No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2010.

Prior to the present era, participation in curriculum decision-making at a school level has been very limited in South Africa. The decisions made at schools could be described as implementation as these were influenced to a large extent by the decisions that were made at a higher level. The education system was thus correctly described as very authoritarian and highly centralised at the hands of the authorities in the Department of National Education (NEPI: 1992; King & van den Berg (1991); Christie (1989); Kallaway (1984). The proposals of recent policy documents, such as NEPI (1992) and a Policy Framework for Education and Training (1994), tried to change the above scenario by proposing a broader participation by major stakeholders in schools like parents, learners and educators in curriculum decision-making of the schools. These policy documents culminated in the enactment of the South African Schools Act No.84 of 1996 which officially gave powers to major stakeholders in schools. Governing bodies consisting of learners, parents and educators became the most powerful structure in a school responsible for the governance of the schools. The governing bodies thus assumed powers and duties that they had never had or had little to do with in the past. Parents and learners were now expected to play a major role in the process of making curriculum decisions. This study aims at investigating what curriculum decisions schools make, who makes these and how this is done with an aim to determine the extent to which the major stakeholders (parents, learners and educators including the principal and other promotion post holders) in a school do participate in making major curriculum decisions in their schools. The study was conducted in two secondary schools in Amanzimtoti Circuit which falls under Umbumbulu district of the Durban South Region of the KwaZulu-Natal Province in the Republic of South Africa. A written questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were used to gather data from the respondents in the two secondary schools. To choose respondents from the two schools, a stratified random sample was used but, in a case where only one person occupied a post in that level, that occupant automatically became part ofthe sample. The main findings of the study were :- • Stakeholders interviewed (educators, learners and parents) do take part in cuniculum decision-making in the two secondary schools but, this happens differently for different levels. • Whilst many of the stakeholders interviewed are eager to take part personally in the curriculum decision-making process of their schools, not all of them have the confidence and the ability to do this. • Trust and confidence, by some of the respondents, in the principals and educators tend to make these respondents to lean back and relax, which then makes the principals and educators to be more prominent during the curriculum decision-making process. • All respondents have confidence and hope that the prospects for an all-inclusive and a participative curriculum decision-making approach are bright and promising for the future. The recommendations made include continued assistance to be given to schools in the form of in-service training and workshops for both parents, educators and learners, including the principals of schools, to equip all of them with the necessary skills for effective participation in curriculum decision-making in schools. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Durban, 2001

This study opens in a critical paradigm and explores the previously unheard experiences of caregivers who have been trained in and who practice palliative care in a context of rural African, isolated, profoundly impoverished homes. Instead of a healthcare focus, the study used curriculum theory to provide a fresh look at and to better understand palliative care in context. Curriculum theory distinguishes a curriculum as preactive (espoused) or interactive (enacted), and preactive and interactive curricula for palliative care were compared and interrogated as exemplarity of a circumstance when a curriculum is transported into a context other than that where it originated. The study offers several contributions to health sciences, including a link between curriculum theory and palliative care, and provides deep insights into the experiences of those who practice palliative care with limited guidance and support from senior healthcare professionals. In the 1970s palliative care developed in a hospital context in the United Kingdom as a response to ideas which included that society is death-denying and that medicine and associated sophisticated technology act to render patients passive spectators in care decisions. An aim is to coordinate and plan care which includes a focus on empowering patients and their families by giving them choices around living with a life-shortening illness and dying as comfortably and peacefully as possible. A common theme is an intention to relieve or prevent suffering, and palliative care services have developed throughout the world. Palliative care is delivered by healthcare professionals acting within a multidisciplinary team who provide care at various sites including hospitals, homes and hospices. Palliative care has been introduced to post-apartheid South Africa relatively recently, and the preactive palliative care curriculum is largely based on notions of palliative care which developed in a European context while the interactive curriculum is enacted in rural African homes. Ideas around palliative care may not have a universal or rigid quality, but may represent an agreement among people in a certain context and the unexplored introduction of such ideas into another context may potentially give rise to a hegemonic flow of ideas. Systemic challenges around healthcare in Africa may preclude a patient from having choices in their healthcare. The agency of patients may be undermined by their material living conditions. The study site was rural KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, where the incidence and prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus are the highest in the world. Study questions revolved around a curriculum as a source of knowledge for practice and experiences of a context and practice. Data sources were twofold: firstly a palliative care curriculum text was scrutinized and analyzed in terms of who is cared for, place of care, work of caregivers and palliative care; and secondly data from participants (nurses and home-based care workers) were analyzed to produce deep insights into their experiences of practising in context. Data were generated using a visual technique of “photo-elicitation”, where participants were invited to discuss photographs they took to convey their experiences, and analyzed inductively using naturally emerging themes. Curriculum data indicated that patients should be offered palliative care when there is awareness that they face a life-limiting illness, and a focus was on home care. The espoused curriculum foregrounded physical care and placed less emphasis on aspects such as spiritual, cultural or psychosocial care; the curriculum was delivered at a site distant to caregivers’ practice. In South Africa the legacy of apartheid lingers, and data from caregivers revealed that physical conditions are harsh in that patients are starving, housed in makeshift shelters and face profound social challenges. Spiritual care and cultural care were highly valued, as patients map onto traditional beliefs and cultural practices Data revealed that caregivers were sometimes unsure, angry, felt powerless and could be placed in physical and emotional danger. Patients and their families valued some aspects of palliative care, such as preparing for death and bereavement support, but found challenges in understanding other aspects such as why caregivers did not appear to make attempts to cure disease. Juxtaposing study findings with published literature revealed that diametric worldviews of teachers and learners have an impact on curriculum delivery. The home could be a beneficial place for care but could also create challenges. The study theorizes beyond a palliative care curriculum, and in concluding the study I found that I must move from a critical to a post-structural paradigm. A critical paradigm seeks data around oppression and marginalization so that transformation may be enacted, and data indicated that aspects of the practice of palliative care were both empowering and disempowering for caregivers; they were empowered by being able to practice in an independent, autonomous way, but were also disempowered since the curriculum did not adequately consider context. The study unearthed no universal truth for a curriculum for palliative care; an African curriculum should take cognizance of an African context. I use the study findings to put forward a thesis around certainty in curriculum, and the study prompts understanding of certain curriculum in contexts that are uncertain. Key words: Certainty, curriculum, palliative care practice, context, rural homes / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2012.

The value of teachers' perceptions of science is noted, given that teachers play an active part in implementing curricula. The possibility that teacher's perceptions of science may be different from the image of science portrayed in the official curriculum is considered. Given that during the apartheid era, education was dominated both politically and culturally by one group, objections to the ideological-cultural dimension of the official curriculum were expected. An exposition of the philosophical basis for science teaching and curriculum development is attempted. A process model of curriculum is adopted as it is seen as more effective in portraying the political context of curriculum practice. It is argued that both curriculum practice and the notion of being "scientific" are not objective but depend on the dominant culture. Therefore, there is a need to be open-minded and eclectic about the notion of being "scientific". An attempt is made to identify teachers ' perceptions rather than test the teachers' perceptions against a given norm. In this context a qualitative approach is attempted in identifying teachers perceptions of science by using unstructured and open-ended interviews. A content analysis of the overarching philosophical view in prescribed books and syllabus documents is attempted. Findings are that , broadly speaking teachers perceptions of science were not dissimilar from those in the official curriculum when the study was conducted. In making recommendations for curriculum development it is noted that teachers views need to be accommodated. However including teachers in curriculum development should go hand in hand with workshops to raise teachers awareness o f the issues involved. It is also argued that there is a need f or separate curricula for those who go on to be scientists as well as those who need science for their general education. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Durban, 1994.

The school focused in this study is involved in promoting HIV/AIDS education among learners. Past attempts at HIV/AIDS education took the form of assembly talks and special assembly programmes which, unfortunately, yielded limited success. In response to this, a grade eight HIV/AIDS education programme, integrated into the mainstream curriculum, was developed and implemented. The HIV/AIDS education programme cuts across different learning areas and its impact on learners is the focus of this study. The study undertaken is located in a constructivist paradigm and draws largely upon qualitative research methods. However, the use of quantitative data has also been crucial in supporting the findings of the research. Research participants included a stratified sample of grade eight learners who were involved in the programme, educators who were engaged in the development and implementation of the programme, learners on the school's HIV/AIDS Committee, the Life Skills co-ordinator of the school and social workers who supported the programme. In view of the sensitivity surrounding various HIV/AIDS issues. this study draws special attention to ethical issues that impact on the research procedures adopted. Evidence from this research indicates that the implementation of the grade eight HIV/AIDS programme has substantially improved the acquisition of HIV/AlDS knowledge by learners who were engaged in the programme. The impact of the programme on high-risk behaviour is difficult to ascertain in the absence of longitudinal studies. However, the majority of learners have responded positively to the programme and emerging learner attitudes appear to be favourable to the promotion of behaviour patterns that are supportive of the prevention of HIV-infection. This study suggests that, in the quest to improve the effectiveness of HIV/ AIDS education, the programme in focus needs to engage more seriously with gender and cultural issues. The grade eight HIV/AlDS programme lends itself to further modification and this study recommends that the scope of stakeholder participation be broadened, particularly with regard to parental involvement. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

Since 1994, South Africa has experienced a focus on transformation. The National Department of Education has refocused the vision and direction of the South African education system through a series of policy initiatives. As a result of new legislation in South Africa, considerably more authority and responsibility for decision-making has been devolved to the school level than was the previously the case (Lumby, Middlewood&Kaabwe, 2003). This study investigates teacher involvement in decision-making in finance and curriculum matters in 16 selected rural schools in Maphumulo circuit. . The study sought to investigate the extent to which teachers’ actual and desired involvement in decision-making in Finance matters and Curriculum. Through the interpretive paradigm of the situation quantitative and qualitative approaches were used to provide rich and picture. The study utilized a questionnaire and focus group interviews to investigate the finance area in eight issues: budgeting, purchasing, record keeping, financial reporting, fundraising, monitoring, auditing and accounting. The second area was curriculum with seven issues: selection of books, year plans, work schedules and lesson plans, assessment (tests and projects) time tabling, language policy and instructional methods. Findings show that in both decision-making areas teachers tend to experience less decisional involvement than they desire. However, teachers do not necessarily desire to be involved in every aspect of the selected areas. I therefore conclude that school leaders need to invest in understanding what teachers desire to be involved in and what they do not. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2011.

Many teachers have difficulty in implementing the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS). This is particularly true of the natural science curriculum. The purpose of this study was to explore the ways in which natural science teachers interpret and implement the natural science curriculum in Grade Four. A further aim was to find out which factors impinge on teachers’ ability to implement the curriculum. The study is underpinned by a theory of implementation developed by Rogan and Grayson (2003) who argue that major changes in new curricula are difficult to implement and suggest that any curriculum innovation should be ahead of existing practices. Rogan and Grayson’s (2003) framework is further used to identify the levels at which teachers are located with regard to their ability to implement the curriculum. The research was conducted within the interpretive paradigm. It is a case study of four natural science teachers who teach in the Folweni cluster of the Umbumbulu district. The methods of data collection included a questionnaire, document analysis, pre- and post-semi structured interviews and class observation. The data was analysed using Rogan and Grayson’s framework. The findings indicate that teachers are at different levels with regard to their ability to implement the natural science curriculum. This is partly due to the way they interpret the curriculum and partly due to a number of factors that influence their capacity to implement a new curriculum. Teachers have different abilities with regard to their interpretation of the curriculum. These abilities were interpreted in terms of their understanding of content, outcomes and assessment, as well as their ability to teach in learner-centred ways. Teachers’ capacity to implement a new curriculum are influenced by factors such as their qualifications, the circumstances of the learners they teach; the physical resources available to them, the support they receive from the school management, as well as the ethos that prevails in the school. The study concluded that teachers be supported in different ways to improve their capacity to implement the natural science curriculum and that this can ultimately lead to an improvement in teachers ability to implement the natural science curriculum as set out in the Revised Curriculum Statement (2002). / M. Ed. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.