Abstract

The poor pass rate at grade twelve level reveals the stark reality of many of South African historically disadvantaged secondary schools being ineffective institutions of learning and success. A culture of high expectations is a hallmark of high achieving schools. Unfortunately, low expectations are common in high poverty, disadvantaged schools. The problem has been exacerbated at these schools by teachers who are either under-qualified or unqualified. Good teachers are not evenly distributed across all kinds of schools and learners and there are big differences in the amounts and kinds of learning that different teachers help produce. The introduction of outcome-based education (OBE) in the South African educational system has further compounded the problem of a lack of relevant knowledge and skills by educators. The Faculty of Education of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, in partnership with the Eastern Cape Department of Education, initiated the video-based self-regulated learning (VBSRL) project to assist grade twelve learners. A survey was conducted amongst all these learners at the ten matriculation support centres to determine the effectiveness of the VBSRL approach. The findings of the survey strongly suggest that VBSRL can be used effectively as an instructional strategy to raise the attainment and consequently the success level of grade twelve historically disadvantaged learners.