The opening chapter states the problem, purpose of study and also provides background to the problem as well as preliminary literature of the study. The other chapter that has substantially enriched the project is chapter two, which provided all the literature, related to the research. The third chapter explains the methodology used in this research study. Data was collected through the use of questionnaires from learners in Gaborone Junior Secondary Schools. All in all, a sample of sixty (60) (n=60) subjects were used to collect data. Chapter four is about data presentation, analysis and interpretation and lastly the recommendations, which are provided to help the authorities as well as the school administrators. The study sought to find out the causes and effects of peer harassment in Gaborone Junior Secondary Schools, as well as the prevalent forms of bullying and the effort undertaken by school administrators and other stakeholders to support victims of peer harassment in the educational system. The researchers' hypotheses were that home background, peer pressure, and popularity are some of the major causes of school bullying, physical and verbal abuse are the prevalent forms of bullying in secondary school, there is . a significant positive relationship between school bullying and learners' low academic achievement and that school administrators and teachers are not supportive to learners who are victims of peer harassment. The findings revealed that indeed, children who come from violent homes, homes faced with divorce, alcoholism, lack of maternal affection and poverty, become bullies. The other ,causes of bullying behaviour according to the study, is negative peer pressure as well as the desire to be popular. The study also revealed that learners who are victims of bullying academically perform poorly, fear going to school, riding a school bus and develop low self-esteem and are depressed. Furthermore, the study found that the school administration and teachers do not make an effort to attend to victims of peer harassment. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education through the work of curriculum developers should provide , policies and programs that address unacceptable behaviour. These polices can include expansion of the school curriculum to cater for guidance and counselling. During the study, the researcher's schedule was affected especially during administration of questionnaires as . a lot of schools were engaged in the Performance Management System exercise (P.M.S), thus some were reluctant to help. / (M.Ed.) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2005

The study sought to investigate on the learning support provision for learners with visual impairment at a senior secondary school in Botswana. The objectives of the study were to describe and explain the learning support provided to the learners with visual impairment at the school and to suggest ways for improving the learning support services to the learners. The study is qualitative in nature. The target population was the school community and its stakeholders. Data was collected using document study, interviews and observation. Qualitative data analysis was employed extensively through descriptions. The research study findings established that there are a variety of learning support programmes provided to learners with visual impairment at the school to enhance their understanding of the academic material. The learning support programmes range from counselling, guidance, advisory, consultancy, assessment, physical orientation of the environment, the school curriculum, tactile orientation of graphically presented learning materials to mention but a few. However, these learning support programmes are not adequate and effective enough to help the learners perform better academically. The shortage of human and material resources especially in the recent past has negatively influenced the performance of learners with visual impairment. There are also main areas of weaknesses such as lack of adequate stakeholder consultation and involvement in the planning and implementation of special educational programmes. The study recommends that partnership between the school and its stakeholders be improved. It is also important that the entire school community and stakeholders be involved in thoughtful, carefully researched learning support programmes. Large class sizes, imbalances in resource provision, counselling services and low production rate of learning and teaching materials at the Resource Centre all need serious attention. / Inclusive Education / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

The study sought to investigate on the learning support provision for learners with visual impairment at a senior secondary school in Botswana. The objectives of the study were to describe and explain the learning support provided to the learners with visual impairment at the school and to suggest ways for improving the learning support services to the learners. The study is qualitative in nature. The target population was the school community and its stakeholders. Data was collected using document study, interviews and observation. Qualitative data analysis was employed extensively through descriptions. The research study findings established that there are a variety of learning support programmes provided to learners with visual impairment at the school to enhance their understanding of the academic material. The learning support programmes range from counselling, guidance, advisory, consultancy, assessment, physical orientation of the environment, the school curriculum, tactile orientation of graphically presented learning materials to mention but a few. However, these learning support programmes are not adequate and effective enough to help the learners perform better academically. The shortage of human and material resources especially in the recent past has negatively influenced the performance of learners with visual impairment. There are also main areas of weaknesses such as lack of adequate stakeholder consultation and involvement in the planning and implementation of special educational programmes. The study recommends that partnership between the school and its stakeholders be improved. It is also important that the entire school community and stakeholders be involved in thoughtful, carefully researched learning support programmes. Large class sizes, imbalances in resource provision, counselling services and low production rate of learning and teaching materials at the Resource Centre all need serious attention. / Inclusive Education / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

Public Administration / (M. A.( Public Administration))

Public Administration and Management / (M. A.( Public Administration))

This thesis describes the background and findings of a study of effective schools and learners achievement in Botswana senior secondary schools from an education management perspective. The aim was to identify schools that promote learners’ achievement when the students’ initial intakes were considered. The study was guided by five research questions. The study adopted an ex post facto design and a quantitative value added methodology to answer the research questions. Simple random sampling was used to select a sample of 5662 from the population of 58 032 students who wrote the BGCSE examinations for 2005, 2006 and 2007. Two sets of data: prior and later achievements at individual student level were collected from BEC and Secondary Education. The statistical software, MLwiN 2.10 beta 4, which is based on hierarchical linear modelling or multilevel modelling, was used to analyse the data for the value added by schools. The findings indicated that a) schools differ in their effectiveness. Some schools were more effective than others; b) Ten characteristics of effective schools were identified from the literature review c) schools differed in their consistency across the three core curriculum areas of Setswana, English and Mathematics; d) schools differed in their stability from year to year and e) schools were differentially effective. They were effective for the mid ability students and boys more than the other groups. The study confirmed that the use of a single statistic measure even in value added analysis could be misleading because of the internal variations between departments in schools. Furthermore, the uses of raw results for measuring school effectiveness were misleading. Some schools which were at the top in raw results were not doing so well in terms of value added and vice versa. The value added measures of school performance proved to be the most appropriate measure of school’s contribution to students’ learning. The value added by schools is also a measure of schools’ productivity. The study made recommendations to improve practice, such as the use of appropriate and fairer methods to evaluate and compare schools. The areas that need further attention were suggested based on the findings of the study. / Teacher Education / D.Ed. (Education Management)

This thesis describes the background and findings of a study of effective schools and learners achievement in Botswana senior secondary schools from an education management perspective. The aim was to identify schools that promote learners’ achievement when the students’ initial intakes were considered. The study was guided by five research questions. The study adopted an ex post facto design and a quantitative value added methodology to answer the research questions. Simple random sampling was used to select a sample of 5662 from the population of 58 032 students who wrote the BGCSE examinations for 2005, 2006 and 2007. Two sets of data: prior and later achievements at individual student level were collected from BEC and Secondary Education. The statistical software, MLwiN 2.10 beta 4, which is based on hierarchical linear modelling or multilevel modelling, was used to analyse the data for the value added by schools. The findings indicated that a) schools differ in their effectiveness. Some schools were more effective than others; b) Ten characteristics of effective schools were identified from the literature review c) schools differed in their consistency across the three core curriculum areas of Setswana, English and Mathematics; d) schools differed in their stability from year to year and e) schools were differentially effective. They were effective for the mid ability students and boys more than the other groups. The study confirmed that the use of a single statistic measure even in value added analysis could be misleading because of the internal variations between departments in schools. Furthermore, the uses of raw results for measuring school effectiveness were misleading. Some schools which were at the top in raw results were not doing so well in terms of value added and vice versa. The value added measures of school performance proved to be the most appropriate measure of school’s contribution to students’ learning. The value added by schools is also a measure of schools’ productivity. The study made recommendations to improve practice, such as the use of appropriate and fairer methods to evaluate and compare schools. The areas that need further attention were suggested based on the findings of the study. / Teacher Education / D.Ed. (Education Management)

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of School Intervention Teams (SITs) in assisting learners with Special Educational Needs (SEN) at community junior secondary schools (CJSS) in Botswana. This case study was guided by the cultural-historical theory on cognitive development by Lev Vygotsky and Bill Hettler’s theory on wellness dimensions. The study used mixed research approach which combined qualitative and quantitative method. The data collection instruments used included questionnaires which were completed by members of SITs, semi-structured oral interview which was specifically planned for SIT coordinators and lastly, document analysis. This research task was carried out under the permission of University of South Africa (UNISA) Ethics Clearance Committee and Ministry of Education and Skills Development (Botswana). Letters of consent were obtained from the school heads, SIT coordinators and members of SIT in the sampled community junior secondary schools (CJSS). The findings of this study showed that the effectiveness of SIT is dependent upon availability of positive attitude and support towards Inclusive Education by school management team, teachers, parents, external stakeholders (Botswana examinations Centre, Central Resource Centre, Principal Education Officers for Special education). Effectiveness of SIT is also enhanced by availability of resources such as teaching learning aids, office and classroom for remediation of the identified learners. Therefore, there is still a great gap between special education recommendation and their implementation in CJSS in Botswana and this hinders the effectiveness of SITs. / Inclusive Education / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of School Intervention Teams (SITs) in assisting learners with Special Educational Needs (SEN) at community junior secondary schools (CJSS) in Botswana. This case study was guided by the cultural-historical theory on cognitive development by Lev Vygotsky and Bill Hettler’s theory on wellness dimensions. The study used mixed research approach which combined qualitative and quantitative method. The data collection instruments used included questionnaires which were completed by members of SITs, semi-structured oral interview which was specifically planned for SIT coordinators and lastly, document analysis. This research task was carried out under the permission of University of South Africa (UNISA) Ethics Clearance Committee and Ministry of Education and Skills Development (Botswana). Letters of consent were obtained from the school heads, SIT coordinators and members of SIT in the sampled community junior secondary schools (CJSS). The findings of this study showed that the effectiveness of SIT is dependent upon availability of positive attitude and support towards Inclusive Education by school management team, teachers, parents, external stakeholders (Botswana examinations Centre, Central Resource Centre, Principal Education Officers for Special education). Effectiveness of SIT is also enhanced by availability of resources such as teaching learning aids, office and classroom for remediation of the identified learners. Therefore, there is still a great gap between special education recommendation and their implementation in CJSS in Botswana and this hinders the effectiveness of SITs. / Inclusive Education / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

In Botswana secondary schools, a positive climate is more of an ideal than a reality. It is the task of stakeholders particularly the headteacher's to create and sustain a conducive learning environment to improve pupils' academic and behaviour standards. To a large extent, the headteacher, as an individual occupying the highest official position in the school, determines how the school is run. His/her expectations, values, beliefs, relationships with teachers and the examples he/she sets for the whole school shape the climate in the school. The headteacher can promote or inhibit a positive climate through his/her leadership behaviour pattern. Thus, the headteacher's leadership style is significant in creating and sustaining a positive school climate. This study has been undertaken to examine the connectedness between headteacher leadership style and school climate. This research focuses on the improvement of climate in Botswana secondary schools through the headteacher's appropriate use of leadership styles in different situations with a view to answer the following questions: What different leadership styles are employed by school headteachers? What are the different types of climates in schools? Are the leadership styles of school headteachers responsible for the climate that exists in their schools? What are the implications of the headteachers' leadership styles for school climate? How can school climate be improved? What roles can the headteachers, teachers and other stakeholders play to improve school climate? The research report comprises six chapters: Chapter one contains the background information of the research, statement of the research problem, aim and objectives of the research, demarcation of the study, definition of concepts, research methods and the research structure. Chapter two presents a review of literature on leadership styles, factors affecting it and discussion of models from different perspectives form part of this chapter. However, the emphasis is on Hersey and Blanchard's situational model which proposes the appropriate use of leadership styles to suit situations. Chapter three covers a review of relevant literature on school climate and factors affecting it. Chapter four presents detailed report on the empirical study. Questionnaires each of which contains items on leadership styles and school climate were responded to by secondary school teachers and interviews were conducted with headteachers. Chapter five contains data analysis and interpretation. Various leadership styles used by headteachers and the corresponding climates were identified. The findings indicated that the type of climate that exists in schools is related to the headteachers leadership style. It emerged that organisational climates vary in schools and that the participating leadership style promotes an open organisational climate. Implications for school performance and for the nation's vision (Vision 2016) was given. Chapter six presents findings from the literature study as well as the empirical study, conclusions based on the findings and recommendations for improvement for practice and further research. / Educational Studies / DED (EDUC MANAGEMENT)