TMS3731
Assignment 5
Portfolio
Due 14 October 2025
,TMS3731 Assignment 5 Portfolio
Due date: Tuesday, 14 October 2025
Module: Teaching Social Sciences in the Senior Phase
Portfolio Task 1: Reflective Narrative on Creating Inclusive Social Sciences
Lessons
1. Introduction
Inclusive education is a cornerstone of quality teaching, ensuring that all learners—
irrespective of their abilities, linguistic background, or socio-economic circumstances—
participate meaningfully in the learning process. During my teaching practice, I designed
and facilitated a Grade 8 Social Sciences lesson in a multilingual township school. The
class reflected significant diversity: several learners were English second-language
speakers, some had documented learning difficulties, while many contended with socio-
economic challenges. My central aim was to create an enabling environment in which
all learners could access the curriculum equitably and engage actively with the content.
2. Lesson Context and Topic
• Topic: The Impact of Colonisation on African Societies
• Grade: 8
• Context: A township school with 46 learners, characterised by multilingualism
(isiZulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans, and English as the LoLT) and socio-economic
inequality. Limited access to textbooks and digital resources at home heightened
the necessity of embedding inclusivity within the classroom space.
, 3. Inclusive Strategies Implemented
3.1 Language Accommodation
Language posed a significant barrier to comprehension. To address this, I employed
code-switching into isiZulu and Sesotho, supported by peer translation. This strategy
resonates with Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, which underscores the role of interaction
and scaffolding in cognitive development (Vygotsky, 1978). By mediating between
learners’ home languages and English, I fostered deeper conceptual understanding
while sustaining English as the language of learning and teaching.
3.2 Differentiated Instruction
Recognising the heterogeneity of cognitive levels, I applied tiered activities:
• Advanced learners interrogated primary sources such as colonial maps and
letters, identifying bias and perspective.
• Learners requiring greater support engaged with simplified timelines and visual
summaries of colonisation.
This aligns with Tomlinson’s (2014) differentiated instruction framework, which adapts
content, process, and product to learner readiness. Such differentiation ensured that
every learner engaged with the lesson at an appropriate level of cognitive challenge.
3.3 Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
The lesson design drew on UDL principles by integrating varied modes of engagement:
• Visual: Comparative images depicting African societies before and after
colonisation.
• Audio: Short video clips reinforcing key historical shifts.
• Kinesthetic: Role-play in which learners assumed the roles of colonisers and
African chiefs.
UDL emphasises flexible teaching to accommodate diverse learning profiles (CAST,
2018). The role-play proved particularly powerful, cultivating both empathy and critical
thinking as learners grappled with multiple historical perspectives.
Assignment 5
Portfolio
Due 14 October 2025
,TMS3731 Assignment 5 Portfolio
Due date: Tuesday, 14 October 2025
Module: Teaching Social Sciences in the Senior Phase
Portfolio Task 1: Reflective Narrative on Creating Inclusive Social Sciences
Lessons
1. Introduction
Inclusive education is a cornerstone of quality teaching, ensuring that all learners—
irrespective of their abilities, linguistic background, or socio-economic circumstances—
participate meaningfully in the learning process. During my teaching practice, I designed
and facilitated a Grade 8 Social Sciences lesson in a multilingual township school. The
class reflected significant diversity: several learners were English second-language
speakers, some had documented learning difficulties, while many contended with socio-
economic challenges. My central aim was to create an enabling environment in which
all learners could access the curriculum equitably and engage actively with the content.
2. Lesson Context and Topic
• Topic: The Impact of Colonisation on African Societies
• Grade: 8
• Context: A township school with 46 learners, characterised by multilingualism
(isiZulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans, and English as the LoLT) and socio-economic
inequality. Limited access to textbooks and digital resources at home heightened
the necessity of embedding inclusivity within the classroom space.
, 3. Inclusive Strategies Implemented
3.1 Language Accommodation
Language posed a significant barrier to comprehension. To address this, I employed
code-switching into isiZulu and Sesotho, supported by peer translation. This strategy
resonates with Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, which underscores the role of interaction
and scaffolding in cognitive development (Vygotsky, 1978). By mediating between
learners’ home languages and English, I fostered deeper conceptual understanding
while sustaining English as the language of learning and teaching.
3.2 Differentiated Instruction
Recognising the heterogeneity of cognitive levels, I applied tiered activities:
• Advanced learners interrogated primary sources such as colonial maps and
letters, identifying bias and perspective.
• Learners requiring greater support engaged with simplified timelines and visual
summaries of colonisation.
This aligns with Tomlinson’s (2014) differentiated instruction framework, which adapts
content, process, and product to learner readiness. Such differentiation ensured that
every learner engaged with the lesson at an appropriate level of cognitive challenge.
3.3 Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
The lesson design drew on UDL principles by integrating varied modes of engagement:
• Visual: Comparative images depicting African societies before and after
colonisation.
• Audio: Short video clips reinforcing key historical shifts.
• Kinesthetic: Role-play in which learners assumed the roles of colonisers and
African chiefs.
UDL emphasises flexible teaching to accommodate diverse learning profiles (CAST,
2018). The role-play proved particularly powerful, cultivating both empathy and critical
thinking as learners grappled with multiple historical perspectives.
