M.Bibl. (Linguistics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.A. / The new democratic South Africa has opened up a number of unique opportunities and challenges for distance education at tertiary level. Tertiary institutions, however, also face several serious problems that must be addressed in order to rectify the educational imbalances in the country. Due to the policy of equal opportunities for all regardless of race, creed, colour and culture, tertiary education institutions are experiencing an unprecedented influx in student numbers. Residential universities and technikons can accommodate this influx only up to a certain point due to limited physical facilities such as residences and lecture rooms. For this and other reasons, distance education is rapidly becoming the primary means of education, not only in South Africa but also in many countries around the world. It offers an immediate and practical solution to the problem of high student numbers. Some of the advantages of distance education are: • greater numbers of students can be reached throughout the country • students in rural areas have the same opportunities for education as their urban counterparts • imbalances can be addressed more effectively on a wider scale, including the rural areas • courses are generally more affordable • because of their technical nature, courses are often more directly related to the requirements of industry than traditional courses • accommodation for students and physical lecturing facilities are not an issue. The disadvantages, however, are: 1 Chapter 1: Instructional Courseware Design: Introduction lack of direct contact with lecturers lack of student support systems, such as contact with other students and the availability o lecturers to help solve learning and other problems the fact that the primary means of communication and instruction is the written word with limited opportunities for direct verbal contact limited or inadequate administrative support To overcome these problems, the "distance" in distance education mu

Dr. M. Gous Ms. N. Murdoch

M.Ed. (Educational Management) / A regional office of the Department of Education and Training (DET), is an organisation that has to be managed. The chief regional director, as the senior official in the region, is responsible for the effective management of the region in order for the DET to fulfil its mission. Like any organisation, in order to function properly, attention has to be given to the management tasks, for example, planning, organisation guidance, control, motivation, delegation, communication, etc. It is the responsibility of the chief regional director to ensure that these management tasks features at its optimum in his region. In order for the DET, however, to fulfil its mission on regional level, strategic planning has to be done and strategic objectives have to be set, which will be in line with the mission of the DET. From these objectives strategic action plans have to be drawn up which will lead to the setting of tactical plans and objectives with its accompanying tactical action plans. These tactical action plans will in turn, lead to operational plans, objectives and action plans with the consequence that the mission of the DET will eventually come to fulfilment in actions at operational level...

D.Ed. (Environmental Education) / The urgency of the issues concerning man's relationship to the natural environment is confirmed by the large-scale publicity given these issues in the media. This has resulted in a general public awareness of environmental issues, which is presently reflected by numerous efforts to further stimulate positive interest in conservation, responsible utilisation of natural resources as well as sustainable living. Environmental education is the component of education that informs and makes people aware of their immediate environments. Although the principles and guidelines are set according to international standards, this issue should urgently and visibly be instilled in the South African society in order for it to become part of the life-style, value system, social system and education of South Africans in order to develop and promote environmentally literate individuals. During the past 12 years a process of transformation affected all spheres of South African society, including education and training. An outcomes-based curriculum (Curriculum 2005) has already seen many changes and at present a National Curriculum Statement is in place. It is important for learners to acquire environmental literacy (knowledge, skills, attitudes and values), as without concerted efforts at life-long learning for sustainability, South Africa will not be able to become a competitive power in the world, but will face problems regarding sustainable utilisation of natural resources. This in turn can be to the detriment of ensuring sustainability for future generations. It is generally accepted that the next generation of decision makers should be better equipped to not only face environmental issues and problems, but through the process of education, future generations should appreciate their environment and utilise and manage it responsibly in order to enable them to provide solutions with a systematic ecological view of sustainability. In order to ensure success in this regard, educators in all school phases will need to accept the responsibility of applying the principles of environmental education and aspects regarding the environment as indicated in the learning outcomes and assessment standards of the National Curriculum Statement. In order for this to be successfully implemented, student educators should be thoroughly trained to present environmental education in schools. This does not only imply a broadening of educators' knowledge base, but especially the establishment and improvement of their own level of environmental literacy. Only then will educators be in a position to realise the principles as indicated in the White Paper on environmental education. With the environment or aspects of the environment described in the learning outcomes and/or assessment standards of the National Curriculum Statement, it is clear that environmental education will re-emphasise classic educational principles aimed at encouraging positive learner attitudes towards the environment. These attitudes can be defined in terms such as responsibility, concern, inclination towards conservation and sustainability, and awareness and respect for creation. It is clear that some basic aspects of environmental literacy should be investigated in teacher training programmes. A cognitive component has long been accepted as a prerequisite for the existence of any particular attitude while a personal value system is also important...

M.Ed. / Traditional teaching implies the conveying of information from an active educator to a passive learner. A monologic approach such as this, does not make provision for active participation by learners. Dialogue, as an approach to teaching adults, is in direct contrast to traditional, monological teaching. A Dialogical approach does not only imply a conversation between learners and educator, but also purposeful activity by both the learners and educator. The fact that adults have accumulated life experiences and have specific needs must be taken into consideration, therefore it is important that they are recognised as partners and decision makers in the teaching and learning process. A dialogical approach is one of negotiation, where learners are active decision makers, instead of passive receivers. Based on the above assumption, this study focuses on teaching adults, and more specifically adults involved in Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET), in a dialogical manner. The focus is not only on dialogue as an approach to teaching adults involved in Adult Basic Education and Training, but also the practical implications of this approach to actual Adult Basic Education and Training situations. The perspectives of three experts in the field of Adult Education, whose approaches to teaching adults are dialogical, namely Jane Vella, Ira Shor and Stephen Brookfield, are analysed, compared and integrated, as their perspectives not only show similarities but also differences. Because this study focuses on adults as learners, and more specifically adults involved in Adult Basic Education and Training, the concept adult is defined and eventually generalised characteristics for adults as learners are identified and described. The implications of these characteristics in an ABET context are indicated. The above mentioned theory is put into practice by constructing case studies in order to demonstrate dialogue as an approach to teaching adults in Adult Basic Education and Training.

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Education (Management), Durban Institute of Technology, 2003. / The introduction of Curriculum 21 in South Africa in 1998 has brought with it added responsibilities for parents. According to the South African Schools' Act, No.84 (1996), parents have been granted powers to "support teachers in the performance of their task "and "determine subject choices" for their children. However, when Curriculum 21 was introduced in 1998, relevant programmes for introducing parents to these ideas dia not exist. According to Schlebusch and Spady (1999) family, home, identity and respect are important features of Curriculum 21 and only parents can create the best conditions for the academic development of their children. Therefore, the involvement of parents in the education of their children is vital. This dissertation is a case study of a rural KwaZulu- Natal public school, Hopewell Primary School, in which a pilot study of a programme to introduce parents to their responsibilities in the implementation of Curriculum 21, was first introduced. / M

M.Ed. / This research essay focuses on the empowerment of educators as adult learners with a view to develop a positive attitude towards inclusive education. The philosophy of inclusive education has become more prominent in the education fraternity worldwide with the turn of the century and has been applied with great success in countries like the USA, United Kingdom and the Scandinavian countries. Education White Paper 6 passes new regulations on the implementation of special needs education and inclusive education in South Africa Inclusive education as an education system is part of actions taken and reform supported by the National Education Department in South Africa to render education more accessable for all learners with their diverse educational needs. These new regulations are to be implemented by educators in South African schools. The problem that arises in South Africa is that educators do not have a good grounding in the philosophy and values of inclusive education, which leads to negative attitudes. These negative attitudes are seen by various South African researchers as an obstacle to implement inclusive education in South African schools. The statement of the problem in this essay is: How can a workshop for educators as adult learners be designed to empower them with positive attitudes to eventually successfully implement and apply the philosophy of inclusive education in South African schools? The aim of this research was to develop and design a workshop for educators to promote and enhance positive attitudes towards the implementation of inclusive education. Without the positive attitudes of the educators on ground level the implementation is doomed to failure. The philosophy of inclusive education is based on democratic values of freedom, equity and the acknowledgement of human rights. A paradigm shift towards learners who experience barriers to learning must be developed and those learners should be experienced as valued citizens of society. It must therefore be noted that inclusive education does not only include learners with dissabilities but all learners that have barriers to learning and those that were previously deprived of or denied access to education.

M.Inf. / The information society is placing new demands on the LIS profession which could soon be facing an identity crisis. Certain issues need to be addressed to make the traditional LIS more viable and active today. One of these issues is the suitable education of potential employees of the LIS. The purpose of this study was to establish, by means of empirical research, to what extent the IT education offered by Departments of Information Science (DIS) at South African universities are preparing graduates for an electronic information service (EIS). A literature survey was undertaken to establish the nature of an EIS. Three major categories of information technologies which make up an EIS were identified, viz network technologies, communications technologies and retrieval technologies. A second literatyre survey was then undertaken to ascertain the state of IT education in DIS both in developed and developing countries. The motivation for distinguishing between these two nation types was based on the fact that South Africa comprises both developed and developing nations. Based on the information gleaned from the two literature surveys, a questionnaire was compiled and posted to all heads of DIS at South African universities. The purpose of the questionnaire was to establish the extent to which those technologies that comprise an EIS have been incorporated into the curriculum of South African DIS, as well as the attitudes of DIS heads towards the role and significance of IT education in their curricula. The main finding was that although the importance of an IT component in the curriculum is recognised by all DIS, the majority are not placing sufficient emphasis on IT in their curricula. There is a general willingness and a positive attitude towards the incorporation of more IT into the curricula but various constraining factors inhibit this willingness. Problems faced by all DIS is finding the space in their curricula to allocate to IT training and maintaining a healthy balance between theory and practice. Some DIS have the added burden of a lack of facilities as well as catering for students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds.

M.Ed. (Educational Management) / The veld school is one of the most recent developments in the educational provision of the Transvaal Education Department. The effectiveness of the veld school is determined by the quality of education and the enthusiasm manifested by the veld-school teacher as the pursuer of a profession. The professional development and in-service training of the veld-school teacher, therefore, deserves the attention of the Transvaal Education Department, as well as the active measures of the veld-school principal. The rapid technological development of today has caused change and innovation to become an indissoluble part of the daily structure of life. The two most important educational bodies, namely the family and the school, are experiencing problems in keeping pace with this constant change and innovation. The problem of keeping pace with change and innovation may lead to voids in the most important educational situations. It, therefore, concerns the family as well as the school as educational bodies. These voids manifest themselves especially when it comes to the commitment of values and norms to the child. In this study the attempts made by the Transvaal Education Department to overcome these voids in the education of the child have been probed. Initially the subject Youth Preparedness was introduced in an attempt to achieve this goal. The ambitions set for the subject could not be realized within this framework.