Changing teaching, changing times : : lessons from a South African township science classroom / / by Jonathan Clark and Cedric Linder.

• Superior document: Bold Visions in Educational Research ; 8
• VerfasserIn: Clark, J. C. D.,; Linder, Cedric J., 1954-
• TeilnehmendeR: Linder, Cedric J., 1954-
• Place / Publishing House: Rotterdam, Netherlands ;, Taipei : : Sense Publishers,, [2006]; ©2006
• Year of Publication: 2006
• Language: English
• Series: Bold Visions in Educational Research ; 8.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource
• Notes: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

This is the story of a science teacher and her work in an over-crowded and under-resourced township secondary school in contemporary South Africa. While set firmly in the present, it is also a journey into the past, shedding fresh light on how the legacy of apartheid education continues to have a major influence on teaching and learning in South Africa. The book has a compelling story line with extensively referenced notes at the end of each chapter. It is intended for a wide audience, which includes general readers, policy makers, teacher-educators, researchers and, most importantly, practitioners in the field. For, while it reminds us of the powerful constraining role that both context and students play in mediating a teacher’s practice, it also attests to the power of individual agency. As such it is a celebration of the actions of an ordinary teacher whose willingness to leave the well-worn paths of familiar practice stands as a beacon of possibility for contexts which seem, so often, to be devoid of hope.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- Lessons from the Context-Bound Chalkface -- Setting the Scene: The Township, the School, and Its Students -- School and Staff -- The Role of Students at a Time of Innovation and Change -- Nomzamo – A Science Teacher -- Adrift on the Sea of Change . . . -- The Continuing Dilemma of Continuing Change -- Some Insights and Implications of This Study -- Appendix -- Bibliography.