Browsing by Author "Gounden, Balenthran."
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
- Results Per Page
- Sort Options
Item How school governing bodies manage new legislation in South Africa?(1999) Gounden, Balenthran.; Bayeni, Sibusiso Douglas.; Jansen, Jonathan David.Despite the commendable qualities of the new staff selection and appointment process such as stakeholder participation it seemed to have generated a host of problems such as nepotism, subjectivity and personal preferences. Although selectors were involved in the selection process for the very first time they were quite confident in their choices of candidates. Selectors believed that the short training programme did not prepare them adequately for the selection of school leaders. In spite of severe difficulties, such as little knowledge acquired, members dropping off during the process and time constraints, 80% of the parents were quite confident in their choice of candidates for their schools. It was found that 52% of the selectors indicated that the selection was not vulnerable to nepotism, subjectivity and personal preferences. However, a relatively high percentage (42%) indicated that the process was not carried out fairly. Selectors believed that the selection process required their time as well as money. Making personal sacrifices affected their commitment to the process. Selectors were not remunerated for the execution of this mammoth task. Although there was severe time constraints 73% of the parents indicated that all CV's were allocated equal time for evaluation. It was noticed that 60% of the parent selectors and 64% of the senior managers as selectors found it extremely difficult to differentiate whether the CV's were original or professionally written. However, it was interesting to note that 70% of the selectors believed that applicants were not given preferences such Heads of Department and those from their own schools. An extremely important point is that there was consensus among the various stakeholders in reaching their final choices. This is confirmed by the fact that 87% parents, 82% principals and 82% deputy principals, indicated that decisions were reached through consensus rather than a vote. This is a positive sign because all selectors took ownership of these appointments. Clearly, there were several shortcomings of the new staff selection and appointment process. However, parents felt really empowered since they were afforded the opportunity of choosing a senior manager who would lead their children to greater heights.Item Teacher professional development : an integrated approach.(2003) Gounden, Balenthran.; Samuel, Michael Anthony.The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of teachers with respect to the intentions of the Developmental Appraisal Policy, how the policy was implemented at school level and its influence on Teaching. How this policy came to be understood and interpreted at school level during its implementation phase is the subject of this study, focussing on a teacher-union sanctioned policy aimed at Teacher Professional Development. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies characterise the data collection strategy. A survey questionnaire was administered to 181 teachers in the Verulam Circuit in KwaZulu-Natal. Indepth semi-structured interviews were conducted using a stratified random sample of 15 teachers in proportion to the three variables namely, gender, age and race. The study's findings reveal the following: 1) The implementation of the policy was largely executed in a technical administrative fashion which provide semblances of being well understood and accepted as a new form of appraisal replacing the former "judgemental approach" to Teacher Appraisal. 2) In the actual practical operation of the proposed teacher professional appraisal procedures, teachers at the institutional level were seen to be using the Developmental Appraisal Policy in not so different a fashion as the former judgemental model, which promoted nepotism and a superficial attention to deep teacher professional changes. An important question needs to be borne in mind: Does a union-driven policy lead to deeper changes in Teacher Professional Development in a democratic ethos? 3) Most of the teachers claimed that sharing of resources and assessment techniques had positively influenced their Teaching- Practice. However, these activities had been in practice long before the introduction of the Appraisal policy. There were also conflicting views whether the Developmental Appraisal Policy or Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) Policy had caused an influence on Teaching Practice. There was very little to no evidence to suggest that the appraisal policy had influenced the teachers' Teaching Practice. 4) The study revealed that the different genders, ages and races interpreted the impact of the Developmental Appraisal Policy in relation to their unique expectations of their school context, their lived! executed experiences of teaching and their stages of development as professionals. A "one-size- fits-all" Developmental Appraisal Policy is thus discouraged. The results suggest three broad implications for school-based Teacher Professional Development viz.: • changes needed at the policy landscape (at the Department level), • changes needed at the school landscape (at institutional level), • and changes needed at an individual level. Firstly, the Department of Education as the employer tries to regulate the school from the "outside". Changes at this level include for example, the need for Department officials to rethink the way they perceive and communicate with the broader constituency of teachers. The gap between the Department as "bureaucrats" and teachers need to be narrowed. Both Department officials and teachers need to realise that they are "partners" towards improving the quality of teaching and learning. Secondly, the thesis argues that there are many changes necessary at an institutional level to engage with Teacher Professional Development. For example, school personnel such as teachers and managers need to design a flexible school timetable to accommodate time for teachers to engage with Teacher Development. Thirdly, personal factors such as love for children, passion and dedication towards the profession emerged as important factors in engaging with Teacher Professional Development. Thus, the thesis argues that Teacher Professional Development entails developing also the "inner qualities" of the teacher. Teacher Professional Development cannot be confined to faithful compliance to delivery of state-designed curricula. Finally, the thesis argues that we need to integrate harmoniously the changes at these three levels i.e. the Departmental, institutional and individual levels so that effective Teacher Development can take place. This study contributes to understanding more qualitatively and quantitatively the Teacher Development landscape of post-apartheid educational transformation from the perspective of teachers within their institutions engaging with policies targeting their professional growth.