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Onderwysers se oortuigings, onderwysers se selfdoeltreffendheid, onderriggehalte en onderrigklarigheid : die verband met Suid-Afrikaanse leerders se wiskundeprestasie
(LitNet, 2024-10) Graham, Marien Alet
AFRIKAANS : Die studie het ten doel om ons begrip van die verhouding tussen onderwysers se oortuigings, selfdoeltreffendheid, onderriggehalte en onderrigklarigheid, en graad 9- Suid-Afrikaanse leerders se wiskundeprestasie te verbreed. Die studie het ’n unieke invalshoek deurdat die onderwerp benader word vanuit die sosiale kognitiewe teorie (Bandura 1986), wat fokus op die wederkerige interaksie tussen persoonlike faktore (soos oortuigings en selfdoeltreffendheid), omgewingsinvloede (soos onderriggehalte) en gedrag (soos wiskundeprestasie). ’n Multivlakanalise met wiskundeprestasie as die afhanklike veranderlike en 15 voorspellers is uitgevoer, terwyl sosio-ekonomiese status en geslag beheer is. ’n Sekondêre data-ontleding met behulp van Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) se 2019-data is gedoen deur ’n kwantitatiewe benadering te gebruik. Die resultate toon dat onderwysers se voorbereidingstyd ’n sleutelvoorspeller van wiskundeprestasie is, wat die noodsaaklikheid van verbeterde voorbereiding en beplanningsgeleenthede beklemtoon. Beleidmakers en belanghebbendes behoort dit te oorweeg om geteikende opleidingsessies vir onderwysers aan te bied. Hierdie programme kan fokus op effektiewe voorbereidingstegnieke, soos die optimalisering van kurrikulumbronne en die integrasie van tegnologie om lesbeplanning te vaartbelyn. Deur geteikende opleiding te bied, kan opvoeders hul voorbereidingspraktyke verbeter, wat tot verbeterde onderrig- en leergehalte sal lei. Ouers se druk op onderwysers is ook geïdentifiseer as ’n beduidende voorspeller van wiskundeprestasie, wat die belang van ouerlike betrokkenheid beklemtoon. Dit onderstreep die behoefte aan beleide wat ouerlike betrokkenheid by skoolverwante aktiwiteite aanmoedig. Daar is ook gewys op die vooruitgang sedert die implementering van die Suid-Afrikaanse Skolewet van 1996, wat die rol van ouerskap in opvoeding benadruk. Om die potensiaal van hierdie beleidsmaatreëls te ontsluit, word daar aanbeveel dat beleidmakers strategieë implementeer om ouers aktief by skoolaktiwiteite te betrek deur verslae te vereis en inligtingsbronne te versprei. Hierdie samewerkingspogings sal uiteindelik bydra tot ’n meer omvattende opvoedkundige omgewing en verbeterde akademiese uitkomste vir leerders.
Molecular mechanisms underlying tree host-pathogen interactions under drought stress and subsequent rewatering in Eucalyptus grandis
(Elsevier, 2024-12-02) Teshome, Demissew Tesfaye; Zharare, Godfrey Elijah; Ployet, Raphael; Naidoo, Sanushka; sanushka.naidoo@up.ac.za
Abiotic stresses such as drought change plant-pathogen interactions by affecting both hosts and pathogens. Here, we aimed to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying forest tree-pathogen interactions under drought stress and subsequent rewatering. We conducted glasshouse experiments involving infection by the stem canker-causing fungal pathogen Chrysoporthe austroafricana under drought stress and rewatering in Eucalyptus grandis and investigated host and pathogen transcriptomic changes using RNA-seq data from our current combined stress experiment as well as previous single stress studies. We found that mild drought stress enhances disease progression while, upon rewatering, pathogen infection delays recovery of leaf stomatal conductance. Transcriptomic changes in the host support increased susceptibility to the pathogen while the in planta fungal transcriptome suggests prioritization of survival in the drought-stressed host. Upon rewatering, changes in the host transcriptome suggest allocation of resources to stress responses at the expense of growth and carbohydrate storage while that of the pathogen indicate downregulation of some fungal metabolic pathways potentially because the pathogen takes advantage of changes in the host. Our study identified key molecular processes and genes that provide mechanistic insights into tree-pathogen interactions under abiotic stresses. This enables prediction of tree resilience under a changing climate and contributes towards future tree health improvement endeavours.
Decolonising the humanities : reimagining black intellectual life and personhood in Southern African contexts
(PINS-Psychology in Society, 2024-06) Sandwith, Corinne; corinne.sandwith@up.ac.za
This review article explores possibilities for transdisciplinary entanglements between the disciplines of critical psychology and literary criticism through a reading of the volume, ʻFoundational African Writers’, edited by Bhekizizwe Peterson, Khwezi Mkhize and Makhosazana Xaba. In this article, ‘Foundational African Writers’ is approached as a distillation of Peterson’s investment in excavating the world-making activities, writing lives and activities of ordinary people as a central dimension of the project to decolonise the Humanities. As this edited volume attests, Peterson’s creative and critical oeuvre continues to provoke thinking about the ways in which the reading of the African literary archive can assist in the wider project of decolonising and re-imagining intellectual and creative history in the Global South while also providing opportunities for new modes of thinking about personhood and psychic life in contexts of precarity, intergenerational trauma and economic exclusion.
The experiences of race relations amongst student leaders at a historically white South African university
(PINS-Psychology in Society, 2024-12) Selowa, Hlengiwe; Motileng, Benny; benny.motileng@up.ac.za
Recent protest movements such as #Rhodesmustfall and #FeesMustFall have highlighted uneasy race relations at South African universities. Although such incidents are crucial, equally important are the everyday realities of race relations that continue to define student lives in these institutions. The purpose of this study was to provide an understanding of student leaders’ experiences of race relations at a historically white South African university. Guided by a qualitative research approach, Critical Race Theory (CRT) was the framework we used to explore race relations amongst student leaders. Purposive sampling was employed to recruit six student leaders across racial groups. They participated in a forty-five-minute semi-structured interview. Interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to analyse the data. The findings suggest that the history and identities of universities as racially segregated in an unequal society, impacts race relations. Racial discrimination and distrust hamper racial integration in the student body and external political factors also affect student leaders’ experiences of race relations. Our findings do show that friendships present an important opportunity to foster positive race relations, even though friendships are largely class dependent. We recommend that universities invest in personnel diversity training and the creation of platforms for intercultural and interracial exchanges.
Framework for contextualising differentiated assessment for learner support in the Nigerian and South African foundation phase school contexts
(Routledge, 2025) Izevbigie, Etinosa; Thuketana, Nkhensani Susan
This paper presents a theory-based conceptual framework the researchers developed to promote differentiated assessment in the Foundation Phase for equitable assessment practices in Nigerian and South African mainstream schools. The literature presents varied assessment frameworks to address injustices and discriminations for the ‘ideal’ learner. However, learners with special educational needs (SEN) remain segregated in the ongoing discourse of equity in classroom assessments. The researchers used the model of modelling in a mixed method approach to develop a framework incorporating Sen’s capability approach, Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, and Lave and Wenger's community of practice. The framework was tested for reliability by triangulating teachers’ surveys and semi-structured interviews anchored by the three theories to indicate inclusive variable considerations for differentiated assessment. The themes confirmed different knowledge variables about policies and guidelines, transdisciplinary collaboration, skills to align assessments with dominant intelligence crucial for differentiated assessment, and learner support requirements for learning success.