EDITORIAL

Editorial

Labby Ramrathan

School of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa ramrathanp@ukzn.ac.za

In this issue of Journal of Education, we feature articles related to school and higher education, some addressing persistent challenges, some contributing to advancements in teaching and pedagogy. This issue also features articles related to racial and colonial legacies that continue to hinder progress within educational spaces.

There have been calls in science education for programmes to help pre-service teachers develop science knowledge at a topic-specific level. In his article, "Exploring the Rationale for Lesson Design as a Tool for Developing and Evaluating Science Pre-Service Teachers' Topic-Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge," the author argues for a guideline conceptualised as rationale for lesson design as being a possible contribution to this call. Shifting the focus to mathematical literacy, the conceptual article on "Multilingual Integrated Pedagogical Model for Enhancing Mathematical Literacy in South Africa," offers a model to address the on-going challenges in teaching this subject. The author argues that by integrating students' native languages and embracing their cultural backgrounds, the proposed model can foster deeper engagement, improved comprehension, and enhanced mathematical literacy in learners.

Recovering from learning and teaching losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic is an on-going concern. The authors of the article, "An Investigation of Pedagogical Change With Novel Technology in Fee Paying and No-Fee Schools During COVID-19"-through an extensive study on teachers in lower quintile ranking schools-identify two pedagogical types that have emerged from the use of technology, namely, reinforcement pedagogy and collaborative pedagogy. They further argue how these pedagogical types contribute to teaching and learning post COVID-19.

Research on academic success in secondary schools focusing on the use of positive psychology is the subject of the article, "Positive Psychology Constructs Associated With Academic Success in South African Secondary Schools: A Scoping Review." The authors' review reveals that the most researched constructs of positive psychology associated with South African scholarship on academic success in secondary schools are those of social support, motivation, and hope. In line with the intentions of Sustainable Development Goal 4 for quality education, the article on "Parent-Teacher Partnerships to Enhance Education for Sustainable Development: Early Childhood Development Education Learning Centres in Zimbabwe" advocates for the strengthening of parent-teacher partnerships to enhance education for sustainable development in early childhood development at learning centres in rural areas. Using a participatory approach the author reveals that such partnerships promote alignment between the school culture and the needs of communities, and change parents' perceptions regarding early childhood development education.

In the article on "Experiencing Education as Misrecognised 'Coloured' Women in South Africa," the authors attempt to shift the race discourses that box marginalised communities into the notion of misrecognised individuals. They examine what it means to be seen as a Coloured woman, a racialised categorisation that has been retained in South Africa's democracy despite the harm and misrecognition it has historically caused. The stories of six Coloured women, who recount their educational journeys into higher education despite their racial categorisation and negative imageries, capture how they grappled with "Colouredness" and capabilities as they journeyed into being educators at a historically White university.

Located within the decolonisation discourse, the article, "Decolonisation of Education Through Citizen Science: Slow Science, Not Slow Violence. The Case Study Diamonds on the Soles of Their Feet," engages with the politics of knowledge. Through the narrative of a participant called Ruth involved within a citizen science project, deep-seated legacies of inequality are illuminated as learnings on the politics of knowledge-especially as they relate to academia. Continuing with the discourse on hegemonic influences of Western education during the colonial period, the authors of the article, "African Indigenous Education in the Postcolonial Period: A Critical Reflection,"-by delving into primary forms, practices, and transformative possibilities of Indigenous African education-shed light on how these systems contribute to understanding the educational landscape and the challenges faced in the wake of colonialism. They provide insights into the potential benefits of embracing Indigenous knowledge systems in contemporary African societies.