M.Ed. / Lack of community involvement in the provision of social-environmental education programmes has become a serious problem, even though some communities are aware that they should be involved. In this study an attempt is made to find out how the community is, or could be, involved in the provision of social-environmental education programmes in primary schools, that is, the issue of community involvement in a school's delivery of Environmental Education, focusing especially on social issues. Part of transforming the education system is making it democratic. The democratisation of education includes the idea that stakeholders such as parents, teachers, learners, and members of the community should be able to participate in the activities of schools. Put simply, the right to education and the duty to transform education, means that all stakeholders have new rights and responsibilities. They have rights and responsibilities concerning the way schools are run, and the way in which education takes place. It is the responsibility of the state, the parents, learners, educators, and others to provide the best possible social-environmental education for all learners. The state cannot provide everything and do everything for the school. It cannot afford to do this. Parents and members of school communities are often in the best position to know what their schools really need, and are aware of what problems exist in their schools. This is a meaningful role within the school. Therefore, there must be a partnership between all stakeholders who have an interest in education. The partners are the state, the parents, learners educators, and members of school communities.

M.Ed. (Media Science) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The State of Texas requires the completion of all six semester hours of government for graduation from a public college, but does not provide detailed guidelines regarding content, and related objectives, for these courses. Thus instructors have considerable discretion in the setting of course objectives. The problem of this dissertation, therefore, is the determination of course objectives actually set and the general orientation within political education that the objectives may reflect.

This explanatory sequential mixed methods study reviews the programs and academic courses for women at complementarian schools of Christian higher education. The literature review historically unfolds the egalitarian and complementarian debate. Choosing the complementarian path, I advocate theological or practical ministry training for complementarian women, and review other recent research pertinent to this field. The initial quantitative phase utilizes content analysis from catalogs on institutional websites. In a second qualitative phase, twelve purposively selected directors were interviewed at exemplar complementarian schools such as Cedarville University, Covenant Seminary, Dallas Theological Seminary, The Master’s University, Midwestern Seminary, Moody Bible Institute, Reformed Seminary, Southern Seminary, Southeastern Seminary, Southwestern Seminary, and Westminster Seminary. The analysis includes quantitative and qualitative data revealing consistency and variation among these institutions in order to provide insight and example for other institutions and educators in Christian higher education.

M.Ed. / The "hands off' kind of culture by South Africans towards the Environment is a serious concern. However it is encouraging to see that attempts are being made to improve the situation. The Environment and Environmental Education (EE) are receiving some attention in the formal education sector lately. The preservice (PRESET) sector of colleges of education was targeted by this study. This sector comprises teacher educators and teacher designates, it is on the basis of that, that their views were solicited in this attempt of making proposals for and EE curriculum framework for preservice teachers. These important stakeholders' views and expectations were used in making proposals for this Junior Primary Teachers Diploma (JPTD) EE curriculum framework. Essentially the content of such a curriculum framework should help in enviromnentalizing prospective teachers. The literature reviewed indicated that many countries of the world are engaged in the exercise of institutionalizing EE. This matter is receiving attention globally. Local and overseas initiatives have put EE in the forefront of educational discourse. Even though, there is still a lot of ground to be covered before EE can be viewed as having made significant impact in school systems. Indications are that, globally there is still a shortage of properly trained environmental educators. Colleges of Education in the Free State have to double efforts in addressing this problem_ Visits and interviews with Environmental studies lecturers at three (3) colleges of education in the Free State revealed disturbing inconsistencies. Great care was taken when proposals were made. The dictates and stipulations of outcomes based education (OBE) and curriculum 2005 were carefully considered. The proposals for JPTD EE curriculum framework were grounded on the latest trends in education. Flowing from that, this study views environmental educators as facilitators, not dispensers of knowledge. Learners should be enabled to construct knowledge by thinking and doing. Cross-curricular, interdisciplinary and integrated approach is viewed as critical in this study. Teaching and learning should be viewed from and environmental perspective. The success of the proposed EE curriculum framework for JPTD is dependent on colleges' preparedness to undergo fundamental changes. Management and lecturers have to facilitate this paradigm shift, so that permeation of subjects in the curriculum by EE can be implemented. This context compatible EE curriculum framework allows a large degree of flexibility for the colleges to determine how learners achieve specific and critical outcomes. Continuous assessment (CA) and assessment criteria, which take range statements and performance indicators into consideration, are acceptable. Lecturers' discretion is critical in this aspect; rigidity and prescriptions have been avoided. Recommendations by the following instances were carefully considered: Committee On Teacher Education (COTEP). Environmental Education Curriculum Initiative (EECI). Environmental Education Association of South-Africa (EEASA). South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). National Qualification Framework (NQF). Colleges of education in the Free State are faced with the challenge of im

This study was aimed at evaluating the interdisciplinary nature of environmental education within the colleges of education in Bophuthatswana. Data collection was based on semi-structured interviews with college lecturers and, to a lesser extent, on observations during a workshop with environmental educators from Bophuthatswana. Knowledge was gained about college related factors which influence the varying extent to which environmental education is being implemented within the colleges of education. Lecturers' understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of environmental education and related concepts was explored. Insights were also gained into problems of implementation which included lecturers' limited understanding of the concept of interdisciplinarity, structural ambiguities, limited training and experience, and a lack of clarity in both local and international literature on environmental education concepts and terms. Specifically the study sought to illuminate the dichotomy between theory and practice, the conflict between the dominant curriculum paradigm and the new emerging paradigm, and tensions between the interdisciplinary nature of environmental education and subject-based disciplines, which lead to problems of implementation. The study could make an important contribution to the current curriculum debate on environmental education in South Africa by illuminating the dichotomy between the theory and the practice of environmental education, and the problems involved in translating interdisciplinary approaches into workable classroom practices within discipline based curriculum structures.

During the past few decades a substantial body of research has emerged in western as well as the developing nations studying the racial bias in children's texts. However, it is only recently in South Africa, with the ascendance of the ANC government, that interest has been focused on eliminating apartheid values and on promoting multicultural tenets in the school curriculum. It is undeniable that the concept of multiculturalism has been severely stigmatised in the South African educational context. Anxieties have been expressed about embracing the discourse of multicultural education within the educational system based on fears that, like the previous educational system, it too will perpetuate group differences. Nevertheless, in recent years, a clear consensus view has emerged that the implementation of multicultural education is imperative if the goal of a rainbow South Africa is to be realised. Against this background, the present study attempts to study the incorporation of a multicultural approach into contemporary textbooks. To realise this aim I selected a sample of four textbooks, one from each of the major disciplines (science, English, geography and history), and SUbjected the texts and pictures from each to content analysis. The findings of this study suggest that a multicultural approach shall at least for the foreseeable future remain a central feature of learning materials produced for the new South African curricula. The findings indicate that multicultural aspects predominate in the texts as compared to other ideologies. This applies to both text content and illustrations. Contrary to the researcher's initial expectation, however, the texts also reveal a strong tendency towards Eurocentric and patriarchal approaches. This research does not conform to traditional, 'scientific' criteria of validity and reliability; it seeks only to investigate textbook material in more depth and thereby contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the extent to which the texts subscribe to a multicultural approach. Such understanding may help both educationalists and authors in their evaluation of existing textbook material, and in the production of new texts which reflect the reality of South Africa as a multicultural society.

This study presents a description of the roles District Education Officers in the implementation of the Guidance and Counselling curriculum in Zimbabwe. The roles of the District Education Officers were researched through the literature study and empirical research. It was found that although their professional contribution is vital in successful implementation, there are other obstacles namely, financial constraints, very high workload, lack of government support and inferior appointment procedures for District Education Officers which tend to hamper them to fulfil their duties.

Prior to the landmark 1994 democratic elections the South African education system was unequal and departmentalised. The transformation in South African politics was reflected in the changes implemented in the education curriculum. A massive shift in the basic education process was put into operation, in an attempt to create an amalgamated system which would equally benefit all learners (Hackenberg, 2002:20). These curriculum alterations created a lot of dissatisfaction and a sense of frustration among the teaching fraternity (Maphalala, 2006:7 and Knight, 2005:27). The basis of this study focuses on my concern that teachers, already tense and overworked, face many challenges when curriculum modifications occur, and may find it extremely difficult to cope with them. The associated challenges may lead to excess stress, adversity and teachers becoming ill. For this research study I evaluated how teachers confront and cope with the challenges associated with changes to curriculum. The method and success of these coping skills and the management of curriculum revision is directly linked to certain issues, which may exacerbate problems stemming from these changes and have negative effects of on the teachers themselves. This study is a narrative of teachers’ experiences and was primarily conducted in the Umlazi Circuit of the KwaZulu Natal Department of Education. Purposive sampling was utilised by me, whereby the respondents, teachers who had over twenty years of teaching experience, were carefully selected from four primary schools and one secondary school. The study used the qualitative research approach within the interpretive paradigm, allowing for an in-depth insight into the challenges faced by teachers with changes to the curriculum. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and observation. The data was later analysed using codes, themes and categories. This analysis revealed that curriculum changes cause teachers to experience many challenges in the classroom. These challenges include, amongst others, lack of resources; discipline problems; excessive workloads; overcrowded classrooms; and insufficient professional development workshops.

This case study examines influences on the selection and delivery of knowledge in the employment preparation provision of a trade union in British Columbia. Bernstein's theories of curricular code and Bourdieu's perspectives on social and cultural capital are used to analyse data collected by interviews, observation, and documentary analysis. The emergent themes are organisational structure, pedagogic practice, diversity and difference, and the good employee ideal, with each of these demonstrating the tension between the philosophical orientation of the organisation, as a representative of the labour movement, and the demands of the funding and policy structures within which it operates. Analysis illustrates the way curriculum is shaped by forces external to the immediate educational setting, the most pervasive being the requirement to function as an effective means of transferring cultural and social capital to unemployed people. The possibility of using employment preparation as a mechanism to achieve progressive ends is severely limited by the need to acknowledge the priorities of funders, administrators, learners, and the neo-liberal backdrop against which the programs operate. The study implies approaches to curriculum emphasising decisions taken by instructors and learners mask wider structural influences on knowledge formation, and more research on the sociology of knowledge in adult education is called for. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate