Doctoral Degrees (Education, Development, Leadership and Management)

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Academics’ experiences of university leadership in constructing their professional identities: a case of a university in Cameroon.
(2022) Folabit, Novel Lena.; Reddy, Saras.
Teaching, research, and community engagement are the three main pillars of higher education institutions, and academics construct their professional identities by translating these pillars into teaching programmes across departments, research projects, and the provision of skilled labour to the general public. However, academics' roles and responsibilities are shifting, reforming, and being reviewed, making it difficult for them to interpret these roles and responsibilities accurately, calling into question their conceptions of their own professional identities in relation to their experiences of the influence of university leadership practices on the construction of those identities. Furthermore, professional identity research indicates that there is little literature on the conceptualization of academic professional identity, and the available literature only theorises concepts related to professional identity in general rather than academic identity in higher education. This study recognises the manner in which leadership practices negatively influence academics' roles and responsibilities in higher education in the context of a Cameroon university. To understand academics' conceptions of their professional identity and to address the question of why their experiences of university leadership influences the construction of their professional identity in the way that they do, this thesis focused on a Cameroonian university as a case study. Eleven permanent academics from the research site were purposively selected. A case study design within a pragmatic paradigm, where both qualitative and quantitative methods of data generation were used to explore the three research questions that underpinned this study. Distributed leadership theory and the force field model for teacher development were used to frame and generate data through semi-structured individual interviews and focus group discussions. A survey questionnaire was used to generate quantitative data with 170 academics through simple random sampling to find out how academics’ experiences of university leadership influence the construction of their professional identity. The findings show that academics’ conceptions of their professional identity are ingrained at three levels. At the micro-level, academics conceive of their professional identities based on individual forces, which establishes three distinct approaches to conceptualising academic professional identities in higher education. The study established that academics’ professional identities are conceptualised as self-conceptions of their professional identities embedded in the relationality of self, discipline, and context. Secondly, professional identity refers to academics' personal beliefs about their profession. This is demonstrated by the distinction between individuals' personal beliefs about their field of specialisation within their professional context and others' beliefs within the same professional context. The third perspective is that professional identity is defined by the roles and responsibilities of belonging to an academic profession, which are characterised by their capacity to ensure visibility, effective teaching skills, teaching and research ethics, and the deontology of the academic profession. At the meso-level, academics conceive professional identities based on institutional forces, which establishes that university leadership's incompetency, discrimination, egocentrism, and political leanings, among other things, negatively influence the construction of their professional identities as they undertake teaching, research, and research-led community engagement as their key performance indicators. At the macro-level, academics conceive of their professional identities based on external forces, which establishes that government interference in the pedagogical activities of the study context negatively influences academics' professional identities through its appointment policy for the university leaders and external political control. The study concludes with several recommendations and the contention that a blended bottom-up-top-down leadership approach is necessary to address issues related to corruption, discrimination, inconsistent and ineffective leadership, appointment policy, funding, external interference, and a mismatch between theory and practice in university policy implementation. This will significantly contribute to the development of a sustainable higher education system in Cameroon.
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.
An analysis of higher education funding: consideration towards a viable model for South Africa.
(2019) Arumugam, Perumal.; Devroop, Chatradari.
The funding framework for Higher Education has always been a contentious issue in South Africa, and more so in recent years. For some time now, it has continued to adopt a predominantly performance-based model within a shared costs system, continuously developing and enhancing its funding framework, with individual Higher Education institutions adapting this as needed, depending on their contexts. The #FeesMustFall movement and other challenges in higher education financing have entrenched the view, despite the dismantling of apartheid; South Africa still remains one of the world’s most unequal countries from a socio-economic standpoint. Given the disparities that existed in its apartheid system coupled with challenges in post-apartheid South Africa, this research asks key questions around higher education funding, and specifically: to what extent were resources allocated to universities, promoting the principals of satisficing, justice and fairness, and critical capacity? These notions emanate from the theories of Simon (1959); Rawls (1982) and Boltanski (2011) respectively, which form the theoretical basis of this qualitative study. All public universities in South Africa are heavily dependent on state resources to meet their mandate of providing post-school education to qualifying students. The purpose of this research was thus to analyse resource allocation models in public universities within the Higher Education sector in South Africa. It also focuses on the variables that are considered by the government in determining the subsidy or block grant allocated to universities. By engaging the literature on resource allocation, taking cognisance of the history of the country, its higher education systems and funding frameworks, and its challenges, the research reflects on the experiences of financing higher education from a global, continental and national perspective. Particular focus is placed on the presentation then analysis of the South African Higher Education funding framework, and considerations that could be offered towards a viable funding model for South Africa. The methodology employed in this qualitative research surveys global literature on the financing of higher education, South African government policy documents and related reports as well as inputs from a sample of key financial personnel of seven (of ten) nationally sampled universities. The sampled universities whose geographical locations spread across South Africa were selected on the basis of their block grant received from the state. The unstructured face ix to face interviews focused on budget frameworks specifically in relation to the main financial operations at sampled institutions. Findings emerging from these interviews related to issues around timelines, top-slicing, cross-subsidisation, wish lists, communication, levels of transparency and treatment of surplus budget funds with a few unique models that centred around benchmarks. A further finding confirmed that budget frameworks remain within the confines of the respective university with each university believing that their framework is the most appropriate for their organisation. From this range of findings, the study synthesises the mechanisms that drive the allocation of resources from governments to universities and the onward dissemination to faculty and support services. A series of recommendations for both State and University consideration is made based on universities radical transformative nature. These are discussed then fused into a ‘Roadmap’ for consideration in the future funding models devised for Higher Education in South Africa. The research concludes with a challenge to University leaders, particularly it's Chief Finance Officers, to critically engage and refine their leadership stance and communication capabilities in line with the principals of satisficing, justice and fairness.
An autoethnographic study of the person in the principal's office.
(2013) Naidoo, Lingesperi.; Muthukrishna, Anbanithi.
The role of a school principal is complex and multidimensional, and is pivotal to the success of an educational institution. It is widely recognised by researchers that the effectiveness of a principal depends on his or her ability to be a strategic thinker, create and share knowledge, build relationships, be flexible, embrace a sense of efficacy and nurture the development of organisational capacity. Through a self-reflexive, autoethnographic methodology I examine my ‘self’ as the person in the principal’s office within the unique socio-cultural context of a rural school for the Deaf. Through a process of narrative inquiry and reflective analysis, I explore the first steps in my leadership journey, my engagement with instructional leadership in all its complexity, and my quest for quality outcomes for Deaf learners. This autoethnography raised multiple levels of consciousness about my identity, my lived experiences as a school leader and the school as an institution. Through the interrogation of my leadership enactments key themes have emerged that have implications for the professional development of school leaders. I came to understand that my identity as a leader evolves continuously and that my leadership practices are negotiated and renegotiated in context. Thus, my identity as a leader is situated and produced simultaneously in many different contexts, events, and by different agents for diverse purposes My study highlights that leadership is not merely the act of an individual but is embedded in a complex, unpredictable, non-linear interplay of various interacting influences. Leaders are social actors who need to be able to examine critically their own subjectivities, subject positions and the discourses that shape their actions. Leadership is the site for continuous, ongoing processes of learning, and organisations have the potential to be dynamic, interactive and adaptive systems, reinforcing the notion of the enabling leader. Therefore, leadership development programmes should enable leaders to understand that their actions and practice are socially and culturally situated, and that schools are complex dynamic, adaptive systems.
The changing dynamics of teacher learning : an exploration of teacher learning through the lens of assessment.
(2012) Maharajh, Shivani.; Ramrathan, Prevanand.
The National Curriculum Statement advocates a shift in focus with regards to the manner in which assessment and learning are conceptualized (Department of Education, 2002). Consequently, new forms of assessment that are in keeping with the principles of the National Curriculum Statement (Department of Education, 2002), are expected to be implemented within the South African classroom context. Set against this backdrop, the study set out to explore teaching learning through the lens of assessment, by focussing on the content, process and application issues associated with teacher learning. This study attempted to unpack what teachers know about assessment and how they have come to acquire this knowledge. It was envisaged that through an analysis of how teachers learn about assessment, this study would reveal valuable insights about how teachers learn, and in this way, bring to the fore additional meaningful insights about the conditions that lead to effective teacher learning. In striving to achieve the outcomes of the research project, this study focused on the interplay between theory and practice to explore the process of teacher learning and how this learning translates into practice, through exploring how teachers’ knowledge of assessment, influenced their classroom assessment practices. The study was a qualitative one, within a case-study design. The use of semi-structured, iterative interviews, document analysis, and observations, formed the instruments used in the study. The thesis unpacked the journey of learning about the new forms of assessment, among three primary school educators, who formed the participants of the study. The findings of the study allude to the notion that teachers learn in a variety of different ways, and through a plethora of learning experiences, making a simplistic, superficial understanding of teacher learning, inadequate. In addition, the study pointed to teacher learning being shaped by a number of factors, indicating the significant influence that a multitude of factors, both internal and external, have over teacher learning. Further, the challenges and issues associated with teacher learning were brought to the fore. The implications of the study suggest that teacher learning is complex and multi-faceted, making it most necessary to adopt a multi-focus approach to teacher learning.
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.
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 comparative study of the use of microteaching and an analysis of factors which affect its use in one year postgraduate teacher training courses.
(1985) Kendall, George.; Beard, Paul.
This thesis is concerned with a study of the use of microteaching in the one year postgraduate teacher training course. It consists of two national surveys using two types of questionnaire, an Organisation and an Attitude Questionnaire. Education tutors and Subject Method tutors in United Kingdom universities, polytechnics and colleges offering one year postgraduate courses were requested to complete questionnaires about their use of microteaching and about their attitudes towards it. Visits were arranged to meet the staff involved and to see the type of facilities available. A similar survey was conducted in Departments of Education in South African universities. A comparative study of the use of microteaching in one year postgraduate teacher training courses was carried out on the data that was accumulated from the two surveys. Some interesting points of comparison can be made both on the types of microteaching organisation that have evolved in the two very different education systems and on the different attitudes of staff towards the use of microteaching. Based on the United Kingdom data, an in-depth study of the factors affecting the use of microteaching, was carried out. This study was related to the changes in teacher training in the United Kingdom during the seventies, following the publication of the James report, leading to a more professional approach to teacher training and the evolution of school-based training courses. Significant differences in the responses to the Organisation and Attitude Questionnaires from the different types of institution were examined using Chi-square. The Attitude data was examined for various groups of teacher training staff, who differed in their approaches to the organisation of microteaching because of, for instance, the different facilities available, the length of time available, the size of the student group or the logistics of the microteaching programme, by the use of Chi-square and significant differences in the responses of the different groups were reported. The results from the surveys were analysed and related to the research findings as published in the literature to see how the practitioners of teacher education differ in their views and approaches to microteaching from those responsible for the research into microteaching. Factor analysis of the responses to the Attitude Questionnaire from the different types of training institution, i.e. United Kingdom universities, polytechnics and colleges and South African universities, was carried out to examine the significant underlying factors which influenced the responses. The findings of the study identify economic, organisational and philosophical factors which affect the way microteaching is used. These factors and the recent developments in postgraduate teacher training courses in the United Kingdom are examined for their possible implications for postgraduate teacher training in South Africa.
Constructions of childhood for and by children in two early childhood centres in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
(2006) Ebrahim, Hasina Banu.; Muthukrishna, Anbanithi.
This thesis examines the constructions of childhood by seven early childhood teachers and twenty young children (ten boys and ten girls) in two private early childhood centres catering for children below Grade R in urban KwaZulu-Natal. An ethnographic approach is used to present childhood as a complex socially constructed process. On the methodological front, this study argues for the practice of responsive researching to engage with moment by moment realities that are sensitive to the particularities of young children and their circumstances when they are positioned as participants in research. In the analysis of teachers’ constructions of childhood for young children, the findings of this study suggest that the lack of public funding in early childhood education, for children below Grade R, sets the conditions for early childhood centres to operate as commercial enterprises trading commodities in a free market. Given this context, teachers position themselves in the dominant market discourse. The study suggests that the focus on the purchasing power of parents determines the type of childhood young children experience at the centres. Teachers access normalising images of young children as property and essentialised adults-in-the-making to support the processing of children as human capital for a fee. As such, the social project of early childhood, as space for democratic practices for public good, is weakened. The focus on the doings of childhood by young children (boys and girls) contrasts the normalising images presented by teachers. The findings of this study suggest that the complex struggles within the temporal zones of growing up and relations in race and gender, present young children as powerful social actors who actively construct their childhoods. The study illuminates how young children use the limiting discourses freely available to them to constitute themselves in familiar ways, and also how they find spaces to loosen the power of these discourses. In concentrating on the lived realities of childhood, this study enters some unfamiliar spaces that provide a base to ask more questions about early childhood centres, teachers, and young children in early childhood education.
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.
Creating learning spaces for the 21st century learning in rural secondary schools: a leadership perspective.
(2022) Zondo, Dumisani Brian.; Mkhize, Bongani Nhlanhla Cyril Kenneth.; Bayeni, Sibusiso Douglas.
This study focuses on the practices of school leadership in two rural secondary schools as they create learning spaces that support the 21st century learning. The study adopted a qualitative multiple-sites case study design that was underpinned by interpretivist paradigm. Data was generated from 13 participants who were purposively selected, through the use of semi-structured interviews and documents reviews. Transformational Leadership Theory by Bass and Riggio and Instructional Leadership Model by Hallinger and Murphy were adopted as a theoretical framework for this study. The data that was generated through the two techniques (interviews and documents reviews) was analysed through the complementary use of content analysis and inductive analyses. The findings showed that school leadership embracing collaborative school climate that enabled the intrinsically motivated and technology savvy teachers to reconfigure the traditional classroom conceptualisation into learning spaces for the 21st century learning. Such teachers infused the technological theories in teaching and learning and adopted a learner-centric pedagogy that prioritises the 21st century skills. The study contributes in different ways, including the destabilisation of the notion that transformational leadership is only exercised by people in formal position of leadership. The power of bottom-up influence came to the fore in this thesis.
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.
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
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 some aspects of teacher training in the Commonwealth.
(1960) Beresford, Harold Beaumont.; McMillan, Brian George.
Abstract not available.
A critique of school leadership : life histories of selected principals in Kwazulu-Natal.
(2007) Mpungose, Jabulani Everest.; Ngwenya, Thengani Harold.
The central aim of this study was to describe through qualitative inquiry how school principals have dealt with the post-1994 changes in school governance and the change in their leadership roles as leaders and professional managers of public schools, and how these changes have impacted on the construction of their professional identities and redefinition of their leadership roles. The critical research questions that guided the study were: (1) How do principals interpret or understand their roles and functions as leaders in the democratised system which relies on participatory management approaches? (2) To what extent can the principal’s beliefs, personal and cultural values and interests shape or influence his or her leadership style? (3) To what extent has the principal’s socialization into the teaching profession shaped his or her self-definition and professional identity? (4) How do principals transform their personal knowledge into professional practice? A qualitative, interpretive research design that made use of stories, accounts, and narratives was used to investigate different areas of the leadership process in KwaZulu- Natal schools. Six principals were selected to participate in the research process using the purposive or selective sampling procedure. The procedure was judgemental because it was more informed by the researcher’s experience and knowledge of the area of study to select cases that are representative or typical. The selection was based on racial demographics of the province, socialization of the participants into the teaching profession, ex-departments of education of the apartheid era, experience of managing public schools in the old and the new democratic political dispensations, and experienced female principals. The data analysis in this study borrowed from three prominent approaches to life history analysis, namely: the realist, neo-positivist and narrative approaches. The outcomes of this study identified that the selected principals’ socialization into education was shaped and directed by their parents. This challenges the belief that the principals’ social lives, on entering the teaching profession, are determined and shaped by the structured rules and educational policies. The study also shows that the trends towards democracy and participation in work places have caused the situational approaches of leadership to be replaced by structural functional approaches that attempt to respond to current changes in education. The combination of the principals’ experiences with what was expected from them influenced the construction of their professional identities and the way they interpret their professional roles. The principals’ life stories revealed that after twelve years of democracy, they were still struggling with the implementation of the democratic education policies.
Curriculum intellectualization: an engagement with decision-makers.
(2015) Mahabeer, Pryah.; Ramrathan, Prevanand.; Sookrajh, Reshma.
Over two decades into democracy, stakeholders are still voicing disappointment with the quality of graduates and the advancing of the curriculum; both in education and teacher education that are strongly inter-linked. The curriculum and the developing of the curriculum, mainly at national level has often been criticised for being politically reactive, pokerfaced, incoherent and not relevant within higher education in South Africa. Those involved in developing the curriculum have often been accused of being ignorant of meeting the socio-economic needs of society, both locally and internationally. The demand for change has resulted in the introduction of various teacher education policies but in spite of the numerous transformations that have taken and which are taking place; much still remains the same. This interpretive study explores the identities, perspectives, experiences and imaginings of curriculum decision-makers from various constituencies engaged in the construction processes of the numerous teacher education curriculum frameworks, post the 1994 democratic dispensation. The study explores the identities, perspectives, experiences and imaginings of curriculum decision-makers as they engage and deliberate on the practice of curriculum development processes through the method of ‘currere’, as an approach of study that provides the curriculum decision-makers to inwardly reflect on their past experiences, the present and future possibilities (Pinar, 1975, 2004, 2012). It is by delving consciously into the first-hand lived experiences of the curriculum decision-makers that the over-arching purpose of this study is found: in the pursuance of a deep conceptualization of ‘who’ the decision-makers are; ‘what’ their reflections, experiences and perceptions being engaged in the curriculum development processes are; and ‘how’ these influences have come to drive the way they deliberate on curriculum matters that are reflected in the construction of the national teacher education curriculum frameworks. Primary data were derived from conducting phenomenological, in-depth interviews with seven curriculum decision-makers. The elicited data richly described the identities and the lived experiences of the curriculum decision-makers with the purpose of developing a profound understanding of the research objectives. Despite the move towards decentralization and a shift to an egalitarian, all-inclusive approach to curriculum decision-making and development processes, this study recognised that the curriculum process is very complicated and requires creating a co-operative community of practice of utmost professionalism through vigorous conversation and debate. The findings of this study suggest that decision-makers are caught at the intersection of countless webs of influence. These webs are described as: the web as a confluence of ideas and biographies that lies at the core and drives their thinking; the web of transformational agendas; the web of institutional allegiance; the web of agency; the web of dialogical engagement, and lastly, the visionary web. Thus, the way decision-makers conceptualize and intellectualize curriculum issues has the potential to transform the way curriculum decision-makers deliberate, reason and act. Evident through the discourses that unfolded, was the manner in which decision-makers intellectualize the curriculum; manifested as an ecological web of curriculum intellectualization that defined the kinds of thinking acknowledging curricula within the dialogical process.
Developing a doctoral identity : a narrative study in an autoethnographic frame.
(2009) Harrison, Janet Elizabeth.;
The global interest in the production of advanced knowledge workers as one of the drivers of economic growth, has led to questions about the cost and length of time spent in doctoral study. As a result, the pedagogy of doctoral study has come under investigation. Alternative discourses of supervisory practice, learning approaches and
The development of the linguistic repertoire of primary school learners within the Mauritian multilingual educational system.
(2017) Mahadeo-Doorgakant, Yesha Devi.; Samuel, Michael Anthony.; Rughoonundun-Chellapermal, Nita.
Since Mauritius gained its independence in 1968, English has remained the official medium of instruction within its schooling system, despite the fact that it is used minimally within the broader Mauritian society. This study seeks to understand the development of the linguistic repertoire of the multilingual primary school learners within the changing Mauritian education system, which has recently (2012) undergone a major policy redirection with the official introduction of Kreol Morisien (KM), a dominant lingua franca, taught now as an optional language. This introduction of KM offers potentially a new contextual avenue for the development of the linguistic repertoire of primary school learners. This study adopted a linguistic ethnographic approach to produce data with learners aged from 6-8 years in a single Mauritian primary school. Linguistic ethnographic data with the participants was produced over a nine-week period through classroom observations, audio-recording of different instances of interaction of the participants in numerous contexts, including informal chats with the participants. The data was produced to gain a better understanding of how the linguistic repertoire of learners develops within a multilingual educational system and why it develops the way it does. The ethnographic data was then analysed through comparative discourse analytical strategies emanating from the linguistic field. Key informants providing a more holistic depiction of the emergent linguistic repertoire trends included the staff and management of the school. The analysis reveals that the linguistic repertoire of the learners is shaped by the space in which they use it, by the participants (dominantly peers and teachers) who make up the interactional acts within which they find themselves, and by the semiotised objects which originate within these interactional acts. A thesis emerges to explain the emergent linguistic repertoire of these learners: when learners start their schooling, they carry with them into their primary classrooms and learning spaces a fluid, dynamic linguistic repertoire drawing from the various resources within their unique linguistic backgrounds. Such a repertoire consists of a multiplicity of voices. However, the multilingual educational system, like a centrifuge, works as a rigid system, separating the dynamism of the linguistic repertoire, and extrapolates the fluidity and multiplicity into discrete languages. Consequently, the multiplicity of voices becomes unified into one single voice which correlates with that of the system (educational, social, cultural), and this in turn resonates with the voice of the state (political, ideological). The Educational Centrifugal Linguistic Acculturation Framework (ECLA Framework) paradoxically reinforces rather than challenges the hierarchies between the different languages of the Mauritian society. This ECLA Framework is consequently presented to shed light on how the linguistic repertoire of primary school learners works implicitly to develop hegemony within the Mauritian educational system despite the laudable intention of providing an alternative. The study opens possibilities for reflection on deeper systemic reforms required to enact more democratic recognition of linguistic diversity.
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.

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