Browsing by Author "Niven, John McGregor."

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9

Conservation awareness amongst white adolescents in South Africa: a study of senior secondary pupils in Natal.
(1982) Irwin, Patrick Roger.; Niven, John McGregor.
Abstract available PDF.
A critical study of aspects of the political, constitutional, administrative and professional development of Indian teacher education in South Africa with particular reference to the period 1965 to 1984.
(1985) Naguran, Chinnapen Amatchi.; Niven, John McGregor.
This study deals with the administrative and curricular development of Indian teacher education in South Africa for the period 1860 - 1984. It is set against the background of developments in the education system for Indians in this country. Historical and political events which have a direct bearing on Indian education are touched upon merely cursorily to give the reader the necessary background for a fuller appreciation of the Indian community's struggle for education in the country of their adoption. The study is divided into three parts. Part one comprising the first two chapters, provides a brief historical perspective of Indian education from 1860 to 1965. Chapter One deals with a brief review of the coming of the Indians to Natal and the origins and early development of education for the Indians. Chapter Two carries on the historical review with the emphasis on the early development of Indian teacher education. Part Two comprising four chapters deals with aspects of Indian education after it was transferred from provincial control to central State control in 1966. The Indian Education Act of 1965 (No. 61 of 1965) is taken as a point of departure. Chapter Three begins with a very brief discussion of the principles underlying the nationalisation of education in South Africa. The de Lange Report and the Government's reaction to its recommendations are considered against the new political dispensation. Chapter Four deals with such aspects as control and administration, involvement of Indians in the control of their education, school accommodation, growth in pupil enrolment and the school curricula are examined to assess growth and progress. Chapter Five is concerned with the control and administration of Indian teacher education after nationalisation of Indian education. Within the framework of this chapter recent developments such as the recommendations of the Gericke Commission leading to the National Education Policy Amendment Act (No. 75 of 1969) and the van Wyke de Vries Commission's recommendations for a closer co-operation with universities in respect of teacher education, are examined with a view to tracing their influence on Indian teacher education. Chapter Six attempts to examine demographic aspects which influence the demand for and supply of teachers in Indian education. Part Three comprising four chapters, examines contemporary issues and perspectives in Indian teacher education. Chapters Seven and Eight examine critically the teachers' courses at the Colleges of Education and the University of Durban-Westville respectively. Chapter Nine examines on a comparative basis structural changes and new developments in methodological skills in teacher education. Finally, in Chapter Ten proposals and recommendations are formulated with a view to achieving a properly structured institutional arrangement such as the college council and college senate to facilitate Indian teacher education.
A critical study of the Senior Certificate Examination of the Division of Indian Education since the introduction of the system of differentiated education.
(1984) Naidoo, Mogambery.; Niven, John McGregor.
Abstract available in PDF.
The developing trend towards short-cycle tertiary education.
(1973) Shippey, Theodore Clive.; Niven, John McGregor.
No abstract available.
Interactional sociolinguistics : insights and applications.
(1987) Chick, John Keith.; Niven, John McGregor.; Schlemmer, Lawrence.; Cluver, August.
The research reported in this thesis is basically applied in purpose. However the theoretical siqnificance of interactional sociolinquistics is explored by showinq that it is based on a philosophy of science which differs fundamentally from the versions of positivism which have informed linquistics over the years. The research methods consistent with this methodology are also outlined. The applied siqnificance of the sub-field is demonstrated more qenerally at first by examininq its contribution to the understandinq of the relationship between lanquaqe and context. Thereafter the contribution to the understandinq of this relationship is explored in more specific terms by examininq the role of contextual information in the form of culturally-specific interactional styles in the accomplishinq of prejudice and neqative cultural stereotypes in intercultural communication in South Africa. The siqnificance of this explanation is explored further by showinq how such an interactional account fits into a more comprehensive explanation of the causes of discrimination in South Africa, one that includes, also. structural explanations, and explanations in terms of the psycholoqy of individuals. This prepares the way for a consideration of the possible contribution of interactional sociolinquistics to solutions to the problem of discrimination both in South Africa and elsewhere.
'n Kritiese evaluering van geselekteerde aspekte van die gebruik van mikrorekenaars in skooladministrasie en bestuur met spesifieke verwysing na sekondere skole onder beheer van die Natalse Onderwysdepartement.
(1986) Cronje, Nicolaas Stephanus.; Niven, John McGregor.
Hierdie dissertasie is ‘n beperkte studie wat die gebruik van die rekenaar in skooladministrasie en -bestuur ondersoek. Mikrorekenaars het oor die afgelope paar jaar algemeen beskikbaar geraak en, die gebruik daarvan in skole vir akademiese sowel as vir administratiewe doeleindes het spontaan ontwikkel. Ervaring in lande soos Engeland, Skotland, Kanada en die VSA het egter sekere sleutel-aspekte in sodanige ontwikkeling aangetoon wat die optimum benutting van die mikrorekenaar in administrasie en bestuur kan bevorder. Daar is daarom, deur middel van onderhoude in Skotland en Engeland, gepaard met ‘n omvattende lektuurstudie van die situasie in hierdie lande asook in die VSA en Kanada, vier van hierdie sleutelaspekte gefindentifiseer. ‘n Empiriese studie in sekondere skole van die Natalse Onderwysdepartement het getoon dat daar nog groot onsekerheid en gebrek aan ervaring ten opsigte van rekenarisering in hierdie skole heers. Verder was dit duidelik dat hierdie skole gevaar loop om die foute wat in baie ander lande begaan is, te herhaal. Die dissertasie word afgesluit deur gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings wat moontlik daartoe kan lei dat die slaggate wat aangetoon is, vermy kan word en die voordele van ‘n goed beplande, effektiewe rekenaargesteunde administrasie en bestuurstelsel geniet kan word. This dissertation is a restricted study in which the use of the computer in school administration and management is investigated. Micro-computers have become available over the past few years and their use in schools for academic and professional as well as administrative purposes has developed spontaneously. Experience in countries such as England, Scotland, Canada and the USA has shown certain key aspects in this development in which the optimum use of the micro-computer can be improved. Through interviews in Scotland and England associated with a comprehensive literature survey of the situation in these countries and in the USA and Canada, four of these key aspects have been identified. An empirical study conducted in secondary schools of the Natal Education Department shows that considerable uncertainty and lack of experience in respect of computerisation in the school still prevails. Furthermore, it is certain that these schools are in danger of repeating the errors which have arisin in other countries. The study concludes with the drawing of conclusions and the making of recommendations which could possibly lead to the avoidance of these pitfalls and result in the enjoyment of the advantages of a well-planned, effective computer-assisted administration and management system.
'n Sosiaal-pedagogiese analise van die vryetydsbesteding van st. 8, 9 en leerlinge in Afrikaansmediumskole in Durban.
(1972) Landman, W. J. J.; Niven, John McGregor.
No abstract available.
Teacher education in South Africa : a critical study of selected aspects of its historical, curricular and administrative development.
(1971) Niven, John McGregor.; MacMillan, Ronald George.
This study, in a sense, mirrors the attitudes of the society in which it is based towards a fundamental pedagogical task, that of the preparation of its teachers, Almost throughout the Western world, the concept of elementary education for all was accepted as a responsibility of the society with little thought being given to the preparation of teachers to make the concept a reality. From this emerged, with the dichotomy of full education for a privileged elite, and basic education for the mass of society, the widespread idea that elementary school teachers stood in need of professional training while secondary schoolmasters required only a thorough grounding in academic studies in the university. It has only been with the full realisation about the middle decades of this century of the need for education at secondary school level for all members of society, that the necessity for a welleducated teaching force has become an accepted reality. With this has come the acceptance of teacher education as an essential pre-requisite of a national system of education rather than merely a poor and somewhat depressed Cinderella of the school system. Part One of this survey therefore seeks to examine the origins and early development of systems for the preparation of teachers in the days before the unification of the states of South Africa. Part Two carries on the historical investigation and the growing moves towards the professionalisation of teacher education up to the middle of the present century. Central to the development of this theme is the major problem of constitutional provision for the control of education in the Union of South Africa. The resultant lack of a national policy for education in general and teacher education in particular sets the stage for the second two parts of the survey. Part Three endeavours on a highly selective basis to examine some of the problems which confront the teacher educator and the educational planner at the present time, concentrating in particular upon aspects of demography and the supply of teachers, as well as the nature of the courses offered. The final section of the study examines the reform period of South African education at elementary and secondary school levels represented by the legislation of the decade of the 'sixties. In particular the proposals of the National Education Policy Act of 1967, and its amendment of 1969, regarding the structure of teacher education in this country are examined. Finally, proposals are made with regard to the implementation of this policy in the present decade. Inevitably as this investigation has proceeded, as the power of the researcher's lens has been increased, so the breadth of the study has been replaced by depth. The depth has not been consistent, reflecting the personal predelictions of the investigator. An attempt has been made to examine aspects of the preparation of teachers for the White group only. Previous experience of an investigation into a much more restricted field than is represented by South Africa revealed the practical impossibility feaiofa wider study than this. Can such a study have any function in the educational literature of the society? This is a question which is of concern to every researcher in the field of the social sciences. For the first time since the creation of Union in 1910, and the framing of the famous but ambiguous phrase in Section 85 of the South Africa Act, this country has been able to contemplate the formulation of a national education policy. The relationships between institutions and authorities charged with the preparation of teachers has in the past largely been based on divisive and separatist tendencies. If a national education policy is to be securely based, it must have at its core a teacher force which is committed to its implementation. It is in the hope that teacher education may be based upon policies which draw institutions and authorities together upon a professional basis of common interest rather than upon the coercive effect of ministerial edict that this study may have some slight value. It is in this spirit that it has been undertaken.
Teacher education in Transkei : a critical and comparative study of the evolution of selected aspects of its administrative, curricular and course structures as an indicator of future policy and planning in the provision of teachers.
(1984) Ngubentombi, Sidwell Vusumzi Sinda.; Niven, John McGregor.