University-school partnerships for social justice in mathematics and science education: the case of the SMILES project at IMSTUS
My purpose in this paper is to situate a university-school mathematics and science education partnership within a social justice perspective in education. The focus of the systemic intervention endeavour was school-based teacher professional development in which university-based facilitators embarke...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Education Association of South Africa
2011-01-01
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| Series: | South African Journal of Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-01002011000300013 |
| _version_ | 1818276796444966912 |
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| author | Mdutshekelwa C Ndlovu |
| author_facet | Mdutshekelwa C Ndlovu |
| author_sort | Mdutshekelwa C Ndlovu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | My purpose in this paper is to situate a university-school mathematics and science education partnership within a social justice perspective in education. The focus of the systemic intervention endeavour was school-based teacher professional development in which university-based facilitators embarked on class visits with the aim of identifying teacher needs, co-teaching and offering professional support over a three-year period. This was in contrast to evaluation (inspection visits) often undertaken by the subject advisors under the auspices of the Department of Education which, for historical reasons, tend to be viewed with suspicion by teachers and teacher unions. Five historically disadvantaged secondary schools and their 10 feeder primary schools were involved in this study with a view to providing equal opportunities to learners from marginalized communities in the Cape Winelands district of the Western Cape. Initial results suggest that an intervention programme that is responsive to local needs can go a long way in bringing about collaborative teacher professional development that leads to reflective practice in professional learning communities and can add value to the quality of student achievement in the gateway subjects of mathematics and science. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T22:51:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-360f55cca70d489f913ba80a12695833 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0256-0100 2076-3433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T22:51:20Z |
| publishDate | 2011-01-01 |
| publisher | Education Association of South Africa |
| record_format | Article |
| series | South African Journal of Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-360f55cca70d489f913ba80a126958332022-12-22T00:09:04ZengEducation Association of South AfricaSouth African Journal of Education0256-01002076-34332011-01-01313419433University-school partnerships for social justice in mathematics and science education: the case of the SMILES project at IMSTUSMdutshekelwa C NdlovuMy purpose in this paper is to situate a university-school mathematics and science education partnership within a social justice perspective in education. The focus of the systemic intervention endeavour was school-based teacher professional development in which university-based facilitators embarked on class visits with the aim of identifying teacher needs, co-teaching and offering professional support over a three-year period. This was in contrast to evaluation (inspection visits) often undertaken by the subject advisors under the auspices of the Department of Education which, for historical reasons, tend to be viewed with suspicion by teachers and teacher unions. Five historically disadvantaged secondary schools and their 10 feeder primary schools were involved in this study with a view to providing equal opportunities to learners from marginalized communities in the Cape Winelands district of the Western Cape. Initial results suggest that an intervention programme that is responsive to local needs can go a long way in bringing about collaborative teacher professional development that leads to reflective practice in professional learning communities and can add value to the quality of student achievement in the gateway subjects of mathematics and science.http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-01002011000300013disadvantaged schoolslearning communitiesmathematics and science educationreflective practitionerSMILESsocial justiceteacher professional developmentuniversity-school partnerships |
| spellingShingle | Mdutshekelwa C Ndlovu University-school partnerships for social justice in mathematics and science education: the case of the SMILES project at IMSTUS South African Journal of Education disadvantaged schools learning communities mathematics and science education reflective practitioner SMILES social justice teacher professional development university-school partnerships |
| title | University-school partnerships for social justice in mathematics and science education: the case of the SMILES project at IMSTUS |
| title_full | University-school partnerships for social justice in mathematics and science education: the case of the SMILES project at IMSTUS |
| title_fullStr | University-school partnerships for social justice in mathematics and science education: the case of the SMILES project at IMSTUS |
| title_full_unstemmed | University-school partnerships for social justice in mathematics and science education: the case of the SMILES project at IMSTUS |
| title_short | University-school partnerships for social justice in mathematics and science education: the case of the SMILES project at IMSTUS |
| title_sort | university school partnerships for social justice in mathematics and science education the case of the smiles project at imstus |
| topic | disadvantaged schools learning communities mathematics and science education reflective practitioner SMILES social justice teacher professional development university-school partnerships |
| url | http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-01002011000300013 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mdutshekelwacndlovu universityschoolpartnershipsforsocialjusticeinmathematicsandscienceeducationthecaseofthesmilesprojectatimstus |