Browsing by Author "Nhlabathi, Zandile Florence."

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The application of Viable System Model(VSM) in the context of establishing, maintaining and restoring a Culture of Learning, Teaching and Service (COLTS) in a school : an organizational setting.
(2001) Nhlabathi, Zandile Florence.; Taylor, Robert Gordon.
The establishment, restoration, enhancement and maintenance of the Culture of Learning, Teaching and Service (COLTS) in a school, remains a precondition for a successful Education System. Colts aims at restoring functionality in the schools with the view to improve the quality of learning and teaching activities. The COLTS campaign programmes were launched in February 1997 by the then President Mandela, to promote a culture of learning, teaching and service in every institution in the country. From the National to Circuit level the focus is directly or indirectly devoted to the Culture of Learning, Teaching and Service in a school. The Culture of Learning, Teaching and Service promotes the idea that it is the duty of educators to teach and of learners to learn. The question is how Learning, Teaching and Service structures, processes ensure viability with the application of a Viable System Model (VSM) in a school The Viable System Model is a powerful diagnostic tool to promote viability in an organization. Therefore, the Viable System Model is applied as a methodology for understanding structures and processes of learning and teaching in a school. The application of a Viable System Model in the context of learning and teaching is used as a consistent intervention tool to develop the organizational competence. The application of a Viable System Model as an intervention tool in managing the Culture of Learning, Teaching and Service becomes a powerful learning experience or challenge for schools. The core business of any school organization is learning and teaching; thus its mechanisms for identity and viability determine survival and success. This demands that the learning and teaching programmes or approaches need to adapt to the changing environment and the new approaches require a new way of thinking, research and learning. Therefore, the Viable System Model is applied as a methodology that is capable of improving performance in a school as an organization. It is used as a diagnostic tool to check the culture of learning, teaching and service structures and processes to ensure viability and effectiveness. The culture of learning, teaching and service context explores the usefulness of VSM in dealing with complex situations in the organization. The aim is to use a Viable System Model to improve synergy between learning and teaching autonomy of parts and the whole school. It is hoped that the usefulness a of Viable System Model in the culture of learning, teaching and service context will develop a school's competence. The restoration of COLTS is a challenge to both the Education System and school community. The VSM is applied at different levels of COLTS to make specific recommendations, taking into consideration the internal and external environment. The VSM theory is used to pinpoint the various systemic or structural constraints within and outside the school. For schools to succeed as adaptive goal-seeking entity, they need understanding and application of VSM. The relevance of VSM theory such as the idea of recursion, cybernetic principles and arrangement of functions at different levels provide organizations with flexibility they need to survive in complex changing environments. Through the application of a Viable System Model, schools are encouraged to learn and understand how change unfolds through circular patterns of interaction rather than linear patterns. The discord or common faults, constraints and harmonising elements in the COLTS scenario reveal that the relationship between school and the environment should be understood as ongoing processes that need to be maintained. Therefore, the COLTS activities should meet the business idea of the organization and the principles of viability. To achieve learning and development in COLTS context, schools need to practice new behaviour skills and integrate new skills into new ways of thinking and doing. The school has to seize the opportunities created by the process of using a Viable System Model as a tool for maintaining COLTS in school. In conclusion, personal living model and the Toulmin Argument Model are included as part of systematic management, reflection and learning experiences. The models are a self-reflective process of how I can deal with COLTS issue in my organization which becomes an on - going process for personal and school as an organization to develop into new thinking horizons in COLTS context.
Promoting intergovernmental relations through KwaNaloga games : a case study of selected municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal.
(2011) Nhlabathi, Zandile Florence.; Mubangizi, Betty Claire.
Worldwide all multi-level governance systems face the challenges of co-ordination and the alignment of scarce resources for the common good while maintaining their distinctiveness and independence. South Africa is no exception. Since 1994 when decentralisation became government policy in South Africa, intergovernmental relations have evolved at both the formal and informal levels. While each level of government has a specific mandate prescribed by the Constitution, the challenges of poverty, inequality and marginalisation of vulnerable communities are best addressed through a concerted effort by all spheres of government. Held annually for the past thirteen years, under the aegis of the KwaZulu-Natal Local Government Association (KwaNaloga), the KwaNaloga Games have successfully been staged as a collaborative effort between South Africa’s three spheres of government: national, provincial and local (municipal). This dissertation argues that if the various spheres of government can align their objectives, processes and resources around a specific outcome like the KwaNaloga Games, then it should be possible for the same spheres of government to align objectives, processes and resources for the provision of housing, water, electricity, safety, security and other critical developmental local government outcomes. In exploring this argument, qualitative and quantitative research was conducted with a range of stakeholders (Technical Sport Planning Committee, sport federation representatives, district and municipal officials) involved in the organisation and delivery of the KwaNaloga Games. The study followed the theoretical framework of co-operative government, intergovernmental relations and multi-level governance. ‘Co-operative government’ suggests a partnership between the three spheres of government where each sphere is distinctive and has a specific role to fulfil. ‘Intergovernmental relations’ are concerned with the political, financial and institutional arrangements regarding interactions between different spheres of government and organs of the state within each sphere. ‘Multi-level governance’ has vertical and horizontal dimensions where the emphasis is on the linkages between higher and lower levels of government, and on co-operation arrangements between regions and local government where agreements are the means by which to improve the effectiveness of local public service and implementation of development strategies. The findings indicate that the partnerships and relationships established by government and non-government actors during the Games are crucial to accomplish governmental objectives, be they social or economic, and enhancing service delivery in the three spheres of government. The relevant committees and structures for execution of the Games provide good platforms and fora for networking and promoting IGR, which facilitate team-work in other functions of service delivery. The study concludes that KwaNaloga Games provide and present the spheres of government with a unique opportunity to forge new relationships and partnerships in the internal and external environments that shape local government. These relationships and partnerships further strengthen existing parameters in order for the spheres of government to be more effective, efficient and responsive to the needs of communities. This study recommends that the co-operation and collaboration among the three spheres of government should be strengthened through agreed service level agreements, viable communication channels and functional oversight structures (such as co-ordinating fora of senior management, political leaders and office bearers) to meet the set goals of service delivery programmes and projects. The study further recommends that monitoring and evaluation systems should be incorporated into the KwaNaloga Games and that through reviewing the binding implementation of agreements and protocols these systems are further extended to indicate progress in various spheres of government in the pursuit of local government developmental objectives.