DIPLOMA IN GRADE R TEACHING

EDUCATION STUDIES 2: THEORIES OF TEACHING AND

LEARNING IN CONTEXT
YEAR 1
R-EDS 122

Level 5
Credit 12

CURRICULUM AND LEARNING GUIDE

Copyright ¤ SANTS Private Higher Education Institution Pty. Ltd.

PO Box 72328, Lynnwood Ridge, 0040

2020

¤ All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of research, criticism
or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying and recording, without permission in writing from SANTS.
EDUCATION STUDIES 2: THEORIES OF TEACHING AND LEARNING IN CONTEXT CURRICULUM AND LEARNING GUIDE

2020 Edition

Programme Coordinator Prof Ina Joubert

SANTS Private Higher Education
Institution
Discipline coordinator Mrs Judite Ferreira-Prévost
SANTS Private Higher Education
Institution

Modules coordinator Prof Wayne Hugo

University of Kwa-Zulu Natal

Author(s) Ass Prof Joanne Hardman

University of Cape Town

Dr Ronel Blom
Regent Business School (member of
Honoris United Universities)
Reviewers Mr Zolile Zungu
University of KwaZulu Natal

Dr Ronel Blom
Regent Business School (member of
Honoris United Universities)
Language editor Mr Cliff Smuts
Language Practitioner

Technical editor Mrs Judith Brown

SANTS Private Higher Education
Institution

Graphic artist Mr John Bertram

Tangerine Designs

Printing Business Print

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DIPLOMA IN GRADE R TEACHING PROGRAMME

1. WELCOME TO THE MODULE
Dear SANTS student,

We welcome you to the Education Studies 2: Theories of Teaching and Learning in

Context (R-EDS 122) module that forms part of the Diploma in Grade R Teaching
programme and wish you success in your studies.

The purpose of the Diploma in the Grade R Teaching programme is to offer a

curriculum that develops teachers who can acquire and eventually articulate focused
knowledge, skills and general principles appropriate for Grade R teaching, as specified
in the Revised Policy on the Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education
Qualifications (Department of Higher Education and Training, 2015).

The diploma qualification requires that teachers develop a depth of specialised

knowledge, practical competencies (skills) and experience in a Grade R context. As
part of the diploma qualification, you will need to gain experience in applying what you
are learning during a period of Workplace Integrated Learning (WIL). This means you
will spend some time teaching Grade R learners in an authentic (real) context.

The Diploma in Grade R Teaching qualification programme is aligned with the Revised
Policy on the Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications, in
particular Appendix C of the policy that outlines the Basic Competencies of a Beginner
Teacher (Department of Higher Education and Training, 2015, Government Gazette,
No. 38487, p. 62).

2. OUTCOMES OF THE PROGRAMME

At the end of the three-year Diploma in Grade R Teaching programme, you must
demonstrate the following competencies related to your own academic growth and
potential to work with Grade R learners:

x Read, write and speak the language in ways that facilitate your own academic
learning.
x Read, write, and speak the language/s of instruction related to Grade R in ways
that facilitate teaching and learning during play or instruction in the classroom.
x Demonstrate competence in communicating effectively, in general and in
relation to Grade R specialised knowledge in order to mediate and facilitate
learning.

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x Interpret and use basic mathematics and elementary statistics to facilitate your
own academic learning.
x Use information and communications technology (ICT) in daily life and when
teaching Grade R.
x Explain the contents and purpose of the national curriculum with particular
reference to Grade R.
x Demonstrate skill in planning, designing, and implementing learning
programmes that are developmentally appropriate and culturally responsive to
the Grade R context.
x Demonstrate competence in identifying and accommodating diversity in the
Grade R classroom, and in early identification of learning and social problems.
This includes planning, designing and implementing learning programmes to
accommodate diversity.
x Demonstrate competence in observing, assessing and recording learner
progress regularly.
x Reflect upon and use assessment results to solve problems and to improve
teaching and learning.
x Conduct yourself responsibly, professionally and ethically in the classroom, the
school and the broader community in which the school is located.
x Display a positive work ethic that benefits, enhances and develops the status
of the teaching profession and of early childhood education more broadly.

3. PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
The diploma is presented on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) exit level 6
with a minimum total credit of 364, earned over the three years. The table below shows
the curriculum implementation plan of the diploma you are studying. It also tells you
how many credits each module carries. You will also see at which NQF level the study
material has been prepared and which modules you need to pass each year. This
three-year programme has been planned to strengthen the competencies you will
need as a beginner teacher.

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Outline of modules of the Diploma in Grade R Teaching programme

Module name Code NQF L Credits Module name Code NQF L Credits
YEAR 1
SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2
Introduction to the Language and
Academic Literacy R-ALI 110 5 14 R-LLL 120 5 12
Literacy Landscape in Grade R
Introduction to Mathematics
Fundamental Mathematics R-FMA 110 5 14 R-MAT 120 5 12
Learning in Grade R
Computer Literacy R-CLI 110 5 14 Introduction to Life Skills in Grade R R-LSK 120 5 12
Education Studies 1: Education Studies 2: Theories of
Theories of Child R-EDS 111 5 12 Teaching and Learning in R-EDS 122 5 12
Development in Context Context
Language of Conversational C-LCX 120
Competence: isiXhosa / isiZulu / C-LCZ 120 5 10
Sepedi C-LCS 120
54 48-58
Workplace Integrated Learning Year 1 R-WIL 101 5 16
Sub-total credits for Year 1: 118 -128
YEAR 2
SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2
English Home and First First Additional Language and R-FLA 221
Additional Language and Literacy Learning in Grade R 1: R-FLX 221
R-EHF 211 6 19 5 12
Literacy Learning in Grade Afrikaans / isiXhosa / isiZulu / R-FLZ 221
R1 Sepedi R-FLS 221
Home Language and R-HLA 211
Literacy Learning in Grade R-HLX 211 English First Additional Language
6 16 R-FLE 221 5 12
R 1: Afrikaans / isiXhosa / R-HLZ 211 and Literacy Learning in Grade R 1
isiZulu / Sepedi R-HLS 211
Professional Studies 1: The
Professional Studies 2: Grade R
Teacher and the Child R-PFS 211 5 12 R-PFS 222 6 14
Curriculum in Practice
Friendly Environment
Mathematics Learning in Education Studies 3: Curriculum,
R-MAT 211 6 16 R-EDS 223 6 14
Grade R 1 Pedagogy and Assessment
Life Skills in Grade R 1 R-LSK 211 6 16
60-79 28-40
Workplace Integrated Learning Year 2 R-WIL 202 6 20
Sub-total credits for Year 2: 120 - 127
Module name Code NQF L Credits Module name Code NQF L Credits
YEAR 3
SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2
English Home and First First Additional Language and R-FLA 322
Additional Language and Literacy Learning in Grade R 2: R-FLX 322
R-EHF 312 6 19 6 14
Literacy Learning in Grade Afrikaans / isiXhosa / isiZulu / R-FLZ 322
R2 Sepedi R-FLS 322
Home Language and R-HLA 312
Literacy Learning in Grade R-HLX 312 English First Additional Language
6 16 R-FLE 322 6 14
R 2: Afrikaans / isiXhosa / R-HLZ 312 and Literacy Learning in Grade R 2
isiZulu / Sepedi R-HLS 312
Mathematics Learning in Education Studies 4: Education
R-MAT 312 6 16 R-EDS 324 6 14
Grade R 2 Policy and Practice
Professional Studies 3:
Professional Studies 4: Critical
Early Years Teacher R-PFS 313 6 14 R-PFS 324 6 14
Issues in Education
Identity and the Profession
Life Skills in Grade R 2 R-LSK 312 6 16
62-81 28-42
Workplace Integrated Learning Year 3 R-WIL 303 6 22
Sub-total credits for Year 3: 126 - 131
Total credits for programme 364 - 386

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Language competencies will be assessed during the course of your programme.

The modules in the programme are divided into four broad types of learning
(Department of Higher Education and Training, 2015, pp. 9–11). Engaging in each
type of learning should help you develop specific knowledge, values, attitudes,
competencies and skills so that you can achieve the overall exit level outcomes of the
programme.

The different types of learning are:

Fundamental learning

x This type of learning includes your personal and academic development and
involves academic literacy, fundamental mathematics and computer literacy.

Disciplinary learning

x This type of learning includes subject matter knowledge for example, the study
of education and its foundations and specific specialised subject matter such
as language;
x You will also learn about:
o How the child grows, develops and learns;
o The processes of teaching and learning;
o The relationship between child development and teaching and learning;
and
o The historical, socio-political, policy and curriculum contexts of
education, particularly in South Africa.

Situational learning

x Situational learning means that you must know about the varied learning
contexts (circumstances) of learners.
x Such modules focus on professional studies, and explain the:
o Complex context of teaching and learning in general and Grade R in
particular;
o Multifaceted roles a teacher plays; and
o Relationships between teaching and learning in the context of the
school and specifically in the Grade R classroom.

Pedagogical learning

x This learning means you will learn more about the content you will teach and
how to teach and assess it i.e. you will study the principles, practices and
methods of teaching, learning and assessing; and
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x You will also gain subject knowledge and learn how to present concepts, apply
methods, strategies, approaches and the rules of your specific discipline
(subject) when teaching.

Types of learning and modules in the Diploma in Grade R Teaching

programme

Types of learning Modules

Fundamental Academic Literacy
learning Fundamental Mathematics
Student personal and Computer Literacy
academic
development
Disciplinary learning Education Studies 1: Theories of Child Development in Context
Education studies Education Studies 2: Theories of Teaching and Learning in Context
Education Studies 3: Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment
Education Studies 4: Education Policy and Practice
Situational learning Professional Studies 1: The Teacher and the Child Friendly
Professional studies Environment
Professional Studies 2: Grade R Curriculum in Practice
Professional Studies 3: Early Years Teacher Identity and the
Profession
Professional Studies 4: Critical Issues in Education
Pedagogical learning Introduction to the Language and Literacy Landscape in Grade. R
Pedagogy Introduction to Mathematics Learning in Grade R
Mathematics Learning in Grade R 1 and 2
Introduction to Life Skills in Grade R
Life Skills in Grade R 1 and 2

Languages:
Five language options:

English Home and First Additional Language and Literacy Learning in

Grade R 1 and 2
Choose another (additional) language at Home Language level OR
First Additional Language level: Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi
Only if Afrikaans is chosen as another language: choose between
isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi as Language of Conversational Competence
(LoCC)

Afrikaans Home Language and Literacy Learning in Grade R 1 and 2

English First Additional Language 1 and 2
Choose between isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi as Language of
Conversational Competence (LoCC)

isiXhosa Home Language and Literacy Learning in Grade R 1 and 2

English First Additional Language 1 and 2

isiZulu Home Language and Literacy Learning in Grade R 1 and 2

English First Additional Language 1 and 2
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Types of learning Modules

Sepedi Home Language and Literacy Learning in Grade R 1 and 2

English First Additional Language 1 and 2

We call these four types of learning, the knowledge mix of a module (Department of
Higher Education and Training, 2015, p. 11). The level of knowledge for this module
is set at level 5 and it carries 12 credits. For every credit you should spend
approximately 10 hours mastering the content. You will thus have to spend at least
120 hours studying the R-EDS 122 material and doing the assignments and other
assessments.

The knowledge mix of this level 5 module with the related credits is as follows:

x Disciplinary learning, (Study of education and its foundations, 8 credits);

x Pedagogical learning, (General pedagogic knowledge, 3 credits); and
x Situational learning, 1 credit.

4. PURPOSE OF THIS MODULE

Purpose

The purpose of the module is to provide students with knowledge about a range of
learning and teaching theories, underpinned by developmental theories, which will
inform their pedagogical practices. This module also provides students with knowledge
on factors related to individual learners which influence learning and how they can
take these into account in creating conducive and optimal learning environments.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this module students should be able to:

x Understand development theories grounding teaching and learning in theories

of child development.
x Understand theories of learning and teaching and analyse their implications for
teaching, learning and assessment.
x Understand the interrelationship between cognition and learning and teaching.
x Reflect on theories to create developmentally appropriate and conducive
learning and teaching environments.
x Think critically and reflexively about their evolving teaching practice.

Content

This module is the second of four Education Studies modules that provides students
teachers with theoretical knowledge and understanding of learning processes and
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teaching praxis. Theories that underpin learning processes and teaching praxis are
included in this module, which students are required to analyse regarding applicability
in classroom contexts. Specifically, the content in this module comprises:

x Developmental theories and perspectives grounding teaching and learning

theories:
o Theories of human development
ƒ Nature/Nature debate
ƒ Ecological Systems theory and human development
ƒ Biological perspectives of human development
x Learning and teaching theories:
o Behaviourism and Behaviourist theories
ƒ Pavlov
ƒ Watson
ƒ Thorndike
ƒ Skinner
ƒ Implications of Behaviourist Theory for pedagogy
o Constructivism and Constructivist theories
ƒ John Dewey
ƒ Marie Montessori
ƒ Jerome Bruner
ƒ Jean Piaget
ƒ Lev Vygotsky including:
x Wood, Bruner, and Ross
x Gallimore and Tharp
ƒ Reuven Feuerstein
ƒ Implications of Constructivist Theory for pedagogy.
x Factors related to individual learners which influence learning.
x Factors teachers should consider in planning and implementing teaching and
learning in the classroom.

Competencies

x Apply knowledge of how children learn.

x Critical reflection on the link between growth and development and learning and
teaching.
x Planning of developmentally appropriate learning contexts using knowledge of
how children learn.
x Develop adaptive and responsive teaching practices.
x Critical reflection on evolving teaching praxis.

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5. WORKING THROUGH THE CURRICULUM AND

LEARNING GUIDE (CLG)
We developed the CLG to help you master the content through a distance education
mode. You will not have full time tutoring or support but the Student Orientation
Booklet, accessible at MySANTS, offers guidelines for distance learning. Aspects such
as plagiarism are also explained in this booklet. Make use of MySANTS as a support
system for any academic queries.

These guidelines will help you to:

x Work consistently throughout the semester;

x Manage your time efficiently;
x Complete assignments on time; and
x Prepare for tests and examinations.

As you read the CLG, draw on your own experiences and the knowledge you already
have. The core text and recommended reading texts included in the CLG will also help
you to deepen your understanding of the content and concepts you are working
through.

In the CLG, you will find a glossary (wordlist). The wordlist will help you understand
difficult concepts by providing the definitions (meaning) of such words.

You will also find icons (small pictures). The icons indicate the type of activity you
must do. If you do each activity as suggested, you ought to advance and consolidate
your understanding of the core concepts in the module. You will find a list of the icons
used in this CLG on the next page.

Reading and writing activities have been designed to help you make connections
with what you already know, master the content and reflect on what you have learnt.
Scenarios (situations resembling an authentic (real-life) context) and dialogues
provide background to what you are learning. The review/self-assessment questions
are based on the learning outcomes.

Doing each activity will help you understand the content. Get a book or file in which
you complete all your activities. Write full sentences and always use your own words
to show your understanding. Working systematically through each activity, according
to the estimated time for each activity as provided, will also help prepare you for
assessments (assignments and the examination).

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Try to find other students to work with. It is easier to share ideas and complete activities
when working in a study group. Doing so, may help you to master the content more
easily.

Commentaries appear at the bottom of some activities. Commentaries are not

answers but rather a reflection to guide your understanding of the activity and to assist
you in knowing whether your own answer is appropriate or not. These commentaries
alert you to aspects you need to consider when doing the activity.

WRITING ACTIVITY
An activity is designed to help you assess your progress
and manage your learning. Sometimes you will have to
define, explain, and/or interpret a concept. Scenarios and
dialogues are often used to contextualise an activity. They
will also help you bridge theory and practice by linking the
concept and real life situations. When responding to the
activities, use your own words to show your
understanding. Do not copy directly from the text of the
CLG. At the end of most activities, you will find
commentary that aims to guide your thinking and assess
how well you have understood the concepts. The activities
are numbered for easy reference.
READING ACTIVITY
Reading activities may require you to read additional
material not printed in the Curriculum and Learning Guide.
These readings will be either the full text or part of a core
or recommended journal article. Journal articles will give
you an expanded or alternative view on a concept. You
might be required to explain the concept from a different
perspective or compare what has been stated in the CLG
with what you read in the journal article.
STUDY GROUP DISCUSSION
All study group discussions or peer activities require
preparation BEFORE the discussion. Preparation includes
reading and completing activities in writing. Study group
discussions are an opportunity for reflection and for you to
apply what you have learnt. Sharing your learning
experiences may help you to learn with and from each
other. Study group discussions can be done in your own
study group or with a peer.

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REFLECTION
Reflection means to think deeply or carefully about
something. Reflection activities require you to review
critically what you have learnt and link this with your
personal experiences or what you have observed during
Workplace Integrated Learning (WIL).
REVIEW / SELF-ASSESSMENT
Often questions are provided at the end of each unit to
assist self-assessment. These questions are similar to the
type of questions that you may be asked in assignments
or examinations.

6. SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING
As a distance education student, it is your responsibility to engage with the content
and to direct your own learning by managing your time efficiently and effectively.

We designed the following self-directed learning programme template so that you can
plan your time carefully and manage your independent learning. The template will also
help you to keep to due dates and thus complete the assignments on time. Careful
time management and breaking the work up into manageable chunks will help you
work through the content without feeling too stressed. Once you have worked through
the activities you should be able to contribute to discussions in your study group and
during the non-compulsory student academic support sessions with peers and
academic tutors.

When completing the template, consider the following:

x This module is offered in the second semester of your first year of study.
x The semester is 15 - 20 weeks long.
x The module carries 12 credits and has been developed for NQF level 5. It
should take you about 120 hours to work through this module.
x The 120 hours will be spent reading, studying, and completing the activities
in this CLG, as well as the assignments. You will also spend time preparing
and writing the examination.
x The estimated time to read for and complete each activity has been
suggested.
x You will need 5 to 10 hours to finish each assignment. This means you will
need to budget about 20 hours in total.
x You should plan to spend about 10 to 20 hours preparing for the
examination in order to be successful.

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Plan your studies and keep pace of your progress by completing the template below.
It is not divided into specific weeks, but into the number of units in the CLG. Depending
on the nature of the content, it is possible to complete two or more units in one week.
Sometimes, you may only be able to complete one unit in a week. Use the template
as a guide to help you plan and pace yourself as you work through the content, and
activities in each unit.

Add dates to the template indicating when you plan to start working through a particular
unit. In addition, using a SANTS academic calendar will also assist you to pace your
learning. There is also space to indicate the due dates (deadlines) of the assessments.

UNIT IN CLG CONTENT IN CLG DATE PLANNED

UNIT 1 Bronfenbrenner’s ecological

DEVELOPMENTAL systems theory and its
THEORIES implications
GROUNDING
Biological perspectives grounding
TEACHING AND
teaching and learning theories
LEARNING THEORIES
Behaviourism and Behaviourist
UNIT 2
Theories
THEORIES OF
LEARNING AND
Constructivism and Constructivist
TEACHING
Theories

Thinking processes, learning and

UNIT 3 teaching
THINKING
PROCESSES, Factors influencing the learner
LEARNING, TEACHING and learning
AND CLASSROOM
PRACTICE Classroom practice and the
teacher

ASSIGNMENT 1

ASSIGNMENT 2

EXAMINATION

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7. CORE READING
Core readings are an important part of your studies as you need to refer to these
text(s) when answering some of the questions in the activities.

1. Deans for Impact (2015). The Science of Learning. Austin, TX: Deans for Impact.
Available online at:
https://deansforimpact.org/resources/the-science-of-learning/

2. Hugo, W. (2016). Boundaries of the educational imagination. Chapter 3. Cape

Town: African Minds.
Available on EBSCO permalink:
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1364565&site
=ehost-live

OR

Available online at:

http://africanminds.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Boundaries-Web.pdf

A video of this chapter is available on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0atvqP80Ck&feature=youtu.be

3. Theron, L.C. & Theron, M.C. (2014). Education services and resilience
processes: Resilient Black South African student’ experiences. Child and Youth
Services Review, 47, pp. 297–306.
Available on EBSCO permalink:
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=99793355&site
=ehost-live

OR

Available online at:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740914003648

The first two core texts are available on EBSCOhost. To access the core reading
text(s) use the library tab on MySANTS and click on the EBSCOhost link.

8. RECOMMENDED READING
As a distance education student, you cannot only rely on your CLG and the core
readings. We recommend that you also study the following sources so that you have
broader insight into the study material:

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1. Stephen, C., Ellis, J. & Martlew, J. (2010). Taking active learning into the primary
school: a matter of new practices? International Journal of Early Years
Education, 18(4), pp. 315–329.
Available on EBSCO
permalink: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=564
48632&site=ehost-live

2. Zimmerman, B.J. (2002). Becoming a self-regulated learner: An overview. Theory

into Practice, 41(2), pp. 64–70.
Available online at:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237065878_Becoming_a_SelfRegulate
d_Learner_An_Overview

9. ASSESSMENT OF THE MODULE

The SANTS assessment policy is included in the Student Orientation Booklet and is
also available on MySANTS. The policy provides information regarding the types of
assessment you will need to do. It includes information about progression rules,
perusal of marks, or requests for remarking assessments.

In this module, both formative and summative assessment are done over a period of
time (continuous assessment). The activities in the Curriculum and Learning Guide
(CLG) are varied and are aimed at assisting you with self-directed learning. Reflecting
on what you are learning and discussing it in a study group is always helpful. The
personal reflection is aimed at revision, reinforcement, and self-assessment while
informal peer assessment takes place during the group discussions. The following
table provides a summary of the assessment for this module:

9.1 Summary of assessment

TYPES OF ASSESSMENT FORM OF ASSESSMENT WEIGHTING

Formative assessment Two written assignments (100 marks 60%
each)
Summative assessment Examination (50 marks) 40%
TOTAL 100%

9.2 Self-assessment

An activity aimed at self-assessment is included at the end of each unit. Before you
complete the self-assessment activity, reflect on what you have learnt in the unit.
Revise the main concepts and if there is any topic or concept, of which you are unsure,
go back to the relevant unit and revise it.

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9.3 Assignments
To support you in your self-directed learning and to keep track of your own progress,
we will provide guidelines or the memoranda on MySANTS after the assignments have
been marked and returned.

In order to demonstrate that you have gained the knowledge, skills, values and
attitudes described in the learning outcomes of the module, you need to do the
following:

x Complete and submit each assignment (100 marks) before the due date.
x Submit both assignments that constitute 60% of your final promotion mark to
qualify for admission to the examination.

The task brief (specific information regarding what to do and how to prepare for each
assignment) will be explained in the assignment itself. These assignments are
provided at the beginning of the semester together with your CLG for this module. The
assignments are also available on MySANTS.

9.4 Semester examination

At the end of the semester, you have the opportunity to sit for a formal summative
assessment. This includes the following:

x Write a formal examination, out of 50 marks that will constitute 40% of your
final promotion mark. Please read the SANTS Assessment Policy that deals
with all aspects of the general assessment and the examination policy.
x A minimum of 40% in the examination is required to qualify for a
supplementary examination.

10. PLAGIARISM WARNING FOR STUDENTS

Plagiarism is a form of academic misconduct that can lead to educational or
disciplinary action and has severe consequences - in some cases civil or criminal
prosecution.

You are guilty of plagiarism if you copy from another person’s work (e.g. a book, an
article, a website or even another student’s assignment) without acknowledging the
source and thereby pretending it is your own work. You would not steal someone’s
purse so why steal his/her work or ideas. Submitting any work that you have written
but have already used elsewhere (thus not original), is also a form of plagiarism (auto-
plagiarism). An example is when you submit the same assignment or a part of it for
two different modules.

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Avoiding plagiarism by being academically honest is not difficult. Here is what you
should do:

x Submit only your own and original work.

x When using another person’s actual words, sentences or paragraphs,
Indicate exactly which parts are not your own (even if presented in the CLG).
You must do this by referencing in accordance with the Harvard style - a
recognised system specified by SANTS, and you must use quotation marks
(“...”).
x You must also reference precisely when using another person’s ideas,
opinions or theory. You must do so even if you have paraphrased using your
own words.
x You must acknowledge any information or images that you have
downloaded from the Internet by providing the URL link (web address) and
the date on which the item was accessed (downloaded).
x Never allow any student to use or copy any work from you and then to
present it as their own.
x Never copy what other students have done to present as your own.
x Prepare original assignments for each module and do not submit the same
work for another module.
x Always list any student who contributed to a group assignment. Never
submit the work as if only you worked on the assignment.

The Examination Regulations and Procedures policy contains the following in

Section 7.10:
Students may not act in a dishonest way with regard to any test or examination
assessment, as well as with regard to the completion and/or submission of any
other academic task or assignment. Dishonest conduct includes, among other
things, plagiarism, as well as the submission of work by a student for the
purpose of assessment, when the work in question is, with the exception of
group work as decided by the Academic Committee, the work of somebody else
either in full or in part, or where the work is the result of collusion between the
student and another person or persons.

All cases of suspected plagiarism will be investigated and if you are found guilty, there
are serious consequences. Disciplinary action that may result includes:

x You may lose marks for the assignment/activity. Your marks may be reduced
by as much as 50%. You may even be given zero.
x The module may be cancelled and you will have to enrol again. This is a
great waste of time and money.
x Your registration for that entire year may be cancelled. That means not all
the marks you achieved in all the modules you enrolled for will count
anything.
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x In some cases, prosecutions in courts of law may be instituted.

Plagiarism is considered such a serious academic crime that you are required to sign
the standard document (Declaration of Original Work) to every assignment that you
submit by either using the assignment booklet or electronic submission. The
Declaration of Original Work is printed on the cover of the assignment booklets.

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CONTENT
DIPLOMA IN GRADE R TEACHING PROGRAMME ................................................. ii
1. WELCOME TO THE MODULE ............................................................................. ii
2. OUTCOMES OF THE PROGRAMME .................................................................. ii
3. PROGRAMME STRUCTURE ...............................................................................iii
4. PURPOSE OF THIS MODULE ............................................................................vii
5. WORKING THROUGH THE CURRICULUM AND LEARNING GUIDE (CLG) .... ix
6. SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING ............................................................................. xi
7. CORE READING ................................................................................................ xiii
8. RECOMMENDED READING .............................................................................. xiii
9. ASSESSMENT OF THE MODULE .....................................................................xiv
9.1 Summary of assessment ............................................................................xiv
9.2 Self-assessment .........................................................................................xiv
9.3 Assignments ............................................................................................... xv
9.4 Semester examination ................................................................................ xv
10. PLAGIARISM WARNING FOR STUDENTS ....................................................... xv
EDUCATION STUDIES 2: THEORIES OF TEACHING AND LEARNING IN
CONTEXT ................................................................................................................... 1
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1
2. STRUCTURE AND OUTCOMES OF THIS MODULE .......................................... 2
3. GLOSSARY .......................................................................................................... 3
UNIT 1: DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES GROUNDING TEACHING AND
LEARNING THEORIES .............................................................................................. 4
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 4
2. STRUCTURE AND LEARNING OUTCOMES OF UNIT 1 .................................... 5
SECTION 1: BRONFENBRENNER’S ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY AND ITS
IMPLICATIONS .......................................................................................................... 6
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 6
2. THE NATURE / NURTURE DEBATE ................................................................... 7
3. BRONFENBRENNER'S ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY.............................. 8
3.1 Implications of ecological systems theory for pedagogy ............................. 12
3.1.1 Understanding teaching and the teacher’s role ................................ 12
3.1.2 Understanding learning and the learner’s role ................................. 13
3.1.3 Understanding the learning environment ......................................... 13
3.1.4 Understanding assessment of and for learning ................................ 13
3.2 Critique of ecological systems theory ......................................................... 15
SECTION 2: BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES GROUNDING TEACHING AND
LEARNING THEORIES ............................................................................................ 16
1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 16
2. BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES .......................................................................... 16
2.1 Implications of the biological perspectives on pedagogy ............................ 19
2.1.1 Understanding teaching and the teacher’s role ................................ 19
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2.1.2 Understanding learning and the learner’s role ................................. 19

2.1.3 Understanding the learning environment ......................................... 20
2.1.4 Understanding assessment of and for learning ................................ 20
2.2 Critique of biological perspectives .............................................................. 20
3. SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 21
UNIT 2: THEORIES OF LEARNING AND TEACHING ............................................ 22
1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 22
2. STRUCTURE AND LEARNING OUTCOMES OF UNIT 2 .................................. 23
SECTION 1: BEHAVIOURISM AND BEHAVIOURIST THEORIES ......................... 23
1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 23
2. BEHAVIOURISM ................................................................................................ 24
2.1 Pavlov......................................................................................................... 25
2.1.1 Unconditioned response .................................................................. 26
2.1.2 Classical conditioning ...................................................................... 26
2.2 Watson ....................................................................................................... 27
2.3 Thorndike ................................................................................................... 27
2.4 Skinner ....................................................................................................... 29
2.4.1 Reinforcement.................................................................................. 29
2.4.2 Positive reinforcement ..................................................................... 29
2.4.3 Negative reinforcement .................................................................... 30
2.4.4 Punishment ...................................................................................... 30
3. BEHAVIOURIST THEORIES FOR PEDAGOGY ................................................ 32
3.1 Implications of behaviourist theories for pedagogy ..................................... 32
3.1.1 Understanding of teaching and the teacher’s role ............................ 32
3.1.2 Understanding of learning and the learner’s role ............................. 32
3.1.3 Understanding the learning environment ......................................... 33
3.1.4 Understanding assessment of and for learning ................................ 33
3.2 Critique of behaviourist theories ................................................................. 34
4. SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 35
SECTION 2: CONSTRUCTIVISM AND CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORIES................. 36
1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 36
2. CONSTRUCTIVISM............................................................................................ 36
3. THEORIES OF VARIOUS CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORISTS ............................. 40
3.1 John Dewey ................................................................................................ 40
3.1.1 Inquiry learning ................................................................................ 40
3.1.2 Implications of Dewey’s theory of learning ....................................... 41
3.2 Maria Montessori ........................................................................................ 43
3.2.1 Independence (learner working alone)............................................. 43
3.2.2 Observation of learner (looking at how a learner acts when
performing activities) ........................................................................ 43
3.2.3 Accompanying a learner .................................................................. 44
3.2.4 Correcting a learner (disciplining) .................................................... 44
3.2.5 Preparing a learning environment .................................................... 44
3.2.6 Absorbent minds of learners ............................................................ 45
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3.2.7 Implications of Montessori’s theory for pedagogy ............................ 45

3.3 Jerome Bruner ............................................................................................ 47
3.3.1 Learning is an active process .......................................................... 47
3.3.2 Cognitive development includes three stages .................................. 47
3.3.3 The implications of Bruner’s theory for pedagogy ............................ 48
3.4 Jean Piaget ................................................................................................ 50
3.4.1 Cognitive stages of development ..................................................... 52
3.4.2 Implications of Piaget’s theory for pedagogy ................................... 61
3.4.3 Critique of Piaget's theory ................................................................ 69
3.5 Vygotsky ..................................................................................................... 69
3.5.1 Development and expansion of Vygotsky’s theory by Wood, Bruner
and Ross .......................................................................................... 73
3.5.2 Development and expansion of Vygotsky’s theory by Gallimore and
Tharp ............................................................................................... 75
3.5.3 Development and expansion of Vygotsky’s theory by Feuerstein .... 76
3.5.4 Implications of a Vygotskian perspective for pedagogy ................... 78
4. SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 80
UNIT 3: THINKING PROCESSES, LEARNING, TEACHING AND CLASSROOM
PRACTICE ................................................................................................................ 82
1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 82
2. STRUCTURE AND LEARNING OUTCOMES OF UNIT 3 .................................. 84
SECTION 1: THINKING PROCESSES, LEARNING AND TEACHING.................... 85
1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 85
2. A MODEL FOR UNDERSTANDING THINKING AND LEARNING ..................... 85
2.1 An information processor............................................................................ 85
2.2 Applying the information-processing model to teaching and learning in the
classroom ................................................................................................... 88
3. COGNITIVE LOAD THEORY.............................................................................. 90
3.1 Goal-free effect ........................................................................................... 92
3.2 Worked example effect ............................................................................... 93
3.3 Completion problem effect.......................................................................... 94
3.4 Split attention effect .................................................................................... 94
4. LEARNING AND TYPES OF MEMORY ............................................................. 97
4.1 Chunking and Schema ............................................................................... 98
4.2 Automaticity or automatisation ................................................................. 101
SECTION 2: FACTORS INFLUENCING THE LEARNER AND LEARNING .......... 102
1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 102
2. FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE LEARNERS ..................................................... 103
2.1 Intelligence and styles of learning ............................................................ 103
2.1.1 Forms of intelligence ...................................................................... 103
2.1.2 Critique of Gardner’s model ........................................................... 106
2.2 Learner motivation and interest ................................................................ 108
2.2.1 How to encourage intrinsic motivation ........................................... 109

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2.2.2 Combining a growth mind-set and intrinsic motivation to develop self-

regulation ....................................................................................... 110
2.3 Psycho-social factors................................................................................ 112
2.3.1 Social and economic conditions ..................................................... 113
2.3.2 Learner resilience .......................................................................... 113
3. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 116
SECTION 3: CLASSROOM PRACTICE AND THE TEACHER ............................. 118
1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 118
2. FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING TEACHING
AND LEARNING ............................................................................................... 118
2.1 The role of the teacher ............................................................................. 119
2.1.1 Teacher knowledge........................................................................ 120
2.1.2 Teacher professional conduct ........................................................ 120
2.2 Planning for learning................................................................................. 121
2.3 Creating conducive learning and teaching environments ......................... 122
2.3.1 Active learning opportunities .......................................................... 123
2.3.2 Knowing learners ........................................................................... 124
2.3.3 Differentiation and differentiated learning and teaching ................. 125
2.3.4 Communication, inquiry, and reflection .......................................... 126
2.3.5 Managing learner behaviour .......................................................... 127
2.3.6 Assessment of and for learning...................................................... 127
2.3.7 Resourcing active learning environments ...................................... 129
3. SUMMARY ....................................................................................................... 130
4. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 132
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 133
ADDENDUM A: SANTS LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE .......................................... 138

ACTIVITIES 1 TO 52
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Ecological systems theory .............................................................. 9
Figure 2: Piaget's stages of development .................................................... 53
Figure 3: The mouth as the source of knowledge ........................................ 54
Figure 4: Piaget's conservation task ............................................................ 58
Figure 5: Relationship of pedagogy ............................................................. 82
Figure 6: Information-processing model....................................................... 86
Figure 7: Human brain information-processing ............................................ 87
Figure 8: The working memory as volunteer ................................................ 88
Figure 9: Relationship between the problem and the goal ........................... 92
Figure 10: Give all the steps to the problem at the beginning ........................ 93
Figure 11: Completion problem effect ............................................................ 94
Figure 12: Split attention effect ...................................................................... 95
Figure 13: Chunks vs Schema ....................................................................... 99

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EDUCATION STUDIES 2: THEORIES OF

TEACHING AND LEARNING IN CONTEXT

1. INTRODUCTION
How do learners learn? If you knew this, it would help you as a teacher, because you
would teach in ways that help learners understand. Module 2 introduces you to the
key theories on learning and teaching. A theory is a systematic set of principles that
tries to get to the heart or essence of something (refer to Education Studies 1: Theories
of Child Development in Context (R-EDS 111)). A theory shows you the principles (key
ways) something works, so a theory of learning shows you key ways that learning
works. As an aspiring teacher you are expected to understand theories of learning and
teaching and then have the skills to put the theories into practice in the classroom.

This module introduces you to the knowledge and skills which are needed to be a good
teacher, and to be a good teacher you need to understand how your learners learn.
Mastering the knowledge base of teaching assures a positive and motivated approach
to teaching. On the other hand, skills and competencies enable you to apply the
theories practically.

Shulman (2004) describes different types of knowledge needed by teachers. He refers

to the first as subject content knowledge (knowledge of the subject or what to teach)
and the second as pedagogical content knowledge (knowledge of the act of teaching,
including knowledge of how to link the subject knowledge with appropriate strategies
so that children learn). The Greek term paidagogia (pais = boy and ago = lead) from
which the words pedagogy, pedagogic, and pedagogue derive, means leading a child
or accompanying or following a learner in his/her development to adulthood. Pedagogy
is therefore the science of learning and teaching, while pedagogic is the adjective (of
pedagogy) describing what learning and teaching is. A pedagogue is a practitioner of
learning and teaching (Ndlovu, 1990).

When thinking about teaching as a profession, you need to understand the theories
describing what learning and teaching are, as well as understand basic developmental
theories that enable you to decide what is developmentally appropriate to teach.
Developmental theories help you to teach children of different ages differently. An
older child is at a different developmental level to a younger child, so you would teach
them differently. Understanding these theories will guide you to become a good
teacher at different grades. However, what you have to remember when working
through this module is that the theories you are going to study are theorists’ attempts
to explain what learning and teaching are. Theories provide us with a lens through

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which to explain our reality; some theories may work in your context and some may
not. Your challenge is to decide where a theory works best for your context.

2. STRUCTURE AND OUTCOMES OF THIS MODULE

This module consists of three units. The outcomes for each unit is shown below to
give you an overview of the module.

EDUCATION STUDIES 2: THEORIES OF

TEACHING AND LEARNING IN CONTEXT

UNIT 1 UNIT 2
Developmental Theories Theories of Learning and Teaching
Grounding Teaching and Learning
Theories Outcomes: At the end of this unit,
you should be able to:
Outcomes: At the end of this unit, x Analyse and describe
you should be able to: Behaviourism and behaviourist
x Explain the nature/nurture debate. learning and teaching theories.
x Discuss Bronfenbrenner’s x Analyse and describe
ecological systems theory. Constructivism and Constructivist
x Describe biological perspectives learning and teaching theories.
grounding teaching and learning x Explain the implications of each of
theories. the learning and teaching theories
for pedagogy.

UNIT 3
Thinking Processes, Learning,
Teaching and Classroom Practice

Outcomes: At the end of this unit, you

should be able to:
x Explain a model for thinking
processes, learning and memory.
x Discuss factors related to individual
learners which influence learning.
x Explain the factors you as a teacher
have to consider in planning and
implementing teaching and learning
in the classroom.

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3. GLOSSARY
Understanding these terms will assist you when working through this module:

Term - A word or name formed as an abbreviation of the first

letters of words it stands for.

Attention deficit - A psychological disorder characterised by impulsive

hyperactivity behaviours, inattention and hyperactivity. Learner will
disorder (ADHD) struggle to focus, will wander around the classroom,
will have too much energy to sit still.

Cognitive - Structures in the mind built up actively through a

structures transaction between the environment and the
developing child. As the mind of the child interacts with
the world it builds up ways of doing things in an
organized structure.

Inhabits - Occupies or lives in.

Maturation - This not only refers to the physical growth that an

individual comes across as he/she ages, but also the
ability to behave, act and react in an appropriate or
mature manner.

Nature vs Nurture - The debate about whether you are born knowing what
you need to know (nature) or whether the environment
is responsible for developing cognitive structures
(nurture). An example is the intelligence debate – are
you born with your intelligence, or is your intelligence
dependent on your life experiences?

Psychological - Having to do with psychology, the study of the human

mind and behaviour of individuals.

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UNIT 1: DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES

GROUNDING TEACHING AND LEARNING
THEORIES

1. INTRODUCTION
Let’s start this unit by using a case study as an introduction to the developmental
theories that ground all teaching and learning.

Case study: Nandi’s story

Nandi is 10 years old. She lives in an underprivileged area of Cape Town with her
grandmother and two sisters. Her mother works in Johannesburg and her father left
the family when she was 6 months old. Her grandmother is a domestic worker who
gets home after 7 pm. at night and Nandi has to cook for her younger sisters and
help to clean the house in the mornings before leaving for school.

Nandi's grandmother has a Grade 7 education and there are no books in the house
besides the family Bible, which her grandmother reads to the children on a Sunday.
At school, Nandi is presenting with learning problems. She appears unable to finish
work assigned to her, she often gets up half way through the lesson and walks
around, and has recently started missing school. The teacher feels she might have
Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD] and has referred her to an
educational psychologist for testing.

ADHD is a psychological disorder characterised by impulsive behaviours and

hyperactivity. Learners will struggle to focus, wander around the classroom and
have too much energy to sit still. There is medicine that can be given to children with
ADHD. These medicines calm the child down and help the child focus on one thing
at a time. The problem is that these medicines can sometimes become addictive
and can change some personality traits of some children. It is hard to tell whether a
child is not paying attention in class because they are having problems at home, or
are just bored, or whether they have a chemical imbalance in the brain that can be
treated with medication.

120 minutes
1
1. Name two things in the environment that you think have an influence on
Nandi’s childhood and her development.
2. Name two things that indicate that Nandi’s problem might be cognitive (inside
her brain).
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3. Do you think it is the environment or her brain that is Nandi’s problem? Or do

you think it is too hard to tell whether it’s the environment or the brain? Give
reasons for your response.

Commentary:
In your response to question 1, you can consider where and with whom Nandi lives.
You can also consider the absence of things that can stimulate Nandi’s
development.

In question 2, consider what Nandi is unable to do at school, as this might indicate

the source of her difficulties.

In question 3 consider that it might not make sense to say it is either the brain or
the environment, and that it could be both at the same time.

When you read the rest of the module, you need to reflect on what the theories can
tell you about how to see Nandi's lived experience. As we go through the theories, we
will keep returning to Nandi's case study, as they will provide us with a lens with which
to appropriately understand her life.

2. STRUCTURE AND LEARNING OUTCOMES OF UNIT 1

Unit 1 consist of the following two sections and learning outcomes.

UNIT 1
DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES GROUNDING
TEACHING AND LEARNING THEORIES

SECTION 1 SECTION 2
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological Biological perspectives grounding
systems theory and its teaching and learning theories
implications
Learning outcomes: At the end of
Learning outcomes: At the end of this section, you should be able to:
this section, you should be able to: x Describe biological perspectives
x Explain the nature/nurture debate. grounding teaching and learning
x Discuss Bronfenbrenner’s theories.
ecological systems theory and its x Critique biological perspectives on
implications for teaching and teaching and learning.
learning. x Discuss implications of the
biological perspectives on
pedagogy.

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SECTION 1: BRONFENBRENNER’S ECOLOGICAL

SYSTEMS THEORY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS

1. INTRODUCTION
The case study that opens this module situates the Psychological discourse:
module within a psychological discourse. Psychology, This refers to a way of seeing
and understanding the world
in particular developmental psychology, which structures that is based in psychology.
this module – studies how thoughts, feelings, motor skills, Education Studies 1: Theories
of Child Development in
personality and social relationships evolve as each child Context, (R-EDS 111)
develops. As teachers, you need to know how a child introduced you to
developmental psychology,
develops normally so that you can judge whether the child which provides the foundation
for understanding theories of
has any problems resulting in him/her deviating from the teaching / learning.
norm. ‘Norm’ means what is normal for a specific level, so
to deviate from the norm means to be not doing things properly at a specific level. For
example, babies normally start to talk around the age of 12 to 18 months. If a baby
starts talking at six months, then this is unusual, and so it deviates from the norm. If a
toddler only starts to talk at the age of three, then this is also unusual and so it deviates
from the norm.

Theories of development form the basis for theories of teaching and learning.
Basically, as a child grows older, they change and develop and you, as a teacher,
need to understand how these changes and developments happen. There are three
major domains of development: the cognitive, psychosocial and physical domains –
and all are interconnected. Simply put, your mind, your social skills, and your body all
develop as you get older. Mostly these different domains develop together, but
sometimes one domain can charge ahead of the others. For example, a child’s body
could quickly develop and look like an adult body, but their mind and social skills could
still be at the level of a child. So, to understand development, you need to understand
how the body develops, how the mind develops, how social skills develop, and how
all of these interact together.

In this module, we will be mobilising theories of development in an attempt to situate

the case study in a psychological context and explain Nandi's predicament. Put
differently, we will be using developmental theories to understand teaching and
learning, as well as using theories as a basis for the decisions we make about teaching
and learning. Developmental psychologists study development in order to understand
normal behaviour (and consequently, to understand behaviour that deviates (differs
from the norm); to improve self-understanding; to guide responses to behaviour and
to inform expectations about a child's behaviour. In Education Studies 1: Theories of
Child Development in Context (R-EDS 111), you were introduced to a number of the
theories that you will again encounter in this module. In this module we looked at

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developmental theories in terms of what they said about a child's development. In this
module, we take the theories of development as a basis for understanding how
children learn and, therefore, how we should teach.

2. THE NATURE / NURTURE DEBATE

Before discussing theories of human development, we need to understand a crucial,
long-standing debate in developmental psychology: the nature versus nurture debate.
‘Nature’ here refers to what you are naturally endowed or born with – that is, what you
inherit from your parents and your biological (genetical) make-up. ‘Nurture’ refers to
the environment and its role in development (Hardman, 2016). Environment is where
you grow up within – you grow up within your family and within your community.

Prior to the 1990s, in psychology, there was a fierce debate about whether nature or
nurture was predominantly responsible for development. On the one hand, you had
theorists who said that nature determined the course of development, and on the other
you had theorists who said it was the environment, or nurture, that determined
development (Hardman, 2016).

In the 21st century this debate is largely moot; psychologists Moot: refers to the fact
today understand that it is BOTH nature AND nurture that that a debate no longer
has practical relevance.
determines a child's developmental trajectory, and both
aspects need to be kept in mind when studying and working
with children. In Education Studies 1: Theories of Child Trajectory: a child's
Development in Context (R-EDS 111) you completed in the trajectory refers to the
line of development that
first semester, you were introduced to this debate and shown the child follows.
how exactly, throughout development, nature and nurture
interact in the development of the child from conception to adulthood.

In this module, we cover theories that find themselves either on one side or the other
of this debate, as well as theorists who recognise that it is both nature and nurture that
lead to development. You will see in the theories that we cover below that the traces
of this debate are historically embedded in theories that continue to be used today.

60 minutes
2
We have discussed the nature/nurture debate. Let us refer back to Nandi's case
study. Do you think Nandi's challenges are due to nature or nurture side? Give a
reason for your answer.
Commentary:
You could decide whether or not her case is best described by BOTH nature AND
nurture or one of the two.

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Now that we know that there is a broad psychological debate that seeks to describe
reality in terms of either nature or nurture, we turn to theories that can be located in
these two areas. We begin by looking at a theory that actually focuses on the nurture
side of development.

3. BRONFENBRENNER'S ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

THEORY
In Education Studies 1: Theories of Child Development Bronfenbrenner's ecological
in Context (R-EDS 111), you were introduced to Urie systems theory: In R-EDS 111 you
were introduced to this theory. In this
Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory (also theory Bronfenbrenner seeks to
explain reality by looking at the entire
referred to as systems theory or systems thinking). We system that the child is part of, rather
return to it here to discuss how to view a child's than child.
focusing only on the individual

development as part of wider, complex social systems

that interact to influence development and, consequently, how children learn and how
they should be taught.

This theory is very often used in family therapy, as it Dynamic social system: This
situates an individual within the broader social context, refers to the impact that the child's
wider social networks have on the
explaining individual behaviour as a product, not of the child's development. So what we
are saying here is that the child is
individual but rather, of the dynamic social system that developed through interacting with
various networks.
the individual inhabits. It is also widely used by
community psychologists who study individuals in
relation to their context and wider society. Bronfenbrenner suggested in his theory that
there are FIVE environmental systems in which an individual acts or operates. These
systems are depicted in Figure 1 and explained thereafter.

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Figure 1: Ecological systems theory

(Ogrebot, 2016)

The figure depicts how the child in the centre is surrounded by various systems that
ultimately impact on the developing child. Systems thinking is a very useful tool when
dealing with individual children. It enables the developmental psychologist to view the
child in his/her wider social context. So, when a child presents
Aetiology: Cause, set of
with difficulties you don't locate the aetiology of these difficulties causes.
in the individual child, but rather, take a more holistic view of
what is happening in the child's life. You will not see the fifth system (chronosystem)
in the diagram, because this fifth system represents how all of these other four systems
develop and change over time.

We expand on each system in more detail below:

x The microsystem contains the factors within a child's immediate environment

as well as the child's biology. These factors directly affect (and may be affected
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by) the child. This system contains the immediate family unit (like the mother).
What happens in the family will have an impact on the developing child. The
child is an active participant in this setting. It is called ‘micro’ because it is the
smallest and closest system to the child.

x The mesosystem is one level larger than the microsystem. So rather than the
intimate relationship between mother and child (microsystem) it is the larger
family and community and school systems the child interacts with. These
mesosystems join the child to the bigger systems out there. Schools take the
child and introduce them into a bigger world that eventually takes them out into
the bigger world of work. So a mesosystem is about the relationships between
the microsystem and two or more bigger systems. Essentially this is about
interrelations between the systems; for example, relations between home and
school or between the child and peers (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). If, for example,
a child has a disability, the beliefs that the family members hold about the child
attending the local school and the family's relationship with the school will affect
whether the child is enrolled at the school. Note that here too the child is actively
involved in this setting as a participant. Decisions at a microsystem level can
affect what happens at the mesosystem level, and the other way round –
decisions at a school level can affect family relations.

x The exosystem includes all those systems that are far away from the child but
still affect him or her. The exosystem consists of settings that do not involve the
child as an active participant. However, events occur here that are affected by
the child and/or affect the developing child. An example of this would be the
parents’ workplaces. If the parents lose their jobs, this will impact on the child.
Fairly recently (in 2010) CAPS, a new curriculum, has been implemented into
schools. While it does not seem immediately apparent that this will have an
effect on the child, it does. This curriculum is quite dense and the pace at which
it must be covered is therefore quite fast. The individual child will be affected
by this.

x The macrosystem is about the beliefs and ways of living that are deeply
embedded and widely spread about. For example, beliefs like Christianity form
a part of the way of life for families, and provide guidance and support on how
to live and structure your life, so this ‘macro’ system affects everything below it
by giving it a way of being, or a way of living. Think of it like a flavour to
everything – the macrosystem gives everything in it a flavour, just like
Christianity gives all who live under its principles a way of doing, feeling and
acting in life. Bronfenbrenner defined the macrosystem as “consistencies in the
form and content of lower-order systems that exist at the level of the subculture
or the culture as a whole, along with any belief system or ideology underlying
such consistencies” (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 26). At this systemic level you

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have big forces like Christianity, democracy, and capitalism that may affect the
developing child.

x The chronosystem – the final systemic level – refers to development in time

and relates to changes over time and history. You will not see it on the diagram,
because it represents change over time which is hard to capture in a static
diagram, but you can imagine the child in the centre of the diagram growing
older and all the systems around changing. This is an important level in our
country as historical inequality continues to be felt at the level of the individual
child. For example, the legacy of apartheid continues to be felt in under-
resourced schools where disadvantaged children continue to be marginalised.

Systems theory, proposed by Bronfenbrenner, is a very useful tool when dealing with
individual children. It enables the psychologist to view the child in his/her wider social
context. So, when a child presents with difficulties we do not locate the cause of these
difficulties in the individual child, but rather take a more holistic view of what is
happening in the child's life.

120 minutes
3
Refer back to the case study about Nandi.

1. Draw a model of her system using Figure 1 to guide you.

2. In your own words, describe the system that she belongs to.
3. Explain how the various systems impact on Nandi's school performance.
4. Think back to the nature/nurture debate: how does Nandi's case study relate to
this debate?

Commentary:
Reread the section on nature/nurture debate before you work on this activity.
Consider the influence of the environment on why Nandi is acting in the way she is
at school.

Bronfenbrenner’s theory is useful because it helps us to understand aspects outside

of school that impact on learning and development. Ultimately, external factors – such
as changing the curriculum, changing from apartheid to democracy – can have an
impact on learners’ progress at school. As teachers, then, we need to be aware of the
wider systems that our learners are part of.

Below, we consider the implications for understanding the relationship between

development and pedagogy (the science of teaching and learning) using an ecological
systems theory such as Bronfenbrenner's, and we investigate what a theory of
teaching and learning can look like through this theoretical lens.

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3.1 Implications of ecological systems theory for pedagogy

As we have discussed, Bronfenbrenner's theory of development places the individual

child/learner within the broader context of his or her lived experiences. This has
implications for thinking about teaching and learning and for how we view the learning
environment in our classrooms as well as how we assess students.

We now turn to the implications of the theory for understanding the following:

x Teaching and the teacher’s role;

x Learning and the learner’s role;
x The learning environment; and
x Assessment of and for learning.

3.1.1 Understanding teaching and the teacher’s role

When trying to teach a learner, you must remember that each learner is part of a wider
system of interactions. So if a learner does badly on a test, ask yourself: what is
happening in that learner’s family life? Perhaps the parents are going through a
divorce? Perhaps a family member has died? You cannot understand the learner
without understanding the wider systems they are part of. What if you are teaching in
a place that is quite violent and where there is a lot of gang activity? You might find
that the learners in your class are disruptive and rude. While it is tempting to assume
that the individual learner has poor manners, you need to look at the wider social
context of violence to understand how to teach learners who are accustomed to
violence and who, therefore, may act out in violent and aggressive ways.

The teacher needs to understand the learner as part of a whole system, rather than
treating the learner as an individual who stands alone. This requires that, as a teacher,
you form active bonds with learners’ family members and seek to understand the
challenges each learner faces in his or her wider system, so that you can judge
whether his or her performance in school is impacted by the wider system. So, for
example, if a learner’s parents are going through a divorce, it is good for you to know
that, so that you can be aware that the learner’s performance might suffer – not
because they don’t understand the work, but because they are going through a sad
time.

If the teacher suspects that there might be a problem in the learner’s home
environment, the teacher can call in the parents for an interview. It might be that there
are challenges in the household that need to be addressed by a professional social
worker or psychologist who can offer professional support.

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3.1.2 Understanding learning and the learner’s role

Learning happens as part of a systemic whole: that is; the Systemic: Related to
learner is part of a system that is wider than merely his/her system and means part of
a universal or fixed pattern.
individual self. Don’t think of the individual learner as completely
Decontextualised:
separate from everything going on around him or her. The Meaning without reference
to the context in which the
learner who sits in your class should not be viewed as simply a child lives.
decontextualised individual; you need to know about their
background, their home life and how this influences how they
come into a teaching/learning situation. So, when you are teaching, it helps to know
whether your learner is going through challenges at home: for example, if we refer
back to Nandi, we can see that she has many challenges at home that may explain
her poor progress in school.

3.1.3 Understanding the learning environment

As the learner here is viewed as part of a wider community, the learning environment
extends beyond the school classroom. This means that when you are faced with a
learner who is not progressing well, you need to look at that learner in the wider context
of his or her life. This requires that you form good relationships with parents and
caregivers, getting them actively involved in their child's schooling. Research (Karpov,
2005) has in fact found that parental involvement in a child's schooling impacts
positively on performance. Make sure, too, that your learning environment takes the
learner's background into account. It is always rewarding for learners to have their own
work displayed on the walls, for example.

3.1.4 Understanding assessment of and for learning

Learning is part of a wider system. What happens at home, for example, impacts the
learning of the child in school. And the systems that impact learning are even wider
than that: think of how a new curriculum can impact a learner’s performance. The
introduction of a new curriculum can have large effects on 1) how the teacher teaches
and 2) how a learner learns, because it changes what has been done before and this
requires that the school classroom needs to change too.

When assessing the learner, you must take into account the systems to which they
belong. Also, this view of learning/teaching holds that a learner actively constructs
knowledge – so make sure your assessment is both formative and summative.
Formative assessment means that you assess both formally and informally as you
teach and you alter your teaching in light of the assessment findings. Summative
assessment refers to assessing the sum of the work the learners have done.
Formative assessment happens while you are teaching; summative assessment
happens in the tests you give after teaching. In Education Studies 3: Curriculum,

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Pedagogy and Assessment (R-EDS 223) you will learn more about these types of
assessment.

Bronfenbrenner’s model helps us understand developmental psychology and the child

in context, because it shows us that a child cannot be understood solely on an
individual level, but that we need to see the child as part of a wider network of systems
that can all impact on the developing child.

Complete the following activity to show your understanding of how the ecological
systems theory can help you better understand your learners. If you understand your
learners and the contexts (conditions) that affect them, you will be better equipped to
plan for appropriate teaching and learning opportunities.

180 minutes
4
Refer back to the ecological systems theory diagram (Figure 1). Use the diagram to
complete questions on the three scenarios below.

Scenario 1:
Thando is struggling to focus on her work in Mathematics. She seems easily
distracted. Thando is in Grade 6 and her Grade 5 Mathematics mark was
very good. You are concerned about why she is suddenly struggling to focus
on her work. You call a meeting with her parents and discover that they are
going through a divorce and that Thando has been sent to live with her
grandmother.

Discuss Thando's difficulties by referring to Bronfenbrenner's ecological

systems theory.

Scenario 2:
Sipho, a 10 year old, comes to school late every morning. His clothes are
usually dirty. Sipho rarely does homework and is disruptive. He doesn't want
to sit still; he keeps talking. You arrange an appointment with his mother, with
whom he lives. She is unable to meet with you because she works long hours
at a clothing factory and cannot take time off to see you.

Discuss Sipho's difficulties with reference to Bronfenbrenner's theory.

Scenario 3:
Promise has recently moved to a new neighbourhood. He used to live in a
very dangerous neighbourhood where there were gangs. He has gone to live
with his older sister who works as a secretary in a big office in town. She is
very concerned about her brother and is very involved in his school work.
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Whenever there are parent meetings she is there to meet with the teacher.
She helps him with his homework every night. You notice that Promise is
beginning to excel in his work.

1. Using Figure 1 as a guide, draw the ecological systems of Promise, Thando and
Sipho.
2. Develop questions that are specific to each scenario that you will ask yourself in
order to try to understand how each child is developing.
3. Compare the questions you developed about each child by identifying
similarities and differences in the environment of each child.
4. Write down what you think are the causes for each child’s response to the
learning environment at school.
5. Write down one thing you would do to support each child’s development.

3.2 Critique of ecological systems theory

Ecological systems theory is generally well-received and has Empirical support: This
refers to research that has
much empirical support. However, there are some critiques shown that the theory is
against it. effective in explaining
reality.

Initially, Bronfenbrenner was critiqued for failing to adequately account for biological
and genetic influences on human development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). That is,
Bronfenbrenner focused more on the systems that a child was part of when explaining
development, rather than focusing on the genetic (nature) basis of development.

He did this because he was interested in knowing about ‘Blank slate’: Before notebooks,
how context impacts on development. He subsequently a learner would write on a small
slate which could be wiped clean
broadened his theory to account for nature. That is, he (like a blackboard). The term
‘blank slate’ refers to a belief that
broadened his theory later to account for the fact that was held by some that a child
starts out with nothing in his/her
children are biological beings who bring certain things into mind, and teachers ‘write’ on it as
the world with them: they are not born ‘blank slates’ but they convey knowledge and in this
way the child learns.
come into the world with certain genetic predispositions.
A predisposition is a likelihood to develop in certain ways.

Another critique that is less easily dealt with is that his model is very difficult to study
empirically because it is so complex (Hardman, 2012). When we study something
empirically we look for data to support our theory – we take our theory and use it to
explain what we observe in reality. Now, as Bronfenbrenner's theory requires that you
observe so many different systems, it is obviously very difficult to study all these
systems at the same time. This leads researchers to focus on only, say, one system
at a time, because it is incredibly difficult to study all the interactions between the
systems and it takes an enormous amount of time. This means that it is very difficult
to study the interactions between all the systems during the child's development.

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Bronfenbrenner’s model does not account for biology or nature. Our biology (also
called genetics) refers to our physical make-up. As Bronfenbrenner was truly only
interested in studying the impact of context on development, he did not study biology.
We will look at this aspect and its implications for teaching and learning in the next
section.

SECTION 2: BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

GROUNDING TEACHING AND LEARNING
THEORIES

1. INTRODUCTION
To more fully understand how the biology of an individual impacts on development,
we turn to the biological perspective on human development. The biological
perspective looks at biological explanations of human development (Hardman, 2012;
2016). This is discussed here in Section 2.

2. BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
As we noted, Bronfenbrenner’s theory does not pay much attention to the biological
or genetic underpinnings of development. However, in the 21st century, with the
growth of neuroscience, psychologists are well aware that children’s development has
a biological basis (Hardman, 2012; Wild, 2012). Biological theories of development
look at processes in the brain and central nervous system and study how these
develop and change as the child grows. An infant’s brain, for example, looks quite
different from my brain or your brain and these differences are not solely because of
the context within which we have grown up – they are also reflections of our biological
make-up. The brain grows in a specific way.

Did you know?

All children are born with certain core knowledge about space, time and distance.
This tells us that we are biologically 'programmed' to know how to move in space
and how to judge time and distance. These core domains of knowledge, then, are
not taught – they are biologically determined.

In what follows, we will go into more depth about the biological perspective on
development. Theorists who share the biological perspective understand that a child
is not born a blank slate, but rather comes into the world with certain biological
predispositions to development.

Let us look again at the case study about Nandi.

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Case study: Nandi’s story

Nandi is 10 years old. She lives in an underprivileged area of Cape Town with her
grandmother and two sisters. Her mother works in Johannesburg and her father left
the family when she was 6 months old. Her grandmother is a domestic worker who
gets home after 7 pm at night and Nandi has to cook for her younger sisters and
help to clean the house in the mornings before leaving for school.

Nandi's grandmother has a Grade 7 education and there are no books in the house
besides the family Bible which her grandmother reads to the children on a Sunday.
Nandi is presenting at school with learning problems. She appears unable to finish
work assigned to her, she often gets up half way through the lesson and walks
around, and has recently started missing school. The teacher feels she might have
Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD] and has referred her to an
educational psychologist for testing.

The teacher in whose class Nandi is has sought help for

Attention Deficit and
Nandi. She has been referred to a psychologist for testing Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD):
to determine (find out) what the cause of her challenges Is a biologically based disorder that
sees children hyperfocusing and
is; that is, whether she has Attention Deficit and being unable to concentrate on
their work or control their impulsive
Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The exact causes of behaviour.
ADHD are still unknown; however, what we do know is that
it is a biologically based disorder, located in brain functioning. We also know that there
are differences in the chemical functioning of the brain in people who have ADHD. If
Nandi does indeed have ADHD, the psychologist will be able to assess this by giving
her a number of tests designed to find out whether she has this disorder. The
education psychologist has the following understanding of ADHD.

The symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – or ADHD – consist of

different combinations of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

Inattention. Learners who are inattentive have a hard time keeping their mind focused
on one thing and may get bored with a task after only a few minutes. Focusing on one
task and completing the task may be difficult. Often they lose track of things or forget
things easily. You may notice restlessness, laziness, problems remembering what
they were supposed to do, trouble staying seated during class, or starting multiple
things at the same time but rarely finishing them.

Hyperactivity. Learners who are hyperactive always seem to be in motion. They can't
sit still and may dash around or talk incessantly. Children with ADHD are unable to sit
still and pay attention in class. They may roam around the room, squirm in their seats,
wiggle their feet, touch everything or noisily tap a pencil.

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Impulsivity. Learners who are overly impulsive seem unable to think before they act.
As a result, they may blurt out answers to questions or inappropriate comments, or
run into the corridor without asking. Their impulsivity may make it difficult for them to
wait for things they want or to take their turn in games. They may grab a toy from
another child or hit when they are upset. They often have difficulty making and keeping
friends.

60 minutes
5
Do you think Nandi is showing symptoms of ADHD? Is she showing symptoms of
inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity? Or is she showing symptoms of
struggling with her family life at home? Write a paragraph in which you justify your
choice.

Among the biological perspectives, the most dominant perspective in psychology is

the neuropsychological perspective. Psychologists today understand that damage to
certain portions of the brain can have significant developmental impacts (Luria, 1978;
Hyde, Khanum & Spelke, 2014). Depending on which part of the brain is damaged,
different problems can show up. This indicates that different parts of the brain do
different things.

Now look at the following activity and answer the questions.

120 minutes
6
Read the case study before you answer the questions.

Case study:

Sipho, a 10 year old boy, is late for school every morning. His clothes are usually
dirty. Sipho rarely does homework and is disruptive. He doesn’t want to sit still
and he keeps talking. You arrange an appointment with his mother, with whom he
lives. She is unable to meet with you because she works long hours at a clothing
factory and cannot take time off to see you. She is a single parent.

Sipho was involved in a car accident. He hit his head badly and is now no longer
able to spell. He is failing his spelling tests and seems to lack focus in class.

Questions:
1. Compare how an ecological systems theory and a biological perspective would
approach Sipho's case.
2. Which theory do you think is best suited to explain this case? Explain why.

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3. In the nature/nurture debate, on what side of the debate is the biological

perspective? Give a reason for your answer.
4. What advice would you give Sipho’s mother to help him to cope, if you were able
to meet with her?

Commentary:
Considering what is happening in the brain and what is happening in the
environment will help you to respond to the three questions successfully. You may
also want to consider that separating biology (genetics) from the context in which a
child develops is very difficult and that often, the developmental challenges are a
combination of both and thus, intertwined (linked). Consider interlinks between the
biological and ecological systems when you advise Sipho’s mother.

2.1 Implications of the biological perspectives on pedagogy

We now turn to the implications of the biological perspectives for understanding the
following:

x Teaching and the teacher’s role;

x Learning and the learner’s role;
x The learning environment; and
x Assessment of and for learning.

2.1.1 Understanding teaching and the teacher’s role

In considering such a perspective, teaching requires that the teacher is sensitive to

the biological basis of human functioning. So we need to understand that learners are
biological beings. Rather than judging Nandi as ‘slow’ or 'stupid', the teacher would
look at any possible biological underpinning to her behaviour and refer her to a
specialist for assistance.

From a biological perspective, the teacher needs to be on the look-out for learners
who struggle to do well in school. Are their struggles related to their biology or are the
challenges due to something else? Is there something happening in the learner’s brain
that could explain what is happening in the classroom and his/her poor progress or
lack of attention? If this seems to be a possibility, the teacher would seek medical
advice (from a developmental psychologist or psychiatrist) to determine (find out)
whether the learner has some underlying neurological (brain) disorder or whether the
problem lies in the environment of the learner.

2.1.2 Understanding learning and the learner’s role

Learning, from a biological perspective, involves both environmental engagement as

well as the unique biological make-up of the learner. That is, one must take into
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account the learner's environment, but, even more importantly, one must look at the
biological functioning of the learner. If, for example, you have a learner who has been
diagnosed with ADHD, you will have to design your lessons in such a way that the
learner's work is broken up into manageable units so that when s/he loses focus, they
can easily return to the task.

The learner's role here is to actively construct knowledge of the world from his/her
basic biological make-up. You will perhaps have heard of intelligence (IQ) tests. These
tests seek to understand a child's level of intelligence in relation to a problem-solving
task.

2.1.3 Understanding the learning environment

The learning environment should be sensitive to the fact that different learners bring
different capacities to bear on engaging in the classroom. Therefore, teachers ought
to prepare the learning environment to cater for different capacities and capabilities.

The teacher needs to be sensitive to learners’ behaviour and not prejudge them as
‘misbehaving’ or not yet ready for school. It is important that a teacher observes a
learner in the learning environment before taking action. This means that the learning
environment should create many and varied opportunities to observe a learner
completing similar tasks in order to assess his/her skills and competencies before
making a determination about the learner’s progress.

2.1.4 Understanding assessment of and for learning

A learner who has a biological/neurological disorder that impacts on how they learn
will need a special environment in which to learn. The teacher might have to alter
his/her assessment techniques to address the learner’s needs. In some cases, this
might mean giving a learner extra time to complete a task or breaking up a task into
smaller sections so that the learner completes one aspect at a time. A learner with a
biological disorder also needs to experience success; requiring that the teacher
carefully plans opportunities for success.

2.2 Critique of biological perspectives

A central critique of biological perspectives is that they focus too narrowly on the
biology of the child in the absence of the child's context. So, in this perspective, the
practitioner is more interested in the child's individual biology than in his or her wider
context.

Let's refer again to Nandi in the opening case study. Clearly there is a lot happening
in Nandi's environment. While the teacher may think she has ADHD, we cannot judge
this in the absence of understanding her social and cultural context. What we can see
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from the two broad perspectives covered here [ecological systems theory and the
biological perspective] that development in fact relies on both nature and nurture. In
fact, the nature/nurture debate on which developmental theories are built provides the
basis for understanding learning as both biological [nature] and contextually informed
[nurture].

180 minutes
7
Complete the questions before discussing them with a peer or your own study
group. Compare your responses to the questions and make notes of what you learn
from others.

1. Give an example from your own experience that draws on Bronfenbrenner's

theory. That is, was there ever a time in school that you struggled with something
that could be explained by your wider context?
2. What can the ecological perspective tell us about learning in a classroom? Can
you use this theory alone? Explain your answer with reference to the nature /
nurture debate.
3. What can the biological perspective tell us about learning in a classroom? Can
you use this theory alone? Explain your answer with reference to the
nature/nurture debate.
4. Discuss the nature/nurture debate in your own words.
5. Develop four questions that address what you will want to know about each of
your learners at the beginning of the year.

Keep your own notes for future reference.

3. SUMMARY
In this unit we have discussed two significant theories underpinned by the
nature/nurture debate: Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory [nurture] (Section
1) and the biological perspective [nature] (Section 2). As we have discussed, in the
modern world we generally talk about nature AND nurture, not one or the other. In the
following unit we turn to theories of learning. You will still see that some of the theories
are biased towards either one or other side of the nature/nurture debate. However, by
the end of the unit you will see that nature AND nurture are required in order to
understand how children learn and how to teach them.

Before you go on, reflect on what you have learnt so far and complete the self-
assessment activity.

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60 minutes
8
Self-assessment activity: Unit 1

If your answer is UNSURE or NO on any of the criteria, go back to the relevant

section to study it again.

Now that I have worked through this unit, I YES UNSURE NO

can:
Explain the nature/nurture debate.

Discuss Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems

theory and its implications for teaching and
learning.

Describe biological perspectives grounding

teaching and learning theories.
Critique biological perspectives on teaching and
learning.
Discuss implications of the biological
perspectives on pedagogy.

UNIT 2: THEORIES OF LEARNING AND TEACHING

1. INTRODUCTION
A learning process cannot be described by a single learning theory. Different learning
theories need to be studied and analysed to develop an understanding of the learning
process and, by implication, the teaching process. That is why this unit is called
‘theories’ of learning and teaching – not a ‘theory’ of teaching and learning. There is
not just one theory. There are lots of theories of teaching and learning, and these
theories are often in conflict with each other. As you study this unit, make sure you
separate and distinguish between the different theories and start to work on how you
could combine them.

It helps to have different theories because learning and teaching are complex activities
and need more than one way of thinking about them. You are studying for a diploma,
and this means you have to learn how to think and act in complex ways. So we are
not just going to give you one theory that you have to follow in the classroom. Rather,
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we are going to give you a couple of theories, and you have to work out how to combine
them and use them in the classroom.

What is a theory? Hammond, Austin, Orcutt and Rosso, (2001, p. 15) state that a “…
theory is a way of thinking and a model of how things work; how principles are related
and what causes things to work together.” So a theory of learning is a model of how
learning works, what the principles of learning are, and how all the different parts of
learning work together.

2. STRUCTURE AND LEARNING OUTCOMES OF UNIT 2

Unit 2 consist of the following two sections and learning outcomes.

UNIT 2
THEORIES OF LEARNING AND TEACHING

SECTION 1 SECTION 2
Behaviourism and Behaviourist Constructivism and Constructivist
Theories Theories

Learning outcomes: At the end of Learning outcomes: At the end of

this section, you should be able to: this section, you should be able to:
x Discuss Behaviourism and x Discuss Constructivism and
analyse behaviourist theories; analyse constructivist theories;
x Describe the implications of x Describe the implications of
behaviourist theory for pedagogy. constructivist theory for
pedagogy.

SECTION 1: BEHAVIOURISM AND BEHAVIOURIST

THEORIES

1. INTRODUCTION
In Section 1, we address the behaviourist approach to learning by explaining what
Behaviourism and behaviourist theory means. We will also look at the main ideas of
some of the behaviourist theorists concerning the learning process; and finally, discuss
the implications of the behaviourist theory for learning and teaching.

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2. BEHAVIOURISM
Developed in the early 20th century by leading psychologist J.B. Watson,
behaviourism viewed a child as a blank slate (also called a tabula rasa) (Hardman,
2012). That is, the child comes into the world knowing nothing and the world
subsequently 'writes' on the child, developing his/her personality. According to this
theoretical perspective, the learner is basically ‘blank’ when they arrive at school and
learning happens through the modification of his or her behaviour. The teacher is the
‘knower’ of knowledge who ‘fills up’ the passive child with knowledge, much like a jug
can be filled with water. Changes in the learners’ behaviour provide evidence that
learning has happened. In psychology, we would situate this theory on the nurture side
of the nature/nurture debate, because there is no recognition of biological (genetic)
inheritance here.

Behaviourist theories help us think about a child’s behaviour. Behaviour is the way in
which a person acts in a situation. In the learning context we can say that it is the way
in which a learner must behave in the classroom.

For example, as a teacher you have class rules that learners must follow. If they don’t,
there are certain consequences. You reinforce the consequence of their behaviour
with praise or reward if they follow your instructions and with punishment if they do
not. The aim of punishment is to decrease the behaviour that did not comply with your
rules.

Behaviourist theory is a learning theory based on the idea that behaviour can be
controlled or modified. The behaviour that occurs is based on the person’s previous
experiences and/or on the consequences they have experienced for behaviour. The
type of behaviour that will occur is based on the reinforcement that follows, such as
reward or punishment.

Let us use an example again to understand the behaviourist theory. The teacher
modifies learners’ behaviour by reinforcing the class rules. From their experience or
previous consequence(s), the learners know that obeying the rules results in reward.
If the rules are not obeyed the consequence is punishment. It is important to note that
punishment in the context of the behaviourist theory is not negative. Punishment is the
presentation of an unfavourable outcome that causes a decrease in undesired
behaviour. So, by punishment we do not mean whipping the child, rather we mean the
child experiencing a negative effect from doing something. For example, the child
could lose some marks, lose some time by having to stay in class at break, lose some
of the teacher’s attention by the teacher ignoring the child when they do this behaviour.

Behaviourists see learning as a relatively permanent change in behaviour brought

about by experience or practice. They do not see learning as a result of mental
constructs (Hammond et al, 2001). For a behaviourist you control learning by what is
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done to the child, not by working with the mind of the child or the soul of the child.
Learning is about actions done to the child and responses to the response of the child.

In what follows we draw on the work of Pavlov, Watson, Thorndike and Skinner to
discuss this theoretical perspective.

2.1 Pavlov

Behaviourist theory began to develop in the late 19th century. Ivan Pavlov, a Russian
physiologist, noticed that the dogs in his laboratory would get excited when the bell
rang for them to get food. Just the sound of the bell made their mouths start to drip
with saliva. If he rang the bell at the point where the dogs got their food then the dogs
started to associate the bell with the food. If he rang the bell without giving the dogs
any food, they would still think they were going to get food Salivate: When you anticipate
and wander around looking for the food. The dogs food, saliva forms in your mouth.
anticipated their meals when they heard the bell. Instead Stimuli: Things which cause a
reaction in the body. Just one is a
of starting to salivate once the food was in front of them, stimulus.
the dogs would salivate in response to a number of stimuli
associated with food.

For example, if Pavlov both rang the bell and opened a door at the point where the
dogs got food, they would associate both the bell and the Involuntary reflexes: Involuntary
opening of the door with food. So, if Pavlov just opened is something done without a
conscious effort or decision (e.g. a
the door the dogs would get excited, even if there was no sneeze or yawn). A reflex is a
food. Pavlov showed in experiments how one could response of the body to a stimulus,
which doesn’t involve a conscious
condition a dog to salivate in the absence of food by decision (e.g. when the doctor taps
your knee with a hammer and your
referring to two concepts: unconditioned response and leg moves.
classical conditioning. The association of involuntary
reflexes (like salivating on hearing a bell) with other environmental conditions became
known as classical conditioning.

Classical conditioning is one of the best known aspects of behavioural learning theory.
Classical conditioning refers to a spontaneous reaction that occurs automatically in
response to a particular stimulus (Cole, 2001). For example, when you smell your
favourite food (stimulus), you may immediately feel very hungry (response).

Watson, whom we discuss next in Section 2.2, tried an experiment that was similar to
Pavlov’s but, rather than using dogs, he used children to test his theory of learning.

However, before we look at his work, let us look at unconditioned response and
classical conditioning more closely.

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2.1.1 Unconditioned response

Pavlov’s experiment basically followed this format: Pavlov would present the dog with
a piece of meat, which would lead to an automatic Instinctual: Acting from an innate
response of salivation – that is, the dog’s instinctual behaviour pattern (instinct).
response to the meat.

This he called “an unconditioned response” because it is a natural reflex: it is natural

when you smell food for your body to produce saliva to Natural reflex: This is a reflex that
help you eat and digest the food. This we call natural you are born with.
because it is innate and biological. It happens without
you even thinking about it. In this case the unconditioned stimulus was the meat, and
it led to an unconditioned response – salivation.

2.1.2 Classical conditioning

Pavlov then paired the meat with a bell (a neutral stimulus). He rang the bell at the
same time that he produced the meat (Cole, 2001). Eventually, the dog would
associate the bell with the food and salivate when the bell rang, even if no meat was
offered. Pavlov referred to this as a “conditioned response”. The association of
involuntary reflexes with other environmental conditions became known as classical
conditioning.

Copy and paste the following link onto your computer, phone or tablet and open it in
YouTube. The link will help you learn more about Pavlov’s work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP5lCleK-PM

120 minutes
9
1. In your own words, explain the following:
1.1 Unconditioned response.
1.2 Classical conditioning.
2. When I present a dog with a piece of steak it begins to salivate. What is this an
example of?
3. If I combine the meat with the ringing of a bell, and later remove the meat but
ring the bell, what is this an example of?
4. What additional information did you learn from watching the video? Write a
paragraph.

Commentary:
In this activity you can see classical conditioning as it plays out. Note how a natural
reflex, something that is innate (inborn/instinctive), can become a conditioned reflex.

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Now that you know a little bit more about Pavlov’s work, let’s go back to Watson’s
concept of behaviourism.

2.2 Watson

Watson tried an experiment that was similar to Pavlov’s but, rather than using dogs,
he used children to test his theory of learning. He did an experiment to show how one
could condition a child to fear something of which he was not initially afraid. In the
experiments he did with baby Albert, Watson conditioned Albert to fear fluffy toy
animals through pairing them with a loud noise which was frightening to the child.

Albert was naturally afraid of a loud sound (all babies are born with this fear – it is a
survival mechanism). He was not initially afraid of toy animals, but by making a loud
noise every time the baby saw the toy, Watson ensured that the baby started to get
scared of the toy, even when no loud sound was made. By combining toy animals with
loud noises, Watson conditioned Albert to fear toy animals. (Note: This is quite a nasty
example and it would not be allowed today – but in those days these types of
experiments were allowed).

This is an example of classical conditioning.

The following are examples of classical conditioning that may be used in the
classroom:

x Soft music could be played as learners work individually or in groups on class

assignments or during self-study sessions, the intention being to transfer the
pleasant emotions associated with the music to the academic work.

x Test or exam anxiety is another example of classical conditioning. Bad results

on a series of tests will lead learners to fear taking tests. Just the thought of a
test can make a student start to sweat and get scared. Counter-conditioning
would be needed to reverse the anxiety. Relaxation techniques, such as
breathing exercises, could be very useful in this situation. The learner would
learn, when feeling scared and anxious about a test, to sit quietly and breathe
deeply for a while.

A contemporary of Pavlov and Skinner, Thorndike is also associated with

behaviourism, but introduced a new perspective and learning theory.

2.3 Thorndike

Thorndike developed a stimulus-response learning theory. He believed that responses

that result in a positive effect in any given situation are likely to be reinforced
(strengthened to occur again). If a result or response creates a negative effect, then it
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is unlikely that that response will be repeated. In other words, he proposed that a
certain behaviour would be repeated if the response to the behaviour was positive and
that the opposite would be true if the response to the behaviour was negative. This
means that some responses would happen more and more, because of the positive
feedback; and other responses would happen less and less, because of the negative
feedback. Think about this in your own teaching. If you do something in class and the
learners listen and obey you, then you will want to try and do what you were doing
more and more. If you do something in class and the learners do not listen to you, then
you will not use that teaching technique as much in the future.

See Anonymous 2013 for good account of Thorndike:

http://teachertraineeaide.blogspot.co.za/2013/05/behaviourist-thoery-thorndikes-
theory.html

The second principle in Thorndike’s theory is that he believed that learning takes place
through a trial-and-error approach. The reason, he Intrinsic: extremely important and
believed, was that a learner intrinsically (for internal part of the basic characteristics of a
person or thing (from within)
reasons) displays a positive behavioural response, as a
reward for what is achieved. This is because the learner is actively involved in his or
her learning.

Learning by trial and error happens when you attempt to reach a desirable outcome
and try different methods to achieve that goal until you are successful in finding one
that works.

The features of trial-and-error learning can be summarised as:

x Learning by trial and error is a gradual process.

x For learning to occur, the learner must be properly motivated.
x The learner tries to respond in different ways (makes random and variable
responses).
x Some responses do not lead to the goal (annoying response)
x Some responses lead to the goal (satisfying responses)
x With the increase in number of trials the annoying responses will tend to be
eliminated and the satisfying responses will be strengthened and repeated.
x The time taken to perform the task (to repeat the satisfying response)
decreases with successive trials.
(Extract from Anon, 2013)

While Watson's work was very popular in the early 1960s, his work was developed
further by B.F. Skinner who moved from classical conditioning to operant conditioning.
Skinner, the father of modern behaviourism, further developed Thorndike’s stimulus-
response learning theory (Hammond et al, 2001) as we discuss below.

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2.4 Skinner

While Watson (discussed in Section 2.2) held that children were essentially blank
slates, Skinner, another very prominent behaviourist, did not want to make
assumptions about processes inside a person that could not be observed. Rather, he
focused his research on observable behaviours. Skinner (1948) is best known for his
work in operant conditioning.

Operant conditioning (sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning) focuses on

using either reinforcement or punishment to increase or decrease behaviour.
Through the process of operant conditioning, an association is formed between the
behaviour and the consequence of the behaviour. According to Skinner, behaviour
which is reinforced, will be repeated and behaviour which is not reinforced, will not
continue. Hence he proposed operant conditioning as a mechanism for strengthening
a desired behaviour through reinforcement.

Let us look at each concept in more detail.

2.4.1 Reinforcement

Reinforcement can be negative or positive. Positively reinforcing a behaviour refers to

rewarding a behaviour to ensure that it is repeated. Negative reinforcement, on the
other hand, refers to reinforcing behaviour by taking away an unpleasant stimulus. The
important aspect of this kind of conditioning, then, is that the desired behaviour is
reinforced and, therefore, repeated.

2.4.2 Positive reinforcement

Positive reinforcement that involves the addition of a reinforcer after a behaviour

makes it more likely that the behaviour will occur again. Positive reinforcement, then,
refers to the addition of a reward that will increase the likelihood of the behaviour
happening in the future. For example, after you wrote a good poem in your language
class, your teacher compliments or praises you by saying “That was a great piece of
work”. Of course, this practice is useful to a teacher: if you want a behaviour to re-
occur then you reinforce it. So if a child is doing good work, you could reinforce this
with a reward of some sort (e.g. a gold star). Skinner (1948) believed that such
reinforcement would ensure that the behaviour would occur again.

Below are some examples of positive reinforcement (rewards) a teacher may use:

x Concrete/tangible rewards such as sweets, stickers, certificates, etc.

x Activity rewards such as free time, using puzzles, free reading sessions, etc.
x Social rewards such as expressing approval of the behaviour by saying
“Excellent work”.
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x Encourage natural rewards; for example, if a learner studies hard, pays

attention in class and does his/her homework they will be rewarded by
achieving high marks.

Positive reinforcement is most effective when it occurs immediately after the

behaviour. The shorter the time span between the behaviour and the positive
reinforcement, the stronger the connection will be.

2.4.3 Negative reinforcement

Negative reinforcement is when behaviour is strengthened by stopping, removing or

avoiding a negative outcome for the behaviour. Negative reinforcement involves the
removal of a negative condition in order to strengthen behaviour.

One of the best ways to remember this is to see negative reinforcement as a

subtraction: you take away the negative stimulus to reinforce the behaviour. An
example is useful here: imagine that when you give a child vegetables with dinner, she
starts to moan (behaviour) with the result that you take away the vegetables (negative
stimulus). This will ensure that the next time you give the child vegetables at supper,
he or she will moan even more in the hope of getting rid of the vegetables!

Many people confuse punishment with negative reinforcement: but remember,

negative reinforcement reinforces the behaviour while punishment seeks to get rid of
the behaviour. This is what distinguishes negative reinforcement from punishment: it
is aimed at reinforcing rather than taking away the behaviour. If a child starts to moan
about eating vegetables and you shout at the child for moaning, then you are punishing
the child and trying to get rid of the moaning behaviour.

2.4.4 Punishment

The second concept that is key to understanding operant conditioning is punishment.

It involves either presenting or taking away a stimulus (incentive) to weaken behaviour.

Example:

Andile likes to play soccer after school. However, he has been misbehaving in class
and you therefore decide to confiscate his soccer ball. This is an example of
punishment – taking something away so that the behaviour (naughtiness) is
weakened.

Negative reinforcement should not be confused with punishment. Whereas negative

reinforcement will ensure that the behaviour is strengthened and will occur in the
future, punishment seeks to weaken a behaviour and ultimately get rid of it.

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Here are some examples of suitable punishment in a classroom:

x Loss of privileges, such as a learner cannot sit where he or she wants, or cannot
work or play with friends.
x Extra work, such as homework, push-ups and laps on the track field.

Now complete the activity below:

120 minutes
10
1. In your own words, define negative reinforcement.
2. Distinguish (differentiate) between negative reinforcement and punishment.
Give your own examples to support your answer.
3. Review the statements below on children from different age groups and indicate
whether they are examples of positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement or
punishment. Give reasons for your answers.

Scenario Type of Reasons for my

reinforcement answer
Sipho always cries when he gets
carrots for dinner. Mother
removes the carrots from his
plate. In future, Sipho always
cries when he gets carrots.
Portia gets a gold star for her
homework.
Puna likes to watch TV after
school. She is very rude to her
mother when she fetches Puna
from school. Her mother bans TV
for a week.
Sara and Thandi were supposed
to clean the classroom. Last
week, they went out to play
without tidying the book corner.
As a result the teacher made
them clean the classroom during
break for the rest of the week.
Mary hates wearing new jeans.
She knows that if her jeans are
torn her father won't let her wear

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torn jeans. She cuts a hole in her

jeans.

Commentary:
Behaviourism was an extremely important theory in the middle of the 20th century
and was used extensively to shape (influence) teaching and learning even into
the 21st century. However, as we discuss below, the usefulness of behaviourism
in teaching and learning today is quite restricted. While it still offers us some useful
tools for teaching in a modern classroom, much more is needed, as will be
discussed later.

3. BEHAVIOURIST THEORIES FOR PEDAGOGY

3.1 Implications of behaviourist theories for pedagogy

We now turn to the implications of the theory for understanding the following:

x Teaching and the teacher’s role;

x Learning and the learner’s role;
x The learning environment; and
x Assessment of and for learning.

3.1.1 Understanding of teaching and the teacher’s role

Teaching from a behaviourist perspective focuses on shaping the desired response

through reinforcement. If the learner performs the work in the way you require, you
reinforce that behaviour through rewarding the child with a star or a good mark.
Teaching is teacher-centred, focusing on teacher-controlled methods such as
lectures, tutorials, drills and demonstrations. This is because the teacher is viewed as
possessing all the knowledge and the learners are viewed as blank slates upon which
the teacher will ‘write’. When the teacher wants to reinforce a behaviour to ensure that
it is repeated in the future, the teacher provides either negative or positive
reinforcement. To weaken or get rid of a behaviour, the teacher uses punishment.

3.1.2 Understanding of learning and the learner’s role

Behaviourism sees learning as passive. The learner is not seen as actively

constructing knowledge, but rather as passively being guided and shaped into what
the teacher wants the learner to be.

The learner is a blank slate upon which the teacher 'writes' knowledge or skills. There
is no recognition that the child brings any knowledge to the classroom. Rather, the
teacher is seen as the expert who will fill the child with knowledge, much like one can
fill an empty jug with water.
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The true behaviourist teacher believes that learning is passive and that the learner
must learn the correct response through negative or positive reinforcement.
Knowledge here becomes a matter of remembering information and understanding
becomes a matter of recognising familiar patterns. Rather than being encouraged to
think creatively, the learner must reproduce what was taught. Reproducing a correct
response will be rewarded by an external reward such as praise. Behavioural learning
does not demand that a learner is able to put the skills or knowledge to use in a ‘real’
or ‘authentic’ situation. It is simply believed that the learner will be able to do so
because they have the correct knowledge or skills needed.

3.1.3 Understanding the learning environment

The teacher shapes learner’s behaviour by positive or negative reinforcement. A

crucial element of a learning environment is classroom management. For
behaviourists, a classroom is managed through positive reinforcement, negative
reinforcement and punishment. If the teacher wants a behaviour to be repeated, then
they reinforce it either positively or negatively. If they want to weaken a behaviour,
such as disruptive behaviour, then they punish that behaviour.

Let us look at an example. Siwe is being disruptive in class. She does not listen to
instructions and talks constantly. You know that Siwe loves to play netball after school
and is very good at it. As she is not behaving appropriately, you punish her by not
letting her go to netball. This will weaken her disruptive behaviour.

Joseph does not like to sit next to Andile; they constantly fight when they sit together
and Joseph ends up crying. You move Joseph to another seat (negative
reinforcement). Now, in future, Joseph will cry when he doesn't want to sit next to
Andile. Negatively reinforcing this ensures that this behaviour will happen again.

In an environment where the classroom is tightly managed this is done so the teacher
can teach. The teacher presents the information and then the learners demonstrate
that they understand the information. For example: a teacher wants his or her learners
to form letters in a specific way as was taught.

3.1.4 Understanding assessment of and for learning

In a behaviourist approach, learners are assessed primarily through testing and

providing correct answers. Remember that students are viewed as passive recipients
of knowledge. Hence the teacher is not interested in them constructing novel
knowledge, but only in repeating what they have taught.

Now complete the following activity:

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120 minutes
11
Read the following scenario and answer the questions that follow:

As a young and inexperienced teacher, Ms Zondi has a problem with classroom

management. She wants to know: “How can I apply behaviourist theory to modify
(shape) my learners’ behaviour in class?”

1. What advice will you give Ms Zondi?

2. Think of what you would suggest Ms Zondi should use as a reward if learners
exhibit the desired behaviours and as punishment if they don’t.

Commentary:
First, Ms Zondi needs to know what behaviours she wants her learners to exhibit.

Let us assume she decides that her learners must exhibit the following behaviours:

x Come to school on time;

x Have books out when the bell rings;
x Participate in the story telling activity when the teachers ask questions; and
x Tidy-up the blocks in the block corner.

You will most likely advise her on reinforcements for behaviours. Remember, the
reinforcement can be a reward or a punishment.

Even though behaviourism is no longer a dominant force in developmental

psychology, there are ways we can still use it in the classroom. Here is a method:

x Analyse the learner’s behaviour: what is the child doing and what would you
like that child to be doing?
x Establish a sequence of reinforceable steps or remove reinforcement that is
producing negative behaviour to move the student to the desired behaviour.
x Wait for the desired response and when it occurs, reinforce it.

3.2 Critique of behaviourist theories

Few psychologists today would agree with a behaviourist approach to development

(Chomsky, 1965; Hardman, 2016). There are few people today working in psychology
who deny that children are active constructors of knowledge who bring their own
cognitive make-up to any learning situation.

Today, we understand that the developing child is not a blank slate, but that nature
and nurture combine in the child's development. While Skinner recognised the
importance of cognitive factors (nature) in development, he chose to focus his studies
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on observable behaviour, restricting this theory of development to external conditions

(nurture). He did this because he believed that focusing on observable behaviour was
more useful for understanding learning.

Noam Chomsky’s (1959; 1965) gave perhaps the most famous critique of Skinner’s
work. In his review of Skinner’s account of how language functions, Chomsky pointed
to the fact that there are innate structures that pre-exist a child’s interaction with a
language context. That is, children are born with a predisposition (tendency) towards
language. We know today that there are actual language centres in the brain, such as
Broca's and Wernicke's areas that are implicated in the learning of language (Wild,
2012).

Today, with new techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imagining [FMRI],
we are able to observe brain processes in a way that was not available in Skinner’s
time. FMRI is a technique similar to an X-ray that enables you to see the levels of
activity in different areas of the brain. This was not available in Skinner's time and we
now are able to see that there are innate, biological bases for thinking and functioning.

4. SUMMARY
In summary: behaviourists believed that children came into the world as blank slates
that had no innate knowledge. It was, therefore, the job of the teacher to shape the
learner’s behaviour. Learning resulted in changes in observable behaviour. From the
behaviourist perspective, changes in behaviour are achieved through positive
reinforcement, negative reinforcement and punishment. Positive and negative
reinforcement ensure that a behaviour will occur again, while punishment seeks to
weaken a behaviour. Now, let us complete the review below.

180 minutes
12
1. Compare behaviourism and the biological perspective of development.
Remember, in order to compare, you must list the similarities and differences
of the theories.
2. Dineo is able to write her name and surname. She has been struggling with her
small motor development and language skills, so you are very pleased by this
achievement. You would like to see this behaviour repeated. What do you do?
3. Compare the work of Watson and Skinner in terms of how they view the process
of learning.

The second learning theory we discuss is Constructivism.

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SECTION 2: CONSTRUCTIVISM AND

CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORIES

1. INTRODUCTION
In this section we will look at constructivism and constructivist theories. We will discuss
the theories of various constructivists for example: John Dewey; Maria Montessori;
Jerome Bruner; Jean Piaget and Vygotsky.

2. CONSTRUCTIVISM
Before we explain Constructivism, complete the next activity which is based on two
scenarios.

120 minutes
13
Read the following two scenarios below before answering the questions that follow.

Scenario 1:

This is a Grade R Mathematics lesson where learners are learning about

recognising, identifying and reading numbers. Ms Smith, the teacher is using a
poster with a number line printed on it. She believes that her Grade R learners
should already start knowing the number line as Grade 1 learners have to learn it.

Ms Smith: This is a number line … [Points at blackboard with number line

from 0 to 10] ... say after me, zero [Points to number 0]

Learners: Zero.

Ms Smith: Zero.

Learners: Zero.

Ms Smith: Next is One. Say One.

Learners: One.

Ms Smith: Two comes next [points to the number 2 on the number line].
Say Two.

Learners: Two.

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Ms Smith: Three.

Learners: Three.

Ms Smith: Say again, zero, one, two three [points to each number as she
says them]

Learners: Zero, one, two, three..

Scenario 2:

This is also a Grade R classroom where the students are learning about
recognising, identifying and reading numbers. This is a different teacher, Mr
Ngcobe.

Mr Ngcobe: Alright, the children to whom I gave paper boards must please
stand here in front of the class in a straight line. I will show you
in which order you must stand.

Wayne: [puts up his hand]

Mr Ngcobe: Yes Wayne?

Wayne: You said I can do the clapping today, sir.

Mr Ngcobe: Yes you are right. Come stand next to me and we will show the
class so everyone can do it together.

[Goes to first learner and asks them to hold up the paper board
with the number 0]. Now, what do we call this number that looks
like a circle? [points to the zero number]

Learners: Nought.

Mr Ngcobe: Yes, Thandi, we can call it nought or we can also call it zero.
How many clap sounds do you think the circle would make if it
could talk?.

Thandi: No sound.

Mr Ngcobe: Yes, it is empty inside this circle, so there are no claps. How
about this one, how many claps? [points to number one with a
picture of a bun on it]

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Learners: One clap

Mr Ngcobe: Yes. There is one bun. Wayne, show us how many sounds
does one bun make. [Wayne claps once] Now we all make one
clap and shout “One” [students clap once and shout “One”].
Look at the next picture. How many shoes are there?

Learners: Two shoes.

Mr Ngcobe: How many claps? [looks at Wayne and then at the class.
Wayne claps twice, class claps twice]. Let’s all say “Two shoes”
[claps twice].

Learners: Two shoes [clap twice].

Mr Ngcobe: Cindy, how many bees on the next board? How many claps will
the bees make?

Cindy: Three bees, three claps. [claps three times, Wayne claps three
times and the rest of the class claps three times]

Mr Ngcobe: Three bees. [claps three times and says one, two, three]

Learners: Three bees [clap three times]

Mr Ngcobe: Let’s look again from the start. Zero [quiet], One bun [claps
once], Two shoes [claps twice], Three bees [claps thrice].

Learners: Zero [quiet], One bun [claps once], Two shoes [claps twice],
Three bees [claps thrice].

Questions:
1. What can you say about how Ms Smith teaches? How do you think she
understands how learners learn? What do you think of the way she teaches?
How does she see her role?
2. What can you say about how Mr Ngcobe teaches? How do you think he
understands how learners learn? What do you think of the way he teaches?
How does he see his role?
3. Compare the two teachers. Say how each understands:
x how learners learn; and
x his / her role as a teacher.
4. How do you think learners learn? How should they be taught? Is what you believe
about how learners learn more in line with Ms Smith or Mr Ngcobe? Explain why
you say so.
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Commentary:
In the two scenarios above we can see two different approaches to teaching based
on the teachers’ different theories of learning. Can you see how Ms Smith's teaching
relates to what we have learnt about behaviourism? Mr Ngcobe's approach is quite
different.

In what follows we will be unpacking Mr Ngcobe's approach when we deal with

theories of teaching/learning based on constructivism – the most influential theory
underpinning pedagogical practices today. Pedagogical practices refer to those
practices that inform the science of teaching (pedagogy). From a constructivist
perspective, pedagogy is defined as:

A structured process whereby a culturally more experienced peer or teacher uses

cultural tools to mediate or guide a novice into established, relatively stable ways
of knowing and being within a particular, institutional context, in such a way that
the knowledge and skills the novice acquires lead to relatively lasting changes in
the novice’s behaviour; that is, learning (Hardman, 2007, p. 5).

Now that we have a way to understand pedagogy, we can begin to unpack a variety
of theories that fall under this broad theoretical field.

The portion of the unit that follows introduces you to the

current, most pervasive theory underpinning Broad basket of theories: This
refers to a number of theories all
pedagogical practices in schools: constructivism. under the same heading which
approach teaching/learning in a
Constructivism is a broad basket of theories that have similar manner.
in common the understanding that the child actively
constructs knowledge, rather than passively receive it from the teacher. In the scenario
above we would say Ms Smith is behaviourist in her teaching and Mr Ngcobe is
constructivist because he clearly believes that children should actively engage with
the work through asking and answering questions. When we say children construct
knowledge what do we actually mean?

We do not mean that the teacher becomes a 'guide on the

Trajectory: The developmental
side'; far from it. The teacher, in the constructivist theories path that a child takes.
we will cover, is absolutely central to the developmental
trajectory of the child.

Constructivism means we assume certain things: Cognising agents: Active

1) children are active cognising agents. That is, children thinking beings
bring their current knowledge and experience to bear on
novel (new) situations in order to make these situations meaningful; 2) teaching is
absolutely necessary to develop the child cognitively (Hardman, 2016).

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60 minutes
14
Explain constructivism in your own words. Consider teaching and active thinking
in your response.

As mentioned, many different theories fall under the broad banner of ‘constructivism’.
All of these theories differ slightly but have one thing in common: they believe children
learn actively. We will be introduced to various theorists in this field next.

3. THEORIES OF VARIOUS CONSTRUCTIVIST

THEORISTS
We will discuss theories of the following constructivist theorists:

x Dewey;
x Montessori;
x Bruner;
x Piaget;
x Vygotsky:
o Wood, Bruner and Ross;
o Gallimore and Tharp; and
o Feuerstein.

3.1 John Dewey

In the early part of the 20th century, John Dewey became interested in how children
learn. Unlike Watson, who thought of children’s minds as ‘blank slates’, Dewey
believed that children learnt through experiencing their world. According to Dewey,
teaching is a connection with society, the outside world and life. Dewey maintained
that children learn through social interaction in social institutions, such as schools.
What a child learns should have meaning and relevance; therefore, teaching should
centrally focus on the child’s experience.

3.1.1 Inquiry learning

Dewey’s view on teaching learners to solve problems is described as inquiry

learning. It is a learner-centred approach to learning, in which the teacher presents a
situation and the learners solve the problem by gathering data or evidence in order to
come to a conclusion.

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When presenting a problem or a question, learners have to follow five basic steps:

Step 1: According to Dewey, learners should start thinking about a problem as

soon as they are confronted with it. Their ability to solve the problem is
determined by the intensity of their efforts to find solutions.

Step 2: Being conscious of the problem, learners then start asking questions
(inquire) and gather more information/data relating to the problem.

Step 3: When all the needed information/data has been gathered, learners get
an opportunity to reason the correctness and usability of the gathered
information/data.

Step 4: Learners form a generalisation / principle from their findings.

Step 5: Learners examine, in more detail, their findings. Their findings will only
be accepted as a solution if proven to solve the problem.

3.1.2 Implications of Dewey’s theory of learning

We now turn to the implications of the theory for understanding the following:

x Teaching and the teacher’s role;

x Learning and the learner’s role;
x The learning environment; and
x Assessment of and for learning.

Understanding teaching and the teacher’s role

Dewey believed that children learn best when they are presented with meaningful
activities that have real life relevance to them. Teaching incorporates the creation of a
learning environment conducive to inquiry (investigation/experiment). Thus, the
teacher creates a learning environment that includes authentic (real life) learning
opportunities that depict real problems.

The teacher formulates appropriate focus questions, highlighting the problem. The
questions should stimulate learners’ thinking. The focus questions should be carefully
chosen, guiding learners toward understanding the problem and finding solutions.
Learners may make conjectures and approximations (informed guesses that leads
to action) regarding the problem.

The teacher’s role is to facilitate (guide/support) learning through probing, asking

questions, and assisting learners to find information (inquiring data) relating to the
carefully formulated problem. They support learners’ planning of how they will tackle
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the problem, complete the task, and find ways to present and share the findings
(results or answers) with others. The teacher also provides opportunity for learner
reflection on their investigations and the processes used to reach their conclusions.

Understanding learning and the learner’s role

Dewey held a pragmatic view in that he believed that reality must be experienced.
Learning takes place by doing. For him it is imperative for learning to be active and
inquiry-based. Learners need to engage with their environment and question what they
experience and are told, striving to find meaning and relevance in what they do.

Active or experiential learning requires the learner to think about problems and their
possible solutions. Learners observe, inquire, gather and share information and then
reflect and reason about what they have found. With guidance, they can try to find
patterns and relationships between phenomena which they can eventually apply to
their real world through the formulation of generalisations, hypotheses, ideas and
concepts.

Understanding the learning environment

A learning environment must take into account that learners learn through interacting
with their environment. The environment should therefore contain many tasks and
activities that learners can engage in in order to learn.

Understanding assessment of and for learning

Dewey believed that children learn best when they are presented with meaningful
activities that have real-life relevance to them. So, when teaching and assessing
children, make sure the assessment is relevant to them.

Assessment is formative and on-going as children engage with the problem and find
solutions, with approximations and conjectures forming part of the process of learning
and assessment. On-going (formative) assessment means that learners are assessed
during the learning process and not only at the end (in a summative way). Assessment
will include the process undertaken by learners in arriving at solutions to problems and
not only the assessment of the solution.

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120 minutes
15
Use a table to compare Dewey's theory of learning with Skinner's view of learning.

Pay attention to the following:

x How Skinner believes one should teach and contrast this with Dewey's view.
x The role of the teacher in each case.
x The role of the learner in each case.
x How both theorists suggest that young children learn best.

The next theorist to explore is Maria Montossori.

3.2 Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori was a doctor who became interested in children's education. She
proposed a method for teaching that relied on hands-on and collaborative (working
together) learning where older children would help to guide younger children in
problem-solving tasks. The Montessori Method has been, and continues to be, very
popular around the world within the early childhood context. Montessori's theory is
designed to support the natural development of children in a well-prepared
environment.

The following principles underpin Montessori’s theory and indicate her approach to
education:

3.2.1 Independence (learner working alone)

Montessori (1964) believed that one needed to create opportunities for learners to do
things for themselves. This is done by giving them opportunities to move freely within
learning and playing environments, to dress themselves, to choose what they want to
do and to help adults with tasks.

Montessori believed that children who learn to act independently come to believe in
themselves and build confidence in developing their own standards, moral behaviour,
competences and skills. In this approach the learner’s activity is self-directed; it is the
learner who chooses what they will engage with, rather than the teacher.

3.2.2 Observation of learner (looking at how a learner acts when

performing activities)

According to this approach, observing learners in action – while playing alone and
taking part in group activities – should be carried out regularly. Watching them explore

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their learning and play environments gives you as teacher an opportunity to determine
what your learners’ needs are and what they are interested in; for example, whether
they love stories or prefer playing with toys and which friends they prefer to play with.

Observations are recorded, to be referred to when planning individual and group

activities.

3.2.3 Accompanying a learner

To be able to observe learners while they are performing activities, you have to follow
them. Montessori calls it accompanying a learner. Accompanying or following learners
does not mean you follow them to check on how they behave or to praise or punish
their behaviour. Yes, it is part of your observation practice, but the main purpose
should be to find out what they need to do, what personal ability they need to develop
in themselves, and what ability you need to challenge them to develop (identify their
personal strengths and weaknesses).

When you follow your learners, give them the freedom to choose what they want to do
and to work on their own. Interfere only if a learner has really become destructive and
is about to hurt themselves or others.

3.2.4 Correcting a learner (disciplining)

Always remember: learners will make mistakes – especially preschool and Grade R
learners. Do not raise your voice in situations like this. Correct their mistakes in a calm
manner.

As stated previously, allow your learners to make choices. Give them the freedom to
decide when, how and where they are going to perform the activity. Even give them
the opportunity to make mistakes, because they also learn by their mistakes; however,
always be ready to support them when they need it. Furthermore, your support should
be given in such a way that they can understand why, how and what they are doing.

3.2.5 Preparing a learning environment

Preparing an appropriate learning environment is an important part of this approach.

The environment has to be safe for the learners to explore learning and play freely,
while taking part in activities. You need to prepare the environment in advance, so that
it is ready and attractive when your learners arrive. The environment must invite
learners to take part in activities.

Montessori viewed learners taking part in playing activities as if they are ‘working’. She
believed it is through ‘working’ that they develop themselves. Therefore, while playing,
they enjoy ‘working’ on their own development.

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Parents and teachers are participants in the preparation of learners’ home and school
learning environments.

3.2.6 Absorbent minds of learners

When you think about this principle, think of a sponge absorbing water. Montessori
was of the opinion that children under the age of three years do not need formal
lessons in order to learn about themselves and their environment. She based this view
on the fact that, children learn to use language without anyone teaching them at an
early age. This sparked her idea of the ‘absorbent mind’.

Montessori was of the opinion that children simply absorb everything in their
environment. It is therefore important that the environment they find themselves in is
healthy, attractive and inspiring. Montessori’s notion of an ‘absorbent’ child is different
from more mainstream constructivists who hold that the child is not like a sponge, but
is actually an active cognising agent – that is, the child actively constructs knowledge
through interacting with his or her environment.

Below are the implications of Montessori’s theory for pedagogy.

3.2.7 Implications of Montessori’s theory for pedagogy

We now turn to the implications of the theory for understanding the following:

x Teaching and the teacher’s role;

x Learning and the learner’s role;
x The learning environment; and
x Assessment of and for learning.

Understanding teaching and the teacher’s role

Montessori believed that children were naturally driven to solve problems in the world.
For her, the teacher is a guide who assists children in selecting the work that they are
developmentally ready to engage with. It is the child, however, who chooses the work
to do; the teacher is merely a guide and, in fact, is not called a teacher but a
‘director/directress’. This title tells you that the teacher's role is to direct children's
actions. This is a very child-centred view of teaching. In fact, Montessori believed firmly
that the teacher must ‘follow the child’ rather than tell the child what to do.

Understanding learning and the learner’s role

In the Montessori system, the child is an active learner who chooses the work he or
she wants to do and is merely guided by the teacher. Children are presented with

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various work stations that have been set up in developmentally appropriate ways. That
is, work builds from what the child can do developmentally. Children in a Montessori
class are mixed ages: for example, children from 3 to 6 years old would be in the same
class. This allows for collaborative learning, with the more advanced child helping the
less advanced one to achieve tasks. Montessori also believed strongly that children
learn from making mistakes, so children are encouraged to engage with tasks and to
make mistakes in order to learn.

Understanding the learning environment

Unlike any other theories discussed in this module, Montessori learning environments
are very specifically designed to allow for child-initiated learning. The learning
environment contains various stations that focus on different aspects of development
and the child selects what he or she will work on. Montessori developed special
apparatus (equipment) that are designed specifically to help children to master
developmental tasks.

Understanding assessment of and for learning

With the Montessori approach, assessment is formative and never summative; that is,
the child is assessed through problem-solving tasks rather than on the product of their
work.

60 minutes
16
Read the scenario below and answer the questions that follow:

Scenario:

Sisana is 3 years old and she is in Mrs Dulaze's class. She enters the class, packs
her bag away in her allotted space and goes to select some work to do. Today
she has selected to pour water from a jug into a glass. This is a difficult task for
her little fingers but Thabo, who is 6 years old, has pulled up a chair next to her
and is showing her how to pour the water without messing. Mrs Dulaze watches
as the two children work together to pour the water. Sisana messes some water
on the table before she finally masters the task. She is very pleased with herself.

From a Montessori theoretical perspective:

1. What role does Mrs Dulaze play in the class?
2. What is Thabo's role?

Commentary:

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In this activity, you can see how an older child, rather than the teacher, helps the
younger child to master a task. This is an instance of collaborative learning. What
we can also see is that it is the child who decides what work to do, rather than the
teacher.

The next constructivist theorist we discuss is Jerome Bruner.

3.3 Jerome Bruner

Jerome Bruner (1915–2016) was a famous psychologist who made contributions to

educational psychology, cognitive psychology and developmental psychology. Bruner
believed that children learn through actively engaging with their environments but that
they require guided assistance, which he called scaffolding, to enable them to learn
optimally.

According to Bruner, learning is an active process in which learners construct new

ideas or concepts based upon their current and or past knowledge. The learner
selects and transforms information, constructs and makes decisions, relying on a
cognitive structure (schema) to do so. Bruner’s main ideas can be summarised as
follows:

3.3.1 Learning is an active process

Learners select and transform information using prior experiences to fit new
information into their pre-existing structures. Good teaching utilises scaffolding to
achieve optimal learning. Scaffolding is the process through which able peers or adults
offer support for learning. Ass the learner becomes more independent, the support is
reduced.

3.3.2 Cognitive development includes three stages

Bruner proposed that children develop cognitively through three stages: enactive,
iconic and symbolic. In the enactive stage, they learn through actions. In the iconic
stage, they learn through pictures or models. In the symbolic stage, they develop the
ability to think in abstract terms.

Bruner proposed the idea of a ‘spiral’ curriculum, meaning that the curriculum should
revisit basic ideas routinely, building on them with each repetition until the learners
have grasped the full concept. Although extrinsic (external) motivation may work in the
short run, intrinsic (internal) motivation has more value.

Bruner’s learning theory has direct implications for pedagogy as we show next.

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3.3.3 The implications of Bruner’s theory for pedagogy

We now turn to the implications of the theory for understanding the following:

x Teaching and the teacher’s role;

x Learning and the learner’s role;
x The learning environment; and
x Assessment of and for learning.

Understanding teaching and the teacher’s role

According to Bruner, teaching must be appropriate for the level of the learners. For
example, being aware of the learners’ cognitive levels (enactive, iconic or symbolic)
will help the teacher to plan and prepare appropriate materials for teaching according
to match the learners’ level.

The teacher must revisit material to enhance knowledge. Building on pre-taught ideas
to grasp the full concept is very important. According to Bruner the teacher must, for
example, re-introduce vocabulary, grammar points and other topics now and then in
order to enable the learners to achieve deeper comprehension and longer retention.

Material must be presented in a sequence giving the learners the opportunity to

acquire and construct knowledge and transform and transfer learning. Learners must
be involved in using their prior experiences to learn new knowledge. Teachers must
help learners to categorise new information in order to be able to see similarities and
difference between items/things.

Teachers should assist learners in building their knowledge. This assistance should
decrease as learners master information and skills. Teachers should provide feedback
that is directed towards intrinsic motivation. Grades and competition are not helpful in
the learning process. Bruner states that learners must experience success and failure
not as reward and punishment, but as information.

Understanding learning and the learner’s role

Learners bring prior experiences to bear on the learning space in the classroom. The
teacher must therefore be aware of what children know and what they need to be
taught. This enables the teacher to devise scaffolding tasks that assist the learners to
move from not knowing to knowing. Learners are active and need to interact with the
environment in order to develop cognitively.

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Understanding the learning environment

As learners will construct knowledge from the learning environment, this environment
must be set up to enable them to engage actively with it. Activities must be structured
in such a way that they provide support, or scaffolds, for the learner to use in order to
solve specific problems. When the support is no longer necessary, it can be gradually
withdrawn.

Understanding assessment of and for learning

In the context of Bruner’s constructivist views, formative assessment is paramount as

the learner progresses from not knowing to knowing with the support of the teacher.
Assessment FOR learning (as opposed to ‘assessment OF learning’) is also
considered of great importance as the goal is for learners to learn how to learn and
take responsibility for their own learning. After ensuring that problems poised to
learners in a lesson are appropriate to their developmental level (enactive, iconic,
symbolic), guided instruction by the teacher or competent peers should strive towards
helping the students know and achieve more than they did alone before, Although
assessment through the eyes of Bruner may appear informal or difficult to measure at
times, his ideas have influenced current assessment practices for the better.

120 minutes
17
You are going to teach a Grade R class how to copy and extend simple patterns.
Use any objects from the environment such as a small round stones or a leaves.
Drawing on Bruner's work:

1. Indicate how you would introduce the idea of patterns.

2. Design an activity for a Grade R class that includes scaffolding to help them
understand how to copy and extend a simple pattern.

Commentary:
Consider the following concepts (ideas) in your response: prior knowledge
(knowledge learners bring), active learning, constructing knowledge, active
participation, scaffold, teacher assistance. They might not appear in the exact form
as above, but using different words to depict the same ideas is important in your
own development as a student and prospective teacher.

A theory similar to Bruner's, that views the child as actively constructing knowledge, is
that of Jean Piaget, which was discussed in Education Studies 1: Theories of Child
Development in Context (R-EDS 111). While Bruner and Piaget both agree that
children actively construct knowledge through interacting with the world, Piaget holds
the view that cognitive development takes places through stages of development.
While his theory falls within the basket of constructivism, Piaget is referred to as a
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cognitive constructivist because he is very specifically interested in how a child

develops cognitively.

3.4 Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who was born in 1896. During his early career
he worked on IQ testing and became very interested in how children think in similar
ways at similar developmental stages; hence Piaget is known as a cognitive theorist.
This led to his interest in how children develop into adults. Piaget proposed that
children and adults are cognitively different, not only in how much they know, but also
in the way their minds work. That is, the difference between how adults and children
think is not merely because adults know more because they have lived longer, but
indeed, there is an actual difference in how children and adults see the world.

We are used to thinking of children as different to adults now, but in nineteenth century
Europe, children were thought of as smaller adults who, as they got older, grew more
and learnt more. There was no notion that children actually thought differently and
experienced the world in very different ways to adults. Piaget uncovered just how
different children are to adults. Children think of and experience the world in very
different ways to adults, and as children develop into adults, they go through different
stages.

Piaget was primarily interested in how children acquire Genetic: Genetic here does not refer
knowledge and how this alters them cognitively as they to biology; rather it refers to the
beginning (such as the book of
develop. His work is referred to as genetic Genesis in the Bible). So he is
asking: how does knowledge begin?
epistemology, precisely because he was interested in
the development of knowledge (Piaget, 1964). He Epistemology: A theory of
knowledge.
proposed that children were born with innate (inherited)
Invariant: Invariant means they do
abilities of assimilation and accommodation. These not change or alter through
development.
functions were invariant and occurred together.

60 minutes
18
Define and explain genetic epistemology in your own words. How does this concept
link to the biological perspective, if at all? Give reasons for your response.

Commentary:
Piaget was a genetic epistemologist who was interested in how knowledge develops
universally. Consider the two biologically inherited functions (assimilation and
accommodation) that are central to cognitive development through developmental
stages.

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Assimilation refers to understanding novel (new) Cognitive framework: We can

think of this as something in your
information in terms of what one already knows; so you head that you impose onto the
impose your cognitive framework on a novel situation in world in order to understand the
world.
order to make sense of it.

Accommodation, however, refers to a change in your existing cognitive framework,

because what you experience is so novel it clashes with what you already know,
leading to learning. Assimilation is when you take outside information and put it into
your current way of understanding the world. Accommodation is when the outside
information is so new that it challenges your current way of understanding the world
and changes your understanding in a big way. An example is useful here.

Example:

Isabella is two years old. She has a square table in her room with four legs. She
knows it is used to put things on rather than, say, for sitting on like a chair. She
thinks that a table is something square with four legs for putting things on. Then she
comes across a round table with three legs. She assimilates this into her structure
of a table: it is something you put things on. However, she also accommodates her
cognitive structures (changing them) to understand that tables can be square with
four legs, but they can also be round with three legs.

According to Piaget (1954), assimilation and accommodation are the functions that
are used to develop cognitive structures. Cognitive structures are mental models of
the world. In order for development to happen, there must be a balance between
assimilation and accommodation. Piaget referred to this balance as “equilibration”,
which is the balancing that happens in the mind between assimilation and
accommodation. This balance is called the state of equilibrium.

90 minutes
19
1. In your own words, define assimilation and accommodation.
2. Use the example of Isabella above to consider examples in your own experience
that can describe the two concepts.
3. Now use your example to explain ‘equilibration’.

Commentary:
In the activity above, you need to pay attention to how you understand assimilation
and accommodation as the functions that underpin cognitive development. Try to
think of an example that you can use to best illustrate these concepts. Think of ideas
you have put into your existing understanding (assimilation) and ideas that have
radically challenged you and made you change how you think (accommodation).
Remember that equilibration is the balance that happens between these two
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functions. Once you have changed the way you think, then you are back in balance
(equilibrium).

When there is an imbalance between assimilation and accommodation, the child will
seek assistance to overcome this in order to return to a state of equilibrium.

What is most interesting about Piaget's work is that he postulated (proposed) that
children actively construct knowledge through transacting with their environment. That
is, children will use the functions of intelligence, assimilation and accommodation to
build cognitive schemas of the world as they investigate the world and act on it. The
child therefore imposes the functions of assimilation and accommodation onto novel
knowledge in order to make sense of it.

3.4.1 Cognitive stages of development

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is very different to the behaviourist notion

that children are a ‘blank slate’ (tabula rasa). To him, assimilation and accommodation
are active functions of intellectual development that construct cognitive structures as
the child transacts with his/her world.

Let’s look at how Piaget explains cognitive development through his stages of
development to further explain his idea of the link between the environment and the
development of cognitive structures:

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Figure 2: Piaget's stages of development

(Principles on Learning, n.d.)

Sensorimotor stage of development: 0–2 years

In this stage of development the child constructs knowledge about the world through
their senses and motor actions. This means that the child uses their senses to develop
cognitively. So, for example, in the picture below you can see the infant putting her
hands in her mouth. The mouth is the first thing we use to make sense of the world –
to understand our world. This is why infants are always putting things in their mouths,
in order to make sense of what they are.

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Figure 3: The mouth as the source of knowledge

(Alexas_Fotos, 2018)

An achievement that is central to completing this stage of development is object

permanence. This refers to the child's ability to recognise that an object continues to
exist even when the child cannot see that object.

If you have ever played peek-a-boo with an infant, where you hide behind a blanket
and them 'miraculously' appear when the blanket drops, you will understand that
young infants truly do not know that you continue to exist when they cannot see you.
This is why peek-a-boo is such fun: the infant literally thinks you have ceased to exist!

The central feature of this stage is:

The infant in this stage most crucially achieves object permanence and realises that
something exists even when the child does not see it.

60 minutes
20
Read this short scenario before answering the question that follows.

Nongazi is 3 months old. She is used to sucking her bottle to get milk. When
her mother gives her a rattle she immediately puts it in her mouth. As she does
so, the rattle makes a noise, something her bottle does not do.

Explain assimilation and accommodation in terms of this scenario.

The next stage is the pre-operational stage that we explain below.

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Pre-operational stage of development: 2–7 years

Children in this developmental stage tend to see the world very much from their own
point of view. Children in this stage suffer from centration – that is, they can only focus
on the most salient (prominent or main) aspect of any situation, excluding all other
elements of the situation. Let’s look at an example.

Example:

Thando and Aliwe are both four years old. They are having a play date and Thando's
mother calls them inside and offers them some orange juice. She pours exactly the
same amount of orange juice into two cups – however, the one cup is long and slim
(so the level of the juice is higher) while the other cup is shorter and wider (so the
level of the juice looks lower than in the slim cup). Thando immediately starts to cry
because she believes that Aliwe's cup has more juice. Notice that she can only focus
(centre) on one aspect of the situation – the height of the juice – but cannot focus
on the fact that this is only because the cups are different widths, not because there
are different amounts of juice in the two cups.

The idea of centration is most notable in what Piaget called egocentric thought – that
is, the child's inability to see the world from another person's perspective. So, quite
literally, the child cannot take another person's viewpoint into account when judging a
situation. It is for this reason that we notice that playing games becomes a challenge
with pre-operational children, as they do not follow rules and tend to only see the game
from their own perspective.

An important feature in pre-operational children is the beginning of symbolic play,

which is the ability to use something as a symbol or stand in for something else. By
combining imitation (accommodation) and play (assimilation) the child forms mental
symbols and invests them with meaning. Accommodation (internal imitation) provides
the child with symbols and the child gives meaning to these symbols by assimilating
them into his/her mental schemes. So, what a symbol (or word) refers to always has
a personal meaning (Piaget & Inhelder, 1969).

The following are central features of this stage:

Symbolic understanding (semiotic functions)

This is an understanding based on symbols. The following occurs at this stage of

development:

x The development of semiotic (symbolic) functions is the period in which a

learner develops the ability to represent actions or objects mentally. The
abilities mentioned above are some of the activities, i.e. language, pictures,
signs, or gestures.

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x The most important functional scheme a child develops is the use of language
and to think in symbolic form. Example: Developing a language scheme
depends on how a child learns to reflect upon and manipulate the format and
sound structure of words. It is observable in a learner’s way of recognising the
letters of the alphabet and listening and speaking to somebody.

Egocentrism

This refers to the child’s inability to see a situation from a perspective other than his/her
own.

x You can see egocentrism at play in nursery classrooms where children engage
in monologues (talking to themselves in the process of play). Sometimes they
engage in collective monologue, where they talk in a group but do not really
interact or communicate with each other. Egocentric speech is self-directed
speech.

x Children’s thought and communication are about themselves at this stage.

Piaget believes that this type of speech is another way young learners can see
their world through the eyes of parents, family members and members of their
community.

x Children learn a language by talking and listening and speaking to parents,

family members and members of their community. When talking to them, the
child does not take into account the needs or interests of his/her listeners. This
does not mean that children are “selfish” and does not respect the view of those
they are communicating with.

x Being egocentric also means the child often assumes that, in the community in
which they live, everyone else shares their feelings about things and reacts in
the same way to events of happening and how they see things.

x As children mature, and especially as they have disagreements with others,

they develop socialised speech. They learn to listen and exchange ideas with
others.

Centration

Centration occurs because the child can only focus on one aspect of a situation, to the
exclusion of others. Decentring, according to Piaget, is the ability to focus on more
than one aspect at a time.

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Reversible thinking

Reversibility is a logical operation and, according to Piaget, the ability to think through
a series of steps. Following the series of steps, a learner mentally reverses the steps
and returns to the starting point. Example: A learner is shown a picture of five items in
succession. He or she is asked to count the number of items, starting from left to right
and give an answer. The same action has to be performed counting the items from
right to left and then giving an answer.

Left to right

Left to right

Getting the same answer, the learner realises that there are two options available for
counting the items, i.e. from left to right and when reversed, from right to left.

60 minutes
21
Sipho (3 years old) believes that his toy dog, which moves because it has batteries
in it, is in fact alive. He can focus on the movement of the toy dog, but does not
notice all the other things which indicate that the dog is a toy. What is this an
example of? Provide a reason for your answer.
Commentary:
Consider the features that constitute this phase. Reread the section to find clues.

The third stage, according to Piaget, is the concrete-operational stage, which we

describe below.

Concrete-operational stage: 7–11 years

During this stage of development, egocentrism declines and the child is able to take
others’ opinions and views into account when problem-solving. Let us look at the
following example:

Example:
Thabo and Joe are working on a puzzle. Thabo puts a piece into the puzzle and Joe
says to him that the piece does not belong there. Thabo says that it does, but when
Joe explains why the piece does not belong in that place, Thabo realises his mistake
and moves the piece to its correct place. What we can see here is that Thabo is able
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to see the puzzle from Joe’s perspective as well as his own; hence, egocentrism is
declining.

Most significant during this stage, though, is that the child is able to conserve –
recognise that something remains the same even if it changes its appearance. In his
famous conservation experiments, Piaget showed how the performance of pre-
operational and concrete-operational children differed, indicating that they thought in
qualitatively different ways.

If we look at Figure 4 below, you will see two beakers (containers) labelled A and B
which are filled with exactly the same amount of water and which are both the same
size. However, if we pour the water from B into C, which is longer and thinner, we
notice that C looks fuller. If you were to ask a pre-operational child which beaker has
more water, A or C, they would say C, because she would centre on only one aspect
of the situation – in this case, the height of the liquid. If you asked a concrete-
operational child the same question, they would answer that both A and C are the
same because nothing has been added or taken away and the liquid remains the same
even though the beaker's dimensions differ.

Figure 4: Piaget's conservation task

(kidsworldasia.com, n.d.)

Children during the concrete-operational stage of development are, according to

Piaget, able to de-centre. This means that they are able to pay attention and focus on
both pertinent aspects of an activity. In the case of the example of the containers and
the amount of water, Piaget (1954) postulates that they can focus on both the level of
water and width of container.

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Concrete-operational children, therefore, can mentally reverse the events (operation

of pouring). They can compensate (realise that width compensates for height). They
recognise that the water’s identity is unchanged (nothing has been added or taken
away). However, although able to conserve, concrete-operational children are still
unable to reason abstractly and require concrete examples of the things they are
working with in order to reason or make meaning and understand.

The following are central features of this stage:

x Identity: Mastering an object's identity, the child comes to realise that if nothing
is added or taken away, the material nature of an object remains the same. The
water poured from the wide cup into the narrow cup remained the same amount
of water.

x Compensation: The child has the ability to understand that a change in one
direction can be compensated for by a change in another direction. You can
compensate for height in one cup by expanding width in another cup and still
land up with both cups able to hold the same amount of water.

x Classification: Another important operational function a child uses to master

competences and skills is classification. Classification depends on a learner’s
ability to focus on a single characteristic of an object in a set and group the
objects according to this characteristic. More advanced classification at this
stage involves recognising that one class fits into another. Example: Within a
group of peaches some have different skin colours. The child recognises this
but classifies the group of peaches as being fruit, which differs from vegetables.
Children at this stage can start to classify things into different categories.

x Reversibility: As described in the preoperational stage, reversibility is a logical

operation and, according to Piaget, the ability to think through a series of steps.
During this stage of his/her development, the child develops an operational
understanding of arranging objects in sequential order, according to one aspect
such as size, weight or volume.

120 minutes
22
Read the following scenario and answer the questions that follow:

You are at a 4th birthday party. You have cut the cake into exactly the same size
pieces and placed the pieces onto small paper plates. You run out of small plates
and have to put the remaining 5 pieces onto large plates. You begin to hand out
the plates and when you come to handing out the larger plates Thabo, a 4 year-
old boy, refuses to take the cake because he says it is smaller than that of his
peers. He is very upset.

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1. Can you suggest what is happening in the scenario by explaining the stage of
development that Thabo might be experiencing?
2. What kind of thinking is behind Thabo’s obviously unsettled behaviour?
3. How would you resolve the matter given what you now know about children’s
stages of development?

Commentary:
In the activity above, you can see certain features of pre-operational thinking. Now
identify what the above is an example of.

The final stage of development, as explained by Piaget, is the formal-operational stage

as we discuss below.

Formal operational stage: 11 years–adult

The final stage of development sees the child able to Hypotheses: Is a proposed
reason abstractly and formulate hypotheses. This stage explanation of something based
on limited evidence that can then
is characterised by the child’s ability to reason abstractly be studied to see whether it is
true or not.
and to think in a ‘scientific way’; that is, to develop
hypotheses and reflect on causal mechanisms. The Causal mechanism: Is something
formal-operational child is able to think theoretically and that is the cause of something else.
Turning on the light switch causes
abstractly. Here the child can develop a theory about the light to go on.
how things function and then tests this theory.

120 minutes
23
Activity taken from Hugo, W. (2016). Boundaries of the educational imagination.
African Minds: Cape Town – downloadable at:
http://www.africanminds.co.za/dd-product/boundaries-of-the-educational-
imagination/

Piaget’s initial focus was on cognitive development. Basically he found that as

children get older they move through levels of cognitive development that
continuously increase their range of possibilities. Let’s demonstrate this by asking
you a simple question: what are the possible routes between points A and B below?

A B

Ask a little child around three year old and she will give you a line, because she can
only focus on one way to get from A to B.

A B

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Around the age of seven the child will start to give you a small set of variations like
straight, curved or zigzag lines. She is able to see that there are a number of
possible paths from A to B.

A B

You, on the other hand, will find both solutions cute but obviously limited because
there is an infinite number of routes from A to B, something you understand in an
abstract way that is not about adding every single possible route together, but by
logically understanding the principle. You know that there is not one or three or five
or seven ways to go from A to B on the page, but millions, and you know this, not
by trying to draw millions of lines, but because, abstractly, you understand that there
is an infinite number of ways to go from A to B on the page.

Question 1. What stage are you at (pre-operational, concrete-operational, formal-

operational) if you understand there are an infinite number of ways to
go from A to B? Give reasons for your answer.
Question 2. What stage are you at (pre-operational, concrete-operational, formal-
operational) if you understand there are around three concrete ways
to go from A to B? Give reasons for your answer.
Question 3. What stage are you at (pre-operational, concrete-operational,
formal-operational) if you understand there is only one way to go
from A to B? Give reasons for your answer.

3.4.2 Implications of Piaget’s theory for pedagogy

We now turn to the implications of the theory for understanding the following:

x Teaching and the teacher’s role;

x Learning and the learner’s role;
x The learning environment; and
x Assessment of and for learning.

Understanding teaching and the teacher’s role

The teacher must construct activities that lead to cognitive conflict, forcing learners to
learn. Cognitive conflict refers to an imbalance between accommodation and

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assimilation – disequilibrium. The learner will seek to overcome this in order to be

cognitively back in equilibrium again.

So, as a teacher, you should present work that is beyond the current capacity of the
learner, to force a conflict. You, the teacher, must then provide the learner with the
right assistance to overcome the conflict they feel. Be aware of the learners'
developmental stage and tailor your teaching appropriately. Clearly, it makes no sense
to teach calculus or other high-level mathematical concepts to a learner who is
developmentally at the pre-operational stage.

The teacher in the Piagetian classrooms inhabits a certain role. The teacher is crucial
to providing an environment in which a learner can explore and construct new
knowledge through the two functions of assimilation and accommodation. Another
thing to bear in mind as a teacher is that you need to activate the learner's prior
knowledge. You can do this through asking questions to establish what your learners
know and what they need to learn.

As learners develop through stages, you as a teacher must focus on what stage/s of
development your learners are in and understand that a learner must be developed
adequately in order to be able to learn at a particular level. There is a qualitative
difference (difference in nature, not just amount) between adults’ and children’s
thinking which has implications for moral, social and educational development. That
is, you must expect that the learners in your class will think very differently to you; they
are not yet cognitively fully developed. So they may not see the world from your
perspective.

Allow space and time for them to solve problems with your assistance. We mentioned
cognitive conflict above; cognitive conflict (disequilibrium) provides the stimulus for
learning. In a classroom this requires that you design tasks that provoke
disequilibrium.

Understanding learning and the learner’s role

Learners learn through actively engaging with the world around them and applying
cognitive structures to novel situations in order to learn through assimilation and
accommodation. That is, the learner is not a ‘blank slate’, but rather an active thinker
who brings structures of thought to bear on the environment with which they transact
with. As the child is active, knowledge is actively constructed. The child must be
presented with an environment that enables him or her to interact with the world and
construct novel knowledge. In order to understand the learner, you must be aware that
development precedes learning.

This means that a learner must be cognitively developed before they can be taught.
This requires that the teacher is aware of the stage that the learner is in and knows
what cognitive tasks that learner can perform at that stage. A learner must be actively
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involved in constructing knowledge through transacting with the world. What this
means is that the learner needs to be involved in activities that enable them to
construct knowledge. An activity need not be physical; remember: thinking is an
activity too.

Understanding the learning environment

As learning requires active engagement with a ‘rich’ (well developed) environment, the
teacher must ensure that there is lots of room for activities and must ensure the
environment is stimulating and allows for exploration. Lots of props to use to model
activities will be useful for allowing the learners to problem-solve through interaction
with the props. Concrete props to model problem-solving will be very useful.
Furthermore, the teacher should ensure that the learners have access to numerous
resources with which to experiment.

Understanding assessment of and for learning

Formative assessment should be used, rather than summative assessment. That is,
assessment should be done in the course of the activity that builds learners'
knowledge, rather than as a single test or exam at the end of the section to determine
what they have learnt. Formative assessment enables you to design tasks that lead to
disequilibrium and, ultimately to cognitive development. So your assessment must
actually build disequilibrium into it, which is why summative assessment, that only
tests what has been learnt and does not provoke development, is not very useful in a
Piagetian classroom.

Now complete the next activity.

180 minutes
24
Developing a lesson plan
A lesson plan is the plan you use to guide your lesson. It is a guide that sets out
exactly what you 1) want to teach; 2) how you will teach it; and 3) how you will
assess what is taught. This activity is based on a designed lesson plan, based on a
story. Please read the story and study the lesson plan. Then answer the questions.

Leopard makes a plan

Please note: African folktales were originally not written down, but were
passed on from one generation to the other by word of mouth. The
following story originates from the Setswana culture:

“Long, long ago, when the land was rich in water, graze and wild
animals there were three wild animal friends. They were Leopard,

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Hyena and Wild dog. Every second day they left their families to hunt
for food. At the beginning it was easy and leopard did most of the
running during the hunt. When he brought back the antelope all three
friends took food for their families and their young cubs. But things
changed. The rain stopped and the land became dry. There was no
longer water to drink for the antelope and grass and trees for them to
graze on. Then the wild animals and the antelope trekked. Leopard
had to run kilometers and kilometers to hunt. As it was dry the sun
become hot and Leopard got very tired during the hunt. Hyena and
Wild dog became very lazy and pretended to run after Leopard to
help him hunt. Then they just stayed with their families and left
Leopard to do the hunt all by himself. One day Leopard noticed that
they did not help him at all.

After a day’s running he caught an antelope and dragged it home. As

he dragged the antelope home he became very tired and thirsty.
Then he decided on a plan! As he got home he pulled his food (the
antelope) into a large tree. When Hyena and Wild dog came for their
portion of food at the end of that day, the antelope hanged from the
tree branch - high up and too high for them to reach. There was
nothing they could do! From that day on Leopard saved his food in a
tree.

If you visit one of the national parks you will have to watch out for
this!”

Using what you have learnt from Piaget, answer the following questions on the
lesson plan provided.
1. From a Piagetian perspective, is the stage of development of the Grade R
learners taken into consideration? What they know and what they need to know;
2. How are the activities designed to lead to disequilibrium? The first place to begin,
then, with the lesson plan, is to understand what developmental stage the
learners are in. Remember, you need to provide a hands-on learning
environment that enables them to problem-solve through interacting with the
environment (which can be immediate or a remote environment).
3. Explain the use of LTSM or props according to Piaget’s theory.
4. Explain assessment according to Piaget’s theory.
5. Learners in Grade R are pre-conventional according to Piaget. How do you think
the lesson plan helps children at this stage to address/challenge egocentric
thought?
6. How would you incorporate symbolic understanding (also typical of the pre-
conventional stage) to an even greater extent in this lesson? Do you think
incorporating a bit of vocabulary in sign language would be beneficial and help
address inclusion?

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Commentary:
Design you own lesson plan to be used in your own teaching or during the WIL
period by taking Piaget and his theory into consideration.

An example of a completed lesson plan is given below. You can find the SANTS lesson
plan template on MySANTS in electronic format or in your WIL guidelines.

SANTS Private Higher Education Institution

GRADE R LESSON PLANNING FORM
NAME: STUDENT NO.

1. SUBJECT e.g. English HL 2. KNOWLEDGE/CONTENT AREA e.g. Phonics

Life Skills (Social Sciences) Social Sciences

1.2 DATE 3. THEME e.g. Healthy living, My body etc.

y y y y m m d d Responsibility as citizen
2 0 2 0 - 0 8 - 2 4
4. TYPE of LESSON / LESSON FOCUS
e.g. Outdoor lesson, group work, class work etc.
Teacher guided activity: Story telling on
carpet

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS LESSON PLANNING TEMPLATE IS AVAILABLE IN ELECTRONIC

FORMAT ON MySANTS
5. NCS AIMS/General aims (tick boxes)
Learners are able to:
‰ Identify and solve problems and make decisions using critical and creative thinking.
‰ Work effectively with others as members of a team, group, organisation and community.
‰ Organise and manage themselves and their activities responsibly and effectively.
‰ Collect, analyse, organise and critically evaluate information.
‰ Communicate effectively using visual, symbolic and/or language skills in various modes.
‰ Use science and technology effectively and critically showing responsibility towards the
environment and the health of others.
‰
3 Demonstrate an understanding of the world as a set of related systems by recognising
that problem-solving contexts do not exist in isolation.

6. SUMMARY OF THE CONTENT TO COVER IN THIS LESSON

(Briefly summarise the content that you will be presenting in this lesson.)

The narration/oral telling of the story.

7. LESSON OBJECTIVE(S):

7.1 PRE-KNOWLEDGE
(Write down learners’ existing knowledge, skills and values.)
At the start of this lesson the learners should already know… and can do…

Some knowledge about wild animals, nature. Listening and speaking skills. Caring for each other.

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7.2 CONCEPTS and NEW KNOWLEDGE

(Write down the new knowledge, skills and values that you are going to teach taking INTEGRATION into consideration.)

Language: English (HL/FAL) Mathematics Life Skills

Integration with language: Value of responsibility as citizen,
English as First Additional team work, helping each other.
Language (EFAL). Vocabulary,
wild animals, leopard, wolf,
hyena, responsibility, making
meaning from language.
7.3 LESSON OBJECTIVES
(In your own words, write the lesson objectives based on the general and specific aims from CAPS.)
By the end of the lesson the learners should be able to…

x Understand the meaning of the word responsible/responsibility.

x Understand that responsibility is a value.

7.4 FUTURE LEARNING

(Briefly describe what the learners will learn in the lesson that follows this one)

Completing activities at workstations:

x Workstation 1: Make the clay animals from the story

x Workstation 2: Draw the story by thinking of the story line on a folded paper; folded in three
sections. Draw the beginning of the story in the first section, in the second section draw what
happened next, in the third section draw the ending of the story.

x Workstation 3: Make a collage of the animals in nature

7.5 DIFFERENTIATION
(Briefly describe how you will present this lesson taking the following aspects into consideration)

Learner support Enrichment activities Concerns

(Indicate what measures are in place for (Indicate what measures are in place for (e.g. Loadshedding – won’t be
learners who grasped concepts quickly. learners who struggle to grasp the concepts. able to listen to audio book.
How will you challenge them and keep How will you support them and keep them from Will have to read story instead,
them from getting bored?) getting negative and frustrated?) using instruments for sound
effects.)
I will ask them to draw the story If learner(s) did not grasp the
line or their favourite character meaning of the story, I will retell it to If there is load shedding
from the story. them when it is outside play and then and it becomes too dark
again ask questions on the story. inside, we can sit
outside the playroom or
classroom.
8. LESSON PHASES:
8.1 INTRODUCTION OF THE LESSON 8.1.1 Time allocated:
(Give a detailed description of how you plan to begin your lesson by explaining: you will greet
the learners, set the atmosphere for the lesson, awaken the learners’ prior knowledge, and About 5 minutes
create a link between what they already know to the new knowledge that you will be
presenting. Also explain how the THEME you selected in 3 above will help you do this.) 8.1.2 LTSM:
(Describe the resources and
media you will be using in the
Link to learners’ background knowledge/frame of reference about wild introduction phase of the
lesson)
animals in nature. Ask questions on the concept of values and specifically
the value of responsibility. Questions: I dress up as a Gogo with
x What is the meaning of being friends? a blanket around my
x What do friends do? shoulder. Use a drum to
x Why did Leopard decide to make a plan with his food? call the learners to sit on
the carpet.
x Do you think Hyena and Wild dog liked this plan?
x Was it the three friends’ right to share the food? Use pictures of the wild
x What were Hyena and Wild dog’s responsibility? animals in the story, or
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x Tell me about your responsibilities towards your friend(s), at the plastic wild animals
home, in your community and South Africa? from the story.

8.2 DEVELOPMENT – PRESENTING THE NEW KNOWLEDGE 8.2.1 Time allocated:

(Give a detailed description of WHAT content you will be presenting (selected in 7.2), HOW
you will present it, and WHAT ACTIVITIES THE LEARNERS WILL BE DOING.)
About 10 minutes

I will tell the story by using my voice and facial expressions. The learners 8.2.2 LTSM:
sit in front of me on the carpet or blanket and they listen to the story. (Describe the resources and
media you will be using in the
development phase of the
Explaining and enhancement of concept: responsibility. I will read the lesson)

word responsibility with children. Talk about the meaning of responsibility Word cards of the
and how it should determine citizens’ lives. vocabulary mentioned.
After the story I will use the word cards when asking questions:
Use questions from low to high cognitive level for the purpose of informal
assessment: e.g.
x What are the names of the animals in the story?
x What are the meanings of the vocabulary words e.g. wild animal,
responsibility?
x What happened at the beginning and the end of the story (story line)?
x What was the problem?
x How was the problem solved by Leopard?
x What does this story tell us about responsibility?

8.3 CONSOLIDATION
(Give a detailed description of how you plan to end the lesson by explaining how you will 8.3.1 Time allocated:
consolidate the new knowledge, incorporate assessment of the objectives and wrap up. If About 5 minutes
applicable, mention here any HOMEWORK/FUNWORK that you will give the learners.):
8.3.2 LTSM:
I will summarise the story and ask learners to identify the beginning, (Describe the resources and
middle and end of the story to determine if they have listened. I will ask media you will be using in the
questions on their understanding of responsibility and how will they show consolidation phase of the
lesson)
that they have responsibility after the story and during the next days.
Use word cards.
Ask question: How will you show that you are responsible in the
classroom and at home?

Homework:
Tell the story to people at home. Act responsibly as a child citizen in class
by helping each other in different ways e.g. tidy-up at drawing table/corner
and in the classroom and block corner.

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9. ASSESSMENT
At the end of the lesson, I will assess whether the learners have achieved the objectives in the following ways (tick the
appropriate blocks):

9.1 FORMS OF ASSESSMENT:

Written work (drawings, painting etc.)

Demonstrations (performing actions, experiments etc.)
3 Performances (answers questions, making a speech, presenting a poem, reading aloud, role play,
dialogue)
Models (artwork, constructions, collages etc.)

Assessment strategy Assessor Assessment instrument

3 Observation 3 Teacher Checklist
Listening Self Assessment scale
Reading Peer Analytical rubric
Interpreting Holistic rubric
Reviewing Informal assessment. Making
3 Questioning notes at each student.
Writing

Informal assessment through questions in order to evaluate if learning outcomes were reached. Make
a note of learners that did not achieve outcomes for follow-up activities with them. Consider: Did
learners understand the meaning of responsibility related to the story? Can they relate this to their own
lives?

10. REFLECTION
Briefly reflect on your lesson by discussing its strengths (what went well), its weaknesses (what did not work), what did you find
challenging, if the lesson objectives were met and what would you improve if you had to teach this lesson again. Use the
following questions to guide your reflection:

x Describe aspects of your lesson that worked really well.

x Which areas of your lesson did not go according to plan? Explain why you think this may have happened.
x Look again at your lesson objectives. Did you meet them? Why/why not?
x What did you learn about the learners in your class today?
x What was your most challenging moment in this lesson and why? How will you respond next time?
x To what extent were the learners productively engaged in the learning process? Discuss.
x If you had the opportunity to teach this lesson again to this same group of learners, what would you do differently? Why?
x What evidence/ feedback do you have that the learners achieved an understanding of the lesson objective(s)?

(Each student’s reflection will differ)

11. REFERENCE LIST

(List all the text books, workbooks, documents such as the CAPS document, websites etc. that you used to prepare this
lesson.)

1. Department of Basic Education. CAPS. 2011. National Curriculum Statement (NCS).

Curriculum and Assessment Policy Document. Pretoria: State printers.
2. Joubert, I. (Ed.), Bester, M., Meyer, E., Evans, R. & Phatudi, N. Literacy in the Foundation
Phase. 2nd ed. Pretoria: Van Schaiks.
3. Joubert, I. 2010. ‘South Africa is my best world.’ The voices of child citizens in a democratic
South Africa. Bern: Peter Lang Publishers.

NOTE: The reflection part will only be completed after the lesson is delivered. This
part is extremely helpful when the lesson are to be presented again in the future.

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120 minutes
25
Discuss your lesson plan with your peer or your own study group. Discuss answers
to the following questions with your fellow students:

1. In what developmental stage is the Grade R child?

2. What are some of the cognitive achievements of this stage?
3. How will you know what it is they bring to the classroom? That is, what will you
do to check their prior knowledge?
4. What kind of activity can you design for Grade R learners that will lead to
disequilibrium? Explain the activity and how you will use to teach Grade R
learners.

3.4.3 Critique of Piaget's theory

While Piaget's theory continues to have a formative impact on developmental

psychology, there are those in the field that suggest that learning can lead
development – that is, the appropriately designed learning tasks can actually develop
a child cognitively. Lev Vygotsky, whose cultural historical theory of development we
discussed in Education Studies 1: Theories of Child Development in Context (R-EDS
111) is one of these theorists. Remember that he claimed that learning can lead to
cognitive development and put a special focus on the role of the social world and
culture in the development of the child. We explore Vygotsky’s background and his
ideas in greater detail below.

3.5 Vygotsky

Born in the latter half of the 19th century in Russia, Vygotsky was a brilliant young man
who studied various fields ranging from literature to medicine. His passion, however,
as his knowledge developed, was to understand how children learn and how best to
teach them. Although Vygotsky died relatively early in the 20th century, his work
continues to have a growing impact on developmental psychology, particularly in
relation to education. While Piaget asserted that development precedes learning,
Vygotsky (1978) suggested that learning can in fact provoke (cause) development.

The major tenets (ideas) of Vygotsky's theory are contained in Extract 1 below where
he discusses his general genetic law. Read Extract 1 and then we will unpack his
theory together.

Extract 1: General genetic law

Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social
level, and later on the individual level; first, between people (inter-psychological),
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and then inside the child (intra-psychological). This applies equally to voluntary
attention, to logical memory, and to the formulation of concepts. All the higher
functions originate as actual relations between human individuals (Vygotsky,
1978:57).

Vygotsky’s understanding of learning is captured in the Higher cognitive functions:

general genetic law in Extract 1. What this law points to is mental functions that are unique to
humans, such as reading, writing,
that all higher cognitive functions – all those abilities that drama etc. They need to be taught
and cannot be acquired without
make us uniquely human, such as language or art and teaching.
mathematics – begin as actual social relations between
people, before being internalised individually by the child. Children learn how to be
bright, thinking human beings by being in an environment that already contains bright,
thinking human beings.

Don’t imagine that if a baby was left alone on an island and grew up with monkeys that
the baby would grow into a bright, talking human being – that does not happen! The
baby would imitate the monkeys around him and not learn human behaviour and
communication skills at all. We learn our intelligence and our thinking socially by being
in a family and a community that is intelligent and thinks. What this means is that very
specific types of teaching are essential to cognitive development. This places a
significant emphasis on teaching as the mechanism through which children develop
cognitively.

For Vygotsky (1978), teaching was not merely instruction; it was a very specific kind
of instruction, which he called mediation (Hardman, 2011; Hardman, 2015). Mediation
refers to the structured guidance of a more competent ‘other’ [a teacher or peer] who
helps the novice in a problem-solving situation. Through mediation, the novice, who is
not yet fully developed, can develop to his/her potential. The ‘space’ in which learning
happens, the distance between what can be accomplished on one’s own and what
one needs assistance to accomplish, is called the zone of proximal development
(ZPD).

Let us return to Extract 1: you can see that thinking begins as an actual social
relationship between the teacher and the learner taught through the structured process
of mediation, or guided assistance. Let us think back to Bruner’s work. Bruner referred
to scaffolding as a structured mechanism for assisting the child to move from what he
or she knows to what he or she does not know yet. Mediation is quite similar to this: it
requires a more experienced ‘other’ to guide the child systematically to attain new
knowledge and therefore, develop cognitively. This development happens in the zone
of proximal development (ZPD) – the space that is opened by the more knowledgeable
other and the novice during problem-solving.

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60 minutes
26
Define mediation in your own words. Illustrate your answer with an example.

Commentary:
Refer back to Extract 1 when defining mediation. Remember that it is a specific type
of teaching that leads to the development of higher cognitive functions in the ZPD.
In fact, the ZPD is probably Vygotsky's most famous educational concept, as it
articulates a space where developmental teaching can occur. It is important to note
that the ZPD is not the property of a specific child; rather, it is a social space opened
up between an expert and a novice in which the expert is able to assist the novice
to accomplish something with help that he or she cannot achieve on his or her own.

Let's say you have a 9-year old in your class and she is able to solve problems at a 9-
year old level on her own. However, with your assistance, she is able to solve problems
that are aimed at 11-year olds. We would say that her potential to learn is beyond her
actual chronological age. Her ZPD, then, is opened when you assist her.

120 minutes
27
The ZPD “… is the distance between the actual developmental level as
determined by independent problem-solving and the level of potential
development as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance or
in collaboration with more capable peers… the actual developmental level
characterises mental development retrospectively, while the zone of proximal
development characterises mental development prospectively” (Vygotsky,
1978, pp. 86–87).

1. In your own words, discuss what this quote means. What is the actual
developmental level referred to here? How does the child move from the actual
to the potential developmental level? You need to think of mediation here. Look
up the words retrospective and prospective when answering this question.
2. Can you give an example from your own or classroom experience that
illuminates this quote?

Commentary:
In this activity you should be able to explain what the ZPD is. You should be thinking
about how mediation functions here to move a child from the known to the unknown.

Let us discuss what exactly is learnt in the ZPD.

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According to Vygotsky, mediation in the ZPD is geared towards the acquisition of

‘scientific concepts’ – sometimes referred to as ‘schooled’ concepts (Hedegaard,
1998; Hardman, 2011).

Vygotsky made a distinction between scientific concepts, which are abstract and need
to be taught, and everyday concepts, which emerge spontaneously through the child’s
interaction with the world. A 30-year old sitting in a bath will tell you that the water rises
when he or she gets in; this is an everyday concept that is learnt empirically.

However, an older child, who has learnt about displacement at school, can tell you
about Archimedes' principles, (which are laws of physics) and illustrate why in fact the
water level rises when you get into the bath. The law learnt in school necessarily has
to be taught, it cannot be learnt simply through everyday experience.

If we look at Extract 2 below, we can see that Vygotsky clearly had in mind that
scientific concepts, rather than everyday concepts, are taught in the ZPD. We will
unpack the extract once you have read it.

Extract 2: ZPD

“We have seen that instruction and development do not coincide. They are two
different processes with very complex interrelationships. Instruction is only useful
when it moves ahead of development. When it does, it impels or awakens a whole
series of functions that are in a stage of maturation lying in the zone of proximal
development. This is the major role of instruction in development. This is what
distinguishes the instruction of the child from the training of animals. This is also
what distinguishes instruction of the child which is directed toward his full
development from instruction in specialised, technical skills such as typing or riding
a bicycle. The formal aspect of each school subject is that in which the influence of
instruction on development is realized. Instruction would be completely unnecessary
if it merely utilized what had already matured in the developmental process, if it were
not itself a source of development.” (Vygotsky, 1987, p. 212)

Extract 2 above illustrates (shows) that Vygotsky believed that instruction must lead
development and that this kind of instruction opens up a ZPD. It is actually a very
simple idea. As a teacher you need to push your learners beyond what they already
know into a space where they are learning things they don’t know. You cannot just
always keep within the learners’ current level of development and not push the
learners further. Your instruction (your teaching) has to work with where the learners
are (their current level of development) and then push them to a new level of
development. That is your job as a teacher, to work in this zone of proximal
development between what a learner can already do and what a learner cannot do,
except with your teaching. Note, also, that this kind of instruction is not about
developing everyday concepts or teaching a child to ride a bicycle; it is about
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developing school concepts that can develop the child. We will discuss in paragraph
1.5.2 below what such instruction might entail (involve) in a classroom.

Unfortunately, Vygotsky died before he could fully elaborate what exactly mediation in
ZPD might look like. His work has been developed further by scholars such as Wood,
Bruner and Ross (1976) and Gallimore and Tharp (1981) and Feuerstein (1991). We
discuss the contributions of these scholars next.

90 minutes
28
Take one of your lesson plans you are doing for teaching practice. Think about what
in the lesson plan takes the young learners through what they already know, and
then look for the parts of the lesson that push the learner into understanding
something new that they did not understand before. Describe how you are going to
push your learners into a new space where they are doing or understanding things
they were not able to do before.

Commentary:
In this activity you have to think about what the ZPD is and define it. Then think
about how you could open a zone in a large classroom. What kind of things could
you do to push your learners towards understanding things they would not have
been able to understand on their own?

3.5.1 Development and expansion of Vygotsky’s theory by Wood,

Bruner and Ross

Vygotsky’s initial work on mediation was taken up and elaborated on by Wood, Bruner
and Ross, as we discuss below.

Mediation as scaffolding

Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) have outlined what mediation might look like in a
classroom, although they refer to this as scaffolding. We discussed scaffolding when
we looked at Bruner's work. Remember that scaffolding, for Bruner, is a form of
assistance that you put in place – literally like you would place a scaffold around a
building you are building – which can be withdrawn as the learners become better at
the task (See Education Studies 1: Theories of Child Development in Context, R-EDS
111).

Can you see how this links with the notion of mediation? Mediation is defined as the
guided assistance of a more competent other who guides the child through problem-
solving in their ZPD. So scaffolding is very similar to mediation, except that mediation

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is very specifically directed towards the acquisition of scientific/schooled concepts,

whereas scaffolding need not be.

We noted that Vygotsky died before he could fully explain how mediation can happen
in a classroom. Wood et al (1976) have added to his knowledge to outline the following
mechanisms for mediation in a classroom:

x Recruitment refers to gaining the learners’ attention. This could be done by

introducing a task in an exciting manner, such as introducing poetry by using a
YouTube clip of a famous pop star singing and then going on to develop the
notion of rhyme from there.

x Reduction in degrees of freedom refers to breaking up complex tasks into

simpler, smaller tasks. Rather than allowing the learners to do anything, the
teacher shows what the elements are that are needed to do the task.

x Direction maintenance requires that you keep the learner’s focus on the
problem he or she is solving. You can do this through verbal prompts and
questioning.

x Marking critical features means that you must pick out critical issues,
highlighting the important aspects of the task. Don’t let the learners just wander
around and struggle too much. Give them advice and help them get closer to
the answer.

x Frustration control refers to the need to respond to learners’ emotional state. If

a learner is struggling to complete a task, you need to give assistance where
necessary to avoid him or her becoming anxious or losing interest in the task.

x Demonstration refers to the need to show/model solution. This does not mean
you give the solution; rather, it refers to you showing how you work something
out so that the learner is able to replicate this.

180 minutes
29
Look at how Wood et al (1976) above, suggest one can teach in a scaffolded or
mediated way. Imagine you are going to design a lesson for teaching practice in
which you use these six processes.

Indicate how you would use each to achieve a certain mediating goal. You do not
have to write the lesson plan out in full, rather describe how you would do each of
the mediating goals: how would you get their attention, how would you break the
task down into its elements, how would you keep the learners focussed on the
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problem, how would you mark out critical features, how would you deal with
frustration, how would you demonstrate to the learners how to do the task?

Gallimore and Tharp further elaborated on Vygotsky’s work on mediation by building

on what Wood, Burner and Ross have done.

3.5.2 Development and expansion of Vygotsky’s theory by Gallimore

and Tharp

Echoing (confirming/agreeing with) some of the points made by Wood, Bruner and
Ross (1976), Tharp and Gallimore (1988) suggest six means of teaching through the
ZPD, which highlight how instruction can usefully provoke learning in the ZPD.

x Modelling: Provide a model of task engagement. So, if you are teaching

learners to solve, say, addition of fractions, you must provide a model for how
to solve the problem.

x Contingency management: Reward successful steps towards problem-solving.

This helps build the learner's confidence as he or she feels he or she is able to
achieve his or her goal.

x Feedback: Give detailed feedback that shows learners where they are going
wrong. That is, you cannot merely say “right” or “wrong” when assessing a
learner's answer/response to a question. You need to tell them why they are
wrong so that they can alter their problem-solving steps accordingly.

x Instruction: Direct and explicit elaboration of content. When you are teaching,
be sure to be explicit about what it is you are teaching. Define the concepts that
the learners need to engage with and elaborate them sufficiently for them to
engage with them.

x Cognitive structuring: Break complex concepts down into more manageable

ones. This is a very useful technique to aid learners in solving problems. This
involves providing them with the right structures to solve the problems, rather
than merely giving the right answers.

x Questioning: This is a very good tool for leading learners to an understanding

of the problem. You can use questions as guides to gently move learners to the
solution of the problem. This is also extremely effective in ascertaining learners'
ZPD, as it tells you what the learner knows and what he or she needs to know.

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120 minutes
30
Use the lesson plan provided in Activity 24 and answer the following questions:

1. Write down the pedagogical strategies the Grade R teacher is using. Describe
each in a paragraph.
2. Do you think this is effective pedagogy? Why, or why not? Discuss with reference
to Vygotsky's concepts of mediation within the ZPD of scientific concepts.
3. In the lesson plan, the teacher mentions what she does to help learners needing
support, as well as those needing enrichment (point 7.5 Differentiation on lesson
plan). Describe other examples you would use to effectively support these two
groups of learners in an inclusive classroom.

Gallimore and Tharp (1988) and Wood et al (1976) give us a good sense of how to
teach using mediation in a classroom. Reuven Feuerstein, a psychologist, developed
a very useful notion of mediated learning experiences to explain how one could teach
best in such a classroom.

3.5.3 Development and expansion of Vygotsky’s theory by Feuerstein

Reuven Feuerstein was a psychologist who also used Vygotsky’s work to expand the
notion of mediation. He is most famous for his view that rather than being static,
intelligence is, in fact, modifiable (can be changed). That is, intelligence can actually
be changed through the use of appropriate mediated learning experiences. He
proposed a body of theory on how this was possible. For our purposes, we are most
interested in his notion of mediated learning experiences: MLE. This work, although
not drawn directly from Vygotsky, provides an incredibly useful way of thinking about
how to mediate in the classroom. In what follows, we outline MLE and show how this
can be used in a classroom to enhance learning and development.

Intentionality and reciprocity

Intentionality, in this context, refers to your desire to teach and is closely linked to
reciprocity, which refers to learners’ receptiveness to what you are teaching. Much like
with the ideas proposed by Wood et al. (1976), the teacher aims to grab the learners’
attention by presenting them with something that is exciting and makes them keen to
learn what is about to be taught. For example, if you are teaching about urbanisation
in Grade 4 Social Science, you could tell them about this force (urbanization) that has
changed the whole world and is still affecting millions of people, in order to get them
interested in the topic.

Essentially, this is about asking how you can teach in a manner that interests and
motivates learners. This can be done through asking questions, being well prepared
and organised and taking time to plan some exciting tasks. Moreover, when something

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is not understood, don't merely repeat what you have already said: think of a different
way to explain the same content and pay particular attention to learners who are
slower or more passive than their peers.

Meaning

Learners often complain that what they are taught in school is not very useful to their
everyday life. This is because teachers have failed to make the content meaningful for
the learners. Make sure that you can link what you are teaching to the interests of
learners.

For example, let us say you are teaching about different jobs people do in a Grade R
lesson. You could start by finding out from your learners what their parents or
guardians do for work at home or away from home. But you cannot just stop once your
learners tell you stories about their own experiences of what their parents or guardians
do; you then need to have lots of information and resources to take what they have
told you further.

Transcendence

This requires bridging ideas to the broader context, asking, “Where else does this
happen?” At a very basic level, if you are teaching about different jobs that people do,
you try and get the learners to shift from their own experience or knowledge about
various jobs to what other jobs there are and have been in the whole world, of how
jobs have changed through the years and how jobs affect where people live. The
learner shifts from their own experience outwards to what it means for the whole world.

Competence

Emotion is intricately (with great detail) linked to learning. It is crucial to develop in

learners a sense of competence in relation to the work they are learning and a positive
belief in their ability to succeed. When learners find they can understand what you are
teaching them, and do what you are asking of them, they get more excited and
confident, and can start to push themselves.

90 minutes
31
How would you build intentionality, reciprocity, meaning, transcendence and
competence into a Grade R lesson on jobs that people do?

Commentary:
Think about how your lesson must start by getting the learners interested and
excited, how you must work through the lesson on using their own understanding
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and experience, how you must push them to understand urbanisation as a world-
wide force, and how you must make them feel like they can do and understand the
activities of your lesson.

120 minutes
32
Read the short scenario about how Mrs Khumalo thinks children learn.

Mrs Khumalo: I think, for me, young learners learn something by actually doing it
practically. I also think that they learn in their groups, where they
discuss their ideas or solutions with their group and maybe one
learner will say something and another one didn’t think of that
before. I think it’s also important that you get the learners to work it
out themselves you know? You get them to give a reason for their
answer, not just giving the answer but saying, um, “Look, this is why
I did it.”

1. What kind of theory of learning/teaching supports Mrs Khumalo’s views? Explain

your answer by reviewing the work we have done from Vygotsky and those who
used his theory to expand on the notion of mediation.
2. Does Mrs Khumalo think of young learners as active or as passive recipients of
knowledge? Write a few sentences to explain this.
3. Using your response to question 2, compare this with what you learnt earlier
regarding behaviourism.

Commentary:
Clues have been provided in the question for what you need to focus on. You could
also draw on other constructivist theorists in responding to question 2.

Remember, it is always useful to use a table whenever you are required to do a

comparison. This helps to see similarities and differences explicitly.

3.5.4 Implications of a Vygotskian perspective for pedagogy

We now turn to the implications of the theory for understanding the following:

x Teaching and the teacher’s role;

x Learning and the learner’s role;
x The learning environment; and
x Assessment of and for learning.

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Understandings of teaching and the teacher’s role

The teacher is instrumental in developing the learner through the process of mediation.
This refers to active guidance and structured intervention in problem-solving tasks.
The learner can do more with assistance than on their own, so you, as the teacher,
need to build assistance into your worksheets and make sure that you teach beyond
what your learners are currently capable of doing on their own.

The teacher must determine what each learner's ZPD is. The teacher must provide
structured guidance to learners to enable them to accomplish with assistance
something they cannot accomplish on their own. We have discussed ways in which
the teacher can do this with questioning, scaffolding, sparking intentionality and
reciprocity. Tasks should be set beyond the learner's actual developmental level, to
determine his or her potential to learn.

Understanding learning and the learner’s role

Learning is actively constructed and learners come to learning situations with already
formulated knowledge, ideas and understandings. The previous knowledge forms the
basis for the new knowledge they will create. Learning, which is designed as mediation
in the ZPD, can lead to cognitive development. Therefore, you must expect more of
the learner than what he or she is currently able to do alone. Learning is collaborative.

Learners learn about learning not only from themselves, but also from their peers.
They can pick up strategies and methods from one another. The learner is the person
who creates new understanding for him or herself. The teacher provides structured
mediation to guide the learner in his/her ZPD.

Understanding the learning environment

Each learner has a unique cultural/historical background that impacts how they learn.
The teacher needs to be aware of learners’ own contexts and work this into their
teaching. The environment must allow for collaborative learning, with learners seated
in a manner that allows them to engage with one another. The learning environment
must be set up to provoke cognitive challenge: to expect the learner to go beyond what
they can currently do on their own.

Understanding of assessment of and for learning

Assessment happens in the ZPD: as you work with the learner, you assess them. So
independent problem-solving tells you nothing about the learner's potential: setting
tests will tell you only what the learners know, not what they are capable of knowing.

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We have come to end of the section on constructivist theory. Complete the following
activity to see how this theory can be applied in the classroom.

90 minutes
33
Use the example lesson plan provided to you after Activity 24 and answer the
questions:

Questions:
1. From what can you tell that the Grade R teacher uses a constructivist approach
in her classroom? Give reasons for your answer.
2. In your answer state whether you believe it is effective or not and why.

Commentary:
In the lesson plans and the activities, you can see that the Grade R teacher has an
understanding of constructivist teaching/learning. She asks questions to determine
her learner's ZPD, and structures the learning environment to provoke development
through learning.

4. SUMMARY
In this section, we have looked at a number of theorists, all of whom share a
fundamental assumption regarding learning: that it is an active process and that the
learner brings something to the classroom when he or she learns. That is, the learner
is active, not a passive ‘blank slate’. Learning requires a very specific kind of teaching
that is structured and pitched at a level that will develop the learner.

In this unit, we learnt about theories of development and, related to this, theories of
learning and teaching. We saw that the theories of learning come out of the major
debate in psychology about whether development happens through nature (genes) or
nurture (environment). Current theorists do not support an “either … or” picture of
learning – where only one OR the other is true – for them, learning involves BOTH
nature and nurture.

Return to the case study at the beginning of the module about Nandi. After what we
have learnt in this module, can you suggest how best to deal with Nandi? Given her
background, it seems likely that we have to take into account that Nandi has not had
adequate mediated learning experiences. This means we cannot immediately assume
that her challenges have a biological cause; we need to look at the context in which
she is growing up. Ecological systems theory tells us that we need to pay attention to
her environment. Constructivist theories of learning tell us that we need to look closely
at how she is taught. Has she had the appropriate mediation from teachers? When
you leave this module, think about how you would approach dealing with Nandi in your
class.
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120 minutes
34
Draw a table like the one shown below. Go back to Unit 2. Describe understandings
of learning and the role of the learner from each of the following theorists’
perspectives:

x Skinner
x Dewey
x Bruner
x Montessori
x Piaget
x Vygotsky

Theorist Understanding of learning Role of the learner

Compare the similarities and differences on a separate page.

Take your reflection to the next academic support session or your own support
group and compare your responses with peers.

Before you go on, reflect on what you have learnt so far and complete the self-
assessment activity.

60 minutes
35
Self-assessment activity: Unit 2
If your answer is UNSURE or NO on any of the criteria, go back to the relevant
section to study it again.

Now that I have worked through this unit, I can: YES UNSURE NO
Discuss Behaviourism and analyse behaviourist
theories.
Describe the implications of behaviourist theory for
pedagogy.
Discuss Constructivism and analyse constructivist
theories.

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Describe the implications of constructivist theory

for pedagogy.

In Unit 3 you will learn more about thinking processes, learning, teaching and
classroom practice.

UNIT 3: THINKING PROCESSES, LEARNING,

TEACHING AND CLASSROOM PRACTICE

1. INTRODUCTION
Learning is an activity which starts at birth and continues throughout a person’s
lifetime. It is thus a lifelong process in which we as humans engage throughout our
lives. Learning is an act or experience and cannot occur (happen) on its own. For
learning to take place, therefore, there must be a learner and someone performing the
act of teaching (the teacher or more knowledgeable other). The central relationship of
pedagogy is that between teacher, knowledge and learner, as shown below.

Teacher

Learner Knowledge

Figure 5: Relationship of pedagogy

(Extracted from Horsthemke et al, 2015, p. 468)

We learnt in Unit 2 that different theoretical perspectives define learning and – by

implication – teaching, differently. Each influences how we think about learning,
teaching, the learning environment and assessment. So, while the three aspects in
Figure 5 above are present in the teaching/learning relationship, different theories
relate them to each other differently.

Notice that each of these theoretical perspectives on learning focuses on different

aspects of who we are as human beings – our physical behaviour, our minds, our
social interactions. As human beings, our bodies are important, our minds are
important and our social lives are important. As a teacher, you should pay careful
attention to the behaviour of your learners, to their thinking and meaning-making and
to their social learning spaces. We cannot do without all three together. Each
theoretical perspective has value and plays a part in understanding the complex
process of learning and teaching.
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Thinking about learning and teaching requires that we not only understand the WHO,
the WHAT and the HOW, but also the WHERE. In other words, learning and teaching
happens in a social environment in which there is interaction between teacher and
learner and between learner and learner. These social relations influence the process
by which learners come to know and how they think or experience themselves and
others.

Within the schooling context, WHAT is learnt is determined by the school curriculum.
The South African curriculum is distributed across the following schooling phases:

x The Foundation Phase, consisting of a number of prescribed subjects and their

topics, for Grade R and Grades 1 to 3;

x The Intermediate Phase, consisting of a number of prescribed subjects and

their topics, for Grades 4 to 6;

x The Senior Phase, consisting of a number of prescribed subjects and their

topics, for Grades 7 to 9; and

x The Further Education and Training Phase, consisting of prescribed subjects

and their topics, for Grades 10 to 12.

However, HOW something is learnt and, by implication, how we teach, is determined

by our conceptions of learning and teaching, which are informed and mediated by the
theories we have learnt in this module. Thus, we don’t learn but apply theories,
whether we do this consciously or not.

Unit 3 in this module will give you information on how to make informed choices using
what you already know about how children develop and learn. The first section draws
on recent research on learning that is based on brain and mind research. This research
has resulted in some key recommendations on learning – mostly on the ‘thinking’ part
of learning. If learning involves thinking, then we need to ask: “What is thinking, and
how does it happen?” We will explore this question using a model of information-
processing.

The second section focuses on factors internal and external to the learner that
influence them and what and how they learn and interact in the classroom. This section
shows you how to use this information to motivate learners and create environments
conducive to optimal learning for all children. The third section examines factors
teachers should take into account in planning the learning and teaching environment.

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2. STRUCTURE AND LEARNING OUTCOMES OF UNIT 3

Unit 3 consist of the following three sections and learning outcomes.

UNIT 3
THINKING PROCESSES, LEARNING,
TEACHING AND CLASSROOM PRACTICE

SECTION 1 SECTION 2
Thinking processes, Learning and Factors Influencing the Learner
Teaching and Learning

Learning outcomes: At the end of Learning outcomes: At the end of

this section, you should be able to: this section, you should be able to:
x Discuss and explain a model of x Summarise factors internal and
thinking processes and learning. external to the learner that
x Explain cognitive load theory. influence him or her and learning.
x Discuss learning and types of x Explain forms of intelligence and
memory. styles of learning.

SECTION 3
Classroom Practice and the Teacher

Learning outcomes: At the end of this section,

you should be able to:
x Illustrate factors you as a teacher have to
consider in planning and implementing
teaching and learning in the classroom.
x Discuss the importance of the different types
of teacher knowledge.
x Adhere to and apply professional teacher
conduct.
x Create a conducive learning and teaching
environment.

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SECTION 1: THINKING PROCESSES, LEARNING

AND TEACHING

1. INTRODUCTION
Have you ever wondered how a new piece of information makes its way into
someone’s brain and stays there? Or how someone who has studied a field in depth
can remember such a large amount of information? In this section we will look at how
the brain takes in a new piece of information and connects it to other information which
it has already stored. This process involves using your working memory to work with
new information that is stored for a short period in short-term memory so that it can be
integrated into the knowledge in your long-term memory.

We will look at the limitations of the brain in terms of working with new information and
strategies that you, as a teacher, can use to enable your learners to grasp new ideas
and establish them firmly in their memories so they will not be lost. We will also explore
the idea of people having different kinds of intelligence, and how you can best work
with the differences between the ways your learners’ minds work, in the classroom.

2. A MODEL FOR UNDERSTANDING THINKING AND

LEARNING
When we are trying to understand a complex idea or process, we often use a model.
The model will often be a very simplified version of the real process or object, and
usually shows some aspects better than others. So, when we introduce a model of the
mind, below, we are trying to catch, in a simple way, how the mind works. Researchers
often use theoretical models to explain a concept or a process.

2.1 An information processor

One model that has been used to try to describe learning is the information-processing
model. In this model, the processes that a computer uses to handle information are
used to describe the way in which a human brain uses to handle information.

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Figure 6: Information-processing model

(Davis, Hummel, & Sauers, 2006)

A computer has input devices that give the computer information from the outside
world. When you want to get something into the computer you use a CD, a USB or a
cable to connect the computer to other sources of information. This allows the
computer to download the information. In the same way, a human being uses his or
her five senses to gather information about the world and put it into his or her mind.

A computer has a central processing unit which is the part of the computer that works
with the information. In a similar way, your mind also uses working memory to work
with new information it has received.

A computer has a hard drive storage where you can save the information and get it
back at a later time. In a similar way, your mind also has long-term memory which
stores important knowledge and memories that can be retrieved at a later time.

A computer organises all the information into files and folders, so that all the
information stored makes sense and is stored in the right place. In a similar way, your
mind has schemas/schemata (organised networks of how to organise knowledge)
that arrange the knowledge into systematic patterns. A schema is a framework that
orders incoming information and places it within a plan or model so that the information
makes sense as a part of a greater whole. For example, the concept ‘dog’ can be

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placed in a schema about animals that organizes where the information goes. A
schema for animals contains mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles. A dog is
not a bird or a fish or an amphibian or a reptile; it is a mammal. The schema enables
a learner to place the concept (dog) into a bigger organized whole (mammals) and to
place mammals within the bigger organizing category of animals. These schemas help
to make sense of the world by placing different things into an organised whole.

In the case of the human brain, a person receives new information through one of the
senses (hearing, sight, touch, smell or taste) and then decides whether it should be
given attention or not. If it decides it is important enough that it should be given
attention, the information is placed in short-term memory (a small holding space),
where it can be remembered for a short time (around 20 seconds). The working
memory then works with the information, making sense of it by finding something in
the long-term memory to connect it to, repeating it or using it. This is quicker and
easier to do if the new information is organised clearly. During this process of looking
at the new information repeatedly or using it in different ways, it gets transferred to the
long-term memory, which has unlimited space. This process is represented in the
diagram below:

NEW BRAIN DECIDES THE NEW

WORKING
INFORMATION TO PAY IT IS PLACED IN INFORMATION
MEMORY
IS TAKEN IN ATTENTION SHORT-TERM IS TRANSFERRED
REPEATS OR
THROUGH THE MEMORY TO LONG-TERM
TO IT USES IT
SENSES MEMORY

Figure 7: Human brain information-processing

(Hardman, 2018)

Imagine the short-term memory as a small room where new things are taken in. The
room cannot hold very many things. For example, parents are dropping off cakes, toys,
books and clothes for a school sale. A volunteer (working memory) has to take the
new things and decide if they are useful and, if so, organise them on the sports field
(long-term memory) with all the other things that have been brought and arrange them
on the cakes table, books table, clothes table or toys table. The volunteer can only
carry two or three things at a time. Although the receiving room is limited and the

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volunteer’s carrying capacity is limited, the space on the field is practically unlimited –
more tables or tents can always be added to accommodate what is brought in.

Sssssdfd
s

SHORT-TERM WORKING LONG-TERM

MEMORY MEMORY MEMORY

Figure 8: The working memory as volunteer

(Hardman, 2018)

2.2 Applying the information-processing model to teaching and

learning in the classroom

If a teacher understands this model, he or she can facilitate the process of learning in
many small ways. Some ways include:

x Activating the learner’s existing schemas;

x Capturing attention and sustaining it;
x Getting the working memory going; and
x Facilitating the process of incorporating new information.

We discuss each briefly next.

Activate the learners’ existing schemas

If a learner is not consciously aware of his or her existing knowledge of a topic, he or

she will not necessarily use it as a framework for new information. A teacher can
activate learners’ existing schemas/schemata before introducing new ideas. He or she
can, for example, ask them interesting questions about the topic, or awaken their
interest with a picture or video clip, or ask them to write down three things that they
already know about the topic. Another technique is to talk about a familiar and similar
topic or pattern so that learners can use it as a comparison. These ‘advance
organisers’ can, at the same time, help the teacher to find out what learners already
know.

Capturing attention and sustaining it

If a learner thinks something is not worthwhile, he or she won’t process it. Cognitive
processing takes mental effort, and the learner won’t make this effort if there is no
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motivation to do so. It is thus important to use strategies to capture the learner’s

attention and to engage him or her. Teachers can use various methods, such as asking
an interesting question, making an unexpected or controversial statement, or doing
something unexpected. Sustaining interest can be more challenging, but a general
guideline is to change activities every 15 minutes or so. This change should not
interfere with the flow of the lesson, but give a break to the boredom of doing the
same thing for too long.

Get the working memory going

The working memory holds small amounts of information while working with it. For
example, if someone is asked to mentally add 23 and 47 and 29, they have to hold the
numbers in their short-term memory while, at the same time, doing the thinking to solve
the problem.

There are things that teachers can do to stimulate working memory, such as asking
learners to repeat something the teacher has just said, or asking them to visualise
something as the teacher describes it. More ideas are given on the following website,
which also addresses working memory problems that can cause learning difficulties.
(Melbourne Child Psychology,
n.d. https://www.melbournechildpsychology.com.au/blog/impact-working-memory-
difficulties-learning/)

Facilitate the process of incorporating new information

Give well-organised information to make it easier for learners to fit it into their mental
framework, or to form a new framework. If new information is very confusing and
unstructured it can lead to levels of frustration that make the learner want to give up.
Remember the volunteer in the example above who had to sort toys, books and
clothes brought in by parents? If a parent drops off a bag of books, a bag of clothes
and a bag of toys, it is much easier for the volunteer to work with these, than if the
parent has dropped off three bags, each with toys, books and clothes jumbled
together. And if the clothes have tags showing their sizes, it is much easier than if they
have no sizes marked requiring the volunteer to determine whether each clothing item
belongs in the small, medium or large pile for men or women.

While reading this information you have probably been going through the processes
described above. If you think back now, can you identify what you already knew, and
how you have connected this new information to it?

Let us demonstrate how working memory and schema development work through an
example. Read the following questions to see how they could be used to develop the
concept of living and non-living things. Each time a new question is asked, it requires
the learner to use the working memory to try to match it with his existing understanding
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of the concepts of living and non-living. Thus the concept is developed and grows –
the schema is re-formed to include the new information. Try to answer the questions
yourself, remember your answers and think carefully about the questions as they get
more difficult near the end:

x What are the characteristics of a living thing?

x So, is a dog a living thing?
x Is an ant a living thing?
x Is a tree a living thing?
x Is a stone a living thing?
x What about a cloud?
x Is water living?
x Now think about a piece of wood.
x And a skeleton?
x Was it ever alive?
x Was it part of a living thing?
x What about a dead fly?

Notice that the questions got you to think about what is living and non-living using your
existing schema (understanding) about what is living or non-living. The questions did
not tell you what biology officially says is living and non-living, but you would now be
ready for a lesson on the topic. You might be wondering if a dead fly is living or non-
living. It is NOT living because it is dead, but the fly used to be alive. A non-living thing
was never alive. A stone is non-living – it did not live and die. A learner grappling with
these questions begins to work with the difference between alive or dead, and living
or non-living, and starts to wonder about how this all works. The existing schema in
the learner’s mind is now ready for further development.

120 minutes
36
1. Describe the main stages of the information-processing model of learning.
2. How can a teacher apply this model to improve learners’ learning experiences?
Explain in 3-5 paragraphs.

While the theories you studied focused on perspectives of learning and teaching, the
following theory on thinking and learning, called cognitive load theory, gives you
strategies that you can apply in the classroom to improve learning.

3. COGNITIVE LOAD THEORY

Cognitive load theory starts with the fundamental point that our short-term memory
(remember the small receiving room in our example?) and working memory (the
volunteer) can deal with limited amounts of information at one time. If we are just trying
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to remember a list of numbers or words, then we can hold around seven bits in our
working memory, but as soon as we start to process information to make sense of it
by contrasting it and comparing it to what we already know, then we can only hold
around two or three bits in our working memory at the same time. Crucially
(importantly), this information only stays in our working memories for around 20
seconds. Pedagogic practices have to take the limitations of working memory very
seriously, because working memory is the gateway to deep learning: every piece of
knowledge has to pass through working memory, and working memory has a limited
carrying and holding capacity.

A curious (interesting) feature of short-term memory is that it has two different

channels that receive information – a visual channel and an auditory channel – and
when both channels are used together, the capacity of working memory increases
(Paivio, 1986). If you listen to a teacher while at the same time seeing a demonstration
on the board, you will understand more than if you were exposed to either voice or
visual on its own. When you watch the video recommended for this section, you will
not see the lecturer talking, but will hear his voice while you look at the diagrams
presented. You LISTEN to him talking whilst SEEING the diagrams unfold. This simple
method of using both visual and audio channels at once, which teachers use across
the world, makes the content easier to understand than simply working from the
textbook or simply listening to an explanation.

Videos that actually film a lecturer talking are wasting your working memory capacity.
You don’t need to SEE someone talking – you need to HEAR him or her. But if, at the
same time as hearing him or her, you watch examples, diagrams, figures, key phrases,
then your capacity to understand and remember is greater. This dual coding of
information is why it is boring to watch a slide presentation where the slides contain
text that summarises what is being said. Your visual channel works at a different speed
to your audio channel, resulting in an effect where you read the slide in a couple of
seconds and then have to sit through the long verbal account of exactly the same
thing. Do not put up too many words on a power-point slide presentation – put up
supporting images.

But even if you are using both audio and visual channels to increase the capacity of
working memory, it still has a very limited carrying capacity. As a teacher, you need to
make sure that you present problems to your learners in such a way that the focus is
on the key aspects of the problem. Cut away all the extra elements that are not needed
and just focus on the problem. This is especially important to do at the beginning of a
topic, when the learner does not know a lot about the content nor has many skills
associated with the topic. We call learners who do not yet have the skills or knowledge
related to topic or a task ‘novices’. Novices need to be carefully introduced to a topic
in a way that shows them what the basics are. As a teacher you must not overload the
lesson with extra resources that are not relevant – rather make sure that you focus on

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the lesson topic and present it as simply and clearly as possible. Any extra material
that you use must be directly relevant to the lesson.

So, what pedagogic techniques can be used to reduce cognitive load by focusing on
what is necessary and eliminating elements that are not necessary? What can be cut
away to make the load lighter for the learner, but still keep what is crucial for
understanding, meaning-making and the construction of schemas? Sweller, Van
Merriënboer and Paas (1998) point out pedagogic techniques that reduce extraneous
(more than is needed) cognitive load for novices. (See Hugo, 2016, Chapter 3 for this
account.)

These include the following:

x Goal-free effect;
x Worked example effect;
x Completion problem effect; and
x Split attention effect.

We discuss each briefly next.

3.1 Goal-free effect

Do not give the long-term goal of the problem under exploration at the same time as
the problem itself; rather, focus on the problem and allow the goal to emerge once the
problem has been understood. If you say what the goal is before doing the problem
then the learners may try and work out the relationship between the problem and the
goal BEFORE they have understood the problem.

Figure 9: Relationship between the problem and the goal

(Hardman, 2018)

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In the above diagram you can see that the goal has been crossed out with ‘xxxxx’. The
focus of working memory is on the Problem, shown by the arrows focusing on the ‘P’.
If you tell the novice learners what the goal is before they understand the problem,
then they will use their working memory trying to work out how the problem and the
goal fit together. First get a novice learner to work on the problem then, afterwards,
tell them what the goal is.

An example in Grade R could be the goal to understand the passing and sequencing
of time. The problem could be defined through an activity in which five pictures are
given to each group in the class describing the daily activities of a child. Each group
must put the pictures in order from what the child would do from when he or she wakes
up in the morning until when he or she goes to bed again in the evening.

3.2 Worked example effect

Do not give novice learners a problem to solve right at the beginning; rather, start with
a worked example that shows what the steps of the problem are and how to solve it in
its simplest form.

Figure 10: Give all the steps to the problem at the beginning

(Hardman, 2018)

In the above diagram you can see that all the steps to the problem are given to the
learner at the beginning. The learner is told what the start of the problem is (A) and
the steps to solve the problem are also shown (B1, B2 and C), as well as the answer
(D). It helps to give the learner an example of how the whole problem works so that
they understand what the steps are that need to be followed. Once the learner sees
how the problem is done and solved, then they can try and do it by themselves.

An example in Grade R could be a teacher explaining how she builds a simple puzzle,
placing similar colours together first and then building the picture up. She then gives
similar puzzles for the learners to try on their own, starting with categorising the colours
first.

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3.3 Completion problem effect

Once the learners have been given a worked example, provide a problem that has
some of the steps already done and get the learners to complete it. By reducing the
size of the problem space to one or two steps that need completion, you reduce
extraneous load.

Figure 11: Completion problem effect

(Hardman, 2018)

In the above diagram you can see that a different example of the same problem has
been given, only this time there are two parts to it that are not given (symbolised by
the ?). The learner can now try to solve simple parts of the problem because the
teacher has given the other steps needed. As the learner understands more and more,
the teacher can eventually get the learner to try and do the whole problem on his or
her own. Notice that the teacher is slowly increasing the cognitive load.

An example in Grade R could be to progress in puzzle-building by adding at least two

shades of each colour that gets to be separated, e.g. separate the red and yellow as
already learnt in first lesson, but now with newer and bigger puzzle, learners must
separate the red into dark red and light red and the yellow into orange-yellow and
bright-yellow in order to complete the puzzle.

3.4 Split attention effect

Be careful of multiple sources of information that expect the learner to integrate the
different bits together. Rather provide one integrated source of information that the
learner can focus on.

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Figure 12: Split attention effect

(Hardman, 2018)

In the above diagram you can see that the teacher has provided six different bits of
information (A, B, C, D, E and F) from different sources and then expects the learner
to combine them together to solve the problem (?). This can be very hard for a learner
to do, as they are using their working memory to work out what each extra resource
means and how they all combine. Rather provide the learner with one clear resource
that has everything needed in it. Sometimes teachers think that by providing lots of
extra material they are helping the learners. Often this is not the case. Often, the extra
material is not that relevant or useful and the learner has to struggle to make sense of
it, when a single well-organised worksheet would have been a better option.

The key reason why you want to free up some space in working memory is that the
learner has space to work with a new piece of knowledge, struggle with it and make
meaning of it so that it can be placed within an ever growing schematic set developing
in long term memory.

An example in a Grade R lesson could be the teacher ensuring that only one medium
is used in art per lesson. Learners can for example only apply finger painting in a
lesson to create a picture, instead of having options to brush paint, sketch, use
crayons, use coloured pencils or cut out pictures from magazines.

With cognitive load theory, you can see how a learning theory has direct implications
for how you will teach in the classroom because it gives you a set of ideas about how
learners actually learn that you can use.

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180 minutes
37
In 2015 a group of people known as ‘Deans for Impact’ put together six key
questions that they felt all student teachers should engage with to help them design
good lessons and improve their teaching in a resource called The Science of
Learning. This is available for download at:
Source: http://deansforimpact.org/wp-
content/uploads/2016/12/The_Science_of_Learning.pdf

In this activity, we will provide extracts from the first three questions in The Science
of Learning and ask you to use what you have read in this section to add more
information to what they recommend.

Question 1: How do learners understand new ideas?

To learn, students must transfer information from working memory (where it
is consciously processed) to long-term memory (where it can be stored and
later retrieved). Students have limited working memory capacities that can
be overwhelmed by tasks that are cognitively too demanding. Understanding
new ideas can be impeded if students are confronted with too much
information at once. A practical implication for the classroom is that teachers
can use “worked examples” as one method of reducing students’ cognitive
burdens. A worked example is a step-by-step demonstration of how to
perform a task or solve a problem. This guidance – or “scaffolding” – can be
gradually removed in subsequent problems so that students are required to
complete more problem steps independently.

Your task: Add notes from your learning guide that help answer Question 1 from this
section.

Question 2: How do learners learn and retain new information?

Practice is essential to learning new facts, but not all practice is equivalent.
Teachers can space practice over time, with content being reviewed across
weeks or months, to help students remember that content over the long term.
Teachers can explain to students that trying to remember something makes
memory more long-lasting than other forms of studying. Teachers can use
low- or no-stakes quizzes in class to do this, and students can use self-tests.

Your task: Add notes to help answer Question 2 from this section.

Question 3: How do learners solve problems?

Each subject area has some set of facts that, if committed to long-term
memory, aids problem-solving by freeing working memory resources and

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illuminating contexts in which existing knowledge and skills can be applied.

The size and content of this set varies by subject matter.

Teachers will need to teach different sets of facts to different ages. For
example, the most obvious (and most thoroughly studied) sets of facts are
math facts and letter-sound pairings in early elementary grades. For math,
memory is much more reliable than calculation. Math facts (e.g. 8 x 6 = ?)
are embedded in other topics (e.g. long division). A child who stops to
calculate may make an error or lose track of the larger problem. The
advantages of learning to read by phonics are well established.

Add notes to help answer question 3 from this section.

Learning requires attention to the topic on the one hand and repetition on the other.
To do this properly you need to focus on the topic for a sustained period of time and
then go over it again in some way.

Next we look at learning and types of memory.

4. LEARNING AND TYPES OF MEMORY

Attention is what keeps something in short-term memory from slipping away after 20
or so seconds; and repetition is what enables transfer to long-term memory. If the topic
gets into long-term memory, then the learner can remember and recall the topic at a
later time. We have to be careful with repetition, as some teachers think repetition
means rote learning and drill.

What is the difference between repetition and rote learning? Rote learning is when you
learn something by heart exactly as it appears on the page. Repetition is when
something is redone again. You do need to repeat and go over what you are learning
to embed it in long-term memory, but the repetition does not have to be in exactly
the same form each time. It is possible to repeat what has been done in a different
way. A good teacher knows how to do this in class when he or she is asked to explain
something a learner does not understand over again. The teacher does not say exactly
the same thing again! He or she goes over the same topic but does it differently to
help the learner understand. It is in making meaning of the element, in coming back to
it from different angles, in placing it within larger networks that gives it a schema. This
is how a learner shifts what is being learnt into long-term memory.

You cannot place a piece of information directly into your long-term memory. It gets
there through a process of firstly understanding its essential meaning and secondly
linking it to other things you already know and understand. Getting the essential
meaning and placing it into a larger network are really part and parcel of the same
activity – making sense of something – because it is in seeing how the particular
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elements relate to other elements that the attachment of meaning happens. This
means that the topic has to be transformed into something that makes sense to the
learner by connecting it to bigger networks in the learner’s mind. Seeing
interrelationships is part of learning.

4.1 Chunking and Schema

What is interesting about connecting pieces of information into networks is that the
many pieces of information then become integrated into one bigger picture. The
learner does not just understand one concept introduced in the lesson, but
understands the whole topic. If the learner understands the topic as a single big
picture, then the whole topic is understood as one, single ‘chunk’. This is a vital point
for how pedagogy intersects with the limited amount of information that working
memory can hold – probably the most important point in this section. Why?

Because the big picture with all its elements holds as one ‘chunk’, it only needs one
‘space’, or ‘slot’, in short-term memory. It is nearly impossible to increase the number
of slots you have in short-term memory. But by understanding the connections
between concepts within a topic and building them into a single, big picture, you can
reach a point where, in terms of short-term and working memory, the whole picture –
with all the elements contained within it – is just one ‘thing’. This is what experts do.
They don’t have more slots in their short-term memory than novices, but they have
connected information together into large chunks, which each use just one slot in
short-term memory. In this way it can appear that they are holding huge amounts of
information in their short-term memories, with the result that they appear to be
unbelievably clever.

This is such an important concept for you to understand as a teacher that we are going
to look at an example to help you understand it more deeply.

Imagine a chess board with 25 chess pieces on it. You are given 10 seconds to
memorise the positions of all 25 pieces. If you do not know how to play chess you will
really struggle to remember where the pieces are. How many pieces do you think you
will be able to remember in their correct places? When this experiment was done with
people who did not know how to play chess, they placed about one third of the pieces
in the right places (around 8 pieces). But when the same challenge was given to a
chess expert, he or she was able to get more than 90% right (around 23 pieces).

The thousands of hours spent playing and studying chess meant that the expert did
not have to memorise where the individual pieces were, but that he saw them in groups
and patterns, each of which was a single chunk. You can see this if you watch a
grandmaster (chess expert) closely as he reconstructs the board from memory. First,
he thinks a little and then places around six pieces down quickly. Then he thinks again

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before placing around another six down, and so on with the third set and fourth set.
The setting down of the pieces occurs in bursts of patterns, not as individual pieces.

Figure 13: Chunks vs Schema

(Adapted from Wikimedia Commons, 2021)

The novice works with individual pieces rather than with patterns and so is really
limited when doing this task. A chess expert is not looking at individual pieces but at
patterns of pieces on the board. Similarly, a teacher may see a large amount of related
information as a single chunk, while for the novice learner, each piece of information
takes one slot of working memory. That is why the teacher has to be very careful not
to overload the learner’s working memory, by using the techniques suggested above.

If you are a novice in a subject (which we will call ‘x’) then you will need clear and
explicit guidance on ‘x’ so that your long-term memory networks around ‘x’ consolidate

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(join together strongly). If you have to try to work it all out on your own, then all you
have to rely on is working memory, which can only hold a few pieces of information at
a time and can only hold them for a short time. This is the fundamental insight of
cognitive load theorists such as Kirschner, Sweller and Clark (2006). A novice can
work on problem-solving for a very long time and come away learning hardly anything
about the problem because he or she does not have a foundational knowledge of the
topic in long-term memory to work from. A worked example, on the other hand, where
every step is explicitly shown and the answer clearly given, results in novices grasping
what the process is because they only have to comprehend the process, not
discover it.

Remember the volunteer in our example of working memory – working with bags that
were sorted into clothes, toys and books was a much easier task than working with
three bags of clothes, toys and books jumbled together. When working memory is able
to focus on the essential relationships within well-organised information, rather than
being overwhelmed by trying to map the relationships, the knowledge is laid down in
long-term memory, enabling the learner to access the new knowledge quickly when
solving a problem. It then becomes crucial to move away from explicit worked
examples to more open problem-solving and discovery type questions, as you want
the learners to work with their own long-term memories and not just blindly follow your
step-by-step instructions.

Two key features stand out from the above discussion. Firstly, to shift something from
short-term to long-term memory it is important to place the item into a network that
already exists in long-term memory. The more developed the network, the easier it is
to locate the item in some part of it as with a more detailed map. Secondly, because it
is nearly impossible to increase the amount of space in short-term memory or the
amount of information that working memory can work with, the most effective way to
increase a learner’s capacity for working with information is to increase the size of the
chunks that short-term memory is required to hand – just as the chess master worked
with patterns, not individual pieces. Notice that these two features are intimately (very
closely) related. Increased network size allows for improved transfer of an element
into long-term memory (because the element can find a place in the network).
Increased networks result in chunking, where what is worked with is not a single
element, but patterns or groups of information in a network. It is a virtuous circle (one
good thing leads to another good thing), especially when these long-term memories
are accessible to working memory.

What this makes clear is that a non-negotiable (necessary) goal of school learning
should be an expansion of long-term memory. Simply put, the more you repeat
something and the more often you retrieve it from long-term memory, the quicker and
easier the access to that memory will be next time round, and the less strain you put
on working memory. And the more these memories are chunked, then the larger the
meaning base that is activated.
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4.2 Automaticity or automatisation

Continuous practice eventually results in automaticity (automatisation). When an

action or practice becomes automatic, what has happened is that the learner does not
have to think much about how to do an action or task, as it is already known and
practised. This means that there is more space in working memory to do other things.
The learner can now focus on how to solve bigger and more difficult problems because
the basics have been mastered to the point when they become easy to do. This is why
it is important for learners to practice their multiplication tables to the point where the
answers are automatic. What is 8 times 5? 40 should come to mind immediately. The
learner should not have to spend a minute counting up the answer, he or she must get
to the point where he or she just knows the answer and can focus on a more complex
maths problem. This is a big problem in many South African classrooms where
learners have not automatised key things like multiplication and division, or the sounds
that letters make (phonics). This means that they struggle to do higher levels of work
(like fractions) and reading for meaning, because they are struggling to do the lower
level tasks.

As a student teacher you will experience something similar to what has been described
above. Initially when you go into the class as a novice teacher you will struggle to
attend to everything happening in the class because there is simply too much going
on and you still do not really know your subject very well. An expert teacher, on the
other hand, is able to teach the lesson and attend to all the emotional and managerial
issues at the same time, because much of what he or she is doing has become
automatic, freeing up working memory to attend to the many complexities of the
classroom dynamic. This is the teacher you will become.

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Automaticity in life, teaching and learning.

In the above section we found out about automaticity and how it relates to learning.
Automaticity is found throughout everyday life as well. Babies initially struggle to
walk, but once they learn how to walk it becomes automatic, and they can walk
without having to concentrate on doing it.

1. What other activities do you do in everyday life that have become automatic?
2. Why would automaticity help you as a teacher to teach?
3. What kinds of activities can be used to promote automaticity in the classroom?
4. In your opinion, why do you think automaticity is important for teachers and for
learners?

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Commentary:
The more often we practise something, the more automatic it becomes. This is very
important for cognitive load theory and how we learn, because we have a finite
amount of attention we can give to a topic or activity, so the more automatic an
activity becomes, the less attention is needed for it – and so more attention can be
given to other parts of the activity or process.

The more a teacher teaches and gains experience, the more certain processes of
teaching become automatic, like remembering learners’ names, knowing your
subject, knowing how to discipline learners. The experienced teacher does not have
to think about these things, they come automatically.

The best way to help learners develop automaticity is to get them to practise what
they are doing and use it in activities. It is very important to understand that
automaticity takes time, so the teacher must be patient and also ensure that
activities are varied so that learners do not become bored and lose motivation.

Next we look at the factors that influence learners and their participation in the learning
process.

SECTION 2: FACTORS INFLUENCING THE

LEARNER AND LEARNING

1. INTRODUCTION
In this section, we examine the factors that individual children bring to the learning and
teaching context that will influence their learning. Some factors might be internal
(biological) and others external (ecological).

Internal or biological factors are also referred to as personal factors. These have to do
with the learner’s preferred learning styles, learner motivation and interest. Factors
external to the learner are those that happen in the context where a learner lives and
makes meaning of themselves and others. These factors are often economic or social
in origin and often have a psychological effect on the learner, affecting emotions,
attitudes and motivation.

Having knowledge of the factors that influence the learner (and by implication,
learning) will enable you as a teacher to plan appropriate and authentic learning
environments that promote learners reaching their full potential. The factors, therefore,
have to be considered in the planning phase by the teacher.

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2. FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE LEARNERS

A number of factors influence the learner and his or her approach to and engagement
in the learning and teaching process. These include:

x notions of intelligence and styles of learning;

x learner motivation and interest; and
x psycho-social factors.

We discuss each below.

2.1 Intelligence and styles of learning

Traditionally, intelligence was believed to be ‘something you were born with’ which
stayed more or less constant throughout your life. With time, some recognition was
given to the role of a child’s environment in affecting their intelligence. In 1904, Alfred
Binet developed intelligence tests for the French education department which wanted
to identify children with delayed development so that they could support them. The
tests later became widely used (and sometimes abused) to categorise learners as
brilliantly clever, average or of low intelligence. These intelligence quota (IQ) scores,
of course, affected teachers’ expectations of learners. If the teacher found out that a
learner had a high IQ they would tend to give the learner better marks and expect
more of them. If the learner had a low IQ then the teacher would tend to give the
learner lower marks and tend to expect less of him or her. Such expectations have
since been shown to be a powerful factor in determining a learner’s achievement, even
if the teacher doesn’t voice those expectations.

The problem with IQ tests is that they measure only the traditional processes of
schooling – logical thinking and reasoning. While these are important for many
subjects, they cannot be the only factor that we consider when we talk about
intelligence. This challenge was first brought to the fore by Howard Gardner, a
researcher who spent about ten years researching intelligence before publishing his
theories in a book in 1983. He has since adapted and updated this model, based on
subsequent research and challenges from other researchers.

2.1.1 Forms of intelligence

Gardner proposed that, in a world that demands many different types of thinking and
achievement, we must change our understanding of what intelligence is. He used
examples of people with high IQ scores who performed very poorly in the workplace,
or who generally did not manage their lives very well. Similarly, there were cases of
people with supposedly ‘low’ intelligence succeeding in ways far beyond expectation.
He proposed a model of ‘multiple intelligences’. This model presented intelligence in
a much wider sense than before. It incorporated aspects other than logical thinking
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and reasoning. His initial model identified seven intelligences. He later added more
types of intelligences. Here is a list of nine different types of intelligence.

The table below summarises Gardner’s model (1983).

Area of intelligence Description

Linguistic Using words and language
Logical-mathematical Using logic and numbers
Spatial Using and interpreting images and space
Bodily-kinaesthetic Using body movement and control
Musical Using music, sound and rhythm
Intrapersonal Knowing oneself (self-awareness)
Interpersonal Awareness of other people’s feelings
Naturalistic Relating to nature and natural environments
Spiritual/existential Focussed on religion and big issues of existence

Based on this model, logic and reason are just one way of thinking and not a measure
of a person’s total intelligence. It was out of his model that the concept of ‘emotional
intelligence’ arose. Gardner said that people tend to be stronger (more ‘intelligent’) in
certain areas, but that their ‘weaker’ areas can be developed. This view challenged
the traditional idea of a person’s intelligence being constant throughout their life.

60 minutes
39
Read through the following list of descriptions of the different types of intelligence
Gardner found. Identify which type of intelligence goes with each description and
give reasons for your answer.

1. This intelligence is about the human ability to discriminate among living and
natural things (plants, animals) as well as sensitivity to other features of the
natural world (clouds, rock configurations). This ability was clearly of value in our
evolutionary past as hunters, gatherers and farmers; it continues to be central in
such roles as botanist or chef.

2. This intelligence is the capacity to discern pitch, rhythm, timbre and tone. This
intelligence enables us to recognize, create, reproduce and reflect on music, as
demonstrated by composers, conductors, musicians, vocalists and sensitive
listeners. Young adults with this kind of intelligence are usually singing or

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drumming to themselves. They are usually quite aware of sounds others may
miss.

3. This intelligence is the ability to calculate, quantify, consider propositions and

hypotheses and carry out complex mathematical operations. It enables us to
perceive relationships and connections and to use abstract, symbolic thought;
sequential reasoning skills; and inductive and deductive thinking patterns. This
intelligence is usually well developed in mathematicians, scientists and
detectives. Young adults with this kind of intelligence are interested in patterns,
categories and relationships. They are drawn to arithmetic problems, strategy
games and experiments.

4. This intelligence is about our sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions
about human existence, such as the meaning of life, why we die and our origins.

5. This intelligence is the ability to understand and interact effectively with others.
It involves effective verbal and nonverbal communication, the ability to note
distinctions among others, sensitivity to the moods and temperaments of others
and the ability to entertain multiple perspectives. Teachers, social workers,
actors and politicians all exhibit this intelligence. Young adults with this kind of
intelligence are leaders among their peers, are good at communicating and
seem to understand others’ feelings and motives.

6. This intelligence is the capacity to manipulate objects and use a variety of

physical skills. This intelligence also involves a sense of timing and the perfection
of skills through mind–body union. Athletes, dancers, surgeons and crafts people
exhibit this well-developed intelligence.

7. This intelligence is the ability to think in words and to use language to express
and appreciate complex meanings. This intelligence allows us to understand the
order and meaning of words and to apply meta-linguistic skills to reflect on our
use of language. This intelligence is the most widely shared human competence
and is evident in poets, novelists, journalists and effective public speakers.
Young adults with this kind of intelligence enjoy writing, reading, telling stories
or doing crossword puzzles.

8. This intelligence is the capacity to understand oneself and one’s thoughts and
feelings and to use such knowledge in planning and directing one’s life. This
intelligence involves not only an appreciation of the self, but also of the human
condition. It is evident in psychologists, spiritual leaders and philosophers. These
young adults may be shy. They are very aware of their own feelings and are self-
motivated.

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9. This intelligence is the ability to think in three dimensions. Core capacities

include mental imagery, spatial reasoning, image manipulation, graphic and
artistic skills, and an active imagination. Sailors, pilots, sculptors, painters and
architects all exhibit this intelligence. Young adults with this kind of intelligence
may be fascinated with mazes or jigsaw puzzles, or spend free time drawing or
daydreaming.

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Add notes in the column on the right side of the table to show your thinking about
how you could teach in a way that develops a specific type of intelligence.

Area of intelligence Description How to teach

Linguistic Using words and language
Logical-mathematical Use of logic and numbers
Spatial Using and interpreting images and space
Bodily-kinaesthetic Using body movement and control
Musical Using music, sound and rhythm
Intrapersonal Knowing oneself (self-awareness)
Interpersonal Awareness of other people’s feelings
Naturalistic Relating to nature and natural environments
Spiritual / existential Focussed on religion and big issues of existence

2.1.2 Critique of Gardner’s model

This critique has been adapted from Hugo (2016, pp. 96–97). When Howard Gardner’s
Frames of mind: the theory of multiple intelligences came out over thirty years ago
(1983) it was quickly picked up as a new way to teach. Teachers knew, from
experience in the classroom, that different learners do learn differently. Gardner’s
theory gave them a system to categorise these differences. Teachers could recognise
that different learners in their classrooms had different types of intelligences and so
could teach the different learners differently, according to their type of intelligence.
Many teachers have experienced the struggle of trying to get learners to understand
a particular concept, only to find that learners suddenly grasp it when they approach it
in a completely different way.

Teachers and researchers knew this long before the theory of multiple intelligences
emerged. There is no doubt that different ways of teaching a concept can have a
radical impact on understanding, and that some learners tend to grasp a concept
better when using a particular type of representation. Gardner’s theory would say that
learners start to understand the concept because the approach used matches their
particular type of intelligence profile. However, perhaps the increased understanding

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is simply because the concept has been better explained, or because they have had
a chance to look at it from more than one viewpoint.

There is a risk with teachers using multiple intelligence theory (MIT) to structure their
lessons: by trying to represent the concept in ways that best fit the intelligence profile
of the learner, the teacher can forget to represent the concept in ways that best fit the
concept. Teachers might confuse the best ways to represent a topic with different
intelligences of learners. For example, a history teacher, teaching about the Anglo
Boer War, should use maps, photographs and diaries, because this is the best way to
represent the content of the Anglo Boer War. The learning material works because it
provides good and interesting information about the war that is hard to convey with
written words. So, the success of the lesson is because the material chosen is
appropriate to the content, not necessarily because it suits particular types of
intelligence. Here is another example: When teaching learners about Hitler, a history
teacher could play recordings of some of Hitler’s speeches. Their reason might not be
to work with a particular type of intelligence – it might be because they know that an
auditory presentation best demonstrates Hitler’s hypnotic influence and the incredible
power of his speeches.

Trying out forms of learning just because they might suit the intelligence type of the
learner can be a waste of precious teaching time. What if the methods are not really
suited to the topic? For example, we might make learners construct letters out of twigs
because some learners are kinaesthetically oriented to touch. But we have excellent
research on the best ways to teach letters to children. It is surely more important to
use proven methods than to spend half a day arranging twigs into patterns because it
provides a ‘feel’ for the letters. The research on learning the alphabet does point to the
importance of using different ways, but this is based on getting all the children in the
class to experience and make meaning with the letters, not on trying to accommodate
different forms of intelligence. If we want to improve learning we must focus on what
needs to be learnt. We must think about how this can be done in deep and meaningful
ways that bring out the essence of the concept.

A problem with adopting multiple intelligence theory in classrooms is that there is a

lack of empirical evidence for separate intelligences. There are different forms of
intelligence, but they are not as separate as Gardner would have us believe. Recent
work in neuroscience and cognitive development points to a general intelligence of the
brain that carries through to all ‘forms’ of intelligence (Demetriou, Mouyi & Spanoudis,
2010). If you have a really good working memory and can process information quickly
and reflectively, you will do this in whatever way you are working – verbal, spatial,
musical or social.

Another problem is the lack of evidence for the effectiveness of using this theory in
classrooms. It can complicate and over-individualise the lesson, and make feedback
really difficult because so many different things are happening at the same time. The
teacher is so busy trying to work with different forms of intelligence that he or she can
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forget to focus on the topic at hand. This means that the content of the lesson will be
obscured.

Multiple intelligence pedagogies do sometimes work, but usually when a gifted teacher
is working in optimal conditions. This kind of teacher can make most things work. Many
South African teachers, however, are poorly trained, do not have many resources and
are still struggling to master the content they have to teach. They should not also be
trying to implement a complicated pedagogy that tries to work with different
intelligences. It is more important to keep the lessons simple, appropriate and focused.

60 minutes
41
Critically discuss whether Gardner’s theory of different forms of intelligence provides
a useful pedagogy for teachers in rural South African schools.

By “critically discuss”, we mean that you must discuss what is good and bad about
Gardner’s theory for rural classrooms in South Africa. Think about the following:
Will it work? Will it work for your context?

You have to come up with your own opinion on Gardner that either supports him
or goes against him, and you must make sure you use reasons why you support
him or think his ideas won’t work in rural South Africa.

2.2 Learner motivation and interest

It should come as no surprise to you that research shows that different learners are
motivated by different things. For some people, the satisfaction of finding out new
things or mastering new skills is motivation enough. Such Mastery: Having
motivation comes from within and is called intrinsic motivation. competent knowledge or
skill in a subject.
Success is dependent on mastery.

For others, an external reward or punishment is a far stronger motivation. This is most
commonly seen in learners who work hard for high marks which get them approval
from an authority figure or to avoid low marks which result in
Performance: How well
disapproval or punishment from that figure. In this case, the one does something.
motivator is an external factor or person, and this type of
motivation is thus called extrinsic motivation. Success is
dependent on performance.

A fear of failure is a very common, and often a very strong motivator. This can be
positive if it gets a learner to start working and then leads to increased intrinsic
motivation as the learner experiences the satisfaction of learning and develops interest
and curiosity to know more. Fear of failure can also be so
Debilitating: Makes a
strong that it has a debilitating effect on the learner. It can person weaker or less
interfere with their ability to enjoy learning and discourage deep confident.
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and meaningful learning. Sometimes a learner will simply give up. They can then use
their obvious lack of effort as a reason for their failing, rather than having to face the
possibility of a lack of ability.

Studies have also shown that learners are more motivated if they think that their
success is because of their ability and their effort. Success from effort alone is less of
a motivator than if ability is seen to play a part. Teachers can use this to inform the
way that they motivate and praise learners.

Most teachers would prefer learners’ main source of motivation to be intrinsic.

However, especially in older learners, the primary motivator is usually high marks.
Such learners may expect that it is only the teacher’s responsibility to make the work
interesting, relevant and fun, and will not make the effort to do this themselves.

Intrinsic motivation almost always leads to deeper and

more meaningful learning than extrinsic motivation. If the Authentic: Really what it claims
to be, not just appearing to be on
learner has an interest in the material, and a genuine the surface.
desire to engage with and explore it further, then
authentic learning is much more likely.

Teachers of very young learners usually find that motivation is not a major challenge.
Young children are generally interested and are excited by new discoveries and by
mastering new skills. Also, there is usually less emphasis on marks in the early years
of schooling, so this factor does not detract from the
Bureaucratic: An official
enjoyment of learning. Unfortunately, there is a recent system (in this case the
tendency, even in the Foundation Phase, to do more marks- Department of Education) using
a lot of rules, procedures and
based assessment. This is often fuelled by a need for paperwork.
bureaucratic accountability.

2.2.1 How to encourage intrinsic motivation

Because intrinsic motivation arises within the learner, we tend to think that there is
little we can do about it. Instead we offer extrinsic motivators. There are, however,
ways in which we can encourage the spark of intrinsic motivation to take hold. Here
are a few suggestions:

x Increase learner autonomy – give choices of topics or tasks, so that the learner
feels he or she has been able to choose something of interest. Give more
learner-responsibility for the task.

x Create a positive learner identity – encourage learners to see themselves in a

positive light. We discuss this further in the following sections.

x Stimulate curiosity in a natural way – show learners an interesting object, ask

a thought-provoking question, tell a fascinating story – anything which makes
them want to find out more.
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x Help learners create a mastery mind-set – expect high standards from them.
Help them to see themselves as competent and motivated people who do
things well.

x If they are still more focused on marks than anything else, then say, “If you are
passionate about leaning this material, your marks will reflect it.”

x Organise a lesson plan around solving a problem that is of interest and

relevance to learners.

x Assess in ways that reward deep learning.

A mix of extrinsic and intrinsic motivators should result in authentic learning with the
additional reward of recognition from ‘the outside’. This can create a positive cycle of
motivation.

2.2.2 Combining a growth mind-set and intrinsic motivation to develop

self-regulation

In Education Studies 1: Theories of Child Development in Context (R-EDS 111), we

explored the growth mind-set versus a fixed mind-set and how important developing
a growth mind-set is for learners. In this section, we explored external and internal
motivation and found out how important intrinsic motivation is for learners. Next, we
examine the link between developing a growth mind-set and intrinsic motivation.

Dweck (2015) did her early studies on young children. At the beginning of a session
with the children she would give them several problems to solve. All the problems were
fairly easy, and the children were mostly able to do all of them. At the end of the
session Dweck gave the children difficult problems to solve and she noticed that
children responded very differently to the challenge. Some children gave up almost
immediately and sat there, helpless, often getting angry and frustrated and asked to
be allowed to stop. Dweck (2015) called these children helpless-oriented. Other
children, who also struggled, did not give up. They were interested and engaged and
kept on trying, even though they were struggling. Dweck (2015) called these children
mastery-oriented. What was surprising about the two types of children was that both
were able to do the initial set of problems. The helpless-oriented children did not give
up because they could not do the harder problems, they gave up because they did not
like the challenge.

Dweck (2015) asked the following question: “Why do some children respond to the
problem by giving up and withdrawing and other children by getting more interested
and trying harder?” She proposed that the children that give up easily are afraid to
show others that they are not clever or capable, so when they feel like they cannot do
it, they immediately withdraw. Children who keep on struggling with the problem are
motivated to grow and learn, and so they keep going because they feel they are going
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to improve. Dweck (2015) went on to show how children who gave up easily tended
to have a fixed view of intelligence which led to them feeling that they were either able
to do the task or were not. Children who kept on struggling with the problem had a
growth view of intelligence and they felt that the more they struggled the more they
learned and the better they got.

The difference between a growth mind-set and a fixed mind-set is very similar to being
intrinsically or extrinsically motivated. Learners who are intrinsically motivated try to
do well because they take pleasure in learning. Learners who are extrinsically
motivated try to do well to gain external rewards and recognition. It is clear from
research that learners who are intrinsically motivated do better at school than learners
who are extrinsically motivated (Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier, & Ryan, 1991).

Think about a learner who is intrinsically motivated and has a growth mind-set trying
to do a difficult problem. These kinds of learners pay attention to what they are doing
and try to improve their own actions. If they are struggling then they step back for a
while and ask themselves what they can do to improve the situation. They talk to
themselves, ask themselves questions and encourage themselves, because they are
doing it for themselves and not for someone else, and because they are interested.
This ability to pay attention to yourself, to watch yourself and work with yourself is
called self-regulation. Self-regulation is the ability to look at and control your own
behaviour, emotions and thoughts and change them based on the situation you are
faced with. It means that you are able to overcome initial feelings of frustration when
you are not able to solve a problem and keep going.

It means you can keep on focusing on a problem even after a long period and you are
able to talk to yourself and identify what you are doing that is working or is not working
and then change your behaviour. As a teacher in a classroom, it should be one of your
main long-term goals to develop self-regulation in a learner. We emphasise ‘long term’
because it takes a long time and your learners will not necessarily immediately
respond. Here are some strategies you can use to develop self-regulation in your
learners (Effeney, Carroll & Bahr, 2013):

x Encourage your learners to set goals for the term.

x Help your learners decide on appropriate strategies to reach these goals. Make
sure these goals are framed in a positive rather than negative manner. Don’t
use phrases like “If you don’t do this you will fail”, rather: “keeping track of your
studies will help you to improve.”

x Help your learners to plan their time so that they take control of their own
studying.

x Help your own learners to organise their studying for tests.

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x Discuss with your learners which strategies that they are using, work and which
strategies are not working, and then make plans to change the ones which are
not working.

x Help your learners keep track of how they are studying and get them to
comment on their own learning. Encourage them to give themselves feedback
on their own performance.

60 minutes
42
Using what you have read about a growth mind-set, intrinsic motivation and self-
regulating learning, discuss what you can do as a student teacher to improve
the way you are going to learn and study for the Diploma in Grade R Teaching
qualification.

Extrinsic (external) motivation may work in the short run, but intrinsic (internal)
motivation has more value over the longer term.

30 minutes
43
Read the scenarios below before answering the questions that follow.

Scenario 1
Thabo identified and circled the triangles on his worksheet correctly. Ms
Phage pasted a sticker on his worksheet. Thabo felt very proud and decided
that he would try his best in the next activity.

Scenario 2
Sipho likes Mathematics and is always first at the Mathematics corner. He
eagerly participates in all the Mathematics activities.

Identify the type of motivation displayed in Scenarios 1 and 2 and explain why you
say so.

Commentary:
Apply your knowledge about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to answer the
questions. Do not only recall the discussion about the two types of motivations, but
incorporate information from the relevant scenario to justify the explanation.

2.3 Psycho-social factors

We have discussed several ways of supporting and encouraging learning, such as

building motivation, encouraging a growth mind-set, using cognitive load theory to
keep lessons simple and clear, developing intrinsic motivation and self-regulating

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behaviour. Unfortunately, in South Africa, many of our learners have to struggle with
varied social and economic hardships that put up massive barriers to learning,
especially when combined with poor schooling conditions.

2.3.1 Social and economic conditions

Social and economic hardship can combine with psychological factors to make a
learner feel depressed and want to give up. Learners can also have emotional barriers
to learning because of all the hardships they have faced in life. Emotional barriers can
also arise because of struggles at school. For example, studying in a language that is
not your home language often causes a learner to put up an ‘affective filter’ (emotional
barrier) which greatly reduces their ability to process information and learn deeply.
When difficult concepts are introduced in a language that is not your mother tongue,
the cognitive overload can cause learners to withdraw and disengage from the learning
process. Although there are strategies that teachers can use to lower this affective
filter, English as a Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT) remains a serious
barrier to learning in many schools.

2.3.2 Learner resilience

Even though learners might experience adverse conditions, there are many who rise
above their problems and do well at school and continue to do so in life. We call
learners who manage to succeed under tough conditions ‘resilient learners’.
‘Resilience’ means the capacity to recover from difficulties. The word can be used to
describe substances that can bend and be twisted and then bounce back to their
original shape. A ‘resilient’ person is someone who can recover well from setbacks,
show toughness, adjust and change to conditions, and be able to keep going in a
focused way. You will learn strategies for how to build resilience.

Learners who are self-motivated by intrinsic goals, who have a growth mind-set and
who self-regulate their learning show resilience. But it is important to understand that
resilience is not only a set of psychological resources that an individual has, it also has
to do with family, as well as social and community resources that support learners in
difficult conditions. You, as a teacher, will form a part of a learner’s social world and
will be able to assist them to develop a growth mind-set, intrinsic motivation and self-
regulation, while also supporting them as they struggle to survive under tough
conditions. You will be a resource for your learner and will be able to support their own
resilience.

Research studies conducted by Theron and Theron (2014) on resilient learners in

South Africa, has shown that there are three key resources that help learners cope in
tough conditions. The first is access to material resources like food, clothing,
education and employment. The second is access to constructive relationships
where there are positive connections with other people. The third is having a strong
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personal identity with a sense of purpose, believing in oneself and a sense of being
able to succeed at things.

120 minutes
44
All accounts in this activity are taken from one of your core readers, Theron and
Theron (2014), accessible at:
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=99793355&site=
ehost-live
OR:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740914003648 .

Read the following extracts from resilient students giving an account of their
experiences:
1. Classify each extract into one of the three resources (material resources,
constructive relationships, personal identity).
2. Give a reason why you chose the classification you did.

Here is an example to show you how to do it. Sometimes the student account will
be about more than one resource.

Example:

Learner account: Tebogo

The teachers organised a trip – they helped us with food and with lodging;
we contributed by having fund-raising things. We went to this place in the
bush – for about five days – and then they took us on mountain trails … that's
one of the things I'm still passionate about – hiking. Also gardening. Those
are the things that touch – lift – my heart, my soul.

Resources referred to in the account and reasons for the choice

Material resources: Tebogo refers to being helped with food and lodging and
how this helped them go away to the bush. It also shows that the teachers
were in a constructive relationship with the learners because of how the
teachers helped them.

Now complete the following:

Extract 1:
Learner account: Nomvula
My physical science teacher was also my class teacher in Grade 10. We
became very close – even now we still contact each other. I call him my dad
– the dad I never had … most of the time I was depressed … I never liked
talking about it because I never liked to trust people easily … he'd see me
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and call me and ask, “What's bothering you?” … I had this attitude of: “If I tell
you, you won't do anything about it, that's why I don't want to tell you.” But he
persisted and persisted and persisted. That's when I learnt to trust him, like
he actually cares, so let me just pour out my heart to him. That's when I
noticed that there are people who have good hearts. So we must – no matter
how hard it is – we must learn to trust other people because there are good
people out there.

Which resources does the account refer to and why do you think so?

Extract 2:
Learner account: Vusi
I don't set limits to what I can achieve. I believe I can achieve anything I want
but there's a certain amount of effort that is required. So, every time when I
fail I tell myself that I didn't put [in] the desired effort – the problem lies with
the amount of effort. In the high school where I come from, our motto is “effort
is success”.

Which resources does the account refer to and why do you think so?

Extract 3:
Learner account: Pule
After I passed my Grade 12 I didn't even know where to go. I was sitting at
home … I thought what's the use of me being happy [about passing] knowing
very well that I'm not going to go to university … I felt I'm doomed, like I'm
just gonna end here … but this one teacher came to me and said, “Let's go
to the university”. I didn't know about bursaries – we were less informed most
of us, we knew there's universities, but we never knew there were bursaries
and stuff. Then the teacher brought me to university and we spoke to the
recruitment officer. He looked at my results and he said, “What do you want
to do, because you've got good results?” … it was a bit hectic, I had to choose
– I liked accounting so I chose accounting, and he said, “That course takes
a lot of energy and you need to really study hard.” I said, “Bring it on! (laughs)
Anything … as long as I am at university, studying and building my future …”

Which resources does the account refer to and why do you think so?

Extract 4:
Learner account: Fikile
If the situation is hard, even though they don't know what exactly is going on
in your life, the teachers at school will always tell you that you don't have to
give up in life, you have to strive, to strive for success. Yeah, they will always
motivate you. Even now my old class teacher will ask how I'm doing and
where am I now. When I tell him that I'm doing my second year, he's like,
“Yeah, you're doing the right thing, you must keep going."
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Which resources does the account refer to and why do you think so?

Extract 5:
Learner account: Nomvula
There was this teacher who actually knew, like, where I came from and my
circumstances … every time I excelled, then she would be like, “Girl, you are
struggling and yet you pass, you get good grades!” And I'm like, “It's about
getting away from this place that I'm living in, that is why I do this in school”
… my mom was always sick – every time I was at school the pressure was
off; when I got back home again I had to take care of her – school was a
break. But this teacher actually saw me … when I told her that I was leaving,
she was like, “You know that school you are going to, they are going to be
very proud; they will have a good student!”

Which resources does the account refer to and why do you think so?

Extract 6:
Learner account: Naledi
Some teachers would tell you, “You know what, I grew up like this”. That's
when I realised, OK, if you have faith and believe in yourself … you can grow,
you can be whatever you want. So, their life stories helped – how they grew
up, what they did, about how varsity is and that it can change you.

Which resources does the account refer to and why do you think so?

3. CONCLUSION
It is vital for a teacher to understand and apply insights from psychology of education
to learning in the classroom. The first key insight is that teachers are working with the
full personal development of children in the classroom – not just their minds. If learners
feel that their teachers actually appreciate who they are this can have a strong impact
on a learner’s own sense of self-worth and how they relate to and interact with
knowledge and with others in the classroom.

Psychology of education does not just give insight into how to work with the building
self-concept, motivation and resilience of a learner, but also gives a teacher insight
into how learning works through understanding how the mind works. We introduced
you to the information-processing model and the way a brain functions by receiving
sensory inputs from the senses, how the brain works with a maximum of seven
elements in short-term memory and how important information is then stored in long-
term memory. This information-processing model was then used with cognitive load
theory to develop key ways to improve learning by ensuring that working memory is
not overloaded.
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We discussed the different ways learners can learn using Gardner’s multiple
intelligence theory (MIT). His theories have become very popular across the world and
many schools use MIT as a way to teach different learners in different ways, based on
having different types of intelligence. We showed that this attempt to try and teach all
learners differently based on their different types of intelligence could cause serious
problems in classrooms and actually result in less learning happening.

We explored the key issue of motivation. It does not matter how much a teacher
understands about the mind of a learner if the learner is not motivated to learn. We
distinguished between extrinsic and intrinsic forms of motivation and then showed how
a teacher can develop a learner’s self-motivation through focusing on a growth mind-
set and self-regulation of learning. A learner who self-regulates and has a growth
mind-set will tend to be a resilient learner who can negotiate hardships and change
and still manage to find ways to learn and improve. It is crucial for teachers working in
a developing context like South Africa, with all the issues of inequality and exploitation
we still face, to develop resilience in their learners, as this is a skill which a learner will
carry through into the rest of his or her life.

You, as a teacher, can make a meaningful and long-lasting impact on the future of
learners in South Africa by applying what you have learnt in this module and,
particularly, in this unit.

90 minutes
45
Think about the following ideas we have explored in this section:

Each of us has a limited short-term memory and a limited working memory,

but an unlimited long-term memory. It is as though every piece of information
that comes into our brain from the world around us has to pass through a
small door, but there is no limit to how much of the knowledge that exists in
the world can enter through that door if we keep learning.

Teachers (experts) find the concepts they teach easy to work with because
groups of information are chunked together and their brains can then work
with a large amount of information as one piece of information. However
learners (novices) have to handle each new concept as one piece of
information in working memory until it is chunked. Teachers therefore have
to introduce ideas simply and give learners enough time to integrate them.

Individuals find different things easier or more difficult to learn, and different
ways of learning easier or more difficult, but a person’s intelligence can grow
and develop with effort.

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The extent to which learners are interested in the topic and motivated to learn
can make a difference in how well they learn. It is the responsibility of the
teacher to find ways to make the topic interesting and relevant.

Reflect on these questions and make short notes or a mind map to guide your
understanding:

1. How are these ideas different from the way you understood memory, learning
and intelligence when you were in school?
2. Think of a friend in school who considered himself or herself to not be very bright
and perhaps did not finish matric or has not gone on to study further. Do you
think if the ideas listed above had been fully integrated into your teachers’
teaching that your friend might have experienced learning differently?
3. How will these ideas inform you when you have learners who appear to be bored,
unmotivated and slow or who are struggling?

In the next section, we examine aspects that, together with what you learnt in Sections
1 and 2, shape (influence) classroom practice. We unpack aspects about your role as
the creator of optimal learning opportunities and enabler of learning.

SECTION 3: CLASSROOM PRACTICE AND THE

TEACHER

1. INTRODUCTION
Each theorist you have learnt about in Unit 2 presupposes (assumes) a particular kind
of learning and teaching environment in which children optimally learn. While there are
distinctions (differences) between them, the constructivists who most influence
teaching and learning practices today agree on the kind of learning environments that
produce deep learning. They have specific ideas about how children learn best at each
stage of their development and the role of the teacher in the teaching and learning
process. Most of the theorists you have learnt about in the constructivism section of
this module agree that learners learn best when the teacher first supports them to do
things they cannot do on their own and then gradually leads the learners to being able
to do these things on their own.

2. FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN PLANNING AND

IMPLEMENTING TEACHING AND LEARNING
Next, we discuss aspects that you need to consider in creating conducive learning
environments for learning. These aspects include:

x The role of the teacher;

x Planning for learning; and
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x Creating conducive learning and teaching environments.

2.1 The role of the teacher

In the context of the teaching and learning environment, the role of the teacher is
pivotal (crucial). The constructivist theorists we have learnt about in this module, and
that have influenced how we understand pedagogy today, support the view that
children are cognising beings (thinking beings and knowledge constructors)
(Hardman, 2016) and that the role of teachers is as facilitators and mediators of
learning. We reflect on two theorists below – Dewey and Vygotsky – to highlight the
role of teachers.

For Dewey, teaching is about “creating worthwhile educational experiences. It is the

teacher’s task to create a learning environment, which will interact with the existing
capacities and needs of those taught to create a worthwhile experience” (1963, p. 45).
For him, the role of the teacher, therefore, is to create opportunities for experiences
by learners in authentic contexts, with teachers providing real problems to solve.
Learners need to actively participate in solving real problems because they are seen
as cognising beings (Hardman, 2016). As Mason (2000) states, for Dewey,
“knowledge is an instrument for action, rather than a passive reflection of given or fixed
essential phenomena” (2000, p. 14).

The role of a teacher from Dewey’s perspective is as the creator of worthwhile and
carefully structured learning environments that encourage learners to participate and
solve real-life problems. Learners must want to learn; so the teacher must create an
environment that invites, challenges and encourages learners to want to participate
and interact. The teacher is not a transmitter (giver of information) but rather a
mediator of knowledge, who creates the space for learners to explore, experiment and
find out things – with help at first and, thereafter, independently. The teacher actively
participates in learners’ explorations or investigations by posing questions, probing
and providing relevant resources (LTSMs) for learning to happen.

Vygotsky’s approach to teaching (1978) – and, by implication, to the role of the teacher
– is also based on the notion that children are knowledge constructors. Like Dewey,
Vygotsky (1978) also emphasises the importance of the experience (active
participation) of the learner in the learning process. This happens through mediation.
To Vygotsky, the purpose of mediation and the role of the teacher is “to lead the learner
to higher levels of thinking by interpreting and giving significance to things and events”
(Mason, 2000, p. 4). He proposes that mediation happens through the teacher
scaffolding activities, which involves first creating learning experiences (in the ZPD of
children) and, in the process, providing help through explanation and instruction,
interpretation, modelling, pointing out the importance of information or experiences,
carefully posing question and giving feedback (Mason, 2000).

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Clear in the above is that the role of the teacher is not to give information while learners
passively receive it. Rather, the teacher creates a learning environment where he or
she is actively supporting learners in their own learning. But what does this entail? Let
us consider TWO important aspects: teacher knowledge and teacher conduct.

2.1.1 Teacher knowledge

Understanding your role as a teacher is integrally linked to you having deep subject
content knowledge as well as sound pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman, 2004).
Regarding subject content knowledge, you must be confident and competent to teach
the subjects in the particular phases for which you are studying.

A teacher’s confidence and competence is enhanced when they have sound subject
content. This means that they need to know (1) what needs to be learnt by learners,
and (2) that the knowledge structure of each subject does not follow the same pattern.
Mathematics has a different knowledge structure to that of language or Life Skills. In
other words, teachers do not only need to know what their learners need to know, but
how the structure of that subject influences how that subject is best learnt.

Because each subject is structured differently, as a teacher you will need to know not
only the content your learners will need to learn in each of the subjects you will teach,
but also the different approaches needed to teach each subject. You will therefore
need pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman, 2004). This is “… a type of knowledge
that is unique to teachers, and is what teaching is about. It concerns the manner in
which teachers relate their pedagogical knowledge (what they know about teaching)
to their subject matter knowledge (what they know about what they teach), in the
school context, for the teaching of specific students” (Cochran, 1991, p. 4). You might
have come across teachers when you were at school who really knew their subjects
but did not know how to teach properly.

These teachers had content knowledge but did not know how to teach their subjects
(PCK). Pedagogical content knowledge, about which you will learn more in your
teaching subjects in your programme, will help you understand and know what you
need to do to be able to create appropriate learning opportunities in each subject.

Your role as a teacher also incorporates understanding how your conduct influences
your role as a teacher, which we discuss below.

2.1.2 Teacher professional conduct

Your conduct as a professional requires that you act in ways that support learners to
reach their potential. Any act that you perform as a teacher should have a meaningful
purpose or clear teaching and learning objectives. The broad teaching objectives
should mainly be to assist learners daily to move from co-dependency (doing things
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with support) to independence (doing things alone). Learning objectives are more
specific and refer to what you want learners to learn at a particular time. Planning,
which we discuss in Section 2.2 below, infers that you specify learning objectives in
your daily programme every day.

Having professional conduct as a teacher means that you are well prepared for
teaching each day, are always on time (punctual), are well organised and care about
your learners’ well-being.

Furthermore, teacher professional conduct also means understanding the demands

of the profession, which include working cooperatively with colleagues and parents
with the purpose of advancing the educational ideals of learners, not only in your class,
but in the school and community. It is important to understand that you are a part of a
larger team that is committed to making sure learners have every opportunity to learn
and to succeed in their learning. Therefore, professional teacher conduct means that
you play your part in building trust, showing respect and working cooperatively with
colleagues, parents and community members.

A professional teacher is not just a good teacher in the classroom with learners; a
professional teacher also engages effectively with school management, with parents,
with the community, and with the Department of Basic Education. Remember
Bronfenbrenner’s different levels of systems that went from Micro to Meso to Exo to
Macro (see Unit 1, paragraph 3.2). As a professional teacher you have to work across
these levels, making sure the work you do in the classroom carries outwards to the
school, the community and your country.

2.2 Planning for learning

Planning is integral to the establishment of productive and conducive learning

environments; hence the importance of the different levels of planning (yearly, per
term, weekly and daily). As Horsthemke, Siyakwazi, Walton and Wolhuter (2015)
state, “It is in planning that teachers can make careful and considered pedagogical
choices that enable learning for all of their learners” (2015, p. 493).

Planning entails three interlinked aspects: what you anticipate children to learn
(subject content), how you structure their learning (pedagogy) and how you will
determine that they have learnt what has been taught (assessment). How subject
content, pedagogy, and assessment work together will be fully discussed in the
Education Studies 3: Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment (R-EDS 223) module,
but in this section we would like to practically outline what you need to do.

Your different plans should take all three (content, pedagogy, assessment) into
consideration, showing how the content is linked to how you will teach and assess.
Put differently, knowing what to teach (content) means that you have to set learning
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objectives and plan teaching activities, and plan how you will assess that learners have
learnt and that your teaching has been effective. A fourth related aspect of teaching,
therefore, is reflection (also called feedback): looking back to assess how you have
taught and if learning has occurred.

Each is concept is explained below:

x Learning objectives: the knowledge and skills that the teacher wants learners
to demonstrate by the end of a lesson.

x Planned teaching activities: how a teacher plans to support and meet the
learning objectives (with pedagogy, resources, activities).

x Assessment: a method to determine whether learning has been effective and

whether the learning objectives have been met by the learners. It also gives
feedback to teachers to guide further learning.

x Reflection (or feedback) provides opportunities for the teacher to adjust his/her
teaching to support learner needs and further learning.

60 minutes
46
1. Explain the THREE key aspects you need to consider in planning for teaching
and learning.
2. Why is it important to set learning objectives in your daily planning?
3. What is the role of assessment in the learning process?
4. Why is assessing learners important while they are learning and not only at the
end of their learning?
5. How does reflection help you become a more competent teacher?

2.3 Creating conducive learning and teaching environments

The activities you plan for your class should take account of how children optimally
learn at each phase of their development. Theorists in this module have given us
thinking (and practical) tools to plan environments that lead to learning and
development in all facets of young children’s lives.

A conducive learning environment is safe on two levels: physical and emotional.

Physical safety includes the ability for learners to move around a space without fear
of being physically hurt. Emotional safety entails them being able to make mistakes
and take educational risks in their learning without fear of failure or punishment. It
means providing multiple opportunities for learners not only to learn content but also
develop and practise skills and competencies. Providing multiple opportunities
requires using a variety of learning activities for learning the same content and skill. In
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other words, the content and skill might remain constant, but how you plan for learning
(including activities) will change each time.

The creation of conducive learning environments in which all learners succeed

assumes that the teacher believes that all learners can and will succeed. In such a
learning environment, clear expectations and positive relationships are fostered
between teacher and learner and amongst peers.

The establishment of conducive learning environments also entails creating

opportunities through structured learning experiences to provide support to enable
learners to make choices and also to take responsibility for their own learning. When
learners take responsibility and control of their own learning they become more
motivated to learn. As learners develop, they can be encouraged to set objectives for
their own learning, to self-monitor their progress and to provide evidence to the teacher
when they think they have achieved their objectives.

Below, we discuss consolidated concepts (ideas) from the theories you have learnt
that should guide your planning and pedagogy.

2.3.1 Active learning opportunities

You have learnt that children are cognising beings; they actively construct knowledge.
Active learning involves two levels: cognitive (thinking) and actual (doing/practical).
The former assumes that learners are not passive consumers of knowledge and the
latter acknowledges that they that they learn best by doing.

Active learning also entails providing opportunities for learners to learn cooperatively
(learn with and from each other), as well as for them to work independently.
Cooperative learning assumes that children learn better with support than alone and
that more knowledgeable peers (who have already mastered the knowledge and skills)
can act as support for the less knowledgeable peers. Therefore, active learning
environments will include opportunities for mixed-ability group, as well as independent,
learning.

By taking part in cooperative group activities, learners are not only given support in
the learning process, but are also learning to cooperate with others. This means that
learners’ psychosocial (social and emotional) relations and competencies are
enhanced, thus leading to learners being more able to self-regulate.

Providing active learning environments also means bearing in mind that learners learn
best when they are challenged (operating in the ZPD) and supported. Go back to the
explanation of ZPD (Unit 2: Section 2, Paragraph 1.5 Vygotsky) to understand the
nature of challenge in the context of young children’s learning. In brief, challenge in
this instance means creating opportunities for children to participate in activities that
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show their potential rather than what they are actually already able to do. With support
or mediation (by a more knowledgeable other who can be a peer or teacher) and
scaffolding (breaking up learning into manageable bits) learners should be able to do
with others what they could not do alone. Ultimately, they should be able to move from
co-dependency (doing things with support) to independence (doing things on their
own).

Learners need opportunities to explore, investigate, and experiment in order to learn

optimally. The learning environment should allow for mistakes, time to correct
mistakes, and many opportunities to develop and enhance the same concept and skill
(competency) in different ways. Fundamental features in active learning environments
include having variety in the kinds of activities and learners having multiple
opportunities to practise developing the same concept and skill.

Different subjects require different kinds of learning (form and nature of knowledge)
and influence how you plan the learning environment. What children need to learn also
structures the learning environment. For example, learning mathematics is different to
learning science. Therefore, preparing active learning environments means taking
account of the form and nature of knowledge and how best learners will learn particular
knowledge forms.

2.3.2 Knowing learners

If teachers want to be responsive to the pedagogical needs of their learners, they need
to find ways of getting to know them (Horsthemke et al, 2015, p. 492). In this module,
we learnt that a learner’s ecological system, as well as his or her individual biological
make-up, has an influence on his or her learning. As a teacher, you will need to get to
know all your learners and gain insight into (see deeply and clearly) aspects of their
environments or their make-up that hinder their learning. Knowing your learners also
means that you recognise that all learners do not learn the same content in the same
way or at the same pace. The upshot (consequence) of this is that you cannot
approach teaching the same content in the same way for all children. You have to
differentiate, as we explain in the next section.

In order to know learners and their needs and aspects that influence their learning,
you need to set processes in motion to find out more about them. Developing individual
profiles of learners that include biological, social, emotional and psychosocial
information is one way to get to know and keep a record of learners. Such information
will help you plan conducive and supportive learning environments, in which learners
feel safe and in which learning is enhanced. Using formative and on-going assessment
is another way to monitor and plan in order to meet individual learner needs.

Knowing your learners and making them feel valued enhance their motivation.
Theorists that we have learnt about in this module point to the importance of not only
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knowing your learners but also creating positive social teacher/learner and peer-to-
peer relations inside as well as outside the classroom. Such a context serves to
motivate learners to want to engage and participate in the learning and teaching
process. We learnt that rewards and incentives promote participation and, if used
appropriately, can enhance learning. It is important that teachers reward aspects that
lead to development of the whole child.

You can use non-verbal signs to get to know your learners better: making and
maintaining eye contact, smiling and actively listening can go a long way to help you
find out what is happening in a learner’s life. Noticing a learner’s demeanour
(mood/attitude) and reading his or her non-verbal cues can give you reason to find out
more about aspects in the learner’s environment or at an individual level that might be
negatively (or positively) affecting his or her learning.

Empathy (trying to feel what another person is experiencing as though you were him
or her) is an important characteristic teachers should use in getting to know their
learners. Sometimes it helps to recall your own hardships, uncertainties and stress as
a learner and use these experiences to help you understand the experiences of the
learners in your class. Such empathic behaviour will facilitate a conducive and open
classroom environment in which learners will feel safe and free to talk without fear of
ridicule (being laughed at).

120 minutes
47
Complete the following with your peer or with your group or in your own study group:

1. Share ideas on how knowing your learners facilitates planning, teaching and
learning. Try give practical examples where, what you have learnt about your
learners, helped you design your lessons. Alternatively, think back to when you
were a learner: did you ever have a teacher that actually understood who you
were and what your own problems were, and helped you in your lessons?
Describe the teacher and what happened.
2. Develop an activity that you will use on the first day of school to get to know
your learners. Write down what you will do and the resources you will need.

2.3.3 Differentiation and differentiated learning and teaching

Differentiation means taking individual learners’ needs into account in planning and
teaching (Tomlinson, 2014). Differentiated learning and teaching means that, as a
teacher, you tailor learning opportunities to meet individual learner needs, in terms of
content (subject content), process (how to learn), products (outcome of learning) and
the learning environment.

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Such an approach to learning and teaching assumes adaptability and flexibility on the
part of the teacher. This is very hard to do. You might not be able to do this when you
start teaching, because you will be concentrating on the content, teaching, and
discipline, so, also trying to do different things for different learners at the same time
might be complex. But as you move from being a novice (beginner) teacher to an
expert teacher, you will find that you are able to use differentiation in your class, and
increasingly focus on what different learners in your class need at the same time as
teaching the whole class. The focus as you become an expert teacher is on how well
and effectively learners learn rather than on how well you teach.

Learners need teachers who not only recognise their developmental levels but also
their potential (think back to Vygotsky’s notion of ZPD). This means having teachers
who are adaptive, accommodative and flexible in their approach to teaching and
learning. They should be able to adapt their teaching and learning environments to
accommodate different learning needs and be able to change (be flexible) their
teaching when they notice that learning is not taking place. Teachers who recognise
a learner’s potential and show faith in a learner are much loved by their learners, as it
encourages learners to be the best they can be, rather than just doing the basics and
nothing more.

60 minutes
48
Write two paragraphs on differentiation and differentiated learning and teaching. In
your explanation, show how your knowledge of learners (Section 2.3.2: Knowing
Learners) enhances your understanding of the importance of differentiated learning
and teaching.

Commentary:
You should combine theory with your own practical experience (during WIL or your
own teaching) when writing the paragraphs.

2.3.4 Communication, inquiry, and reflection

Communication, inquiry and reflection are critical elements that facilitate learning
(Edens, 2000) and, therefore, are necessary in the creation of a conducive learning
and teaching environment. Learners need to communicate with the teacher and peers
in an environment where they can safely pose questions (without fear of ridicule), ask
when they don’t know something and where they are certain they will be supported to
find responses to their questions.

Dewey (in Dimova & Kamarska, 2015) advances the notion of inquiry-based learning
that promotes problem posing by the teacher. A conducive learning and teaching
environment that facilitates learning will create opportunities for learners to solve

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authentic (real) problems by exploring and inquiring (asking) in a context where they
can work individually or collectively with peers to seek solutions.

Such opportunities allow learners to learn by doing and to reflect on their learning in
their communication with the teacher or with peers. They also have opportunities to
be challenged and increasingly take responsibility for their own learning. The teacher
who uses inquiry-based learning does not just go into the classroom and force the
learners to learn the CAPS curriculum by heart. Rather, the teacher works hard at
getting the learners to think about what they are learning in an active way, to find
exciting problems to solve that make the class interesting and engaging, and enable
the learners to come away from the lesson feeling that they have learnt something
worthwhile and useful.

2.3.5 Managing learner behaviour

It is a well-known fact that managing the behaviour of learners has now become a
major problem in schools. Managing behaviour requires knowing your learners and
the reasons driving particular forms of behaviour. We learnt in Unit 1 that disruptive
behaviour is not always the result of ill-discipline, but can be the result of ecological or
biological factors that the child is experiencing. As a teacher, you need to know the
causes of individual learner behaviour so that you can plan appropriate corrective
action. It is important to have strategies to manage disruptive behaviour as well as to
reward positive and appropriate behaviour.

Managing learner behaviour requires consistency and fairness in the treatment of

learners. In other words, treat the same behaviour in similar ways, whether it is to
discipline misbehaviour or reward positive behaviour.

Establish daily routines that ensure learners know what is expected from them and
what is acceptable in the learning and teaching environment. Routines have the added
advantage of making learners feel safe to engage in the space, knowing what is
expected and acceptable.

Develop rules of engagement in the learning and teaching environment. Rules can
be established with learners, leading to them to not only take ownership, but also bear
the consequences (positive or negative) of their actions. They should know what will
happen when they adhere (follow) to rules and what will happen if they ‘break’ rules.

2.3.6 Assessment of and for learning

Assessment (and, by implication, monitoring learner progress) is an integral part of

teaching and learning. Assessment of learning entails a process of understanding
what learners know and can do as well as monitoring how they are learning new
knowledge. Assessment for learning, on the other hand, focuses on how a teacher
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uses the former (assessment of learners) to better plan appropriate learning

experiences.

Assessment for learning is helpful because it creates the opportunity for teacher
reflection and self-assessment. The teacher must find strategies, opportunities and
instruments for self- and peer assessment so as to improve teaching and achieve
optimal learning.

Teachers need to consider how to give feedback to learners on their progress.

Feedback should acknowledge areas of competence and identify areas for
improvement. This will help the teacher to give support for further learning.

Assessment criteria can only be specific if the learning objectives of a subject are
specific and clear. The teacher must formulate the objectives of each lesson as part
of the planning. Feedback to learners concerning their performance should relate to
the specific criteria.

Successful teaching cannot take place without assessment and monitoring. Through
assessment and monitoring the teacher is able to identify what and how children are
learning and the success of his or her teaching/facilitation/mediation.

The following are some of the important objectives of assessment:

x The teacher assesses his/her learners to establish the effectiveness of teaching

and learning.
x The teacher gets feedback on how well the learners are learning to improve
and develop both content and delivery of the specific subject.
x Through assessment and monitoring the teacher will be able to plan and
provide relevant support and development of learning and teaching support
material (LTSM).
x The teacher is able to provide information concerning the academic record of
learners to the Department of Education.
x Assessment and monitoring provide a baseline for teachers to help identify
learner needs, strengths and weaknesses.
x Assessment ensures continuity across the curriculum and classes and enables
teachers to build on previous work and progress.
x Assessment and monitoring enable the teacher to give regular detailed and
comprehensive information on learner performance and progress to parents.
x Formal and informal assessment will be used to adapt where necessary
learning and teaching strategies.

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2.3.7 Resourcing active learning environments

Learning and teaching support material (LTSM) refers to all the equipment, materials
and apparatus you use to convey learning content to your learners. Using LTSM, you
invite learners to actively participate in the teaching-learning process. You also help
your learners to understand learning content better and add interest to the teaching-
learning. The LTSM needed depends on the grade you are teaching and the different
subjects. Each subject you teach requires careful thinking of the kinds of LSTMs
appropriate for learning different aspects of the subject.

120 minutes
49
Summarise the aspects of creating a productive and conducive learning and
teaching environment in a mind map. Here is an example of a mind map.

(Alison.com, n.d.)

Include at least TWO important factors for each aspect in your mind map.

Commentary:
A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked
to and arranged around a central key word or idea.

60 minutes
50
Take your mind map to the next academic student support session or to your own
study group. Compare and discuss your mind map with a peer.

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3. SUMMARY
This is the end of Section 2 and the end of the module. This section showed how
theory translates into classroom practice. Did you notice that many of the constructivist
ideals (perspectives/ideas) were used in this section? This is because these are the
latest ideas based on research by theorists and researchers that show how children
learn best. This does not mean that behaviourist theories do not have a place. Rather,
it shows that children need interactive environments that presuppose they are
constructors of knowledge and that they actively engage in their environment to make
meaning and, in so doing, learn.

Complete the next activity to reflect on what you have learnt so far.

180 minutes
51
1. Distinguish between intrinsic (internal) and extrinsic (external) motivation. Give
practical classroom examples of each.
2. Fatigue and boredom are examples of personal factors that influence the
process of learning. Use practical examples from your class to explain the
difference between fatigue and boredom. Also indicate how you addressed
these challenges.
3. In your own words, describe the role of a teacher. Say what this means for the
phase you will teach. Will there be changes to your role for each grade? Explain
your answer.
4. Carefully read the following scenario about learner motivation before answering
the question that follows.

Ms Thali is a very passionate teacher who loves her learners. At the

beginning of each year, she always does the following:

Ms Thali uses name cards to help her to memorise her learners’ names within
a day or two. Early in the year, she visits her learners’ parents or guardians
to familiarise herself with their circumstances at home. She believes this will
give her a better understanding of her learners’ behaviour. She also ensures
that her learners know what is expected from them and what is allowed and
what is not allowed.

Ms Thali strives towards giving individual attention to each learner. She chats
with learners whenever she meets them outside. She finds out how they are
and makes time to attend to them. When communicating with them, Ms Thali
makes eye contact. She listens attentively and nods her head to show that
she takes note when they talk to her. When individual learners do not

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understand the lesson, she gives them different work to do that helps them
understand.

The table below shows ways in which a teacher can improve learners’ motivation.
Select examples from the scenario as evidence of how Ms Thali implemented each
method of motivation.

Copy the table below and write your selected evidence next to the method of
motivation.

Way of motivation Evidence from scenario

5. Write a paragraph on each of the following factors that affect a learner’s learning:
5.1 Emotions
5.2 Aptitude
6. Choose THREE aspects you need to consider in creating conducive learning
environments in your class irrespective of the grade.
x Explain each in your own words.
x Say how each will influence your planning.

You have come to the end of this module. We hope that this module empowered you
to develop a personal theory of teaching and learning using the knowledge and skills
you have gained from this module. In developing your personal theory you should be
able to show your understanding of how learning and teaching theories influence what
you do in your classroom. You should now be ready to implement what you have learnt
in the classroom – implementation of what you have learnt is the ultimate goal of this
module.

Now that you are at the end of Unit 3, reflect on what you have learnt so far and
complete the self-assessment activity.

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60 minutes
52
Self-assessment activity: Unit 3

If your answer is UNSURE or NO on any of the criteria, go back to the relevant

section to study it again.

Now that I have worked through this unit, I YES UNSURE NO

can:
Discuss and explain a model of thinking
processes and learning.

Explain cognitive load theory.

Discuss learning and types of memory.

Summarise factors internal and external to the
learner that influence him or her and learning.
Explain forms of intelligence and styles of
learning.
Illustrate factors you as a teacher have to
consider in planning and implementing teaching
and learning in the classroom.
Discuss the importance of the different types of
teacher knowledge.
Adhere to and apply professional teacher
conduct.
Create a conducive learning and teaching
environment.

4. CONCLUSION
This is the end of this unit and of the Education Studies 2: Theories of Teaching and
Learning in Context (R-EDS 122) module. We trust that you will use the knowledge
that you have acquired from this module to get you started on your way to becoming
a responsive and effective teacher who will create engaging environments that will
promote meaningful and deep learning. In the next module in the series, Education
Studies 3: Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment (R-EDS 223), you will learn more
about the connection between these three important elements in the classroom.

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ADDENDUM A: SANTS LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

SANTS Private Higher Education Institution

GRADE R LESSON PLANNING FORM
NAME: STUDENT NO.

1. SUBJECT e.g. English HL 2. KNOWLEDGE/CONTENT AREA e.g. Phonics

1.2 DATE 3. THEME e.g. Healthy living, My body etc.

y y y y m m d d
2 0 - -
4. TYPE of LESSON / LESSON FOCUS
e.g. Outdoor lesson, group work, class work etc.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS LESSON PLANNING TEMPLATE IS AVAILABLE IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT ON
MySANTS
5. NCS AIMS/General aims (tick boxes)
Learners are able to:
‰ Identify and solve problems and make decisions using critical and creative thinking.
‰ Work effectively with others as members of a team, group, organisation and community.
‰ Organise and manage themselves and their activities responsibly and effectively.
‰ Collect, analyse, organise and critically evaluate information.
‰ Communicate effectively using visual, symbolic and/or language skills in various modes.
‰ Use science and technology effectively and critically showing responsibility towards the environment and
the health of others.
‰ Demonstrate an understanding of the world as a set of related systems by recognising that problem-
solving contexts do not exist in isolation.
x
6. SUMMARY OF THE CONTENT TO COVER IN THIS LESSON
(Briefly summarise the content that you will be presenting in this lesson.)

7. LESSON OBJECTIVE(S):
7.1 PRE-KNOWLEDGE
(Write down learners’ existing knowledge, skills and values.)
At the start of this lesson the learners should already know… and can do…

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7.2 CONCEPTS and NEW KNOWLEDGE

(Write down the new knowledge, skills and values that you are going to teach taking INTEGRATION into consideration.)

Language: English (HL/FAL) Mathematics Life Skills

7.3 LESSON OBJECTIVES

(In your own words, write the lesson objectives based on the general and specific aims from CAPS.)
By the end of the lesson the learners should be able to…

7.4 FUTURE LEARNING

(Briefly describe what the learners will learn in the lesson that follows this one)

7.5 DIFFERENTIATION
(Briefly describe how you will present this lesson taking the following aspects into consideration)

Learner support Enrichment activities Concerns

(Indicate what measures are in place for (Indicate what measures are in place for (e.g. Loadshedding – won’t be able to
learners who grasped concepts quickly. learners who struggle to grasp the listen to audio book. Will have to read
How will you challenge them and keep concepts. How will you support them and story instead, using instruments for
them from getting bored?) keep them from getting negative and sound effects.)
frustrated?)

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8. LESSON PHASES:
8.1 INTRODUCTION OF THE LESSON
(Give a detailed description of how you plan to begin your lesson by explaining: you will greet the 8.1.1 Time allocated:
learners, set the atmosphere for the lesson, awaken the learners’ prior knowledge, and create a link
between what they already know to the new knowledge that you will be presenting. Also explain how
the THEME you selected in 3 above will help you do this.):
8.1.2 LTSM:
(Describe the resources and media
you will be using in the introduction
phase of the lesson)

8.2 DEVELOPMENT – PRESENTING THE NEW KNOWLEDGE 8.2.1 Time allocated:

(Give a detailed description of WHAT content you will be presenting (selected in 7.2), HOW you will
present it, and WHAT ACTIVITIES THE LEARNERS WILL BE DOING.):
8.2.2 LTSM:
(Describe the resources and media
you will be using in the development
phase of the lesson)

8.3 CONSOLIDATION 8.3.1 Time allocated:

(Give a detailed description of how you plan to end the lesson by explaining how you will consolidate
the new knowledge, incorporate assessment of the objectives and wrap up. If applicable, mention
here any HOMEWORK/FUNWORK that you will give the learners.): 8.3.2 LTSM:
(Describe the resources and media
you will be using in the consolidation
phase of the lesson)

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9. ASSESSMENT
At the end of the lesson, I will assess whether the learners have achieved the objectives in the following ways (tick the appropriate
blocks):

9.1 FORMS OF ASSESSMENT:

Written work (drawings, painting etc.)

Demonstrations (performing actions, experiments etc.)
Performances (answers questions, making a speech, presenting a poem, reading aloud, role play, dialogue)
Models (artwork, constructions, collages etc.)

Assessment strategy Assessor Assessment instrument

Observation Teacher Checklist
Listening Self Assessment scale
Reading Peer Analytical rubric
Interpreting Holistic rubric
Reviewing
Questioning
Writing

10. REFLECTION
Briefly reflect on your lesson by discussing its strengths (what went well), its weaknesses (what did not work), what did you find challenging,
if the lesson objectives were met and what would you improve if you had to teach this lesson again. Use the following questions to guide your
reflection:

x Describe aspects of your lesson that worked really well.

x Which areas of your lesson did not go according to plan? Explain why you think this may have happened.
x Look again at your lesson objectives. Did you meet them? Why/why not?
x What did you learn about the learners in your class today?
x What was your most challenging moment in this lesson and why? How will you respond next time?
x To what extent were the learners productively engaged in the learning process? Discuss.
x If you had the opportunity to teach this lesson again to this same group of learners, what would you do differently? Why?
x What evidence/ feedback do you have that the learners achieved an understanding of the lesson objective(s)?

11. REFERENCE LIST

(List all the text books, workbooks, documents such as the CAPS document, websites etc. that you used to prepare this lesson.)

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