Loyiso Jita

• PhD
• Head of Faculty at University of the Free State

A theoretical and empirical grounded explanation is constructed on how primary school principals perceive and enact instructional leadership during curriculum reform. This study used a concurrent mixed-methods design to integrate data from 248 survey responses with insights from in-depth interviews and observations of three school principals. Findi...

As an important tool, technology supports and enhances students’ educational experiences by fostering inclusive learning communities, bridging cultural gaps, and accommodating diverse learning styles. However, limited studies have demonstrated the impact of technology integration on students’ sense of belonging and well-being in the context of Sout...

As the flipped classroom model gains traction in mathematics education, questions remain about its effectiveness across diverse classroom settings. This study surveyed 266 senior/upper secondary second-year students to gain insights into their experiences of learning mathematics in flipped classrooms during an academic term. It assessed their persp...

In order to address the diverse needs of the present-day distance and online Mathematics learners, it is necessary to obtain the opinions of the learners on the improvement strategies of their Mathematics programmes. In distance and online learning (DOL) education in Nigeria, different strategies to improve mathematics learning have been initiated....

The quest for effective pedagogical practices in mathematics education has increasingly highlighted the flipped classroom model. This model has been shown to be particularly successful in higher education settings within developed countries, where resources and technological infrastructure are readily available. However, its implementation in secon...

Differential calculus is a crucial topic in mathematics that helps students hone critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Nonetheless, existing literature reports that grade 12 students frequently encounter challenges learning stationary points, a central concept in differential calculus, owing to the limited effectiveness of traditional teach...

This conceptual paper critically examines the persistent influence of colonial structures on higher education in the Caribbean and Africa, particularly in shaping academic identities that remain tethered to Eurocentric knowledge systems. The paper argues that while there have been efforts to decolonize curricula, these attempts are often limited by...

This study examines how primary school principals navigate and influence curriculum reform through instructional leadership. Using a qualitative approach, data were gathered from semi-structured interviews and structured observations with three purposefully selected principals, guided by the Principal Instructional Management model. Interview quest...

This study examines how primary school principals navigate and influence curriculum reform through instructional leadership. Using a qualitative approach, data were gathered from semi-structured interviews and structured observations with three purposefully selected principals, guided by the Principal Instructional Management model. Interview quest...

This chapter explores the relationship between leadership ideologies and academic achievement in secondary schools in rural Zimbabwe. In the study, 500 principals were surveyed on their approaches to leadership and instructional techniques using a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. The findings show a positive relationship between distributed and...

Initially designed as platforms for social interaction, social media has rapidly expanded its role in educational contexts, providing innovative means for content delivery and interactive learning. This transition has become particularly prominent during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the critical need to leverage digital tools to en...

Traditionally, academics in higher education relied on lectures, seminars, and textbooks for face-to-face instruction. However, technology integration in education has transformed the landscape, enhancing engagement, active learning, and personalised instruction, prompting academics to rethink their teaching methods. Anchored in social constructivi...

Most studies on teacher resistance to curriculum policy and reform implementation focus on teacher activism and visible acts of resistance. But there is growing interest in teachers’ passive resistance and covert protest in the face of intimidating state power. This paper theorises subtleties of teacher protest in three Southern African states – Le...

Although South African higher education institutions experienced a surge in technology use since apartheid, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted adjustments to technology policies and the adoption of emerging technologies, impacting academics' teaching roles, research initiatives, and community services due to unfamiliarity with online learning technolog...

Over the past 2 decades, worldwide research has established that the district office of education matters. Various policy initiatives are directing district offices to shift from limited managerial functions and begin to directly support learner instruction. The intention of this article, therefore, was to tease the question: How do school inspecto...

This study investigates how academics’ self-concept, disciplinary background, and institutional context shape their professional identities at a South African university. This qualitative case study research conducted semi-structured interviews with eight university lecturers. The academics were chosen using convenience sampling based on accessibil...

This study aimed to explore how early childhood teachers engage science process skills for teaching science concepts in early childhood settings. Social constructivist theory was employed as the guiding framework for this study. Four Grade R teachers were purposefully selected and engaged through qualitative research methods. Data generation was in...

This study employed a descriptive case study design to examine the integration of technology in science education, focusing on the professional development of student teachers in Ghana. Using the technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) framework as a theoretical lens, the study aimed to address the gaps in existing teacher education...

Growing human capacities in STEM remain the most practicable way to solving present and future challenges. Improved test score, opportunities to learn, resources and facilities have been recommended in the literature to build capacity and improve achievement for effective and qualitative delivery in STEM classrooms. We focus on the two primary stak...

Higher education is driven by the objective of establishing an educational setting in which academics and students collaboratively construct and convey scientific knowledge and values that can be utilised in the future. Academics' professional identity focuses on their professional interests, values, and commitments to important work duties. Conseq...

This study investigates preservice teachers’ knowledge of elements and rationale for Nature of Science (NOS). Skill gap is established in the literature on pedagogical practices of preservice as well as novice teachers of science, reflecting deficiency in their professional training and eventual classroom practice. Examining preservice teachers’ kn...

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is considered an important ingredient in shaping classroom practice. PCK requires valid measurement at domain-specific level on different components excluding the teaching context. While the research focuses on measuring the PCK of unqualified teachers and pre-service teachers, the description of qualified teache...

Reports of difficulty in physics has been documented over the years, especially at the senior secondary level. The application of mathematics as a tool for understanding physical phenomena and problem-solving is well-established. The use of symbols and mathematical rigour is essential for effective problem-solving in physics. However, the teaching...

This study set out to map the changing dynamics of school leadership in South Africa and the enormous challenges that go with it. The article explored the democratisation of schools since the advent of democracy in 1994 and how school principals are handling the devolution of powers as accounting officers. It further mapped out a few key themes on...

Background: Preschool teachers play a key role in early scientific education, and their understanding and ability to communicate scientific concepts are crucial. Researchers have extensively studied their grasp of basic scientific concepts, but their understanding of important concepts related to buoyancy, such as floating and sinking, remains rela...

The call for social justice in education has been echoed across the globe for many decades. However, the dual hatchets of racial and social-class segregation have refused to be buried in the 21st century. Inequalities within and across nations remain pervasive and conspicuous. Tapping into the framework of policy genealogy, this theoretical qualita...

School reform efforts have focussed on the principal as the major determinant of students’ outcome without saying much on the contribution of deputy principals. Deputy principals are 2nd on the school’s hierarchical structure. The distributed leadership construct advocates more actors in instructional leadership. In this study we examined whether d...

The appointment of leaders at Cameroonian universities is a tradition that has dominated the operations and autonomy of the institutions since the establishment of state universities under the 1993 reforms. This gave authority to the government to decide the pedagogical and academic activities of these universities and to appoint and dismiss their...

This paper examines the implication of administrative task delegation on academics' professional identity construction at a Cameroonian university. Academics at Cameroonian universities are juggling multiple tasks, including teaching, research, outreach and administrative tasks. Using a qualitative case study design, 11 academics selected purposive...

This study examines undergraduates and postgraduates use of the internet for academic purposes in STREAM fields. A mixed method research which sampled 100 respondents selected through snowballing sampling technique. Four research questions and one hypothesis guided this study. Two instruments namely Internet Usage Questionnaire (IUQ) and semi-struc...

Summative assessment is often criticised as an unfair representation of learner effort and aptitude. In summative high-stakes examinations, economically privileged learners consistently outperform marginalised counterparts, perpetuating inequitable social class reproduction. But UN Sustainable Development Goal No.4 calls for equitable quality educa...

The experience pre-service teachers take to the teaching profession go a long way to determine their success level. This experience is usually learnt consciously or unconsciously, developed, and improved during their professional teacher training program. This paper adopts the concurrent mixed methods research approach to investigate the experience...

Colonial education is often criticized for being conservative, static, oppressive, and irrelevant to the needs and interests of the colonized people. This theoretical paper, however, disrupts the established narrative of condemnation by challenging scholars of curriculum reform to take a fresh look at colonial education policy. This study tease...

Teachers unconsciously, and at times intentionally, use metaphors to graphically image new reform policy. This qualitative multiple case-study explores how secondary school teachers employed metaphors to communicate excitement and/or frustrations with a new history curriculum they were implementing in Zimbabwe. Findings from semi-structured intervi...

span lang="EN-US">Evaluation in secondary schools has been left in the hands of school management, administrators, and teachers. Little or no attention has been paid to the concerns of students, who happens to be another important stakeholder in the teaching-learning process. Students’ voices regarding teachers’ classroom practice can have great im...

The awareness and application of the knowledge of Further Mathematics transcends the boundary of Physics as a discipline. The need to explore means of improving students’ achievement in physics remains valid in the parlance of research. The use of mathematical knowledge in resolving physics is established in the literature. Over the years, students...

Inequality in education is a challenge that have persisted and still likely to persist for a long time in the field of education because students come into the classroom with different characteristics. This situation pose a great threat to the realization of classroom objectives especially during physics lessons because students struggle to remembe...

This chapter explores the state of inclusive education in the secondary schools in Zimbabwe decades after independence and the Salamanca Declaration. The thrust of the chapter is very important at a time when inclusive education is increasingly being viewed as a critical element of basic education and a step towards social justice. The chapter show...

Shortage of expertise in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields have been reported over the years despite financial and social interventions by government through policies and efforts of stakeholders. Remediating the afore stated requires a retrospection into the factors responsible for learners’ choice and career orientatio...

The teaching of natural sciences and technology in primary schools presents an opportunity to use innovative approaches to teach STEM-based activities. The subject presents opportunities for learners to experience STEM-based instructional approaches in their early school years; therefore, it is essential that preservice primary school teachers are...

In the parlance of literature, phobia is regarded as a major barrier to students learning in many subject areas. However, when students do not possess phobia for a particular subject, they may be indifferent or have the right attitude in such subject. This study investigated students’ attitude as correlate of physics achievement in secondary school...

Article Info This qualitative study explored the views of six Lesotho primary school principals regarding the in-service training they received to implement the integrated curriculum. Purposive sampling was used to select participants who met the inclusion criteria in Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho. A document analysis of the integrated curric...

The decision to integrate Nature of Science into classroom practice is no longer a debate among science educators and curriculum experts. There exists empirical evidence to substantiate its effectiveness, judging by both the academic performance and ability of students to conceptualize abstract yet teachable areas in science. Curriculum and Assessm...

It is important for students to understand force concepts because they are central to learning physics and other sciences; however, students find it difficult to understand. There are calls for teachers to tap into their professional knowledge and develop beliefs that help them assist students comprehend the topic. To meet this challenge, teachers’...

School curriculum in post-colonial societies has been castigated, not only as alien and irrelevant, but as dehumanizing and marginalizing to the indigenous people. This study gleans insights into how Ubuntu (humanness)-a strand of indigenous African knowledge-is being implemented in Zimbabwe's New Curriculum Framework 2015-2022. This qualitative de...

Ordinary and advanced level physics teachers have similar responsibilities in impacting the knowledge of physics among learners. These responsibilities are premised around qualification, experience and job placement. Teachers’ experience has a place in the literature to influence physics performance. The curriculum of both advanced and ordinary lev...

Cooperative learning pedagogy is beneficial among student hence, its adoption for teaching and learning at all levels of education. The concept of cooperative learning pedagogy appears to immerse students and teachers into classroom activities thereby making them active participants during the teaching and learning process. However, cooperative lea...

The evolution of curricula at any level of education remains relevant based on evolving developments, challenges, and policy direction of society. A university physics education programme has evolved over the years to accommodate, and in some instances, remediate the societal dynamics using the principles of physics. The training of physics teacher...

The world is a global village today undoubtedly due to advances in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines and their education. The knowledge from these disciplines influences various aspects of human daily affairs, career choices and the type of education acquired by citizens. STEM literature across the world has put Af...

School reform policy in post-colonial societies is often guided by Euro-American theory from the North. Theory generated in the South is marginalised as backward and unscientific. The present study, couched within the Southern Theory framework, disrupts the hegemony of Northern Theory by examining the implementation of the indigenous philosophy of...

While women representation has improved, people still need to change their mindset when it comes to female school leaders in different societies. We argue that female heads are placed and perceived differently in society. Based on the interpretivist paradigm, we used the qualitative approach. A multiple case study design was adopted, and five femal...

The COVID-19 pandemic ravaging most cities of the world has forced many countries to go into partial or total lockdown thus suspending face-to-face learning. The difficulties created by the lockdown that arose to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic forced educational institutions to adopt blended learning which became crucial to fostering...

p class="p1">Brain-based learning (BBL) has been described as an important pedagogy that can be effectively used to enhance different teaching methods or strategies. It uses essential principles from brain-based theory to alleviate the disadvantages inherent in traditional teaching methods to achieve classroom goals and objectives. The use of such...

School organizational conditions influence teaching and learning. Instructional leadership is context-based, and the practices of the leader are contingent upon the school's organizational context. In this paper, we examine how different schools create the organizational infrastructure for teaching and learning natural sciences (NS) and the adequac...

School organizational conditions influence teaching and learning. Instructional leadership is context-based, and the practices of the leader are contingent upon the school’s organizational context. In this paper, we examine how different schools create the organizational infrastructure for teaching and learning natural sciences (NS) and the adequac...

This article shares the authors’ reflections and experiences gained from a pilot study that was recently used in completing a larger qualitative educational research study on the challenges and opportunities for instructional leadership in inclusive secondary schools in Zimbabwe. Historically, pilot studies have not been reported. When interest in...

With the increase in demand for school-based tasks, teachers, especially natural sciences (NS) teachers, are increasingly in need of professional support and leadership that will improve their subject instruction. This paper investigates NS teachers' perspectives on the type and quality of instructional leadership provided for NS teaching and how t...

Many studies view inclusive education practices as having the potential to improve equal access to education, where the existing barriers are reduced. In mathematics specifically, it is believed that providing more opportunities to learn for learners with special educational needs can improve their performance and result in scaling down the mathema...

Globally, pedagogical reform policy seeks to give space to learners' voices. But teachers often struggle to engage learners in knowledge construction, de-construction and reconstruction; as advocated by official curriculum reform policy. Aligning classroom practice to pedagogical-reform policy remains an uphill struggle for most teachers. This arti...

This study investigated pedagogical implication of spatial visualization as correlate of students’ achievement in physics. Ex post facto research of the co-relational type with 857 senior secondary school three (S. S. 3) participants comprising of male and female students from both public and private-schools from Kwara State, Nigeria. Four research...

School–university partnerships for the professional development of teach- ers continue to be used extensively in South Africa to enhance the quality of teaching and learning, especially in mathematics. The success of such partnerships in changing teachers’ classroom practices, however, remains in doubt, in part because very few studies present empi...

Teachers cannot escape being learners if they are to be proficient practitioners. This study interrogates the effects of a professional development programme on mathematics teachers’ pedagogical practices in South African primary schools. Using critical theory as the illuminating lens, this qualitative study, which is cast within the participatory...

Since large-scale studies show country and institutional differences in the preparation of B.Ed students, there is growing interest in the determination of the opportunities-to-learn afforded to them and the effects thereof in South African universities and elsewhere. There are, however, few studies that provide a contextually nuanced view of the e...

Natural sciences (NS) is an amalgam of five science disciplines, but the teachers of this subject are usually generalists, or have specialised in a maximum of two of the disciplines. This poses a major challenge to heads of department (HoDs), who are expected to lead instruction in these disciplines. We investigate science HoDs’ capacity to provide...

Secondary school physics contribute significantly to the technological development of a nation because it lays the foundation for further studies in physics. Physics is an abstract science subject that relies greatly on practical, and the crucial role played by the use of instructional materials especially, e-learning facilities in this 21st centur...

Globally, pedagogical reform policy seeks to give space to learners’ voices. But teachers often struggle to engage learners in knowledge construction, deconstruction and reconstruction; as advocated by official curriculum reform policy. Aligning classroom practice to pedagogical-reform policy remains an uphill struggle for most teachers. This artic...

Physics, a major branch of science requires adequate implementation of its theoretical and practical components. The critical role played by the use of laboratory in realising this goal cannot be overemphasized hence, the need for proper management of laboratory resources. This study investigated the rating of physics laboratory resources managemen...

This paper examines the interaction between class size and teachers' selection of teaching methods while implementing a new history curriculum in Zimbabwean secondary schools. Policy makers, parents, teachers, and students are worried about large class sizes because they are associated with higher dropout rates, less teacher-student interaction and...

Teacher professional development has often been carried out by external experts as a once-off activity. This paper shifts from this traditional paradigm where teachers are recipients of external expert advice to one where they professionally develop themselves. The study explores how curriculum planners in Zimbabwe sought to improve teacher profess...

This article explores school heads' enactment of instructional leadership practices in inclusive secondary schools in Zimbabwe. It provides answers to the central question: How do school heads enact instructional leadership practices in inclusive secondary schools and how does sense-making by school heads explain instructional leadership practices...

Natural sciences heads of departments often find themselves in the middle, shuttling between one role as part of the school management team, and another as an ordinary classroom teacher whose role as subject and instructional leaders is made even more complex because of the several duties incorporated in the subject which brings together other scie...

This article examines the nexus of autonomy and instructional leadership in school clusters in Zimbabwe. Using the Better Schools Programme of Zimbabwe cluster, teachers and school heads were interviewed on their perspectives on how autonomy influences instructional leadership practices. Results established that clusters provide schools with the fr...

Globally, policy reform in education has recommended learner-centered pedagogy for more than a century, but its practical implementation remains an illusion in many classrooms. This study describes history teachers’ experiences while experimenting on project-based learning (PjBL) in Zimbabwe’s current curriculum reform initiative. Project-based lea...

This qualitative interpretive study explores issues and challenges influencing school improvement opportunities for Science and Mathematics in selected South African high schools through a systems leadership lens. Unstructured interviews were conducted with 13 participants comprising a principal, deputy principals, heads of department (HODs) for Sc...

Curriculum reform is often difficult to conceive, disseminate, and implement, resulting in the use of metaphors to make sense of how changes initiated at national level are enacted in schools. This theoretical paper, which employs Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA), constructs an account of emerging trends in metaphoric language to unlock the complex...

In many countries across the world, teaching is regarded as a noble profession. However, in some countries, it has degenerated into a low status occupation. This qualitative study explores the life-history of four Zimbabwean teachers and how they were implementing the New Curriculum Framework 2015-2022. The self-identity theory provides the framewo...

In the wake of the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 on sustainability, this study problematizes how conditions in multiple-deprived science classrooms are intricately connected to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). This narrative inquiry design research consisting of one participant, describes how the conditions of multiple-deprivation in science...

Too often, instructional leadership is perceived as an area of competence for principals with less focus on teachers, especially those with subject leadership responsibilities. In the study reported on here we investigated the perspectives of subject leaders and their perceived competence in instructional leadership as a basis for its correlation....

Learner absenteeism is a global concern, with scholars identifying the socioeconomic status of communities and parental non-involvement as major causes. This qualitative paper explores the roles played by parents in aggravating learner absenteeism. The study was anchored in two selected South African primary schools and involved eight educators. In...

Many teachers of mathematics continue to struggle with the resolution of the concept-symbol schism for their learners, in part because the understanding of one depends on the other. Research has shown the benefits of using manipulatives to concretize abstract mathematical concepts and symbols, leading to the development of mathematics laboratories...

The prioritization of quality education, especially in science and in mathematics, positions effective teaching and learning as a major school leadership goal. Effective curriculum implementation hinges on power dynamics in schools; this puts distributed leadership in the spotlight. Heads of departments (HoDs) are important role players in the dist...

The outcomes of IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) conducted from 1995 to 2002 confirmed that there was no improvement in the learning outcomes of grade eight learners in Mathematics and Science. Additionally, the failure rate in Mathematics at the National Senior Certificate (NSC) Matriculation examination has incr...

For centuries, teacher professional development has largely been done by external experts who advise teachers on how to improve classroom practice and learner performance. This research explores a relatively unchartered idea of history subject panels/clusters as an innovation meant to break away from orthodox teacher professional development spearh...

This paper explores how history teachers in Zimbabwe interpret the new curriculum policy and how their understanding influenced the implementation of the new reforms. Using a qualitative multiple-case study of history teachers data were collected through document analysis, in-depth interviews and extensive non-participatory lesson observations. Res...

We investigate and compare assessment practices in two (dual- and single-mode) institutions in Nigeria. A mixed-methods approach was employed. Descriptive statistics and narration were carried out for the purpose of determining what the assessment practices were and how they may be related to the students learning of undergraduate mathematics in di...

Sensemaking is pivotal in shaping organisational activities, such as instructional leadership actions in schools. This study used sensemaking to explore the outcome when two middle schools with similar multi-deprivation settings followed different instructional leadership enactment trajectories for science and mathematics. Two schools with effectiv...

The study investigated the factors affecting the teaching of Physics in Technology, a new theme under the Senior Secondary School Physics Curriculum which took effect in Nigeria after the last curriculum review. The study adopted the survey design, which involved all the Senior Secondary School Physics teachers in Ondo, Nigeria and it addressed thr...

School-based professional development interventions are regarded as one of the most efficient ways to facilitate teacher learning. However, the available evidence supporting their effectiveness is limited. This paper assesses and seeks to understand the effects of a school-based professional development intervention that uses Lesson Study to foster...

Teacher-dominated approach is still the most adopted teaching strategy in Ghanaian high schools despite the Government of Ghana’s initiatives to support technology-oriented, learner-centred and interactive teaching practices. This study examined the effectiveness of simulation-based lessons in improving the teaching of high school physics by adapti...

This qualitative research reports the results of a short learning intervention programme conducted by South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) Chair in Science and Mathematics Education to enhance the mathematical knowledge of teachers in some South African schools. The short learning programme comprised the fostering of teachers’ mathe...

In this paper the authors use the collaboration framework to explore the implementation of the School Feeding Scheme (SFS) in two primary schools within South Africa. The authors use a qualitative approach to gather data through individual and focus group interviews with two principals and eight teachers respectively. The feeding process was also o...

High school science and mathematics achievements in high-stakes testing environments are often characterised by poor performance and reduced participation by learners. The poor performance and reduced participation by learners in science and mathematics is often on the school improvement agendas. Making sense of how to improve learner achievements...

The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) reforms in the South African school system came with an increased emphasis on laboratory practicals for the physical sciences. While reform implementation is known to be fraught with a myriad of challenges, for science teachers such significant changes in the practical components magnified the c...

Research suggests that there is not enough integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into subject teaching by graduate teachers across a variety of school settings. This points in part to the inadequacy of preservice teacher preparation. Hence, this research explores the question of how preservice teachers develop the necessa...

Science teachers' career satisfaction and organisational climate, which influence their job performances, are very important. This research examined the extent to which science teachers' career satisfaction and organisational climate are related to their job performances in rural learning ecologies. Within a survey and correlational research design...