What kind of science do educators present to learners in South African
classes?
Designing school curricula in SA took on an insightful phase since 1976 when
learners rejected Afrikaans as a medium of instruction. The South African
Department of Education (DoE) has tried to align curricula with the new
constitution with consternation about the kind of product that curricula will
graduate from school.
I narrate personal, observations about, and understanding of the science
curricula, as a science education student, a science educator, and a manager of
projects on science educator development. My comments were supported by class
visits, during which I used a Science Teaching Observation Schedule (STOS) and
recorded events in 31 science classrooms, as well as by interactions with
educators during workshops.
My observations revealed that few educators remember common names in
psychology such as Piaget, were skeptical about Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS),
and none would say anything about the Nature of Science. Neither could they
articulate the reasons behind new National Curriculum Statements. Educators
blend philosophies and psychologies in science classrooms inadvertently, but
neither do the DoE, nor many educator training institutions mention the
traditional epistemologies. This could be one of the reasons for poor science
teaching.
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More information:
Dr
Johnny Muwanga-Zake, is with the
Centre for the Advancement of Science and mathematics Education (CASME),
University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban. South Africa. Phone: Cell: (027) 0 730632051
Office: (027) 0 31 2603418
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