The educator as learning programme developer

EDDHODJ

NAME: Motlatso Rachel

SURNAME: Monyama

STUDENT NUMBER: 63464446

UNIQUE ASSIGNMENT NUMBER: 844943

DUE DATE: 18 April 2019

ASSIGNMENT NUMBER: 02
 Contents
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 3
Question 1 Behaviourism ........................................................................................................... 3
Question 2 Vygotsky’s interpretation......................................................................................... 4
Question 3 Essay ........................................................................................................................ 6
Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 6
Question 4: knowledge and skills to be included, for the diverse South African context...... 9
Question 5: Curriculum implementation .................................................................................. 12
References ................................................................................................................................ 17
INTRODUCTION
Theory that learners can be explained through in terms of conditioning, without appeal
to thoughts or feelings, and that psychological disorders are best treated by altering
behaviour patterns.

Cognitively Guided Instruction is a professional development program based on an

integrated program of research on, the development of students' mathematical
thinking, instruction that influences that development, teachers' knowledge and beliefs
that influence their instructional practice and the way that teachers' knowledge, beliefs,
and practices are influenced by their understanding of students' mathematical thinking.

Any school with a mission to succeed in the best educational interests of their students
must have a plan to get there. A strategic plan helps a school define what it intends to
achieve when it comes to their student success objectives and organizational goals.

Question 1 Behaviourism
The belief about learning as achieving objectives (outcomes) and therefore
“behavioural change” is aligned with the behaviourist approach. Behaviourism is an
example of a theory on teaching and learning that originated from the natural sciences.
Describe in your own words what the behaviourist perspective is all about.

The belief about learning as achieving objectives (outcomes) and therefore

"behavioural change" is aligned with the behaviourist approach; in other words, the
focus is gaining knowledge or an ability using experience, with equity, access,
flexibility and quality, aimed at changing the way in which learners behave. Therefore,
learning is approached as an objective (outcome) or product of processes that can be
recognised or seen. An emphasis on setting objectives might be because teachers
want their learners to display behaviour and/or skills, which should be measurable and
therefore visible. By setting objectives, teachers can organise learning to take place in
a way and be able to predict and control what happens in the classroom.

Cajkler and Addelman (2000:2-3) explain that teachers can motivate learners to learn
by setting them attractive, interesting and achievable objectives (outcomes), by
encouraging and praising them (positive reinforcement) and by identifying the learning
problems of underachievers rather than merely reprimanding them.

Gagné (1985:28-35) argues that learners will be motivated to repeat a behaviour

when they feel they can manage a task. So, when the teacher sets particular learning
objectives, the approach in planning teaching and learning includes dividing learning
assignments into smaller units to give learners enough time to complete the tasks
successfully. The learner can be further motivated by practising and repeating the
newly mastered knowledge and skills regularly.

Question 2 Vygotsky’s interpretation

Vygotsky believed that we must not reduce higher mental functions, such as reading
and writing, critical thinking, or problem solving, into a study of their component parts;
but rather, we need to study, teach, and learn higher mental functions in whole
activities. Vygotsky emphasized the role of play as one of these whole activities that
allows for significant learning and development. Play creates a zone of proximal
development of the child. In play a child always behaves beyond his average age,
above his daily behaviour; in play it is as though he were a head taller than himself.
As in the focus of a magnifying glass, play contains all developmental tendencies in a
condensed form and is itself a major source of development. (Vygotsky,1978.).
Vygotsky believed that cognitive development was essentially a form of enculturation,
we develop through the internalization of our culture. For Vygotsky, formal education
was an important instrument of enculturation. Formal education allows for the
presentation of social and cultural experiences in a systematic manner. Cooperative
learning is an effective formal education strategy for transmitting these cultural
experiences. Cooperative learning, and its social basis, is a strategy well suited to the
tenets of Vygotsky's theory of human development. According to Vygotsky (1978). For
example, a young child given a jigsaw may spend hours playing with it and not work
out how to put it together. However, with some help from a parent, who displays and
explains to the child strategies for finding the right pieces (look for the straight edges
first, for example), the child can learn how to put the jigsaw together, and very soon,
will start to succeed at putting the jigsaw together on his/her own. Thus, the interaction
with the child's parent spurred his cognitive development.
I totally agree with Vygotsky interpretation on the impact of context in the teaching-
learning situation because the second notion is that learning is active rather than
passive. Learners confront their understanding in light of what they encounter in the
new learning situation. If what learners encounter is inconsistent with their current
understanding, their understanding can change to accommodate new experience.
Learners remain active throughout this process: they apply current understandings,
note relevant elements in new learning experiences, judge the consistency of prior
and emerging knowledge, and based on that judgment, they can modify knowledge
(Phillips, 1995).
Question 3 Essay
Introduction
Interpreting the curriculum and planning to teach requires arranging content in such a
manner that knowledge transfer can take place most effectively. Planning should
identify the current level of learner understanding, define the outcome of the teaching
process and aid in the process of understanding.

The teacher should consider various teaching strategies in planning for teaching and
enable learning that suits the needs of the learners.

1. teaching critical thinking

“critical thinking” is open to different interpretation, so let’s begin with a simple

perspective. It’s more than just thinking clearly or rationally; it’s about thinking
independently. Critically thinking about something means formulating your own
opinions and drawing your own conclusions. This happens regardless of outside
influence. It’s about the discipline of analysis and seeing the connections between
ideas. However, it’s also about being wide open to other viewpoints and opinions.

Advantages

Academic Success- Memorizing what your teacher tells you and regurgitating it
verbatim will only get you so far in school. Memorizing exactly what the teacher told
you gives you access to several discrete facts you can call on for exams.

Professional Success- Critical thinking skills will make you more effective in whatever
field you choose to go into. The ability to look at your professional field and make
connections to identify opportunities no one else has seen yet will give you an edge.

Empathy- Critical thinking skills can help you get along with a wider range of people.
This is because if you can step back and evaluate a situation from a perspective other
than your own, you can better understand why different people do what they do.

Disadvantages

The downside of critical thinking skills is that they can lead you into new and frightening
territory. You might find yourself questioning the values, even the religion, by which
you were raised. There is a certain existential comfort in someone else telling you how
the world works, then blindly clinging to those tenets. The price of this simple comfort
is forgoing a deeper understanding of how the world works, and all the opportunities
this deeper thinking provides. While you can use your thinking skills to find new tenets
that make sense, a modified version of those original tenets, or a new understanding
of those original tenets, you might feel lost as you move between points A and B.

2. cognitively guided instruction

Cognitive guided instruction is a strategy for using both listening and language as part
of the learning process. The strategy uses learner’s prior knowledge and builds on that
through discussion and dialogue. By listening to the learners thinking about the subject
and topic, the educator can direct or guide their thinking and thereby emphasize
knowledge acquisition.

The best time to use cognitive guided instruction is when critical thinking is required.

Advantages

• Help to develop the learner’s insight into a problem.

• It allows learners to recognise different approaches towards problem solving and
the value of sharing experiences.

Disadvantages

• Quiet learners can hide by not taking part of it, it can be a problem when few
learners dominate the cognitive guided instruction, while majority of learners are
excluded and do not gain from it.

Example: class discussion and dialogue

3. scaffolding

Scaffolding is a process of creating framework around prior experience to assist

learners to build new knowledge.

Best time to use: it is best to use scaffolding when the learners have personal, social
or academic obstacles to learning.

Advantages

• The teacher can gradually guide the learners and build confidence of motivation.
Disadvantages

• In the case of over simplification of task, learners will not reach educational
objectives.
• The differing opinions of learners could require teacher motivation.

Example: questioning, collective enquiry to a topic and dialogue.

4. simulation

Simulation is the controlled re-enactment or limitation of situation using technology

and includes real life enactment by learners. Learners practice problem solving skills.

Best time to use: it is best to use simulation to demonstrate real life situations to
learners.

Advantages

• The method helps the learners to experience real life situations without the
possibility of serious repercussions.
• Learners can experiment and find solutions in a safe manner true to life.

Disadvantages

• The method takes a lot of time, learners can get over emotional and involved in
imaginary situations.

Example: role play.

5. problem solving

Problem solving allows learners to build self-management and teaches them to

approach problems in a balanced way.

Best time to use: it is best to use problem solving when the learners have a better
understanding of the subject related to the problem, are motivated to learn and have
acquired a measure of problem-solving ability.

Advantages

• The educator actively involves learners by challenging them to make judgement,

applying the knowledge that they were taught and to think about their own learning
processes.
Disadvantages

• Learners fear of failure may restrict participation.

• It is time consuming.

Example: case studies, word same.

6. discussions

It is best to use discussions when the aims of the teacher are to obtain knowledge, to
motivate learners to develop cooperative skills.

Advantages

• Both the teacher and the learner take part during discussions
• Learners can be motivated and encouraged through a discussion to analyse
assumptions critically.

Disadvantages

• Learners need enough background knowledge about the agenda of the discussion
to be able to discuss relevant issues.
• Some learners might display behaviours like silence, withdrawal or aggression.

Example: policy discussions so that the learners can see the need for policy and to
take position of it.

Conclusion

Only when teachers acknowledge and consider the impact of context and realise the
influence of the particular teaching strategies, they can plan effective teaching and
learning.

Question 4: knowledge and skills to be included, for the diverse South African context
4.1. The knowledge and skills to be included, for the diverse South African context for
the 21st century should include the education in science and mathematics that students
receive from kindergarten through 12th grade this forms the foundation of this nation’s
scientific, mathematical, and technological literacy. Some outstanding things happen
in science classrooms today because extraordinary teachers do what needs to be
done despite conventional practice. Many generous teachers spend their own money
on science supplies, knowing that students learn best by investigation. These teachers
ignore vocabulary-dense textbooks and encourage student inquiry. They also make
their science courses relevant to students’ lives, instead of trying to prepare the
students simply for another school science course. The standards point toward a kind
of teaching different from that common in many 0-12 classrooms today. The teacher
serves as a coach for the development of skills, such as the ability to engage in
problem-solving and inquiry. The students engage in collaborative learning that
includes the synthesis and integration of different types of data and analysis and
communicating the results. The benefit of learning skills as opposed to only learning
knowledge— learning how as opposed to learning that—is best exemplified in sports
and music. It is difficult to imagine teaching basketball or piano-playing by lecture
alone, and it should be just as difficult in the case of science and mathematics. The
learning ecology framework is largely about exploiting the opportunities for learning
that exist between contexts. By recognizing that learning is not only re-stricted to the
classroom, and that it takes place in different contexts that can have a profound impact
on the learning that occurs at school, learners can experience enhanced and often
contextual learning that moves with them in the various spaces and locations in their
lives. According to Barron he recognizes the role that technology can play in achieving
this, especially with regards to connecting the learner with various resources, people
and other agencies that can increase the information pool that can be accessed for
learning of relevance to this study, is the application of the learning ecology framework
by Hlalele (2014a, 2013) within a rural context

4.2. five core activities in curriculum development

Analysis
 Implementation evaluation Design

development

Figure 1: the five core activities in curriculum development

• Curriculum development focuses on improvement and innovation in education

• Curriculum development starts by analysing the existing settings and formulating
intentions for the proposed changes
• The design requirements are carefully developed, tested and refined into a relevant
and useful product
• Evaluation plays an important role in this process as it can be seen from its central
position in this model
• Curriculum development focuses on improvement and innovation in education
Question 5: Curriculum implementation
The basic purpose of curriculum planning is to ensure effective learning that is relevant
to the full range students educational needs. The steps or stages of planning
curriculum interpretation and implementation involve:

• Strategic school planning

• Phase planning
• Grade planning
• Lesson plan

Strategic school planning

The entire school development planning may take part of this but is not compulsory

All stakeholders must consider the activities and interest of the school then decide on
the goals for a specific period. The purpose is to make sure that the school is ready
for the learners and teaching and learning is suitable for the needs of the community,
school and classroom.

The whole school development includes the following: vision, mission, budget, stuff
and curriculum. Planning concerning how teaching and learning will take place should
be linked to the whole school development plan. The curriculum forms the core of the
school, and its implementation should support the school’s vision and mission.

The school management team and the professional stuff must do a SWOT analysis to
determine the needs they should focus on in a particular phase. Other stakeholders
such as learners, parents and community should also give in their input in the process
of selection. The broader context helps the teacher to make selections based on
identified needs and ensure that they do not ignore conceptual progression

All educators in a phase should have a clear plan of how they are going to get learners
through the phase for a particular subject

The documents involved

For planning across the phase, the most important document would be the subject
CAPS document.

Other important documents include:

▪ National protocol for assessment (grade R-12)
▪ The IQMS policy (Integrated Quality Management System)
▪ The SACE (South African Council for Educators) Act
▪ The NQF (National Qualification Framework) Act
▪ The norms and standards policy for educators

Grade: 7 term: 1 lesson plan: 1 phase: senior

Grade: 7 Date: 17-04-19 Duration: 120 mins Content in
context: safe
and healthy
environment-
warm up
exercises in
dance and
drama
Lo s and AS s Learning activities Details of Provision for
assessment method learners with
and tools barriers to
learning
LO 1: creating, Activity One Form Differently
interpreting and Learners start with Practical abled learners
presenting a simple warm up Demonstration • Classroom be
Cluster 1 and cooling down Role-Play accessible
Dance activity. In partners Spoken Language •Peer
AS: In preparing the they say and do the assistance
body, applies safe following activity Method promoted
dance practice and words: Teacher •Sign language
healthy use of the • Rise – fall (repeat Group utilized
body, for example: • 5 times) Peer
warming up and • Stretch – release
cooling down; (repeat 5 times) Tool
• good postural and • Jump up- down Rubrics
joint alignment; (repeat 5 times and Observation sheet
• released/soft use landing safely in
of joints; each case)
• safe landing from Activity Two
elevation (jumping); Learners join hands
• stretching with and not let go
safety. • Make gentle
Drama pushing and pulling
AS: Follows a movement,
teacher-directed stretching with
warm-up routine safety using the
strength of your
arms to support
each other.
• Use each other’s
body weight for
balance
• Explore different
levels while they do
the activity
• Relax and cool
down
Skills: Body Control, Interpretation, Coordination, Balancing, Jumping and landing,
Creativity etc.
Knowledge: Safe dance practice, Dance elements e.g. Glides, Darts etc.
Values & Attitudes: Appreciation, Enthusiasm, Co-operation
Resources:
Audio-Visual Aids:
• Tape / Video / Cassette/ DVD/ MP3s Players
\• Music on tapes /videos/ DVDs
• Pictures,
Fruits: (Oranges/ Apples/ Pears etc.)
Dance Floor / Space/ Rehearsal Room Costume
Expanded opportunities:
• Linkages with national observed events e.g. Freedom/ Heritage Day activities
• Field- trips to Art Centres and Arts Festival
Teacher reflection: (For example)
• Coordination problems on warm up exercises were identified among learners but
improved at a later stage.
• Enthusiasm was noted with reference to trust exercises.
• Limitation of time was evident

SWOT Analysis

Strengths Weaknesses

• Financial backing. • Not enough time for staff to train

• Staff member who are involved in and experiment with new
many co-curricular activities. technologies.
• Technology staff. • Professional development is still
• Great teachers who care about needed on many web 2.0 tools
their students. for integration in Blackboard
• Board and Administration Learn.
committed to student success. • Current internet speed.
• Excellent facilities. • Existing hardware
• Community and parent support.
• Existing infrastructure.
• Professional development in the
areas of technology training.
• Group collaborative spirit among
various staff members.
• School improvement committee
working towards curriculum and
student improvement.

Opportunities Threats

• Lack of funding.
• Touch screen laptops for faculty • Delayed dark fiber connection.
and students. • Neglectful / abusive handling of
• Upgraded server hardware. devices.
• Upgraded firewall. • Poor planning.
• Increased bandwidth. • Not having the devices in time for
• Extended classrooms beyond the configuration.
traditional walls and time • Additional demand on existing
schedules. technology staff.
• Future-proofing the devices to
ensure they meet system
requirements for the next four
years.
• Implementing a student run help
desk
References
Cajkler. W. and Addelman. R. (2000). The practice of foreign language teaching

BOOYSE, C. and DU PLESSIS, E.C. 2014. Curriculum Studies: Development,

Interpretation, Plan and Practice. 2nd edition. Pretoria, Van Schaik: pp. 45-112.
CAJKLER, W. and ADDELMAN, R. (1992, 2000) the Practice of Foreign Language
Teaching. London: David Fulton.
CARPENTER, T.P., ANSELL, E., FRANKE, M.L., FENNEMA, E. and WEISBECK, L.
1993. Models of problem solving: a study of kindergarten children’s problem-solving
processes. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 24: 427-440.

Bossed, S.T. (1988). Cooperative activities in the classroom. Review of Research in

Education. 15, 225-250.

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press