid and accelerated transformation in the education sector in South Africa (Spreen & Vally 2010). With the implementation of the constructivist teaching and learning styles in schools, learners need to achieve the objectives and outcomes of the resource-thirsty curriculum (Spreen & Vally 2010). With a learner-
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centred education system, learners need a wide variety of library resources in various formats to construct their own knowledge and understanding (Gonzalez-Dehass & Willems 2013; Ormrod 2014).
2.2.1 Constructivism
Constructivism is a teaching and learning theory that is often intertwined with pedagogic approaches and principles that encourage and promote active learning or learning by doing. According to Gonzalez-Dehass and Willems (2013:41),
“Constructivism refers to the belief that learners construct knowledge by being active participants in the learning process. Rather than passively absorbing information, learners construct knowledge as they attempt to make sense of their daily experiences. They construct meaning from all the new information they encounter by linking it to what they have previously learned. Learners bring their personal experiences, knowledge and skills to the classroom and when they recognise their current understanding is insufficient, they construct meanings or explanations in order to make sense of their experience”.
Constructivism therefore emphasises that “learners are not empty vessels waiting to be filled, but rather active organisms seeking meaning” (Woolfolk 2010:256). With well-resourced and functional school libraries, conducive environments are created where learners can interact with and use library-based resources to attach meaning to life and to construct, generate and acquire knowledge – constructive epistemology (Donald, Lazarus & Lolwana 2010; Gouws 2010; Woolfolk 2010; Ormrod 2014; Slabbert, De Kock & Hattingh 2009). The learning theory supports learner-centred instructional approaches and styles in education because it views learners as active constructors of meaning and knowledge (Woolfolk 2010). From the foregoing discussion, constructivist learning encompassed active learning or learning by doing, which might not be possible if learners do not have equitable access to well-resourced and staffed school libraries. As the curriculum in South Africa is a resource- based, constructivism as a teaching and learning theory is relevant to the education system in this country (South Africa. Department of Basic Education 2012). An active, vibrant and dynamic school library system is essential in every school to make progressive, constructivist teaching and learning approaches and strategies possible. The constructivist teaching and learning theory (constructivism) requires a paradigm shift from teacher-centred approach to learner-centred approach. In constructivist learning approaches, learners are responsible for their own learning. Therefore, they are active in the whole learning process (Woolfolk 2007; The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences 2006). Ormrod (2014:27) reaffirms that constructivism is a “theoretical perspective proposing that learners
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actively construct (rather than passively absorb) knowledge from their experiences”. In their day-to- day life experiences, learners do not just absorb constructed knowledge, but they actively build knowledge. In the constructivist-learning paradigm, teachers are regarded as facilitators and mediators who guide learners in developing useful knowledge that can help them in problem-solving and analytical thinking (Sternberg & Williams 2010). In the same vein, Ormrod (2014) concurs that the role of teachers has changed from playing a dominant role to facilitating or mediating learning by encouraging learners to interact fully with a host of library-based resources. Thus, learning becomes a socially mediated and facilitated activity. As indicated earlier, the introduction of the learner-centred education system by the South African government in 1998 was to encourage learners to use multi- media resources effectively to optimally construct a meaningful knowledge to cope with challenges brought forward by knowledge and information-based society.
In learner-centred education, teachers need to give learners tasks or activities that encourage inquiry, critical thinking and problem-based learning (Hart 2014; Woolfolk 2010). However, a plethora of appropriate and suitable resources, facilities and materials are, therefore, important to provide information for learners to execute given tasks or activities. The above sentiments are echoed by social constructivists such as John Dewey, Vygotsky, Rogoff, Bronfenbrenner, Erikson, Bruner, Bartlett and the Gestalt psychologists (Donald, Lazarus & Lolwana 2010; Gouws 2010; Woolfolk 2010).
To achieve the fundamental principles of constructivist teaching and learning which include learner- centredness and independent learning, learners need to be given the opportunity to interact with and handle resources and objects to attach meanings to them, to construct knowledge actively (Ormrod 2014; Sternberg & Williams 2010). This is where school libraries come in as centres of learning where learners will use the information to generate knowledge to complement and supplement those inculcated by their teachers. Ideally, school libraries are supposed to provide a non-formal setting where learners would be able to explore relevant and adequate collection of materials and or resources to practice library and information skills to discover knowledge by themselves. They are supposed to create an environment for social interaction, which is important in the knowledge-construction process (Woolfolk 2010). Learners in various classes or grades need to be given a timetable for using the library resources. During their sessions in the library, social interactions take place between them and the teacher-librarian.
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