In South Africa, the matriculation results receive much public attention. Each year, the matriculation results indicate that a number of schools are providing a sound education to their learners, whether they are resourced or under-resourced, urban or rural. This study investigates strategies employed by teachers who teach in under-resourced environments. The sample of the study consists of four schools in the Ulundi Region of the KwaZulu Natal province. Interviews, questionnaires and classroom observations were the instruments used to capture data. The study explains why some schools with limited resources achieve good science results at matriculation level. The findings from this study have been synthesised to identify characteristics that explain school effectiveness in the selected schools. I have also presented the implications based on the findings of the study. These implications will be useful to science teachers who teach in schools with limited resources and science education researchers to question about what is happening in effective schools.

Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2000.