dc.contributor.advisor |
Du Toit, Pieter Hertzog |
en |
dc.contributor.postgraduate |
Rossouw, Thersia |
en |
dc.date.accessioned |
2016-06-09T12:55:25Z |
|
dc.date.available |
2016-06-09T12:55:25Z |
|
dc.date.created |
2016-04-12 |
en |
dc.date.issued |
2015 |
en |
dc.description |
Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2015. |
en |
dc.description.abstract |
In the South African context valuable academic contributions
regarding Whole Brain® facilitating learning have been made in the
last decade. Research has been conducted on professional
development of teachers at primary schools, as well as professional
development of lecturers at institutions of higher education. I
identified a gap in existing literature, regarding what was being
done at high school level and the possibility that Whole Brain®
facilitating learning could be a beneficial learning tool to use in
one's teaching practice.
Thus the study commenced with the research premises based on a
mixed methods approach, including quantitative and qualitative
data sets. This study investigates to what extent transformation
took place in the teaching practice of a group of volunteer
professionals at a private high school, using an Action Research
design. My Action Research was supported by the professionals'
own action learning during the commencement of the fieldwork and
we would regularly collaborate and reflect on the new knowledge.
The afore-mentioned underpins the constructivist theory, which
assumes that collective life experiences and multiple realities of the
participants and myself add to a collective knowledge base. Thus
new knowledge and constructed knowledge becomes part of a living
theories practice. The study also focuses on an asset-based
approach where the assumption is made that the professionals take
responsibility for their own learning, becoming professional selfregulated
learners in an environment where they are supported and
encouraged to become more flexible in their thinking styles, not
only to utilise their non-preferred thinking preference but also to
capitalise on their preferred thinking preference and to set Whole Brain® learning tasks and plan Whole Brain® facilitating learning.
Therefore the participants were challenged not only to be more
flexible in their own thinking preference and to explore the
possibilities of their less preferred thinking preference or
preferences, but also to design learning tasks that would facilitate
learning by accommodating those learners whose thinking
preferences are divergent from those of the professionals.
The fieldwork consisted of workshops (including non-participants)
and one-on-one peer mentoring sessions that included cooperative
learning through collaboration and experiential learning to
encourage the professionals to become more familiar with their
iPads. The workshops and one-on-one peer mentoring sessions
focused on the extent to which the iPads could be used as a tool to
facilitate Whole Brain® learning. The fieldwork focused on exploring
in greater depth the possibilities of innovative ideas to transform
the teaching practice of each individual participant, promoting
Whole Brain® thinking and learning. Since this is an Action Research
study, more cycles were discovered and probed during the course of
the fieldwork and it will still continue after submitting the thesis.
The data sets consisted of exploratory and preliminary interviews,
observations of the workshops and one-on-one peer mentoring
sessions that were recorded in my field journal, observations of the
professionals' teaching practices, the completed HBDI® survey by
the professionals and myself, as well as semi-structured interviews
and observation sheets of my mentorship practice completed by the
professionals.
In course of the professional development program I observed
professionals taking up their role and taking responsibility for their
own professional development and self-regulated learning, underpinning lifelong learning. In the process I also observed that
the professionals showed flexibility in their thinking styles,
designing innovative ways of learning and applying them in their
teaching practices. Moreover, I realised my own transformative
learning that underpins the constructivist theory and I continue to
aim to transform my own teaching practice as well as my
mentorship practice with the knowledge that I am also a lifelong
learner. |
en |
dc.description.degree |
PhD |
en |
dc.description.department |
Humanities Education |
en |
dc.identifier.citation |
Rossouw, T 2015, Professional development of teachers at a private high school : a peer mentoring initiative, PhD Thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/52962> |
en |
dc.identifier.other |
A2016 |
en |
dc.identifier.uri |
http://hdl.handle.net/2263/52962 |
|
dc.language.iso |
en |
en |
dc.publisher |
University of Pretoria |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
UCTD |
en |
dc.title |
Professional development of teachers at a private high school : a peer mentoring initiative |
en |
dc.type |
Thesis |
en |