Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are capable of expanding access to quality education, educational resources, and also provide teachers with new skills. Nevertheless, a majority of rural public schools have limited ICTs, mainly due to geographical landscape, lack of service delivery and poverty. As a result, they currently seem not to be adequately benefiting from current advancements in ICTs. The main objective of this research study was to investigate an appropriate broadband services delivery model using wireless access technologies, such as a Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) and Enhanced data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) to deliver electronic-based educational information to resource-constrained public high schools. An exploratory case study approach was adopted to identify and understand the challenges faced by rural schools in the Greater Tubatse Municipality (GTM), including educational services and content considered by the schools as relevant and useful. The research results indicate that resource-constrained schools in the GTM are facing challenges of lack of access to electronic educational information and services, and as a result, teaching and learning becomes limiting and challenging. Based on the research findings, the results show that having access to learning material via electronic platforms could afford educators and learners the opportunity to interact with the outside world, improve learning and teaching and benefit the community as a whole. The broadband services delivery conceptual model (BSDCM) was proposed, developed and evaluated to address the lack of electronic educational information and services for resource-constrained public high schools. The BSDCM is composed of both technical and non-technical components that consider requirements of all role players, ICT challenges, policy makers and Information Communication Technology for Education (ICT4ED) interventions. The proposed model addressed some of the challenges regarding lack of access to educational content. However, it is recommended that the ICT4ED policies governing the use of mobile devices in the classrooms be introduced by the relevant authorities. In addition, a comparative analysis of other network technologies should be conducted to establish if the TCP/IP header compression on Point to Point Protocol (PPP) improves the performance of the network in resource-constrained environments. Furthermore, it is recommended that further research and experiments be conducted to determine if other various third party content providers could create and deploy various educational services and content for different computing platforms using the proposed BSDCM. / School of Computing / M. Tech (Information Technology)

The aim of the research was to determine the influence of adapted sport on the identity formation of adolescents with a mobility impairment. An empirical investigation was carried out to investigate the relationship between certain variables, such as social relationships and affective constructs, and the identity formation of adolescents with a mobility impairment as information emerged from the literature study. A sample of 140 adolescents with a mobility impairment was drawn using purposive sampling. An instrument to measure the identity formation of adolescents with a mobility impairment was compiled. The data, which were obtained from the implementation of the instrument, were analysed using qualitative content analysis techniques. The major findings of the study revealed that there was no significant difference in the identity of adolescents with a mobility impairment who participated in sport, compared with the identity of adolescents with a mobility impairment who did not participate in sport. There was however, a significant positive correlation between social relationships with friends and parents, and the identity formation of adolescents with a mobility impairment. There was also a positive correlation between affective variables and the identity formation of adolescents with a mobility impairment. The two positive affective constructs with the highest correlation were trustfulness and gregariousness. The negative construct with the highest correlation was depression. Based on the findings, conclusions were drawn and recommendations were made. The relationship of adolescents with their friends and parents, together with the health of adolescents, explained the largest proportion of the variance in the identity formation of adolescents with a mobility impairment, namely 42%. The remaining 58% of the variance in the identity formation has not been significantly explained as yet. The implications for parents and educators are clearly explained. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed.

In the light of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa, the Department of Education is promoting HIV/AIDS awareness programmes in public schooling. This dissertation focuses on the management of these programmes in secondary schools in the North West Province using a literature review and empirical investigation. The former discusses the disease and treatment, its prevalence and impact on education and the role of principal, educators and parents in prevention. A qualitative study investigated the views of a small sample of principals, teachers and learners from three secondary schools in the North West Province. Sites and participants were selected by purposeful sampling. Data gathering took place by interviewing principals and educators and by essays written by tenth grade learners. Findings illustrated the importance of community values, information, a school policy, inservice teacher training and the contribution of parents and the church. Obstacles to successful awareness programmes were identified and recommendations made. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Education Management)

This study focuses on the role of school managers in addressing challenges associated with the implementation of continuous assessment (CASS) in the Further Education and Training (FET) band in Mopani District. It furthermore investigates to what degree school managers in the district engage in performing the “traditional” leadership and management roles which create a conducive atmosphere for the implementation of CASS. A thorough literature review provides an understanding of the emerging trends and challenges in the implementation of CASS internationally. Most of these challenges are analogous with those constraining the implementation of CASS in Mopani District. The data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews and questionnaires from purposively sampled district educators and school management teams (SMTs) who came from randomly selected schools. The findings enumerated the insufficient training for school managers and infrequency of performing “traditional” leadership and management roles as some of the factors hampering the implementation of CASS in the district schools. / Educational Studies / M. Ed (Education Management)

The Department of Education is promoting HIV/AIDS education programmes in the public schools of South Africa, particularly through the subject Life Orientation. Therefore, this study investigates the role of Life Orientation in addressing HIV/AIDS in KwaZulu-Natal secondary schools. Different role-players were evaluated to ascertain their attitudes and beliefs about Life Orientation and HIV/AIDS. The examination of different role-players was undertaken to establish the significance of their attitudes and beliefs on the success or failure of the Life Orientation based sex and HIV education programmes in the schools. An attempt was also made to find a relevant definition of the subject Life Orientation that contains the meaning and the purpose of the subject. Teachers were found to be uncertain about an appropriate definition that carries the meaning of Life Orientation; hence they tend to define it by its components such as Life skills, physical education, decision-making, HIV education and others. The study also sought to establish the impact of sex education embedded in Life Orientation on the fight against HIV/AIDS. Sex education was examined to determine whether it encourages or reduces youth sexual activities. In order for teachers to be able to use Life Orientation content to drive sex and HIV education programmes, it had to be ascertained if they were informed or not about HIV/AIDS. The questionnaire carried out an extensive assessment of teachers’ knowledge, attitudes and their personal stance on HIV/AIDS. This study established that training of teachers in both Life Orientation and HIV/AIDS provides them with knowledge which enables them to positively handle sex and HIV education programmes in the classroom. It was for this reason that the study made recommendations with regard to training and support programmes to ensure that teachers are adequately equipped for effective implementation of the subject Life Orientation in the National Curriculum Statement. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)

Abstract not available / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

This study used discourse analysis (Gee, 2011; 2005; 1999) in order to explore a socio-situated view of how teachers created learning opportunities for the participation of immigrant learners when learning linear programming in a Grade 11 mathematics classroom in South Africa. The aim was to explore that which mathematics teachers do in classrooms with immigrant learners that they will not do if there were no immigrants. A discourse analysis approach was used in order to view the opportunities created through language use not as a tool for communication only but also as a tool for building reality. The study reported in this thesis was conducted in three different settings which are in; urban, township and rural environments. The urban environment focuses on immigrant learners who were born in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and started schooling there, in the township and rural environment it focuses on immigrant learners born in South Africa with parents born in the Republic of Mozambique or Angola. Three different mathematics classrooms were observed in their natural environment during lessons focusing on linear programming. Data was collected through a learner questionnaire issued before lesson observations. The aim of the learner questionnaire was to understand the language background of the learners in the mathematics classrooms selected for the study. The second method included lesson observation for at most five consecutive days at each setting. It involved observing teachers and immigrant learners during teaching sessions of linear programming activities. The activities included reading, writing, speaking and participating in mathematical activities. These activities were then analysed to understand how teachers created learning opportunities for the immigrant learners. The study contextualised the results from lesson observations by conducting clinical interviews with three immigrant learners, one from each site, to provide insights into the explanations on immigrant learners approaches when solving a linear programming task. The main conclusion in this study is that immigrant learners were successful in linear programming when teachers’ created learning opportunities by using code switching to support them. The main contribution of this study is that it focuses on multilingual mathematics classrooms of immigrant learners in South Africa – a context that has not yet been researched in South African vi mathematics education. Exploring language practices in multilingual mathematics classrooms of immigrant learners provides a different gaze into teaching and learning mathematics in multilingual classrooms in South Africa. Equally important is the extent to which immigrant learners are distinct to multilingual learners in the teaching and learning of linear programming. / Mathematics Education / D. Phil. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

The purpose of this study was to explore solution strategies that can enhance the achievement of low-performing Grade 12 learners in the following mathematical aspects: finding the general term of a quadratic sequence, factorising third degree polynomials, determining the centre and radius of a circle, and calculating the angle between two lines. A convenience sample of twenty-five low-performing Grade 12 learners from a secondary school in Capricorn District of Limpopo Province participated in the study which adopted a repeated-measures research design. Learners were exposed to multiple solution strategies and data were collected using achievement tests. Findings indicated significant differences in learners‟ average scores due to the solution strategies used. In determining the general term of a quadratic sequence, learners‟ scores were significantly higher when they used formula and the table method than with the method of residues and solving simultaneous equations. Synthetic division made learners to achieve better scores than long division and equating coefficients in factorising third degree polynomials. The use of formulae to find the centre and radius of a circle made learners to have better achievement scores than completing the square. In calculating the angle between two lines learners‟ scores were better using formula and the cosine rule than using theorems. It was concluded that exposing low-performing Grade 12 learners to multiple solution strategies would enhance their achievement in the mathematical aspects explored in the study. Some of the solution strategies that made learners to achieve better results were not in the prescribed mathematics textbooks. The study therefore recommends that mathematics teaching should not be textbook-driven and that low-performing Grade 12 learners should not be regarded as beyond redemption. / Mathematics Education / M.Sc. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe how teachers implement school-based psychosocial support to Grade 12 learners who have behavioural and emotional problems. As a secondary school teacher herself, the researcher frequently interacts with Grade 12 learners who have behavioural and emotional problems. Occurrences of behavioural and emotional problems are on the increase. This inference is based on the large number of reported learner problems in the School-based Support Team (SBST) records of a secondary school. The behavioural and emotional problems reported included violent aggressive behaviour, sexual and substance dependency, teenage pregnancy, early school drop-out and truancy. Learner problems may be caused by a variety of factors emanating from unmet development needs (Mwawenda, 2003), as well as biological factors and family and /or school factors (Papalia, Olds and Feldman, 2008). Kapp (2003), on the other hand, is of the opinion that a conducive environment may reduce learner problems and enhance improved learner wellbeing. This study forms part of the Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative (REPSSI) introduced to certain secondary schools in 2008. Ten teachers, who were part of the school-based team of the secondary school researched, participated in this initiative. REPPSI’s initial objective was to provide psychosocial support to children orphaned by HIV/Aids in South African Development Countries (SADC). The initiative focused on taking care of children’s developmental needs– social, emotional, behavioural, physical and spiritual. In the case of the school researched, this study was a pilot project to use REPPSI guidelines to provide psychosocial support to learners who have behavioural and emotional problems in participating schools. The study investigates how teachers implement psychosocial support based on the REPSSI Initiative. The study further explores how an ecosystemic approach can be used as an alternative approach to enhance the implementation of psychosocial services provided to learners. The study anticipates that an alternative approach will improve the school-based psychosocial initiative for adolescent learners who have behavioural and emotional problems in schools. The researcher used a constructivist paradigm to describe the school-based psychosocial support provided to adolescent learners who have behavioural and emotional problems. A case study design with 10 teachers in the school-based support team was selected. The participant teachers were conveniently and purposefully selected from REPSSI trained teachers. A focus group was used to facilitate semi-structured interviews. Ten participants shared their common perceptions and concerns (De Vos, Strydom Fouche’ and Delport, 2006) in a fairly short period (two sessions of one and half hours duration with teachers). Observations, photographs, reflective notes and field notes were used to gather information. A thematic content analysis of data was used to interpret data. To ensure rigour, it was verified with participants that they agreed with the results of the data analysis process. Debriefing meetings were also held with the researcher’s supervisor. The results of this study showed that teachers view need the pre and in-service training in ecosystemic approach to reduce behavioural and emotional problems of learners important. The results reveal that the use of ecosystemic approach by teachers and all role players in the adolescent learner’s life may enhance the effectiveness of school-based psychosocial support. / Inclusive Education / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

This research was undertaken to investigate the role of motivation in influencing secondary school pupils to learn effectively. The researcher determined that without teacher motivation, pupils cannot learn to their full capacity. A number of motivational theories, principles and strategies, were found which if used properly can improve classroom learning. The ultimate decision concerning how and when to use them is in the hands of the teachers. Pupils should be inspired to perform and reach beyond their perceived limits which demands different learning incentives. As becoming adults, pupils must be encouraged to achieve positive learning and discouraged from negative behaviour that could harm their development. Learning motives remain the strongest driving force to improve pupils' performance as they change their learning behaviour towards achieving set goals. To re-establish the true meaning of education, both teachers and pupils should act responsibly as both bear blame for education having lost its meaning. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)