Education Studies

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An ecosystemic perspective on the raising of deaf children by hearing parents in South Africa : a mixed methods study.
(2009) John, Vijialakshmi.; De Lange, Naydene.
Deafness is one on the most common types of disability in South Africa with 90% of deaf children being born to hearing parents, many of whom are unprepared for the consequences of deafness. Since deafness is an invisible disability, the severity of its impact upon both the child and the family is often underestimated. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of hearing parents raising deaf children. Thus, the primary research questions were: What are the experiences of hearing parents raising deaf children in South Africa, and how do various ecosystemic variables affect the way they manage their parenting role? This study was informed by the ecological systems theory which is the theoretical framework that underpins this study. The research paradigm shaping this study was pragmatism, while the strategy used was phenomenology. The mixed methods approach was employed, using both qualitative and quantitative approaches concurrently in a triangulation design. The findings emanating from the quantitative data served to complement the findings from the qualitative data. These findings were corroborated in the interpretation stage. The findings, representing the lived experiences of hearing parents raising deaf children, show that although the parenting experiences differ according to the unique circumstances in the family, school and community, there are several commonalities. These include issues associated with the diagnosis and parenting of deaf children. Some of these issues included the challenge of communicating with the deaf child, the financial burden, stigmatization from the general public, strained interpersonal relationships, concern about the child’s future, as well as lack of opportunities for the Deaf to study at tertiary institutions and limited employment opportunities for deaf persons. The findings from both sets of data reveal that, despite the resilience of participants, there is a need for formal support for parents from professionals in the community, as well as informal parental support from the family, friends, and community members, including other hearing parents raising deaf children, and the need for a central location to access information on deafness and related matters. Recommendations were made to address these issues, with a view to facilitating the emotional well-being of hearing parents raising deaf children, and consequently improving the quality of life of the deaf child and the family.
Curriculum recontextualisation : a case study of the South African high school history curriculum.
(2008) Bertram, Carol Anne.; Harley, Keneth Lee.; Hugo, Wayne.
This thesis aims to answer the question: How is history knowledge contextualised into pedagogic communication? Empirically, it takes place at a specific point in the curriculum change process in South Africa, namely the period when the new curriculum for the Further Education and Training (FET) band was implemented in Grade 10 classrooms in 2006. The study is theoretically informed by a sociological lens and is specifically informed by the theories of Basil Bernstein, particularly his concepts of the pedagogic device, pedagogic discourse, pedagogic practice and vertical and horizontal knowledge structures. It is premised on the assumption that the official policy message changes and recontextualises as it moves across the levels of the pedagogic device. It tracks the recontextualisation of the history curriculum from the writers of the curriculum document to the actual document itself, to the training of teachers and the writing of textbooks and finally to three Grade 10 classrooms where the curriculum was implemented in 2006. The empirical work takes the form of a case study of the FET history curriculum. Data were collected from a range of different participants at different levels of the pedagogic device. It was not possible to interrogate all the sets of data with the same level of detail. As one moves up and down and pedagogic device, certain things come into focus, while other things move out of focus. Data were collected through interviews with the writers of the history curriculum, with publishers and writers of selected Grade 10 history textbooks and through participant observation of a workshop held by the provincial education department to induct teachers in the requirements of the new FET history curriculum. Data were collected in the Grade 10 history classrooms of three secondary schools in 2005 and 2006. The school fieldwork comprised video recording five consecutive lessons (ten lessons over two years) in each of the three Grade 10 classrooms, interviewing the history teachers and selected learners, collecting the test papers and assignment tasks and assessment portfolios from selected learners. The study uses the pedagogic device as both a theoretical tool, and a literary device for the organization of the thesis. Within the field of production, the study examines what is the discipline of history from the perspective of historians and of the sociologists of knowledge. History is a horizontal knowledge structure that finds its specialisation in its procedures. However, an historical gaze demands both a substantive knowledge base and the specialised procedures of the discipline. Within the Official Recontextualising Field, the study examines the history curriculum document and the writing of this document. The NCS presents knowledge in a more integrated way. The knowledge is structured using key historical themes such as power alignments, human rights, issues of civil society and globalisation. There is a move away from a Eurocentric position to a focus on Africa in the world. Pedagogically, the focus is on learning doing history, through engaging with sources. Within the Pedagogic Recontextualising Field, the major focus of the teacher training workshop was on working with the outcomes and assessment standards within the ‘history-as-enquiry’ framework. Textbook writers and publishers work closely with the DoE Guidelines and focus on covering the correct content and the learning outcomes and assessment standards. The three teachers within the field of reproduction taught and interpreted the curriculum in different ways, but the nature of the testing (focused primarily on sources) was similar as there are strong DoE guidelines in this regard. For Bernstein, evaluation condenses the meaning of the whole pedagogic device. This is even more so when the curriculum is outcomes-based. The assessment tasks that Grade 10 learners in this study were required to do had the appearance of being source-based, but they seldom required learners to think like historians, nor did they require them to have a substantial and a coherent knowledge base. The FET history curriculum is in danger of losing its substantive knowledge dimension as the procedural dimension, buoyed up by the overwhelming logic of outcomes-based education and the strongly externally framed Departmental assessment regulations, becomes paramount.
School management teams' response to learners who are orphaned and vulnerable in the context of HIV and AIDS : a study of two rural senior secondary schools in KwaZulu-Natal.
(2008) Khanare, Fumane Portia.; De Lange, Naydene.; Buthelezi, Thabisile M.
No abstract available.
An investigation of knowledge and skill requirements for employment as a machine operator : a case study of a large textile company.
(2008) Baatjes, Britt.; Rule, Peter Neville.
This research, which took the form of a case study in a large textile factory, is primarily concerned with finding out if there is a link between a particular educational level (i.e. ABET level 4 Communications/Language and Mathematics) used as a measure for the first stage of selecting prospective employees as machine operators, and a hard skill (i.e. actually operating a machine). After conducting interviews with nine people in the workplace; doing observations of three machine operators performing their jobs, and analysing various documents, such as the tool used for assessment, I found there to be an incongruence between the ‘requisite’ knowledge and skills and the actual knowledge and skills needed – the language and maths’ competencies needed in order to be deemed ‘competent’ in the assessment are of a higher ABET level than the language and maths needed ‘on-the-job’. But, this research is not simply about language and mathematics competencies. It is also about the ‘new workplace’ that has emerged with the advent and spread of globalisation. My study looks at the appropriateness of the ‘measure’ used as an entry requirement for a job, and by so doing it explores issues of inclusion and exclusion, and power relations. My study is, therefore, located within the critical social science paradigm and I raise questions around issues of morality, ethics and social justice.
Teacher education in Transkei : a critical and comparative study of the evolution of selected aspects of its administrative, curricular and course structures as an indicator of future policy and planning in the provision of teachers.
(1984) Ngubentombi, Sidwell Vusumzi Sinda.; Niven, John McGregor.
Citrus clouds on planet goofy : the reported experiences of children with learning disability.
(2009) Flack, Penelope; Ngwenya, Thengamehlo.
The purpose of this study is to illuminate the lived experiences of children with specific learning disability in an attempt to move beyond the deficit and reductionist models of theorizing learning disabilities that currently inform our understanding. A paradigm shift is proposed, a shift in focus towards a holistic or comprehensive view of the person with learning disability. By viewing the phenomenon from the inside, as it were, I shift my focus from “what it is” to “how it is experienced” (Hall, 1998). It is suggested that a change in focus from the deficit to the whole child in his context will better inform practice This research follows the empirical phenomenological tradition, a qualitative analysis of everyday accounts of living with LD. Justification is given for using life history methodology in order to garner insights into the experiences of a child with learning disability. Five informants between the ages of 12 and 14 years were selected to participate in this study. A multi-method approach to data collection was used. Data were collected from a number of sources, including audio journals kept by participants, guided conversations typical of life history research and visual representations such as collages or life maps submitted by the participants. Data, interpreted on multiple levels, are represented in narrative form. Findings challenge current thinking around inclusive education by suggesting that learners with LD experience exclusion in a system meant to create a sense of inclusion. It is in the mainstream that the “identity as LD” is constructed because of the comparison to the performance of peers who do not have LD. However in a specialised educational environment where peers all presented with the same learning differences, difficulties and styles, instead of comparison there is a sameness. I suggest that this leads to the development of an “identity as capable.” Finally there is much we can learn about pedagogical intervention or management from these informants’ experience of LD.
The experiences of women leaders in the South African Democratic Teachers' Union (SADTU)
(2008) Mannah, Shermain.; Samuel, Michael Anthony.; Govinden, Devarakshanam Betty.
This study answers the critical question: How do women leaders experience gender equality in the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU)? It focuses on five women leaders in the union, illuminating their experiences and evolving gender consciousness. This qualitative study addresses a gap in research on gender in teacher unions, to understand and reveal how women who have accessed previously male-dominated spaces experience gender equality. The women leaders’ experiences are a prism through which to understand the “depth” of the substantive experience of gender equality in the union. It examines how the union through its organisational bureaucracy, culture and politics shapes their experiences. Through a historical analysis of the gender and liberation struggle, I demonstrate the trajectory of achievements, challenges and visions for gender equity in South Africa within the trade union movement, noting the achievements and highlighting lost opportunities to advance gender struggles of its members. The study theorises different conceptions of feminisms and imagings of organisations to understand the women’s experiences in relation to the union and to broader society, within the culture, politics and bureaucracy of the organisation. I extended this lens by exploring differing conceptions of feminisms to understand the gendered experiences of the women leaders as they traverse life from childhood to adulthood. Conceived with the broader realm of feminist methodology, I use elements of life history research, notably in-depth interviews to produce narratives in the form of “harmonised poems” to illuminate the public and private experiences of the research participants, providing deep insights into their evolving gender consciousness. The analysis is multi-dimensional, traversing the influence of the family, school, and the historical and political contexts that shaped the women’s gender consciousness. The findings indicate that teachers’ contradictory class location, history of patriarchy and acceptance of sexual division of labour contribute to the women leaders’ experiences of gender inequality in the union. These experiences of inequality were magnified by apartheid’s1 structural and ideological roots, which shaped gender roles while simultaneously catalysing the development of gender consciousness and advancing political activism. In this regard, the family served as a crucial site of gender socialisation, while the school formally reproduced a hierarchical gendered society. At the organisational level, hierarchically bureaucratic structures maintained and reinforced particular patterns of control and power through the formal system of trade union governance in which gender oppression is institutionalised and legitimised under its banner of emancipatory politics. However, women in the organisation are by no means innocent victims of hostile patriarchal forces, but are active participants in their own oppression as they strategically comply with institutional norms. Significantly, the findings indicate that equality of opportunity for women leaders in the union does not translate into equality of outcome. This thesis contributes to the theoretical debates on evolving gendered consciousness by advancing an extended conceptual lens to interrogate women’s gendered experiences in predominantly patriarchal spaces. It identifies four domains of evolving consciousness. Starting with the divided self in the domain of home, girl children imbibe the dominant hierarchical social structures, and fixed gender roles are inscribed here. However, the family domain provides the catalyst for a developing consciousness among the women as children. The socialised self emerging in the domain of the school emphasises the gender socialisation, both overt and covert, that occurs in schools. It illuminates their evolving gender consciousness by resisting such subjugation initially as students and later as radical teachers. Progressing to the domain of the union, the women embody a strategic self in response to gender inequality in SADTU, which often takes an organisational form that contradicts its espoused policy and public pronouncements. Armed with the maturity to transcend their individualised gender consciousness, the women leaders emerge with a collective consciousness determined to break down the barriers to equality at the structural level. Finally, in the emerging collective self, the women simultaneously embody elements that constrain their individual emancipatory impulses while trajecting them to potentially higher levels of consciousness as change agents. Their willingness to embrace a shared consciousness and their call for activism indicate a shift towards heightened collective consciousness. As they move from their individual subjugated selves to their heightened collective, transformed consciousness, they express a compelling desire for collective agency to challenge structural drivers of inequality and enact change at the systemic level.
The progress examination as an assessment tool in a problem-based learning curriculum : a case study of the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine.
(2009) Van Wyk, Jacqueline Marina.; Moletsane, Relebohile.; McLean, Michelle.
Medical schools have been reviewing their curricula to prepare caring and competent health professionals in the midst of a knowledge and technology explosion. The implementation of problem-based learning curricula signalled attempts to make learning more significant, based on constructivist perspectives that emphasise social interaction for meaning making and understanding. Available literature suggests that learning in PBL should be assessed by authentic, contextual real-life tasks that support and encourage students’ learning. To this end, the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine implemented the progress examination (PE) to complement the aims of Curriculum 2001 (C2001). The potential formative function of the PE was specifically appealing in terms of allowing for the development of reflective, self-directed and deep learning. Early explorations revealed an apparent mismatch between the aims of C2001, the expectations of stakeholders and their experiences with the PE at the site and these resulted in a number of adaptations to the examination. Cognisant of the influence of assessment on students’ learning, this study sought to examine whether the educational principles governing the implementation of C2001 also informed the implementation and adaptations of the PE. Using a qualitative case study methodology, the study investigated stakeholders’ understandings of the PE and its goals and the lived experiences of its implementation as a suitable tool to assess students’ cognitive learning. In addition, the study also investigated the possible factors that influenced the reform. Findings suggest that the PE was not suitable to assess students’ learning in C2001. Despite the perceptions of a strong educational need for curriculum reform and the apparent suitability of the PE, some members of staff lacked understanding, skill and confidence to apply and implement its aims. Staff failed to apply transformative practices of teaching and learning, while the principles of the PE and C2001 were not well diffused through the organisation. Members of staff expected the PE to differentiate between high and low performing students, while students came to regard the examination as just another hurdle in an already hostile learning environment. Factors such as the unstable and poor leadership, the restructuring of the health and education sectors, impacted on the implementation of the reform. Curriculum and assessment reform is challenging for students and lecturers, requiring the transforming institution to actively prepare and support stakeholders in a conducive educational climate. This case study highlights the need for comprehensive planning for effective and sustained curriculum reform. Collaborative strategies and educational systems should be sought and implemented to sustain conceptual and practical reform.
Teacher Identity in Assessment Policy and Practice within the General Education and Training Band.
(2009) Govender, Dhanasagree.; Hugo, Wayne.
The democratic South Africa’s dual challenge in overcoming its own divisive history as well as addressing global economic imperatives, has led to transformations in education. Policy production thus takes place in an atmosphere infused by economic, political, social and cultural effects of globalization. Embedded within the wave of curriculum reform, are new forms of learner assessment which have shifted from being largely norm-based and summative to one which is formative, standards- based and continuous. The new discourse on assessment requires a ‘paradigm shift’ for most teachers implementing the new assessment policy. Although education policy reforms in schools challenge teachers’ existing practices and increases teachers’ work load, they seldom give due attention to teachers’ identities. My research raises questions about the political rationalities that have informed policies on a new conception of the ideal teacher as assessor and how these political rationalities have intersected with the individual lives and identities of teachers. This study investigates at a micro-level, the workings of how teachers govern themselves in their work and in general as human beings. The constitution of teacher identity through discourses and discursive practices of the assessment reform is central to the argument of this thesis which is guided by the following critical question: Within the historical context of the current wave of curriculum reform in South Africa, how is teacher identity constituted in the discourses and practices of assessment reform? Data was obtained from ten teacher participants through interviews, classroom observations and document evidence. Using the biographical / life history approach and teachers’ narratives of self, I explore patterns by which experiential and emotional contexts, feelings, images and memories are organized to form the teachers’ identity. My analytical strategy draws from the work of Foucault (1954-1984), Giddens (1991), Wenger (1998), Bourdieu (1977), Frankl (1984), Laclau and Mouffe (1985), Maslow (1943) as well as other scholars.
Why is classroom practice so difficult to change? : lessons from five schools in the Toyota Teach Primary Schools Project in Durban.
(2009) Lee, Lesley Jean.; Moletsane, Relebohile.
No abstract available.
Learning through teaching : a narrative self-study of a novice teacher educator.
(2007) Pithouse-Morgan, Kathleen Jane.; Moletsane, Relebohile.
This thesis reports on a small-scale, qualitative study of learning through teaching in three postgraduate modules in Education at a South African university. In the thesis, I take a narrative self-study stance toward research and pedagogy to explore my lived experience as a novice teacher educator. I illustrate my research journey by tracing the development of my key research question and re-examining my research and curriculum design processes. I use the medium of a ‘narrative self-study research collage’ to represent and engage with a range of data derived from my experience of teaching in the three modules. The thesis makes two unique contributions to the education field. The methodological contribution is the use of a textual collage, which draws on visual and language arts-based approaches to educational research, as a medium for data representation. The creation of the collage and its presentation in this thesis contributes to the ongoing development and exploration of alternative forms of data representation in educational research. The conceptual contribution of the thesis is the conceptualisation of my teaching-learning-researching experience as educative engagement. This conception of educative engagement offers a new way of looking at pedagogy and research in academic teacher education. In addition to these two unique contributions to the field of Education, the thesis adds further understanding and impetus to the growing body of work that seeks to explore and value the teacher self and teachers’ self-study in the context of lived, relational educational experience.
A case study exploring how grade three learners with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder experience the support provided by their educators in an inclusive education context.
(2008) Alberda, Kate Jane.; De Lange, Naydene.
South Africa is a country with tremendous diversity. Previously, many learners who experienced barriers to learning and development were excluded from the education system, preventing them from meeting their educational needs. With the implementation of inclusive education, barriers to learning and development are no longer seen to reside primarily within the individual learner, but instead emphasis is placed on transforming the education system to accommodate a variety of learning needs. Many learners in South Africa display symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) which frequently affects their learning and development. In some instances very little is being done to accommodate such learners to ensure that they are given the opportunity to develop to their full potential, as many educators continue to view these learners negatively, and fail to question the effect that they themselves may have upon the learners’ development. The implementation of inclusive education, however, ought to create a space in schools where educators can support learners with ADHD in a unique manner and assist them to develop to their full potential. It is on the basis of this acknowledgement and commitment of support by Education White Paper 6 that this research project was conceived, to explore how grade three learners with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder experience the support provided by their educators. A qualitative approach was employed in the study and participants were selected through purposive sampling. As the primary participants were young learners, the data was obtained through the use of arts-based (collage) focus group interviews. Individual interviews were also used to gather additional data from the learners’ educators. The data from both the learners with ADHD and their educators was then transcribed. After a thorough analysis, using an open-coding technique, the findings clearly indicated that attempts are being made to implement the policy of inclusive education within schools. Educators and staff are beginning to value the diversity of learners, and evidently are attempting to make adjustments to cater for the individual needs of learners and promote their successful learning and development.
Young children's responses to AIDS.
(2008) Jewnarain, Dhanasagrie.; Bhana, Deevia.
This study explores the ways in which Grade Two boys and girls (aged 7-9) in a predominantly Black school construct their knowledge of HIV and AIDS. The study also seeks to explore how young children, in giving meaning to HIV and AIDS, position themselves as gendered beings in the context of HIV and AIDS. By focussing on the construction of young children’s identities in response to AIDS, this study demonstrates how children, in responding to AIDS, do gender and sexuality. There is very little work around gender and young children, let alone gender, HIV and AIDS, and sexuality. This is because of the ways in which children are perceived to be nonsexual, degendered and without the capacity to think beyond a certain stage of development (See Bhana, 2006; 2007a; 2007b; 2008; Silin, 1995; MacNaughton, 2000 as exceptions). By drawing upon qualitative and feminist methodological approaches, this study positions young children as having their own identities, as active participants who are capable of making meaning. This study shows that AIDS is embedded within social, economic, cultural, political and ideological contexts and that the ways in which these children give meanings to HIV and AIDS are embedded within these contexts. In responding to AIDS, the children in this study inform us of their relationship to AIDS within social processes including sexuality, gender, race and class, and they show us how these are actively acted upon. This study also shows the children positioning themselves as gendered beings with the capacity to think, feel and enact their sexuality. In doing so, they dispel many notions which position young children as unknowing, asexual beings.
Being an art teacher : "an auto-ethnographic study of different educational moments in my life"
(2008) Mkhonza, Bongani.
This auto-ethnographic research emerges from an historical account of my self-understandings, perceptions and intentions, constructed from a journal that was kept of my experiences during the various stages of my development as an art teacher. The study revolves around two pivotal questions: ―How have I come to be the art teacher I am?‖ and ―What are the meanings and definitions that have informed my identity as an art teacher in a multiracial classroom?‖ I draw upon Brian Fay‘s theory of self/false consciousness and show how false consciousness works to liberate the self. It does that through the excavation of different layers of consciousness of self, and offers an understanding of how I came to be and to act in particular situations and moments of crisis. This theoretical position enabled me to understand my struggles as a black, African, male art teacher teaching in a multiracial school. By engaging in an auto-ethnographic approach I am able to reflect on the self through my journals and artworks (paintings, pottery, photographs and poems) and on the impact of critical moments in my life. It provides me with the lens to zoom in and out of my life experiences and understand the meanings (false/borrowed/assimilated) that I took up as a marginalised black African male interested in learning art in a white-dominated world. By adopting a critical stance, this research reveals both personal issues and broader social structures, institutions and processes, and shows how they are intertwined. Firstly, the study offers an analysis of chosen critical moments of my life. Secondly, it presents an understanding of those moments and my part in them. Thirdly, it explores the meanings that I came to adopt in those moments of crisis. Fourthly, it reflects on how this self-searching assisted me to liberate myself from false consciousness as a black African male art teacher. It tries to trace the gradual movement from the prison of my past to my development as a teacher in a South African classroom in a new democratic dispensation. Auto-ethnography provides deeper access to self-understanding, and engaging through this reflective process, I was able to understand and know that educational change can only happen meaningfully if I know and confront my personal and professional meanings and how they have been shaped and continue to inform the choices I make in my classroom daily. As a Black, African, Male, Art Teacher who learnt and lived through the legacy of apartheid, false consciousness was a way of being ‗other‘. The realisation of being ―a coconut‖ (Ferguson: 2006) and the meanings of the art world that went with it, proved liberating. ―Coconut‖ is term referring to a black person who does and acts like a white person.
Exploring the implementation of inclusive education in the Pinetown district shools : a case study of learners' experiences and teachers' perceptions about the classroom environment at a selected school.
(2009) Mweli, Patrick.; Kalenga, Rosemary Chimbala.
The study intends to contribute to successful implementation of Inclusive Education in South African Schools, by exploring learners’ experiences within the classroom and teachers views about the classroom environment. A combination of these two factors will indicate the extent how far inclusive education is being implemented in the classrooms. The school that was selected to participate in this study is located in the semi-rural area in Pinetown district. Learners participated in three focus group sessions. These sessions aimed at gathering data on learners’ experiences within classroom environment. Each group consisted of eight learners; that is, four males and four females. Focus group one was selected from grade seven; the second focus group from grade eight and the third group from grade nine. The class teachers of the selected classes were requested to take part in the interview sessions. The sessions intended to gather information on teachers’ views about classroom environment and how it impacts on their implementation of Inclusive education. The study reveals that in South Africa the problem of inclusive curriculum implementation still exists and need special attention from all stake holders involved in education. What learners experience in the classroom result from how teachers conduct their practice. It is also evident that teachers have not been properly prepared for a paradigm shift and implementation of inclusive curriculum. As a result teaching practice has not change to accommodate the requirements of inclusive education. Consequently, the losers in the process are the learners, as they continuously have negative experiences within the classroom which causes barriers to learning.
Educators' perceptions of whole-school evaluation in a primary school in the Umlazi district.
(2008) Malimela, Zasendlunkulu Nonkululeko.; Karlsson, Jennifer Anne.
Policy documents such as The National Policy on Whole-School Evaluation (Department of Education, 2001), A Policy Framework for Quality Assurance and Training System in South Africa (Department of Education, 1998) and Integration Quality Management System (Department of Education, 2003) propose broad participation of major stakeholders, in particular educators, in the process of evaluating and monitoring school performance. This represents a major shift from the inspectorate system of the past that had limited transparency and openness between the evaluators (inspectors) and evaluees (educators) and had little to do with assuring the quality of education provision. Nevertheless many teachers have resisted the introduction of these policies designed to improve schools and their performance. The system known as Whole-School Evaluation focuses on the whole school rather than on individual staff members of the school, with the aim to develop schools in achieving their context-related goals and intended outcomes. Reasons for teachers‟ resistance to such a well intended framework of policies is not well understood. Thus, this study sought to investigate perceptions of educators about Whole-School Evaluation, which is the component of Integrated Quality Management System. To do this a case study was conducted at one KwaZulu-Natal Primary School in the Phumelela Circuit of Umlazi District. The focus of the study is on educators‟ experiences of Whole-School Evaluation, their understanding of their roles in the implementation process as well as their perceptions about the intention of Whole-School Evaluation, an interpretive approach was appropriate. The study uses two methods, interviews and questionnaires, for generating data. The major finding of this study is that, contrary to their initial resistance, educators are more positive about the Whole-School Evaluation system than the previous inspection system, because they perceive it to be developmental for themselves and their schools.
Occupational choices of women in South Africa.
(2000) Naidoo, Zaiboonnisha.; Jansen, Jonathan David.; Ramphal, Anandpaul.
The purpose of this study is to determine women's perceptions and choices of different categories of occupations and the reasons for such choices. Since the installation of the first democratic post apartheid government in South Africa, national policy has advanced women's rights. Affirmative action has opened up opportunities previously closed to women, but there is little research documenting changes in career trends. The influence of race, gender, social and political changes on perceptions and choices of occupations of women in the country is not known. This study has focused on African and Indian females in the 15 to 60 age range in the greater Durban area. Women born between 1940 and 1985 have experience of the pre- and post apartheid era, and therefore changes in perceptions and choices could be investigated. A survey questionnaire was administered to 390 female learners in seven former Indian schools. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 African and Indian women; six daughters in non - traditional occupations and six mothers in traditional occupations. The results from the survey and interviews suggest that women have a strong sense of empowerment and do not regard gender as a barrier to occupational choices. A limited number of occupations were categorized as suitable for men only, while the majority were deemed suitable for both men and women. Survey data indicated that African learners were more conservative in their choices than Indian learners. Interviews with the older women however, revealed that African women were more positive about opportunities open to them in the new South Africa. Detailed family profiles suggest that socio - economic factors rather than parental influence, impacted on decision-making patterns. The unique experiences of women in this country, who have been subject to political and social pressures of the apartheid policy and the rapid change of the post apartheid era, must be documented before any theoretical positions can be articulated about the career development of South African women. This study has contributed to research on the career development of women by providing some insight into how a sector of African and Indian women perceive and categorize occupations.
The undergraduate law curriculum : fitness for purpose?
(2009) Greenbaum, Lesley Anne.; Sookrajh, Reshma.; Combrinck, Martin.
This study reviews the curriculum of the four-year undergraduate Baccalaureus Legum (LLB) degree, introduced in 1998 as part of the transformation agenda in post-apartheid South Africa. Ten years since its inception, the question is whether the vision of the originators has translated into curricula that are producing a representative supply of appropriately-educated graduates for practice as legal professionals. The demand for the transformation of legal education resulted in the introduction of an undergraduate LLB as a single, affordable qualification for entry to legal practice. Law faculties were permitted to develop their own curricula, although there was agreement on core content. Three key principles were to inform curriculum design: (i) South African law exists in and applies to a diverse or pluralistic society; (ii) skills appropriate to the practice of law must be integrated into the degree; and (iii) faculties must strive to inculcate ethical values in students. A decade later, stakeholders are expressing dissatisfaction with the quality of graduates. Few graduates complete the LLB within four years, and a significant proportion of African students, already under-represented in law faculties, do not complete their studies. The attorneys’ profession is still predominantly white-owned. In the first part of the study, phenomenological interviews were conducted with three members of the 1996 Task Group of Law Deans who drafted the proposals for the new degree. The data elicited described the lived experience of curriculum change. Five current Law Deans were also interviewed to develop an understanding of their experience of implementing the law curriculum. The second component of the study was a phenomenographic analysis, in which six graduates, who are now attorneys, were interviewed, to identify their experiences of the law curriculum at one Law faculty. The graduates’ employers were interviewed to ascertain their perceptions of the graduates’ preparedness for professional practice. The study suggests that reactive conservatism on the part of legal academics resulted in law curricula that replicate a cycle of disadvantage, and fail to achieve transformative learning which integrates knowledge, skills and ethical values. A focus on incorporating an ontological component in law curricula, to develop high quality legal professionals is recommended.
Construction of masculinities at a township school south of Durban : a case study.
(2009) Davis, T. Garey.; Moletsane, Relebohile.
Masculinities are not constructed and performed identically. This research project looks at how male learners at a township high school, South of Durban, define, understand, and perform masculinities. To that end, this study employs varying instruments (non-participant observation, focus group, and individual interviews) to explore the participants’ understanding of their own masculine identities as well as that of their fellow male students. The study was informed by masculinities, sex-role, and black masculinities theoretical and conceptual frameworks. The participants (grade 9-11 male learners) range in age from 14 to19. These young males discussed early masculinities teachings as well as defining characteristics of an ideal “real men.” Their understanding of masculine identities was shaped by family, media, church, peers, and others. They also provide information on the various masculinities constructions and performances at their school. Focusing on the opposition of dominant and subordinate masculinities, I gained firsthand knowledge from the participants about male learners who are excluded from formal and informal school process. The participants identified and discussed male learners who are said to be performing subordinate masculinities, including admonishment and sanctions used against learners who fall in this category. Emergent masculinities are highlighted from suggestions that participants provided as a means of ensuring that all learners can fully participate in the school process. Lastly, this study provides implications and recommendations for all stakeholders involved in secondary school education.
Grade 9 teacher attitudes towards common tasks for assessment (CTA) : a case study of economic and management sciences (EMS) in two schools.
(2009) Sithole, Alec Wittie.; Suriamurthee, Moonsamy Maistry.
This study examines the standardised tests as administered in Grade 9 in the form of Common Tasks for Assessment (CTA). The main focus of the study was to understand the attitudes of Economic Management and Sciences teachers toward the CTA (EMS) and how they were engaging with the CTA (EMS) during the ‘normal’ course of curriculum development. The study was undertaken in response to my observation of the negative attitude of EMS teachers toward the CTA (EMS) during the EMS workshops. The literature revealed that standardised tests have negative consequences such as the narrowing of curriculum, over-reliance on tests preparation materials, unethical test practices, unfair test results, unintended bias against population subgroups, increased tension and frustration in schools, increased grade retention, and regression of pedagogical practice. In responding to the pressure and stress associated with the standardised tests, teachers end up leaking test papers prior to test writing and gave answers to learners during the writing of tests. Teachers in ‘high-stakes testing’ environment tended to feel more pressure to increase test scores than their counter-parts in low- or moderate-stakes testing environments. The data was generated through semi-structured interviews, document analysis and lesson observations. Purposive sampling was used in the selection of the participants. Results indicated that: (1) teachers and learners experienced problems with the language used in the CTA (EMS); (2) the content of the CTA (EMS) was biased; (3) CTA (EMS) put pressure and stress on EMS teachers; and (4) the CTA imposed unfair curriculum expectations on EMS teachers. These problems made EMS teachers develop a negative attitude toward the CTA (EMS). It was also found that EMS teachers had difficulty in engaging CTA (EMS) during the ‘normal’ course of curriculum development. It is recommended that policy makers should regularly interact with schools in order to acquaint themselves with teachers’ experiences during CTA (EMS) administering. Furthermore they should take the views of the teachers into consideration during the policy formulation on CTA (EMS) administering. If the policy makers continue to ignore the concerns of the EMS teachers and to distance themselves from the reality in schools as far as the CTA (EMS) administering is concerned, the implementation of assessment policy will remain an elusive reality.

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