Abstract
This chapter presents a narrative of ‘snapshots’ taken from a socio-cultural study conducted with a group of mathematics teachers from an Eastern Cape primary school in South Africa. Conversations focusing on the teachers’ personal experiences of education are placed against the backdrop of the national socio-political transformation taking place in South Africa. Emphasis is placed on the centrality of the teachers’ voice, giving expression to their individual experiences, their feelings and their beliefs. The study highlights dimensions of a ‘journey’—a journey that could be seen as one not dissimilar to that which the society itself is undergoing, one that resonates with the bigger picture. Indeed— in a parallel to the national move towards openness—the conversations with the teachers reveal a movement from a ‘closed’ atmosphere of constrained co-operation, towards a more ‘open’ one of freer collaboration.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Appley, D. E. and Winder, A. E. (1977). An evolving definition of collaboration and some implications for the world of work. Journal of Behavioural Science, 13 (3), 279–290.
Breen, C. (1993). Transforming the culture of learning mathematics: Academics as catalysts or intruders? In C. Julie, D. Angelis, and Z. Davis (Eds.), Curriculum reconstruction for societies in transition. Proceedings of Political Dimensions of Mathematics Education 2 (pp. 36–45 ). Cape Town: Maskew Miller Longman.
Breen, C. (1999) Issues and challenges for mathematics and science teacher development. In J. Kuiper (Ed.), Proceedings of the 7 15 Southern African Association for Research in Mathematics and Science Education Conference (pp. 9–16 ). Grahamstown, South Africa: Rhodes University.
Butt, R. L. and Raymond, D. (1987). Arguments for using qualitative approaches in understanding teacher thinking: The case for biography. Journal of Curriculum Theory, 7 (1), 62–93.
Cobb, P. (1994). Where is the mind? Constructivist and sociocultural perspectives on mathematical development. Educational Researcher, 23 (7), 13–20.
Connelly, M. F. and Clandinin, D. J. (1990). Stories of experience and narrative inquiry. Educational Researcher, 19 (15) 2–24.
Constas, M. A. (1997). Apartheid and the socio-political context of education in South Africa: A narrative account. Teacher College Record, 98 (4), 681–720.
COTEP - Committee on Teacher Education Policy (1997). Norms and standards for teacher education training and development: Discussion Document. Pretoria, South Africa: Department of Education.
Freeman, D. (1996). “To take them at their word”: Language data in the study of teachers’ knowledge. Harvard Educational Review, 66 (4), 732–761.
Gitlin, A. D. and Smyth, J. (1989). Teacher Evaluation: Educative alternatives. London: Falmer Press.
Hammersley, M. and Aitkinson, P. (1983). Ethnography: principles and practice. New York: Tavistock.
Henning, E. (1993). Ethnography as classroom research methodology. South African Journal of Education, 13 (3), 112–118.
Hord, S. M. (1986). A synthesis of research on organisational collaboration. Educational Leadership, 43 (5), 22–26.
Kuiper, J. and Van Harmelen, U. (1996). Knowledge, form and content: South Africa’s mismatch in education. Paper presented at the Kenton Conference, Roodepoort, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Lemmer, E. (1992). Qualitative research methods in education. South African Journal of Education, 12 (3), 292–295.
Lincoln Y. S. and Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic enquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Miles, M. B. and Huberman, A. M. (1984). Qualitative data analysis. A sourcebook of new methods. London: Sage Publications.
Olsen, M. (1997). Collaboration: An epistemological shift. In H. Christiansen, L. Goulet, C. Krentz and M. Maeers (Eds.), Recreating relationships. Collaboration and educational reform (pp. 13–25 ). New York: State University of New York Press.
Sierpinska, A. and Lerman, S. (1996). Epistemologies of mathematics and of mathematics education. In A. J. Bishop et al.(Eds.), International Handbook of Mathematics Education (pp. 827–876 ). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Southwood, S. (1995). MSP Initial Teacher Handout. Unpublished manuscript.
Stoker, J. (1993). Beyond constructivism: Towards a socio-cultural model of teaching and learning in mathematics. Proceedings of Political Dimensions in Mathematics Education 2. Cape Town, South Africa: Maskew Miller Longman.
Walker, M. (1991). Facilitating enquiry-based in-service teacher education. In W. Flannagan (Ed.), Teachers and their work: Case studies of in-service education in African primary schools (pp. 60–70 ). Cape Town: PREP.
Wheatley, M. (1992). Leadership and the new science. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
Wolcott, H. F. (1988). Ethnographic research in education, In R. M. Jaeger (Ed.), Complementary methods for research in education (pp. 187–206 ). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Southwood, S., Kuiper, J. (2003). A Journey Towards Collaboration. In: Peter-Koop, A., Santos-Wagner, V., Breen, C., Begg, A. (eds) Collaboration in Teacher Education. Mathematics Teacher Education, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1072-5_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1072-5_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-6327-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-1072-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive