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

Thesis (M.Ed. (Educational Psychology))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Education, 1998. / This study investigated the attitudes of professional staff members at schools in Gauteng towards the implementation of mainstreaming/inclusion of Learners with Special Educational Needs (LSEN). Three hundred and sixty professional staff members from nineteen schools answered the Questionnaire on Special Educational Needs of Pupils, which was designed to assess the perceived competence and the attitudes of teachers the mainstreaming of LSEN. Nineteen urban schools in Johannesburg participated in this study; namely, five dual medium (English and Afrikaans) government remedial education schools, six government schools with an aid class, four private remedial education schools and four private regular education schools. [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version]

M.Phil. (Adult and Community Education) / The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996: 13) stipulates that everyone has the right to Basic Education and Training and to Further Education and Training, which the state through reasonable measures must make progressively available and accessible to all citizens. It has often been acknowledged that a well-developed Adult Basic Education and Training sector in the country could make a major contribution to South Africa's economic growth and general social development. The Adult Basic Education and Training Sector is meant to address the transformation of "night schools" into meaningful Adult Basic Education and Training centres. In 1997 the Department of Education adopted a framework for the implementation of Adult Basic Education and Training. This multi-year plan, informed the development of Adult Basic Education and Training plans at provincial level. Therefore, the Gauteng Department of Education's Adult Basic Education and Training plan set out a multi-level programme of action for four years, (1997-2000), which plan has now been strengthened by the promulgation of Adult Basic Education and Training Act No. 52 of 2000. The plan strategy as stipulated by the Department of Education (1997:4) sought to provide strategic direction for the transformation of Adult Basic Education and Training Centres in order to respond to the Education and Training needs of the citizens of this country. The plan also identified priorities, including timeframes that guide the restructuring of the sector. The policy framework as stated above, is quite clear in terms of what needs to be done to restructure and transform Adult Basic Education and Training centres. However these centres remain untouched by the envisaged developments. The pace at which change is happening is very slow. Therefore, this study sought to establish what are the stumbling blocks to the reorganisation of these Adult Basic Education and Training centres.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Social interaction plays a key role in children’s social development and learning. Hence, social interaction is important for everyone, including individuals with intellectual impairment. Researches such as Vygotsky, Dockett and Perry (2003) has shown that opportunities for social interaction for people with intellectual impairment can facilitate increased community integration, improved quality of life, greater sense of life-satisfaction and wellbeing, the development of friendships, and increased social skills. I engaged with relevant literature in order to understand the characteristics of children with intellectual impairment and their social functioning. My theoretical framework was based on a socio-cultural theory. The research was conducted at a school in the East Rand region of Gauteng that caters for children with intellectual impairment. The sample of participants that participated has played a prominent role in the school concerts and their age range between 12 years and 23 years old, with intellectual impairment as their primary disability. A phenomenological research design was followed so as to understand social and psychological phenomena from the perspectives of the people involved, in how they experience the school concert. Data was collected from various participants form the school’s environment, such as educators, the identified participants parents/caregivers, support staff the participants themselves. I conducted unstructured and semi-structured interviews, such as focus group discussions and individual interviews, with participants, parents/caregivers, educators, and support staff (speech therapist). After the research was conducted, the central findings about the research is the use of creative expressive arts helps children with intellectual impairment to become more focussed and increase their communication skills, developing a sense of self and building relationships. The school concert boosted their self-esteem and their confidence, improving their social interaction.

The purpose of this study was to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a pre-operative health education programme provided to cardiac surgery patients at a private hospital in Gauteng. A questionnaire was used to collect data and indicated that most patients were satisfied with the pre-operative education that they received before their cardiac surgery procedure, and therefore felt well prepared for the operation. It is, however, evident that family involvement with pre-operative education was not satisfactory. This lack of family involvement is a limitation in the present programme. The study also noted that patients must be informed about visiting hours, and the intense feeling of the endotracheal tube post-operatively should be emphasised. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Educational Studies / (M.Tech. (Inclusive Education))

The purpose of this study was to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a pre-operative health education programme provided to cardiac surgery patients at a private hospital in Gauteng. A questionnaire was used to collect data and indicated that most patients were satisfied with the pre-operative education that they received before their cardiac surgery procedure, and therefore felt well prepared for the operation. It is, however, evident that family involvement with pre-operative education was not satisfactory. This lack of family involvement is a limitation in the present programme. The study also noted that patients must be informed about visiting hours, and the intense feeling of the endotracheal tube post-operatively should be emphasised. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Educational Studies / (M.Tech. (Inclusive Education))

M.Ed. (Education Management) / The White paper 6 advocates the introduction of inclusive education in all public schools in South Africa, where all learners irrespective of their abilities, would have to be taught together.That leaves educators with the biggest challenges. Among others, the educators must change their method of teaching in order to be able to deal with multi-lingual and multi-cultural classrooms. Moreover, educators are expected to change their attitudes and perception on learners with special educational needs. In addition, they should be reskilled to serve as managers, counsellors and consultants. However, in South Africa there is no single model that could be used to address all the challenges left by the legacy of apartheid in public primary schools. The purpose of this study is to contribute and add to the existing body of knowledge on the challenges facing educators in implementing inclusive education. In order to accomplish this aim, the main endeavour is to reveal the biggest challenges facing educators in implementing inclusive education in public primary schools and to highlight the implications of inclusive education in schools. The researcher used the critical qualitative action research approach to probe eight educators and school principals regarding their training, whether they have the necessary skills to deal with the implementation of inclusive education in their mainstream schools and probing them about effective models of inclusion that are applicable to their schools. The research sample was randomly selected from two public primary schools in Gauteng Province in District 011. Interviews, classroom observation and closed questionnaires were used as instruments of obtaining relevant data. In this study, interaction schedules, coupled with other data processes such as inductive analysis and verifications were used to analyze data. Data collected was catergorise into themes and comparisons were made on patterns that appeared and reappeared during this study. The research study revealed that, there is a need for a change or shift from traditional practice to new paradigms where teachers as reflective practitioners, are expected to take a closure, critical look at their way of teaching, as dictated by the new curriculum. Furthermore, the study revealed that there is a need for a shift from a medical model to a understanding system located within an understanding of barriers to learning. Secondly, perceptions of educators on learners with barriers should change. Furthermore, there is a need of giving learners extra support so that they can fit or be integrated into the mainstream classrooms. Moreover, assessment should cater for diverse needs of all learners and very crucial, there should be a shift from pedagogy of exclusion to a pedagogy of possibilities that takes into consideration barriers to learning, different intelligences and learning styles. In order for the implementation of inclusive education to take place smoothly in public primary schools, the researcher recommended that: schools should develop effective partnership with parents, organizations and other community stakeholders. The Department of education in conjunction with schools should embark on an advocacy campaign. Furthermore, the Department of education should strengthen the site-based support teams (SBST) and ensure that educators receive quality training in inclusive education for human resource development and lastly, the Department should ensure that special schools are strengthened as resource centres.

A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Audiology in the faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, January 2017 / Background: The benefits of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) services on communication, cognition and socio-emotional development, including academic and vocational outcomes are well documented internationally. However, reports on EHDI services in South Africa are limited to the establishment of programmes for early detection of hearing impairments, with little focus on the outcomes of the subsequent early intervention (EI) for children diagnosed with a hearing impairment. Objective: This study explored the outcomes of two EI preschool programmes in the Gauteng province, South Africa. The current study aimed at describing the communication and school readiness abilities of hearing-impaired children who were enrolled in the EI preschool programmes, as well as to determine the factors that influenced the attainment of school readiness abilities. Methods: A descriptive research study was conducted on eight hearing-impaired children who graduated from two EI preschool programmes in the Gauteng Province. Content analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data while frequency distribution and measures of central tendency were used to analyse the quantitative data. Results: Participants were late-identified with subsequent late provision of amplification devices and commencement of EI services. Consequently, participants demonstrated sub-optimal communication and school readiness abilities for their age. Early access to EHDI services and age-appropriate communication abilities were identified as factors that influenced the attainment of age-appropriate school readiness abilities for children with a hearing impairment. Conclusion: There is a great need for the establishment of more EI programmes that will meet the unique needs of hearing-impaired children in different contexts and ensure that they also have an opportunity to develop on par with their peers with normal hearing. Further research in this area needs to be undertaken exploring similar objectives to the current study with a larger, diverse sample for improved generalisability of the findings. / XL2018