Browsing by Author "Simasiku, Frederick Simasiku"
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- ItemThe contributions of education for sustainable development (ESD) to quality education: an action research project on the implementation of fieldwork in die school geography curriculum(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-04) Simasiku, Frederick Simasiku; Le Grange, Lesley; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of GeographyENGLISH ABSTRACT: Goal 4 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) emphasises the integration and implementation of education for sustainable development (ESD) in formal school contexts, including the provision of professional development for teachers with a view to enhancing the delivery of quality education for all school learners by 2030. Integrating ESD into formal education institutions through an action research approach is regarded as an effective avenue through which teachers’ capacity can be enhanced to implement ESD effectively in their teaching practice. This dissertation reports on an action research project undertaken at a secondary school in Windhoek in the Khomas region of Namibia. The purpose of the research study was to explore and illuminate how the integration and implementation of ESD through the application of geographical fieldwork as a teaching method contributes to the delivery of quality education within the Namibian senior secondary school Geography curriculum. The research was designed as a collaborative action research study, framed within an interpretive paradigm. The investigation process was conducted in two phases: Phase one was a small-scale qualitative survey involving semi-structured interviews carried out on a purposive sample of six practising Geography teachers. The purpose of the survey was twofold: firstly, to explore how Geography teachers conceptualised ESD as well as to explore how they integrated and implemented ESD in their classroom practice; secondly, to explore Geography teachers’ understanding and application of geographical fieldwork as a teaching method. Survey data pertaining to teachers’ classroom practices formed the basis for designing a classroom pedagogical intervention as an approach for integrating ESD into the Geography school curriculum and in teachers’ classroom practices. The design of the classroom pedagogical intervention was responsive to the Geography teachers’ challenges in effectively integrating and implementing ESD through the application of a learner-centred fieldwork teaching method. A synthesis of the social constructivist theory of learning and a ‘strengths’ model to ESD provided a theoretical and practical framework for designing and implementing a classroom pedagogical intervention. Phase two of the study involved the implementation of the classroom pedagogical intervention by two teachers in their respective Geography lessons. The researcher observed the lessons in order to collect data on the teaching and learning activities. The implementation of the classroom pedagogical intervention provided opportunities for classroom teachers to reorient their teaching practice by adopting a learner-centred fieldwork teaching method compatible with the principles of ESD and ESD pedagogy. Observations, focus group discussions, audio transcripts of classroom activities, analysis of lesson-planning records were all employed to gather in-depth qualitative data from teachers and their learners in order to interrogate the impact of the pedagogical intervention. Thereafter, triangulated data were deductively analysed and interpreted using a multidimensional framework of quality in education as a data analysis tool. This study found that, the integration and implementation of ESD through the application of geographical fieldwork as a teaching method contributed to all seven dimensions of quality education. Thus, it contributed towards the delivery of quality education within the Namibian senior secondary school geography curriculum. The study provides key recommendations in an attempt to contribute towards the effective integration and implementation of ESD in the Namibian senior secondary school Geography curriculum. The study further contributes to the understanding of how the implementation of ESD in school contexts can be evaluated within the context of Goal 4 of the UNSDGs.