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1
Hendricks, Estelle. "Good practice guidelines for improving educator morale." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1247.
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The morale of educators in certain schools is very low. From the literature review I concluded that not all schools experience low morale in the same way. There are different factors impacting on the morale of educators at different schools. In this study, the causes of low educator morale, indicators of low morale, the importance of high morale and how low morale can be dealt with were addressed in order to provide guidelines to improve low morale. An empirical study was conducted and 2 schools in the Northern Areas of Port Elizabeth were used in this case study to establish to what measure the educators are exposed to the abovementioned variables. The data was analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. South Africa is divided into different demographic areas. The majority of people living in the communities where these schools are located are poor, unskilled, unemployed and the crime levels are very high. The socio-economic context within which these schools are located also has an impact on the morale of the educators at these schools and it affects their working lives. Educators, SMTs and principals took part in the empirical study so that their views can be compared and to facilitate the researcher to make recommendations on improving low educator morale. The research outcomes were analysed and deductions, recommendations and a need for further research were given. The empirical and literature study emphasised that the morale of educators is low in the schools and this morale status impacts on learners’ achievements, the health of the educators and the health of the institution. The educators in this study ranked their own morale status as low and some of the causes of the low morale according to the empirical study are lack of resources, ill-disciplined learners, uninvolved parents and an ineffective management style of the principal.
2
Hendricks, Charlotte Augusta. "A living theory to facilitate the improvement of teacher morale." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1016152.
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This dissertation is a narrative account of a self-study undertaken with the primary aim of positively influencing the morale of colleagues in my school department. It addresses an area of personal and professional concern where my values were being denied in my practice. As a Head of Department, I was worried that the low morale of my colleagues would negatively impact on the quality of teaching and learning at school, and on their own mental health. Situated within self-efficacy theory, my study reflects the values I attach to human dignity, respect, fairness, honesty perseverance and caring. These values were applied as the living standard by which I judged the quality of my leadership practice. I describe how I used an Action Research methodology as a living transformational process to reflect on my own leadership in terms of how I could influence the development of positive morale in the department. My findings offer new conceptualisations about how teachers can take action to improve the emotional climate of the school. I am claiming that the significance of my research is grounded in my ability to facilitate an improvement in the low morale of myself and my colleagues in order for us to ultimately contribute to self and school improvement.
3
Kovach, John C. "Teacher motivation in a South African school." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003675.
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This study explores and attempts to shed light on what motivates teachers and how teacher motivation is affected by a principal's leadership style. The worldviews of pragmatism and critical realism were used as the basis for exploring teacher motivation in a South African school. A primary school in the Eastern Cape of South Africa was chosen for the case study. Three data gathering tools, a leadership questionnaire, teacher survey, and interviews were used to generate data on teacher motivation and the interaction between leadership style and teacher motivation. In regards to teachers, religion, social justice, and self-efficacy were all identified as motivators. The principal was strongly charismatic in her leadership and along with transformational and social justice leadership played a major role in influencing teacher behaviors. Self-determination theory was identified as helping to explain different levels of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and thereby to better understand varying degrees of teacher motivation. There are many difficulties in South African education and around the world in general and this study is premised on the belief that if teacher motivation can be studied and advanced there will be an improvement in education and learning. This thesis was limited in its scope and ability to fully explore the different levels of ontology as outlined by the critical realist and this is identified as a possible future course of action for not only studying teacher motivation but getting to the 'heart of the matter'.
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Paulse, Janine. "Sources of occupational stress for teachers, with specific reference to the inclusive education module in the Western Cape." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2005. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=init_1706_1180439834.
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The aim of this paper was to identify the sources of stress for teachers involved with inclusive education as well as whether there is a statistically significant difference in stress experienced by teachers based on their biographical details. In this research the focus was on intellectual disability.
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Hlongwane, Boy Thembinkosi. "Rural secondary school teachers' experiences of job satisfaction and their expectations of support to develop their professional competencies as curriculum workers." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021101.
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Since the first National Curriculum Statement matriculation results for 2008, there has been an outcry that rural secondary schools in KwaZulu Natal are lagging behind in terms of pass rate compared to urban and former Model C secondary schools. There are various contributory factors that are impacting on poor learners’ performance in rural schools. This study was specifically conducted in rural secondary schools of KwaZulu Natal. The reason was that there is few research conducted in rural schools, particularly with regard to teacher job satisfaction and professional development. There is therefore a belief that satisfied teachers produce good performance in their schools. Furthermore, it is also believed that satisfied and adequately developed teachers are the key to successful implementation of the grades 10-12 National Curriculum Statement. The study was therefore conducted to investigate rural secondary school teachers’ experiences of job satisfaction and their expectations of support to develop their competencies as curriculum workers. The research problem was investigated through the mixed methods research. The use of mixed methods research was to ensure that reliability and validity are addressed. The concurrent strategy of mixed methods research was employed. In concurrent mixed research methods, data is collected during the same phase. Data was collected from rural secondary schools of Umzinyathi, Ilembe and Empangeni districts in KwaZulu Natal. There were fifty rural secondary schools which participated in the study. Four hundred rural secondary school teachers completed survey questionnaires. Eighteen rural secondary school teachers participated in individual interviews. Only nine rural secondary schools were involved in observation and interviews. Research findings show that poverty was one of the major contributory factors that led to poor performance of rural secondary schools. Poverty and lack of adequate professional development programmes in rural secondary schools have negative impact in terms of teachers’ job satisfaction. Learners’ poor command of English in rural secondary schools contributed to their poor academic performance. Lack of support services, bad condition of roads and, long distances travelled by both learners and teachers contributed to teachers’ job dissatisfaction and learners’ poor performance. Rural secondary school learners were demotivated about learning, since they lacked role models in their communities. Rural secondary school learners were also undisciplined. They bunked classes. They carried weapons to schools. Rural secondary school learners also helped criminals to steal and vandalize school property. They smoked dagga inside the school premises. Moreover, research findings indicate that rural secondary school teachers were not involved in school decision-making processes. School management teams were the only structure making school decisions. Growth opportunities for teachers were not fairly provided to them by their principals. Schools governing body chairpersons and principals were abusing the teacher promotion process since they were biased. They only promoted their friends and relatives and sometimes they were bribed by candidates. The latter findings contributed to teachers’ job dissatisfaction. Further findings indicate that there were teachers who were teaching subjects for which they were not qualified. Some heads of department were supervising subject streams that were outside of their specialization since the school post-provisioning norms (PPN) was small. Rural secondary school principals possessed inadequate grades 10-12 National Curriculum Statement expertise. Integrated Quality Management Systems was unable to develop teachers for effective grades 10-12 National Curriculum Statement implementation since it was not implemented accordingly in rural secondary schools. Clusters were effective strategies to develop teachers in rural schools although geographical isolation of school was their main challenge. The recommendations of this study are that RSSs must be fully supported by the KwaZulu Natal Department of Education. All roads to schools must be repaired in time. Decent teacher accommodation must be built inside schools with security guards to look after teachers’ safety and their property when they are away. Recreation venues/centres must be established in rural areas to relieve and address teachers’ stress and boredom. The KwaZulu Natal Department of Education must ensure that all schools have libraries, laboratories and computer classes. The Department of Education must also fully recognize postgraduate qualifications such as honours, master’s and doctoral degrees to retain highly qualified teachers in rural secondary schools. Teachers must be promoted on merit rather than on friendship or relationship.
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Bull, Ian Howard Frederick. "The relationship between job satisfaction and organisational commitment amongst high school teachers in disadvantaged areas in the Western Cape." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2005. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&.
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Job satisfaction and organisational commitment have been found to both be inversely related to such withdrawal behaviours as tardiness, absenteeism and turnover (Yousef, 2000). Moreover, they have also been linked to increased productivity and organisational effectiveness (Buitendach &de Witte, 2005). This is furthermore postulated to have an influence on whether employees will have a propensity to remain with the organisation and to perform at higher levels.
According to Bishay (1996), the teaching profession ranks high on the success list of a society. In conjunction with this, &ldquo
teachers' organisational commitment and general job satisfaction&rdquo
(Howell &
Dorfman, 1986, p. 37) have been identified as important to understanding the work behaviour of employees in organisations.
Job satisfaction amongst teachers is a multifaceted construct that is critical to teacher retention and has been shown to be a significant determinant of teacher commitment, and in turn, a contributor to school effectiveness. Research, however, reveals wide&ndash
ranging differences in what contributes to job satisfaction and group differences according to demographic factors (Shan, 1998).
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Coetzee, Annas Jacob. "Kurrikulum 2005: 'n ontleding van opvoeders se motivering." Thesis, Cape Technikon, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/961.
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Thesis (MTech(Management))-- Cape Technikon, 2002Outcomes-based Education was introduced to the South African education system in 1996 with the implementation of Curriculum 2005. The first post-apartheid Minister of Education, Professor Sibusiso Bhengu, set himself the task of radically reforming the education system and of eliminating everything which had emanated from the apartheid regime. This work has been continued by the present Minister of Education, Mc Kadar Asmal. The reformation of the education system and the implementation of Curriculum 2005 by the government was based on the advice of international experts. This advice was garnered at a premium in costs, but there is a general view that South African circumstances were not always taken into consideration. In many instances there is a feeling that Curriculum 2005 was forced upon the educators. This study focuses on education in South Africa, past and present, as well as the perceptions of Curriculum 2005 by educators, and whether educators are really motivated by it. This study also focuses on certain problematic areas in Curriculum 2005 and suggests possible solutions.
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Graven, Mellony. "Do South African Mathematics teachers need narrative therapy?" Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden, 2012. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-82525.
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Nongwe, Tozamile Johnson. "A survey of Butterworth senior secondary school teachers' views on the relationship between teacher involvement in decision-making and morale." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003672.
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Tbe purpose of this survey was to investigate Butterworth Senior Secondary School teachers' views on the relationship between teacher involvement in decision-making and morale. Out of four Butterworth Senior Secondary Schools with a population of about eigbhy six teachers, thirty teachers were willing participants in the research study. The teachers come from a homogeneous background (Xhosa-speaking). Questionnaires were administered to tbe sample subjects (population). The results (responses) of these teacbers (respondents) were then analyzed. After the analysis of their results, it became clear that there is a relationship between teacher involvement in decision-making and morale. Thus, the findings did not support the null hypothesis which stated that Butterworth Senior Secondary Scbool teachers see no relationship between their involvement in decision-making and morale.
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Bougardt, Abraham Deon. "Consequences of staff deployment in public primary schools in Cape Town." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/17910.
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Thesis (MEd )--University of Stellenbosch, 2011.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This qualitative study explores the effect that staff deployment has on the morale and professional attitudes of educators who have been identified as being in excess at their schools. The study was done by doing interviews with teachers who have been affected by rightsizing and redeployment and principals who have had to manage the process. The Department of Education goes through an annual process of determining the school‘s staff establishment for the next academic year. This determination is based on the number of learners enrolled at the institution. The CEMIS statistics are used to determine the number of learners enrolled at the school and the schools‘ staff establishment for the next academic year. If a school‘s learner numbers have increased since the last survey, the school will gain some teaching posts. Conversely, if the learner numbers have dropped a number of educators at the institution, as determined by the education department, have to be identified and declared in excess. Change associated with staff redeployment can have a negative impact on the morale and motivation of teachers. A school‘s functioning and ability to supply quality education can also be compromised as a result thereof. This is especially true when schools do not have the financial resources to employ additional teachers out of school funds. The problem is researched by exploring the ‗lived experiences‘ of selected teachers at primary schools in two of the education districts that fall under the WCED. Educators who were selected to participate in the study were individuals who had been declared in excess and who were redeployed or who were awaiting redeployment. Teachers were given the opportunity to relate their individual experiences. Their accounts of the process reflect how these experiences affect behaviour, professional attitude and general health. My discussion of their perceptions pays particular attention to their perceptions of how their general health and well-being were affected. Two principals (who managed the process at their respective schools) also shed some light on their experiences of the effects of downsizing. It seems that whilst there are cases where the process of rightsizing and redeployment is handled with the necessary care and circumspection, this is not always the case. Too often rightsizing and redeployment are handled in a clinical way, which creates the impression that the principals are biased and unsympathetic.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie kwalitatiewe studie ondersoek die effek wat personeel ontplooing op onderwysers het wie oortollig verklaar word by hul skole. Dit beoog ook om vas te stel tot watter mate die persoon se professionele gedrag en moraal geaffekteer word hierdeur. Tydens die studie was data ingesamel deur onderhoude te voer met onderwysers wie oortollig verklaar is, en prinsipale wat hierdie proses moes bestuur. Jaarliks gaan die Departement van Onderwys deur 'n proses waar skole se onderwysvoorsiening vir die volgende jaar bepaal word deur die aantal leerders wat by die skool ingeskryf is. Die stelsel wat deur die WKOD gebruik word om leerder inskrywings by skole te bepaal, word die Sentrale Opvoedingsbestuur en Inligting Stelsel genoem. Fundameteel tot die proses is die feit dat indien 'n skool se leerdertal vermeerder het sederd die vorige opname, sal die skool addisionele onderwysers win. Indien die inskrywingstotaal egter gedaal het, word die aantal onderwysers wat aan die skool voorsien word verminder. Verandering wat deur die onderwyser herontplooiing teweegbring word kan 'n negatiewe uitwerking op die moraal en motivering van onderwysers het. Die funksionering van skole en hul vermoeë om gehalteonderrig te voorsien kan ook negatief beïnvloed word daardeur. Dit is veral skole wat dit nie kan bekostig om addisionele onderwysers aan te stel en uit skoolfonds te besoldig nie, wat die swaarste getref word hierdeur. Die probleem word nagefors deur te kyk na 'n paar onderwysers in primêre skole in twee opvoedingsdistrikte wat onder die WKOD werksaam is. Onderwysers wat deel vorm van die studie is persone wat oortollig verklaar is en verplaas is, of wie nog wag op verplasing. Hierdie studie het onderwysers se ervaringe van die herontplooingsproses bestudeer. Onderwysers was die geleentheid gegee om hul ervaringe met die naforser te deel en sodoende lig te werp op hoe die proses hul gedrag, professionele houding en algemene gesondheid geraak het. Die naforsing het getoon dat terwyl daar gevalle is waar die proses van regstellende aksie en herontplooing met die nodige sorg en omsigtigheid hanteer word, is dit nie altyd die norm nie. Hierdie proses word ten tye op 'n kliniese wyse hanteer en dit skep die indruk dat die prinsipaal onsimpatiek is en nie neutraal staan in die proses nie.
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Burger, Johann Richards Vivian. "How do school leaders negotiate space in order to motivate teachers." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/79935.
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Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2013.Bibliography
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This is an exploratory study of how school leaders can negotiate the various spaces in their schools in order to promote teacher motivation and, by implication, learner achievement. This research focuses on how three principals in the Western Cape Province have produced or re-appropriated spaces to create new, productive learning environments which positively engage the users of these spaces. According to section 4 of the Employment of Educators Act 76 of 1998 (PAM), all school leaders are expected to create a learning space that is conducive to teaching and learning. In order to know what such a leadership responsibility may entail, this study tries to capture the dynamic interplay between physical (perceived) and mental (conceived) spaces as embodied in social (lived) spaces in a school. It uses Lefebvre‟s spatial triad as its theoretical lens. Linked to the study‟s aim to investigate what the interplay is between the various Lefebvrean spaces in schools, is an examination of how school leaders can manage to negotiate the production of these spaces. For lived school spaces to have embodied meaning that is conducive to teaching and learning, they must be co-produced and co-owned by the users of that space. To illuminate the way in which school leaders can achieve this, the study draws on a model of transformational leadership. The qualitative study uses a focus group, individual interviews and observations of three schools that have all achieved recognition as schools with excellent learner achievement: a public primary school, a public high school and an independent high school. The main research findings are that each of the three school leaders instinctively followed a transformational leadership style, and produced spaces that encouraged professional interaction amongst their teachers as well as strong collegial support for their spatial changes. The staffrooms have been modernised and equipped with lush furniture, flat screen TV‟s, appealing decorations and stimulating pictures, all with the purpose of lifting the spirits and energy levels of the staff. In addition, teachers‟ professional meeting rooms and confidential workspaces have been established. Classrooms have been changed into inviting and functional 21st century ICT learning spaces, with flexible use of furniture and stimulating visuals. Outdoor learning spaces and safe “emotional zones” have been constructed At all three schools the entrances and receptions areas have been made into welcoming spaces in which learners can gather for meetings, and the schools‟ symbols and achievements are showcased. Clear signposting makes the visitor feel engaged. Braai areas for teacher and parent functions ensure that the school keeps parents involved. The main findings about the embodied spaces in the school are that the three school leaders have changed the physical spaces at their schools into new mental spaces which influence the perception, mood and motivation of the users of that space.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie verken hoe skoolleiers die verskillende ruimtes in hul skole kan aanwend ten einde onderwysermotivering, en gevolglik ook leerderprestasie, te bevorder. Die navorsing konsentreer op hoe drie skoolhoofde in die Wes-Kaapse provinsie ruimtes geskep of heringerig het om nuwe, produktiewe leeromgewings teweeg te bring wat die gebruikers van hierdie ruimtes op 'n positiewe manier by onderrig betrek. Ingevolge artikel 4 van die Wet op Indiensneming van Opvoeders, Wet 76 van 1998 (PAM), moet alle skoolhoofde 'n bevorderlike ruimte vir onderrig en leer skep. Ten einde vas te stel wat sodanige leierskapsverantwoordelikheid behels, probeer hierdie studie die dinamiese wisselwerking tussen fisiese of waargenome (“perceived space”) en voorgestelde of veronderstelde (“conceived space”) ruimtes beskryf soos dit in die sosiale of belewingsruimtes (“lived spaces”) in 'n skool vergestalt word. Die navorsing gebruik Lefebvre se ruimtelike triade as teoretiese lens. Benewens die studiedoelwit om ondersoek in te stel na watter wisselwerking daar tussen Lefebvre se verskillende ruimtes in skole plaasvind, val die soeklig ook op hoe skoolleiers die skepping van hierdie ruimtes kan hanteer. Belewingsruimtes in skole sal slegs oor die nodige vergestalte betekenis beskik om onderrig en leer te bevorder indien die gebruikers van daardie ruimtes dit help skep en as hul eie aanvaar. Die studie put uit 'n model van transformasionele leierskap om lig te werp op hoe skoolleiers dít kan bereik. Hierdie kwalitatiewe studie gebruik 'n fokusgroep, individuele onderhoude sowel as waarnemings in drie skole wat bekend is vir hul uitnemende leerderprestasie: 'n openbare laerskool, 'n openbare hoërskool en 'n onafhanklike hoërskool. Die hoofbevindinge is dat elk van die drie skoolleiers instinktief 'n transformasionele leierskapstyl volg en ruimtes geskep het wat professionele wisselwerking tussen hul onderwysers sowel as sterk kollegiale steun vir hul ruimtelike veranderinge aanmoedig. Die personeelkamers is modern ingerig met gemaklike meubels, platskermtelevisies, aantreklike versierings en stimulerende prente, wat alles ten doel het om personeel se geesdrif en energievlakke te verhoog. Voorts is professionele vergaderlokale en vertroulike werkruimtes vir onderwysers tot stand gebring. Klaskamers is omskep in aantreklike en funksionele, 21ste-eeuse IKT-leerruimtes, met buigsame gebruik van meubels en stimulerende visuele elemente. Buitelugleerruimtes en veilige "emosionele sones" is ook geskep. By ál drie skole is die ingange en ontvangslokale in aanloklike ruimtes verander waar leerders vir vergaderings kan byeenkom en die skole se simbole en prestasies ten toon gestel word. Duidelike aanwysings betrek besoekers onmiddellik by die skoolomgewing. Braaigeriewe vir onderwyser-en-ouergeleenthede verseker ook voortdurende skakeling tussen die skool en ouers. Die hoofbevinding oor die belewingsruimtes in die skole is dat die drie skoolleiers die fisiese ruimtes by hul skole in nuwe geestesruimtes omskep het, wat die opvattings, gemoed en motivering van die gebruikers van daardie ruimtes beïnvloed.
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Horn, Aidan. "Teacher Remuneration in South Africa: Incentivizing Performance." Master's thesis, Faculty of Commerce, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33816.
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Despite high government expenditure, education in South Africa is poor quality. We focus on how teacher quality can be improved by improving the structure of their remuneration. Performance-related pay, which can be based either on measuring learner test scores, or by measuring teacher content knowledge or pedagogical skills, has sometimes been successful in countries with low levels of teacher effort, and may be applicable in South Africa. However, measures to enhance accountability or reward performance need to take into account resistance by teacher unions. We situate the discussion in the context of South Africa's existing framework for teacher remuneration under the Occupation Specific Dispensation. From this, we criticize the relatively flat progression of salaries as teachers' experience increases, which discourages skilled teachers from remaining in the profession. We propose that performance-based pay be integrated into the existing salary structure through bonus salary notch progressions, thereby also increasing the slope of salary progression.
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Dos, Reis Karen Marion. "The influence of gangsterism on the morale of educators on the Cape Flats, Western Cape." Thesis, [S.l. : s.n.], 2007. http://dk.cput.ac.za/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1042&context=td_cput.
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Wolfaardt, Michelle. "Exploring employee morale at the Port Elizabeth plant of Cadbury (South Africa)." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003129.
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In the current business climate, performance is increasingly determined by how flexibly and effectively companies can utilize their human resources and this in tum, is influenced by employee morale. Morale refers to a state of psychosomatic health marked by an energetic, decisive resolution to achieve a given goal. When morale is low, employees may do what is required but do not have the energy to 'go the extra mile'. The importance of maintaining high morale is thus evident. The following project involved a study of morale in Cadbury's Port Elizabeth plant. Cadbury management was concerned about low morale following a recent merger with Bromor Foods. They thus wanted to assess: the state of current morale; any factors that may be influencing it; indicators of low morale (so that it may be monitored in the future) and finally, ways of addressing any existing morale issues. In order to achieve these aims, the researcher conducted interviews with various people to explore morale issues from employees' perspectives. She then sought confirmation for these views at the organizational level through the use of a survey. Statistical and thematic analyses showed morale to be low for middle managers and revealed a variety of indicators and influencing factors, as well as suggestions for addressing them. Despite the need to boost the sample size with convenience sampling, and thus, reduced representivity, the research was successful in answering the research aims.
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Wheeler, Shane. "Evaluating a teacher support team programme." Thesis, Peninsula Technikon, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/1902.
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Thesis (MTech (Education))--Peninsula Technikon, 2004"The ability to collaberate effectively is important for educators who have to work together to serve learners who have learning disabilities in general education classrooms. The rationale for this study was to evaluate school-based assistance. The study focused on the conceptualisation, design, implementation and impact of a Teacher Support Team programme, as implemented at a primary school. The main objectives were to establish whether effective collaberation requires that educators have knowledge and skills that they share with one another for the purpose of solving classroom problems. It also sought to highlight the importance of collaberation among professional staff."
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Khabele, Teboho. "The integration of environmental education with technology education : an investigation into teacher training and teacher practice." Thesis, Peninsula Technikon, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/1934.
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Thesis (MTech (Education))--Peninsula Technikon, 2003This research study is mainly based on the third learning outcome for Technology Education which requires the learners to be able to demonstrate an understanding of interrelationships between science, technology, society and the environment. The purpose of the study is to investigate how Technology Teacher Training Programmes incorporate environmental aspects into technology education and how Technology educators facilitate learning in order to meet environmental requirements that are expressed as learning outcome 3 for Technology Education. In this study an attempt is made to encourage efforts that could lead to the development of new learning frameworks, integrated activities and learning programmes for the technology education curriculum. The study is set against the literature on integrated programmes for curriculum development in general and for environmental and technology education in particular. It also draws on literature that calls for partnerships and closer co-operation between institutions of higher learning and the world of work, on evaluation research and programme evaluation and on the role that could be played by service-learning in promoting attitudes and values that are necessary for the integration of environmental aspects into technology education. Using the naturalistic or qualitative evaluation approach and narrative data production methods in the context of teaching and learning, the lecturers in teacher education institutions and technology educators in schools were interviewed in order to find out how technology teacher education prepared technology educators for the workplace and how technology educators designed learning activities and facilitated learning in their technology classrooms. The curriculum documents for technology teacher education programmes were consulted and classroom observations also made. The research findings have indicated that technology educators find it difficult to integrate environmental education with technology education when teaching technology education and that technology teacher education programmes do not entirely prepare technology educators for the integration process that is required by the Revised National Curriculum documents of the Department of Education and Training.The study therefore calls for partnerships and collaborative efforts of higher education institutions, the Department of Education and Training and various environmental organizations in order to develop work integrated curricula that could enable technology educators to assist their learners to demonstrate an understanding of interrelationships between science, technology, society and the environment.
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Childs, Margaret Mary. "Teacher adaptation of a curriculum during implementation." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/377.
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The purpose of this study is to investigate to what extent foundation phase teachers adapt Curriculum 2005. The study was guided by two research questions: (1) What are the critical components of Curriculum 2005 (foundation phase)? (2) What are the adaptations that teachers have made in teaching this curriculum? The specific focus of this study is foundation phase teachers’ initial implementation of the revised version of Curriculum 2005, the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS). An Innovation Configuration Checklist was developed identifying the critical components of the RNCS and the variations of each. Using the checklist, foundation phase teachers were surveyed to establish the adaptations being made during implementation. The findings of this study indicate that there is less active learning and more teacher directed activity than is required by the RNCS. Assessment appears to be a problem area. Most teachers understand what is expected of them in terms of assessment and attempt to put it into practice. Assessment has however, proved to be burdensome and time consuming. Teachers’ planning demonstrates a sound understanding of the procedures to be followed. Teachers do however, need support in terms of deeper pedagogical content knowledge. Although teachers comply with the technical aspects of curriculum development they neglect the emancipatory aspects of the RNCS. The situation in foundation phase classrooms might be described as one where much change is taking place, but little transformation is happening at present. Teachers are nevertheless, reflecting on how to improve their teaching and continue to explore ways to adapt and improve the RNCS.
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Laughton, Lorraine Rosemary. "Teacher-stress in South African state high schools." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005865.
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Long, Kelly Ann. "The teaching practice component of initial teacher education: a social justice approach." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60200.
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Research asserts that learner performance in South African schools is in a state of crisis. While many more learners’ post-1994 in South Africa have physical access to education, very few have epistemological access. The quality of the education learners receive is polarised along socio economic lines. This crisis has its roots in the legacy of colonialism and apartheid, and as such, there is a need to transform the education system to ensure equal opportunity for all learners, and ultimately economic growth and security for the country. One of the explanations offered for the crisis in learner performance is the poor teacher education system. However, there is a paucity of research in teacher education generally in South Africa, and specifically in relation to pre-service teachers. Furthermore, little attention has been given to how initial teacher education could contribute to the promotion of a social justice agenda with the intention of transforming the South African schooling system. This research seeks to understand how the expectations, scaffolding and assessment of preservice teachers’ teaching practices can be utilised to promote social justice during the Teaching Practice (TP) component of initial teacher education. In answering the research question, I analyse data and literature to identify a set of key valued functionings of quality praxis that preservice teachers ought to be provided the capability to realise, at the level of achieved functioning. This is a qualitative case study located in the interpretive paradigm. The case under study is: quality teaching practices of pre-service teachers. This case is bound by context (initial teacher education in South Africa) and setting (the pre-service teacher in the classroom). Two South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) were selected through purposive sampling and their respective Teaching Practice (TP) documentation was analysed. Focus group interviews were conducted with five lecturers involved in TP at one of the HEIs. The theoretical framework of the study used to guide the analysis of the data was underpinned by a social justice perspective on quality education. Given that a social justice perspective does not have analytic tools, I view quality pre-service teachers’ teaching practices as praxis and utilise the capability approach as a mechanism for identification and description of valued functionings and capabilities that contribute to quality praxis. There are four significant findings in my research. Firstly, there is consistency with regards to the valued functionings and capabilities across the TP documentation of the two participating HEIs. In other words, the conceptions of a capable pre-service teacher are similar. Secondly, if social justice goals are to be realised, greater clarity of the valued functionings needs to be evident in the TP documentation. Thirdly, the valued functionings can be categorised into those that are foundational and those that promote a social justice agenda. Finally, in promoting a social justice agenda, there are functionings that ought to be valued by the HEIs that are seemingly not currently valued.
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Shwababa, Fundiswa. "The implications of the merger on the morale of staff at the Walter Sisulu University." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021091.
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The merger has consequently brought about a lot of challenges on Walter Sisulu University (WSU) employees. While the amalgamation of the three historically disadvantaged institutions remains a noble initiative, on the other hand, it has brought about inequalities, such as disproportionate salaries among employees of the three campuses, poor work performance, which can only be attributed to lack of motivation and reluctance amongst the staff members to accept new conditions of service under WSU. A substantial number of those employees, some of whom were employed before the amalgamation, have terminated their service long before the merger even took place. The aim of this study was to explore the implications of the merger on the morale of employees at WSU. The objective of this study aimed firstly, to provide an understanding of those inherent factors, which adversely affected the morale of staff at Walter Sisulu University (WSU) and secondly, to reflect on the impact of the restructuring process on employees. This study employed a quantitative descriptive research design to analyse the data, using statistical procedures. Target population for this study was fifty academic and fifty non-academic staff members from the three sites of Walter Sisulu University, namely East London, Ibika and Umtata. There were, therefore, 100 questionnaires distributed electronically (e-mail), and also a few hand-delivered to the offices of the respondents, in order for them to complete at a time convenient to them. This study used purposive sampling because it is based entirely on the judgment of the researcher. The study established that indeed the merger had negative implications on WSU employees, even though these implications varied from category to category. Through the findings that emerged in this research, conclusions could be drawn that the merger brought about many challenges on WSU employees, namely staff development, human resource and management issues, job security and work environment. Suggestions and recommendations are espoused to eliminate the situation.
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Waghid, Yusef. "Objective teacher evaluation and democracy in a changing South Africa." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 1992. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&.
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In this minithesis I attempt to explain what could be meant by an objective and democratic teacher evaluation system. The central question which I address is whether the current South African teacher evaluation system could lay claim to the kind of objectivity and democracy I develop in my minithesis.
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Saba, Namhla. "Alternative financing of teacher education in South Africa: Stakeholder affinity." Thesis, University Of Cape Town, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29937.
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Adequately prepared quality Maths and Science teachers are crucial to addressing South
Africa’s poor learner results and the associated skills development shortages. South Africa has been characterised by dismal and worsening matric SMT results over the past two decades, which jeopardises current and future prospects of a successful transitioning in the fourth industrial revolution. Critically underpinning this dismal performance are teacher quality and quantity. South Africa’s public education sector is known for its ill-prepared and unqualified teachers who struggle specifically with contextual application abilities. While past scholarly research and policy interventions have focused on financing teacher education quantities with considerable success, little if anything has been documented about innovative project financing approaches to quality teacher training, and the potential for wholesale adoption in social entrepreneurship, public-private partnerships in resource constrained contexts. SIBs were identified as a potential complementary finance model mainly due to identified characteristics and associated benefits. A qualitative study was conducted in order to find out how South African stakeholders can navigate the operational and associated financial challenges of developing quality Maths and Science teachers for the public sector. The study, limited to the capacity building dimensions of teacher training in South Africa, endeavored to understand how alternate financing mechanisms could respond to some of the key challenges of developing quality teachers. Interviews were conducted with the relevant participants in a SIB which included Education government representatives, teacher training service providers and private sector financiers. The research identifies that the value of implementing a SIB in teacher training is based on its ability to accommodate heterogeneous outcomes of an alternative holistic teacher training framework. This models strength lies in its reliance on strong partnerships for both implementation and financial outcomes. The SIB model finds its theoretical framework in project finance and has characteristics that can be seen as complementary solutions to the key challenges of developing teachers as well as a potential solution for wholesale implementation. From an operational perspective, the SIB creates a platform for the public educations lack of quality teacher infrastructure to leverage off private education’s quality teacher infrastructure in capacitating current and incoming teachers into the public sector. Thus allowing for the education sectors to collaborate and cross pollinate skills, resources and knowledge for the benefit of boosting the public sectors teacher training implementation capabilities. This ensures that the right skills, competencies and platforms are utilised in tackling challenges emanating from insufficient, irrelevant and unsupported experiential learning. The model also places outcomes at the centre and as a driving force for quality teacher delivery. This encourages stakeholders to earnestly consider quality teacher characteristics and include the associated key performance indicators at the different stages of development. This shifts the focus of teacher training delivery in South Africa to being outcomes driven rather than being inputs focused. This shift has proven to be a more cost effective method of addressing social challenges. From a financial perspective, once the requirements from public and private financial sectors have been met, the model also taps into new capital sources for scaling the implementation of a holistic teacher training model. The additional resources also enables government to introduce social entrepreneurs into education delivery and scale funding innovative preventative teacher training solutions. The PPP model is not without its challenges within the South African teacher education
landscape. However conceptually, all the stakeholders appear keen to further engage and
explore the merits of the holistic quality teacher framework, representing an emerging
opportunity towards collaborative efforts in lure of a common social goal. Factors such as the
alignment of objectives amongst stakeholders and additional revenue streams were identified
as dominant stakeholder incentives affirming the desire to engage. Meanwhile, factors such as challenges with quantifying and measuring teacher quality, implementation and execution risk, and trust deficit issues were identified as dominant challenges that highlighted stakeholder key reservations with the framework.
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Makeleni, Sive. "Foundation phase male student-teacher’s experiences during teaching practice: implications for initial teacher training." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/4780.
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The aim of this study was to explore experiences of Foundation Phase male student teachers during teaching practice. Four Bachelor of Education Foundation Phase male student-teachers were selected for the purpose of this study. Venturing of males in Foundation Phase specialisation is phenomenon. Foundation Phase has been viewed as a female territory for many years. As a result, there are few males teaching in FP. The study employed the qualitative approach as a suitable approach. As the study sought to explore experiences, a phenomenological design was followed. In a true phenomenological design, unstructured interviews and personal diaries are used for data collection. In this study data were collected through unstructured interviews and personal diaries of the participants. I employed interpretivism as a research paradigm.
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Makeleni, Sive. "Foundation Phase male student-teachers’ experiences during Teaching Practice: Implications for Initial Teacher Training." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/5171.
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The aim of this study was to explore experiences of Foundation Phase male studentteachers during teaching practice. Four Bachelor of Education Foundation Phase male student-teachers were selected for the purpose of this study. Venturing of males in Foundation Phase specialisation is phenomenon. Foundation Phase has been viewed as a female territory for many years. As a result, there are few males teaching in FP. The study employed the qualitative approach as a suitable approach. As the study sought to explore experiences, a phenomenological design was followed. In a true phenomenological design, unstructured interviews and personal diaries are used for data collection. In this study data were collected through unstructured interviews and personal diaries of the participants. I employed interpretivism as a research paradigm. The study found that despite South Africa being a democratic country Foundation Phase is still viewed as a female space. Findings reveal that male student-teachers feel that in a democratic country, gender equality should be exercised. The study revealed that teaching profession is undermined. As much as participants reported about insecurities, they also reported about the benefits of being a male studentteacher in Foundation Phase specialisation. One of the benefits reported is knowledge and understanding of child development theories. The participants reported that during TP, they were seen as role-models, as father figures and resources. The research recommends that Initial Teacher Education Programme should do more in preparing male student-teachers venturing in Foundation Phase. The research also suggests that all stakeholders involved in education should have a programme focusing on developing teaching profession to be a prestigious profession. The government and all education stakeholders should also focus on gender equality within FP specialisation, both in Initial Teacher Education institutions and in schools.
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Pym, June. "Initiating a school based teacher appraisal process: A study in educational innovation in South Africa." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 1999. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&.
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The culture of teaching in most South African schools is one of isolation and independence. Once individuals have qualified as teachers, there is a strong sense of getting on with the job of teaching, rather than beginning a journey of critical reflection and change. This study aims to address and contribute towards shifting this ethos and establishing a joint reflective school culture.
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Bell, David Ian. "An investigation into the influence of an inset programme on teacher cognitions." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003490.
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This study was based upon a concern about the quality of education in South Africa and a concern about the quality of NGO and other INSET interventions. Many organisations purport to address the issues of education, most of them doing so from the very comfortable position of the moral high ground (the position adopted where the political - correctness of the intervention outweighs the quality and impact) rather than from the position of having the capacity to deliver a quality service (a position from which they can effect genuine educational transformation toward quality education for all). With the rapid social, political and educational changes taking place at present, it is necessary for most organisations to assess their positions in respect of their ability to effect quality changes within the broad educational terrain. This study is an attempt to investigate the influence of one particular programme, that of the Centre for Cognitive Development, as it effects changes in teacher cognitions. It is argued that teachers are the catalysts for and agents of educational and social change and that these changes require the thinking and beliefs of individual teachers which inform their practices and behaviours, both personally and as professionals, to be addressed. These beliefs need to be critically reflected upon by the teachers themselves and through this process of reflection, teachers need to be empowered to take responsibility for the quality of teaching and learning. This concern was addressed by selecting a sample of teachers from within one such INSET intervention and through the use of a questionnaire, investigating whether teachers cognitions had changed, as a result of the INSET programme. It was hypothesised that changes in teacher cognitions would occur as a result of the INSET programme and that these cognitive or gestalt shifts could be categorised as Attributional shifts, Efficacy shifts, shifts in teachers perceived Locus of Control (Control Beliefs) and changes in general Pedagogic Beliefs. The statistical analysis of the data indicated varying degrees and trends of significant change. However, the complexity of the social context of teaching and the impact of this on teacher beliefs and cognitions, especially those of teachers who have been most affected (disempowered) by social and personal oppression, cannot be under-estimated and even minor shifts reflected in this investigation should be seen as positive changes none-the-less.
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Roberts, Anthony Francis. "The effects of a teacher development programme based on Philosophy for Children." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2006. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_3162_1190192298.
Full textAbstract:
This study explored the effects of a teacher development programme based on Philosophy for Children. One of the challenges facing education in South Africa is that the school curriculum has to promote the development of values, such as respect for life, equality, protection of freedom and the right to an opinion, through creative and critical thinking. The theorists, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky inform our understanding of cognitive development with the important notions of active involvement, mediated learning and the development of thinking skills. Many programmes have been developed to assist learners in this regard. One such programme is Philosophy for Children. This study located Philosophy for Children and the locally developed material, Stories for thinking, in Vygotskian theory and explored its application within a South African context.
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Kihn, Paul. "Players or pawns? : "professionalism" and teacher disunity in the Western Cape, 1980-1990." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17361.
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Bibliography: pages 275-286.Focussing primarily on black teacher groups, this dissertation will describe the remarkable events within teacher politics in the Western Cape in the 1980s, following from the Soweto uprising of 1976. The decade of the eighties marked massive changes in the political and educational context within which teachers worked. After 1976, schools became the focus of opposition to the apartheid state. The atmosphere within schools changed as many students rejected the schooling proffered them by the state, and the "professional" implementation of state schooling by teachers. The liberation movement grew as the decade progressed, bolstered by a militant black trade union movement. The liberation struggle expanded and community-based protest drew schools into a broader, societal opposition to the state. The nature of schooling changed, as students and other elements of the liberation movement rejected apartheid education, and began fostering alternative education. Most notably, People's Education articulated both a rejection of state education and a desire for relevant, democratic schooling.
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Kumalo, Elizabeth Nomso. "Teacher leadership : a study in a township high school." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017349.
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Pausigere, Peter. "Primary maths teacher learning and identity within a numeracy in-service community of practice." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017183.
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This study focuses on the processes of primary maths teacher learning and how their identities and practices evolve in relation to participation in a primary maths focused in-service teacher education programme, called the Numeracy Inquiry Community of Leader Educators (NICLE).Additionally it investigates activities, relations and forms of participation within the Community of Practice (CoP) which enable or constrain evolving primary maths identities and practices and how these relate to the broader context. The study draws from the situative-participationists (Lave, 1996; Wenger, 1998; Sfard & Prusak, 2005; Wenger et al, 2002) theoretical framework supplemented by Bernstein’s (2000) pedagogic identity model. Using a qualitative educational interpretive approach I sampled 8 primary teachers drawn from NICLE and gathered data through participant observations, interactive interviews, document analysis and reflective journals. Analysing the key data themes that emerged from teacher learning stories, which I have called stelos, the study explains the nature of the primary maths teachers’ learning, transformation and participation experiences in NICLE using the synonyms reinvigoration and remediation and activation and relating these semantics to the teachers’ mathematical identities and histories. The study also explains the processes through which primary maths teacher identities evolve in relation to participation in an in-service CoP as ‘insiding’ and ‘outcropping’. Interpreting qualitative data from the empirical field indicates that teachers participating in NICLE mostly took-up into their maths classrooms key numeracy-domain concepts, resources and issues presented by primary maths experts which are informed by research and theory that link to practices. Teachers collaboratively and actively engaged in a range of activities that relate to classroom practices. Teacher learning was also enabled when teachers engaged in maths overlapping communities of practice, shared classroom experiences in friendly ways with fellow NICLE teachers and engaged with NICLE presenters who mutually respected and regarded them as professionals. Such affordances were said to enable teachers to engage learners in maths classes and improve their understanding of specific primary maths concepts. On the other hand teachers felt challenged by the travelling distance, limited time and also raised the tension of how to scale-up maths professional development initiatives to include schools from their community. The study makes a theoretical contribution by illustrating how Bernstein’s pedagogic identity model and its elaboration by Tyler (1999) provides analytical tools to interrogate macro educational changes and connect these to the micro processes and teacher identities.
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Hlam, Thandiwe Lillian. "A teacher collective as a professional development approach to promote foundation phase mathematics teaching." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15071.
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This qualitative study is a response to a request for help from a group of Grade 3 (year 3) teachers who were disheartened with the poor performance of their learners in Mathematics. In an attempt to address their challenge, they resolved to form a Teacher Collective (TC) amongst themselves. Their main objective was to support each other in their development of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT). The participants, being frustrated by what they perceived as an inefficient and unhelpful cluster approach to professional development used by the Department of Basic Education initiated their own teacher collective strategy. I was approached by this TC to assist them in developing a strategy to make this TC suit the needs of the participants. A Lesson Study (LS) approach was used as an alternative Teacher Professional Development strategy within the TC. In studies conducted by Ono and Ferreira (2010) and Jita and Mokhele (2014), a LS approach is regarded as an essential tool desirable for enhancement of teacher collaboration and participant’s MKT. However, both studies reported on challenges related to contextual issues. Those contextual issues revealed themselves as similar to the challenges that threatened to weaken the collaborative structure initiated by the participants in this current study. To overcome these challenges, participants felt a need for some sort of adaptation for a LS approach to work in their context. In the application of the revised adapted version of a LS approach, participants experienced a Teacher Collective (TC) in action using real and useful experiences (Ono & Ferreira, 2010). The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a Teacher Collective for improving participating teachers’ pedagogical and disciplinary content knowledge in Foundation Phase (FP) Mathematics. As this study targeted a small group of teachers, it adopted a case-study methodology. The participants were five Grade 3 teachers purposefully self-selected from two Port Elizabeth township schools. Semi-structured interviews were used to determine participating teachers’ perceptions of a Teacher Collective as a Teacher Professional Development strategy necessary to promote Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching. Descriptive methodologies which concern inter alia practices that prevail, relationships that exists, point of views that were held, processes that are going on and effects that are felt by participants were used (Creswell, 2013). The following major findings emerged from the data analysis: For the TC to be a successful alternative TPD, it requires that: (1) Teachers must regard themselves as being responsible for the own professional growth and own the TPD programme. (2) Participants of the TC must adopt flexible strategies to allow for active participation of the participants in building meaning for themselves. (4) A TPD strategy should be sensitive to contextual issues and be addressed accordingly. (5) A TPD programme should seek to improve classroom instruction but this must be based on the needs of the participants. It is primarily the following structural features that affected teacher learning within the TC: (a) the form of the activity (joint lesson planning, observed lesson presentation, post lesson feedback, etc.), (b) collective participation of teachers within and across the schools and (c) the duration of the activity. In this study the LS approach worked well as it sought to address the needs of the participants.
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Didloft, Virginia Charmaine. "Enhancing self-esteem as a teacher of English using action research." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1520.
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This thesis offers a critical reflection of a study I initiated to enhance self-esteem for self-actualization. The research process involved enhancing my own self-esteem before facilitating the enhancement of the self-esteem of my participants. This endeavour included the simultaneous exposure given to researcher and researched, with the aim of helping to attain the respective transformative potentials of the latter. An action research methodology was used, intending to improve my own practice and to involve and learn from the participants in order for all relevant stakeholders to capitalize from the learning experience. Whilst undertaking this study, I learned to reflect on my values, attitudes and relationships with my learners. I also became aware of how individuals‟ perceptions of themselves can influence other aspects of their development. This awareness enabled me to become more sensitive to the emotional needs of the learners in my care and also led to a greater understanding of their individuality. I came to comprehend the impact of a positive self-esteem on the learning process that aided me in developing an understanding of the positive impact an enhanced self-esteem has on how my learners view themselves. In the course of the research, I developed an awareness of the need to create a caring practice centred on values of gentleness, respect, kindness, awareness and recognition of individual strengths. These afore-mentioned values are premised on the recognition and acknowledgement of basic human rights, inclusivity, equality and social justice; principles reflecting my own living standards. This heightened vii awareness influenced the ways I organized the learning and teaching process in my classroom. Enhancing my own self-esteem and those of my learners basically involved interchangeable interventions such as encouraging involvement, allocating responsibilities, creating opportunities for assertiveness and being generous with affirmation, praise and motivation. These endeavours occurred within a social constructivist approach, enabling participants to construct their own epistemologies within their respective ontologies. My findings offer new conceptualizations about how an enhanced self-esteem can help individuals realize their fullest potential.
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Adams, Romeo. "Work motivation amongst employees in a government department in the provincial government Western Cape." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2007. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_9004_1220340062.
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The South African social, political and economic landscape has been characterized by profound changes during the past several years. Many organizations and their management are faced with inter alia, downsizing decisions, affirmative action policies to be implemented and a overabundance of other factors which could sway motivation and morale, attitudes and views of employees. The general research aim was to measure work motivation amongst employees in a government department in the Provincial Government Western Cape. Research has shown that motivated and satisfied employees are more productive and there is an improvement in service delivery.
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Mutemeri, Judith. "Teaching and learning of teacher education students in South African universities within a context of quality." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/1978.
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Thesis (Dtech( Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010The study focused on teacher education in South African universities. The major purpose was to examine how teacher educators in South African universities prepared teacher education students for teaching and learning within a context of quality. It is important to start with quality teachers before being able to speak about quality education because "you cannot give what you do not have" (Parliamentary Monitoring Group of South Africa, 2009:3).Consistent with the postmodern qualitative paradigm I used phenomenology as the strategy of research. The main epistemological assumption was that the way of knowing reality was through exploring the experiences of others regarding a specific phenomenon, in this case teaching and learning of teacher education students. To this end the stories, experiences and voices of the respondents were the medium through which I explored and understood reality embedded in the teaching and learning of teacher education students.The research sites included four Faculties of Education nationally. Purposive sampling was conducted to adequately capture the heterogeneity of institutions especially of those faculties that offer Initial Professional Education for Teachers (IPET) programmes.Purposive sampling was also used to select both students and lecturers because respondents were selected on the basis of some defining characteristic that made them holders of the data needed for the study.
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Southwood, Sue. "Towards a collaborative approach to teacher professional development : a journey of negotiation." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004649.
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The research presented in this thesis is a case study, based on ethnographic principles, located in the interpretive paradigm of qualitative research. The focus is specifically on the development of a collaborative approach ro teacher professional development: an approach that recognises and celebrates teachers themselves as resources for their own and other teachers' professional development. The study was carried out over a period of four years with a group of twelve teachers who had recognised the need and expressed the desire to develop their teaching. The research evolved in two main phases. The initial phase was based on the implementation and evaluation of a project designed to encourage a collaborative approach to teacher development based on mutual peer support. This led to a second phase, the main focus of the research, aimed at gaining a greater understanding of the teachers' situation and situating their practice in the wider context generated by this understanding. Conversations with the teachers led to the identification of dimensions and tensions characterising their experience. The research presented here, represents an attempt to understand, interpret and make recommendations relating to the professional development of teachers. The understanding is linked to the teachers' educational biographies and experience of the culture in which they are situated. The interpretation is based on what may be viewed as a dynamic ongoing construction of meaning - a journey of negotiation. The text, described as a narrative collage, a tapestry of voices interwoven by threads of negotiation, represents a collaborative accomplishment. The teachers' words have been interpretively framed and these constructions validated in an interpersonal construction of social reality. The reader is invited to engage in an act of complicity, to collude with the text in the construction and negotiation of shared meaning, possibly finding resonance with their own situations. Reflections on the teachers' experience reveal journeys which resonate with that of the society in which the school is located - 'a case in transition' - situated between an environment characterised by constrained cooperation and an environment characterised by freer collaboration. The overall tension may be viewed metaphorically as a 'Tug o' War'. On one end of the rope is a cultural legacy of authority, isolation, social division and conservatism, while on the other end there is a pull towards greater autonomy and interaction, to adapt rather than conserve and to work together in mutual collegial support: a struggle between cooperating with what is and collaborating towards what could be. The main contention of this thesis is that we ought strongly to support and encourage collaborative approaches to professional development based on mutual peer support. We need to look towards a future of open professionalism where the teachers are regarded as key persons in the process. The attainment of such an ideal needs to be seen as part of systemic changes in management, policies and structure geared towards greater inclusivity and democratic practice; it necessitates a coherent approach that is based on relationships of mutual respect and appreciation.
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Garraway, James Windsor. "Perceptions of language teaching in science from student and teacher discourse." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003576.
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The research was concerned with perceptions of language and physics in three strata of participants in a writing across the curriculum teaching course at an intermediate college. The participants were: a language teacher, two physics teachers and a class of twenty physics students - the students were studying in order to enter the Engineering Faculty at the University of Cape Town. The predominant understanding of the teachers was that of a limited interpenetration between the discourse of physics and language teaching. Physics teachers thought that language teachers would experience difficulties with both the concepts and language of physics. In actual practice however, students and the language teacher managed physics knowledge with some degree of success in the language classroom. Some students understood writing as helping them to understand physics. However, the dominant understanding of language was that of knowing the appropriate language of physics for their teachers. An appropriate language understanding was seen as potentially problematic in that it could encourage an unquestioning or monodimensional approach to physics knowledge. As a way around this problem, it was suggested that language teachers teach students to recognise and to use particular genres within science, and to develop their voice within these constraints.
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Malebana, Motepele Boniface. "An investigation into contemporary black art teacher training programs in South Africa /." The Ohio State University, 1998. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1487950153603261.
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Wildsmith, Rosemary. "A study of teacher attitudes as related to teacher practices at primary school level in South Africa." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 1992. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10006577/.
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The research reported on in this thesis investigated the nature of the relationship between teachers' attitudes and perceptions regarding the language learning/teaching process and their pedagogical practices in class, within two English as second language teaching contexts - a non-formal project and a state primary school. Both attitudes and practices were examined in relation to an educational model consisting of a bi-polar dimension, moving from a traditional, transmission-oriented perspective on teaching, to a more progressive, generative one. This model was based upon preexisting models drawn from educational philosophy and communicative language teaching. Thus, a principle of communicative orientation underpinned the model and provided the theoretical framework for the design of the major research instruments viz, an attitude questionnaire and a classroom observation scheme. The data from these research instruments were supplemented by that obtained from more naturalistic methods such as interviews, stimulated recall and diary entries, so that data was produced that could be analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Thus, the state of the art of pedagogy in black primary classrooms was examined in terms of both the micro-context (pupil numbers, teacher qualifications, etc), and the macro-context (wider societal structures and ideology) which might have an influence on teachers' attitudes and practices in class. Alternatives to this type of pedagogy were then considered with reference to various project initiatives encouraging communicative approaches to language teaching. Finally, the implications of the study for research into teacher thinking in general, and for new roles in particular, are examined in relation to two innovative research techniques and an attitude awareness activity. The educational model is then reappraised in the light of the research findings.
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Claassen, Elriza. "The journey of a female Mathematics teacher in constructing her beginner teacher identity." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/80430.
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This study asked the question of how I constructed my beginner teacher identity as a female Mathematics teacher and why my journey unfolded in the way it did. With regards to beginner teacher identities I used work from Morrison (2013), Pennington & Richards (2015), Ballentyne & Grootenboer (2012) and Beijaard, Meijer & Verloop (2004). For work on the beginner female STEM teachers, I used authors including Spangenberg & Myburgh (2017), Else-Quest et al. (2013), Stromquist et al. (2013), Ahlqvist et al. (2013) and Rodriguez et al. (2017). These concepts were key to the understanding of this study. An Interpretivist epistemological paradigm underpinned this study (Wagner, Kawilich & Garner 2012). The conceptual lens used in this study was designed employing tenets of the Social Identity Theory of Tajfel & Turner (1979) as well as Albert Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory (1994).
I followed a qualitative research approach and autoethnography as research design whereby the I, the researcher was also the sole participant of the study (Ellis, 2009). Co-constructors of knowledge were involved in this study to corroborate my personal. They comprised of close family members and a friend. Data generation methods included self-reflexive narratives about my experiences as a beginner teacher and my researcher’s journal. Furthermore, I conducted semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with the co-constructors. In analysing my data, I used the method of thematic analysis whereby I would read my data and identify suitable themes based on my two secondary research questions. The main findings of the study showed that I faced situations that went against my pre-conceived expectations, formed in part by my family members and that the construction of my beginner teacher identity involved a process wherein I had to accept elements of my out-group as part of my in-group (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) to achieve a satisfied social identity.Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria 2020.
pt2021
Humanities Education
MEd
Unrestricted
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John, Daisy Mary. "Developed teacher leadership in a township high school : an interpretive case study." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018548.
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South Africa’s future success depends on a number of national priorities, amongst them the transformation of its education system. Education is the best route to follow to alleviate poverty and many other social ills. One way to overcome some of the complex challenges and crises that we face in South African schools is to pay attention to issues of leading and leadership, including the leadership of teachers. This study is done with the hope that research into teacher leadership will be one of the answers to the crisis in education. It should become a beacon of hope for all educationists who passionately want progress in the youth of South Africa. What better way than to ‘Awaken the Sleeping Giant’ of teacher leadership, borrowing the term from Katzenmeyer and Moller (2009). This study was designed as a case study, the purpose of which was to find out about the enactment of teacher leadership in an Eastern Cape township high school as well as the enhancing and hindering factors to this enactment. This study was done as a replication study of a similar study done by a group of 11Master’s students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2010. Similar to the original study, this case study was located within the interpretive paradigm and drew on school profiling, survey questionnaires, a focus group interview, selfreflective journals and individual interviews for its methods of data collection. The study was framed by distributed leadership while Grant’s (2008; 2012) Model of teacher leadership was adopted as the analytical tool. It emerged from the data that the three teacher leaders, my primary participants, exhibited teacher leadership across all four zones of Grant’s (2008) Model. The first zone was leadership in the classroom where all three teacher leaders showed leadership to varying degrees. Zones Two to Four are about leadership beyond the classroom into the school and beyond. In Zone Two, the zone where teachers work with each other and the learners outside the classroom, substantial levels of leadership were enacted by the three teacher leaders. Zone Three, where leadership is exhibited in whole-school development, the three primary participants showed distinct leadership qualities as well. The fourth zone, which is about interaction with neighbouring schools, also revealed that all three teacher leaders demonstrated active leadership on a regular basis. Findings further revealed that there were only a few inhibiting factors to the leadership of teachers at the case study school, including limited resources and infrastructure as well as insufficient support and acknowledgement from the relevant stakeholders when leadership initiatives were made, either successfully or otherwise. However, the enhancing factors superseded the inhibiting factors. A functional committee culture guided by a shared vision existed in the case study school together with an ethos of trust which enabled the staff to work collaboratively. Though there was certainly room for improvement in leadership practices at this case study school, the enactment of teacher leadership in this school illustrated a strong case of ‘developed’ teacher leadership (Muijs& Harris, 2007) within a dispersed leadership framing (Gunter, 2005)
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Gordi, Michelle Romilla. "Job satisfaction of call centre representatives." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2006. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&.
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The aim of the study is to prove that a correlation exist between job satisfaction and the levels of absenteeism, turnover, performance and customer satisfaction. Data were collected using the Job Satisfaction Survey which is a self-administered questionaire to measure job satisfaction of call centre representatives. Additional data were collected using the company's existing measures for measuring absenteeism, turnover, performance and customer satisfaction. The study found a relationship between job satisfaction and performance, between job satisfaction and turnover and between job satisfaction and customer service. However, no relationship was found between job satisfaction and absenteeism, which is consistent with previous studies.
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Jacobs, Elfean Randall. "Teachers' perceptions whether school management teams contribute towards teacher leadership in primary schools." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6823.
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Teachers in South African schools are one of the most valuable role players in the execution and implementation of curricular and co-curricular activities. They perform almost every formal and informal task in their daily work to ensure the effectiveness of our schools. Teacher leadership, a relatively new leadership in South African education, which is embedded in a distributed leadership theory, places the emphasis of leadership not only on the principal and the school management team (SMT) but can be located to a wide range of people who work effectively to improve the organisation. The purpose of this study was to determine Post Level (PL) 1 teachers' perceptions of whether the SMT contributes towards teacher leadership in the school. In this case study, through purposive sampling, the researcher made use of one school in a case where a total of 19 teachers participated in the study. The researcher used one instrument to collect data on the PL 1 teachers' perceptions. A set of questionnaires was distributed to elicit responses from PL 1 teachers and the result was analysed by means of themes. Evidence revealed that teachers are not aware of the existence of the new model of teacher leadership. However, findings also revealed that some teachers are ready to perform as leaders. These findings can influence leadership practices, collaboration, improvements in the school, motivation, and job satisfaction, as well as learner performance.
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Harvey, Stephen Paul. "Primary science InSET in South Africa : an evaluation of classroom support." Thesis, University of Exeter, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.388597.
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Lethoko, Mankolo Xaverine. "Teacher professionalism and motivation in a culture of teaching and learning." Thesis, Pretoria : [s.n.], 2002. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-05062008-091259/.
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Naidoo, Premnandh. "Collaborative teacher participation in curriculum development : a case study in junior secondary general science (January 1991-November 1991)." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003332.
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This research report describes an investigation that involved the collaborative participation of teachers in the redevelopment of parts of the Junior Secondary General Science syllabus. The redevelopment tried to implement environmental education as an innovation. There are two central assumptions that the investigation has made. The first assumption is that the the present Junior Secondary General Science syllabus lacks environmental relevance and therefore the pupils are inadequately prepared to deal with environmental problems. The introduction of a curriculum innovation like environmental education has the potential to bring greater environmental relevance to the syllabus. The second is that such an innovation can be more successfully implemented at schools if it involves the collaborative participation of teachers in the redevelopment of the syllabus. This assumption is made since evidence suggests that curriculum change can be a process of social reconstructive process when it takes place in situ and where teachers and pupils reshape the curriculum in the classroom as the teaching and learning progresses. An action research approach was selected since it is compatible with collaborative teacher, participation in curriculum development. The research design involved three parallel case studies: 1. Clermont Zone, 2. Durban Teachers Centre, 3. Edgewood College. The research confirmed that the Junior Secondary General Science syllabus is perceived by teachers to lack environmental relevance; that teachers, while initially resisting participation in the curriculum development process, were willing to participate if it revolved around their curriculum problems. Significant features of collaborative teacher participation in curriculum development seem to be the co-creation of context by the teachers, the need for institutional support, the production of curriculum materials and the need for networking and intercontextual dialogue. Teachers initially had limited curriculum development skills which needed to be developed. This research process has implications for practical actions 'to enable' the transformation of existing curriculums, and assisting the development of a more democratic and effective education system.
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Dharsey, Zorina. "PSP’s support of science education through teacher development : a case study." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/97981.
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Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015ENGLISH ABSTRACT: An analysis of a teacher development programme known as the Cluster Project is central to this research. Study of the form, processes and outcomes of the project model draws attention to teacher professional development (TPD) as a critical strategy for improving science education in primary schools. High quality teaching at the foundational level supports children develop the appropriate level of knowledge that would allow them to take up and succeed at science at higher levels. With the object of strengthening primary science education the Primary Science Programme (PSP) implements a Cluster Project in Western Cape schools. The project model offers training workshops, classroom guidance and essential resources to support teachers develop both their knowledge and teaching competencies to teach science well. Training workshops are designed to build teachers’ understanding of critical science concepts, improve science content knowledge, and offers guidance with curriculum implementation and assessment of learning. In-classroom support and team-teaching, supported with teaching and learning materials and other resources, assists with improving teaching practice in context. This interpretive case study analyses the Cluster Project model and its processes within three theoretical frames: activity theory, complexity theory, and a research-developed qualitative framework to trace teacher professional development. Activity theory is applied to the purpose, organization and function of the Cluster Project, while complexity theory probes the meaning and implications of educational change for teachers and TPD. The qualitative framework with its five critical indicators of autonomy, knowledge, practice, and collaboration and continuing development analyses empirical evidence of TPD with respect to six teacher participants. Activity theory draws attention to the use of flexible adaptive teacher professional learning models which can accommodate frequent change to curriculum and context, and further highlights the importance of promoting collaboration and reducing contradictions in order to improve learning outcomes. Complexity theory expands understanding of teacher professional learning through its focus on the critical concepts of pedagogy, holism, learning as a nonlinear process, the unpredictability of teaching and learning, networking and connectedness, change by emergence and self-organization, changing environments, and teacher development programmes as open, complex adaptive systems. This research observed the six teacher participants were able to improve aspects of their teaching of science, thereby achieving a measure of professional development, although this was not a general observation within the Cluster Project teacher population. Research findings show that teachers’ active participation in meaningful practical science experiences promotes teacher learning, improves practical science in the classroom, and encourages the ready take-up of helpful and innovative science teaching ideas and strategies. This research recommends that practical science teaching, integrated with language and mathematics teaching, should form an essential part of education and training programmes for both pre-service and in-service primary and high school science teachers.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die analise van`n onderwyser-ontwikkelingsprogram, bekend as die Groepsondersteunings Projek, is die kern van diè navorsing. Studie van die vorm, prosesse en uitkomste van die projekmodel, vestig die aandag op onderwysers se professionele ontwikkeling as `n kritiese strategie vir die verbetering van wetenskaponderrig in primêre skole. Hoë gehalte onderwys in die grondslagfase, ondersteun die kinders se ontwikkeling op `n geskikte vlak van kennis wat hulle in staat sal stel om wetenskap verder te neem en daarvan `n sukses te maak op senior vlak. Met die doel om wetenskaponderrig te versterk in die primêre skool, implimenteer die Primêre Wetenskap Program (PSP) tans `n Groepsondersteunings Projek in die Wes-Kaapse skole. Die model voorsien opleiding deur slypskole, klaskamerleiding en noodsaaklike leerhulpmiddels om onderwysers se kennis en onderrigvaardigheid, om wetenskap as vak goed te onderrig, te ontwikkel. Opleidingsslypskole fokus daarop om onderwysers se begrip van kritiese wetenskaplike konsepte en opgradering van wetenskapinhoudskennis op te bou en ook om te help om die kurrikulum te implimenteer en kinders se leerwerk te assesseer. Klaskamer ondersteuning en span-onderrig, met die hulp van onderrig-en leerhulpmiddels, help met die verbetering van die onderwyspraktyk in konteks. Diè interpreterende gevallestudie analiseer die Groepondersteunings Projek model en die prosesse binne drie teoretiese raamwerke, die aktiwiteits-teorie, kompleksiteits-teorie en `n stel aanwysers wat ontwikkel is om bewyse van onderwysers se professionele ontwikkeling te ontleed. Die aktiwiteits-teorie is toegepas op die doel, organisering en funksie van die Projek, terwyl die kompleksiteits-teorie die betekenis en implikasies van die opvoedkundige verandering vir onderwysers en onderwysers se professionele ontwikkeling ondersoek. Die stel aanwysers met vyf kritiese fokuspunte: outonomie, kennis, praktyk, samewerking en voortdurende ontwikkeling, lei die analise van ses onderwyser-deelnemers se professionele ontwikkeling. Die aktiwiteits-teorie beklemtoon die belangrikheid van aanpasbare professionele leermodelle wat gereelde verandering aan die konteks en kurrikulum kan akkommodeer, en beklemtoon ook die belangrikheid om samewerking bevorder, teenstrydigheid te verminder en om sodoende die leeruitkomste te versterk. Die kompleksiteits-teorie verbreed die insig van onderwyser se professionele leer deur die fokus te plaas op die kritiese konsepte van pedagogiek; holisme; leer as `n nie-lineêre proses; die onvoorspelbaarheid van onderrig en leer; netwerk en aaneenskakeling; verandering deur die ontstaan en self-organisasie; veranderende omgewings en onderwyser-ontwikkelingsplanne as oop, komplekse aanpasbare stelsels. Diè navorsing het waargeneem dat die ses onderwyser-deelnemers in staat was om aspekte van hul wetenskap-onderrig te verbeter en sodoende was hulle in staat om `n mate van professionele ontwikkeling te behaal alhoewel dit nie `n algemene waarneming binne die Groepsondersteunings Projek se onderwyspopulasie was nie. Navorsingsbevindings dui aan dat onderwysers se aktiewe deelname aan betekenisvolle, praktiese wetenskapondervindings, leer kan bevorder en begrip kan bevorder van `n praktiese implimentering daarvan in die klaskamer en moedig die geredelike opname van nuttige en innoverende leer-idees en strategieë aan. Die navorsing beveel aan dat praktiese wetenskap-onderrig, integreer met tale en wiskunde, `n noodsaaklike deel moet vorm van onderwys-en opleidingsprogramme vir voor-diens en in-diens primêre en hoërskool wetenskaponderwysers.
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Hendricks, Dorothea. "The promotion of moral development: a case study of teachers' perceptions and practices in a rural, primary school in the Western Cape." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2007. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_7894_1256888519.
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This research was undertaken to explore teachers' perceptions and practices as mediators of morals and values. Schools have an important role to play in developing future citizens as moral beings. This is variously named citizenship education, character education, moral education, and values education.
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Simjee, Fausia Banu. "The role of senior management in improving educators' morale in public secondary schools in the Durban central area." Thesis, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10321/1994.
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Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Education (Management), Technikon Natal, 2002.This study explores the role of senior management in improving educators' morale in public, secondary schools in the Durban Central Area. The reasons for a decline in educators' morale and effectiveness are senior management's lack of incentives and rewards, violence in schools, poorly disciplined learners, conflict, nepotism and public condemnation of educators. Other factors include: 'right-sizing', rationalisation and redeployment, lack of transparency during the promotion process and the negative attitude to the appraisal policy. Motivating educators will lead to improved school performance and promote enthusiasm and confidence amongst educators. The researcher will provide support on the topic from observations and a study ofliterature. The qualitative method of research was undertaken. The representative sample included principals, deputy principals, heads of department and educators from public secondary schools in the Durban Central Area. Evidence from questionnaires suggested that educators in the Durban Central Area are demoralised and therefore there is an urgent need to address their morale. The researcher examined the causes and symptoms of educators' demoralisation and senior management's role in improving their morale. This investigation focuses on problems which lead to the demoralisation of educators; the causes and symptoms of demoralisation and how educators can contribute to a healthy and professional culture in schools. It is suggested that senior management should motivate individual educators. Some measures proposed to improve and
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Mabalane, Valencia Tshinompheni. "The vulnerability of teachers during new educational policy reform implementation : an ethnographic account of shifting identity." Thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10210/12466.
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Ph.D. (Education and Curriculum Studies)This study is about teachers’ identity shifts during the first waves of educational reform in South Africa in the post-apartheid renewal and restructuring of the education system. I studied the everyday life of four teachers in a “township” school in Gauteng Province, the industrial heartland of the country. I set out to find, over a three of years, how teachers saw themselves as professionals in this changing landscape, which included a three of new policies, including a new curriculum policy and a school governance policy. The study started with the knowledge claim that the researcher would find a shift in teacher identity, working from theories of self, specifically symbolic interactionism. I argued that in the establishment of a “post 1994” identity, as citizens and as educational practitioners, teachers have been the object of multiple social interventions. The least of these is not their adapted teaching modes and their performance as “OBE practitioners”, but as educators who took on the identity of the curriculum and its ideological intent. This was to shift teachers’ focus to learning outcomes more than content input and to see themselves as “guides by the side”, facilitators of learning, creating learning conditions that would optimise the potential of children and youth. For many teachers, the move away from being the giver or instructor to being the guide may be disturbing, I argued at the outset. I was interested to see how they engaged with a new life in a new system, or rather, a system “under repair” and one which may ask of them not only to adopt the “seven new roles of educators” as per the first policy change, but with that, also their sense of who they were, their sense of self as practitioners ...
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Eshun-Wilson, Cleo. "An investigation of secondary school teachers' perceptions of the challenges in a changing education system." Thesis, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/2999.
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