How student teachers engage with the making of teaching tools for mathematics pedagogy

COPYRIGHT AND CITATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR THIS THESIS/ DISSERTATION o Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made You may so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use o NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes o ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original How to cite this thesis Surname, Initial(s) (2012) Title of the thesis or dissertation (Doctoral Thesis / Master’s Dissertation) Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/102000/0002 (Accessed: 22 August 2017) University of Johannesburg Faculty of Education How student teachers engage with the making of teaching tools for mathematics pedagogy Refilwe Judy Ntsoane 201147390 Dissertation submitted for the degree Masters Education in Childhood Education at the University of Johannesburg Supervisor: Professor Elizabeth Henning Co-supervisor: Professor Nadine Petersen Date: July 2018 DECLARATION I Refilwe Judy Ntsoane (201147390) declare that, except where indicated by reference in the text, this is my own work Any view expressed in the dissertation other than referenced material are mine Signature Date Place i SUMMARY Keywords: Pedagogical content knowledge, cognitive apprenticeship, tool mediation, teacher career path, teaching tools, makerspace, homo faber In my practice as a foundation phase mentor teacher for student teachers, I have witnessed how hard it is for them to create effective teaching tools in a low-tech, informal ‘makerspace’ during their practicum As teacher educator at a teaching school, I was motivated to investigate this topic in order to improve my mentorship Although the design of teaching aids appeared less challenging in their practicum planning groups, the same activity posed a serious challenge for them when they had to implement the tools individually in different schools where they continued their practicum beyond our teaching school on the campus They often came back to our school to borrow teaching tools that they had created at the school and where they worked together as a group The safe environment of the teaching school on the campus was a ‘maker’ place where they could design their tools and learn to use them I wanted to study the students to find out how they developed this part of their preservice education I thus initiated this study to explore how student teachers at the university teaching school behave during their practicum session with a mentor teacher I utilised the Thomas and Brown (2009) model of design and creativity, which is viewed from the three perspectives of human activity namely “knowing” (Homo sapiens), “making” (Homo faber) and “playing” ( and imagining) (Homo ludens) I coupled this perspective with Collins, Brown and Holum’s (1991) typology of cognitive apprenticeship Data for the study was collected by myself as participatory and practitioner researcher, with field notes, photos, artefacts, and individual- and focus group interviews Two groups of third year BEd foundation phase education student teachers were selected form to take part in the study The data were collated and analysed with Atlasti software and also manually The results indicated that despite the student teachers’ ability to design and make creative artefacts, they found it hard to integrate their tools as mediational ‘signs’ in practice Additionally, they used teaching tools that were not always relevant to the content they were teaching Through the inductive analysis, seven themes were ii identified from the collated data, highlighting that the student teachers found it hard to bridge design and practice and to teach conceptually with the tools The findings reflect a need for an addition to the methodology modules in the teacher education programme on how to design and create teacher toolkits that will come in handy as they embark on their teaching career iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I was not alone when writing this dissertation and therefore would like to acknowledge the following people To the student teachers who took part in my study Your contributions are highly appreciated I am obliged to my colleagues who supported and motivated me during this period of intense learning I am truly indebted and thankful to, my supervisor Prof Elbie Henning, our journey has not only been about professional development but also on a personal level Professor Nadine, thank you for your valuable guidance To my parents: Thank you for being there in my times of need To my father, Matsobane Bennett Mphahlele, thank you for constantly reminding me of the importance of education To my mother, Raesibe Mary Mphahlele, thank you for moral support and encouragement Love you I owe a sincere and earnest thankfulness to my boys, Nthato Ntsoane and Karabo Ntsoane Thank you for being there whenever I need you Love you My daughter, Monthati Ntsoane Thank you for inspiring me to be a better mom and a better person I love you Family and friends thank you for your unfailing support To God be the glory iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i SUMMARY ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF FIGURES ix CHAPTER OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Research question, aim and objectives 1.3 Research design: A case study utilizing ethnographic tools 1.4 Data collection and analysis TERMINOLOGY………………………………………………………………………………………………………5 1.5.1 Student teachers 1.5.2 Mentor teachers 1.5.3 Teaching tools 1.5.4 Triarchic model of learning and design 1.5.5 Cognitive apprenticeship 1.7 Conclusion CHAPTER STUDENT TEACHERS LEARNING IN A PRACTICUM 2.1 Introduction: Making tools as mediational artefacts 2.2 Learning practice in a teaching school with a ‘dual curriculum’ 10 2.3 Teacher knowledge and PCK of foundation phase teachers 14 2.4 Learning in an apprenticeship of ‘thinking’, ‘making’ and ‘playing’ 17 2.5 Situating tool-making in practice 19 2.6 Tool-mediation in early number concept learning 21 2.7 Conclusion: Limitations of a practicum and the promise of a career 26 CHAPTER THE RESEARCH PLAN 28 v 3.1 Introduction 28 3.2 The unit of sampling 31 3.3 Ethnographic elements of research design 31 3.3.1 Ethnography in the study of student teachers 32 3.4 Data Collection 33 3.4.1 ‘Ethnographic’ observations and the ‘emic’ perspective 34 3.4.2 Photographic data 35 3.4.3 Artefacts 36 3.4.4 Interviews 35 3.5 Reliability and validity of the study 37 3.6 Data Analysis 38 3.6.1 Computer assisted data analysis 38 3.7 Research ethics 40 3.8 Conclusion 41 CHAPTER DATA OF THE STUDY 42 4.1 Introduction 42 4.2 Data collection 42 4.3 Data analysis: From codes to categories and themes 43 4.4 Outcome of the analysis 60 4.4.1 Theme 1: Inability to mediate via artefacts 60 4.4.2 Theme 2: Lack of design thinking tools 62 4.4.3 Theme 3: Limited use of artefacts in school 65 4.4.4 Theme 4: Tools as memory aids 67 4.4.5 Theme 5: Connect with life outside school 64 4.4.6 Theme 6: Limited interaction with theory 65 4.5 Conclusion: Glimpses of the data process 75 CHAPTER DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 76 5.1 Introduction 76 5.2 Themes constructed from the data 77 5.2.1 Inability to mediate via artefacts 77 vi 5.2.2 Lack of design thinking tools 79 5.2.3 Limited use of artefacts in schools 80 5.2.4 Limited practical work 81 5.2.5 Teaching tools as memory aids 82 5.2.6 Connection with life outside school 84 5.2.7 Limited interaction with theory 85 5.3 Readily available resources 86 5.4 Limitations 88 5.5 Conclusion 90 REFERENCES 92 ADDENDUM A: PERMISSION TO CARRY OUT RESEARCH IN SCHOOL 95 ADDENDUM B: ETHICS CLEARANCE APPROVAL 96 ADDENDUM C: PARTICIPANT CONSENT FORM 97 ADDENDUM D: OBSERVATION SCHEDULE 101 ADDENDUM E: MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG AND GAUTENG DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 99 ADDENDUM F: EXAMPLE OF STUDENT TEACHER’S LESSON PLAN 117 ADDENDUM G: EXAMPLE OF TRANSCRIBED RAW DATA 128 ADDENDUM H: HOW DATA WAS CODED 142 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Charecteristics of the case study (adopted from Cresswel, 2011: 223 ) 32 Table 3.2: Definitions of ethnography and elements invoked in the study 35 Table 3.3: Ethicalconsiderations 43 Table 4.1: Interview and observation schedule 45 Table 4.2: schoolteachers’ demographics 46 Table 4.3: Categories derived from collapsed codes 55 Table 4.4: Final categories and themes 57 viii Addendum G 136 Addendum G 137 Addendum G 138 Addendum G 139 Addendum G 140 Addendum G 141 Addendum G 142 Addendum G 143 Addendum G 144 ADDENDUM H: HOW DATA WAS CODED Addendum G 145 ADDENDUM H: HOW DATA WAS CODED Addendum H 146 Addendum H 147 Addendum H 148 Addendum H 149 Addendum H 150 ...University of Johannesburg Faculty of Education How student teachers engage with the making of teaching tools for mathematics pedagogy Refilwe Judy Ntsoane 201147390 Dissertation submitted for the degree... addresses a two-sided issue about the making of educational tools for the classroom: How student teachers engage with the making of teaching tools? Sub-questions:  How is the Thomas and Brown (2009)... see how the students go about planning and making artefacts and what they observed during their teaching practice at schools One of these schools is the teaching school where I am a head of the