Paul Goldschagg

Background: Water quality education is a complex socio-ecological issue that preservice geography teachers are expected to address in school curricula. Aim: This case study examined what preservice teachers learned about water quality education and how they conceptualised authentic learning opportunities. Setting: The study was conducted in an undergraduate geography module incorporating water-testing fieldwork to deepen understanding of water quality conservation and its pedagogical application. Methods: Anonymous open-ended questionnaire responses from 20 students were analysed using Kolb’s experiential learning cycle and Mezirow’s transformative learning theory. Results: Findings indicate a strong reflective–practical learning orientation. ‘Reflective Observation’ and ‘Active Experimentation’ featured most prominently in Kolb’s model, while ‘Exploration of New Roles and Actions’ and ‘Reintegration’ dominated Mezirow’s. Students demonstrated meaningful critical reflection, linking scientific inquiry with human impacts on water systems, and reported behavioural and identity shifts reflecting increased environmental responsibility. Lower levels of ‘Abstract Conceptualisation’ and ‘Recognition of Shared Experience’ suggest limited theoretical integration and peer dialogue, highlighting the need for additional scaffolding activities to strengthen conceptual framing and collaborative learning. Conclusion: The study underscores the value of experiential and participatory approaches in water education, enabling preservice teachers to engage with real-world environmental issues and enhance geographical understanding for future teaching practice. Contribution: Fieldwork-based water testing builds preservice teachers’ confidence to integrate authentic environmental learning into classrooms. Strengthening theoretical framing and peer dialogue may further support individual learning and collective transformation.

We live in a socio-ecologically fragile and rapidly changing world that can be turned upside down in an instant as we witnessed with the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, more than ever before, teachers need to be life-long learners who have the necessary geography subject knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and resources for responsive teaching and learning in their classrooms. Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) play an important enabling role in this regard. This article presents the findings of the second phase of an ongoing study aimed at understanding how the South African Geography Teachers’ online Google Group, an emergent Professional Learning Community, may support and enhance geography education and teacher professional development. More specifically, it opens up and looks inside the ‘black box’ of the Google Group, the workings of which are not yet fully understood. It considers the supportive role played by the Google Group during and after the COVID-19 pandemic (that is, March 2020 to December 2021 and January to November 2022). Data generated by the posts made during and after the pandemic, were analysed and categorised. Emergent patterns and trends in and between the two periods were identified and discussed. A purposive sample from each category was selected for further in-depth analysis. We draw on Shulman and Shulman’s (2004) theory of teacher knowledge as an analytical lens for interpreting the findings. The findings are discussed in relation to national imperatives (for example, teacher professional development, social justice, inequality and learner underperformance) and global education discourses for transformative education. Our main contention in this article is that the Google Group PLC offers support for teachers. However, there are gaps that need to be addressed if it is to play a stronger supportive and transformative role. We conclude with some suggestions on how this may be achieved in practice which may be useful to members of the geography education community particularly teachers. Key words: teacher knowledge, teacher professional development, professional learning community, COVID-19 pandemic

Noise, although ubiquitous, is seldom considered as a factor that may impede learning. In South Africa, most learners are multilingual and learn in English, which is their second language. Most noise studies have been conducted in the Global North, where the school context differs from the Global South. In this article, using questions selected from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, we present a quantitative evaluation of the perceptions of background noise on learning of a purposive sample of 154 Grade 10 to 12 female learners attending 2 all-girls schools, who were either learning through English as their second, or as their first language. The responses of first language and second language learners were compared using Mann-Whitney U tests with Hodges-Lehman estimates. Second language learners reported greater interference and annoyance from noise, compared to their first language peers. This may be due to the additional cognitive demands required when processing complex information in a second language. Given the high proportion of learners who are learning through a language that is not their mother tongue, we highlight the importance of a good acoustic environment to counteract the negative effects of the increased cognitive demand when processing information in a second language. Educators should consider ways to mitigate interference from noise and to improve the saliency of the acoustic signal in their classrooms.

Noise disturbance has been recognised as a problem in schools, affecting the intelligibility of speech, and consequently, educational outcomes. Whilst research has explained various effects of noise on learning, less is known about specific learner populations’ perceptions of the effects of noise on their learning. This article reports on a study that compared the noise perceptions of learners at two all-girls high schools (one comprising mostly English home-language speakers; the other English second-language speakers) in Johannesburg, South Africa. The findings of the purposive questionnaire survey that was administered to girls aged 15–18 are presented. Sound measurements are considered alongside questionnaire data and published standards for acceptable classroom noise. Higher levels of noise interference were reported by second-language speakers, which suggest that increased language processing demands make these learners more susceptible to the negative effects of noise. Thus, the implications point to the need for schools to recognise and minimise the negative effects of noise particularly when learners are engaged in tasks of higher order cognitive demand or when teachers are verbally presenting new or complex concepts. This is particularly true for girls for whom English is their second language.

The current study constituted part of a larger, longitudinal, South African-based study, namely, The Road and Aircraft Noise Exposure on Children’s Cognition and Health (RANCH—South Africa). In the context of a multicultural South Africa and varying demographic variables thereof, this study sought to investigate and describe the effects of gender, socioeconomic status and home language on primary school children’s reading comprehension in KwaZulu-Natal. In total, 834 learners across 5 public schools in the KwaZulu-Natal province participated in the study. A biographical questionnaire was used to obtain biographical data relevant to this study, and the Suffolk Reading Scale 2 (SRS2) was used to obtain reading comprehension scores. The findings revealed that there was no statistical difference between males and females on reading comprehension scores. In terms of socioeconomic status (SES), learners from a low socioeconomic background performed significantly better than those from a high socioeconomic background. English as a First Language (EL1) speakers had a higher mean reading comprehension score than speakers who spoke English as an Additional Language (EAL). Reading comprehension is indeed affected by a variety of variables, most notably that of language proficiency. The tool to measure reading comprehension needs to be standardized and administered in more than one language, which will ensure increased reliability and validity of reading comprehension scores.

The purpose of this epidemiological study was to investigate the long-term effects of exposure to aircraft noise on reading comprehension on a sample of South African children. Given the impairment of reading comprehension found within the noised-exposed group before the relocation of the airport, it was the intention of this study to determine whether the effects of aircraft noise on reading comprehension remained after the relocation of the airport or whether they disappeared. A cohort of 732 learners with a mean age of 11.1 years participated at baseline measurements in 2009 and 650 (mean age=12.3) and 178 (mean age=13.1) learners were reassessed after the relocation of the airport in 2010 and 2011, respectively. The results revealed no significant effect of the groups on reading comprehension across the testing periods, but significant effects of home language were demonstrated on reading comprehension. These findings suggest that exposure to chronic aircraft noise may have a lasting impact on children’s reading comprehension functioning.