The impact of change facilitator styles (CFS) on elementary teachers' stages of concerns (SoC) about adopting outcome-based education (OBE) in their schools was studied. The group studied was 266 teachers from the Texas Network for Outcome-Based Education. Principal styles are based on the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM. Styles were determined by the Change Facilitator Style Questionnaire, and teachers' concerns profiles were measured by the Stages of Concern Questionnaire. ANOVA and t tests were conducted to assess the effects of CFS at each of the seven stages of concern. ANOVA assessed teachers' educational level, experience with teaching and OBE, principal gender and type of community related to SoC. Chi-square addressed the relationship among the demographic variables and CFS. With schools as the unit of analysis, significant differences at stages 0,1,2 were found. When teachers were the unit of analysis, significant differences were found at stages 0,1,2, and 3. Concerns of teachers with Initiator style principals were significantly lower at these stages. All teachers demonstrated concerns typical of nonusers, indicating resistance to OBE. Concerns were significantly lower for teachers with master's degree than for bachelor's at stages 0 to 3. Teachers with the least experience with OBE had significantly higher concerns. Chi-square compared change facilitator styles with the demographic variables. The only significant results were more males at the management style than expected. These findings support the CBAMtheory that the initiator style is more effective at impacting SoC and improving success in adopting an innovation. Teacher demographic variables do not affect SoC or CFS. The study indicates problems implementing OBE but suggests effective leadership could impact teachers' concerns.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. December 2014. / The National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement document (CAPS) (Department of Basic Education, 2012: 4) outlines some of the salient skills related to the modelling of word problems that Mathematics learners are expected to acquire during the course of their learning. One such critical skill is the learners' ability to represent and describe situations in algebraic language, formulae and expressions. In line with this broad objective, the present study investigated learners' linguistic knowledge and skills in translating from word to linear algebraic representations. Particularly focussing on errors learners made during the translation process, a class of 40 Grade 11 learners at one school in Gauteng West District were selected and given a written test on word problems. To gain access to learner misunderstandings leading to the observed errors and their sources, five learners were selected for interviews that were audio recorded. A Mixed-method Sequential Explanatory Design was used in the study. The major finding of this present study was that learners committed more semantic errors than syntactic and schematic errors suggesting that they (learners) had challenges in understanding the language used in the word problems. The major sources of semantic errors were found to be learners' lack of vocabulary knowledge, inexperience in interacting with expository text structures and their lack of syntax awareness. In addition to the above finding, learners exhibited limited metacognitive skills essential in word problem solving as well as their inability to reflect on the appropriateness of their written algebraic representations for all categories of word problems. The study concludes by providing recommendations on how errors committed in word problem solving can be attended to

[Truncated abstract] The aim of this study was to analyse the changing dynamics within and between government and non-government education sectors in relation to the Curriculum Framework (CF) policy in Western Australia (WA) from 1995 to 2004. The Curriculum Council was established by an act of State Parliament in 1997 to oversee the development and enactment of the CF, which was released in 1998. A stated aim of the CF policy was to unify the education sectors through a shared curriculum. The WA State government mandated that all schools, both government and non-government, demonstrate compliance by 2004. This was the first time that curriculum was mandated for non-government schools, therefore the dynamics within and between the education sectors were in an accelerated state of transformation in the period of study. The timeframe for the research represented the period from policy inception (1995) to the deadline for policy enactment for Kindergarten to Year 10 (2004). However, given the continually evolving and increasingly politicised nature of curriculum policy processes in WA, this thesis also provides an extended analysis of policy changes to the time of thesis submission in 2007 when the abolition of the Curriculum Council was formally announced - a decade after it was established. ... The research reported in this thesis draws on both critical theory and post-structuralist approaches to policy analysis within a broader framework of policy network theory. Policy network theory is used to bring the macro focus of critical theory and the micro focus of post-structuralism together in order to highlight power issues at all levels of the policy trajectory. Power dynamics within a policy network are fluid and multidimensional, and power struggles are characteristic at all levels. This study revealed significant power differentials between government and non-government education sectors caused by structural and cultural differences. Differences in autonomy between the education sectors meant that those policy actors within the non-government sector were more empowered to navigate the competing and conflicting forms of accountabilities that emerged from the changes to WA curriculum policy. Despite both generalised discourses of blurring public/private boundaries within the context of neoliberal globalisation and specific CF goals of bringing the sectors together, the boundaries continue to exist. Further, there is much strategising about how to remain distinct within the context of increased market choice. This study makes a unique and significant contribution to the understanding of policy processes surrounding the development and enactment of the CF in WA and the implications for the changing dynamics within and between the education sectors. Emergent themes and findings may potentially be used as a basis for contrast and comparison in other contexts. The research contributes to policy theory by arguing for closer attention to be paid to power dynamics between localised agency in particular policy spaces and the state-imposed constraints.

In 1990, the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges moved to an accreditation model based on outcomes, their assessment and deliberative attempts at institutional change and improvement. No study existed in northwest community colleges which identified the systematic application of effectiveness indicators for institutional change and improvement. This study was conducted with primary administrators in northwest community colleges that have completed the regional accreditation process since 1990. It examined the perceived importance of using effectiveness indicators for assessing institutional outcomes, and their congruence with actual or potential use in making institutional change and improvements. This study shows there is a positive relationship in community colleges between the development of institutional effectiveness indicators and institutional change and improvement. All administrators believed they should be using effectiveness indicators but used them in varying degrees for planning, improving services, budgeting, accreditation, program review and other decision making processes essential to the functioning of community colleges. Although the use varied by category and administrative subgroup, those administrators who had used effectiveness indicators believed their use led to positive institutional change. In order for this study to have an affect on northwest community colleges, several important conditions need to be addressed. The Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges must enforce Policy Statement 2.2, Policy on Educational Assessment, which requires the adoption of an institutional effectiveness model. Community colleges must embrace this model as a mechanism useful for the continuous improvement process. Faculty, staff, administrators and boards must be trained in the application and use of the institutional effectiveness model. Boards must establish outcomes or institutional goals based on their unique mission and must hold the community college president accountable for the achievement of institutional outcomes and the implementation of an assessment process. Assessment must be completed at all levels of the institution. Institutions must adopt an assessment model that reflects the institutions goals and objectives, and place its responsibility prominently within the organization. Finally, measures must be developed at each level or process by the persons closest to the process. Failure to enforce accreditation standards will lead to publicly enacted performance indicators aimed at achieving institutional effectiveness or accountability. / Graduation date: 1998

La Tesis Doctoral que s’ha realitzat aporta nous elements en la construcció de l’orientació al sistema escolar i en la consolidació i definició competencial dels tutors dels centres de secundària. Els canvis socials comporten una nova realitat a les aules i unes noves necessitats de l’alumnat. Saber què s’ha de fer, com s’ha de fer quan s’ha de fer, per a què s’ha de fer, són qüestions fonamentals per desenvolupar un treball tutorial de qualitat. La construcció de la identitat professional i competencial dels docents en l’àmbit tutorial per donar resposta a aquestes necessitats és fa del tot necessari. La identitat docent s’inicia en la formació inicial del docent i es dona al llarg de tota la vida professional. Aquesta identitat no sorgeix automàticament com a resultat d’un títol professional, ans el contrari, cal construir-la. Una construcció de la identitat professional i competencial que ve donada per una necessitat de donar respostes a situacions que sempre són diferents, a prendre decisions de les quals ningú els ha ensenyat la resposta, a plantejar-se uns valors que condicionaran la resolució dels diferents conflictes; en definitiva, a saber ser autònom i eficaç en el treball tutorial. L’ICE de la UB porta a terme el curs de postgrau “La tutoria i la seva pràctica” per donar resposta a la necessitat formativa del tutor o tutora esmentada anteriorment. El seu inici va ser el curs 2005/06. Aquesta formació és de caire professionalitzador i té per finalitat aprofundir en la construcció professional dels docents com a tutors o tutores de centres educatius en secundària. La construcció professional dels tutors precisa d’una formació estructurada i personalitzada que aporti el canvi d’actituds, l’adquisició de coneixements i el desenvolupament de les habilitats que calguin per ser competent en aquells aspectes necessaris per ser un bon tutor o tutora en el segle XXI. La recerca que es presenta té una doble finalitat, en un primer moment aporta la construcció d’una categorització competencial del tutor o tutora, i en un segon moment avaluar, des dels seus inicis, la proposta formativa, el procés formatiu i els resultats que s’han desprenen en el camp professional. En definitiva, s’ha volgut saber si els tutors i tutores que han realitzat la formació tenen adquirides les competències necessàries per donar resposta a les necessitats professionals com a tutor o tutora del segle XXI. La recerca parteix definint un marc conceptual amb les implicacions socials, educatives i d’orientació en la construcció del marc competencial tutorial. La metodologia emprada ha estat diversa. En la construcció del marc competencial s’ha utilitzat el mètode Delphi amb doble comissió d’experts. Per portar a terme la recerca avaluativa del programa formatiu s’ha utilitzat el model CIPP de Stufflebeam com a model d’avaluació sistèmica, i en concret l’avaluació de producte, s’ha basat en el model d’avaluació de resultats de Kirkpatrick. Els resultats obtinguts han estat molt nombrosos i significatius. La categorització competencial ha estat validada per la comunitat professional i científica. Ha quedat de manifest la importància de certes competències per sobre d’altres, però en definitiva, totes són necessàries per portar a terme la tasca tutorial. S’han recollit un nombre significatiu d’indicadors de resultats d’aprenentatge de cadascuna de les competències. Les dades recollides en la recerca avaluativa del programa formatiu han estat molt amplies i significatives. Destacar que la recerca aporta dades significatives de l’aprenentatge competencial que ha realitzat el professorat de secundària al realitzat el procés formatiu. La formació rebuda pel professorat compensa les diferencies significatives que es donen a la població control en referència a les diferents variables que s’han seguit: gènere, edat, experiència docent, experiència tutorial, etapa educativa, titularitat del centre educatiu, titulació del professorat, àmbit docent i formació permanent. La recerca presenta un capítol de propostes de millora i prospectives. / This Doctoral Thesis brings new elements in the construction of the school system orientation and the definition and consolidation of the tutors’ competencies in the secondary education centres. The professional construction of teachers in the tutorship field starts with the teacher’s initial training and it goes all throughout their professional life. The ICE of the UB conducts a graduates’ course named “The tutorship and its practice” to give an answer to the tutors’ need of their ongoing training. It is a course of a professional nature and it aims to go further in helping teachers improve as tutors of secondary education schools. This investigation has a dual purpose: in the first place to categorize the competences a tutor should have and secondly to evaluate the training programme, the training process and the results obtained in the professional field. It starts with the definition of the conceptual framework with the social, educational and of guidance implications in building the tutor’s competencies framework. The methodologies used have been diverse. The Delphi method with double jury of experts has been the one used in the building of the competencies framework. The Stufflebeam’s CIPP method has been used to carry out the evaluation-research of the training programme, as a systemic evaluation model; finally, to specifically evaluate the product, the Kirkpatrick’s results’ evaluation model has been employed. The results obtained have been very numerous and significant. The categorization of competencies has been validated by the scientific and professional community. An important number of indicators of the training results of each competency has been obtained. The data collected in the research of the educational programme have been very extensive, evaluative and meaningful. Note that the search brings significant data of the competence learning to perform the training process. The training received by teachers makes up for the significant differences that occur in the control group regarding the different variables followed: genre, age, teaching experience, tutorial experience, education, ownership of the educational centre, teachers’ qualifications, teaching field and permanent training. The research includes a chapter of suggestions for improvement and forward-looking proposals.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Hons.)) -- University of Western Sydney, 2000. / "A thesis for the degree of Master in Applied Science" Bibliography : leaves 209-219.

Thesis (M. Ed. (Education))--Rhodes University, 2006. / Half-thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Education (Environmental Education).

Thesis (MEd)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Since 2001 an inclusive approach is being followed in education in South Africa. According to this approach all learners must be taught in one education system and according to the same curriculum, namely the National Curriculum Statement Grades R to 9 (Schools). To ensure that this outcomes-based curriculum is relevant and effective in the teaching of learners with a severe intellectual disability, it is important to evaluate the curriculum and to adapt it if necessary. Learners with a severe intellectual disability form a distinctive educational community marked by their high need for continuous support, specific educational strategies and appropriate learning content. In the past, these learners received their education outside the mainstream of education according to an own, appropriate curriculum. However, since 2004 they have been required to receive their education according to the National Curriculum Statement Grades R to 9 (Schools). The aim of this research was to establish the effectiveness and relevance of the National Curriculum Statement Grades R to 9 (Schools) in the education of learners with a severe intellectual disability. A mixed-method research design, which included a literature survey, an empirical, as well as focus group interviews, was applied. By means of the literature survey, the demands were determined that are made on the curriculum by learners with a severe intellectual disability, their parents, the community, and the work community. The demands that educators make on the curriculum were determined by means of an empirical survey. This survey revealed that outcomes-based education is not generally implemented in the 21 schools included in this study. These findings formed the basis on which curriculum evaluation criteria were developed and according to which the National Curriculum Statement Grades R to 9 (Schools) was evaluated. By applying these criteria it was established that in some instances the National Curriculum Statement Grades R to 9 (Schools) does not comply with the demands of the determinants. The deduction could however be made that the National Curriculum Statement Grades R to 9 (Schools) has sufficient adaptable built-in features to be effective and relevant for learners with a severe intellectual disability. Recommendations were made on how best to make the necessary adaptations. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In Suid-Afrika word sedert 2001 'n meer inklusiewe benadering tot onderrig gevolg. Hiervolgens moet alle leerders binne een onderwysstelsel volgens een kurrikulum, naamlik die Nasionale Kurrikulumverklaring Graad R tot 9 (Skole), onderrig word. Ten einde te verseker dat hierdie uitkomsgebaseerde kurrikulum relevant en doeltreffend is in die onderrig van leerders met verstandelik erg-gestremdheid is dit noodsaaklik om die kurrikulum te evalueer en dienooreenkomstig die bevindinge aan te pas, indien nodig. Leerders met verstandelik erg-gestremdheid vorm vanweë hul intellektuele vermoëns 'n duidelik herkenbare onderwysgemeenskap wat gekenmerk word deur hul behoefte aan deurlopende ondersteuning, spesifieke onderrigstrategieë en toepaslike leerinhoude. In die verlede het hul onderrig buite die hoofstroomonderwys geskied aan die hand van 'n eie, toepaslike kurrikulum, maar sedert 2004 moet hul onderrig ook volgens die Nasionale Kurrikulumverklaring Graad R tot 9 (Skole) geskied. Die doel van hierdie navorsing was om die doeltreffendheid en relevansie van die Nasionale Kurrikulumverklaring Graad R tot 9 (Skole) vir leerders met verstandelik erg-gestremdheid te bepaal. 'n Gemengde-navorsingsmetode-ontwerp wat 'n literatuuroorsig, 'n meningsopname asook fokusgroep-onderhoude ingesluit het, is gevolg. By wyse van die literatuurondersoek is die eise bepaal wat leerders met verstandelik erg-gestremdheid, hul ouers, die gemeenskap, en die werkgemeenskap aan die kurrikulum vir leerders met verstandelik erg-gestremdheid stel. Die eise wat opvoeders stel is deur middel van 'n empiriese ondersoek bepaal en dui aan dat uitkomsgebaseerde onderrig nie algemeen aangewend word in die 21 skole in die ondersoek nie. Aan die hand van hierdie bevindinge is kurrikulumevalueringskriteria ontwikkel waarmee die Nasionale Kurrikulumverklaring Graad R tot 9 (Skole) geëvalueer is. By die toepassing van die kriteria is gevind dat die Nasionale Kurrikulumverklaring Graad R tot 9 (Skole) in sekere opsigte nie behoorlik aan die eise van die determinante voldoen nie. Die gevolgtrekking is gemaak dat die Nasionale Kurrikulumverklaring Graad R tot 9 (Skole) egter genoeg aanpasbaarheidselemente het om doeltreffend en relevant te wees vir leerders met verstandelik erggestremdheid. Aanbevelings is gedoen oor hoe die aanpassings gemaak kan word.

Thesis (MConsumerScience)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The provision of housing in South Africa is a national priority. As many aspirant homeowners are first-time homeowners, they are not necessarily informed about the pitfalls of home ownership. Although the Government has attempted short-term solutions aimed at equipping these housing consumers with the necessary knowledge and skills to make informed and responsible housing-related decisions, research pointed to the need for a sustainable longterm solution in the form of education and training of the housing consumer. There must be a concentrated effort to provide housing education to consumers, since everyone has a constitutional right of access to adequate housing. Unless consumers are equipped with adequate knowledge and information to make informed choices, this right will not be realised and the housing market shall not function effectively. The main objective of the research study was to determine the basic housing knowledge of the senior student teachers of the Esikhawini College of Education in KwaZulu Natal. The second objective was to develop an illustrative Unit Standard for teacher qualification programmes on the fifth level of the National Oualificationa Framework (NOF). The sixteen housing education and training core concepts identified by Serfontein (2001 :120) namely Basic Housing Technology, Community, Cultural Aspects of Housing, Environment, Financial Aspects of Housing, Housing Consumerism, Housing Design and Decoration, Housing Market, Housing Needs, Housing Policy, Legal Aspects of Housing, Resource Management, Role-players in Housing, Sources of Housing Information, Tenure Options and Types of Housing were used to compile a questionnaire which was administered to the senior students of Esikhawini College of Education. The aim was to determine the basic knowledge that respondents possessed. The data collected formed the background for the illustrative Unit Standard for Housing Education that was developed in this research study. The development of Unit Standards for Housing Education is very necessary and timely as the Department of Housing, who seeks to develop a systematic housing consumer education framework for South Africa, have recommended that Housing Education should be included in the formal education curriculum. If the recommendations of the Department of Housing are implemented and housing education is included in the school curriculum, well-qualified and trained teachers would be needed to facilitate the learning of the content. Therefore housing education should be included in student teacher training programmes. The illustrative Unit Standard for Housing Education developed in this research study is ideally suited for this purpose. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die beskikbaarstelling van behuising in Suid-Afrika is 'n nasionale prioriteit. Aangesien baie aspirant huiseienaars nog nie vantevore huise besit het nie, is hulle nie noodwendig ingelig oor die struikelblokke van huiseienaarskap nie. Alhoewel die regering korttermyn pogings aangewend het om behuisingverbruikers toe te rus met die nodige kennis en vaardighede om ingeligte en verantwoordelike behuisingsbesluite te kan neem, toon navorsing dat daar 'n behoefte is aan 'n langtermyn, standhoudende oplossing in die vorm van opvoeding en die opleiding van behuisingsverbruikers. Daar moet 'n doelgerigte strewe wees om behuisingsopvoeding aan verbruikers te verskaf aangesien almal die konstitusionele reg tot gepaste behuising het. Tensy verbruikers toegerus word met gepaste kennis en inligting om ingeligte besluite te kan neem, sal hierdie reg nie gerealiseer kan word nie, en sal die behuisingsmark nie effektief kan funksioneer nie. Die hoofdoelwit van die navorsingstudie was om die basiese behuisingskennis van senior onderwysstudente aan die Esikhawini College of Education in KwaZulu Natal te bepaal. Die tweede doelwit was om 'n Eenheidstandaard vir Behuisingsopvoeding vir onderwysprogramme op die vyfde vlak van die Nasionale Kwalifikasie Raamwerk (NKR) te ontwikkel. Die sestien Behuisingsopvoeding en -opleiding kernkonsepte wat deur Serfontein (2001: 120) geïdentifiseer is, naamlik Basiese Behuisingstegnologie, Gemeenskap, Kulturele Aspekte van Behuising, Omgewing, Finansiële Aspekte van Behuising, Behuisingsverbruik, Behuisingsontwerp en -versiering, Behuisingsmark, Behuisingsbehoeftes, Behuisingsbeleid, Regsaspekte van Behuising, Hulpbronbestuur, Rolspelers in Behuising, Bronne van behuisingsinformasie, Huisverblyfopsies en Tipes Behuising is gebruik om 'n vraelys op te stel wat ingevul is deur die senior onderwysstudente aan die Esikhawini College of Education. Die doel was om die basiese kennis van die respondente te bepaal. Die data wat ingesamel is, het die onderbou gevorm van die Behuising Eenheidstandaard wat in dié navorsingstudie ontwikkel is. Die ontwikkeling van Eenheidstandaarde vir Behuisingsopvoeding en Opleiding is noodsaaklik en tydig vir die Departement van Behuising, aangesien hulle poog om 'n sistematiese behuisingsverbruikers-opvoedingsraamwerk vir Suid-Afrika daar te stel. Die Departement het aanbeveel dat behuisingsopvoeding ingesluit moet word in die formele onderwyskurrikulum. As die aanbevelings van die Departement van Behuising geïmplementeer word, en behuisingsopvoeding in die skoolkurrikulum ingesluit word, sal goedgekwalifiseerde, opgeleide onderwysers benodig word om hierdie inligting aan die leerders voor te hou. Om hierdie rede moet behuisingsopvoeding ingesluit word in die opleidingsprogramme van onderwysstudente. Die Eenheidstandaard vir Behuising wat in hierdie studie ontwikkel is, sou optimaal aangewend kon word vir hierdie doel.

Since the introduction of Outcomes Based Education (OBE) as a preferred method of teaching and learning with Curriculum 2005 in 1997, its existence has come under continuous threat for the past thirteen years. Its teething experiences included a revision in 2004 which saw the introduction of the Revised National Curriculum Statements (RNCS) and most recently, we are now standing on the threshold of the implementation of the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) in 2012. Throughout the turbulent educational milieu, social constructivism has always been upheld as the preferred teaching and learning methodology and millions of rands have been invested in this regard. This study is thus premised on the concern that now after all the years of actively promoting social constructivist methodologies, the implementation of the CAPS could seriously negate reasonable strides made in this regard. Triggered by these curricular issues, a qualitative case study was conducted at a school in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, investigating the learning processes occurring in group work sessions during lessons involving practical work in electricity using circuit boards in grade 8. Underpinned by an interpretivist paradigm, the study took place in two phases. The data was mainly generated through audio and video recording of two focus groups. An open coding system was employed to derive analytical categories and frequency tables were used to establish trends. In order to validate the data, two observer teachers were involved throughout the research process and this was followed up with semistructured interviews after the second phase. The two case studies, involving learners fitting a similar profile in respect of mother-tongue and age group, were engaged in a similar activity for almost a year apart. This study anticipated the revelation of the extent to which group practical activities in electricity promoted learning, how knowledge is constructed in group-settings and whether practical activities involving electrical circuit boards in grade 8 enhance learning? The main findings of my study revealed that these practical activities can promote learning and therefore should remain a preferred method of teaching.