M.Ed. / After the introduction of new educational laws and policies in the education system, Outcomes-Based Education was introduced with the aim of producing quality education in South Africa. All educators consequently needed training in the new system of education. The National Department of Education provided training for educators as regarding the methods of teaching and assessment of learner performance using Outcomes-Based Assessment (OBA). However, this training was not sufficient to equip educators with knowledge and skills to assess learner performance effectively. The school assessment teams and school management teams also lacked the knowledge and skills to develop and empower educators to implement OBA successfully. The key research question for this study therefore asks, “What are the reasons that cause ineffectiveness in the implementation of Outcomes-Based Assessment in schools?” The aim of the current study is likewise to investigate the effectiveness of training educators in learner assessment using OBA. The objectives are to provide a clear understanding of OBA, to identify the problems experienced by educators in performing assessment, to determine whether the latter understand the difference between OBA and the assessment of the past and to improve the assessment strategies and methods used by the educators in implementing OBA in Daveyton primary schools. The literature review has revealed that educators can be equipped with knowledge and skills for assessing learner performance effectively. This study employs the qualitative research methodology. All data is collected in the form of participants’ words. Participants were selected by means of purposive sampling. The findings from the responses of the participants indicate that educators lack knowledge of how to conducting OBA effectively. The findings also indicate that there is a need for continuous training and development to empower educators.

M.Ed. / Despite the many changes socially and politically in our country, particularly in the educational sphere, large numbers of learners in further education still face disadvantages like a legacy of inferior education and studying in a language other that their primary language, all of which impact on their learning. Recent literature on the experiences of Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) learner’s experiences of learning in language other than their primary language identifies a number of problems that impact negatively on students’ performance and learning. The research explores the experiences of ABET learners, learning in a language other than their primary language in order to interprete and arrive at an informed understanding of such experiences. The research strategy in this study is grounded within the interpretative paradigm as the aim is to understand how participants make sense of their realities. i.e. how students make sense of their experiences from their own perspectives. For the purposes of the study, a sample of ABET learners were interviewed. Purposive sampling was used to select participants from diverse languages to serve as “information-rich cases”. Semi- structured interviews aimed at encouraging the respondent’ to engage in conversation intended to elicit respondents’ construction were conducted. The data were analysed using the constant comperative method of data analysis. The main findings of the research is that the ABET learners experience problems when taught in a language which is not their primary language. They feared that they ran a greater risk of labelled as underachievers. They also cited that they have difficulty in manipulating the language in an academic situation. The choice of teacher pedagogy and pace of teaching which exaccebates difficulty in using English was also mentioned by the learners. Another challenge was that they find it easy to use the language in informal context, but struggle with the level of sophistication required for an academic level. There is a need for closer links to be made between learners’ life experiences and lesson content and structure. The curriculum must address the real experiences that adult learners bring with them into the classroom and offer to learners the conceptual tools which they need to make sense of and interprete their experiences in the society. Awareness of students’ experiences could enable educators to exceed guidelines for creating an environment which fosters language learning and to choose relevant course materials and select appropriate teaching methods as well as introduce measures to redress the impact of the legacy of inferior schooling in order to enhance quality learning. / Mrs. N.F. Petersen

M.Ed. / Appraisal seems to be a relevant instrument to facilitate the professional growth of educators and school improvement. However, if the process of appraisal is to be part of the development of educators and of schools, it needs to be part of the pattern of school life and linked to the school’s developmental activities. It needs to be context-based within the legal framework provided by the Department of Education (DoE). Appraisal should be a natural progression from the staff development and school development planning. Staff and professional strategies should enable schools and educators to gain skills and understanding, necessary to participate in appraisal. Appraisal should be set in the context of the objectives of the schools which will generally be expressed in a school development plan. The school’s objectives in a particular year, should be linked with appraisal, so that for example, professional development targets arising from appraisal, may be related to agreed targets and tasks in the development plan. This will help to speed up the process of facilitation of the professional growth of educators. A school which is self-developing and self-evaluating, is likely to be one in which all educators exchange ideas, share concerns, contribute to discussion, take part in the process of decision-making and have individual areas of strength and weaknesses identified and supported (Jones, 1993:10). In basic terms, the facilitation of appraisal will assist with the setting of whole school targets and identification of professional needs. / Dr. P.J. du Plessis

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2001 / The overarching theme of the thesis is the urban ‘racial’ restructuring of the East Rand during the first twenty-five years of apartheid. The thesis examines the adoption and implementation of apartheid state’s social engineering strategy, especially its strict racial segregation of the urban areas. In this context, the creation o f ‘modern’ African townships and group areas is emphasised. The thesis focuses attention on the implementation of urban apartheid in Benoni, particularly the establishment of the ‘model’ township, Daveyton. Benoni’s experiences in implementing apartheid policies are compared to that of its municipal neighbours. The thesis contends that local authorities were important role players in the implementation of apartheid. Thus, the ways in which the changing relations between the local and central tiers of the state influenced the making of apartheid at regional and local levels are foregrounded throughout this study. The impact of apartheid policies on the ‘multi-racial’ populations of the urban ‘black spots’ and their responses to these policies are primary concerns in the narrative provided here. The diverse reactions of people affected by forced removals - from acquiescence to militant resistance - in the 1950s and 1960s are analysed. A central focus of this study is the making of apartheid in the 1960s, the so-called golden age of apartheid. Finally, the thesis discusses the introduction and effects o f ‘separate development’ and ‘community development’ as principal interventions by the state to politicise ethnicity and ‘race’ during the period of ‘high apartheid’. / WS2017