The education reform efforts in Botswana have focused predominantly on teacher preparation, recruitment and compensation. Recruitment efforts have resulted in a significant number of expatriates working with indigenous teachers in many schools. However, as the schools are currently upgraded and restructured, the quality of the working relationships forged between indigenous and expatriate teachers represents one vital aspect in the reform effort that has gone almost unattended. Many teachers have become dissatisfied and concerned about these relationships, despite compensation and preparation. A decisive first step in attending to these relationships lies in understanding how they develop. The aim of this exploratory study was to identify and describe factors related to the development of working relationships between indigenous and expatriate teachers and illustrate how those factors contribute to the development of these relationships. The study employed a micropolitical perspective and through phenomenological interviews, observation and document analysis, indicated that cultural differences in language and communication, regard for time, handling of student discipline, work ethics and professionalism along with ambiguity and uncertainty, professional and interpersonal obligations, indigenous to expatriate teacher ratio and the interplay of micropolitics are related to the development of these relationships. Results, however, are specific to one school context and should not be generalized. The study recommends management strategies such as provision of programmes for cultural exchange, communication mode standardization, a dean of discipline system, faculty building and further research to redress the situation. / Further Teacher Education / M.Ed.

The state of moral decline has recently come under scrutiny in South Africa and abroad. Moral development is nurtured and developed by moral teaching. South Africa has put in place various avenues for moral education in order to curb moral degeneration. However, due to the continuing social ills that are experienced in the country further avenues of moral education ought to be explored. Due to the multicultural nature of the South African population, moral considerations should consider the strengths that cultural diversity in moral education can contribute toward a moral society. Moral teachings have been explored through education and religious chastity; however, the indigenous knowledge systems of South Africans have not been tapped in this regard. This is partly because the scientific world has not seen it fit to accommodate these knowledges in the knowledge production sphere. The study employed a constructivist grounded theory approach to explore the role of traditional teachings in Batswana female initiation schools and how the traditional teachings contribute to morality and the construction of womanhood. A decolonial epistemic perspective, the African epistemology and social constructionism were used as concepts that formed a framework to allow the critiquing of main stream theories and to allow a grounded theory to emerge from a Batswana female initiation context. Unstructured interviews with initiation instructors as primary data sources were conducted. Secondary data sources included initiation songs and dance; conversations with people who are involved in initiation schools, people who are knowledgeable in Setswana culture and the cultural celebration that the researcher attended were used. The textual data was analysed using the Attride Sterling model of thematic networks. Womanhood as a particular identity and female morality as mainly determined by context are the main themes in the study. Womanhood and morality are intertwined within this context that determines womanhood according to acceptable behaviours. An ethic of responsibility was the overarching theme when analyzing how female morality and womanhood is constructed in the context of initiation schools in Taung. / Psychology / M.A. (Research Consultation)

The education reform efforts in Botswana have focused predominantly on teacher preparation, recruitment and compensation. Recruitment efforts have resulted in a significant number of expatriates working with indigenous teachers in many schools. However, as the schools are currently upgraded and restructured, the quality of the working relationships forged between indigenous and expatriate teachers represents one vital aspect in the reform effort that has gone almost unattended. Many teachers have become dissatisfied and concerned about these relationships, despite compensation and preparation. A decisive first step in attending to these relationships lies in understanding how they develop. The aim of this exploratory study was to identify and describe factors related to the development of working relationships between indigenous and expatriate teachers and illustrate how those factors contribute to the development of these relationships. The study employed a micropolitical perspective and through phenomenological interviews, observation and document analysis, indicated that cultural differences in language and communication, regard for time, handling of student discipline, work ethics and professionalism along with ambiguity and uncertainty, professional and interpersonal obligations, indigenous to expatriate teacher ratio and the interplay of micropolitics are related to the development of these relationships. Results, however, are specific to one school context and should not be generalized. The study recommends management strategies such as provision of programmes for cultural exchange, communication mode standardization, a dean of discipline system, faculty building and further research to redress the situation. / Further Teacher Education / M.Ed.