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Teaching physical sciences in South African rural high schools: Learner and teacher views about the challenges
Lindokuhle Soyikwa and Sakyiwaa Boateng
Walter Sisulu University, South Africa
Our study investigates the challenges encountered by learners and teachers of physical sciences in rural schools, specifically in the Joe Gqabi district of South Africa. We utilised self-study and constructivism theories in rural settings to examine the complex challenges for physical sciences in rural schools. In an interpretivist qualitative research methodology, we purposefully selected four rural high schools for our study, involving four physical sciences teachers and twelve learners. Interviewing served as the primary means of data collection, with thematic analysis of the acquired data. Our findings uncovered several challenges, including a lack of resources and laboratories, poor teaching, the abstract nature of the curriculum, large class sizes, and language difficulties, among others, encountered by both teachers and learners of physical sciences in rural schools. We offer significant information for policymakers, school managers, and the stakeholders in basic education, for creating specific actions and policies that support equitable educational opportunities and enhance the quality of physical sciences education in rural areas. We ask government to augment its funding in rural schools by allocating more resources and improving infrastructure.
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Authors: Mr Lindokuhle Soyikwa is a Master of Education student. He is also a physical sciences teacher at a rural high school. His research interests include interventions to improve learner academic achievement in physical sciences in rural schools in South Africa. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-6491-9167 Email: lindokuhlesoyikwa0@gmail.com Dr Sakyiwaa Boateng is a senior lecturer in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education at the Walter Sisulu University in South Africa. She holds a PhD in physical sciences education from the University of the Witwatersrand. Sakyiwaa is passionate about science teacher professional development, especially looking at those affective aspects that teachers consider to make teaching a profession worthwhile. Her current research is on mathematics and science anxiety and looking at developing interventions to build mathematics and science resilience among pre-service science teachers and high school science learners. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1604-5487 Email: sboateng@wsu.ac.za Please cite as: Soyikwa, L. & Boateng, S. (2024). Teaching physical sciences in South African rural high schools: Learner and teacher views about the challenges. Issues in Educational Research, 34(4), 1573-1595. http://www.iier.org.au/iier34/soyikwa.pdf |