Engaged Scholarship

Project Code

Project Name

Context (Province, rural, urban etc.)

Content (e.g. mathematics teaching strategies)

Beneficiaries

(e.g. Gr 6 learners, SMT members etc.)

Main deliverable for the project (e.g. workshop materials)

1. CN0100

Academic Support PGCE and BEd Foundation phase students: teaching reading and maths in the foundation phase

Schools in selected rural areas of North West Kwa Zulu-Natal and Limpopo.

Develop and implement support programmes that will enhance language and mathematics teaching.  In doing so, the project will gather enough data, which will help improve our material used to teach and support BEd student teachers.

School Educators and Governance bodies

We are at the stage of providing intervention based on the research findings, through online workshops and webinars

1. CN0800

Prison and Special Schools

Gauteng

North West

The project focuses on vulnerable children with intellectual disabilities in special schools and how their teachers teach. Furthermore juveniles in correctional schools get support regarding their wellness and their teachers are empowered in skills on how to handle learners with deviant behaviour. Anger management, emotional disturbances, bullying and fighting are common in both schools and teachers are empowered on how to manage and support learners.

Persons affected by crime

Persons affected by substance abuse

Persons in Correctional facilities

School Educators

An Action research will be followed

Online meetings, workshops, teaching will be conducted

Recordings will also be done which will be distributed to learners and teachers who could not logon Teams during live workshops or lessons.

Intervention strategies will be discussed with beneficiaries and agreed upon and implemented by project members and beneficiaries

1. CN0900

Hearing Loss

Gauteng

Our mission is to help educate the public about hearing loss and promote the importance of prevention and treatment.

Primary school children

Secondary school children

School Educators

Workshops on hearing loss

1. CN1100

Ilima lemfundo

Gauteng (Mamelodi)

The project aims at investigating how languages, in particular reading, are taught in schools and to provide expert assistance to teachers with problem areas regarding the teaching of languages. The project is ongoing.

School Educators

The project will be done online. Free stories available on the Internet will be downloaded and laminated. Two identified schools will get 50 laminated copies of 10 different stories. These documents will be couriered to the schools. Copies of the review form that must be completed after learners have read the story will also be couriered to schools. Teachers will collect the completed reviews and courier them back to the project leader. Each lecturer who forms part of the project will get a number of completed review forms to assess using a rubric. Online meetings will be held with teachers to explain the procedure that must be followed.

1. CN1400

Improvement of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and proficiency in mathematics teaching & learning: An Intervention project for mathematics teachers

Limpopo

The project covers the following strands: 

A study of novice teacher’s development of mathematics knowledge for teaching and the influence of previous preparation, school context and opportunities to learn-on-the job.

The Mathematics proficiency of primary school teachers

An intervention programme that is guided and influenced by classroom-based research and professional development

School Educators

Use research instruments such as Lesson observations, Interviews, Questionnaires, Teacher responses to tasks (concept maps, teaching scenario’s), Document analysis (Work schedule/ scheme of work, lesson plans, Curriculum policy document/ syllabus) to investigating Mathematics proficiency in terms of cognition, problem solving, assessment and instructional practices to inform intervention

1. CN1900

SA Science and Mathematics Project

Rural schools in Mpumalanga and Limpopo

The project investigates challenges faced by Natural Science teachers in understanding and presentation of concepts in the context of rural learners learning science in their 2nd or 3rd languages.

School Educators

Face to face workshops will preferably be held during the first visits but follow-up workshops will be a combination of face to face and online workshops.

1. CN2300

Tateni -Breaking the Cycle of Poverty

Eastern Cape

Free State

Gauteng

KwaZulu Natal

Mpumalanga

The project outreach seeks to address the following objectives:

1. To work within the philosophy of Tateni: homecare and nursing service.

2. To empower carers, as well as our beneficiaries with educational, guidance and counselling and psychological assistance.

3. To undertake the exploration of the causes of alarming high school dropout rate.

4.           To work with the schools and the community on drug and substance abuse.

5.To undertake the exploration of the effects of HIV/AIDS; Sexuality and Gender health issues in Mamelodi (or any other selected area in SA and SADEC) schools, community and surrounding informal settlements.

Secondary school children

Youth (14-35yrs)

Workshops, motivation and online programme for screening and intervention for ADHD

1. CN2900

Empowering of teachers at PHL Moraka High School

Gauteng

Empowering Teachers at PHL Moraka high school is a community project that aims to provide academic support to teachers and learners in grade 10 to 12. 

Families

Secondary school children

Improving performance in gateway subjects and leadership and management development through workshops, classroom-based approach and research

1. CN3200

Embrace our Children: Bramley Project

Gauteng

Provide support to the Bramley Children’s Home children in relation to their homework and to provide emotional and psychological support.

Primary school children

Secondary school children

Improving the educational abilities of Bramley children, psychological guidance and assistance with emotional development. Bramley Children’s Home staff will be developed through workshops.

1. CN3400

ICT Integrated water management curriculum

North West

This project focuses on the development of schoolteachers’ ICT integration skills that will enhance teaching and learning with technology

School Educators

On-site training for that teachers need professional development in ICT skills that will enhance teaching and learning in a digital era.

1. CN4100

A Strategic Intervention in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education

Mpumalanga

The aim is to further develop the pedagogical content knowledge of the Mathematics, Science and Technology teachers so that they can in turn teach learners effectively

School Educators

Academics

Lesson study in which teachers will workshop lessons so that the training is more teacher-driven; use lead teachers to core-facilitate with MSTA

1. CN4300

Parent involvement in developing learning culture in Hlanganani

Limpopo

The main assertion in this project is that there is a lack of adequate and appropriate parent involvement in Hlanganani schools to make them centers of teaching and learning excellence.

School Educators

Governance bodies

The parents, school governing bodies and teachers will be trained in this project through workshops, seminars etc. The schools and parents will be trained on how to work together in assisting the learners to progress from one grade to another.

1. CN4800

Together Making Schools Better (TMSB)

Mpumalanga

Together making schools better focuses on intervention in the form of empowering teachers, leaners and stakeholders within schools to work together to improve learner attainment and help schools with curriculum recovery plan

School Educators

Empowerment of stakeholders within the schools to work together towards improvement of learner performance through Workshops

1. CN4900

Senior phase Natural Science Teachers’ Experiences with ADHD and inquiry-based classroom practices

Mpumalanga

Northern Cape

The project focuses on senior phase natural science teacher’s experiences with ADHD and of using the inquiry-based classroom practices as envisaged in the CAPS documents.

School Educators

The natural science teachers from those schools will be interviewed before they teach the topics of the strand. They will also be observed teaching the topics. Thereafter an intervention will be developed wherein teachers will be assisted in terms of classroom practices and the content knowledge

1. CN5200

Assessment in multigrade teaching

Limpopo

The project aims to improve teaching in Multi-grade classes, provide greater support mechanisms and staff development programmes for assessment in Multi-grade teaching context.

School Educators

Governance bodies

Participatory Action Research using online interviews and MOOCS

1. CN5300

Classroom Interaction Pedagogy in teaching English First Additional Language in the Intermediate Phase

Limpopo

Classroom Interaction Pedagogy (CIP) as a teaching strategy could offer valuable insights into the current South African problem of inadequate verbal communication competency in EFAL in the Intermediate Phase.

Primary school children

School Educators

Participatory Action Research and I will use focus group interviews with learners, one-on-one interviews with teachers and EFAL lessons observations.

1. CN5600

Deputy principals as curriculum and instructional leaders

Gauteng

Empower deputy principals with knowledge and skills on how to plan, implement, and manage curriculum delivery in schools

Primary school children

Secondary school children

School Educators

This project will employ the Participatory Action Research and purposive sampling technique to select deputy principals and departmental heads in primary and secondary schools in Johannesburg East district South Africa.   Questionnaires will be used to conduct deputy principals and departmental heads need analysis, focus group interviews with structured questions will be used to engage deputies and departmental heads, non-participatory observations will be conducted in primary and secondary schools, and document analysis will be used as data collection techniques. Thereafter, professional development workshops will be conducted wherein deputy principals and departmental heads will be assisted in terms of planning, implementation, and management of curriculum for effective teaching and learning.

1. CN5800

Transition of learners with intellectual and learning impairments into work

KwaZulu Natal

Limpopo

Mpumalanga

Eastern Cape

This project therefore attempts to facilitate school-to-work for learners with intellectual and learning impairments through skill development programmes which are offered by some of the TVET colleges

Persons affected by mental health conditions

TVET Colleges

Engaged research will be used within the Constructivist paradigm. Mixed methodology will be used to undertake the research component of the project which will involve facilitators, management and the students. Permission to under research activities has been obtained from one of the TVET colleges but will be extended once more colleges participate.

1. CN6100

Institutions of higher learning’s interventions to enhance curriculum     implementation in schools by adults (Educators)

Mpumalanga

The Project Institutions of higher learning’s interventions to enhance curriculum     implementation in schools by adults (Educators) is an initiative of the UNISA ABET and Youth Development aimed at developing skills and knowledge and empowerment of Life Sciences teachers in Libangeni area office.

School Educators

Online meetings and workshops will be held via TEAMS.

Videos on Life sciences content will be downloaded and send to stakeholders.

Emails will be used to send documents and material for the workshops.

WhatsApp will be used where necessary to deliver messages

1. CN6200

Bizana Teachers’ Journey with FET Mathematics

Rural Communities of Bizana district in the Eastern Cape

The project aims to investigate issues of classroom practice in mathematics used, extrapolate or improve on them for the better development of teachers and learners’ meaningful understanding of FET Mathematics.

Empowerment of mathematics teachers with mathematics teaching skills through Teams meetings together with zoom and WhatsApp conversations

1. CN6300

Preparing teachers to teach reading and writing

Gauteng (Irene; Soshanguve)

Investigating how languages, in particular reading and writing are taught in HL and FAL in primary and secondary schools and focuses in particular on the integration of reading and writing.

School Educators

The project will be done online. Free stories available on the Internet will be downloaded and laminated. Two identified schools will get 50 laminated copies of 10 different stories. These documents will be couriered to the schools. Copies of the review form that must be completed after learners have read the story will also be couriered to schools. Teachers will collect the completed reviews and courier them back to the project leader. Each lecturer who forms part of the project will get a number of completed review forms to assess using a rubric. Online meetings will be held with teachers to explain the procedure that must be followed.

1. CN6500

Empowerment and capacity building with current and former professional football players: A multi-phased project.

Gauteng

KwaZulu Natal

Limpopo

Mpumalanga

Western Cape

Empowerment and capacity building with current and former professional football players

Men

Elderly people (60yrs+)

Retired football players will be empowered with education, skills and training

1. CN6600

Teaching for Robust Understanding in Mathematics: resources, contexts and opportunities

Gauteng                   (Inner city school in Pretoria)

This project aims to provide development for intermediate phase mathematics teachers and to engage the Teaching for Robust Mathematics (TRU) framework as a developmental, formative teacher professional development (PD) by addressing the current resources and context of the school.

School Educators

The project will engage the teachers digitally, first using platforms that are known to the (e.g. WhatsApp, sending podcasts and screencasts made by the project team and thereafter engaging in other platforms (Teams or Google) as the project develops

1. CN6700

Strengthening the implementation of Augmentative and Alternative Communication in Special Schools

Free State

Gauteng

Limpopo

Mpumalanga

Western Cape

To capacitate teachers on the implementation of AAC so that learners who are AAC candidates can be able to learn and socialise with other peers in the school, classroom and community context.

School Educators

This project will adopt participatory Action research which is viewed as a common methodology at developing solutions to practical problems, which then informs practice (Creswell, 2005). Project leader, member of the project as well as participants will engage in interactive cycles which will include collaborative planning, implementation and reflection

1. CN6800

Kgobakanane Environmental Education for Sustainability

Gauteng

The project will focus on the intermediate and senior phases teachers’ experiences of integrating Environmental Education in Social Sciences and Natural Sciences and Technology subjects through active participative learning method and the school gardens as teaching resources since Environmental Education (EE) is integrated in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) of these subjects. The teachers will be interviewed and then observed whilst teaching Environmental Content (EC) topics of these subjects on how they teach and which resources they use. Intervention will then be envisaged which will be embedded in the participatory reflection and action (PAR) methodology.

School Educators

Qualitative observations and interviews will be employed coupled with document analysis. The Social Sciences and Natural Science Technology teachers from the school will be interviewed before they teach EC. They will also be observed when teaching EC. Thereafter an intervention will be developed wherein teachers will be assisted in terms of teaching EC, the environmental knowledge and skills such as conservation.

Africanizing mathematics teaching: Using ethno-mathematical games in the Intermediate Phase

KwaZulu Natal

Mathematics results in South African schools are a cause of concern. The South African democratic policy for education endeavours to deliver an equitable education for all. Yet mathematics results indicate that the diverse learners in South Africa are not receiving an equitable education. This project is aimed at bringing cultural knowledge into the classroom. In this way learners will have concrete, Africanised contexts and methods to learn mathematics. Ethnomathematics aims at using concrete, cultural methods in a real-life situation. The project will engage teachers in the Intermediate phase who teach in disadvantaged communities in rural and semi-rural areas in Kwa-Zulu Natal (Grades 4 to 6). Disadvantaged communities have been chosen so as to inculcate a love and interest in mathematics in under-privileged learners to equip them for the ever-changing global demands. At the same time there is the need to appreciate indigenous knowledge and to understand how this knowledge can enhance academic growth as well as participation in the economic demands of South Africa. Phoshoko (2018) believes that an African perspective is vital for the enhancement of learner performance in mathematics. Horsthemke (2017) argues that ethnomathematics puts an emphasis on Africanisation as it includes indigenous knowledge systems that is unique to African countries. Therefore, ethnomathematics can create such a platform to integrate the African perspective into the mathematics classroom.  Qualitative data research will be done using semi-structured and focus group interviews, observations and document analysis.

The findings will be reported to the Department of Education through seminars and workshops. Results of the findings would be shared with the circuit management of the district, teacher unions as well as in national and international conferences.

School Educators

We will create concrete, everyday mathematical and computational experiences, including ethnomathematical games, so that learners can use this knowledge to apply it to abstract concepts they encounter in mathematics. This should provide them with an engaging and relevant mathematics experience. The subject would be less complex if they are exposed at home to the application of the content and realise personally that the principles they learn at school can be used in daily life. The project, therefore, has the potential to come up with new teaching methodologies that uses learners’ everyday knowledge and experiences.

The study can thus support mathematics teachers and expose the above stakeholders, as well as stakeholders in other African countries, to ways of improving mathematics education in Grades 4 to 6.  The methods used to enhance it should motivate and intrigue learners and help them develop a love for the subject. Hopefully, this motivation for mathematics will carry through into high school. 

Furthermore, the project supports the perpetuation of traditional culture by using customary African games as relevant examples in the mathematics classroom. The theme of Africanisation is therefore evident through the indigenous ethnomathematical games that makes mathematics learning more productive in the classroom.

Widowhood issues in South Africa (WISA): An interdisciplinary approach

Gauteng

This community project is about the treatment of widows in South Africa.  The community project will:

Also provide widows with lifelong learning knowledge which they can use in making informed decisions about their lives.

Widows will be taught problem -solving skills.

Widows will be taught about their human rights as they are enshrined in the constitution of South Africa.

Women

Persons affected by Gender Based Violence

Widows will be taught about their human rights and problem-solving skills.

The international widows’ day will be celebrated on yearly basis on the 23rd of June. During the international widow’s day issues that are affecting widows’ rights will be discuss. Matters of engaged scholarship with be communicated through the UNISA   radio and other radio shows within South Africa. We will conduct public lectures. We will also send our publications both in the print media and accredited journals.

The use of Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) model to improve teachers’ delivery of lessons

North West

This research project aims to assist teachers in the delivery of lessons by introducing TPACK model at the selected secondary schools within the Dinaledi cluster Bojanala district. Thirty teachers will be requested to participate in this participatory action research project. The participants will be interviewed on how they enhance teaching and learning using digital technologies. Participant observation will be done as they present their lessons, the team members will guide them how to prepare and deliver their lessons based on TPACK model. This project will take place from 2021 to 2023.

School Educators

The team and the co-investigator will model to the participants on how to do the following:

•            select and use the appropriate digital technologies to enhance the achievement of lesson outcomes.

•            assist the participants to use learner centered method using the appropriate digital technologies. 

A systemic action learning approach using a community of practice to support the green circular economy

Limpopo

The focus is on:

a) researching whether a community of practice (as per Wenger et al., 2009) can help to support raising awareness after viewing 3 x 20 minute talks by Janet McIntyre and Rudolf Wirawan (translated into Venda on the spot) on the need for a green circular social enterprise in South Africa and

b) whether the webinars plus Focus Group (FG) discussions after the webinars help to support a community of practice which advances capacity building on how to set up a community co-operative in line with social and environmental considerations congruent with regional/international and the UN Sustainable Development Agenda (2030).

              • The project supports the policy agenda underlined by the IKS Policy (2004), the South African Government Voluntary Review (2019) and Odora Hoppers' (2013) plea for more mode 2 engagement to promote IKS across the sectors, as well as Chilisa’s view on Sustainable Development (2018).

              • It also responds to the UN policy to address food, energy and water security and the need to redress high rates of urbanisation and the cascading impact on human security (UN Urbanisation Report, 2014, UN Sendai Risk Platform, 2030, IPPC, 2020). In terms of innovation we draw on and adapt the principle of the ‘One Village, One Product approach’, decreed by President Jakowi (2014) in Indonesia, to enable working across sites to facilitate the mapping of opportunities and the cross fertilisation of ideas (that is, learning from practices in Indonesia in which Janet McIntyre-Mills and Rudolf Wirawan have been involved).

It will use a gender mainstreaming lens which means that the focus will be on ensuring that gender diversity is central to wellbeing. Also, the involvement of some youth in setting up sustainable social enterprises is important to this project.

Youth (14-35yrs) Over 18 years old youth

Women

We will address the “problem” by:  training about 15 women and young people (maximum) aged above 18 years who are already engaged in some social enterprise activities and wish to learn more about how to render them sustainable in line with UN SDGs. We will explore with them the question of:

“What action learning processes enhance social, economic and environmental wellbeing in line with an Ubuntu-group approach to forward United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?”

The Effectiveness of School Leadership, Management, and Governance Structures in the Provision of Quality Education in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Limpopo

This research is aimed at assessing the effectiveness of the educational structures that has been set by the national and provincial department of education on the enhancement of the provision of quality education in public schools of Limpopo province. The outcomes of the assessment on effectiveness of the structures will guide the researchers on capacity building workshop topics and reference resources for the School principals, School Management Teams, School Governing Bodies, Circuit Managers a well a District Managers. The research outcomes will include article, books, book chapters, conference papers, capacity building workshop materials, minimal school management and governance challenges and improved provision of quality education in Limpopo province.

All Children (0-18yrs)

School Educators

Academics

Governance bodies

Qualitative data will be generated jointly with the engaged scholarship partners through interviews, document analysis and observation tools. SWOT analysis on departmental and school educational structures will be conducted and identified challenges will be addressed through workshops, information booklets or manuals, published articles, books and book chapters that will serve as resources in their daily activities