Study on Teachers’ Perceptions of Learners’ Intelligence

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Ms Happy Majola has graduated with a master’s degree. Over the course of her teaching career, she has taught in diverse settings - including therapy centres for learners with disabilities, and later in rural schools.

These experiences motivated her to pursue further studies in special educational needs and psychology. She currently works as a senior education specialist within the Special Needs Education Services Directorate in the uMgungundlovu District Office.

Majola’s research, titled “A Systematic Review of Teachers’ Perceptions of Learners’ Intelligence in Relation to Gender, Age, and Cultural Differences”, employed two methodological strategies: the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), and the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome (PICO) data search strategy.

Explaining her process, Majola said: ‘I used these strategies to collect and synthesise data qualitatively to answer the key questions of my research, and to extract and collate the findings, I then used a qualitative thematic synthesis.’

Her research explored two key theories of intelligence - the Implicit Theory of Intelligence (ITI) and the Multiple Intelligences Theory (MI) - to investigate: (1) gender differences in intelligence; (2) teachers’ perceptions of intelligence in relation to age; and (3) cultural influences perceived by teachers as contributing to learners’ intelligence.

The study is underpinned by Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development (1978), which emphasises the influence of a child’s cultural context on their development (Berk, 2017). Vygotsky’s theory is pivotal in understanding children’s cognition as it highlights the transmission of culture across generations through meaningful dialogue (Berk, 2017). Moreover, Vygotsky stressed that for cognitive development to occur, children need guidance and support from parents, teachers, and peers through mediated learning experiences (Daneshfar & Moharami, 2018).

Majola’s findings revealed that teachers’ perceptions of learners’ intelligence are influenced by age, gender and cultural background.

‘I found that teachers hold two types of mindsets that influence their perceptions of learners’ intelligence - known as implicit theories of intelligence: the incremental mindset and the entity mindset.

‘Teachers with an incremental mindset view intelligence as malleable - something that can develop over time and be influenced by environmental factors. Those with an entity mindset believe intelligence is fixed and innate, with little or no capacity for change,’ she said.

Majola revealed that there is a shortage of data and studies that investigate teachers’ perceptions in the field of intelligence, particularly in relation to scholars on the African continent. ‘This made my study and research process much more challenging. In fact, in South Africa there is only one study that was conducted in 2006 also emanating from UKZN’.

However, she noted that while the lack of research is unfortunate, it creates a critical knowledge gap. ‘Perhaps researchers on the African continent should double their efforts to conduct studies focusing on teachers’ perceptions of intelligence,’ she challenged.

Reflecting on her time at UKZN, Majola expressed gratitude for achieving her final academic goal of studying Psychology. She was also selected for an educational psychology internship through the UKZN Discipline of Psychology at the Child and Family Centre. ‘I learnt a lot under their supervision - especially from the senior psychologist,’ she said.

Majola also credits her vast support network for her success. ‘All of this would not have been possible without my supervisor Dr James Munnik who supported and guided me through. I am eternally grateful to him for expanding my horizon, knowledge, and understanding of academic writing.’

As a devout Christian, Majola thanked God for being her pillar of strength when she lost hope. She also thanked her family and friends for their unwavering support.

Majola is currently completing her educational psychology internship and plans to write her board exam in June 2025.

‘When I qualify as an educational psychologist, I will use the skills I’ve gained at UKZN to support learners and children who experience barriers to learning and development,’ she said.

Words: Jennene Naidu

Photograph: Sethu Dlamini