Investigating The Grade 12 Teachers’ Subject And Pedagogical Content Knowledge Of Mathematics In Some Selected Public Schools In The Khomas Education Region, Namibia

ABSTRACT

Teachers’ knowledge caught the attention of many educators in different disciplines such as Mathematics. In Namibia, some authors and organisations have claimed that Namibian Mathematics teachers at both Primary and Secondary School levels have insufficient Subject Content Knowledge (SCK) and Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), which negatively impacted learners’ academic performance over the past years. However, no study has been carried on the Grade 12 Mathematics’ SCK and PCK in Namibia. Therefore, this study investigated the Grade 12 Mathematics teachers’ SCK and PCK in some selected public schools in the Khomas Education Region. A quantitative research design was utilised to collect the data of the Grade 12 Mathematics teachers in the Khomas Education Region. A stratified random sampling method was used to select 53 teachers from all four circuits in the Khomas Educational Region. Out of 53 Grade 12 Mathematics teachers, only 40 participated in the study; 13 teachers declined to take part. A closed-ended questionnaire and a test were used to collect data from the sample. A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet was used to organise and present the data into graphs, figures and tables. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data obtained from the test. A correlation coefficient was used to describe the relationship between the teachers’ knowledge (SCK and PCK), teaching experiences and their qualifications. A paired t-test was used to determine if a significant difference existed between the teachers’ SCK and PCK. The findings of the study revealed the following: (i) Grade 12 Mathematics teachers have satisfactory Subject Content Knowledge (ii) Grade 12 Mathematics teachers have insufficient Pedagogical Content Knowledge of vi Mathematics (iii) Grade 12 Mathematics teachers’ SCK and PCK were strongly and positively correlated (𝑟 = 0.681, 𝑝 < 0.01) (iv) A significant difference existed between the Grade 12 Mathematics teachers’ SCK and PCK with a t-test calculated value of 11.092 with a degrees of freedom of 39 at the significance level, α =0.01 (the tcritical = 2.750 value) (v) A strong positive relationship existed (𝑟 = 0.87) between the Grade 12 Mathematics teachers SCK and their teaching experiences. (vi) No clear relationship was established between the Grade 12 Mathematics teachers’ PCK and their teaching experiences (𝑟 = 0.52) (vii) No clear relationship was established between the Grade 12 Mathematics teachers’ knowledge (SCK and PCK) and their teaching qualifications. Most of the Grade 12 Mathematics teachers (75%) acknowledged that some topics from the NSSCO Mathematics syllabus are difficult to explain to the learners. They also acknowledged that they require training on some topics such as Sequence and Series, Vectors, and Logarithms from the NSSCO Mathematics syllabus. Further, 55% of the participants indicated that they were not sufficiently prepared to teach Mathematics in terms of PCK, while 33% indicated that they were not adequately prepared in terms of SCK. The study recommends the following: The National Institute for Educational Development (NIED), in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture should introduce an in-service training program in the Khomas Education Region to strengthen the Grade 12 Mathematics teachers’ SCK and PCK. Further research should be conducted to determine the impact of Mathematics teachers’ knowledge on the learners’ academic performances of Mathematics in Namibia.