M.Ed. (Tertiary and Adult Education) / Tertiary institutions experience a big influx of adult learners which increases the demand for capable adult educators. A need was identified to train or refresh adult educators in teaching techniques suitable for adult learners. Group methods have been identified as an effective teaching method to use in adult education as it provides the adult learner with the opportunity to use his/her experience and to be selfdirective in his/her studies. Selfstudy modules has been selected as an appropriate training method for adult educators as it is regarded as a cost-effective method to develop adult educators by means of distance education. A study of literature and descriptive research were conducted to determine the structure and requirements of a selfstudy unit as well as the essentials of group work. The information obtained was used to construct a selfstudy module dealing with the facilitating of adult learning by means of group methods. The following issues were addressed in the selfstudy module: 1) The use of group methods in the teaching-learning situation. 2) The essence of group methods and cooperative learning. 3) The characteristics of adult learners and their learning orientation towards learning. 4) Planning of group work by the adult educator. 5) The roll of the educator during group work. 6) Evaluating the group process, group efforts and individual achievements. Each of these topics was succeeded by an assignment to assist the adult educator to work through the module systematically and to evaluate his/her progress at regular intervals. On completion of the module he/she should be more equipped to fulfill his/her role as facilitator of group discussion.

M.Ed. (Adult Education) / Inadequate school education in South Africa has resulted in the maJority of the adult population being illiterate, not possessing the most basic living skills. Recent estimations indicate that only one percent of approximately 15 million illiterate adults in South Africa is presently engaged in basic education programmes. Since education is regarded as a basic human right, Adult Basic Education (ABE) is therefore a priority of the South African government. The provision of large scale, effective ABE programmes in future will depend on the availability of an adequate number of professionally trained and well equiped instructors in ABE. At present very little theoretical background can be provided for training such instructors. The instructors, cum facilitators I are mostly trained informally, haphazard, fragmented and limited to a specific programme. Apart from the general characteristics and needs typical of adult learners, illiterate South African adults have specific characteristics and needs unique to their circumstances. In view of the above, the question posed in this study is as follows: What recommendations can be made' to design a curriculum for a training programme for ABE instructors? Within the framework of a descriptive-interpretative research paradigm, an elaborate literature study forms the background for the empirical research. The recommendations for the training of ABE instructors are made in the form of answers to the following three questions: * Who should be trained as ABE instructors? * What objectives should be achieved by training ABE instructors?i and * How should ABE instructors be trained? According to research individuals should possess certain characteristics, values and attitudes, in order to be trained as ABE instructors. Potential ABE instructors should thus be selected, bearing these attributes in mind. Training objectives should include that instructors be equipped with the knowledge, skills. values and attitudes they need to perform their task as efficiently as possible. The selection of the candidates and/or the knowledge and skills the instructors should be equipped with. is perhaps less important than the way in which they are trained. Research indicates that instructors tend to have two theory types in their repertoires, namely espoused theory and theory- in- action. A training programme for instructors in ABE should serve as an example of espoused theory, also being theory- in-action. Instructors in ABE should be trained as reflective practitioners - learners should thus be empowered to take control of their own learning. This implies that instructors should already be able to exercise control of their own learning.

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Adult learners face many difficulties in their learning programmes, particularly due to the fact that having mastered literacy in their mother tongues, they move on to further educational programmes which are mostly produced in English. In contemporary society, people need to be adept in a number of literacies, termed multiliteracies. Adult learners are rarely taught visual competence as visual images are relegated to illustrations for written texts, and attention is mainly focussed on the all-important written word. Adult basic education learners need to be able to interpret pictures in books, newspapers and magazines, just as much as they need to be able to read and write. It is the premise of this research that visual literacy enhances thinking skills and that adult learners need to be actively taught how to interpret visual images in order to more ably deal with the written word, the more 'important' part of literacy. The goals of this research are to develop understanding of the processes which go into understanding images and text, and to examine how pictures can be used to help adult learners develop proficiency in English. Another goal is to teach learners the basics of visual literacy so as to improve their comprehension of the plethora of images surrounding them. The research findings could help to inform adult educators facing the current crisis in Adult Basic Education and Training in South Africa, focusing on a little-studied aspect of literacy, visual literacy, one of the critical outcomes in the new South African curriculum for Adult Education and one of the multiliteracies required by citizens of today's world.

M.Ed. (Higher Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

Bibliography: pages 181-189. / The construction of macro level policy is made more difficult by the absence of a reservoir of analytical accounts which raise issues which policy at that level must address. This study is concerned with the development of policy within a very specific context and as such it is a modest and limited contribution to the development of that reservoir of theorised practice of adult education in South Africa. In this it is both a documentary record of the development of adult education at the University of Natal and an exploration of the dynamics of the policies which were evolved to direct that development. The study is thus a descriptive and analytical account of the work of the Centre for Adult Education at the University of Natal over the 20 year period from 1971 to 1991 set against the context of the broad development of adult education in South Africa in general and developments in university based adult education development in particular.

This study focuses on the methods of teaching history to grade 12 adult learners at a major rural adult education centre (run by the Sisters of Mercy of the Roman Catholic Church), called D.W .T. Nthate Adult Education Centre, in the Winterveld. The grade 12 history class consists of adult learners of different ages, abilities, maturities and levels of knowledge. This research explored the possibility of making history teaching in a complex situation more interesting and more participatory. The case-study method of investigation was used to explore history teaching methods using the perspective of both the learners and the tutors. Learners wrote and spoke about the teaching methods they liked and with which they could identify and expressed their dissatisfaction with some of the other teaching methods used; tutors described their favourite teaching methods and how they employed them in the classroom situation. Some teaching methods were observed. This information and the insights obtained from these techniques of gathering data were related to the literature studied in the literature survey. This information presented a great challenge in making teaching of history more interesting and more participatory. Literature was reviewed in terms of the themes that relate to the topic of this research, namely: the historical context of adult education In South Africa; the place and importance of history in educatiu-:; princlplss of teaching adults; approaches and methods of teaching history; particip. to y methods of teaching adult learners, and an overview of curriculum change in South Africa (Curriculum 2005). The literature provided insight into the methods or teaching history in this specific situation. The literature was reviewed in order to uavelop minimum guidelines consisting of important elements In teaching hi?to: .' b grade 12 adult learners in the specific context of the study. A qualitative, fesoarch design was used to gather information. The history tutor and the vlce-pritid^ai from the chosen centre; the methodologist from the University of the No.<i; W est, and three tutors from two other adult education centres were interview in '"lie interviews were very useful In identifying the causes of the problem and in helping to produce history teaching minimum guidelines. Two observations were carried out to gather information about what happens during the history teaching-learning process. The observations were effective because it was easy to identify contradictions between the information gathered through this method and the other methods of gathering data. A structured, open-ended questionnaire was given to twenty-two (22) grade 12 adult learners to obtain their views on the current methods of teaching history to adult learners. The responses to the questionnaire were veiy useful because they gave the learners an opportunity to air their views. A class discussion was conducted to discuss issues not appearing on the questionnaire and to discuss problems that they, as adult learners, were encountering. The research results have been presented in the form of tables. Summaries of the participants' responses follow each table to give meaning to the summarised information contained in the tables. The discussion of the results is presented in narrative form. In the discussion, the researcher interprets the participants’ words and actions. From the researcher's observations, it is dangerous to say that the problem lies solely with the teaching methods the tutor at the adult education centre is using, or with the learners' ages, abilities, maturities, and levels of knowledge. Perhaos the problem stems from the tutor’s lack of content knowledge; the lack o'- .yiequate teaching and learning aids; the lack of exposure to a wide range of teaching r.^ -iods; the medium of instruction; the lack of involvement of adult learners in planrnox-: --id designing learning programmes and activities, and the personalities of the learners and tutor. However, the information gathered from the participants and literature showed that it is possible to making the teaching of history more participatory and wore interesting within the context of this study. From these findings the researcher developed suggested minimum guidelines for teaching history to grade 12 adult learners whicn are based on this specific situation of a rural adult education centre with inadequate re s o u n d and lack of exposure to a wide range of teaching methods.

This research report explores how Project Literacy, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), involved in adult basic education, was able to achieve sustainability by engaging in a comprehensive and ongoing restructuring process. It was mainly the new political dispensation as well as changes in funding policies for NGOs that necessitated the restructuring process. The principal aims o f the study were to document how this organisation managed its change process and what other measures it took to enhance the sustainability of its organisation. The research has been conducted in the qualitative research approach. The case study was selected as a major technique. A questionnaire and interviews with key staff were the main dava gathering methods. Triangulation was achieved by the use of various organisational documents such as independent evaluations among other?. Research findings suggested that without the restructuring process Project Literacy would not have been sustainable. The findings illustrated that the ability to change and adapt continuously was imperative. It also showed that any NGO needs a clear vision, a good product, sound management practices and motivated and efficient staff.

Since 1994, South African education system has been undergoing continuous transformation which had an impact on the quality of teaching and learning. There appeared to be a huge underperformance in the High School and FET College learners which for many years forced Universities to embark on bridging courses in order to enroll new students. Furthermore, a misalignment of college’s National Technical Diploma (NATED) programmes that did not afford college graduates an opportunity to register with Universities nor Universities of Technology brought about the questioning of the quality of teaching and learning in the FET College sector. Tabling the unified quality improvement plans in education in South Africa, the Education Ministry introduced an integrated approach to measure teaching and learning with the view of identifying improvement strategies. However, the implementation of this integrated tool called the Integrated Quality Management System had educators and managers attaching ambiguous meanings to the system. The IQMS instrument is meant to be a dependable quality assurance tool to measure and improve the quality of teaching and learning. The ambiguity lies with educators and managers referring to IQMS as a means to acquire 1% pay progression and the possible return of the old apartheid systems’ inspectorate. This research study was promulgated by a concern on the effectiveness and efficiency of implementing the IQMS instrument to measure the quality of teaching and learning in South African FET sector. In exploring literature on the concept of quality teaching and learning in the FET sector in South Africa, the researcher identified that similar trends of integrating quality management systems in education are being followed globally. The difference to the South African system is the attachment of the salary progression of 1% as an incentive to performance. In view of the introduction of the new system of education and training, the researcher realized that ‘short cut’ processes were followed in preparing educators to be able to offer new education programmes using the OBE system of teaching and learning. That appeared to be another shortfall to the adequacy of implementing IQMS as a quality assurance instrument to measure the quality of teaching and learning in the FET sector in South Africa. In addition, there appeared to be conflicting trends in the FET sector where the same sector provided curriculum 2005 programmes for schools which differed from college programmes offering National Certificate Vocational {NC(V)}. Both sectors were expected to use IQMS as a tool to measure the quality of teaching and learning with the view of enhancing improvement thereof. Furthermore, the end product of the FET sector for both schools and colleges is the Further Education and Training Certificate (FETC). Unfortunately, it was difficult for the education department to achieve its objectives because time frames to prepare educators and the critical element of providing adequate human resources for the implementation of IQMS could not be met through Umalusi the national quality assurance body for the sector. The FET Sector which is expected to deliver Education and Training to produce quality students for HE sector and the world of work is faced with shortfalls of quality delivery. The driving force of this research study was to explore the dependability and adequacy of implementing IQMS as a quality assurance instrument to effectively and efficiently measure the quality of teaching and learning to meet the expected outcomes. It is in this regard that the researcher through empirical evidence realized that IQMS did not have theoretical grounding hence there are no principles, procedures or processes that govern the implementation of this very important system. In addition, the empirical evidence from the qualitative study proved that quality delivery of teaching and learning has been monitored using diverse assessment practices. A variety of assessment tools like the TQM and QMS which exist in FET Colleges with the summative IQMS in FET Schools of which the three practices are premised around Quality Management. Quality Management refers to a process where quality delivery in a school, college or any other organization is systematically managed to maintain the competence of the organization. It is in this regard that TQM, QMS and IQMS refer to Quality Assurance Practices in any organization that is geared to effective and efficient client relations. / Teacher Education / D.Ed. (Education Management)