Educational leadership and management is a very wide field of study with interdependent components that should form a chain reaction in order to bring about effective management. This study attempts to investigate planning in schools which is one of the educational leadership and management components or functions. Very little research work has been done on educational planning in the Ciskei schools. This is a shortcoming since the number of secondary schools has mushroomed in the late twentieth century. The Ciskei educational managers and parents need to know and take note of the possible situations in the various schools. This is opportune time, particularly that recent events, i.e. students' demands and strikes, are drawing parents closer to the education of their children. The researcher's experience of inspecting school administration since 1990 has reinforced his conviction that the managerial teams in the Ciskei secondary schools have little knowledge of management, and of planning in particular. Although the investigation is into secondary school administration, it is also pertinent to primary school planning. Management, i.e. school year-planning, control of work, staff development, appointment of teachers, policy governing students and teachers are discussed at length . Joint planning, i.e. a participative or consultative approach, and advance planning, are investigated in relation to the school year-programme. The existence of statutory bodies in the various schools is assessed in order to test parents' involvement in the education of their children. School tours are discussed in relation to students' involvement in the school activities. The analysis of the results highlights areas that require attention, and the recommendations given address the controversial issues in planning in the various schools.

The study aimed at developing a curriculum for technology teacher education and training for technology teachers teaching Grade R-9 in South African schools. The study was motivated by the national implementation of Curriculum 2005 as well as the Revised National Curriculum Statements Grades R-9 to be implemented from 2004. The cognitive framework was illuminated by the conceptualisation of technology education and examined the philosophical foundation and theoretical context of technology education, including the historical background of technical education in relation to teacher training in South Africa. The Norms and Standards for Educators as a benchmark for teacher education and training programmes is explored. Moreover, a conceptual framework for the proposed curriculum was investigated. This involved an analysis of selected educational philosophies and their influence on curriculum development, various curriculum approaches and models, including outcomes-based education, a needs analysis and curriculum evaluation and assessment. A small-scale empirical investigation using qualitative and quantitative approaches was carried out. Questionnaires designed for educators of the Technology Learning Area and educators of technical subjects were used to gather data. The empirical investigation comprised a needs analysis of the curriculum development process. To ascertain validity and reliability of findings, instruments were subjected to a pilot study. Data were analysed by a MS Excell spreadsheet computer programme and findings presented in tables and graphs. The curriculum for technology teacher education and training, particularly curriculum content, was based on the empirical findings and the philosophical foundations discussed in the literature review. The proposed curriculum stresses the importance of partnership between schools and industry and resulted in the following outcomes: * knowledge of technology education; * applied and integrated teaching competence; * applied and integrated assessment; * recommendations for improving the school-industry relationships through partnerships programmes emphasising the design of technological projects. Finally, the following recommendations emanated: * improvement of technology teacher education and training programmes in higher education; * development of expertise in the teaching and learning of technology; * resurgence of research in the teaching and learning of the technological design process. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Didatics)

This study reports on a social-realist analysis of collaborative curriculum development in a journalism and media studies (JMS) department at a South African university. Archer's social-realist meta-theoretical framework is used to theorise about mechanisms that influence collaborative curriculum development within the context of the JMS Department. The thesis examines the cultural, structural and agential conditions that influenced the process of developing a JMS curriculum that aimed to integrate theory and practice. Bernstein's theories of knowledge recontextualisation and disciplinary knowledge structures are used in the analysis. Bernstein argues that knowledge recontextualisation constitutes a site of struggle. This thesis is an examination of the "struggles" for the epistemic-pedagogic device (Maton's elaboration of Bernstein's epistemic device) during the recontextualisation process that aimed to integrate media studies (MS) and media production (MP) in the JMS curriculum. Traditionally academic work has been an individual endeavour. However, given the growing need to work in disciplinary and inter-disciplinary teams, it is imperative to develop knowledge of the mechanisms that influence such practices. This thesis is a contribution to knowledge of collaborative processes at the level of an academic department in a university. It contributes to knowledge of cultural, structural and agential mechanisms that enable or constrain collaborative curriculum development within a particular kind of context. In addition it contributes to knowledge of the nature of leadership that may be necessary to facilitate productive collaborative relationships and practices in such a context. The curriculum development project reported on in this thesis was initiated in 2003; however, data collection for the study was conducted in 2006 when the curriculum for the fourth year (JMS 4) of the Bachelor of Journalism degree was developed. Since the JMS course prepares students to work as journalists or media workers it is necessary for the curriculum and pedagogy to be oriented both towards the academy and towards the media industries. The aim of the JMS degree is to develop students who will be critically reflexive journalists or media workers. As such the course is both theoretical (MS) and practical (MP). One of the findings of this research project is that the integration of MS and MP is a complex project given that the knowledge of the two disciplines is structured differently. MS is concept-dependent and some aspects of it can be applied to journalism and media practice, while MP is practical and thus context-dependent, though underpinned by theory. A further finding is that both the collaborative work and the integration project required different identity shifts from the lecturers in the JMS Department. Some were more able to make the shifts than others. The thesis shows that the knowledge recontextualisation struggles in the curriculum development processes of the Department of JMS centred around, inter alia, the setting of boundaries between the department and the media and journalism industries, between MS and MP and between MS theory and journalism theory. In addition, existing boundaries between MS and MP lecturers had to be traversed. These boundaries were circumscribed by, amongst other things, unequal power relations emanating from the higher status traditionally accorded to theoretical knowledge by universities, the tensions around the nature of journalism education and training and the differential properties and powers of the various lecturers within the department. The existence of a strong regulative discourse was found to be an important unifying mechanism in a tension-ridden context.

Thesis (MTech(Management))-- Cape Technikon, 2002 / Outcomes-based Education was introduced to the South African education system in 1996 with the implementation of Curriculum 2005. The first post-apartheid Minister of Education, Professor Sibusiso Bhengu, set himself the task of radically reforming the education system and of eliminating everything which had emanated from the apartheid regime. This work has been continued by the present Minister of Education, Mc Kadar Asmal. The reformation of the education system and the implementation of Curriculum 2005 by the government was based on the advice of international experts. This advice was garnered at a premium in costs, but there is a general view that South African circumstances were not always taken into consideration. In many instances there is a feeling that Curriculum 2005 was forced upon the educators. This study focuses on education in South Africa, past and present, as well as the perceptions of Curriculum 2005 by educators, and whether educators are really motivated by it. This study also focuses on certain problematic areas in Curriculum 2005 and suggests possible solutions.

M.Ed. (Psychology of Education) / The training of psychologists in South Africa is currently under scrutiny. A request from the South African Association for Psychology as well as the Professional Board for Psychologists is to broaden the terrain of psychological services. Therefore, new structures regarding registration have been discussed and will be implemented by the year 2004 (Professional Board of Psychology, minutes 15 September 1999). In South Africa the need far outweighs the supply: both in terms of psychologists and services available in the different communities. The cost to see a professional psychologist -is far greater than what the ordinary man in the street can afford (Kriegler, 1993; Richter, Griesel, Durrheim, Wilson, Surendorff and Asafo-Agyei, 1998). The crime rate in South Africa is one of the highest in the world (Grimbeek, 1998; van Niekerk, 1996). Millions of people, of whom a great percentage are children of school going age, have been traumatised by crime, poor housing, poverty and domestic violence. Unemployment plays an integral part in these problems. People are struggling to find work as well as to remain employed. Stress which is affecting all of us is a serious problem, and needs to be addressed by psychologists in all the realms of life. If we look at these problems that are currently part of our lives in South Africa, it becomes clear that more people with trained counselling skills are needed. The training of therapists and counselors is of great importance if we wish to place people in our communities to assist the vast number of those who experience problems in their lives.

This study focuses on the effective implementation of C2005 by the Grade 7 teachers in the Motherwell area. For teachers to meet the demands of the new curriculum, in-service training is needed to develop them to be competent in all the aspects required for the use of the OBE approach. The main research question is: How have Grade 7 teachers in Motherwell implemented C2005 in their classrooms? Questionnaires and interviews were used as tools to collect the data. The data was collected from five selected primary schools in the Motherwell area. The teachers’ responses obtained from questionnaires and interviews were analyzed both statistically (using tables) and descriptively (telling teachers’ stories). Responses determined the competence of teachers in four areas, namely, teaching methods, content, classroom organization and assessment of learners. An account of inservice training courses attended by teachers is provided. These courses revealed the problems encountered by teachers during the implementation process and the subsequent assisstance they received. The data provided in this study is in line with the research done by the Review Committee (Chisholm, 2000) in the Eastern Cape. Recommendations of the Review Committee gave rise to the establishment of the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS). The responses from this study confirmed the need for retraining of teachers to develop their competences. This study urges the Department of Education to focus on establishing methods of training that will develop teachers in their teaching experience. The SMTs should also be able to assist teachers with the problems they encounter in their schools. Teachers should be able to take responsibility for their learners’ competence and take ownership of changes in their schools. The financial assistance of the National Research Foundation towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed in this thesis and conclusions arrived at, are those of the author and not necessarily to be attributed to the National Research Foundation

M.Litt. et Phil. / The purpose of this study is to determine the need for civic education and the degree to which this need is addressed in Curriculum 2005. (Curriculum 2005 is the new education curriculum, implemented in state schools since 1998.) As a young democracy, one of the challenges South Africa faces is to consolidate democracy. Part of this challenge is to establish a culture of political tolerance. Civic education, implemented in schools, is a method to achieve these goals. In the rationale of Curriculum 2005, it is stated that ". . . the child is given opportunities to grow and develop as an active citizen, contributing constructively to the building of a democratic, non-racist, non-sexist and equitable society." (Foundation Phase: Draft Policy/Phase Document, 1997) Intentionally or unintentionally, Curriculum 2005 appears to be the Department of Education's answer to the need for civic education in South Africa at this stage. The degree to which this need is fulfilled needs to be determined, as well as the shortcomings and where and how it can be improved. For civic education to be successful and effective, broad criteria were identified for the content; the method; the approach; resource materials and teacher education. This study found that there is a fair degree of elements of civic education in Curriculum 2005. There are, however, five main problems that may hinder the effectiveness of civic education. The first is the method. Civic education is not taught as a separate subject, but interwoven in mainly the social learning area. The second obstacle is the content. Thirdly, the majority of teachers who have to teach civic education lack sufficient ability and knowledge, as they did not receive training in this field. A fourth point is the budget constraints. On the one hand time and money is needed to develop a civic education programme, while on the other hand, there are some urgent needs to upgrade and expand physical infrastructure in schools. Lastly, the lack of sufficient and appropriate resource material for teachers, probably poses the single biggest obstacle for the successful implementation of civic education. The Department of Educuation did not provide official textbooks or guidelines, and the sourcing of material for discussion and examples is left to the teacher's own discression. Although there is a clear need for civic education in South Africa, and the intention to fulfil this need seems to be present in Curriculum 2005, the means to achieve this goal are absent. The combination of these five points leads to the conclusion that if the results of civic education could be measured, any form of success and effectiveness in Curriculum 2005, would be nothing more than pure coincidence.

D.Ed. / South African education policy identities curriculum delivery as the core process in education and INSET, EMD (Education Management and Development) and enabling functions as the strategic levers for curriculum delivery (Employment of Educators Act 76 of 1998, PAM Chap A, paragraph 4, 3C-15). With regard to EMD, the strategic lever which is the focus of this research, the EMD curriculum delivery nexus prompts the need to examine those curriculum and education management and development theories, practices,_structures,-policies-and-their-interrelationships-that-will-drivesupport- -and complement the 'core process' in South African education. Since 1994 to date, educational transformation broadly and curriculum change and development, specifically, has been predominantly characterised by education policy formulation rather than education policy implementation. There is concern that the state of readiness at the site of implementation has not been comprehensively gauged. et al (In Chisholm Karlsson, 2000:2) claims that despite 'the establishment of sound legal and regulatory frameworks to facilitate the process of change, it is at the level of policy implementation - that is, at the school level - that the major crisis points appear to be'. The 2000 Curriculum Review Committee, commissioned by the National Minister, makes similar findings and outlines some of the major challenges in implementing new curriculum policy frameworks. Where supportive legal and regulatory frameworks have not been effectively responsive to the inhibiting factors at the site of implementation - school level - this could have been avoided had the implementation landscape informed the facilitating frameworks at the outset. A key objective of the research was to elicit the perceptions, by means of a questionnaire, that school education managers (Principals and SMTs) and school educators (non-SMT members) have of the school's internal organisational and management arrangements and particularly the EMD role that the SMT plays to support curriculum change, development and delivery, and the nature, quality and impact of the support that district officials contribute to the school's curriculum change development and delivery processes. Broad foci of this investigation included consultative strategic policy planning, implementation and support approaches at the district-school interface, specifically, consultative curriculum and organisational change management and support strategies and key partnering, incentive and feedback strategies both within and between the two levels of curriculum delivery. Aspects that impact on effective policy implementation and curriculum delivery, such as performance monitoring, capacity building, quality support and district-school organisational alignment at the interface, are also considered. Generally low factor mean scores - illustrating readings at the neither disagree nor agree i.e. 3 on the Likert scale - were acquired with regard to district-school alignment of action plans and district support. This indicates that the strategic levers/ processes, namely education management and development and INSET, has not been adequately developed to facilitate effective curriculum change, development and delivery. Thus the research problem as identified in paragraph three. Findings from focus group interviews, conducted with district officials and triangulated with the questionnaire and literature survey findings, related largely to the internal district dynamics and processes and the quality of district support at the district-school interface. The ultimate aim of the research was concerned with informing an EMD theoretical orientation and practical framework that support reflexive curriculum change, development and delivery. The research draws attention to perspectives, emanating from both the literature survey and the research findings of the kinds of interactive curricular and organisational practices that could support effective curriculum delivery at the district-school interface. Practices that emphasise district-school performance alignment, whole school development, and structures and processes that provide opportunities for dialogue, mentoring, coaching and support in managing the curriculum were all recommended for bridging the theory-policy-practice divide.

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

This research report describes an investigation that involved the collaborative participation of teachers in the redevelopment of parts of the Junior Secondary General Science syllabus. The redevelopment tried to implement environmental education as an innovation. There are two central assumptions that the investigation has made. The first assumption is that the the present Junior Secondary General Science syllabus lacks environmental relevance and therefore the pupils are inadequately prepared to deal with environmental problems. The introduction of a curriculum innovation like environmental education has the potential to bring greater environmental relevance to the syllabus. The second is that such an innovation can be more successfully implemented at schools if it involves the collaborative participation of teachers in the redevelopment of the syllabus. This assumption is made since evidence suggests that curriculum change can be a process of social reconstructive process when it takes place in situ and where teachers and pupils reshape the curriculum in the classroom as the teaching and learning progresses. An action research approach was selected since it is compatible with collaborative teacher, participation in curriculum development. The research design involved three parallel case studies: 1. Clermont Zone, 2. Durban Teachers Centre, 3. Edgewood College. The research confirmed that the Junior Secondary General Science syllabus is perceived by teachers to lack environmental relevance; that teachers, while initially resisting participation in the curriculum development process, were willing to participate if it revolved around their curriculum problems. Significant features of collaborative teacher participation in curriculum development seem to be the co-creation of context by the teachers, the need for institutional support, the production of curriculum materials and the need for networking and intercontextual dialogue. Teachers initially had limited curriculum development skills which needed to be developed. This research process has implications for practical actions 'to enable' the transformation of existing curriculums, and assisting the development of a more democratic and effective education system.