Ntando Mpahla’s research while affiliated with Walter Sisulu University and other places

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Publications (32)


PREPARING STUDENT TEACHERS THROUGH PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHING AND LEARNING: A STUDY IN ONE RURAL UNIVERSITY OF THE EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE
  • Article
  • Full-text available

August 2023

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89 Reads

International Journal of Innovative Technologies in Social Science

Ntando Elliot Mpahla

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The findings from this study indicated that the programmes of student teacher education are not implemented in totality as there is no module for Physical Education (PE) in the programmes of study in the Faculty of Education. This study aimed at investigating the preparation of student teachers through PE teaching and learning in one rural university of the Eastern Cape Province. PE teaching and learning for student teachers at a higher education institution means preparing future teachers in totality to acquire vibrant and active public schools. This study used a qualitative research methodology where data was collected from fifteen (15) participants composing of five (05) B Ed Foundation Phase Teaching student teachers, five (05) Postgraduate (PGCE) student teachers and five (05) lecturers from the Faculty of Education. Semi-structured interviews were used as instruments of data collection. Participants for the study were selected through purposive sampling because of their defining characteristics about the knowledge of the problem under study. The study concludes that it is awkward to train and develop student teachers for public schools without the knowledge of PE teaching and learning. There is a recommendation to infuse training of student teachers in PE, henceforth, as novice teachers get employment at schools, they are allocated among other duties, extra-mural activities such sport.

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APPLYING PLACE-BASED APPROACH IN TEACHING ACADEMIC WRITING IN A TERTIARY ENGLISH FIRST ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE CONTEXT IN THE EASTERN CAPE

January 2023

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48 Reads

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2 Citations

This study investigates the instructional effectiveness of applying the place-based approach (PBA) in teaching academic English context writing to student teachers who were learning English as a First Additional Language (FAL) in a university. The study employed a qualitative research design, embracing characteristics of a case study. The data were obtained from several sources, including interviews and document analysis by the researchers. The findings revealed that despite some limitations, the teaching programme was successful such that students benefit from both developing their English language competency and mastering the material on the disciplines related to their future professional field. Lecturers experience a more coherent and enriched teaching environment. Most significantly, interviews showed that PBA was effective in improving students' writing skills and that the students benefited to a greater extent in content and language use. The study suggests that the university have an opportunity to develop learning material that connects the students with their environment.




TASK-BASED APPROACH IN IMPROVING THE COMMUNICATIVE SKILL OF ENGLISH FIRST ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE FIRST-YEAR STUDENT TEACHERS

January 2023

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128 Reads

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1 Citation

Communication is an important skill, for it equips students with a set of abilities they can use for the rest of their lives. Communication skills (CS) are most often used to express opinions, make arguments, offer explanations, transmit information, and make impressions upon others. The researchers had observed that first-year student teachers (FYST) were always shy and unable to express themselves in class in fear of being ridiculed by others. This study focuses on the importance of implementing a task-based approach (TBA) in improving the communicative skill of English First Additional Language (EFAL) first-year student teachers. The study presents the experiences and viewpoints of FYST in the teaching English module. This is done in the context of both oral presentation and written reports of EFAL first-year students. The study draws on qualitative data from semi-structured interviews and observation with FYST whose home language (L1) is isiXhosa. It has been studied with 12 students of FYS teachers to gather data. In this study, all the findings indicate that TBA applied in EFAL teaching class is very effective and beneficial for the enhancement of the students. The students in the TBA group considered this approach to be an important medium of input enhancement for improving communicative skill.


Perceptions of South African Secondary School English Language Teachers On Code Switching Approach Towards Language Development

January 2023

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209 Reads

This paper explores how code-switching can be meaningfully used as an empowerment approach towards improving learners' performance in English language. In cultures with people using more than one language as a way of communication, code-switching exists. Bilinguals as speakers of more than one language, code-switch, thereby using their languages resourcefully at conveying meaning in a variety of ways. Code-switching occurs every day during the processes of teaching and learning as most subjects in the curriculum are offered in English language. Teaching and learning English language in South Africa is characterised by serious challenges because the government is advocating for the use of home languages for all subjects of the lower grades in primary schools. However, teachers still encounter challenges when they use English as a medium of instruction in the preceding grades because learners fail to comprehend challenging English concepts and terminologies presented to them in a language which is not their home language. Qualitative research methods were used to collect data and the findings reveal that using code-switching can be a worthwhile approach to be used in bilingual classrooms. A possible recommendation is that English language teachers should utilize code-switching as an approach to assist language development as learners in the schools investigated emanate from diverse cultures, underpinned by different linguistic backgrounds and linguistic constituencies.


Development of English Proficiency Conflicting with Learner Cultural Backgrounds

January 2023

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161 Reads

This paper seeks to investigate whether learners' cultural backgrounds have an influence on the decline in English proficiency among learners from a selected education district in one of the disadvantaged provinces in South Africa. What prompted this examination is the learners' declining performance in aspects of English language such as reading, writing and speaking. The idea of carrying out this study became necessary as English is a compulsory first additional language for most schools as prescribed by the South African curriculum. Most of the subjects offered in South African schools are taught in English; moreover, English is an internationally-recognized medium of communication. One therefore, has to master the use of English to a certain extent so as to be a successful scholar. The sample consisted of twenty English Secondary School teachers, randomly selected from various schools around the education district. The study adopted a quantitative approach. Questionnaires as data collection tools were administered by the researchers in person, and thereby analyzing and interpreting statistically through discussions. The results revealed that the geographical locations of the selected schools for the research study, home backgrounds and limited exposure to English-related resources contribute to the deterioration in English expertise. In conclusion we come up with some recommendations to curb the situation.


RURAL PRIMARY TEACHERS' CONSTRUCTIONS OF QUALITY EDUCATION: A REVIEW OF CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL TEACHER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES IN ONE EDUCATION DISTRICT OF THE EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE

January 2023

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47 Reads

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1 Citation

This study explored the extent to which teachers' constructions of continuing professional teacher development (CPTD) programmes are implemented to bring about quality education in the Amathole East Education District. CPTD is a programme based on the conviction that the quality of teachers influences the quality of learners' performance. Quality education emanates from effective teachers who have undergone effective CPTD programmes. Hence professional development is meant to improve teacher classroom practices. The findings from this study indicated that although CPTD programmes are in place, teachers are faced with enormous challenges of learner performance as CPTD does not resolve classroom difficulties. Strategies for implementing CPTD programmes used do not impact on teacher classroom practices as the required outcomes of the CPTD projects in place are not forthcoming. The situation results to teachers not being motivated to attend out-of-school CPTD programmes as they feel not rewarded in terms of the programmes impact on their teaching practices. In addressing the research problem, this study was placed within an interpretive paradigm, allowing the use of a qualitative research design. The qualitative data was collected through the use of semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Thematic data analysis was used to analyse qualitative data.


Teacher Education for Single-Grade Teaching Disqualifies Multi- Grade Teaching for Rural Education

January 2023

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118 Reads

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1 Citation

PUPIL International Journal of Teaching Education and Learning

This paper examined the collision of teacher education for single-grade teacher classroom practices on multi-grade classroom teaching. Teachers educated for the normal situation of single-grade classroom teaching are not linked to the competencies required to practice and teach multi-grade classrooms. With the current models of teacher education, none pays attention to multi-grade teaching of rural education but only focuses on monograde classroom teaching. The paper used a qualitative research methodology. The researchers felt it vital to use a qualitative approach as the paper studies the life experiences of teachers in their natural and context-specific settings. Participants were selected through purposive sampling because of their common defining characteristic in the problem under study. Data was collected through the use of semi-structured interviews and document analysis. When analysing data, a narrative analysis was used. The results of this paper indicated that teachers teaching in multi-grade classes were not educated to acquire such a pedagogical knowledge. This finding concludes that teachers have no specialised knowledge that would improve learner outcomes from the quality of teaching workforce and the quality of teaching.


EXPERIENCES OF RURAL PRIMARY TEACHERS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL TEACHER DEVELOPMENT IN THE AMATHOLE EAST EDUCATION DISTRICT

January 2023

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94 Reads

The findings from this study indicated that teachers in rural primary schools experience ineffectiveness in the implementation of Continuing Professional Teacher Development (CPTD) programmes within their classroom practices. The implementation of CPTD programmes is championed by the district officials who follow a top-down approach that does not recognise the needs and aspirations of the teachers in the real classroom situation. Such a cause emanates from the fact that one day workshops for implementing CPTD programmes are conducted out-of-school site instead of on-site CPTD programmes. These programmes do not improve teacher classroom practices and as such the intended improvement of learner performance is not achieved. Teachers prefer on-site CPTD programmes where they have a voice and work together with both fellow colleagues and district officials. However, from Guskey's (2002) theory of teacher change, high quality professional development is central to the constructivist approach to CPTD which must adopt the bottom-up approach and contextualized from the view point of the teachers themselves. It is against these circumstances that Wenger's (1998) social theory of learning postulates the idea of adult learning as involving practical experience and communities of practice. The purpose of the study was to explore the experiences of rural primary teachers in the implementation CPTD programmes under the auspices of the National Policy Framework. A qualitative research methodology was used where data was collected from 18 participants through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Thematic data analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. Some recommendations have been made.


Citations (7)


... The practice became a hallmark when initiatives to help the resuscitation of rural education were financed by the Annenberg Foundation, and several of those projects relied on placebased instructional paradigms (Smith, 2007). PBA research has grown since 2004 (Barrentine, 2015;Lester, 2012;Mpiti et al., 2021;Smith, 2007;Waller & Rodríguez-Pose, 2018). The most recent research regards PBA as an extraordinary, thought-altering, and successful teaching strategy. ...

Reference:

Augmented Reality for Teaching Storytelling in a Rural Foundation Phase Primary School: Integrating a Place-Based Approach
APPLYING PLACE-BASED APPROACH IN TEACHING ACADEMIC WRITING IN A TERTIARY ENGLISH FIRST ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE CONTEXT IN THE EASTERN CAPE

... On two separate Likert scales, questions in Section II (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20) and Section III (21-28) of the survey measured the degree to which students' academic and professional demands were met by their respective institutes. In the second part of the survey, students had to assess the extent to which their school met their academic needs and how much of a need those needs were. ...

ENHANCING ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY THROUGH LEARNING STYLES CENTERED ON A PERCEPTION OF MIGRATING FROM FACE-TO-FACE TO REMOTE ONLINE LEARNING CULTURE: A CASE OF A RURAL SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITY

... Kendrick and McKay (2004); Kress (1997) and Lenters (2018) are of the same view as they contend that instructors are supposed to travel along with those being learning a language they are not familiar with, for the purposes of driving them at being globally competent and successful scholars. For effective schooling, Mpahla et al (2021) debate that to cater for rural setting imbalances, teachers have an obligation to administer best teaching and learning practices that would lead to excellence and improved quality education. In line with that argument, Mukhtar et al (2020) and Nambiar (2020) contend that there was a similar case in Lahore [13] where results of a qualitative case study divulged that changed approaches to learning have brought about some limitations, leading the researchers to recommend learner centred approaches that encouraged interactivity. ...

RURAL PRIMARY TEACHERS’ CONSTRUCTIONS OF QUALITY EDUCATION: A REVIEW OF CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL TEACHER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES IN ONE EDUCATION DISTRICT OF THE EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE

... In this instance, these multi-grade schools lack teacher effectiveness as teacher effectiveness refers to the focus on learner outcomes and the teacher behaviours and classroom processes that promote better learner outcomes (Ko et. al., 2016;Mpahla & Makena, 2020). ...

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL TEACHER DEVELOPMENT FOR RURAL EDUCATION: THE ESSENCE TO INTRODUCE EFFECTIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

... Rural contexts are confronted with several challenges that hinder the accurate implementation of SBTPD (Shelile & Hlalele, 2014, Mpahla & Okeke, 2015, Oduaran, 2015, Ajibade, 2016. This causes a lack of motivation among the teachers in rural schools to implement teacher development programmes, since they do not see its influence on their teaching (Okeke & Mpahla, 2016). As managers, school principals are mandated to provide support, monitoring, evaluation and overall management of professional development programmes. ...

Continuing Professional Teacher Development: The Case of Junior Teachers in one Rural Education District in South Africa
  • Citing Article
  • July 2016

Studies of Tribes and Tribals

... CPTD not only enhances teaching and learning, but also ensures that classrooms have highly skilled teachers. Ultimately, learner performance is promoted (Mpahla and Okeke 2015). Nonetheless, the reality is that only some teachers see PD as a professional duty, whereas many others view it as optional (Caena 2011). ...

Junior Secondary Educators’ Views on the Strategies for Implementing Continuing Professional Development Programs in One Rural Education District

Studies of Tribes and Tribals

... In addition, resistance to [2]e is probably one of the greatest inhibitors of the promotion of innovative teaching methods in educations institutions as students, teachers and other stakeholders view change, especially where it alters traditional teaching processes as unnecessary [4]. Further, the professional development of the teachers is not always continuing and where it is, these professional developments may be limited in rural areas and may not expose teachers to current research findings or training seminars [17]. ...

The Rurality of Continuing Professional Teacher Development (CPTD)
  • Citing Article
  • July 2015

Studies of Tribes and Tribals