'n Onderrig-leerperspektief op faktore wat Wiskundeprestasie bevorder

English: There are for some time major concerns about the standard of Mathematics in South African schools. The annual poor results of the Grade 12 learners in the end of the year examination, add to this concern. The general standard of Mathematics in South Africa is much weaker than the international standard and cannot be compared to countries that perform well internationally in Mathematics, such as Canada, Finland, Singapore and Japan. Apart from the poor results in Mathematics in South Africa there are certain schools in the Free State, more specifically in the Motheo district, which achieved good Grade 12 Mathematics results in the end of the year examination. A qualitative research approach was followed to identify the possible factors that could contribute to annual good Grade 12 Mathematics results in certain schools. In order to achieve this goal, objectives were pursued to determine what factors contribute to the establishment of a powerful learning environment, what characterizes a good mathematics teacher, and why some schools consistently achieve top performance in the end of the year examination in Mathematics in Grade 12. Four schools were identified which constituted the sample of the study. The schools were selected on the basis of the good results they obtained in Mathematics in the Grade 12 end of the year examination over the past four years in the Motheo district. One teacher per school was identified according to the criterion that they should have presented Mathematics in the FET phase for the past four years at the participating schools. The data in this study were collected through interviews, observations and document analysis. Although the schools were globally observed, the observations were mainly done in the four classrooms of the participating teachers. These observations occurred during a Mathematics lesson for Grade 11/12 learners. The portfolios of the participating teachers were analyzed according to a schedule. The collected data were analyzed and classified in themes, subthemes and coded meaning units. Ethical considerations ensured privacy, anonymity and confidentiality. The data were also verified in several ways to ensure the validity and reliability of the findings. The data analysis identified common factors in these top schools. The researcher combined these common factors and came to the conclusion that the quality of Mathematics teachers, the learning environment in which students receive instruction and the leadership in the school as the main factors to be considered for the schools' successes in Mathematics Education in the FET phase. All the teachers showed that they have the necessary subject content and pedagogical content knowledge to teach Mathematics. All the teachers have more than 10 years’ experience in the teaching of Mathematics in the FET phase. The school and the classroom of the participants contributed to a learning environment that is suitable for academic excellence. Each of the participating schools consisted of a leadership structure which sees academy as their school's main priority.