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A strategic management model for transforming selected Swaziland's teacher training colleges into learning organisationsMahlalela, Amos Makhandane 02 1900 (has links)
Teacher training is a significant and integral component of a sound education system. The
need for quality programmes and relevantly qualified personnel cannot be overemphasised.
Effective learning organisations result from good governance and strategic management.
The purpose of this study was to determine how teacher training colleges (TTCs) in
Swaziland could be transformed into effective Learning Organisations (LOs)? The following
research questions guided the study. These were formulated as follows: What were the
characteristics of effective learning organisations?; which factors had the potential for
developing TTCs as learning organisations?; which factors restricted the TTCs in Swaziland
from functioning as effective learning organizations? And how were TTCs in Swaziland
governed and strategically managed?
The study emanated from concerns raised for a number of years on the quality and
relevancy of TTCs in Swaziland. Such concerns were noted by both the print and electronic
media as well as members of the general public. The training programmes in TTCs have
been widely criticized, particularly with regard to standards, quality and relevance of the
training process in relation to meeting the nation and the global requirements. The study was
qualitative and was underpinned by the interpretism research paradigm employing an
ethnographic approach. The study was conducted in three selected teacher training colleges
in Swaziland namely; the Nazarene College of Education and the William Pitcher Teacher
Training College both based in the Manzini Region, and Ngwane Teachers’ College based in
the Shiselweni Region. This study employed the purposive sampling procedure. Thematic
Content Analysis (TCA) was used for the data analysis process.
The findings of the study revealed that participants felt that characteristics of effective LOs
included the availability of both well qualified academic and specialized non academic staff,
adequate and relevant infrastructure, dynamic, innovative and responsive curriculum, quality
assurance checks and balances mechanisms, good libraries and IT facilities , sufficient
funding and innovative leadership. Regarding the factors that have the potential for
developing TTCs to LOs, participants felt that institutional support from TTC leaders, adherence to professional and institutional values, using of mistakes as learning curve rather
than criticism, and serious engagement in learning by all members was of paramount
significance.
On the factors that restricted TTCs in Swaziland from functioning as effective LOs, the study
revealed that these included cumbersome bureaucracy, lack of rewards and incentives for
staff members, poor mobility structures, poor promotion formula as well as lack of
recognition for professional development or academic achievements. Regarding the manner
in which TTCs are governed and strategically managed, the study revealed that this was
characterized by a centralized, top down, weak unresponsive governance system seriously
lacking autonomy, long and confusing bureaucracy, unresponsive and cumbersome
procurement procedures.
The conclusion was that the Government needs to restructure the governance and
management systems of TTCs. The country should consider granting autonomy especially in
the procurement processes. The promotion of staff in TTCs must be based on academic
achievements and the Government needs to recognize the significance of giving rewards
and incentive to here employees. For transformation to occur in TTCs there is need for
college lecturers to adapt to change and for leaders to disseminate vital information to staff members all the time. The study concluded by developing a strategic management model to guide the development governance, management and operations of TTCs in Swaziland and their subsequent transformation to effective LOs. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Educational Management)
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Relevance of the Swaziland teacher education curricula to professional ethics regarding teacher-pupil relationshipsSimelane, Jenneth Futhie 02 1900 (has links)
Education in Swaziland is faced with the challenge of degenerating professional standards among teachers. This study sought to determine the relevance of the current teacher training curriculum in preparing pre-service teachers on professional ethics regarding teacher-pupil relationships. The study’s participants were from two universities; University of Swaziland (UNISWA) and Southern Africa Nazarene University (SANU), and three teacher-training colleges; William Pitcher, Ngwane, and Swaziland College of Technology. Participants comprised five purposefully selected heads of education departments, five focus groups of eight final year student teachers randomly selected from each institution, 100 new teachers with less than five years teaching experience (graduates) from the participating teacher training institutions.
Data were collected concurrently using a semi-structured interview for the heads of department, focus group interviews for student teachers, a questionnaire for new teachers and document analysis for collecting data from documents of the institutions. Instruments were pilot tested on samples with similar characteristics to those of the participants. Data analysis was guided by the research questions. Qualitative data from the interviews and focus group interviews were analysed inductively, presented narratively through the use of verbatim quotations. Content analysis was used to analyse data from the documents and presented similarly to that from interviews. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics such as means, frequencies and percentages using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20. Findings of the study revealed that the extent to which teacher training institutions implemented professional ethics regarding teacher-pupil relationships was not as adequate as it should, in terms of content and methods of implementation. The teacher training institutions generally offered professional ethics not as a course but as part of a course or courses.
Therefore, the study recommended that the curricula in teacher training institutions should incorporate a course specific to ethics of the teaching profession. A further study on challenges faced by teacher training institutions in the implementation of the curriculum on professional ethics is necessary. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)
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