UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA
College of Education | Curriculum Studies
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
TMS3731: Teaching Social Sci-
ences in the Senior Phase
Assignment 5: Portfolio | Semester 2, 2026
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
TMS3731
Module Code:
Teaching Social Sciences in the Senior
Module Name:
Phase
Portfolio (Tasks 1 to 4)
Assessment:
4 November 2026
Due Date:
100
Total Marks:
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for TMS3731, UNISA 2026
,UNISA | TMS3731 Assignment 5: Portfolio
Portfolio Task 1: Reflective Narrative on Creating an Inclusive Social Sciences Lesson
1.1 Context and lesson
During my teaching practice I taught a Grade 9 Geography lesson on development issues (Term
2) to a class of 44 learners at a public township school in [town and province]. Most learners
speak isiZulu or Sesotho at home, while English is the language of learning and teaching (LoLT).
The class included three learners who had recently arrived from rural schools and were still
building their academic English, four learners who read well below Grade 9 level, one very
quiet learner who rarely spoke in class, and many learners who shared a single textbook be-
tween three. The lesson, “How do we measure development?”, asked groups to compare two
fictional countries using gross national income (GNI) per person, life expectancy and adult liter-
acy (DBE, 2011; Oxford University Press Southern Africa, 2024).
1.2 Guiding philosophies
Two philosophies shaped my planning. Ubuntu holds that a person becomes fully human through
relationships with others, which pushed me to design tasks where every learner had a valued
role and a shared responsibility for the group’s success (Letseka, 2012). Social constructivism,
in Vygotsky’s (1978) view, treats learning as a social act in which a more knowledgeable peer
or teacher supports a learner within the zone of proximal development. Both ideas match the
aim of Education White Paper 6 to find and reduce barriers to learning rather than to treat the
learner as the problem (DoE, 2001).
1.3 Inclusive strategies and practical examples
Language. I introduced ten key terms through a picture glossary with space for home-language
equivalents, which two bilingual learners helped me prepare. Groups were allowed to discuss
in their home languages before reporting in English. Learner A, who had just arrived from a
rural school, sat next to a bilingual partner and used the glossary and a sentence starter (“Life
expectancy is lower in Country D because . . . ”) to explain her group’s finding aloud for the first
time.
Learning difficulties. Learners B and C, who struggle with reading, received the task card in
enlarged print with fewer words. I read the instructions aloud and they could answer orally or
Page 2 of 34
,UNISA | TMS3731 Assignment 5: Portfolio
by drawing and labelling. Learner D, who was very quiet, was given the role of reporter only
after rehearsing one sentence with her partner, so she could succeed publicly.
Social background. Because many learners had no data or textbooks at home, I redrew the
infographic on the board, photocopied one task card per group, and set no homework that
needed internet access.
Changed materials and instructions. I replaced three pages of textbook reading with a one-
page infographic, a simplified data table and a three-step instruction card with icons, which
I modelled once with a worked example. Groups of four were mixed by ability and language,
each with a reader, recorder, reporter and timekeeper. The task card had three levels of chal-
lenge, and each group chose where to start (see Annexure A).
1.4 What went well and what was difficult
Participation rose clearly: almost every learner spoke at least once, and the three recently ar-
rived learners contributed ideas. The role cards reduced the tendency for two or three confi-
dent learners to dominate. Challenges were also real. Forty-four learners in a 45-minute pe-
riod left little time to support each group, noise levels rose during the home-language discus-
sions, and some learners relied on stronger peers instead of attempting the work. I also found
it hard to check individual understanding, since the group report hid who had not grasped the
content.
1.5 What I learned and how it will shape my teaching
I learned that inclusion is mostly planned before the lesson starts: pre-teaching vocabulary,
reducing reading load and assigning roles did more than any corrective action in the room. In
future I will collect a short baseline of home languages and reading levels in the first week,
build a bank of reusable visuals and glossaries, rotate roles so that no learner is permanently
the writer or the listener, and add a short individual exit task to see who still needs help. I will
also share concerns early with the school-based support team so that learners with persistent
barriers receive formal support (DoE, 2001).
Page 3 of 34
, UNISA | TMS3731 Assignment 5: Portfolio
1.6 Evidence attached
Annexure A contains the adapted three-level group task card. [Insert Annexure B: photographs
of group work with learners’ faces hidden] and [Insert Annexure C: two or three anonymised
samples of learner work].
Page 4 of 34
College of Education | Curriculum Studies
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
TMS3731: Teaching Social Sci-
ences in the Senior Phase
Assignment 5: Portfolio | Semester 2, 2026
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
TMS3731
Module Code:
Teaching Social Sciences in the Senior
Module Name:
Phase
Portfolio (Tasks 1 to 4)
Assessment:
4 November 2026
Due Date:
100
Total Marks:
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for TMS3731, UNISA 2026
,UNISA | TMS3731 Assignment 5: Portfolio
Portfolio Task 1: Reflective Narrative on Creating an Inclusive Social Sciences Lesson
1.1 Context and lesson
During my teaching practice I taught a Grade 9 Geography lesson on development issues (Term
2) to a class of 44 learners at a public township school in [town and province]. Most learners
speak isiZulu or Sesotho at home, while English is the language of learning and teaching (LoLT).
The class included three learners who had recently arrived from rural schools and were still
building their academic English, four learners who read well below Grade 9 level, one very
quiet learner who rarely spoke in class, and many learners who shared a single textbook be-
tween three. The lesson, “How do we measure development?”, asked groups to compare two
fictional countries using gross national income (GNI) per person, life expectancy and adult liter-
acy (DBE, 2011; Oxford University Press Southern Africa, 2024).
1.2 Guiding philosophies
Two philosophies shaped my planning. Ubuntu holds that a person becomes fully human through
relationships with others, which pushed me to design tasks where every learner had a valued
role and a shared responsibility for the group’s success (Letseka, 2012). Social constructivism,
in Vygotsky’s (1978) view, treats learning as a social act in which a more knowledgeable peer
or teacher supports a learner within the zone of proximal development. Both ideas match the
aim of Education White Paper 6 to find and reduce barriers to learning rather than to treat the
learner as the problem (DoE, 2001).
1.3 Inclusive strategies and practical examples
Language. I introduced ten key terms through a picture glossary with space for home-language
equivalents, which two bilingual learners helped me prepare. Groups were allowed to discuss
in their home languages before reporting in English. Learner A, who had just arrived from a
rural school, sat next to a bilingual partner and used the glossary and a sentence starter (“Life
expectancy is lower in Country D because . . . ”) to explain her group’s finding aloud for the first
time.
Learning difficulties. Learners B and C, who struggle with reading, received the task card in
enlarged print with fewer words. I read the instructions aloud and they could answer orally or
Page 2 of 34
,UNISA | TMS3731 Assignment 5: Portfolio
by drawing and labelling. Learner D, who was very quiet, was given the role of reporter only
after rehearsing one sentence with her partner, so she could succeed publicly.
Social background. Because many learners had no data or textbooks at home, I redrew the
infographic on the board, photocopied one task card per group, and set no homework that
needed internet access.
Changed materials and instructions. I replaced three pages of textbook reading with a one-
page infographic, a simplified data table and a three-step instruction card with icons, which
I modelled once with a worked example. Groups of four were mixed by ability and language,
each with a reader, recorder, reporter and timekeeper. The task card had three levels of chal-
lenge, and each group chose where to start (see Annexure A).
1.4 What went well and what was difficult
Participation rose clearly: almost every learner spoke at least once, and the three recently ar-
rived learners contributed ideas. The role cards reduced the tendency for two or three confi-
dent learners to dominate. Challenges were also real. Forty-four learners in a 45-minute pe-
riod left little time to support each group, noise levels rose during the home-language discus-
sions, and some learners relied on stronger peers instead of attempting the work. I also found
it hard to check individual understanding, since the group report hid who had not grasped the
content.
1.5 What I learned and how it will shape my teaching
I learned that inclusion is mostly planned before the lesson starts: pre-teaching vocabulary,
reducing reading load and assigning roles did more than any corrective action in the room. In
future I will collect a short baseline of home languages and reading levels in the first week,
build a bank of reusable visuals and glossaries, rotate roles so that no learner is permanently
the writer or the listener, and add a short individual exit task to see who still needs help. I will
also share concerns early with the school-based support team so that learners with persistent
barriers receive formal support (DoE, 2001).
Page 3 of 34
, UNISA | TMS3731 Assignment 5: Portfolio
1.6 Evidence attached
Annexure A contains the adapted three-level group task card. [Insert Annexure B: photographs
of group work with learners’ faces hidden] and [Insert Annexure C: two or three anonymised
samples of learner work].
Page 4 of 34
