Doctoral Degrees (Education, Development, Leadership and Management)

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School leadership: principals’ experiences of change and reward.
(2009) Omar, Shabier.; Samuel, Michael Anthony.
This study explores principals’ experiences of school leadership. Through synthesis of varying definitions of leadership, the conceptualisation of the three foci of leadership namely, “person, practice and context” offers an initial organisational framework for this study. The democratic South Africa provides the context of change which is operationalised around issues of the pass rate, desegregation and democratic school governance. The existing landscape of leadership theory is then grafted with the South African context of change to set up the theoretical framing of this study. This study is positioned differently from dominant leadership studies in that the leader (principal) is fore-grounded rather than the “practice” of leadership. An interpretive paradigm is invoked to facilitate the acknowledgement, activation and inter-woveness of the researcher’s dual positioning as researcher and as school principal. This ambivalent positioning creates a methodological paradox that simultaneously privileges and imprisons the production of knowledge. Coherent with the methodological choice of narrative methodologies, an award winning literary play “Copenhagen” is used as a creative representational device. This play highlights issues of “personal, political, moral and scientific” challenges which become key pivotal points with which to connect all the chapters of this study. Six principals of previously disadvantaged schools, facing similar challenges of leadership participate in this study. Narrative methodologies guides both the data production and data analysis strategies. It also intentionally focuses on “personal, political and moral” challenges. Lengthy interviews produce richly detailed co-constructed mindscapes of leadership. The voices of principals and their stories are represented as individualised “reconstructed career narratives”. These provide complex, themed and descriptive understandings of leadership at the first level. At the second level, the researcher’s voice becomes dominant while meshing together data, theory and first level analysis to provide cross-case analysis providing deeper insights into experiences of school leadership. These insights challenge the dominant theoretical landscape of leadership. The main finding of this study suggests that principals “personal” experiences re-define relationships between key components of the context of change and in this way determine understandings of leadership. Principals consider the pass rate to be most important at a systemic level. However, their “personal/biographic” experiences with regard to “validation” and “professional experience” mediate that consideration and influence particular understandings of leadership. Similarly, principals’ “personal” experiences together with institutional histories play a significant role in understanding leadership in relation to issues of desegregation (geography). Principals’ “personal” experiences also determine how democratic school governance is understood with regard to accountability, consultation and agenda constructions. Finally, leadership is understood to be intricately linked to the concept of reward. The “scientific” construct of a Trefoil knot is used to develop an explanatory model and posit the basis of a “Relational Reward Theory” of understanding leadership. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the implications of pushing back contextual, methodological and theoretical boundaries in understanding school leadership.
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.
Distributed teacher leadership in South African schools : troubling the terrain.
(2010) Grant, Carolyn.
This publication-based study aims to ‘trouble’ the terrain of teacher leadership – at the level of both theory and praxis, in the South African schooling context. The motivation for this study came from my increasing research interest in shared forms of school leadership, particularly the leadership practices of teachers in terms of their potential as ‘agents of change’. The thesis is organised according to my ‘logic of connectivity’ which operated at a range of levels. Eight academic, peer-reviewed, independent articles constitute the ‘core’ of the study and are connected through the following emergent research questions: 1) How is teacher leadership understood and practiced by educators in mainstream South African schools?; 2) What are the characteristics of contexts that either support or hinder the take-up of teacher leadership; and 3) How we can theorise teacher leadership within a distributed leadership framing? For its connectivity at a theoretical level, this study privileges distributed leadership theory (after Spillane et al, 2004, Spillane, 2006), and specifically, a view of distributed leadership which foregrounds a ‘leader-plus’ and social practice perspective. In attempting to connect the independent pieces of work at a methodological level, I have organised them in inter-connected clusters within a three phase contingent design, and thus locate the study within the mixed methods research tradition. My study does not seek convergence in the classic sense of triangulation but rather an ‘expansion of inquiry’ which involves a secondary analysis of the findings – a meta-inference - guided by the research questions. The study thus offers an example of a PhD by publication; it reflects on the associated methodological challenges and it problematises the retrospective use of publications. The key output of the overall research which emerged from and connects the publications, is a model depicting the zones and roles of teacher leadership. The main findings of the study which emerge from the connectivity of the publications as well as from the extended literature review, suggest that while teacher leadership is regularly espoused (especially by management), in practice it is often restricted to either mundane tasks and/or the classroom and/or situations where teachers work together on curriculum issues. The data highlights the ease with which the School Management Team can operate as a barrier to teacher leadership even when national policy is underpinned by an ideological position that endorses shared forms of leadership. Despite the restrictions on take-up, however, the study argues that teacher leadership within the South African context, characterised as it is by such diversity, is nevertheless a dynamic possibility. If conceptualised within a distributed leadership framework which, in its ideal form, is democratic and which calls teachers (and management) to new forms of ‘action’, the transformation of schools and communities can become a reality.
Constructions of gender in the context of free primary education : a multi-site case study of three schools in Lesotho.
(2009) Morojele, Pholoho Justice.; Bhana, Deevia.; Moletsane, Relebohile.
his thesis reports on a qualitative study of stakeholders’ constructions of gender in the context of the Free Primary Education policy in three primary schools in Lesotho. Through the lens of the social constructionist paradigm, the thesis examines how parents, teachers and children living in and around these primary schools think, act, and feel in relation to gender in their academic and social worlds. It looks at the ways in which these stakeholders engage with issues of gender in Lesotho communities ravaged by gender inequality. Based on parents’, teachers’ and children’s constructions of gender, the thesis suggests strategies that might help address inequitable gender relations in and around the primary schools. The thesis grounded my personal life experiences, as the researcher, as crucial in the development of methodological strategies and processes of this study. In a flexible and responsive manner, the study utilised informal conversations, semistructured interviews, observations, questionnaires and document analysis, as methods of data collection. It found that, influenced by ‘discursive constructs’ of providence and God’s will, child-adult relations, naturalness of gender differences and attributes as well as the Basotho culture, parents and teachers constructed gender in ways that reinforced existing gender inequality in and around the primary schools. The structural and social organisation of the schools that tended to allocate girls and boys into rigid social categories, and parents’ and teachers’ constructions of gender which reinforced inequitable gender relations, were found to have significant impact on the regulation of children’s experiences and meanings of gender. The study found that children’s experiences of gender informed how they actively engaged with issues of gender and the meanings they attached to being girls and boys. The study traces how Basotho culture and religion have been fundamental to gender inequality and violence in Lesotho. These factors encouraged the schools to use structural/physical identities (such as having biological sex as a boy/girl), as the bases for allocation of girls and boys into rigid and inequitable social categories. The dominant discourses of gender that emanated from these factors, ascribed stereotypic attributes to males (boys and men) and females (girls and women) as means to ground inequitable gendered human aptitudes, which were used to justify gender inequality. The study also identifies ways in which girls defy the insistence on their subordination, and sees fault lines where gender inequality can be confronted without abandoning Basotho culture.
Changing times, changing values : an alchemy of values education.
(2008) Baijnath, Indera.; Ramrathan, Prevanand.
This study sought to explore what human values were being fostered by teachers at secondary schools within the context of the transformation that is occurring in South Africa and in education. Teachers from three different demographic regions: urban, township and rural responded to what human values were being promoted in their classes, why these values were being promoted and if they had changed their values during their teaching career, what factors were responsible for the change. This study is set in the context of a changing educational arena in South Africa. The promotion of values education is seen by the government of South Africa as a cornerstone in assisting with not only the transformation of education and also in the transformation of South Africa and to promulgate nation building. For this study the production of data involved a comparative case study of teachers. responses on values education, at three different geographically located schools. For this aspect, data was obtained through using a questionnaire. Data was also obtained from a semi-structured interview of three teachers, one teacher from each school. This information was then compiled as a narrative. The methodology employed for this study utilized a combination of comparative case study, narrative inquiry and auto-ethnography approaches. The analyses of the data are presented in two levels. Level one analysis which comprises descriptive statistics is contained in Appendix F. Categories that were identified from the emerging trends from the data analysis are presented as a second level of analysis. This study is located within the interpretative/social constructivism research paradigm. Different theories (Piaget, Kohlberg, Gillian, Bandura and Freud) of moral development that propose how values are developed are discussed to highlight the process on how human beings and more especially children formulate their values. Some of the perspectives that explain the development of morals or values include the cognitive approach, the developmental and the social learning perspective. Transformative Change xv Theory (Mezirow, Boyd & Myers) is also outlined, which explains transformation processes in an adult. An interdisciplinary approach was utilised since it was extremely difficult to select any one theoretical framework to guide this thesis. The data analyses revealed that teachers were struggling to adopt change and found that the promotion of human values was difficult to initiate. Teachers cited various reasons as to why this process was fraught with difficulties. The central concern of teachers was a lack of awareness of: values education in general, documents and policies implemented by the government and the education departments to foster positive values and a lack of avenues for professional development in the area of values education. While teachers cited that the country had transformed into a democratic nation, these changes were not experienced at .grassroots level.. It was also found that different teachers were at different levels in their ability to promote values education in their classes. On the basis of the above, my research has suggested the following which serve as a positive contribution to theory pertaining to values education: the theories on values development are largely concerned with the values development of children and does not apply to adults, in this case, teachers, and therefore a theory that will help explain how adults form or change their values is required. An alchemistic values cycle is then proposed.
A critical appraisal of policy on educator post provisioning in public schools with particular reference to secondary schools in Kwazulu-Natal.
(2005) Naicker, Inbanathan.; Ngwenya, Thengani Harold.
Historically, educator post provisioning in South African public schools has been a
Non-formal citizenship education in Cape Town : struggling to learn or learning to struggle?
(2010) Endresen, Kristin.; Von Kotze, Astrid Erika Liselotte Veronika.
In the past, non formal education in South Africa was committed to supporting the Mass Democratic Movement (MDM) in opposition to apartheid. Such non-formal political education was concerned with education for democracy, that is, preparing people for democracy. Post 1994, adult education policy has focused on vocational training, which has shifted the focus away from education for social purpose. My concern was that democracy is a process and a system that constantly needs to be nurtured. This requires citizens that know their constitutional rights and responsibilities, and how to put them into action. In view of this, I decided to enquire what kind of education exists that aims to build civil society by promoting social justice and social reconstruction in the new democracy. My research critically investigated and analysed the political education programmes in three organisations in Cape Town, Western Cape: an NGO, a trade union congress and a social movement registered as an NGO. They focused on supporting the efforts of people who are unemployed (Alternative Information and Development Centre), shop stewards (Congress of South African Trade Unions) and HIV positive people (Treatment Action Campaign). These programmes aimed to develop an „active. and „critical thinking. new layer of „leadership.. This thesis explores how participants in three organisations understand their roles and identities as participants, activists and as citizens; the spaces and dynamics through which they engage and participate to express their interests, the learning that happens in these spaces through education and collective action, and the participants. relationship to issues of democracy, participation, rights and accountability. This qualitative study employed a case study methodology. It used observation, document review and semi-structured interviews to gather data. The study used concepts drawn from citizenship education and popular education to analyse data. The education offered by these three organisations was popular education in theory, but not always popular education in practice. The participants started: acquiring knowledge and skills for campaigning: learning about the constitution; seeing that the personal is political; becoming more active; showing signs of critical thinking; evidencing active emancipation; and evidencing signs of critical emancipation. Due to a compromised facilitation process, my recommendations are that the facilitators start: putting process in focus; avoiding banking education; making follow-ups of report backs a priority; putting a sexist free education environment in focus; eradicating intimidating facilitator behaviour; and developing practical material. My study has shown that critical citizenship education, which raises participants. awareness about injustice and oppression, can help them voice their most immediate felt needs through solidarity and action.
A paradox of knowing : teachers' knowing about students.
(2008) Amin, Nyna.; Vithal, Renuka.; Samuel, Michael Anthony.
This study is a critical exploration and post-structural explanation of how and what teachers ' know about students. The intention has been to explore teachers' knowing beyond taken-for-granted iterations, beliefs and conceptions of those they teach and to theorise the nature of teachers' knowing. The route to insight involved deploying critical ethnography to produce data over a six-month period. The study site, a secondary school I named Amethyst, is an apartheid-era creation. Since 1990, political change has introduced uncertainties of various sorts and has destabilised the ethos and culture of the school: conflicts between teachers and students, conflicts amongst students' peers, students' participation in activities that are unacceptable and harmful, severe lack of funds to meet the financial needs of the school and lack of human and teaching resources. It is within such an uncertain space that I produced data to interrogate teachers ' knowing about students. At the site, data production was impeded by various confounding factors that eroded trust between the participants and me (the researcher). Traditionally, an ethnographic approach entails three kinds of observation: descriptive observations at the beginning, followed by focused observations narrowed to the concerns of the study and finally, selective observations to consolidate focused observations. For the data production process to continue, the researcher-researched relationship had to be assessed and reconfigured from a critical perspective. In this study the above-mentioned observations have been renamed and reconceptualised from participants' perspectives as: an innocuous phase, an invasive phase and a reciprocity phase. Furthermore, an explication is provided of how research reflexivity shaped the reconceptualisation and the data production processes. Usual forms of data production were abandoned and replaced by a conscious effort to reveal my story to participants eventuating in the form of an exchange of data - my story for their stories. Reciprocal participation enabled data production to be completed and two sets of data were generated: teachers ' stories and students ' stories. Eight teachers ' stories derived from teachers' to teachers' students' teachers' interviews were woven into texts whilst fourteen students' autobiographical accounts comprising lived ex peri ences were re-presented as they narrated them. Juxtapos ing stud ents' accounts with teachers' knowing has yielded three revelations. Firstly, unveil ing how teachers constitute students through knowing them in particul ar ways. Second ly, it reveals how students' constitution as subjects at home and at school a llow them to be known in parti cular ways and thirdl y, revealing the ways students consc iously prevent teachers from knowing about their li ved ex peri ences. The analyses of both sets of stories have dee pened understanding of teachers' knowing, taking it beyond teachers' persona l be lief systems. Plac ing both sets of data und er a criti cal gaze has yie lded three ways of teacher knowing (so li cited, un solic ited and common) and fi ve kind s of teacher knowing (rac ia li sed, gendered, cultu ra l, c lassed, and profess ional). From th e analyses, I have inferred that teachers' knowing about students, when j uxtaposed with and med iated by students' li ved experi ences, is flawed, incomplete, parti al, complex, contradictory, and uni-dimens ional. I put fo rward a th es is predicated on two abstractions from th e anal yses: one, that teachers ' knowing is dangerous because it prope ls teachers towards act ions that can result in d isastrous consequences for students; and two, that not knowing is use ful because it is a more criti ca lly and soc ia lly j ust approach to teaching as it a llows teachers to functi on without succumbing to marginali sing the non-traumati sed and those without chall enges at the persona l level. In effect it tran slates into practices that treat all students equally in an academic settin g, so that in one in stantiati on, students are dri ven to stri ve for academic ac hievement in stead of focusing on emotiona lly debilitating di stractions th at cannot be resolved by teachers' knowing, understanding, and empathy. Not knowing, I argue, offers viable poss ibilities for working with students whose li ves are compromised by low socioeconomic cond iti ons and pro bl ematic family re lati ons. This in vers ion of common-sense instincts about teachers ' knowing and not knowing IS theorised by deploying a topologica l metaphor, the Mii bius strip, to demonstrate that teachers' knowing and not knowing about stud ents are not polar oppos ites on a continuum, but are paradoxically, cohabitants of a common space, refl ections of each other, res iding in each other. Additiona lly, I charge that teachin g and caring, mediated by knowing, form the foundation of teachers' work, and argue that at Amethyst, teaching and caring cannot be activated simul ta neo us ly within an indi vidual teacher. Kcy words: critica l ethnography, teachers' knowing, paradox of knowin g.
Communities of learning and action? : a case study of the human rights, democracy and development project, 1999-2005.
(2009) John, Vaughn Mitchell.; Rule, Peter Neville.
Enduring levels of illiteracy point to a long-term failure to address one of society's more solvable problems. The conditions giving rise to illiteracy are systemic and complex, but also deeply personal. Such conditions are invariably linked to histories of neglect, domination and injustice. Lying in a small, marginal space between limited, ongoing provision of adult basic education and training (ABET) from the South African state and industry, on the one hand, and state-led mass literacy campaigns, on the other, is the ABET work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). This thesis examines a case of ABET within this alternative NGO sector at a time of heightened attention to the challenges of illiteracy in the global arena and a time of major transition in South Africa. It focuses on the Human Rights, Democracy and Development (HRDD) project in rural KwaZulu-Natal as a case of NGO-Ied ABET provision in community settings. The HRDD project attempted to combine ABET with livelihood and citizenship education. Its vision was to foster communities of learning and action. Using case study methodology within a critical paradigm, this study set out to critically document, narrate, analyse and theorise the practices, learning, and identity development within the HRDD project. The entire HRDD project serves as the unit of analysis for the case study. Data collection included 28 in-depth interviews with learners, educators and project partners and analysis of more than 100 project documents. The HRDD project provides opportunities to study adult learning and to examine a range of different types and purposes for learning. In this regard, the theories of Paulo Freire (1970; 1994), Jack Mezirow (1975; 1991), and Lave and Wenger (1999) are explored in setting up theoretical frames through which to understand and theorise learning in the project. The HRDD project provides an excellent opportunity to examine the processes of educator development within a community-based project and to examine the early stages of a community of practice (Wenger, 1998; Lave & Wenger, 1999; Lave, 1993) in which educators could learn the practice of "adult basic education" and find a network of support. A further theoretical frame which emerged during the process of the study and which showed relevance and promise for theorizing the relational and social network aspects of the study is Social Capital theory (Bourdieu, 1986; Putnam 2000; Coleman, 1990). This frame suggested the notions of depleted social capital and fracture as significant characteristics of the post-conflict status of the HRDD context. This thesis highlights the importance of paying close attention to the lives of learners and educators in educational projects and for viewing the project within the lives of learners and educators rather than viewing learners and educators in the life of the project. The thesis illuminates and contrasts such multiple perspectives and also highlights the importance of context and history as primary shapers of learning and action. This thesis ends with discussion of an emergent conceptual model of the HRDD project. The model contains four project dimensions, namely, learning, identity, personal transformation and social change. In addition, it includes four pedagogical devices, which are, reflection, dialogue, action and relationships. Finally, the model also reflects four major contextual factors, namely, poverty, patriarchy, power struggles and a post-conflict status. The concepts integrated in the model emerge from analyses and discussions throughout the thesis. The model is discussed as a summative device, as a heuristic and as a dialectic to outline several purposes which it serves in this study and could serve in future studies. The levels of struggle and fear which emerge through this case study present a portrait of life circumstances and learning contexts which are distinctly antidialogical and oppressive. The portrait also depicts several tenacious women who continue to struggle and learn in hope!
A critical analysis of the national policy on whole school evaluation and its impact on the management capacities of school principals in the Durban south region in Kwazulu-Natal.
(2007) Neerchand, Rajesh.; Samuel, Michael Anthony.
The relationship between academic performance, school culture and school leadership in historically disadvantaged African township secondary schools : implications for leadership.
(2005) Ngcobo, Thandi Moira.; Harley, Keneth Lee.; Thurlow, Michael.
The present government places tremendous faith in academic performance as a crucial tool for transforming the country's society. However, academic performance in the majority of historically disadvantaged schools is poor. What this means is that these schools are hardly in a position to contribute to this hoped for transformation. This is despite the numerous policies generated by the government in an effort to improve the performance. Underpinning this study was a view that this is because the policies do not address issues that are foundational for academic performance. One such issue, as indicated by widespread findings, is school culture, and associated leadership. In response to this view, an examination was in this study conducted on the relationship between academic performance, school culture and school leadership in two historically disadvantaged African township secondary schools (HDATSS). The purpose was to develop better understanding of school cultures that have the potential of enabling good academic performance in HDATSS, and, in the process, develop better understanding of leadership associated with the formation of such school cultures. The examination was conducted by means of ethnography. The advantage of ethnography for this study was that the methodology results in micro/thick descriptions more likely to inform practice than is the case with thin descriptions provided by other methodologies. Findings were that school cultures that are most likely to enable good academic performance in HDATSS are those that are predominantly communal in nature, but also incorporate societal features. Of particular advantage about communality for the schools' academic performance are common, consensual understandings in relation to the schools' academic goals and behavioural norms. Of advantage about the societal incorporation, on the other hand, is societal capacity to compensate for communality's failure to negotiate common understandings in organizations that are as complex, ever-changing and multifaceted as are HDATSS. It was further found that for such school cultures to be enabling for HDATSS they need to creatively supplement historical deprivations and reflect the cultural backgrounds of the schools' populations. A style of leadership that was found to be associated with the formation of such school cultures is that which emerges organically and is therefore diffused, serving and diversified.
Towards inclusive education : exploring policy, context and change through an ethnographic study in a rural context in KwaZulu-Natal.
(2005) Perumal, Jaganathan.; Muthukrishna, Anbanithi.
This study is an ethnographic enquiry into the experiences of a school and its community as they interface with the implementation of the policy of educational inclusion in a pilot project in a rural school in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Through the lens of critical theory and postmodernism, I critique special education and argue for the discourse of inclusive education to be placed on the broader agenda of social inclusion and exclusion and for its focus to extend beyond a narrow emphasis on special needs education. The study focuses on the micro-level, the teachers, learners, and parents who act within conflicting discursive spaces. Under scrutiny is context as a discursive field, which includes social, political and cultural factors and practices. The study examines systemic issues related to inclusion and exclusion within situated contexts. On the macro-level it examines discursive forces, including national and global forces that influence the implementation processes. Ethnography as a methodological tool opened up spaces to interrogate change and reform at the level of the interpersonal in the context of wider social and political power relations. In uncertain and unstable circumstances, an ethnographic approach, with multiple and prolonged data collection strategies, provided me with a fuller picture of the multiple realities within the school. The concept of a conditional matrix is a useful construct in understanding the multiple interlocking and intersecting influences that impact on the process of policy implementation. In this study, the micropolitical and micro-cultural conditions in the school, the politics of participation of departmental officials in policy implementation , teacher identities, macro-economic policy of the state, globalisation and neoliberalism and competing policies, impacted on and at times constrained the policy implementation process. Many gains were made in moving towards an inclusive school in this pilot project, but fiscal austerity in a sea of poverty threatened the goals of equity and redress. In understanding the implementation of a generic policy in all schools in a country, the contextual conditions within this conditional matrix need to be understood. Empirical evidence from this investigation suggests that developing learning schools and communities helps to bring about educational change and build inclusive schools. Collaboration in the form of team teaching, peer coaching, mentor relationships, professional dialogue, action research, and collaborative partnerships with and between members of the community provided a crucial plank in teacher development and school improvement. Using collaborative learning for teacher development transcends personal, individual reflection, or dependence on outside experts, leading to a situation where teachers learn from one other, to share and develop their expertise. This investigation provides evidence that the accessing and building of human and social capital within the school and the community is one way to implement inclusive education and reduce exclusion in the school and community. Collaborative partnerships with universities, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Community-Based Organizations, Disabled Peoples Organizations (DPOs), and intersectorial networking with government departments, and people from the community, played a major role in the implementation of the policy of inclusive education. The data suggests that teachers' experiences in professional development can influence their identities for policy change. Changing mental models or deeply established conceptions is essential in developing learning organizations. Critical to this shift of the 'mental model' or identity, is how the policy is mediated to the incumbents. This study proposes a tripolar approach to policy implementation, that is, a combination of three dimensions of teacher development: the 'top-down' , 'bottomup' and 'horizontal' dimensions. While some teachers used constructivist learner centred pedagogy effectively, others grappled with the principles of constructivism. Constructivist approaches to teaching, a learner centred pedagogy, active learning, cooperative learning, curriculum differentiation and multilevel teaching created a pedagogy of possibility for an inclusive curriculum for all learners. Whilst on the other hand the hegemony of traditional practices such as a 'one-size-fits-all' approach, closed up possibilities for some learners to access the curriculum. Different forms of assessments or a flexible assessment system generates opportunities or possibilities for a more equitable and non-discriminatory assessment procedure. The formative assessment together with alternative forms/techniques of assessment opens up spaces for a more inclusive and equitable system of assessment. A transformational, democratic style of leadership with shared decision-making, accountability, commitment and risk-taking, are important factors in creating a climate for change in schools. More importantly, the leadership of the principal as an avant-garde for inclusion influenced the change process. Indigenous practices such as the informal open-air meetings and the 'imbiso' or the 'legotla' type of meetings created spaces for effective organizational strategies in the school. Evidence from the study suggests that the "Institutional Support Team" (IST) as a proposed new structure in schools, opens up possibilities for internal support for the institution rather than a reliance on specialized outside help. Collective problem solving by the IST addressed systemic, social, pedagogical and cultural barriers to learning and development. Paradoxically, the quest for quality or excellence in education sometimes stymies the goals of equity and redress. The notion that excellence and equity are incompatible or bipolar human values is based on fallacious or binary logic. One of the ways to depolarize the equity/excellence dichotomy is to value both and not privilege anyone at the expense of the other. 1. imbiso/legotla: Zulu/Soto word for meeting called by the King, traditional leader, chief or the leadership of the land.
An exploration of women's transformation through distance learning in Kenya.
(2004) Kithome, Lucy Kasyoka.; Aitchison, John Jacques William.
This research, An Exploration of Women's Transformation through Distance Learning in Kenya, applied Mezirow's theory of transformative learning to investigate how distance learning impacted on women's views about themselves and their position in society. This was done by examining whether distance learning enables women to acquire new self-perceptions about themselves and leads them to challenge the status quo and take action in order to improve their status in society. Three distance learning programmes were studied: the B.Ed. programme at the Faculty of External Studies at the University of Nairobi, Theological Education by Extension, and the Co-operative College of Kenya. This research was motivated through my own biography, with the purpose of identifying and encouraging distance learning practices that promote women's transformation. The research also hoped to draw attention to the study of women's issues in distance learning, as an area that has not attracted much attention in Kenya and to generate information which can be used to inform the use of distance learning methods in a way that favours women. Biographical methods of research were used. This involved listening to women's learning stories, noting their reasons for coming back to study, the barriers that they encountered as they studied and the coping strategies that they used to overcome the barriers. In addition, other methods were used to supplement the biographical data collected from the women. These included focus group discussions, observation and documentary evidence. The approach to data analysis was based on the use of hermeneutics methods of data interpretation. The themes and concepts that emerged from this process were compared with themes and concepts generated through other methods of data collection. The main findings were that distance learning, though based on alternative forms of provision, does lead to transformation, however, women from the three programmes experienced diverse levels of transformation. The B.Ed.programme with its face-to-face component and women with higher education had greater impact on women's transformation than other programmes. Although the TEE programme had face-to-face interaction, their curriculum, which reinforced the negative gender stereotypes in society and does not lead to recognised certificates, could not allow them to achieve this experience. The Coop programme, without the face-to-face arrangement had the lowest transformative effects on women. On the basis of these findings, it was recommended that more distance learning programmes be designed, with increased use of face-to-face components in order to help women achieve transformation. The findings and the discussions thereof also show that prior level of education had far reaching effects on the levels of transformation that women achieved. This led to the recommendation that women's education should be encouraged and the society should be sensitised about the value of educating women. Distance learning also enabled women to achieve economic empowerment, in terms of promotions, new jobs and increased salaries; however this was only noted in the B.Ed. and Coop programmes. The TEE programme, being a church programme had no economic benefits for its women learners. The women in the TEE programme were not happy with the present arrangement and were, therefore, calling for a review of the programme. The findings also showed that women's transformation is not being fully achieved because of non- supportive facilities and the use of learning materials, which reinforce the negative gender stereotypes in society. Therefore, to make distance learning more accessible to women learners and more transformational, the research recommended changes geared towards the creation of women-friendly facilities and learning materials.
Alternate systems of education (distance and virtual) : South African trends.
(2001) Govender, Devanandan.; Kistan, G.
It has been well documented (Education and Training White Paper I,II and III) that one of the key challenges facing South African post apartheid education is the need to transform the educational sector that was systematically destroyed by many years of apartheid education. Whilst dealing with the process of transformation, South African education is also expected to deal with many other pressures that beset, at present, educational landscapes world wide. These pressures relate directly to the increased demand for access to higher education with a corresponding reduction in government funding for tertiary education. The massification of higher education has placed great pressure on traditional face to face higher education institutions to provide access to larger numbers of students. Student profiles have also changed considerably in post apartheid South Africa. In the past apartheid policies restricted access to the majority of students consequently there are many adult students who are now beginning to enroll at tertiary institutions to upgrade their expertise and qualifications. South African tertiary institutions see it as their imperative to find innovative ways to make their places of learning more flexible and accommodate students wanting life long learning. Based on the above challenges facing the South African educational landscape, this study investigated the popularity of distance and virtual education as a viable alternate system of learning amongst higher education students in South Africa. The study found that distance education is a very popular choice amongst students who are above 35 years of age. Another finding, was that distance education is popular amongst students pursuing a qualification (diplomas, honours, masters and doctoral degrees) in a variety of professions such as, Computers, Nursing Science, Public Administration, Business Administration, Police Services, Teacher Education, Human Resource Management and Financial Management. While revealing that distance education is a popular choice amongst tertiary students, the study also found that distance education institutions (UNISA and SACOL) provide a very low level of learner support to students. The majority of the students indicate that they are very unhappy about the quality and type of study materials that they receive. They also point out that the format of the study materials is always in the form of correspondence based print materials. These materials are too theoretical, confusing and difficult to understand. In terms of staff support, students felt that staff were not sympathetic to their problems and were always unavailable for consultation. The study also found that the type of feedback students received from staff was not in depth and constructive. In this regard, however, both SACOL and UNISA staff indicate that they do not have adequate time to provide learner support as they have very large classes to contend with, in some instances over 400 students per class. The study reveals that students are unhappy with the fact that their institutions persist with print materials as their primary mode of education delivery. Students overwhelmingly show a preference for multi mediated technologies in their course delivery. On line (Internet) based teaching and learning is high on their priority. It was surprising to find that the majority of students were computer literate. Students indicate that they were self taught in computers as they gained access to it at their place of work. This highlights the point that the work place, is now demanding a new type of worker, namely the knowledge worker. It is for this reason that higher education institutions ought to begin to invest in technology enhanced teaching and learning. In the literature review (chapter two), the study provides a number of advantages of harnessing online education. Perhaps, the most significant advantage of employing computer technology in distance education is that of cost reduction with a commensurate increase in productivity. The literature review also highlights various other potential benefits (personalised education, time and place independence, increased access, etc) to be gained from using online distance education learning systems such as the Internet and Web based applications, etc. In conclusion, the study provides a number of recommendations on how distance education provision could be enhanced in South Africa. Specific recommendations are offered to distance education institutions on strategies that could be employed to increase the quality of learner support and the advantages of employing technology enhanced delivery modes. Recommendations are also offered to the Department of Education (DoE) in terms of revising its policy as outlined in the National Plan on Higher Education (NPHE) with specific reference to distance education provision in South Africa.
Literacy in the lives of domestic workers : investigating the impact of the adult English literacy curriculum on the lives of female adult learners.
(2004) Perumal, Krishnaveni.; Sookrajh, Reshma.
This study draws on empirical evidence to examine theory on the critical question: "What is the impact of the English literacy curriculum on the lives of female adult learners?" I used the critical postmodernist and feminist lenses to examine the lived experiences of four Black African domestic workers and their journey through adult literacy. I used life history and autobiographical writings as the main methodological tools to uncover the biographical experiences of the learners. The postmodernist lens provided a framework to understand the changing identities and the complexities in the lived experiences of the learners. The critical and feminist theories provided the framework to understand the power relations and female oppression in a gendered society. Researching adult literacy in transforming, unstable and uncertain environments is methodologically complex and challenging. In these circumstances it is often serendipity that provides tools for discovery. Thus letter writing and 'in loco' visits into informal settlements provided me with thick description of the adult learners' life worlds, which would have otherwise been closed. In drawing up a literacy curriculum for adult learners the ‘in loco' visits became a vital source of information. A major impact of the adult literacy programme in this study is that it provided learners with a language of criticism, hope and one with which to analyse their social and material conditions. The narrative writing and class discussions gave learners the opportunity to reflect, to be critically conscious of their poverty, to act and dream of their emancipation. The autobiographies were voices for the voiceless learners, offering them a space to explore their feelings through story telling. The story telling opened up possibilities, which was not mere reflection but a complex process of making a difference in the world through diffraction. Autobiographical writing as a narrative form provided the discursive space for learners to become reflective, conscientized and intellectually emancipated. However, they were not always able to assert their empowerment, because of the dominant mediating factors such as economic power relations and socio-cultural contexts. Feminist and critical pedagogical approaches to mediating the curriculum can be emancipatory, in environments of poverty, oppression and powerlessness. Although learners attained critical consciousness and intellectual liberation, only two of the four were able to break the shackles of poverty. The English language created a triple bind for the adult female learners. The dominance of the English language in the global economy, has created demands on adult learners to acquire competency skills in English in order to function optimally in society. The hegemony of the English language led to discrimination, and created class stratification as well as social inclusion and exclusion for learners. They either felt alienated or accepted. This study showed that the dominant indigenous language within their own informal community also causes social inclusion and exclusion. The first dominant pull is that of the English language, the second is the dominant indigenous language from their own communities and finally they are caught with the need for their own language causing a threefold pull or push on the learners' identities, which I call a triple bind. The quest to acquire the dominant language also created schisms in the learners' identities. This research has shown that the chasm between policy intentions and implementation has not been bridged. The promises of equity, redress and social justice as enunciated in Adult Basic Education and Training (from here on referred to as ABET) policy documents are far from being realized. This study revealed that the Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal placed too much emphasis merely on summative tests and certification and not on the needs of the adult learner. If adult education continues in the same direction there will be no good incentive to work towards a programme that has a direct impact on the lives of marginalized females in particular. The study suggests that ABET curriculum must be situationally relevant to make an impact on learners. The adult literacy curriculum should offer programmes for critical consciousness as well as vocational training for income generation.
Success, failure and drop-out at university : a comparative, longitudinal study with special reference to the University of Durban-Westville.
(1983) Gounden, Perumal Kistna.; Maharaj, S. R.
No abstract available.
Teacher learning in a community of practice : case study of teachers of economic and management sciences.
(2005) Suriamurthee, Moonsamy Maistry.; Harley, Keneth Lee.
Conceptualising teacher learning in terms of participation in a teacher learning community is a relatively new phenomenon in South Africa. This study explores the usefulness of applying a social practice theory of learning to a community of novice Economic and Management Sciences teacher learners involved in the Teaching Economics and Management Sciences (TEMS) teacher development project. It examines the influence of contextual constraints, teachers' biographies and professional career trajectories on teachers' ability to participate in a learning community. By drawing on Wenger's theory of learning in a community of practice and Wenger et al's stages of community development framework, it also illuminates and theorises the potential that a community of practice framework has for teacher development. Wenger's framework offered important insights that informed and shaped the development of the TEMS programme. It also provided a useful tool for analysing teacher learning as constituting four components, namely, meaning, practice, identity and community. The complex relationship that exists between these different components of learning is examined. The study offers a critique of the feasibility and appropriateness of using Wenger's framework for analysing a teacher learning community. Methodologically, the tenets of symbolic interactionist ethnography were employed in the collection of data for this study. An exposition of the complexity and challenge of adopting the dual role of researcher as observer and participant is presented. An analysis is also provided of the methodological challenge of gaining access and acceptance in a South African education research context. The study examines how the essential tension in teacher professional development, namely, that of curriculum development and deepening subject matter knowledge is managed in a teacher learning community of novice Economic and Management Sciences teachers. It reveals the potential that a learning community framework has for teacher learning through different levels of participation, and points to the importance of the input of an outside expert, particularly during the early stages of development of a community of teacher learners who lack subject content knowledge. It argues that teacher learning communities present a fruitful and viable alternative to the current 'deficit' models of teacher development that typify the present South African teacher development scenario, as teacher learning communities suggest a conceptual reorientation of the discourse on teacher development.
Policy and practice related constraints to increased female participation in education management in South Africa.
(2006) Moorosi, Pontso.; Kaabwe, Eleanor Stella Musanga.; Wedekind, Volker Ralf.
This thesis examines South African policies addressing gender inequality in education management, and interrogates whether or not these policies made a difference to the career route of women principals of secondary schools. The under-representation of women in education management has been a long observed problem in many countries including South Africa. A number of initiatives have been put in place to address this issue but little improvement is seen in the South African situation in education management. The purpose was to understand why women are still under represented in school management and to learn from their experiences. The study used data from three sources. Firstly, policy documents and practices were analysed in terms of their symbolic, regulative and procedural functions. Secondly, the personal accounts of 28 women principals in KwaZulu-Natal who had been appointed after 1994 were collected through the use of extended interviews, and thirdly, interviews were conducted with key officials and members of School Governing Bodies that had participated in the selection of principals. The data generated were analysed at two levels in order to understand the factors constraining the participation of women in education management. At the micro level, I use the 'management route model' as an analytical framework that identifies the three phases women principals go through in their career route, namely anticipation, acquisition and performance (van Eck and Volman, 1996). The model reveals that factors influencing women's career paths into management are very complex and based firstly on the individual agency where women grapple with more internal issues such as professional qualifications and experience, aspirations, lack of ambition and family responsibilities. Secondly, these factors are at the organisational level where women suffer discrimination at the recruitment and selection processes, and lack of institutional support through mentoring and sponsorship. Thirdly, it is the social level, which involves the cultural discourses in which women operate. These discourses include sex role stereotypes that inform the social expectations about the role of men and women in society. On the macro level, I use feminist theory to interpret and understand the women's experiences and findings in general. The findings reveal that policy interventions put in place since 1994 to close the gender gap were mostly informed by liberal feminism that focused on affirming women in order to gain access into the school management without tackling the social practices that are defined by sex role socialisation and which therefore continue to work subtly and insidiously towards the discrimination of women. I conclude that although the liberal feminist interventions that have been put in place have been useful to some extent, the problems impeding women's full participation in education management cannot only be tackled at a policy level because this attempt leaves the most problematic social practices intact. However, I argue for policy and legal intervention as a starting point to combat the gender crisis in a society that has inherited so much inequality. While I acknowledge that women of all races in South Africa have all been negatively impacted upon by the historical and traditional values and expectations on the role of women and men in society, I argue that the situation has been worse for women of the Black African race, who suffered dual oppression in terms of gender and race. The study proposes the need to look beyond provision of legal and democratic reforms and more into social practices that prevent legal reforms from reaching the desired goals. Social structures and cultural practices that hamper the greater representation of women should be dealt with in order to allow women freedom to participate in discourses where their choice is not informed by gender subordination.
Recognition of prior learning and assessment of adult learners : considerations for theory, policy and practice.
(2004) Naidu, Sundrasagren.; Samuel, Michael Anthony.
As part of the transformation agenda of education and training policy, the main thrust of Recognition and Prior Learning (RPL) in the South African policy context was to contribute to addressing social justice issues such as equity, redress and access of the majority of adult learners, who were historically denied access to formal learning. The study focuses on the following critical questions: What are the official policy claims of the assessment and recognition of prior learning at the national and sectoral level? How do assessors mediate official policy in recognising and assessing prior learning of adult learners in an institutional context? What are the experiences and engagements of adult learners in having their prior learning assessed? This research responds to the conceptual gaps in the study of RPL policy and practice and the National Qualifications Framework. The study examines epistemological issues such as: what and whose knowledge is considered as valid; the relationship between knowledge and experience; the relationship between different types of knowledge and learning; and the relationship between knowledge and access to power. The study also addresses a contextual gap: very limited research exists on the RPL experiences of societies in transition with similar transformational agendas as South Africa. The present research study also examines the implementation process in a transitional context, exploring the gap that develops between intended policies and actual practice. This is a qualitative study using the case study approach to examine the complexities of the assessment and recognition of prior learning process in a Technical College Institution located in the Further Education and Training Band. The analysis of selected international case studies of RPL contributed to identifying and exploring conceptual gaps in RPL policy and practice. These conceptual issues provided the first set of preliminary lens for the production, description and analysis of data in the research study. The preliminary lens were then re-interpreted and elaborated in relation to Bernstein 's theory (1996) of symbolic control and cultural production. reproduction and change. The synthesised conceptual framework provided a theoretical vocabulary to redescribe and reinterpret data at deeper levels of abstraction. The key findings of the research were as follows: The undertheorisation of RPL in policy circles and the ways in which policy has tended to gloss over issues such as "equivalence", "integrated competence", knowledge-power dynamics and the differences between mainstream and outsider knowledge; The gap between policy rhetoric and sectoral practice. The sector advocated a technicist approach to RPL that was preoccupied with matching adult experiential learning against prescribed standards. The sector practice marginalized or even excluded adult learners who had acquired their knowledge and learning in non-formal and informal contexts; Nevertheless, assessors who were socially and culturally sensitive to the RPL process had an implicit understanding of the different types of knowledge and knowers. Their developmental approach to RPL provided an enabling environment for adult learners to demonstrate their learning and knowledge from experience. Adult learners without high levels of formal literacy were able to demonstrate their ability to reflect on their experiential learning to transfer their abstract and critical thought processes to solve new problems in the assessment context. The research highlights the commensurability between informal and formal knowledge and the ability of workers who have learnt their skills informally to demonstrate high levels of conceptual and transferable skills. The present research makes the following theoretical contributions: Firstly , Bernstein's theory was extended to examine policy formulation and the policy process. Within the framework of critical policy analysis, a new construct: "relations outside" was created as an analytical tool to examine the nuances of the macro-contexts (historical, political, social, economic) which shape the meaning and significance of policy. Secondly, the research study produces a new conceptual framework to analyse the complex and dynamic nature of RPL policy and practice in a transformational context. The present study advocates a critical and holistic approach to RPL that interrogates how power-relations within and across contextual, epistemological and pedagogical issues reproduce or challenge the existing patterns of inequalities in society.
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.

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Education, Development, Leadership and Management) by Date Accessioned