Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology
Rethinking the teaching of Euclidean geometry
Kambila J. Kyabuntu 1, Hlamulo W. Mbhiza 1 *
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1 Department of Mathematics Education, University of South Africa
* Corresponding Author
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Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, 2024 - Volume 6 Issue 3, pp. 49-63
https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202427063

Article Type: Research Article

Published Online: 12 Jul 2024

Views: 750 | Downloads: 525

ABSTRACT
Euclidean geometry teaching and learning in South Africa has a unique history. It is one of the topics that are characterised by teaching-learning difficulties as demonstrated by learner underachievement related to the topic. There is death of research that explored teachers’ explanatory talk during Euclidean geometry lessons. Thus, to address this research gap, within qualitative research approach, we employed non-structured classroom observations with 6 teachers, to explore and understand how they make Euclidean geometry concepts and principles available for the learners. We used Adler and Ronda’s concept of explanatory talk to make sense of teachers’ classroom practices. We used content analysis to understand what teachers said and write on the board during teaching. In this paper, we focus on one of the four teachers’ lesson, to demystify how their explanatory talk or lack thereof made geometry concepts available for learners to learn. The findings reveal that the teacher used questions-and-answer strategy to engage learners in the lessons but did not provide explanations to the learners during the lesson, to guide them on the nature of the concepts and their relatedness.     
KEYWORDS
Euclidean geometry explanatory talk teaching teachers observations
In-text citation: (Kyabuntu & Mbhiza, 2024)
Reference: Kyabuntu, K. J., & Mbhiza, H. W. (2024). Rethinking the teaching of Euclidean geometry. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, 6(3), 49-63. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202427063
In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: Kyabuntu KJ, Mbhiza HW. Rethinking the teaching of Euclidean geometry. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology. 2024;6(3), 49-63. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202427063
In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: Kyabuntu KJ, Mbhiza HW. Rethinking the teaching of Euclidean geometry. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology. 2024;6(3):49-63. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202427063
In-text citation: (Kyabuntu and Mbhiza, 2024)
Reference: Kyabuntu, Kambila J., and Hlamulo W. Mbhiza. "Rethinking the teaching of Euclidean geometry". Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology 2024 6 no. 3 (2024): 49-63. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202427063
In-text citation: (Kyabuntu and Mbhiza, 2024)
Reference: Kyabuntu, K. J., and Mbhiza, H. W. (2024). Rethinking the teaching of Euclidean geometry. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, 6(3), pp. 49-63. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202427063
In-text citation: (Kyabuntu and Mbhiza, 2024)
Reference: Kyabuntu, Kambila J. et al. "Rethinking the teaching of Euclidean geometry". Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, vol. 6, no. 3, 2024, pp. 49-63. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202427063
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