Factors Affecting Teaching and Learning in South African Public Schools

The TIMSS 2019 Grade 9 study was administered in August 2019 by the Human Sciences Research Council, in collaboration with the Western Cape Education Department, the Department of Basic Education and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement.

Reflections on School Integration approaches a contentious and topical issue with level-headed insight based on solid, rigorous research. Delegates at a colloquium to define a research agenda for the future, reviewed the latest international and local research and practice in the field of desegregation and integration of schools, took stock of the status quo in research and practice, and identified new directions research should be taking. This publication features the papers of a range of colloquium contributors. Both accessible and useful, it will be of value to those with an interest in contemporary education policy and developments.

South Africa has participated in a number of local and international achievement studies in the field of education over the last 20 years and responses to the results have been somewhat mixed. Critics argue that participation in international assessments is a pointless exercise because of the slow pace of improvement in South African education. Supporters point out that international assessment results can be useful at many different levels of policy and planning, especially when studies are repeated across time. The purpose of this book is to provide a measured assessment of what has been achieved in South African education over the last 20 years based on the evidence provided by Trends in International Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMMS), to redefine what good progress means in light of South Africas developmental pathway and to recommend what evidence based interventions can be considered as the next realistic steps in South Africas educational development.

Language, Culture and Decolonisation discusses the importance of language in decoloniality from a global perspective, and the decolonisation process from the disciplinary vantage points of history, politics, philosophy, and literary studies.