‘They say we are crèche teachers’: Experiences of pre-service mathematics teachers taught through the medium of isiZulu

Language of instruction, both in schools and higher education institutions (HEIs), is a contentious issue in South Africa. At our university in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa a language policy was approved in agreement with the Language Policy for Higher Education, recommending promotio...

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Main Authors: Linda van Laren, Busisiwe Goba
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AOSIS 2013-06-01
Series:Pythagoras
Subjects:
Online Access:https://pythagoras.org.za/index.php/pythagoras/article/view/216
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spelling doaj-f8cfa77c7f0c482f87aa14f833e331922020-11-25T01:08:04ZengAOSISPythagoras1012-23462223-78952013-06-01341e1e810.4102/pythagoras.v34i1.216148‘They say we are crèche teachers’: Experiences of pre-service mathematics teachers taught through the medium of isiZuluLinda van Laren0Busisiwe Goba1Department of Mathematics Education, University of KwaZulu-NatalDepartment of Mathematics Education, University of KwaZulu-NatalLanguage of instruction, both in schools and higher education institutions (HEIs), is a contentious issue in South Africa. At our university in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa a language policy was approved in agreement with the Language Policy for Higher Education, recommending promotion of isiZulu as a medium of instruction for teaching and learning. In complying with this policy the School of Education of our university offered three education modules (Numeracy, Life Skills and Literacy) in the Foundation Phase (FP) Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) through the medium of isiZulu. Against this background we conducted a qualitative study with 16 FP PGCE pre-service teachers selected purposefully from the 2011 cohort who completed the FP numeracy education module in isiZulu. Participants were generally positive about their experiences of being taught in isiZulu, but highlighted challenges related to isiZulu as a medium of instruction for academic concept explanations, translation of teaching and learning materials, and the status of isiZulu as an instruction medium at a HEI.https://pythagoras.org.za/index.php/pythagoras/article/view/216numeracy educationpostgraduate certificate in educationmother tongue instructionhigher educationisiZulufoundation phase
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language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Linda van Laren
Busisiwe Goba
spellingShingle Linda van Laren
Busisiwe Goba
‘They say we are crèche teachers’: Experiences of pre-service mathematics teachers taught through the medium of isiZulu
Pythagoras
numeracy education
postgraduate certificate in education
mother tongue instruction
higher education
isiZulu
foundation phase
author_facet Linda van Laren
Busisiwe Goba
author_sort Linda van Laren
title ‘They say we are crèche teachers’: Experiences of pre-service mathematics teachers taught through the medium of isiZulu
title_short ‘They say we are crèche teachers’: Experiences of pre-service mathematics teachers taught through the medium of isiZulu
title_full ‘They say we are crèche teachers’: Experiences of pre-service mathematics teachers taught through the medium of isiZulu
title_fullStr ‘They say we are crèche teachers’: Experiences of pre-service mathematics teachers taught through the medium of isiZulu
title_full_unstemmed ‘They say we are crèche teachers’: Experiences of pre-service mathematics teachers taught through the medium of isiZulu
title_sort ‘they say we are crèche teachers’: experiences of pre-service mathematics teachers taught through the medium of isizulu
publisher AOSIS
series Pythagoras
issn 1012-2346
2223-7895
publishDate 2013-06-01
description Language of instruction, both in schools and higher education institutions (HEIs), is a contentious issue in South Africa. At our university in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa a language policy was approved in agreement with the Language Policy for Higher Education, recommending promotion of isiZulu as a medium of instruction for teaching and learning. In complying with this policy the School of Education of our university offered three education modules (Numeracy, Life Skills and Literacy) in the Foundation Phase (FP) Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) through the medium of isiZulu. Against this background we conducted a qualitative study with 16 FP PGCE pre-service teachers selected purposefully from the 2011 cohort who completed the FP numeracy education module in isiZulu. Participants were generally positive about their experiences of being taught in isiZulu, but highlighted challenges related to isiZulu as a medium of instruction for academic concept explanations, translation of teaching and learning materials, and the status of isiZulu as an instruction medium at a HEI.
topic numeracy education
postgraduate certificate in education
mother tongue instruction
higher education
isiZulu
foundation phase
url https://pythagoras.org.za/index.php/pythagoras/article/view/216
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