Analytical framework: Topic specific pedagogical content knowledge

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technology of dyeing and weaving baskets, chosen as a mediatory tool. I also realised that the local language (psychological tool) used by the expert community member during her practical (demonstration of dyeing and weaving) enhanced the mediation process. In her study, Mika (2018) explains that without a language, it would be impossible to socialise and interact. As a result, she classifies language as a vital cultural tool for both learning and shaping thoughts.

The model of influential factors in teachers’ ZPD (Shabani et al., 2010) assisted me to see the connection between Vygotsky’s (1978) socio-cultural theory and Mavhunga and Rollnick’s (2013) topic specific pedagogical content knowledge appropriateness as analytical theories or frameworks in my study. The theories were used to establish how the grade 8 Physical Science teachers (co-researchers) learned (or not) from the mentors (the expert community member) and from each other (colleagues or peers) during the intervention on how to integrate indigenous knowledge into teach concepts of the science curriculum.

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professional status. Finding out exactly what it comprises and using this knowledge to support good practice in teacher education is not easy. She further contends that PCK is not yet an explicit tool to be used by teachers (Kind, 2009). Another critique is that when we define PCK as an instructional strategy, it lessens the influence of other mediating factors in teaching and learning (Bromme, 1995). In addition, Kind (2009) maintains that PCK is regarded as being difficult to measure because it is tacit in nature and not easy to document.

PCK differs from topic to topic (Mavhunga & Rollnick, 2013). In other words, different teaching strategies are required for different topics. In the case of this study, I focused on PCK within the topic of chemical and physical changes in Grade 8 Physical Science. To implement this, I adopted Mavhunga and Rollnick’s (2013) Topic Specific Pedagogical Knowledge (TSPCK) analytical framework. Shown in Figure 2.4, there are the five aspects to TSPCK developed by Mavhunga and Rollnick (2013, p. 115).

Figure 2.4: Model for Topic-Specific PCK (Adapted from Mavhunga & Rollnick, 2013, p. 115)

On the right hand side of the model (Figure 2.4) are the five knowledge components: students’

prior knowledge, curricular saliency, what is difficult to teach, representations including analogies, and conceptual teaching strategies (Mavhunga & Rollnick, 2013). All five

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components were used to analyse data gathered during the semi-structured interviews, workshop discussions and data from co-analysing of curriculum documents as well as the co- development of an exemplar lesson integrating IK. Below I discuss each component and how it was used in this study.

(i) Learners’ prior knowledge

According to Mavhunga and Rollnick (2013), this component emphasises a teacher’s ability to elicit learners’ prior learning experiences. Teachers are required to have specialised skills and knowledge of dealing with learners’ preconceptions and misconceptions (Mavhunga et al., 2013). In this study, the semi-structured interviews captured qualitative data on how the grade 8 Physical Science teachers (co-researchers) elicit and make use of their learners’ prior knowledge, especially of indigenous knowledge. Furthermore, this component was used to analyse the teachers’ perspectives, understanding and pedagogical insights into the integration of IK into science lessons.

(ii) Curriculum saliency

To Mavhunga and Rollnick (2013), curriculum saliency is about teachers’ awareness of major concepts around a topic which learners need to understand, without which, understanding of such a topic would be difficult for learners. To promote awareness Shinana ( 2019) and Magwentshu (2020) suggest that before a new topic is presented to the learners, the pre- requisite concept should be learned or elicited. In this study, curriculum saliency was used to analyse qualitative data pertaining to research question one:

RQ 1: Based on the grade 8 Physical Science teachers’ previous experiences and pedagogical insights, within this study context, what challenges do they face in bridging the gap between curriculum formulation and implementation?

(iii) What is difficult to teach?

In this component, the emphasis is on how the teachers deal with those concepts that are difficult for the learners to understand (Mavhunga & Rollnick, 2013). What is the teacher’s knowledge of his or her learners’ learning difficulties in specific topic, including identification of misconceptions? In the case of this study, mediating learning of chemical and physical changes has been difficult for many science teachers, as revealed in the context of this study.

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This component was used to critically analyse the teachers’ responses in the semi structured interviews.

(iv) Representations and (v) Conceptual teaching strategies

According to Mavhunga and Rollnick (2013), these two components are concerned with how the learning content should be presented, such that it gives meaning to the learners. With these knowledge bases, teachers are able to select teaching and learning aids to mediate learning of science concepts in a manner that would enhance deep learning. One advantage of representation is that learners themselves can easily attach meaning of the content being taught (Shinana, 2019). Mavhunga and Rollnick (2013) refer to these forms of representations as mediatory tools which can be in the form of models, simulations, or cultural artefacts, which are used to ease learners’ understanding of school science concepts. In the case of this study, African basketry (dyeing and weaving) was purposively chosen for its ability to offer learners an opportunity to visualise chemical and physical changes. The components of representation and conceptual teaching strategies were used to analyse data in order to answer research questions two and three, which are:

RQ 2: During the workshop interactions with the expert community member, what opportunities emerged for the grade 8 Physical Science teachers to bridge the gap between curriculum formulation and implementation of IK?

RQ 3: How can the grade 8 Physical Science teachers be supported in co-developing exemplar lessons on chemical and physical changes that integrate concepts from the indigenous technology of dyeing and weaving of African baskets?