Thesis (PhD. (Education)) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / This thesis is a study on the effect of resistance to change on quality education in Limpopo Province. The study investigated basic challenges in the change process at schools. The empirical research was done by using semi-standardized interviews where predetermined questions were posed to each participant in a systematic and consistent manner but allowed the participants to go on discussing issues on the effect of resistance to change on quality education beyond the questions confines. (cf. Struwig & Stead, 2001:98). Observations and perusal of documents complemented the interviews to gather information. Data was analyzed through tables. The study has revealed the reasons why do people (educators) resist change, pin-pointing the source of the resistance which makes it possible to see what needs to be done to avoid resistance or convert it into commitment to change. The literature review has brought to the light that change is not only needed because of what has happened in South Africa in the past, but made it very clear that education is changing everywhere in the world. South Africa has not only an opportunity to heal the crippled system of education but to simultaneously catch up with the world. The relevance of theory to the effect of resistance to change on quality education has been highlighted. The study is based on the ambiguity theories which stress uncertainty and complexity in schools and other organizations characterized by problematic goals, unclear technology and fluid participation in decision making with reference to the new approaches of facilitation and learning The study also attempted to look at policy initiatives with reference to uniform systems for schools and governance to promote quality education. Also, an attempt was made to integrate educational laws, policies and regulations with regard to the provision of quality education. Finally, recommendations to deal with resistance to change were high-lighted. In education, the megatrends are already making themselves felt for those who attempt to resist the change, the future holds frustration, unhappiness and ultimately defeat. For those interested in the improvement of quality education and for those who are willing to recognize the changes coming, there will be opportunities, challenges and the thrill of having participated in one of the most existing periods in history. It is the researchers wish that each South African hope to be equal to the task, for failure will have disastrous consequences not only for our learners, but ultimately for the System of Education and the entire Society.

This study investigates the development and implementation of the South African National Qualifications Framework (NQF) since its conceptualisation in the early 1980s, up to 2005. Premised on the concern that power struggles are having a negative effect on the development and implementation of the NQF, the purpose of the study is to support improved future development and implementation of the NQF by describing the amalgamation of the different and contradictory views that support the development of an NQF that replaces all existing and divisive education and training structures in South Africa - the NQF discourse. A further purpose of the study is to reveal this NQF discourse as a system in which power is exercised, and then to make recommendations on minimising the negative effects of the power struggles. Based within a Foucauldian theoretical framework, the study includes an extensive review of local and international literature on NQF development and implementation that is used to develop an NQF typology to describe and analyse the various aspects of the NQF. The literature review is followed by a qualitative analysis, using Foucauldian archaeology and genealogy, of an empirical dataset containing 300 interviews (including focus groups) with NQF stakeholders, 90 responses to discussion documents and 72 news articles published between 1995 and 2005. The findings of the study confirm the initial concern that power struggles are having a negative effect on the development and implementation of the South African NQF. The findings also show that the very same power struggles can have positive effects, but that in the South African NQF discourse, the balance of power is skewed towards the negative. Importantly, it was found that NQF development and implementation cannot be divorced from power, and that rather than attempting to undermine power within the NQF discourse, efforts can be better spent on three focused activities: 1. Inculcating an understanding of the NQF as a social construct. 2. Improving the compatibility between the NQF and the South African context. 3. Bridging the entrenched differences between educationalism and vocationalism. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

This study investigates the development and implementation of the South African National Qualifications Framework (NQF) since its conceptualisation in the early 1980s, up to 2005. Premised on the concern that power struggles are having a negative effect on the development and implementation of the NQF, the purpose of the study is to support improved future development and implementation of the NQF by describing the amalgamation of the different and contradictory views that support the development of an NQF that replaces all existing and divisive education and training structures in South Africa - the NQF discourse. A further purpose of the study is to reveal this NQF discourse as a system in which power is exercised, and then to make recommendations on minimising the negative effects of the power struggles. Based within a Foucauldian theoretical framework, the study includes an extensive review of local and international literature on NQF development and implementation that is used to develop an NQF typology to describe and analyse the various aspects of the NQF. The literature review is followed by a qualitative analysis, using Foucauldian archaeology and genealogy, of an empirical dataset containing 300 interviews (including focus groups) with NQF stakeholders, 90 responses to discussion documents and 72 news articles published between 1995 and 2005. The findings of the study confirm the initial concern that power struggles are having a negative effect on the development and implementation of the South African NQF. The findings also show that the very same power struggles can have positive effects, but that in the South African NQF discourse, the balance of power is skewed towards the negative. Importantly, it was found that NQF development and implementation cannot be divorced from power, and that rather than attempting to undermine power within the NQF discourse, efforts can be better spent on three focused activities: 1. Inculcating an understanding of the NQF as a social construct. 2. Improving the compatibility between the NQF and the South African context. 3. Bridging the entrenched differences between educationalism and vocationalism. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

Thesis (doctorate)--University of South Africa, 2001.

LLM / Department of Criminal and Procedural Law

This thesis reflected upon the historical roots of the problems which prevent parents, teachers and the state from fulfilling their societal functions in such a way that a culture of teaching and learning is established. It was emphasised that during the traditional period (1554-1799) parents, teachers and the state (chiefs) played a leading role in the upbringing of children to the extent that there were few factors militating against the establishment of a culture of teaching and learning. From 1799 up to 1910 education was under the control of missionaries. Missionaries made the mistake of encouraging the weakening of traditional values once effectively employed in raising children. Parents were not given an opportunity to play an effective role in the education oftheir children. Schools lacked resources. Teachers were poorly paid and ill qualified. In spite of these shortcomings, missionaries did more good than harm in creating favourable conditions for teaching and learning. It was also indicated that from 1910 up to 1953 education was under the control of the missionaries and provincial administrations (backed by the Union Government). The era was characterised by: • The state giving increasing financial assistance to schools • The teachers' fight for the improvement of their conditions of service and resources. • The limited participation given to parents in educational matters concerning their children. It was further indicated that when Bantu Education was introduced in 1953, schools became political battle-fields. Through the influence of political organisations, parents, teachers and school children organised strikes took place in protest against the Bantu Education system. The state relied on repressive measures to control education. The activities of political organisations and the state led to the breakdown of the culture of teaching and learning. The threatening situation in the country towards the late 1970s caused the state to realise the urgency of bringing reforms into education. The reforms brought about by the state were rejected by parents, teachers and school children. This resulted in the continuation of the crisis in education. Despite the dawn of the New Dispensation in 1990 parents, teachers and the state are worried by the deepening education crisis manifested in factors such as violence, increasing use of drugs and the Aids epidemic. Finally, it was indicated that there are no instant solutions to the deepening education crisis. What is important is that parents, teachers and the state should make a united effort to bring about a gradual improvement. / Educational Studies / D. Ed.(History of Education)

The study offers a historico-educational investigation of the extent to which the Teachers' Association of South Africa (TASA) satisfied the educational aspirations of the Indian coIIDllunity in South Africa. The discussion begins with a theoretical exposition of characteristic features of teachers' associations. It considers the origin, nature and purpose of teachers' associations. A brief survey of some teachers' associations in the Republic of South Africa is also made. The development and the organisation of the Teachers' Association of South Africa (TASA) is highlighted. In this regard special emphasis is placed on the role of the Association's forerunners, and the nature and functioning of the various organisational structures within the Association. An elaborate discussion is devoted to the achievements of the Association in satisfying the educational aspirations of the Indian coIIDllunity in South Africa. The researcher also offers recoIIDllendations on the role that teachers' associations may play in the future. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (History of Education)

At the best of times, education policy implementation is a difficult and uncertain process. Taking this as a point of departure, the researcher advanced the hypothesis that education policy implementation in a society in transition: is accompanied by a fragmentation of the pre-transition coherence in interpersonal relations among policy actors; is affected by a heightening of value conflicts and the emergence of competing interpretive schemes; is influenced by the perceived self-interest of policy actors; is affected by changing power relationships and structural adjustments; and reflects a general weakening of interpersonal, cultural, and structural linkages that had evolved in pre-transition years. The Indian education system in South Africa was studied as an exemplar of a system located in a society in transition. The data collated by means of three research strategies - historical report, questionnaire, and structured interview - gave strong support to the hypothesis. In addition, they pointed to the significance of variables such as policy content and policy quality, political interference and pressure, bias and favouritism among senior officials, religious, sectional, and language loyalties of participants, and loss of job satisfaction and morale among policy actors. These findings were discussed against the background of relevant literature. This concluded in the development_gf a theoretical model to explain education policy implementation in a society in transition. Basically, the model suggests that socio-political struggles in the larger society tend. to be replicated in the micro-contexts of the education system, producing fundamental alterations in the interpersonal, cultural, and structural aspects of the system, a general weakening of system linkages, and a progressive de-coupling of system components. All these changes recursively impact on and are impacted on by policymaking and policy implementation processes and outcomes. These impacts, however, tend to occur in a non-standard, nonlinear manner. The theoretical underpinnings of the model emerge from general systems theory, modern social systems theory, chaos/ complexity theory, conflict theory, structuration theory, organisation change theory, and loosely coupled systems theory. Finally, the study concludes with general propositions relating to education policy implementation in a society in transition and a set of research and management-oriented recommendations. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Educational Management)

The grounds for asserting that parents of all cultures can be held responsible and accountable for the care and education of their children derive from sources such as the primordial nature of humanity, the precepts of state statutes and international protocols that refer to educational issues and the tenets of scripts that apply to adherents of a particular philosophy of life - for example the Bible as the guide for parents who subscribe to a Christian philosophy of life. The issue of parental say in formal education as provided for in current education legislation is perhaps not an entirely unique development. In this thesis the development of the concept of parental responsibilities and rights in relation to formal schooling in South Africa during the Colonial period was investigated. An attempt was made to determine what Colonial parents - who were predominantly Protestant Calvinist and who consequently subscribed to a Christian philosophy of life - did to ensure that their children's formal education met with their approval and fulfilled their expectations. A further aspect examined related to the identification of the specific issues in education that these parents believed they should be afforded the right to regulate in order to ensure that their children's formal education - as an extension to their primary education - conformed with the fundamental principles of their philosophy of life. The research affirmed the significance a philosophy of life holds for the perception of what it is that constitutes authentic education. It can consequently be concluded that parental involvement in formal schooling should not be seen as intrusion in a realm beyond the jurisdiction of the parent, but as cases of judgement, discernment and selection dictated by the parent's philosophy of life. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (History of Education)

This study entails a critical investigation into the issue and trends that shaped Black perspectives on education in South Africa in the period between 1652 and 1993. A theoretical-philosophical exposition is presented to establish the fundamental characteristics of education and therefore characteristics valid for every human being under any circumstances at any time. These characteristics were used to eventually appraise the issues and trends underlying the shaping of Black perspectives on education in South Africa. This study has revealed that the shaping of Black perspectives on education in South Africa goes hand in hand with the growing realization among Blacks that education is not merely a political issue but also deeply imbedded in the interconnectedness and/or differences between social realities such as the church, the school itself, teachers' associations, the news media et cetera. This should be accounted for by every citizen in a responsible way. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (History of Education)