Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF EDUCATION in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education of the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 2006. / This research was conducted to determine whether classroom climate influences academic achievement of secondary school learners. The literature study indicates that the classroom climate factors such as organization of learning space, learner involvement and discipline have a direct influence on academic achievement. To confirm the influence of the above factors, the research was conducted at four secondary schools in the Amajuba District of Newcastle. The research revealed that a significant positive correlation exists between classroom climate and academic achievement of learners in secondary schools. The research further confirmed that the lack of organization of learning space, lack of learner involvement in lessons and lack of classroom discipline contributes to poor academic achievement in secondary schools. A positive classroom climate is facilitated by educators being given maximum opportunity to teach and learners being given maximum opportunity to learn. The benefit of a positive classroom climate is that the joy of learning is unfolded in an environment that enables each learner to thrive and to soar to greatness by achieving academic success. Ultimately the positive transformation of our society lies within the domain of our emerging generation. Thus positive classroom climate is necessary to raise matric the pass rate of 70% in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Province.

Thesis (M.ED.) --University of Limpopo (Turfloop Campus), 2008 / Argument directed to bilingual instruction in South Africa is not new. The issue of eleven official languages in education remains contested. The apartheid language in education policy infused with imbalance proficiency demands for educators and learners’in the country. The policy was replaced in 1997 with a new policy based on non –discriminatory language use and the internationally accepted principle of home language education in the contest of bilingual or multilingual framework. The policy was designed to accommodate home language (HL)maintenance, proficiency and first additional language (FAL), English for the majority of learners and optimal cognitive development. The policy has not been accompanied by any significant government or language department to ensure the implementation plan. It has however been met with several arguments of bilingual resource and well –trained educators. The argument paved a way into publications which have been used to deflect government’s responsibility regarding bilingual instruction .The difference in language policy however disregard the fact that South Africa is multilingual and that home language is the most appropriate language of learning everywhere in the world. The implementation and understanding of bilingual and linguistic interdependence of both English and African languages have a role to pay in the development and sustainability of democratic country. The underlying implication is that since English and Afrikaans as the media of instruction that disadvantaged the majority of South African citizens over the years, it is time African languages be implementated alongside English or Afrikaans in education system. South Africa’s new language in Education policy (LiEP) has been regarded as one of the best progressive in the world. The dissertation describes research that investigates the gap between the policy expections and what is prevailing at some private and public primary school in Limpopo Province.

This study examined experiences of teachers in ex-Model C secondary schools in Port Elizabeth with specific reference to the strategies adopted, challenges and rewards of teaching in diverse classrooms. It is located in the realm of diversity pedagogy and multi-cultural education and contextualized against the socio-political and colourful historical climate of education in South Africa. This study was conducted by using the qualitative research approach against the backdrop of the phenomenological design according to the interpretivist paradigm. Data were elicited through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 16 teachers from 4 ex-Model C English medium secondary schools (formerly White schools) who had experiences of teaching both pre-1994, when schools were mono-ethnic, and post-1994 when the schools were multi-ethnic. The interviews were transcribed and the rich thick data were analysed and categorized into themes and sub-themes by adopting a constant comparative method. The findings of the study indicate that teachers failed to embrace diversity to its fullest, although they did not mind teaching diverse learners. Furthermore, it is evident that they have not made concerted efforts to implement culturally responsive teaching strategies to cater for diversity in their classes as the approaches tend to be cosmetic and superficial. The findings indicate that teachers are stuck in the quagmire of business as usual-, colour-blind-, assimilationist, contributionist approaches that militate against culturally responsive pedagogy. It is recommended that teachers be empowered with skills in diversity education by various stakeholders such as School Governing Bodies, the Department of Basic Education and teacher unions so that they are better equipped to implement strategies in their classes that cater to the needs of a diverse learner population.

This preliminary research study aimed to investigate, with the aid of the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI), the actual and the preferred laboratory environments as perceived by 264 first, second and third year college Science and Biology students in Cape Town, South Africa. This investigation sought to answer the following main questions: * Are the English and the Afrikaans versions of the SLEI valid and reliable for use as perceptive instruments in a South African context? * What are the relationships between variables such as class membership, the year level of study, the type or level of the science subject studied, the particular lecturer concerned, home language and gender and the students' perceptions of their science laboratory classroom environments? * Do appreciable differences occur between the actual and the preferred environments as perceived by the students? * Are the findings of the present investigation consistent with the results of parallel investigations undertaken overseas? The data was collected by means of standard answer sheets, and analysed by comparison of the mean scores, standard deviations, discriminant validities and the alpha reliabilities of the various scales of SLEI. Bibliography: p. 130-141.

Thesis (M. Ed. (Education Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The purpose of the study was to examine how the transition process from the foundation to the intermediate phases could be properly managed to minimise challenges that are part of it, some of which disturb a smooth integration into the intermediate phase. This is a qualitative case study which employed interviews, document review and observation methods to collect data. Data were analysed through the thematic content analysis and the constant comparative methods. Findings of the study revealed amongst others that shifting of language of instruction from mother tongue in the foundation phase to English in the intermediate phase requires attention. In addition, changed teachers’ handwritings from foundation to intermediate gave learners a problem. Finally, teachers who were not trained to teach a foundation phase were found to be complicating the transition from the foundation to the intermediate phases by learners. On the basis of the shared findings, the researcher recommends that English be made a language of instruction from the foundation phase, not from the intermediate phase as it is the currently the case in primary schools The researcher further, recommends that it be made mandatory for teachers from the foundation and intermediate phases to use print method when writing inside the classroom with learners as a way of addressing the problem of different handwritings by teachers. Some of teachers’ handwritings give learners a huge problem to see clearly. Hence the recommendation of the print method. Finally, the researcher strongly recommends that only well trained and qualified teachers be permitted to teach foundation and intermediate phases. This is likely to ascertain that a good educational foundation is laid at an early stage, when learners are still so young and cognitively highly receptive.

This study focused on improving the learners behaviour through classroom management and the implementation of human rights awareness as an intervention strategy. The purpose of the research was to prevent learners from misbehaving through the implementation of different teaching strategies. Learners transgression will not stop completely and a second objective was to use the implementation of human rights awareness as an intervention strategy if the learners behaviour become unacceptable. The strategies the educators has to instigate were primarily considered to be those associated with classroom management.

This study focused on improving the learners behaviour through classroom management and the implementation of human rights awareness as an intervention strategy. The purpose of the research was to prevent learners from misbehaving through the implementation of different teaching strategies. Learners transgression will not stop completely and a second objective was to use the implementation of human rights awareness as an intervention strategy if the learners behaviour become unacceptable. The strategies the educators has to instigate were primarily considered to be those associated with classroom management.

D. Ed. (Education) / In this study two main educational issues are examined, namely language instruction and learning as well as classroom culture. The problems were not strictly formulated as research questions at the outset, but evolved partly during the pilot study and the fieldwork stage. The fragile character of South African education in this time of major transformation and socio-educational reconstruction, was the main impetus for this research. It was decided to focus on one educational micro-organism in order to try and sense if there were some noteworthy issues which could be reflected for generalization or subsequent research purposes. It was argued that the ecological and temporal validity of an extended emic study would reveal aspects of language Pedagogy, contextualized in a single classroom culture, which could potentially be of benefit to the wider educational community. The study was undertaken with the aim of giving a thick ethnographic description of classroom life, concentrating on linguistic factors. Two standard six English classes were observed for six months each, the one following upon the other. The same teacher taught the two comparable classes in which one major pattern emerged during the observation, namely the limited Cognitive, Academic Language proficiency (CALP) of most pupils.The choice of site was motivated by the fact that newly desegregated schools could perhaps benefit from a description (and interpretation) of English classroom life at an open school which has been functioning successfully for a number of years. During the pilot study it was presupposed that linguistic phenomena surfacing in a contemporary language classroom would be supported by the theory of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) , which 'is theoretically based on the theory of language acquisition and especially Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and which is the dominant second language teaching theory of the day. It became clear during the pilot study that a baseline of CLT would serve a valid purpose in that the theory could be applied and, to a limited degree, even assessed at this single site, but that the data' which would be forthcoming would be spread somewhat wider than the theory of CLT. Nevertheless, it was decided to broadly limit the theory pertaining to language didactics to CLT and SLA, as the interpretation of data would possibly reflect sufficiently strongly in the theoretical framework in these two domains. In addition to a framework from theory in Linguistics, a construction of the theory of Multicultural Education was also included. The main tenets of Multicultural Education, the most important one being equality of educational opportunity, were then woven into the theoretical unit referred to as "language classroom at an urban multicultural school". This unit included a brief foray into roleplay as language teaching tool. The third part of the theoretical scaffold consisted of an exploration of qualitative research methodology, specifically ethnography. As this study is to some degree also a study in qualitative methodology which is not widely used in some research milieus in South Africa, it is regarded as an important part of the theoretical framework.

Multicultural education is only one of the major changes since the inception of the new democracy in South Africa. However, this inevitable change has resulted in many challenges for educators and educational institutions in the Isipingo District, KwaZulu Natal (KZN). One of the primary responsibilities of a teacher is to manage diversity. The research addressed here focused on challenges experienced by Grade R teachers to create and maintain an unbiased classroom environment for Grade R learners in the Isipingo District, (KZN). A literature review regarding unbiased classroom environments for Grade R learners as well as an empirical investigation using a qualitative approach was conducted. A semi-structured focus group interview and a follow-up focus group interview with Grade R teachers from 3 different public multicultural primary schools were used for data gathering. The findings indicated that Grade R teachers lack the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to enhance unbiased classroom environments. The results of the investigation also indicated that teachers require effective training to help them cope with creating and managing unbiased classroom environments. / Teacher Education / M.Ed. (Specialisation in Early Childhood Development)

This study used Bhaskar’s Critical Realist ontology as meta-theory reinforced by Margaret Archer’s Social Realist Theory as an analytical framework to help obtain a deeper understanding of the contributory mechanisms to the provision of equal opportunities to learn in racially diverse South African classrooms in a chosen primary school in Pretoria, South Africa. The study applied Archer’s Morphogenesis/Morphostasis analytical framework in an attempt to understand whether or not the school has transformed or reproduced the status quo on opportunities to learning after democracy. In particular, the study focused on the provision of equal opportunities to learn irrespective of their racial or cultural backgrounds. Archer’s analytical dualism was used to scrutinise the interaction between ‘parts’ (structure and culture) and the ‘people’ (agency). Thus, the focus was to uncover the fundamental factors that enable and constrain the provision of equal opportunities to learn in a class with racially diverse learners. This entailed the separation of structures (policies, systems, and the school governance structures), cultures (beliefs and values and how do they affect teaching and learning) and agents (people such as teachers, learners, school principals, amongst others and their ability to act (agency) within and upon their own world with regard to their social roles and positions to stimulate their emergent properties and powers. In this study, I explored how the emergent properties and powers contained in the learning resource material, policies, and ideational and agential components assisted in the production of certain actions and practices in relation to teaching and learning in a racially diverse environment. I examined these generative mechanisms to identify whether they enabled or constrained the provision of equal opportunities to learn within a racially diverse classroom context. Qualitative research methodologies were applied through the use of semistructured interviews, classroom observations and document analysis as data collection methods. At the domain of structure, the findings of the study revealed that the notion of ensuring that all learners have access to basic education without discrimination of any kind was a critical mechanism that provided learners from racially diverse contexts with physical access. Arabia (pseudonym) Primary School had enough classrooms and teaching and learning materials to cater for all learners. The South African Schools Act1 (SASA) (1996) and the admission policy of the school were found to be enabling factors in terms of admission of racially diverse learners into the school as there is no encouragement of discrimination of any kind. The school’s religious policy was also found to cater for the learners’ diverse religions, however, it is silent about learners who are not religious. The study found that there was a mismatch between the staff complement and learner enrolment as teachers were predominantly White while learners were mainly Black Africans. Ideally, it will be better for the school to strive towards a racially diverse teaching staff complement to match the racially diverse learners. The current situation may have implications for the provision of equal opportunities to learn. The study also realised that, since there was evidence of racial and cultural incongruity between learners and teachers, it might take time for the school to match the now racially diverse learner enrolment with a racially diverse staff complement. This may require transforming the staff complement through the employment of teachers who can speak different African languages and can accommodate and represent diverse cultures in teaching and learning. A constraining mechanism to the provision of equal opportunities to learn was the time assigned to some of the lessons. In some instances, it was found that lessons scheduled for thirty minutes were limited in terms of teaching and learning activities possible in this time frame, thereby hampering the provision of equal opportunities to learn. Within the domain of culture, an important mechanism that was identified was the discourse of the language of learning and teaching (LOLT). The LOLT, specifically English, was found constraining to the provision of equal opportunities to learn to learners of African descent. Learners whose home language was English benefited more in terms of knowledge and understanding of lessons compared to the majority of black African learners who spoke indigenous languages. This points to the need to review the language policy of the school in order to accommodate the local indigenous African languages. However, this may be a complex exercise considering that the black African learners speak different indigenous languages. In the domain of agency, the study found that the Head of Department (HoD) possessed the authority to guide teachers regarding the Learning Areas that they teach, the approaches to teaching and learning, as well as the learning activities that they have to carry out. This meant that they provided curriculum leadership, thus they could exercise more agency in this regard. Data also revealed that, although the curriculum was found to be relevant to racially diverse classes, teachers were unable to integrate racial diversity to the topics covered in the prescribed textbooks, particularly those that were largely based on western knowledge. This implied that teachers who participated in the study were not prepared for racially diverse classes. It will be necessary to integrate learners’ indigenous knowledge into the western knowledge content and concepts in order to enhance their epistemological access and provide equal opportunities to learn, thus appreciating local community knowledge in education and development. Curricula should also be reviewed in order to align them to the school’s clientele base/learners towards enabling the provision of equal opportunities to learn. Overall, this study concludes that, although the school had experienced Morphogenesis in terms of learner enrolment from a predominantly racially singular to a racially diverse learning population. However, the apartheid-era culture of the school was still reproduced due to the Morphostasis of the (White) teacher complement, the languages taught and the dominant school culture that was not congruent with the majority of the (Black) learners. I believe that the findings from this study may provide the conceptual and empirical foundations towards understanding whether teachers provide or fail to provide equal opportunities to learn in racially diverse classrooms in a country emerging from apartheid. I note that this is a singular case study that is not necessarily generalisable. However, it can provide insights into the extent of provision of equal opportunities to learning for the racially diverse learner population across South African schools. / Science and Technology Education / D. Phil.