Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters in Education (Educational Technology) School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2016 / The internet supplies a continuous stream of information to our students. The information gleaned from the internet is ever-changing and scanty and researchers have used the term “paucity” to describe internet information. It is difficult to trust this information and value it as knowledge. The need for developing Critical Thinking and its application is advanced both internationally and in South Africa .This study, investigated the development of specific critical thinking skills for the purpose of evaluating internet materials for trustworthiness. Within this study a series of lessons were designed to develop Critical Thinking skills amongst a group of Grade 11 students at a private high school in South Africa. Once these skills were acquired the students were able to make a comparison between different internet materials and they made a well-reasoned argument about the credibility of these materials. The key skills were taught through the use of a Learning Management System (LMS). The LMS was used as a medium for isolating selected internet materials and to develop a pathway of learning. Several educational theories, models and philosophies were investigated as they were layered into the fabric of this research report. Critical thinking skills were developed through a blended approach. Although a LMS was used as a primary medium of the Critical Thinking process the teacher was the key agent for its facilitation. The research premise was based on deductive reasoning and presumed that it was necessary to use Critical Thinking to search internet material for trustworthiness. The design made use of a case study as the preferred method to investigate the premise. An inductive approach was then implemented to interpret the data obtained from the evaluation of internet materials. Pre and post tests and scales were instituted and a comparison was made of the students’ confidence and ability to evaluate internet materials using specific critical thinking skills. When comparisons were made of both qualitative and quantitative results there was evidence that there was an enhancement and effective application of the specific critical thinking skills brought about through this intervention. / XL2018

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education, University of the Witwatersrand in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education. / The research, conducted as part of a project aimed at improving teachers' English .skills, set out to answer the question: What are the needs of farm school teachers in relation to the use of English as the medium of instruction? Clarification of this question involved the examination of teachers' English proficiency, the teaching of English as a subject and the.observation of the learning/teaching situation in the farm school classroom. The research raised questions concerning the underlying assumption that an English language intervention could bring about major change in the classroom. As a result, further enquiries into the socio-economic context-of the schools were instituted. In addition, the learning/teaching situation was examined in the light of theories of cognition and change. A range of research methods involving both quantitative and qualitative approaches were utilized to penetrate this highly complex situation. The findings indicated a clear need on the. part of ihe teachers for an English proficiency course. At the same time. the findings also indicated most strongly that a fundamental change is needed in tne teachers' understanding of their role if they are to become agents of significant change. / Andrew Chakane 2019

A Dissertation Presented to The Division of Specialized Education The University of the Witwatersrand In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Education (Educational Psychology) / The policy of mainstreaming and the provision for learners with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in the regular classroom is being promoted in many countries. The rationale for this study lies in the pivotal role of teacher educators In facilitating the success of mainstreaming. ( Abbreviation abstract ) / AC2017

This report confronts the issue of the globalisation of European culture and its significance for the Western canon in South African education. It considers the difficulty of defending the canon as cultural resource for a local minority while avoiding the imposition of the globally dominant Anglophone culture on all South Africans. It is argue-d that whatever in the canon can be freely accepted as advancing the interests of all South Africans should qualify for inclusion in a common curriculum, but that other canonical works should be regarded as minority culture in the same way as aspects of traditional African culture. An attempt is made to establish a perspective from which Africanism and the defence of the canon can be seen as congruent and compatible aims, equally deserving of accommodation within a multicultural curriculum.

M.A. (History), Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, 1994

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education / This report examines the policies of the Department of Education and Training (DET) regarding provision of school facilities at the end of the eighties. It focuses specifically on the implications of these policies for legal freestanding shack settlements in the Pretoria-Witwatersrand- Vereeniging area. The report sets out to unravel discursive trends at the level of senior officials within the DET related to the provision of schools in shack settlements as well as the policies and practices which emanated from these discourses. These are related to broader state strategies and particularly population movement and settlement policies. The effects of these practices are assessed in terms of equity.(Abbreviation abstract) / Andrew Chakane 2018

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]

FEBRUARY, 2016 A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Development Planning. / Since the dawn of democracy in South Africa, significant strides have been made in (ensuring equal access to) education. With that Section 29 of the highest law in the land – the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) – has made provision for the realisation of a basic education for all citizens. Moreover, significant portions of the national budget have since been set aside annually in ensuring the realisation of this right. Yet, the quality of education remains unequal across municipal space(s), even against the backdrop of the amalgamation of previously disadvantaged spaces (such as Luphisi) with affluent areas (such as Mbombela/Nelspruit). This has resulted in the persistence of ‘two worlds of education’ within municipalities as in the case of Mbombela Local Municipality. A world of well-resourced schools and exceptional matric pass rates flourish in Nelspruit/Mbombela, while a world of impoverishment and low academic performance rates is experienced in Luphisi. This research refers to this predicament as ‘structural inequalities between Model C and Rural Schools’ resulting in spatial educational inequalities. The research explores the problems re structural inequalities between Model C and Rural Schools, using the case of Sdungeni Secondary School in Mbombela Local Municipality’s Luphisi village to uncover these hindrances. The report departed by focusing on birth location and the socioeconomic background of learners and how this has a great influence in the kind of education a learner is likely to receive. Using the qualitative method of enquiry, which is a multi-layered type of research technique that crosscuts disciplines, fields, and subjects, the study arrived at presenting a cohort and demonstration of multiple truths rather than ‘a single truth’. The research brought to light that whilst the government has made concerted efforts at ensuring the equal structures of education in different municipal spaces, these efforts are still hampered by class (as a residue of apartheid) as well as government’s adoption of neoliberalist policies which further perpetuate the rich-poor divide. It was also noted that the confusion regarding the governance of schools – due in large part to traditional and/or structural issues – may be hindering the upgrading of rural schools with amenities and higher grades. Consequently, schools – by virtue of their location, morphology, still play a significant role in reproducing and perpetuating social class divisions as well as ordering different societies according to their ‘latently prescribed’ nature(s) of function

Professionals often find it difficult to find time to attend training. Still in its infancy in South Africa, mobile learning (m-learning) – learning using a web-enabled mobile electronic device such as a cell phone or tablet – holds promise as a platform to deliver relatively convenient and inexpensive learning programmes. This intensive study sought to identify the factors key to m-learning adoption for professional development and how they affected m-learning in a South African context. Accountancy practitioners and business school students were invited to participate in this study, and human resource directors were interviewed to gauge their responses to similar questions from a corporate point of view. The constructs of Ally and Gardiner’s Hybrid Smart Mobile Device Acceptance Model (2012), which explored the moderating influence of device characteristics and usage on acceptance of smart mobile devices, was adapted to form the framework for the study. Two dimensions were added to the constructs of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use (relevance and tool sets) to explore what aided construction of meaning. The four top factors – relevance, enjoyability, the perception of being in control, and motivation, each bore a signifant relationship to the other, along with a sense of security, organisational beliefs, and others’ beliefs. A third dimension – willpower, added to explore hedonic motivation, brought to light issues that sapped willpower, rather than supported it. Participants expressed a marked preference for independent rather than social learning. While a sturdy framework for m-learning construction emerged from this study, the findings are not generalisable. / MT2017

Thesis (M.Ed.) -- University of the North, 1997 / Refer to the document / HSRC (Human Science Research Council)