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Journal of Curriculum Studies Research
Number of Followers: 2  Open Access journalISSN (Online) 2690-2788 Published by Open Science Publishers LLP  [1 journal]
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- Creating Sustainable Learning Environments in the Era of the Posthuman:
Towards Borderless Curriculum
Authors: Bekithemba Dube, Sechaba Mahlomaholo, Wendy Setlalentoa, Bulent Tarman
Abstract: This editorial is a culmination of various research on the area of posthuman theorization as applied to the field of education. It also focused on the need for borderless curriculum to circumvent global challenges such as genocide, terrorism among other things. It details the rationale of adopting a post human and borderless curriculum to respond to the ambivalence brought by the corona virus. The special issue gives alternatives which emerged during the pandemic and arms educators and learners with new models of learning that will ensure education system is not disrupted on the even another pandemic emerges. The argument of the special issue is that within the auspices of posthuman and borderless curriculum something else, and new is possible through working and thinking together.
PubDate: 2023-03-14
DOI: 10.46303/jcsr.2023.1
Issue No: Vol. 5, No. 1 (2023)
- Analysis of connectivism as a tool for posthuman university classrooms
Authors: Bunmi Isaiah Omodan
Pages: 1 - 12
Abstract: In the posthuman era, teaching and learning through technologies are becoming increasingly important, most especially in the university system. Connectivism, a theory of learning that emphasises the importance of connections between people and information, is one of the most influential educational philosophies driving today’s educational dynamism. In a posthuman world, where technology is constantly evolving and becoming more sophisticated, connectivism is argued to provide a framework for understanding how students learn and how can technology be used to facilitate learning. This study argues that connectivism is one of the ways in which classroom stakeholders can be made to prepare for the posthuman era. The study is located within the transformative paradigm to enable the researcher to tailor the argument toward transforming the university classrooms towards developing a new way of thinking about society's present social boundaries by pursuing truth within a postmodern framework. In the same vein, conceptual analysis was adopted to make sense of the argument since it helps to interoperate and dismantle complex and ambiguous concepts toward meaning-making. The analysis begins by presenting connectivism and its potential assumptions. The assumptions were juxtaposed with the posthuman agenda by arguing the relationship between posthumanism and connectivism and lastly, how it prepares classroom stakeholders for building students’ capacity ahead of the emerging interaction between human (students) and non-human (technologies). The study concludes that connectivism viewpoint is one of the unavoidable philosophies of the future.
PubDate: 2023-03-14
DOI: 10.46303/jcsr.2023.2
Issue No: Vol. 5, No. 1 (2023)
- Student Teachers’ Experiences of Open Distance e-Learning Support in a
Posthuman Era: A Learner Engagement Perspective
Authors: Siyabonga Alfa Zwane, Patience Kelebogile Mudau
Pages: 13 - 33
Abstract: Online learning uses information and communication technologies which rely on reliable connectivity. While this is a giant step to widen access in South African education as shown by a number of studies conducted already regarding online learning, less focus has been paid on rural students which are under-resourced. They are presumed to have access and support to online learning and assistive ICTs that make online learning possible. Therefore, the focus for this study was on KwaZulu-Natal rural student teachers’ experiences of open distance e-learning in a posthuman era. The study focused on students’ experiences regarding online support tools like discussion forum and others as tools for student engagement and support on myUnisa platform. The problem was investigated using a descriptive qualitative case study, which used individual interviews. The study involved fifteen UNISA student teachers from KZN and the findings revealed that, notwithstanding the countless challenges, students were very passionate about the use of online learning in open distance e-learning and they showed a desire to engage more using different types of devices and platforms as they learn through social media and also showed that learning resides in technological appliances they use(posthumanism), hence the study’s conclusion and implications stress that the distance between the student and the institution, student and lecturer and student and other students can be mediated and reduced through proper student support services such as provision of gadgets for internet connection, proper telecommunications infrastructure, ICT workshops and training for all students and in posthumanism terms, formal integration of social networks in learning in light of the finding that learning is non-linear and resides in technological devices used to connect students.
PubDate: 2023-03-14
DOI: 10.46303/jcsr.2023.3
Issue No: Vol. 5, No. 1 (2023)
- Borderless Curriculum in the Post-Human Era: Reflections on the United
Authors: Bekithemba Dube, Elizabeth Campbell
Pages: 34 - 43
Abstract: This paper interrogates the opportunities and challenges of a borderless curriculum as the alternative to reimagine a better future premised on initial teacher education. The paper comes against the background that curriculum projects remain nationalised, depriving learners and educators of an opportunity to learn from the best educational practices outside their borders. The paper is located in posthumanism, where a borderless curriculum through technology can be positioned to respond positively to human tragedies such as war, systematic racism, human trafficking and conflict. Borderless curriculum involves unlearning in order to learn by harvesting best practices across borders to reimagine a comprehensive initial teacher education that addresses the lived realities of the learners globally. The paper argues that the posthuman era provides a platform for nations to share knowledge in the virtual and blended space to deconstruct prejudices while evoking living and working together across curriculum and spaces to improve initial teacher education.
PubDate: 2023-03-14
DOI: 10.46303/jcsr.2023.4
Issue No: Vol. 5, No. 1 (2023)
- Primary Preservice Science Teachers’ Perceptions of Practical Work in
Remote Learning Environments
Authors: Maria Tsakeni
Pages: 44 - 62
Abstract: Science practical work is renowned for providing authentic environments for science learning in ways that reduce the abstractness of concepts. Significant resources are used to provide facilities such as laboratories to ensure that practical work is implemented in science learning. Practical work is important for primary preservice science teachers, who in turn will implement the instructional strategy in their future classrooms. The rise in remote learning has prompted researchers and instructors to reimagine ways of facilitating practical work in ways that involve human-machine interactions in significant ways. This study used an interpretive paradigm and an explorative single-case-study design to explore primary preservice science teachers’ perceptions of conducting practical work in remote learning environments. A framework based on the Internet of Things- (IoT) enabled tools was used to mediate the understanding of the study findings. Data were collected from 25 preservice teachers by means of experiment reports and observation of practical work activities. The findings of the study showed that in the absence of proper systems for conducting practical work remotely and limited internet connectivity, the participating preservice teachers used internet searches to inform them of how to conduct experiments using household materials. The experiment reports comprised experiment demonstrations developed through the use of filmmaking applications, cloud computing tools, and social media collaborations. The paper makes recommendations to expand preservice teachers’ technological competencies to include the use of virtual laboratories to conduct practical work in remote learning environments.
PubDate: 2023-03-14
DOI: 10.46303/jcsr.2023.5
Issue No: Vol. 5, No. 1 (2023)
- Perceptions of Academic Resilience by Senior Phase Learners and Teachers
from Low Socioeconomic Schools
Authors: Motlalepule Ruth Mampane
Pages: 63 - 81
Abstract: This article reports on the perceptions of academic resilience of Grade 8 and Grade 9 learners and their teachers in low socioeconomic township schools. Learners from township schools experience many risk factors that can impede their academic success and careers. A lack of resources is one of the risk factors experienced by the learners. During COVID-19, where an online or hybrid learning model was relied on for teaching and learning, most township schools relied on the rotational learning model instead. The study’s main aim is to evaluate and understand the learners’ perceptions of their academic strengths, future aspirations and motivation, and to compare their perceptions with those that emerged from their teachers’ blind evaluations. The participants were teachers (n = 8) and learners (n = 12) from two purposively sampled township secondary schools. Data-generation instruments included semi-structured interviews for learners and a self-constructed Likert-type-scale questionnaire for teachers. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings suggest that risk factors to academic resilience exist within the family and the school environment. Lack of parental support and school security, poor teacher-learner relationship and unemployment were frequently mentioned. However, factors that can enhance academic resilience were also identified within the family, school and community. Risks and protective factors affecting learners’ immediate threats and needs were identified. Access to technology and the need for technological advances were not identified as resources or risks. Future research should examine the relationship between resilience, academic resilience, career aspirations and the role of technology in education.
PubDate: 2023-03-14
DOI: 10.46303/jcsr.2023.6
Issue No: Vol. 5, No. 1 (2023)
- Renewal in Educational Spaces as a Relational Aspect: Making Way for a New
Culture of Reasoning Innovation and Sustainability
Authors: Pulane Adelaide Molomo
Pages: 82 - 94
Abstract: Educational spaces have long been situated in repressive, non-relational and detached conditions that have been damaging to the geopolitical, socio-economic, and environmental balance. The paper reports on the effectiveness of educational spaces when characterised by an ethical relationship between human and nonhuman elements as a collaborative measure to solve earthly problems. The purpose was to highlight the role of education in producing innovative, honest, and critical thinkers who can apply knowledge to navigate relational intricacies. Qualitative data was generated from literature and a purposively sampled respondent group of eight lecturers and twelve students in a South African university, using interviews and focus group discussions. Data was categorised and analysed into themes. It was found that a pedagogical encounter which enabled students to engage in activities that deepened their knowledge of how the world works in totality gave them opportunities to understand the balancing effect of relational aspects when solving problems. This study proposes a renewal in thinking about other beings and things in educational spaces toward understanding the relational interaction brought by scientific and technological advancements that impact on human and nonhuman agents. The implication is that the world needs people to become innovators, think holistically and build a synergy between things and humanity. The study proposes that educational spaces should develop consciousness and ethical behaviour to sustain the relationship between human and nonhuman agents, which has implications for innovation and new practices that will sustain the world.
PubDate: 2023-03-14
DOI: 10.46303/jcsr.2023.7
Issue No: Vol. 5, No. 1 (2023)
- Teachers’ Perceptions of Integrating Technology in Rural Primary Schools
to Enhance the Teaching of English First Additional Language
Authors: Margaret Malewaneng Maja
Pages: 95 - 112
Abstract: Teachers’ perceptions of integrating technology in rural primary schools play a substantial role in the Intermediate Phase (grades 4 to 6) in enhancing the teaching of English first additional language (EFAL). However, in a country such as South Africa, teachers experience barriers such as time constraints, load shedding, a lack of facilities, a lack of digital skills and an internet connection which challenges the incorporation of technology in language lessons in this posthumanism era. This study explored teachers’ perceptions of integrating technology in EFAL classes in rural primary schools in Limpopo, South Africa. There are several studies on how teachers feel about using technology in secondary schools and higher education, but only a few have concentrated on rural primary schools specifically the Intermediate Phase. Therefore, this area deserves further investigation to add to empirical data. An interpretivist paradigm guided this study informed by the technology acceptance model (TAM). An exploratory qualitative case study used semi-structured interviews for data gathering. Ten Intermediate Phase EFAL teachers were selected with the help of purposeful sampling. Using thematic analysis, the obtained data were categorized into codes and themes. It was found that teachers are willing to use technology to teach EFAL as it has revolutionized their teaching and appreciated its productivity in their teaching activities. It is advised that EFAL teachers receive additional in-service training on integrating technology into EFAL teaching. The acquired skills from the training may assist in time management and how to cope working with limited resources.
PubDate: 2023-03-14
DOI: 10.46303/jcsr.2023.8
Issue No: Vol. 5, No. 1 (2023)
- Pre-Service Science Teachers’ Preparedness for Classroom Teaching:
Exploring Aspects of Self-Efficacy and Pedagogical Content Knowledge for
Sustainable Learning Environments
Authors: Motshidisi Anna Lekhu
Pages: 113 - 129
Abstract: The technological reconfiguration of humanity and advancement requires initial teacher training (ITE) programs that create and enhance sustainable learning environments (SLEs) where teachers are prepared to embrace posthuman pedagogy to teach confidently. This case study aims to examine pre-service science teachers’ level of preparedness and teaching efficacy beliefs to teach in SLEs. The study findings revealed that teaching science requires content knowledge and an understanding of how to teach the content. Furthermore, education programs need to be responsive to the socio-economic demands and produce 21st-century-ready graduates. The participants’ teaching philosophy aims to promote SLEs where quality teaching will be prioritized. Without proper training, support and resources, this aspiration will remain a mirage. Maintaining responsive classrooms will thus be a challenge that continues to be an albatross to social change. This study has some implications for ITE programs, impacting the school curriculum and educational transformation.
PubDate: 2023-03-14
DOI: 10.46303/jcsr.2023.9
Issue No: Vol. 5, No. 1 (2023)
- Enhancing Self-Efficacy of Beginner Teachers in the Use of E-Portfolio:
The Role of a Mentor Teacher
Authors: Mahlape Victoria Mokone, Wendy Setlalentoa
Pages: 130 - 140
Abstract: The term “beginning teacher” describes those individuals who have less than one to three post qualification years in a teaching profession and or individuals who are entering the teaching profession directly from university. A need exists for a beginner teacher in their first year of teaching to have a mentor teacher that will assist them to improve their self-efficacy so that they can be able to achieve quality teaching and learning in any learning environment. Recent studies have shown that there is growing concern with beginner teachers’ self-efficacy on how to deal with and manage the realities of teaching in modern classrooms. A mentor teacher is a teacher who has a wealth of knowledge, learned from experience and is willing to share. The aim of this study was to investigate how the use of e-portfolio may enhance beginner teacher’s self-efficacy with support from their mentor teachers. The beginner teachers are faced with challenges in their first years of teaching; hence they need mentoring, support to improve their self-efficacy. An e-portfolio might be a means which can assist in monitoring and evaluating the professional activity of the beginner teachers, their achievements and develop them. E-portfolio provides openness and transparency when mentoring the teachers. Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions with fifty-six (56) randomly selected Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) students at a university of technology and thematic analysis was employed. Findings of this study indicated that beginner teachers needed guidance and support from their mentor teachers for beginner teachers to transform and build their self- efficacy positively and improve in their use of e-portfolio. The study recommends that induction support be used as an approach to improve novice teachers’ teaching performance and self- efficacy in the use of e-portfolio.
PubDate: 2023-03-14
DOI: 10.46303/jcsr.2023.10
Issue No: Vol. 5, No. 1 (2023)
- What Do Bachelor of Indigenous Knowledge Systems Graduates Say About Their
Curriculum' A Qualitative Tracer Study at the University of Venda
Authors: Nyadzani Dolphus Nevhudoli, Vhonani Olive Netshandama
Pages: 141 - 158
Abstract: The main purpose of any degree, in any institution of higher learning is to create graduates with competent knowledge and abilities to deal with vital challenges that affect the country; any deviations to this purpose requires a review and rethinking of the whole system, such as a curriculum transformation. Grounded in a critical post humanist paradigm, qualitative reflective semi-structured interviews were held with 12 graduates to ascertain their experiences with the Bachelor of Indigenous Knowledge System (BIKS) programme delivery and content during their 4 years stay at the University of Venda. Responses from graduates indicated that BIKS’s strength depend within its multidisciplinary method. It also exposed the graduates to the work environment through integrated learning program, although, there were also sentiments that such exposure was insufficient and at times irrelevant. The experience of the students provided insights into what could be the focus of the revision of the curriculum to ensure global citizenship competencies, employability and or entrepreneurial acumen amongst graduates. One of the challenges of IKS, that the students drew attention to, was a lack of the curriculum’s capacity to beneficiate, as its focus was not sufficiently business oriented. Work-based learning and other forms of exposure might have to be revamped to enhance entrepreneurial skills and to ensure that students learn how to create thriving IKS inspired businesses to create employment opportunities amongst others.
PubDate: 2023-03-14
DOI: 10.46303/jcsr.2023.11
Issue No: Vol. 5, No. 1 (2023)
- Curriculum enablement and posthumanism: Pathways for creating and
implementing a community development curriculum
Authors: Grey Magaiza, Shadreck Muchaku
Pages: 159 - 170
Abstract: This article argues that the application of transcendent disciplinarism as a lens for critical inquiry and curriculum enablement is urgent in a posthuman era. The paper asserts that a curriculum must be responsive to societal needs by providing students with a "toolbox" for developing functional and productive societies. The community development degree is pedagogically premised on utilising multiple disciplinary synergies primed for analytically and practically improving the human condition. The article uses critical terms in posthumanism, such as relationality, resilience, and sustainable communities, to evoke a return to the local by analysing the creation and implementation of a responsive community development curriculum. Through pedagogical approaches that infuse collaborative and cooperative learning with active learning strategies, we argue that the community development curriculum should be structured to enhance the capabilities of students to assist communities in adapting and transcending to transformation. This paper followed a systematic literature review of journal articles extracted from SCOPUS, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and EBSCOhost electronic databases. A final sample of twenty-four articles was reviewed, analysed, and presented using ATLAS.ti flow chart diagrams. The study's findings revealed that posthumanism-inspired transformation normatively conceives the earth as a connected entity and places as entangled and interconnected. The article further interrogates how the posthuman approach can be used to create and implement pathways for curriculum enablement.
PubDate: 2023-03-14
DOI: 10.46303/jcsr.2023.12
Issue No: Vol. 5, No. 1 (2023)
- Early Childhood in the Era of Post-humanism: Lending an Ear to Nature
Authors: Eurika Jansen van Vuuren
Pages: 171 - 180
Abstract: Parents, or pre-school educators in early childhood education, focus on assisting children to attain the highest possible pre-numeracy and pre-literacy skills in an attempt to give children a better academic foundation. Children are presented with technology, for example, in the form of a tablet, that act as baby-sitters even before they can speak properly, and this has largely deafened them to the sounds of nature. Sounds of man and machine are the only ones most children will be exposed to, due to their living in cities with few natural spaces. Children are not taken into nature to experience it and get to know the sounds of the bio-network, of which they are an integral part. Rural children may have a better chance to get to know, respect and cherish nature, due to their context, but their guides - parents and/or communities - have sunken into their own disregard for their environment. It is only when children are taught to listen to and appreciate nature that they will be enabled to begin moving back to being ‘mensch’ where the focus, ironically, moves away from the human and focuses instead on creating an equilibrium between humanity and nature, rather than stripping the planet of its natural resources through harmful practices. This empirical research explored the literature to highlight the significance of listening as a mode of developing an appreciation of and caring for nature. Attuning children of the post-humanist era to their natural environment through listening will encourage them to understand their function as part of nature, and assist in the restoration of the planet.
PubDate: 2023-03-14
DOI: 10.46303/jcsr.2023.13
Issue No: Vol. 5, No. 1 (2023)
- A Reflection on Implementation of Posthumanist Pedagogy in Polytechnics in
Zimbabwe during COVID-19 Era
Authors: Richard Nyika, Alfred Modise Motalenyane
Pages: 181 - 192
Abstract: The COVID-19-induced lockdown resulted in the closure of learning institutions and subsequent intermittent college attendance as a way of preventing the spread of the virus. In Zimbabwe, the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation Science, and Technology Development instructed tertiary institutions to adopt online learning in addition to face-to-face learning as a way of ensuring that learning continued during COVID-19 restrictions. There was a shift from exclusively humanist education, where humans have been believed to be the only agents in the teaching and learning process, to posthumanist education, where technology was used as a tool for learning. This study explored the organisational preparedness of TVET institutions to take on board posthuman pedagogy when online learning was blended with face-to-face learning. This was a qualitative study that used observations and in-depth interviews to collect data on the institutional preparedness of two randomly sampled TVET institutions to embrace posthumanist education. Ten randomly sampled lecturers were interviewed to elicit their views and experiences of implementing blended learning, which is largely ingrained in posthuman pedagogy. An observation was made on the suitability of technological infrastructure to support blended learning. Ten randomly selected students from each institution participated in focus group discussions to elicit the organisational preparedness of institutions for blended learning. Results showed that the institutions were not ready for blended learning. Lecturers and students were not equipped or skilled to use online technologies. The infrastructure to drive online learning was inadequate. Inadequacies in the internet infrastructure affected their understanding and acceptance of online learning.
PubDate: 2023-03-14
DOI: 10.46303/jcsr.2023.14
Issue No: Vol. 5, No. 1 (2023)
