Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Intellectual ...

Shaheed Hartley
useful direction and trends and adds great value in designing strategies that support education at both
primary and secondary level.
Much has been written <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> political history <strong>of</strong> South Africa. Its impact on <strong>the</strong> education system and
<strong>the</strong> generation <strong>of</strong> learners who have passed through this system has been a great cause for concern.
The illiteracy rate <strong>of</strong> over 50 percent amongst marginalised communities bears testimony <strong>of</strong> this
devastation. The impact <strong>of</strong> science and ma<strong>the</strong>matics outcomes in <strong>the</strong> TIMMS (Howie, 1997) and <strong>the</strong>
TIMMS repeat (Howie, 2001) has brought <strong>the</strong> national spotlight to bear on <strong>the</strong> challenges facing <strong>the</strong>
education system. South Africa is currently undergoing ano<strong>the</strong>r change in curriculum in education at
both primary and secondary level. This is <strong>the</strong> second curriculum change since <strong>the</strong> dawn <strong>of</strong> democracy
in 1994. These changes are effected over a number <strong>of</strong> years, implemented in a staggered approach
to cover Grades 1 to 12 which is <strong>the</strong> extent <strong>of</strong> primary and secondary schooling in South Africa. The
current sphere <strong>of</strong> curriculum change is introduced to teachers through a series <strong>of</strong> training sessions
which are directed to support and equip teachers to deal effectively with <strong>the</strong> new curriculum content.
Many teachers are already daunted by <strong>the</strong> task to teaching <strong>the</strong> current content and now have to face
new content with new approaches and outcomes expected <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m and <strong>the</strong>ir learners. Two important
areas that require support at primary and secondary level are science and ma<strong>the</strong>matics education
and in South Africa have been declared national priority areas. Tertiary education institutions such as
<strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Western Cape (UWC) have been requested by <strong>the</strong> national government to
provide support in <strong>the</strong> training and development <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se two critical areas. The Science Learning
Centre for Africa <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Western Cape (UWC-SLCA) has as its core business <strong>the</strong>
training and support <strong>of</strong> practicing teachers in science and ma<strong>the</strong>matics at both primary and secondary
level. To ensure that <strong>the</strong> support provided to schools is relevant, a systemic evaluation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> support
required is central to this process, that is, a knowledge management exercise is required that will yield
not just <strong>the</strong> challenges and needs <strong>of</strong> teachers but a blue print <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> kind <strong>of</strong> support centres like <strong>the</strong>
UWC-SLCA and o<strong>the</strong>rs have to provide.
2. Objectives <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> study
One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> key questions that need to be answered in <strong>the</strong> provision <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> service by UWC-SLCA is:
“What are <strong>the</strong> science and ma<strong>the</strong>matics education needs <strong>of</strong> teachers at <strong>the</strong> schools?” This paper
describes a pilot investigation <strong>of</strong> five schools that forms part <strong>of</strong> a wider study to assess <strong>the</strong> needs <strong>of</strong>
45 secondary schools in <strong>the</strong> provision <strong>of</strong> quality science education in <strong>the</strong> Western Cape. The
objectives <strong>of</strong> this investigation are two-fold: (1) to create a knowledge management platform that will
capture <strong>the</strong> needs and challenges identified by science educators <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> selected secondary schools;
and (2) to develop a needs pr<strong>of</strong>ile for each <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> participating secondary schools that will serve as a
strategic asset to be shared with <strong>the</strong> various service providers as part <strong>of</strong> a community <strong>of</strong> practice
whose core business is to support science educators and science education at schools.
3. Methodology
The data collection procedures used both quantitative and qualitative approaches in its endeavour to
gain <strong>the</strong> necessary information from science teachers in <strong>the</strong> selected district. A new instrument (see
appendix A) called <strong>the</strong> Needs Assessment Questionnaires (NAQ) was developed and trial-tested with
a group <strong>of</strong> teachers from a different district. The six scales and eight items <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> questionnaire were
selected after careful consideration and discussion with curriculum advisors, education department
<strong>of</strong>ficials, principals, science teachers and UWC-SLCA colleagues (see Table 1). The following scales
were decided upon namely (i) practical work, (ii) content knowledge, (iii) learning resources, (iv)
training, (v) curriculum support and vi) information technology needs. The NAQ made use <strong>of</strong> a 5 point
Likert scale that extended between practices occurring from Almost Never to Very Often. An openended
questionnaire (OEQ) was developed for teachers to add to <strong>the</strong>ir responses and provided an
opportunity for <strong>the</strong>ir opinions, comments and suggestions after completion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> NAQ. The areas
teachers were requested to comment in <strong>the</strong> open-ended section <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> questionnaire booklet handed
to <strong>the</strong>m <strong>the</strong> researchers were (1) training, (2) curriculum, (3) Administrative issues, (4) Resources and
learning material and (5) o<strong>the</strong>r areas. The NAQ responses were analysed to identify trends that were
used as areas for probing and discussion during a follow-up round <strong>of</strong> group interviews with science
and ma<strong>the</strong>matics teachers at each school. A group interview was held at each school where teachers
were encouraged to explain some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir answers in <strong>the</strong> NAQ and <strong>the</strong> OEQ, and to get an
assessment <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> overall needs. These needs were prioritised by teachers based on <strong>the</strong>ir collective
understanding and appreciation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> challenges faced in <strong>the</strong>ir classrooms. The principals <strong>of</strong> each
school were also interviewed to obtain for <strong>the</strong>ir perceptions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> needs that teachers expressed and
<strong>the</strong>ir perceptions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> shortcomings that needed fur<strong>the</strong>r support.
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