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Migrant Teachers’ Perceptions of the South African Mathematics Curriculum and Their Experiences in Teaching in the Host Country:

Migrant Teachers’ Perceptions of the South African Mathematics Curriculum and Their Experiences... This article investigates the tensions experienced by Zimbabwean immigrant teachers in teaching mathematics in South Africa. It explores their views on the South African mathematics curriculum and how they are treated at their work stations. The study is significant because thousands of Zimbabwean mathematics and science teachers recently moved to teach in South Africa. To date, very little research has been done on how these teachers have settled at their new workplaces. Bernstein’s framework of curriculum classification and framing informs the study. Interviews were conducted on three Zimbabwean teachers who have been teaching mathematics in South African schools since 2008. To triangulate the data, a focus group interview was held with four teachers. The study showed that the teachers found it compulsive to compare some aspects of the South African curriculum with those from their home country. It showed that initially, the teachers had challenges in adapting to the new cuIrriculum, such as understanding the philosophy of continuous assessment. Although they meet some challenges at the beginning, in time some of the immigrant teachers adjust. They come to appreciate the strengths and merits of the South African mathematics curriculum. Implications for the study on immigrant teachers to the South African education system and the wider education community are suggested. Keywords migrant mathematics teachers, emergent teaching environment According to Landau and Wa Kabwe-Segatti (2009), Introduction people move to seek profit, protection, and the possibility The article explores the experiences and the resulting percep- of onward passage. Some people have moved to South tions of Zimbabwean born and educated mathematics educa- Africa to stay for a short time, yet others have moved to tional professionals working in South Africa. Having stay permanently. As referred to earlier, for many decades determined the teachers’ perceptions of the mathematics cur- unskilled workers came to work in South African mines and riculum in South Africa, the article aims to explain and dis- farms. Later, highly educated professionals such as cuss how these perceptions shape their professional practice Congolese doctors or mine engineers, and Zimbabwean for them to adjust in their new workplaces. The article docu- teachers also came to work in South Africa. The teachers ments the challenges and opportunities the teachers have in found employment in former homelands. Such profession- their new schools. als were absorbed in the South African labor system, but The migration of people from one place of the earth to many others experienced severe downgrading of their skills another has been perpetual in history. These days as in when they arrived in South Africa due to lack of regulariz- ancient times, people still move from one country to another ing of their stay. for one reason or another. Even in the same country, rural– urban migration is a common phenomenon as people move University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa to urban areas in search of a better life. Emigration and Corresponding Author: immigration are such an inherent part of humanity. In sub- Judah Paul Makonye, Marang Centre for Science and Mathematics Saharan Africa, for many years people have been migrating Education, Wits School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, to the Southern African subcontinent particularly South Johannesburg, 27 St Andrews Road, Parktown, 2193, Johannesburg, South Africa due to its economic success compared with the rest of Africa. Africa (Kok & Collinson, 2015; Vorster, 2002). Email: judah.makonye@wits.ac.za Creative Commons CC BY: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). 2 SAGE Open In a world where information is easily and rapidly avail- country. This researcher felt that these phenomena need to able on the Internet, professionals with scarce skills move be understood. between countries to places where their expertise is in high demand and where they can earn a higher standard of living Research Questions (Araujo & Rodríguez, 2015; Awases, Gbary, Nyoni, & The research questions were as follows: Chatora, 2004; Chakma & Jensen, 2001). Besides employ- ment, professionals also move to new countries to upgrade Research Question 1: What perceptions do Zimbabwean expertise in their fields of interest through higher studies or migrant mathematics teachers hold on the South African experience that they can draw from when they eventually mathematics curriculum? return home. It is also common that professionals take along Research Question 2: How do the Zimbabwean mathe- their children so that they acquire international education for matics teachers perceive the way they are treated in their the same reasons. schools? In South Africa, prior to 2008, very few Zimbabwean teachers were employed in the civil service. For years, Zimbabwean teachers in the country, fleeing economic hard- Significance of the Study ships at home, were mainly employed in private colleges, This study is important as currently there are thousands of which tend to pay lower salaries than the civil service. foreign mathematics teachers providing instruction in South However, a critical shortage of mathematics and science Africa. Most of those teachers come from Zimbabwe, so this teachers in the country brought a relief to the Zimbabwean article focuses mainly on them. To date, very little research teachers when the government considered to formerly has been done to understand the problems that these teachers employ them. The Department of Home Affairs began to are facing. This study focuses on how the Zimbabwean issue work permits to mathematics and science foreign teach- immigrant teachers perceive the curriculum they are teach- ers (Statistics South Africa, 2008). That 2008 change in pol- ing. This is because perceptions affect behavior and action. icy to regularize the stay of foreign teachers also helped to The teachers’ perceptions affect their attitude on the curricu- address the skills gap in the education sector. However, there lum and impacts on how they teach it. Furthermore, teachers’ were still thousands of other skilled professionals in the perceptions on how they are viewed in their schools are country who were unable to work or were underemployed important because the way the teachers feel on how they are due to lack of documents. For example, Southern Africa treated affects their well-being. Well-being also impacts on Development Community (SADC) protocols prohibited teachers’ performance in their work. This study aimed to pro- recruiting medical professionals from within the region. duce important knowledge about Zimbabwean mathematics Due to immigrant teachers’ lack of options for obtaining teachers to education policy makers, school principals, and immigration documents, many used the asylum system as a heads of departments on these issues. Findings of the study “backdoor” to the South African job market. As the May can help the education stakeholders on how best to harness 2008 violence against nonnationals so starkly illustrated, the resource of Zimbabwean mathematics teachers to the domestic and international mobility are full of risks to best advantage of South African children. It may address human security (Landau, 2012; Steenkamp, 2009). Despite ways to staff –develop the foreign teachers so that they xenophobia, South Africa may not meet its short- and long- understand what is expected of them and also feel at home. term development targets without significant immigration The study also hopes that dialogue between stakeholders and of skilled and semiskilled labor including mathematics Zimbabwean mathematics teachers can be kick-started by teachers. this article. The employment of immigrant teachers in South African schools inadvertently introduced new problems in education. Theoretical Framework These teachers had been educated and trained in and for another country in this case Zimbabwe. The context in which The researcher assumed Bernstein’s lens of a curriculum the teachers were now working was different. The curricu- (Bertram, 2012; Hlengwa, 2010). Bernstein maintained that lum they were expected to teach was different. The any curriculum can be viewed in terms of its classification Zimbabwean teachers needed to learn and adapt to the new and framing. According to Bernstein (2000), framing of the curriculum. curriculum relates to the control that the teachers or learners In doing so, it is inconceivable that the teachers did not have on the learning process, whereas classification relates compare the South African curriculum and how it is imple- to the extent that curricula subjects, for example, mathemat- mented with the familiar one in their home country. The ics, stand distinct from each other or are integrated with teachers sought ways to adapt to the new curriculum to be them. Weak framing implies that teaching is heavily learner- effective in their new jobs. Also, how were the teachers centered and learner directed with teachers regarded as perceived and treated in their new workplaces in a new facilitators of the learning process rather than authoritative Makonye 3 subject experts. Weak classification implies that the curricu- Philosophically, Curriculum 2005 hinged on the construc- lum avoids overspecialization, and curricula subjects tend to tivist philosophy of learning (Henson, 2015; von Glasersfeld, overlap; the boundaries between different subject disci- 1989) and of mathematics (Ernest, 1991). Mathematics was plines are indistinct and collapsed. There is greater subject viewed not as some mythical phenomena but as a normal integration and more linking. Such a curriculum is opposed human activity (National Curriculum Statement, 2011). In to a strongly framed one in which there is strong differentia- the teaching and learning of mathematics, teachers facilitated tion among subjects. These subjects stand in isolated silos of and guided student-centered lessons that aimed at learners specialist knowledge. Often, strong classification is allied to constructing mathematical knowledge (Hatano, 1996). On strong framing with teachers having strong subject-matter the contrary, the Zimbabwean curriculum has an absolutist knowledge accompanied by strong teacher-directed lessons. (Ernest, 1991) bias. In the absolutist realm, teachers are With strong framing and strong classification, teachers have required to be authorities in directing and marshaling learn- maximum control of what is learnt and how it is learnt. ers to acquire an already existing body of knowledge that the Learners have little autonomy and control if any on what teacher knows. Thus, while the South African curriculum they learn. regards mathematics in a multiversal and multivocal way With regard to Bernstein’s framework, the South (Cobb & Bauersfeld, 1995), the Zimbabwean mathematics African mathematics curriculum may be seen as having curriculum assumes a universal and univocal view of math- weak framing and weak classification. In this case, learn- ematics that each learner must aim to attain. So the ers have a greater voice in the learning of mathematics. For Zimbabwean curriculum is more centralized, whereas the example, they negotiate with the teacher how they may be South African one is more democratic. The two then differ; assessed, and group projects are useful in deciding the the South African mathematics curriculum emphasizes on final grade for school leaving qualifications. Students are social connected knowing (Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, & encouraged and expected to work in groups with little Tarule, 1986) that is “taken as shared” (Voigt, 1995, p. 203) teacher guidance. The rather weaker content guidance by at social cognition level (Godorn-Calvert, 2001). This is teachers in learning of mathematics has been regarded by demonstrated by the critical and developmental outcome of some researchers as the academic underachievement trap capability of learners to work and learn in groups. The in South Africa (Carnoy, Chilisa, & Chisholm, 2012) and Zimbabwean curriculum emphasizes on separate knowing that the best mathematics teachers in South Africa must (Belenky et al., 1986) at individual cognition level (Godorn- have high mathematics content knowledge (Mji & Calvert, 2001). The researcher presumed that these different Makgato, 2006; Modiba, 2011; Mullis, Martin, Foy, & emphases in the two curricula would inevitably produce ten- Arora, 2012), not just good methodology. sion in Zimbabwean teachers teaching a South African math- The researcher regards the Zimbabwean mathematics cur- ematics curriculum. riculum as based on strong framing and strong classification (Bernstein, 2000). For example, preservice mathematics Method teachers do study mathematics in greater breadth and depth before graduating. Often, the students who intend to be spe- Three Zimbabwean educated teachers working in South cialist mathematics teachers study mathematics to the exclu- Africa, two females and one male, were interviewed. One sion of other curricula subjects, except for theory of woman teacher taught in a small town in the North-West education. This contrasts with South African preservice Province, and the other lady teacher taught in an urban mis- teachers who though specializing in mathematics also study sion school in Pretoria, Gauteng. The male teacher taught at an array of other subjects such as languages, social sciences, a rural secondary school in the Limpopo Province. Data were and so on, presumably to help prepare them for subject inte- collected from teachers through formal and deep informal gration that the curriculum requires. In addition, while at interviews. The interviews were semistructured. The struc- high school Matric students can study up to seven subjects, tured part involved the teachers’ demographical characteris- in Zimbabwe, Advanced-level students are expected to study tics. The unstructured part involved questions meant to probe at most three subjects. They are expected to study a curricu- the similarities and differences felt by teachers between the lum of a group of three subjects in sciences, commercials, or two mathematics curricula, regarding its implementation, arts. Thus, the classification and framing of mathematics cur- and its assessment. The interviews also sought to find out riculum in Zimbabwe and South Africa appear different at what that teachers did to impact on the teaching and learning first. The researcher assumed that this difference may be of mathematics and how the teachers were perceived and important to Zimbabwean teachers teaching in South Africa treated in their schools. and would initially produce tension to them. The theoretical The data collected from these teachers were by no means framework is relevant to the research because whether a representative of South Africa’s migrant Zimbabwean math- teacher was educated in a setup with a certain framing and ematics teachers. This is itself was not important as this was a classification has a bearing on their perceptions of whether a qualitative study meant to explore and describe the experi- mathematics curriculum is relevant or not. ences (Bryman, 2004) of the teachers. The researcher believes 4 SAGE Open that there could be at least 4,000 Zimbabwean mathematics She came to South Africa in 2008 to teach mathematics on teachers working in South Africa. This number also includes a quota work permit. She has 24 years of experience in some highly educated Zimbabwean mathematics practitio- teaching mathematics at secondary school: 20 in ners working and studying in South African universities. Zimbabwe and four in the North-West Province. She cur- Even though this sample was tiny, the researcher believed that rently teaches mathematics at Grades 7, 8, and 9 at a mid- it provided critical illustrations of trends and points where dle school. mathematics teacher migration and education in South Africa intersect. A convenience sampling of the three teachers was Perception of the curriculum. Rudo reported that she is con- used. The teachers whom the author knew already from fused about the Grade 7 mathematics curriculum in South Zimbabwe and who were familiar acquaintances to him pro- Africa. She felt that the Grade 7 curriculum is at the level vided the data. of Form 1 in Zimbabwe, the first class at secondary school To sum up and triangulate the data collected, a focus there. For example, she said that the topic Directed Num- group interview was done. The group contained four teach- bers is taught at Grade 7, whereas that topic is taught in ers, two men and two women purposively and conveniently Form 1 in Zimbabwe. Number sense concepts such as sampled from schools in the Johannesburg Metropolitan. prime numbers and multiples are also taught at Grade 7. These were postgraduate mathematics education students Geometric concepts such as polygons and angles covered studying at the institution where this author works. During at Grade 7 here in South Africa are actually covered in the discussions, these teachers who also are immigrant math- Form 1 in Zimbabwe. The teacher also reported that in ematics teachers agreed with the findings in the research. spite of teaching for 4 years in South Africa, she was in They were of the opinion that the representations were valid total confusion whether Grade 7 falls under secondary and in general fairly reflected the situation on the ground. school or in primary school. She said in some cases, Grade The reader needs to understand that the study is a snippet 7 is found in primary schools, in some cases it is found in of what is happening to the migrant teachers in the sample as middle schools that run from Grades 1 to 9, and yet in to their perception of the curriculum they are teaching, how some cases Grade 7 is the first class at some secondary they perceive they are being treated by their hosts, and how schools. they have settled in their new work stations. These issues are Overall, she thought that the South African mathematics important to consider together to find how well these teach- curriculum is quite good, but it is hard for the students. ers are assimilating. While they can be studied differently, “Some students held some very dangerously formed mathe- the author felt it sensible to handle them together in this matics concepts and skills,” she said. For example, she said study. The author argues that how teachers view the curricu- some of her students reported that their teachers taught them lum they are teaching and how they feel they are treated at that when they add fractions they must add numerators and their workplaces has a bearing on that effectiveness. denominators separately. She felt that her learners seemed to For ethical reasons and also to increase reliability of the have been taught at lower grades by teachers who themselves research, the three teachers were assured that their anonym- did not understand the mathematics they taught. Rudo said it ity will be respected and that their responses will be strictly was almost impossible to de-teach such misconceptions as confidential. They were assured that their responses would learners were resistant to instruction meant to dislodge such be strictly for research purposes and that the research did not misconceptions. mean at all to invade their personal privacy. They were assured that their opinions will be respected and that there Perception on assessment. Rudo said the assessment tech- was no wrong or right answer. In author’s view, the teachers niques in South Africa were very different from those in offered well-informed consent that their views may be pub- Zimbabwe. In South Africa, there was formal continuous lished in an educational journal. assessment, whereas in Zimbabwe, there was no formal con- tinuous assessment. She said that students are given formal and informal assessment tasks. Some of the formal assess- Results ment tasks were open to cheating as they are done without Two telephonic and one face-to-face interviews were held the teachers’ supervision. Students could do projects at home with three teachers, here called Rudo, Nomsa, and Tawanda individually or in groups. In such cases, some learners could for anonymity. have other people do the projects for them. Students then submitted those and obtained high marks yet they knew very little. These marks were are also used together with tests and First Teacher: Rudo examination marks to come up with the Grade 12 mark they Rudo is a middle-aged teacher. She holds a certificate in were awarded by Umalusi for their Senior School Certifi- education from a secondary teachers’ college in Zimbabwe. cate. The teacher felt that this mark at most times was not a She graduated in the late mid-1980s. She also holds a true reflection of the learner’s mastery and competence of B.Tech from Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria. mathematics. Makonye 5 She said that lack of competency in mathematics is clearly even say “Isayi zero” that is to say in chiShona, a Zimba- demonstrated when her students write tests and examina- bwean language, “record zero” for that assignment! tions. They fail these yet they do very well in projects. Rudo reported that students needed and demanded the Perception and treatment of Zimbabwean mathematics scope of tests and examinations before they write; otherwise, teachers. Rudo reported that the Zimbabwean teachers are they dismally fail. She reported that students sometimes com- treated as foreigners at every turn. There were regarded with plained that they cannot be assessed for the whole term’s little respect. The Zimbabwean teachers were given little advan- work. “To test us for the whole term is too much,” students tages at work. When they were given contracts, it was never say. This scenario she reflected is different from the clear how long they will last. Sometimes it was only for three Zimbabwean one where it was not necessary to give the exam- months. She said renewal of contracts was full of problems and ination or test’s scope as students were conditioned to expect takes a long time. All the time, the Zimbabwean teachers had to anything in a test or examination as long as they previously fight to be paid. Also teachers who had only Zimbabwean studied it with their teacher. To do well, Rudo stressed that her Teachers’ College diplomas were very lowly paid. students needed a lot of support and guidance from her. She Despite these perceptions, she commented that Zimbabwean said that it was necessary to push and spoon-feed them. mathematics teachers are appreciated as highly knowledge- However, she reported that there are time constraints, and it able, professional, and hardworking. In most cases, initial was not always possible to do that. She said that students do resistance to them was overcome and some were even not know simple formulae to calculate areas and volumes of appointed as heads of mathematics departments. simple figures. She reported that her students could not do simple calculations without using calculators. “If they do not Second Teacher: Tawanda use the calculator, they will be disaster,” she exclaimed. Again, she pointed out that this was a major difference from the This Zimbabwean teacher is middle-aged and has been Zimbabwean scenario where students are expected to know by teaching mathematics at secondary school for 22 years of heart multiplication tables up to 12 × 12 by the time they arrive which four have been in Limpopo Province, South Africa. at Grade 6! She said that her South African students are not Tawanda holds a secondary teachers’ diploma, a B.Ed. in familiar with long multiplication and division algorithms. She mathematics education, and a master’s in curriculum studies said that the students are not trained to memorize mathemati- from the University of Zimbabwe. He came to South Africa cal facts; they find it hard to retain what they have learnt and in 2008 on a quota permit to teach mathematics. He has been easily forgot what they have been taught. She said her students teaching Grades 11 and 12 at his current school since then. had poor listening skills. The teacher felt that mathematical literacy includes every- Perceptions on the mathematics curriculum. Tawanda felt that day arithmetic or consumer arithmetic which is already the South African syllabus is a bit limited in terms of depth included in Zimbabwe’s mathematics curriculum. She felt and coverage. He felt that there was a glaring absence of top- that learners found it hard to link it with everyday life, for ics such as Integral Calculus at Grade 12. Differentiation was example, topics like electricity charges and taxes. She felt that also treated superficially as concepts such as chain rule, mathematical literacy has a lot of reading, so many learners product rule, and quotient rule were not covered. Also the do not perform well because of language difficulties. implicit differentiation and differential equations were not Rudo lamented that students in the most did not get any done, as were matrices and vectors. Mechanics was done but academic support from parents as parents report that they did again at a superficial level. never did any mathematics themselves and know nothing However, the South African syllabus had the important about the subject. Many students are reported to be living topic of Financial Math dealing with annuities. Tawanda felt with single parents mainly mothers and grandparents, so they that the South African curriculum outshined the Zimbabwean do not get any academic support from home. one on this aspect. Also sequences were treated somewhat differently in South Africa. For example, the quadratic Perception on discipline. Rudo lamented that her students were sequence was analytically done here, whereas in Zimbabwe, not motivated. She said their own interests distracted them. it was never taught. However, he felt that the Zimbabwean There was no corporal punishment, and even some form of syllabus was much more rigorous than the South African syl- verbal admonishing could lead the teacher in trouble. Even labus in all the topics it covered. He said that the South principals were not allowed to administer corporal punish- African curriculum was more predictable, and low order as it ment to learners, unlike in Zimbabwe where school heads just needs manipulation of formulae. He reported that on the were allowed to administer corporal punishment for gross topic transformations, shears were not done. Transformations indiscipline and negligence of work. “Discipline is a very big were treated more implicitly than in the Zimbabwe syllabus. problem,” Rudo said. She thought that it was because stu- For example, enlargements were studied in the contexts of dents knew that no one will punish them. Sometimes students similar triangles and stretches were studied in the contexts of continued to refuse to do formal assignments. She said some functions such as f(x) = 2sinx. 6 SAGE Open The teacher felt that removing transformations and linear linear programming was being left out now. She said that the programming in the outgoing math curriculum in South assessment standards in the curriculum policy documents Africa and replacing them with Euclidean proofs and proba- tended to be overlapping and confusing. She complained that bility was unnecessary as all the topics were important in the the grades that students are awarded at Matric do not accu- syllabus. rately mirror learners’ true abilities in mathematics as some of He viewed the introduction of mathematical literacy in the the marks are obtained from group work. So the assessment South African curriculum as a very appropriate curriculum gives a wrong impression about what students can do, she innovation. Tawanda recommended that the same be intro- said. “It overestimates what they actually are capable of doing duced in Zimbabwe. He said that the examples used in math- individually,” she said. So students often fail the examination ematical literacy were very contemporary and appropriate. component but still pass the subject because of the continuous The teacher said he found it very difficult to adapt to the assessment mark. She said that the critical and developmental South African curriculum. He said that students in rural areas outcome for students to work in groups is achieved, but that of South Africa did not appreciate education. They were not goes along with individual student’s academic motivated to learn. He felt that Mathematics is a rigorous impoverishment. subject which needs self-motivation and drive. In general, he felt that in spite of what he had said, the mathematics cur- Perception and treatment of Zimbabwean mathematics riculum of South Africa was okay, but the main problems lay teachers. Oftentimes, Nomsa complained that her profes- in implementing it. sional expertise in mathematics teaching has been greatly undermined and unappreciated at the two schools she taught. Perception on assessment. He said that while in Zimbabwe, it She was at times asked to teach Religious Education from is mainly summative, in South Africa there is also great Grades 8 to 10 instead of mathematics. At that time, she was weight given to continuous assessment. He said the problem denied to teach mathematics, which is her specialist area. is that some students do not participate in the group work, She felt that it downgraded her as a true ability in a critical but the principle was okay. It could also be applied in subject with a shortage of manpower in South Africa was not Zimbabwe. taken into consideration. She felt that she had no voice in the school. At the time this article was written, Nomsa was Perception and treatment of Zimbabwean mathematics deciding to leave teaching in South Africa altogether and teachers. Tawanda observed that the Zimbabwean teachers return home to Zimbabwe because of the frustrations she was are generally viewed as competent but are criticized for fail- having in the schools she had taught. ure to instill discipline in learners. The Zimbabwean teachers are seen as having no hold over learners. He said his hands Focus Group Interview are tied in disciplining his students. He sometimes asked for administration to help with the discipling of students, but The teachers indicated that at times rude jokes are made at sometimes it did not work. them such as “. . . oh I know, you are the ones who come Also, initially the South African community had a low from that place where you throw children in the water” or opinion of Zimbabwean teachers, but with time, they appre- “. . . you come from an area of fat people.” The four teachers ciated them because of their teaching ability. indicated that despite their expertise, they were given a com- mon name. They were called “Makwerekwere,” a derogatory name obtained from Shona, a Zimbabwean indigenous lan- Third Teacher: Nomsa guage that has many words sounding with the letter “k” of Nomsa has a BSc from a U.K. university and a graduate cer- the alphabet, unlike most South African languages. The tificate in education. She holds an M.Phil. in education from teachers said that in many cases, they ignore these insinua- the University of Zimbabwe and is a mathematics education tions or make a joke of them. PhD student in a South African university. Nomsa has been All the teachers agreed that the South African mathemat- teaching mathematics in South Africa for the past 6 years ics curriculum tended to be limited in its content coverage of first at a Pretoria middle-income Black suburb and then at an mathematics than the Zimbabwean. However, they also urban mission school in the same city. She has been teaching thought that the South African mathematics curriculum was mathematics for close to 30 years. much more conceptual than the Zimbabwean, for example, in dealing with the function topic. The Zimbabwean was Perceptions on the mathematics curriculum. Nomsa’s percep- seen now as being rather too procedural, emphasizing in tion is that the South African mathematics curriculum does many cases remembering how to use formulae correctly, not offer enough room for her to adapt so that she can teach such as the long cosine and sine formulae at Ordinary level. mathematics properly. She reported that the South African Three of the four teachers felt that they are generally curriculum is broad but shallow, as, for example, in the Cur- taken as stopgap employees who should always be ready to riculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) document, vacate their employment should a qualified South African Makonye 7 teacher become available. However, these conditions 2014; Carnoy et al., 2012; Modiba, 2011). When asked, the changed as the migrant teacher obtained permanent resi- students refer to the fact that they were taught such by their dence or citizenship; then they could be employed perma- previous teachers. The Zimbabwean teachers feel that they nently. But the teachers also felt that they enjoyed much have an important role to play as they have identified a gap higher salary and benefits than they had at home and that in the South African school system. Teachers feel that they their lifestyles had improved as a result of staying in South are competent to fill that gap. Despite that, some local people Africa. do not think so; they feel that the immigrant teachers are tak- ing over jobs meant for locals. Despite the fact that Zimbabwean educated teachers in Discussions South Africa note that the mathematics curriculum in these The interviews show that teachers experienced tension in two countries is different, they have come to appreciate the adapting to a new curriculum which had weak framing and South African curriculum and believe that if it is imple- classification (Bernstein, 2000) as well as a multiversal and mented properly it can still go a long way to achieve com- multivocal way (Cobb & Bauersfeld, 1995). This may not be mendable learner competency in mathematics. surprising because the Zimbabwean teachers came from a While the South African mathematics curriculum assumes country where the curriculum has strong framing and classi- the constructivist or fallibilist philosophy of mathematics fication akin to separate knowing (Belenky et al., 1986) at (Ernest, 1991), it would appear that the Zimbabwean phi- individual cognition level (Godorn-Calvert, 2001). For losophy of mathematics is traditional and absolutist (Ernest, example, all the three teachers implied that it was unfair to 1991). This difference in the philosophy of mathematics of include continuous assessment marks for summative pur- necessity determines how mathematical knowledge is poses. This meant that they did not want the learning of regarded and taught in the two countries. This has a bearing mathematics to be controlled by the learners. They felt that of what teachers educated in the two countries hold of what helping each other in assessed work did not give a fair constitutes effective mathematics teaching and learning. account of what an individual learner can do alone, which they felt was the correct work that must be assessed for a Conclusion student. They wanted all the control themselves. The mathematics teachers in the sample first felt per- The study aimed to study the experiences and perceptions of plexed by differences in the two mathematics education sys- Zimbabwean mathematics teachers on the South African tems to which they struggled to cope. The findings were mathematics curriculum in which they are now working as several. At policy level, they discovered that in South Africa, immigrants teachers. The study was undertaken on three the mathematics curriculum is prepared by the Department Zimbabwean mathematics teachers. The teachers regard the of Education (DoE; 2002) as documented in the National South African mathematics curriculum as different, but not Curriculum Statement (NCS), in which learning outcomes substantially different from that in their home country of and assessment standards are spelt out. This is quite different Zimbabwe. The differences are mainly on curriculum cover- from the General Certificate of Education (GCE) “O” level age and depth. The teachers believe that the South African and “A” level syllabuses produced by the Zimbabwe Schools curriculum has more room to improve on those aspects. The Examination Council (ZIMSEC) which mainly specifies the teachers also felt that group assessment as well as project content coverage from year to year. The teachers also indi- work whose marks are constituted in summative assessment cated the differences in content coverage and depth, as well had some disadvantages. The teachers argued that some as assessment methods. Teachers gave examples of how they learners could be passengers in the group work. This resulted assimilated into their schools, and the strategies they used to in them being awarded marks that are not commensurate dissociate themselves from old Zimbabwean practices to fit with their levels of participation in the projects. Such marks into their schools. This helped them to improve mathematics tended not to reflect the true achievements or capabilities of teaching and learning at their current stations. the learners needed to assess their suitability to further edu- The impression from interviews with the teachers is that cation or employment. However, the teachers consent that while in general, their professional competences are highly the working together fostered by the South African curricu- regarded, oftentimes, the teachers are not given due respect. lum is a vital component absent from the Zimbabwean math- The teachers feel that because they come from a country with ematics curriculum. a struggling economy, their abilities and professionalism are As for how they are treated, the teachers believe that most regarded as correlated to that. They feel that this is a gross education stakeholders appreciate their contributions, yet misjudgment as they feel that they have a lot to offer to the there is still a section of people who mistreat and discrimi- South African mathematics education landscape that they nate them because they are foreigners, as exemplified by seem to be having a lot of challenges. For example, the 2008 (see Steenkamp, 2009) and 2015 xenophobic attacks. teachers are shocked that students display glaring miscon- They realize that working in a foreign country cannot always ceptions of mathematical concepts (Makonye & Luneta, be a bed of roses. The study shows that despite these 8 SAGE Open challenges, the Zimbabwean teachers are making an impact (mathematics) teachers can fill the questionnaire which can in the improvement of mathematics teaching and learning in be analyzed with statistical software. The author hopes that a South Africa. more complete picture on the research problem raised in this study can be obtained. Limitations Author’s Note This was a qualitative study performed on a small sample of This article was written with respect to the outcome-based education four participants. It would have been a good thing to do a (OBE) curriculum implemented from 1998 to 2011. As from 2012, the quantitative study that involves hundreds of immigrant math- South African Department of Education introduced a new curriculum ematics teachers with varying qualifications sampled from called Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). The author wishes to follow up with another research on the Zimbabwean geographical areas of the country. This would have given a mathematics teachers’ experiences with that curriculum as well. much complete picture on this research. However, limita- tions such as funding would not allow that. The study there- Declaration of Conflicting Interests fore does not aim to generalize the findings because nonprobability sampling was used. The study aims to gener- The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect ate further research on the conditions of (mathematics) to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. migrant teachers in South Africa. Also, it would have been a good idea to establish the views of South African teachers on Funding immigrant teachers teaching in South Africa. The author The author(s) received no financial support for the research, author- believes that could be a separate research which can be pur- ship, and/or publication of this article. sued in the future. Despite these limitations, the author believes that this research is significant, because no previous References research on these immigrant teachers have been done from Araujo, B. L., & Rodríguez, G. R. (2015). Migration of profession- 2008 when their employment was regularized by the govern- als. Revista Cubana de Salud Pública, 41(1), 152-164. ment. It gives a window into understanding how these teach- Awases, M., Gbary, A., Nyoni, J., & Chatora, R. (2004). Migration ers are functioning in their new work stations. of health professionals in six countries: A synthesis report. World Health Organization, 65, 38-42. Belenky, M. F., Clinchy, B. M., Goldberger, N. R., & Tarule, J. M. Recommendations (1986). Women’s ways of knowing: The development of self- voice and mind. New York, NY: Basic Books. The study shows that Zimbabwean mathematics teachers in Bernstein, B. (2000). Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity. South Africa arrive in the country with fairly strong preset Oxford, UK: Rowman & Littlefield. conceptions on the teaching of mathematics. This study Bertram, C. (2012). Bernstein’s theory of the pedagogic device as shows that most of these teachers are in a state of anxiety as a frame to study history curriculum reform in South Africa. such perceptions are not always well received in the new Yesterday and Today, 7, 1-22. environment. The author recommends that the South African Bryman, A. (2004). Social research methods. Oxford, UK: Oxford Department of Basic Education launch induction and orien- University Press. tation programs for newly employed foreign teachers. Such Carnoy, M., Chilisa, B., & Chisholm, L. (2012). The low achieve- programs would help the new teachers to learn not only ment trap: Comparing schooling in Botswana and South about the South African mathematics curriculum and how it Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Human Sciences Research is taught but also about the history and culture of the country, Council Press. the languages, and the diversity in the country. This will help Chakma, S., & Jensen, M. (2001). Racism against Indigenous peo- the new teachers to understand and appreciate the problems ples. Copenhagen, Denmark: Eks-Skolens Trykkeri. Cobb, P., & Bauersfeld, H. (1995). Introduction: The coordination in the South African education landscape. Also, the author of the psychological and sociological perspectives in math- strongly recommends that the Zimbabwean teachers in South ematics education. In P. Cobb & H. Bauersfeld (Eds.), The Africa must be humble enough to learn about a country that emergence of mathematical meaning: Interactions in class- has given them employment opportunities and accept that room cultures (pp. 1-16). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. they need South Africa as much as it needs them. They must Department of Education. (2002). Revised national curricu- refrain from the I know it all syndrome, because their knowl- lum statement grades R-9 (Schools). Pretoria, South Africa: edge could be limited. Government Printers. Ernest, P. (1991). The philosophy of mathematics education. London, England: Falmer Press. For Further Research Godorn-Calvert, L. (2001). Mathematical conversations within the The author recommends a quantitative study to be performed practice of mathematics. New York, NY: Peter Lang. on a much larger sample. It might be helpful to use the Hatano, G. (1996). A conception of knowledge acquisition and its Survey Monkey research design where as many migrant implications for mathematics education. In P. Steffe, P. Nesher, Makonye 9 P. Cobb, G. Goldin, & B. Greer (Eds.), Theories of mathemati- Mullis, I. V., Martin, M. O., Foy, P., & Arora, A. (2012). TIMSS cal learning (pp. 197-217). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. 2011 international results in mathematics. Amsterdam, The Henson, K. T. (2015). Curriculum planning: Integrating multicul- Netherlands: International Association for the Evaluation of turalism, constructivism, and education reform. Long Grove, Educational Achievement. IL: Waveland Press. National Curriculum Statement. (2011). National curriculum state- Hlengwa, A. (2010). Infusing service-learning in curricula: A ment grades 10-12 (General): Mathematics. Pretoria, South theoretical exploration of infusion possibilities. Journal of Africa: Government Printers. Education, 48, 1-14. Statistics South Africa. (2008). Tourism and migration, 1984-2007. Kok, P., & Collinson, M. (2015). Migration and urbanisation in Pretoria: Statistics South Africa. South Africa. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa. Steenkamp, C. (2009). Xenophobia in South Africa: What does it Landau, L. B. (2012). Exorcising the demons within: Xenophobia, say about trust? The Round Table, 98, 439-447. violence and statecraft in contemporary South Africa. Voigt, J. (1995). Thematic patterns of interaction and socio-math- Johannesburg, South Africa: Wits University Press. ematics norms. In P. Cobb & H. Bauersfeld (Eds.), The emer- Landau, L. B., & Wa Kabwe-Segatti, A. K. (2009). Human devel- gence of mathematical meaning: Interaction in classroom opment impacts of migration: South Africa case study. Pretoria, culture (pp. 163-201). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. South Africa: UNDP Human Development Reports. Von Glasersfeld, E. (1989). Cognition, construction of knowledge, Makonye, J. P., & Luneta, K. (2014). Mathematical errors in differential calculus tasks in the Senior School Certificate and teaching. Synthese, 80(1), 121-140. Examinations in South Africa. Education as Change, 18(1), Vorster, J. M. (2002). Racism, xenophobia and human rights. The 119-136. Ecumenical Review, 54, 296-312. Mji, A., & Makgato, M. (2006). Factors associated with high school learners’ poor performance: A spotlight on mathematics and phys- Author Biography ical science. South African Journal of Education, 26, 253-266. Judah Paul Makonye was born in Zimbabwe and earlier taught Modiba, M. (2011). Even the “best teachers” may need adequate mathematics at all levels in that country. He has published numer- subject knowledge: An illustrative mathematics case study. ous journal articles. Research in Education, 85, 1-16. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png SAGE Open SAGE

Migrant Teachers’ Perceptions of the South African Mathematics Curriculum and Their Experiences in Teaching in the Host Country:

Makonye, Judah Paul
SAGE Open , Volume 7 (2): 1 – May 8, 2017
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Abstract

This article investigates the tensions experienced by Zimbabwean immigrant teachers in teaching mathematics in South Africa. It explores their views on the South African mathematics curriculum and how they are treated at their work stations. The study is significant because thousands of Zimbabwean mathematics and science teachers recently moved to teach in South Africa. To date, very little research has been done on how these teachers have settled at their new workplaces. Bernstein’s framework of curriculum classification and framing informs the study. Interviews were conducted on three Zimbabwean teachers who have been teaching mathematics in South African schools since 2008. To triangulate the data, a focus group interview was held with four teachers. The study showed that the teachers found it compulsive to compare some aspects of the South African curriculum with those from their home country. It showed that initially, the teachers had challenges in adapting to the new cuIrriculum, such as understanding the philosophy of continuous assessment. Although they meet some challenges at the beginning, in time some of the immigrant teachers adjust. They come to appreciate the strengths and merits of the South African mathematics curriculum. Implications for the study on immigrant teachers to the South African education system and the wider education community are suggested. Keywords migrant mathematics teachers, emergent teaching environment According to Landau and Wa Kabwe-Segatti (2009), Introduction people move to seek profit, protection, and the possibility The article explores the experiences and the resulting percep- of onward passage. Some people have moved to South tions of Zimbabwean born and educated mathematics educa- Africa to stay for a short time, yet others have moved to tional professionals working in South Africa. Having stay permanently. As referred to earlier, for many decades determined the teachers’ perceptions of the mathematics cur- unskilled workers came to work in South African mines and riculum in South Africa, the article aims to explain and dis- farms. Later, highly educated professionals such as cuss how these perceptions shape their professional practice Congolese doctors or mine engineers, and Zimbabwean for them to adjust in their new workplaces. The article docu- teachers also came to work in South Africa. The teachers ments the challenges and opportunities the teachers have in found employment in former homelands. Such profession- their new schools. als were absorbed in the South African labor system, but The migration of people from one place of the earth to many others experienced severe downgrading of their skills another has been perpetual in history. These days as in when they arrived in South Africa due to lack of regulariz- ancient times, people still move from one country to another ing of their stay. for one reason or another. Even in the same country, rural– urban migration is a common phenomenon as people move University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa to urban areas in search of a better life. Emigration and Corresponding Author: immigration are such an inherent part of humanity. In sub- Judah Paul Makonye, Marang Centre for Science and Mathematics Saharan Africa, for many years people have been migrating Education, Wits School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, to the Southern African subcontinent particularly South Johannesburg, 27 St Andrews Road, Parktown, 2193, Johannesburg, South Africa due to its economic success compared with the rest of Africa. Africa (Kok & Collinson, 2015; Vorster, 2002). Email: judah.makonye@wits.ac.za Creative Commons CC BY: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). 2 SAGE Open In a world where information is easily and rapidly avail- country. This researcher felt that these phenomena need to able on the Internet, professionals with scarce skills move be understood. between countries to places where their expertise is in high demand and where they can earn a higher standard of living Research Questions (Araujo & Rodríguez, 2015; Awases, Gbary, Nyoni, & The research questions were as follows: Chatora, 2004; Chakma & Jensen, 2001). Besides employ- ment, professionals also move to new countries to upgrade Research Question 1: What perceptions do Zimbabwean expertise in their fields of interest through higher studies or migrant mathematics teachers hold on the South African experience that they can draw from when they eventually mathematics curriculum? return home. It is also common that professionals take along Research Question 2: How do the Zimbabwean mathe- their children so that they acquire international education for matics teachers perceive the way they are treated in their the same reasons. schools? In South Africa, prior to 2008, very few Zimbabwean teachers were employed in the civil service. For years, Zimbabwean teachers in the country, fleeing economic hard- Significance of the Study ships at home, were mainly employed in private colleges, This study is important as currently there are thousands of which tend to pay lower salaries than the civil service. foreign mathematics teachers providing instruction in South However, a critical shortage of mathematics and science Africa. Most of those teachers come from Zimbabwe, so this teachers in the country brought a relief to the Zimbabwean article focuses mainly on them. To date, very little research teachers when the government considered to formerly has been done to understand the problems that these teachers employ them. The Department of Home Affairs began to are facing. This study focuses on how the Zimbabwean issue work permits to mathematics and science foreign teach- immigrant teachers perceive the curriculum they are teach- ers (Statistics South Africa, 2008). That 2008 change in pol- ing. This is because perceptions affect behavior and action. icy to regularize the stay of foreign teachers also helped to The teachers’ perceptions affect their attitude on the curricu- address the skills gap in the education sector. However, there lum and impacts on how they teach it. Furthermore, teachers’ were still thousands of other skilled professionals in the perceptions on how they are viewed in their schools are country who were unable to work or were underemployed important because the way the teachers feel on how they are due to lack of documents. For example, Southern Africa treated affects their well-being. Well-being also impacts on Development Community (SADC) protocols prohibited teachers’ performance in their work. This study aimed to pro- recruiting medical professionals from within the region. duce important knowledge about Zimbabwean mathematics Due to immigrant teachers’ lack of options for obtaining teachers to education policy makers, school principals, and immigration documents, many used the asylum system as a heads of departments on these issues. Findings of the study “backdoor” to the South African job market. As the May can help the education stakeholders on how best to harness 2008 violence against nonnationals so starkly illustrated, the resource of Zimbabwean mathematics teachers to the domestic and international mobility are full of risks to best advantage of South African children. It may address human security (Landau, 2012; Steenkamp, 2009). Despite ways to staff –develop the foreign teachers so that they xenophobia, South Africa may not meet its short- and long- understand what is expected of them and also feel at home. term development targets without significant immigration The study also hopes that dialogue between stakeholders and of skilled and semiskilled labor including mathematics Zimbabwean mathematics teachers can be kick-started by teachers. this article. The employment of immigrant teachers in South African schools inadvertently introduced new problems in education. Theoretical Framework These teachers had been educated and trained in and for another country in this case Zimbabwe. The context in which The researcher assumed Bernstein’s lens of a curriculum the teachers were now working was different. The curricu- (Bertram, 2012; Hlengwa, 2010). Bernstein maintained that lum they were expected to teach was different. The any curriculum can be viewed in terms of its classification Zimbabwean teachers needed to learn and adapt to the new and framing. According to Bernstein (2000), framing of the curriculum. curriculum relates to the control that the teachers or learners In doing so, it is inconceivable that the teachers did not have on the learning process, whereas classification relates compare the South African curriculum and how it is imple- to the extent that curricula subjects, for example, mathemat- mented with the familiar one in their home country. The ics, stand distinct from each other or are integrated with teachers sought ways to adapt to the new curriculum to be them. Weak framing implies that teaching is heavily learner- effective in their new jobs. Also, how were the teachers centered and learner directed with teachers regarded as perceived and treated in their new workplaces in a new facilitators of the learning process rather than authoritative Makonye 3 subject experts. Weak classification implies that the curricu- Philosophically, Curriculum 2005 hinged on the construc- lum avoids overspecialization, and curricula subjects tend to tivist philosophy of learning (Henson, 2015; von Glasersfeld, overlap; the boundaries between different subject disci- 1989) and of mathematics (Ernest, 1991). Mathematics was plines are indistinct and collapsed. There is greater subject viewed not as some mythical phenomena but as a normal integration and more linking. Such a curriculum is opposed human activity (National Curriculum Statement, 2011). In to a strongly framed one in which there is strong differentia- the teaching and learning of mathematics, teachers facilitated tion among subjects. These subjects stand in isolated silos of and guided student-centered lessons that aimed at learners specialist knowledge. Often, strong classification is allied to constructing mathematical knowledge (Hatano, 1996). On strong framing with teachers having strong subject-matter the contrary, the Zimbabwean curriculum has an absolutist knowledge accompanied by strong teacher-directed lessons. (Ernest, 1991) bias. In the absolutist realm, teachers are With strong framing and strong classification, teachers have required to be authorities in directing and marshaling learn- maximum control of what is learnt and how it is learnt. ers to acquire an already existing body of knowledge that the Learners have little autonomy and control if any on what teacher knows. Thus, while the South African curriculum they learn. regards mathematics in a multiversal and multivocal way With regard to Bernstein’s framework, the South (Cobb & Bauersfeld, 1995), the Zimbabwean mathematics African mathematics curriculum may be seen as having curriculum assumes a universal and univocal view of math- weak framing and weak classification. In this case, learn- ematics that each learner must aim to attain. So the ers have a greater voice in the learning of mathematics. For Zimbabwean curriculum is more centralized, whereas the example, they negotiate with the teacher how they may be South African one is more democratic. The two then differ; assessed, and group projects are useful in deciding the the South African mathematics curriculum emphasizes on final grade for school leaving qualifications. Students are social connected knowing (Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, & encouraged and expected to work in groups with little Tarule, 1986) that is “taken as shared” (Voigt, 1995, p. 203) teacher guidance. The rather weaker content guidance by at social cognition level (Godorn-Calvert, 2001). This is teachers in learning of mathematics has been regarded by demonstrated by the critical and developmental outcome of some researchers as the academic underachievement trap capability of learners to work and learn in groups. The in South Africa (Carnoy, Chilisa, & Chisholm, 2012) and Zimbabwean curriculum emphasizes on separate knowing that the best mathematics teachers in South Africa must (Belenky et al., 1986) at individual cognition level (Godorn- have high mathematics content knowledge (Mji & Calvert, 2001). The researcher presumed that these different Makgato, 2006; Modiba, 2011; Mullis, Martin, Foy, & emphases in the two curricula would inevitably produce ten- Arora, 2012), not just good methodology. sion in Zimbabwean teachers teaching a South African math- The researcher regards the Zimbabwean mathematics cur- ematics curriculum. riculum as based on strong framing and strong classification (Bernstein, 2000). For example, preservice mathematics Method teachers do study mathematics in greater breadth and depth before graduating. Often, the students who intend to be spe- Three Zimbabwean educated teachers working in South cialist mathematics teachers study mathematics to the exclu- Africa, two females and one male, were interviewed. One sion of other curricula subjects, except for theory of woman teacher taught in a small town in the North-West education. This contrasts with South African preservice Province, and the other lady teacher taught in an urban mis- teachers who though specializing in mathematics also study sion school in Pretoria, Gauteng. The male teacher taught at an array of other subjects such as languages, social sciences, a rural secondary school in the Limpopo Province. Data were and so on, presumably to help prepare them for subject inte- collected from teachers through formal and deep informal gration that the curriculum requires. In addition, while at interviews. The interviews were semistructured. The struc- high school Matric students can study up to seven subjects, tured part involved the teachers’ demographical characteris- in Zimbabwe, Advanced-level students are expected to study tics. The unstructured part involved questions meant to probe at most three subjects. They are expected to study a curricu- the similarities and differences felt by teachers between the lum of a group of three subjects in sciences, commercials, or two mathematics curricula, regarding its implementation, arts. Thus, the classification and framing of mathematics cur- and its assessment. The interviews also sought to find out riculum in Zimbabwe and South Africa appear different at what that teachers did to impact on the teaching and learning first. The researcher assumed that this difference may be of mathematics and how the teachers were perceived and important to Zimbabwean teachers teaching in South Africa treated in their schools. and would initially produce tension to them. The theoretical The data collected from these teachers were by no means framework is relevant to the research because whether a representative of South Africa’s migrant Zimbabwean math- teacher was educated in a setup with a certain framing and ematics teachers. This is itself was not important as this was a classification has a bearing on their perceptions of whether a qualitative study meant to explore and describe the experi- mathematics curriculum is relevant or not. ences (Bryman, 2004) of the teachers. The researcher believes 4 SAGE Open that there could be at least 4,000 Zimbabwean mathematics She came to South Africa in 2008 to teach mathematics on teachers working in South Africa. This number also includes a quota work permit. She has 24 years of experience in some highly educated Zimbabwean mathematics practitio- teaching mathematics at secondary school: 20 in ners working and studying in South African universities. Zimbabwe and four in the North-West Province. She cur- Even though this sample was tiny, the researcher believed that rently teaches mathematics at Grades 7, 8, and 9 at a mid- it provided critical illustrations of trends and points where dle school. mathematics teacher migration and education in South Africa intersect. A convenience sampling of the three teachers was Perception of the curriculum. Rudo reported that she is con- used. The teachers whom the author knew already from fused about the Grade 7 mathematics curriculum in South Zimbabwe and who were familiar acquaintances to him pro- Africa. She felt that the Grade 7 curriculum is at the level vided the data. of Form 1 in Zimbabwe, the first class at secondary school To sum up and triangulate the data collected, a focus there. For example, she said that the topic Directed Num- group interview was done. The group contained four teach- bers is taught at Grade 7, whereas that topic is taught in ers, two men and two women purposively and conveniently Form 1 in Zimbabwe. Number sense concepts such as sampled from schools in the Johannesburg Metropolitan. prime numbers and multiples are also taught at Grade 7. These were postgraduate mathematics education students Geometric concepts such as polygons and angles covered studying at the institution where this author works. During at Grade 7 here in South Africa are actually covered in the discussions, these teachers who also are immigrant math- Form 1 in Zimbabwe. The teacher also reported that in ematics teachers agreed with the findings in the research. spite of teaching for 4 years in South Africa, she was in They were of the opinion that the representations were valid total confusion whether Grade 7 falls under secondary and in general fairly reflected the situation on the ground. school or in primary school. She said in some cases, Grade The reader needs to understand that the study is a snippet 7 is found in primary schools, in some cases it is found in of what is happening to the migrant teachers in the sample as middle schools that run from Grades 1 to 9, and yet in to their perception of the curriculum they are teaching, how some cases Grade 7 is the first class at some secondary they perceive they are being treated by their hosts, and how schools. they have settled in their new work stations. These issues are Overall, she thought that the South African mathematics important to consider together to find how well these teach- curriculum is quite good, but it is hard for the students. ers are assimilating. While they can be studied differently, “Some students held some very dangerously formed mathe- the author felt it sensible to handle them together in this matics concepts and skills,” she said. For example, she said study. The author argues that how teachers view the curricu- some of her students reported that their teachers taught them lum they are teaching and how they feel they are treated at that when they add fractions they must add numerators and their workplaces has a bearing on that effectiveness. denominators separately. She felt that her learners seemed to For ethical reasons and also to increase reliability of the have been taught at lower grades by teachers who themselves research, the three teachers were assured that their anonym- did not understand the mathematics they taught. Rudo said it ity will be respected and that their responses will be strictly was almost impossible to de-teach such misconceptions as confidential. They were assured that their responses would learners were resistant to instruction meant to dislodge such be strictly for research purposes and that the research did not misconceptions. mean at all to invade their personal privacy. They were assured that their opinions will be respected and that there Perception on assessment. Rudo said the assessment tech- was no wrong or right answer. In author’s view, the teachers niques in South Africa were very different from those in offered well-informed consent that their views may be pub- Zimbabwe. In South Africa, there was formal continuous lished in an educational journal. assessment, whereas in Zimbabwe, there was no formal con- tinuous assessment. She said that students are given formal and informal assessment tasks. Some of the formal assess- Results ment tasks were open to cheating as they are done without Two telephonic and one face-to-face interviews were held the teachers’ supervision. Students could do projects at home with three teachers, here called Rudo, Nomsa, and Tawanda individually or in groups. In such cases, some learners could for anonymity. have other people do the projects for them. Students then submitted those and obtained high marks yet they knew very little. These marks were are also used together with tests and First Teacher: Rudo examination marks to come up with the Grade 12 mark they Rudo is a middle-aged teacher. She holds a certificate in were awarded by Umalusi for their Senior School Certifi- education from a secondary teachers’ college in Zimbabwe. cate. The teacher felt that this mark at most times was not a She graduated in the late mid-1980s. She also holds a true reflection of the learner’s mastery and competence of B.Tech from Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria. mathematics. Makonye 5 She said that lack of competency in mathematics is clearly even say “Isayi zero” that is to say in chiShona, a Zimba- demonstrated when her students write tests and examina- bwean language, “record zero” for that assignment! tions. They fail these yet they do very well in projects. Rudo reported that students needed and demanded the Perception and treatment of Zimbabwean mathematics scope of tests and examinations before they write; otherwise, teachers. Rudo reported that the Zimbabwean teachers are they dismally fail. She reported that students sometimes com- treated as foreigners at every turn. There were regarded with plained that they cannot be assessed for the whole term’s little respect. The Zimbabwean teachers were given little advan- work. “To test us for the whole term is too much,” students tages at work. When they were given contracts, it was never say. This scenario she reflected is different from the clear how long they will last. Sometimes it was only for three Zimbabwean one where it was not necessary to give the exam- months. She said renewal of contracts was full of problems and ination or test’s scope as students were conditioned to expect takes a long time. All the time, the Zimbabwean teachers had to anything in a test or examination as long as they previously fight to be paid. Also teachers who had only Zimbabwean studied it with their teacher. To do well, Rudo stressed that her Teachers’ College diplomas were very lowly paid. students needed a lot of support and guidance from her. She Despite these perceptions, she commented that Zimbabwean said that it was necessary to push and spoon-feed them. mathematics teachers are appreciated as highly knowledge- However, she reported that there are time constraints, and it able, professional, and hardworking. In most cases, initial was not always possible to do that. She said that students do resistance to them was overcome and some were even not know simple formulae to calculate areas and volumes of appointed as heads of mathematics departments. simple figures. She reported that her students could not do simple calculations without using calculators. “If they do not Second Teacher: Tawanda use the calculator, they will be disaster,” she exclaimed. Again, she pointed out that this was a major difference from the This Zimbabwean teacher is middle-aged and has been Zimbabwean scenario where students are expected to know by teaching mathematics at secondary school for 22 years of heart multiplication tables up to 12 × 12 by the time they arrive which four have been in Limpopo Province, South Africa. at Grade 6! She said that her South African students are not Tawanda holds a secondary teachers’ diploma, a B.Ed. in familiar with long multiplication and division algorithms. She mathematics education, and a master’s in curriculum studies said that the students are not trained to memorize mathemati- from the University of Zimbabwe. He came to South Africa cal facts; they find it hard to retain what they have learnt and in 2008 on a quota permit to teach mathematics. He has been easily forgot what they have been taught. She said her students teaching Grades 11 and 12 at his current school since then. had poor listening skills. The teacher felt that mathematical literacy includes every- Perceptions on the mathematics curriculum. Tawanda felt that day arithmetic or consumer arithmetic which is already the South African syllabus is a bit limited in terms of depth included in Zimbabwe’s mathematics curriculum. She felt and coverage. He felt that there was a glaring absence of top- that learners found it hard to link it with everyday life, for ics such as Integral Calculus at Grade 12. Differentiation was example, topics like electricity charges and taxes. She felt that also treated superficially as concepts such as chain rule, mathematical literacy has a lot of reading, so many learners product rule, and quotient rule were not covered. Also the do not perform well because of language difficulties. implicit differentiation and differential equations were not Rudo lamented that students in the most did not get any done, as were matrices and vectors. Mechanics was done but academic support from parents as parents report that they did again at a superficial level. never did any mathematics themselves and know nothing However, the South African syllabus had the important about the subject. Many students are reported to be living topic of Financial Math dealing with annuities. Tawanda felt with single parents mainly mothers and grandparents, so they that the South African curriculum outshined the Zimbabwean do not get any academic support from home. one on this aspect. Also sequences were treated somewhat differently in South Africa. For example, the quadratic Perception on discipline. Rudo lamented that her students were sequence was analytically done here, whereas in Zimbabwe, not motivated. She said their own interests distracted them. it was never taught. However, he felt that the Zimbabwean There was no corporal punishment, and even some form of syllabus was much more rigorous than the South African syl- verbal admonishing could lead the teacher in trouble. Even labus in all the topics it covered. He said that the South principals were not allowed to administer corporal punish- African curriculum was more predictable, and low order as it ment to learners, unlike in Zimbabwe where school heads just needs manipulation of formulae. He reported that on the were allowed to administer corporal punishment for gross topic transformations, shears were not done. Transformations indiscipline and negligence of work. “Discipline is a very big were treated more implicitly than in the Zimbabwe syllabus. problem,” Rudo said. She thought that it was because stu- For example, enlargements were studied in the contexts of dents knew that no one will punish them. Sometimes students similar triangles and stretches were studied in the contexts of continued to refuse to do formal assignments. She said some functions such as f(x) = 2sinx. 6 SAGE Open The teacher felt that removing transformations and linear linear programming was being left out now. She said that the programming in the outgoing math curriculum in South assessment standards in the curriculum policy documents Africa and replacing them with Euclidean proofs and proba- tended to be overlapping and confusing. She complained that bility was unnecessary as all the topics were important in the the grades that students are awarded at Matric do not accu- syllabus. rately mirror learners’ true abilities in mathematics as some of He viewed the introduction of mathematical literacy in the the marks are obtained from group work. So the assessment South African curriculum as a very appropriate curriculum gives a wrong impression about what students can do, she innovation. Tawanda recommended that the same be intro- said. “It overestimates what they actually are capable of doing duced in Zimbabwe. He said that the examples used in math- individually,” she said. So students often fail the examination ematical literacy were very contemporary and appropriate. component but still pass the subject because of the continuous The teacher said he found it very difficult to adapt to the assessment mark. She said that the critical and developmental South African curriculum. He said that students in rural areas outcome for students to work in groups is achieved, but that of South Africa did not appreciate education. They were not goes along with individual student’s academic motivated to learn. He felt that Mathematics is a rigorous impoverishment. subject which needs self-motivation and drive. In general, he felt that in spite of what he had said, the mathematics cur- Perception and treatment of Zimbabwean mathematics riculum of South Africa was okay, but the main problems lay teachers. Oftentimes, Nomsa complained that her profes- in implementing it. sional expertise in mathematics teaching has been greatly undermined and unappreciated at the two schools she taught. Perception on assessment. He said that while in Zimbabwe, it She was at times asked to teach Religious Education from is mainly summative, in South Africa there is also great Grades 8 to 10 instead of mathematics. At that time, she was weight given to continuous assessment. He said the problem denied to teach mathematics, which is her specialist area. is that some students do not participate in the group work, She felt that it downgraded her as a true ability in a critical but the principle was okay. It could also be applied in subject with a shortage of manpower in South Africa was not Zimbabwe. taken into consideration. She felt that she had no voice in the school. At the time this article was written, Nomsa was Perception and treatment of Zimbabwean mathematics deciding to leave teaching in South Africa altogether and teachers. Tawanda observed that the Zimbabwean teachers return home to Zimbabwe because of the frustrations she was are generally viewed as competent but are criticized for fail- having in the schools she had taught. ure to instill discipline in learners. The Zimbabwean teachers are seen as having no hold over learners. He said his hands Focus Group Interview are tied in disciplining his students. He sometimes asked for administration to help with the discipling of students, but The teachers indicated that at times rude jokes are made at sometimes it did not work. them such as “. . . oh I know, you are the ones who come Also, initially the South African community had a low from that place where you throw children in the water” or opinion of Zimbabwean teachers, but with time, they appre- “. . . you come from an area of fat people.” The four teachers ciated them because of their teaching ability. indicated that despite their expertise, they were given a com- mon name. They were called “Makwerekwere,” a derogatory name obtained from Shona, a Zimbabwean indigenous lan- Third Teacher: Nomsa guage that has many words sounding with the letter “k” of Nomsa has a BSc from a U.K. university and a graduate cer- the alphabet, unlike most South African languages. The tificate in education. She holds an M.Phil. in education from teachers said that in many cases, they ignore these insinua- the University of Zimbabwe and is a mathematics education tions or make a joke of them. PhD student in a South African university. Nomsa has been All the teachers agreed that the South African mathemat- teaching mathematics in South Africa for the past 6 years ics curriculum tended to be limited in its content coverage of first at a Pretoria middle-income Black suburb and then at an mathematics than the Zimbabwean. However, they also urban mission school in the same city. She has been teaching thought that the South African mathematics curriculum was mathematics for close to 30 years. much more conceptual than the Zimbabwean, for example, in dealing with the function topic. The Zimbabwean was Perceptions on the mathematics curriculum. Nomsa’s percep- seen now as being rather too procedural, emphasizing in tion is that the South African mathematics curriculum does many cases remembering how to use formulae correctly, not offer enough room for her to adapt so that she can teach such as the long cosine and sine formulae at Ordinary level. mathematics properly. She reported that the South African Three of the four teachers felt that they are generally curriculum is broad but shallow, as, for example, in the Cur- taken as stopgap employees who should always be ready to riculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) document, vacate their employment should a qualified South African Makonye 7 teacher become available. However, these conditions 2014; Carnoy et al., 2012; Modiba, 2011). When asked, the changed as the migrant teacher obtained permanent resi- students refer to the fact that they were taught such by their dence or citizenship; then they could be employed perma- previous teachers. The Zimbabwean teachers feel that they nently. But the teachers also felt that they enjoyed much have an important role to play as they have identified a gap higher salary and benefits than they had at home and that in the South African school system. Teachers feel that they their lifestyles had improved as a result of staying in South are competent to fill that gap. Despite that, some local people Africa. do not think so; they feel that the immigrant teachers are tak- ing over jobs meant for locals. Despite the fact that Zimbabwean educated teachers in Discussions South Africa note that the mathematics curriculum in these The interviews show that teachers experienced tension in two countries is different, they have come to appreciate the adapting to a new curriculum which had weak framing and South African curriculum and believe that if it is imple- classification (Bernstein, 2000) as well as a multiversal and mented properly it can still go a long way to achieve com- multivocal way (Cobb & Bauersfeld, 1995). This may not be mendable learner competency in mathematics. surprising because the Zimbabwean teachers came from a While the South African mathematics curriculum assumes country where the curriculum has strong framing and classi- the constructivist or fallibilist philosophy of mathematics fication akin to separate knowing (Belenky et al., 1986) at (Ernest, 1991), it would appear that the Zimbabwean phi- individual cognition level (Godorn-Calvert, 2001). For losophy of mathematics is traditional and absolutist (Ernest, example, all the three teachers implied that it was unfair to 1991). This difference in the philosophy of mathematics of include continuous assessment marks for summative pur- necessity determines how mathematical knowledge is poses. This meant that they did not want the learning of regarded and taught in the two countries. This has a bearing mathematics to be controlled by the learners. They felt that of what teachers educated in the two countries hold of what helping each other in assessed work did not give a fair constitutes effective mathematics teaching and learning. account of what an individual learner can do alone, which they felt was the correct work that must be assessed for a Conclusion student. They wanted all the control themselves. The mathematics teachers in the sample first felt per- The study aimed to study the experiences and perceptions of plexed by differences in the two mathematics education sys- Zimbabwean mathematics teachers on the South African tems to which they struggled to cope. The findings were mathematics curriculum in which they are now working as several. At policy level, they discovered that in South Africa, immigrants teachers. The study was undertaken on three the mathematics curriculum is prepared by the Department Zimbabwean mathematics teachers. The teachers regard the of Education (DoE; 2002) as documented in the National South African mathematics curriculum as different, but not Curriculum Statement (NCS), in which learning outcomes substantially different from that in their home country of and assessment standards are spelt out. This is quite different Zimbabwe. The differences are mainly on curriculum cover- from the General Certificate of Education (GCE) “O” level age and depth. The teachers believe that the South African and “A” level syllabuses produced by the Zimbabwe Schools curriculum has more room to improve on those aspects. The Examination Council (ZIMSEC) which mainly specifies the teachers also felt that group assessment as well as project content coverage from year to year. The teachers also indi- work whose marks are constituted in summative assessment cated the differences in content coverage and depth, as well had some disadvantages. The teachers argued that some as assessment methods. Teachers gave examples of how they learners could be passengers in the group work. This resulted assimilated into their schools, and the strategies they used to in them being awarded marks that are not commensurate dissociate themselves from old Zimbabwean practices to fit with their levels of participation in the projects. Such marks into their schools. This helped them to improve mathematics tended not to reflect the true achievements or capabilities of teaching and learning at their current stations. the learners needed to assess their suitability to further edu- The impression from interviews with the teachers is that cation or employment. However, the teachers consent that while in general, their professional competences are highly the working together fostered by the South African curricu- regarded, oftentimes, the teachers are not given due respect. lum is a vital component absent from the Zimbabwean math- The teachers feel that because they come from a country with ematics curriculum. a struggling economy, their abilities and professionalism are As for how they are treated, the teachers believe that most regarded as correlated to that. They feel that this is a gross education stakeholders appreciate their contributions, yet misjudgment as they feel that they have a lot to offer to the there is still a section of people who mistreat and discrimi- South African mathematics education landscape that they nate them because they are foreigners, as exemplified by seem to be having a lot of challenges. For example, the 2008 (see Steenkamp, 2009) and 2015 xenophobic attacks. teachers are shocked that students display glaring miscon- They realize that working in a foreign country cannot always ceptions of mathematical concepts (Makonye & Luneta, be a bed of roses. The study shows that despite these 8 SAGE Open challenges, the Zimbabwean teachers are making an impact (mathematics) teachers can fill the questionnaire which can in the improvement of mathematics teaching and learning in be analyzed with statistical software. The author hopes that a South Africa. more complete picture on the research problem raised in this study can be obtained. Limitations Author’s Note This was a qualitative study performed on a small sample of This article was written with respect to the outcome-based education four participants. It would have been a good thing to do a (OBE) curriculum implemented from 1998 to 2011. As from 2012, the quantitative study that involves hundreds of immigrant math- South African Department of Education introduced a new curriculum ematics teachers with varying qualifications sampled from called Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). The author wishes to follow up with another research on the Zimbabwean geographical areas of the country. This would have given a mathematics teachers’ experiences with that curriculum as well. much complete picture on this research. However, limita- tions such as funding would not allow that. The study there- Declaration of Conflicting Interests fore does not aim to generalize the findings because nonprobability sampling was used. The study aims to gener- The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect ate further research on the conditions of (mathematics) to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. migrant teachers in South Africa. Also, it would have been a good idea to establish the views of South African teachers on Funding immigrant teachers teaching in South Africa. The author The author(s) received no financial support for the research, author- believes that could be a separate research which can be pur- ship, and/or publication of this article. sued in the future. Despite these limitations, the author believes that this research is significant, because no previous References research on these immigrant teachers have been done from Araujo, B. L., & Rodríguez, G. R. (2015). 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Human devel- gence of mathematical meaning: Interaction in classroom opment impacts of migration: South Africa case study. Pretoria, culture (pp. 163-201). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. South Africa: UNDP Human Development Reports. Von Glasersfeld, E. (1989). Cognition, construction of knowledge, Makonye, J. P., & Luneta, K. (2014). Mathematical errors in differential calculus tasks in the Senior School Certificate and teaching. Synthese, 80(1), 121-140. Examinations in South Africa. Education as Change, 18(1), Vorster, J. M. (2002). Racism, xenophobia and human rights. The 119-136. Ecumenical Review, 54, 296-312. Mji, A., & Makgato, M. (2006). Factors associated with high school learners’ poor performance: A spotlight on mathematics and phys- Author Biography ical science. South African Journal of Education, 26, 253-266. Judah Paul Makonye was born in Zimbabwe and earlier taught Modiba, M. (2011). Even the “best teachers” may need adequate mathematics at all levels in that country. He has published numer- subject knowledge: An illustrative mathematics case study. ous journal articles. Research in Education, 85, 1-16.

Journal

SAGE Open – SAGE

Published: May 8, 2017

Keywords: migrant mathematics teachers; emergent teaching environment

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