Bibliography: pages 105-107. / Educational projects offering an alternative to the traditional, formal system are increasing in number. Many hold ideals of participative learning and the development of personal autonomy but are also committed to a particular political vision. The interest of this case-study lies in the consideration of how such educational values may interact with a call to support and act upon a set of beliefs. This tension between open-ended educational work and directed action is a central problem in Paulo Freire's pedagogy. Freire talks of consciousness-raising as the process by which people become aware of the political implications of their personal situations. He advocates experience-based learning but also has an analysis of society which 'conscious' people are to realize. Conscientization, in these terms, is caught between a desire to have people take responsibility for their own learning and to teach a specific view of society. The learning process thus comes into conflict with the curriculum content with priority necessarily being given to one over the other. Freireian concepts such as dialogue, praxis and transformation are central to many alternative educational projects although they are frequently ill-defined, containing contradictions and creating confusion. This may be reflected in their organizational structures as well as in their outreach work. This study considers the relationships between learning and action, individuality and unity and equality and expertise so as to articulate the difficulties faced by the project under discussion. The aim of this study is not to provide a set of solutions for the project to adopt but rather to define areas of concern so that the project itself is better able to determine its own direction. The means by which these areas are uncovered and shared with interested parties is therefore of central importance. Thus the limits and possibilities of participant-observation as an evaluative approach are explored with particular interest in the setting up of the contract, the definition of the problem and the communication of the insights gained back to the project stakeholders. The project selected for this case-study is 'End Racism and Sexism through Education' (E.R.A.S.E.), a small, Cape Town based initiative.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education at the University of Zululand, 2016 / Implementing HIV and AIDS education in schools has for some time faced challenges in South Africa. Although much has been achieved in terms of policy, the implementation thereof has remained questionable. Monitoring and evaluation has the ability to determine the achievement of policy or program implementation, and therefore offer insights into necessary reforms. The main aim of the study was to assess the quality of the implementation of HIV and AIDS education in schools and determine the facilitators and barriers to the implementation and whether the teachers’ levels of HIV and AIDS knowledge influenced the quality of the implementation. The study utilised the elements of both the Contextual Interaction Theory (CIT) and the Monitoring and evaluation framework as the conceptual framework. Data about the implementation of HIV and AIDS education in schools were collected using both the positivism and interpretivism paradigms. Life-Skills and Life Orientation teaching teachers from both primary and secondary schools were selected using a systematic procedure of selecting every fifth school from an alphabetical list of schools in the Umhlathuze district. Teachers completed questionnaires that had been piloted with 25 Life-Orientation teaching teachers in a workshop, and the Life-Skills and Life Orientation subject advisors participated in the in-depth interviews. The quantitative data was analysed using SPSS version 22 and recorded interviews were transcribed, coded and analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed that 82.7% teachers teaching Life-Skills and Life Orientation implemented HIV and AIDS education, although not to satisfactory standards. Teacher characteristics that influenced quality implementation were time, confidence, support, capability, comfort, and knowing the contents of HIV and AIDS policy. The study further revealed that whilst teachers had an overall ‘above average’ knowledge of HIV and AIDS, they had serious knowledge gaps. The reported barriers to implementation included lack of appropriate knowledge, lack of support and resources, no provision for content, Life Orientation subject overload and lack of monitoring. Based on these findings recommendations were made on how the Department of Basic Education (DBE) may structure the HIV and AIDS education as a separate subject with succinct content for different levels and strengthen the monitoring of the implementation. The study also came up with the framework for the monitoring of the implementation of HIV and AIDS education in schools that schools and district offices could utilise.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment or partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education (Educational Psychology) and Special Education at the University of Zululand, 2002. / The current investigation consisted of three aims. The first aim was to determine the nature of secondary school learners* attitudes towards sex education. The second aim was to determine the learners' attitudes towards sex education in relation to information given by parents, teachers, peers and other media. The third aim was to determine the extent to which the following variables: gender, age. grade and residence influence the attitudes of learners towards sex education. A questionnaire was administered to a group of learners between ages of 13 years and below, up to 24 years and above. About fifty-five percent of learners were favourably disposed towards sex education. The results indicated that learners" attitudes are influenced by variables like gender, age, grade and residence.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor Of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies at the University Of Zululand, 2018 / This study was carried out in the King Cetshwayo District of the Province of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Four schools offering Foundation Phase education were randomly selected for the study from the accessible population. Altogether, a total of three hundred and twenty-eight learners participated in the study from Nseleni, Richards Bay and eSikhaleni education circuits. This study aimed to contribute to our understanding of how Foundation Phase (Elementary School) learners conceptualised a healthy environment, and whether or not instruction based on the classical cognitive conflict conceptual change model would differ from an approach based on collateral learning theory in educating grade three learners about a healthy environment. Specifically, the study set out to answer three research questions, namely: (a) What conceptions do grade three learners have of the construct of a healthy environment? (b) What explanations lie behind the learners’ conceptions of a healthy environment? and (c) Will there be a statistically significant difference in learner achievement between those taught through a cognitive conflict-based conceptual change approach versus those taught through an instructional approach based on the collateral learning theory? The theoretical basis of this study was built upon literature which pointed to the imminent threat to Planet Earth, seen against the devastating effects of human actions in the name of civilisation. Accordingly, elements from the cognitive conflict-based perspective of conceptual change and the collateral learning theory were integrated with Vygotsky’s theory of the Zone of Proximal Development to consummate a conceptual framework for the study. In the view of the researcher, the conceptualisation and development of the conceptual framework of this study was one of her significant outputs. The research methodology was situated within the mixed methods research paradigm, meaning that both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. As a mixed methods research project, there were two designs applied. The first was a Case Study design, formulated to address the first two research questions, and utilising a test and interviews. The second research design was the Non-Equivalent Groups quasi-experimental research design, which was directed towards addressing the third research question. Simple random sampling was used to select the four participating schools from the education Circuits that participated in this study. Data were collected through individually-based and focus group interviews, as well as a pre-test, which also served as a post-test. The interviews were used to explore the grade three learners’ understanding of a healthy environment and elicit explanations about their answers in the hope of revealing the underlying reasoning for their answers concerning a healthy environment. Permission was requested and obtained to have all the interviews voice-recorded so that the interviewers could focus on the conversations with the learners rather than, for instance, on note-taking. The test was used to establish the baseline knowledge that the learners had about a healthy environment, as well as estimate their gains following the two interventions. The written test was administered in the usual way as class tests. Qualitative data arising from individual and focus group interviews were analysed based on the hermeneutical approach – the first stage of which involved reading through all the transcripts of the learner responses and creating categories of description to identify emerging themes. This entailed finding patterns from which the themes and conceptual categories were constructed. In a reiterative process, the recurring themes and conceptual categories were progressively reduced in number by combining conceptually similar ones, resulting in a consolidated, fewer numbers of categories of descriptions. Quantitative data were analysed statistically using the Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS). The analysis involved a comparison of the means as a result of the two interventions. In this regard, both the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the t-test statistic were used. On the first research question, the majority of the participants demonstrated a good understanding of the term ‘environment’ in line with the espoused content of the Foundation Phase curriculum. On the definition of pollution, two categories of description emerged – that is, a view of pollution as some form or other of ‘contamination’, and pollution characterised in terms of its consequences or negative effects on the environment, people, animals and plants. On the whole, the learners demonstrated an acceptable level of understanding of the concept of pollution. Furthermore, the results showed that the learners had a good grasp of the concepts of safe drinking water; unsafe drinking water; wasting water; using water wisely; land/soil, air, water and noise pollution, well as the 3R’s of recycling, re-using and reducing. However, some mis- and/or alternative conceptions were noted. Overall, the general picture that emerged was that the grade three learners’ understanding of a healthy environment was in line with the expectations of the school curriculum at the Foundation Phase level. On the second research question the learners appeared to experience difficulty with the notion of recycling. On pollution, there was sufficient evidence that the learners made the connections between the respective photographic materials used and water, land/soil, air, and noise pollution. In addition, most learners gave explanations concerning how these types of pollution affected living organisms which depended on the particular environment. Furthermore, the learners easily distinguished between safe and unsafe drinking water, and gave satisfactory explanations about the adverse effects of drinking polluted water. However, it should also be mentioned that a few misconceptions also emerged from some of their explanations. These included the notions that one could catch TB from drinking dirty water, and that drinking clean water resulted in someone having enough blood. From learner explanations, the concept of re-using was partially understood. Overall, however, it should be stated that the learners had a good idea of the selected environmental concepts as prescribed by the Foundation Phase curriculum. On the third research question, although some gains had been made by both groups, there was no statistically significant difference between the two posttest mean scores. However, using the pretest scores as baseline, the collateral learning group had performed statistically significantly beyond the pretest, suggesting that there was some merit in thinking that collateral learning could be a productive approach to use in South African schools. The posttest mean score of the cognitive conflict-based conceptual change group was not significantly different from the pre-test mean score. This result suggests that more research is still needed to give clarity to this matter. Within the constraints of the study, the researcher is satisfied that much was achieved, and that the results reported in this study will go a long way in serving as baseline data for future research. The thesis ends with some recommendations in respect of both classroom practice and further research.

Submitted in fulfillment for the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Didactics in the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 1995. / This research centred on one broad objective, i.e. to establish the effectiveness of school-based practice teaching for student teachers in a selection of Primary Teachers Diploma (PTD) Colleges of Education in KwaZulu. Chapter 2 covers the review of literature on practice teaching. Firstly, the history of practice teaching is discussed so as to put the study in historical perspective. Secondly, research findings in selected countries are reviewed so that the study can be viewed in relation to international research trends. Thirdly, some approaches, which give a multifaceted nature of practice teaching as a field of study, are analysed. Chapter 3 discusses the criteria for effective school-based practice teaching with the aim of using such criteria as a yardstick for the analysis of the results of the study. Chapter 4 looks at the didactic theoretical constructs for a practice teaching curriculum . The implication being that any didactically justifiable practice teaching programme should be informed by what is discussed in Chapters 3 and 4. The questionnaire survey, as well as the informal interviews, were used in this study. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods has enabled the researcher to gain deeper understanding and a more penetrating insight regarding the problem under investigation. Findings of the study revealed that there was a consistent pattern of conflict regarding the results which emanated from qualitative findings. Qualitative findings, because of the open-ended nature of the questions, tended to be more reliable in terms of the respondents' ability to critically reflect upon current practices regarding practice teaching in KwaZulu Colleges of Education. Quantitative results, because of the close-ended nature of the survey questions, tended to be less realistic regarding practice teaching in these colleges. This became a chief advantage of quantitative and qualitative coupling of research methods as discussed in the above paragraph. The three most important findings of this study are: 1. There is lack of effective partnership between colleges and schools when it comes to the professional preparation of teachers. 2. The transfer of theory to practice by student teachers is hindered due to the poor quality of the relationship between theoretical training and practice. 3. The supervision of practice teaching is not effective because there is no collaboration between the college lecturer, the co-operating teacher and the student. The above major findings emphasise the need for colleges and schools to view themselves as institutions for teacher education. In this case teacher education should not be seen as the function of colleges of education only. This has implications for a major paradigm shift regarding teacher education. The following are the two most significant recommendations: 1. The practical training of teachers requires radical transformation regarding the need for collaboration between colleges and schools in the training of teachers. Partnership between the college and practising schools should not be a haphazard affair, but should be formalised. 2- All those involved in practice teaching supervision should be trained which will lead to practice teaching being a professional exercise, which is presently not the case. At the moment the practical training of students is a ritual which both the lecturers and students endure out of sympathy for students and not because of an understanding of the finer points regarding the importance this area of human experience. This study recommends major innovations regarding teacher education. One might conclude that viable solutions to the research problem have been found.

Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION in the Department of Philosophy of Education at the University of Zululand, 1995. / The researcher sought to investigate whether Black people in South Africa view adult education as having any significant role. The researcher established a view that adult education is a tool for transformation. He further demonstrated through his constructive discussions that adult education is a tool for self-liberation and self-development. In this study the researcher has tried to form a harmonious relationship between a sociological approach and philosophical point of view. This study attempts to emphasize the importance of adult education for Blacks in particular. The researcher decided to state his problem in the form of questions: "Does adult education have any significant role in helping Blacks respond to changes and challenges they face in South Africa?" "Do Blacks perceive adult education to be of any particular significance in helping them respond meaningfully to some economic, social and political responsibilities they face?" These and other similar questions helped the researcher in making worthwhile recommendations at the end of his study. The study showed that in every society people need education to fulfil meaningful roles. The researcher has, in many instances, pointed out that adult education will help Blacks respond meaningfully to some challenges they face, especially in the new South Africa. The study revealed that policy makers, planners, trainers, teachers and learners have different views and ideas about what literacy means, what its benefits and consequences are, how it should be achieved, on what scale and why. The researcher found that there was a need for an adult literacy programme that would help Black people become fully involved as citizens of their country. South Africa. The study showed that without this programme it would be almost impossible for Blacks to fulfil any significant role in boosting the economy of the country. In this study adult literacy programmes were seen as components of adult education. Modern society needs people who could meaningfully create a stable environment for the upbringing of future citizens, contribute to society through work, participation in education and training processes. Adult education could help Blacks perform these tasks- The researcher supports the National Education Policy Investigation (1992) on literacy because it empowers individuals, promotes rural, urban or national self-development and self-reliance, accelerates economic development, hastens modernisation, makes individuals more confident and assertive. In Chapter One the problem was stated, aims of the study outlined and major concepts were elucidated. In Chapter Two the rationale for theory and practice in adult education was discussed. It was revealed that adult education responds to individual and social needs. Chapter Three surveys the historical development of adult education in certain countries and also examines some trends of similar developments in South Africa. The researcher found that there has been some commitment in various countries including South Africa to adult education. Chapter Four looked into the magnitude of illiteracy in South Africa and how some organisations have tried to combat it. Whereas Chapter Five describes the research methodology, Chapter Six presents the analysis of data, interpretation and evaluation of the findings. In the analysis of data it was noted that 68% of the respondents indicated that adult education was very important. With regard to the question of the importance of literacy, 43% of the respondents felt that learning to write, learning to count and learning to read were of cardinal importance especially for most Blacks in South Africa. Only 4% of the sample showed uncertainty. Ninety five percent (95%) of the subjects felt that adult education could help elevate the standard of the economy of the country. Only 1% of the respondents felt that this would not be the case. Literature review, interviews and empirical surveys conducted revealed that provision for adult education is necessary for all racial groups in general and for Blacks in particular. Among some recommended actions that the researcher made, the following can be cited: * Adult education programmes are needed at the local, regional and national levels of the governance of education in South Africa. These need to be spelt out clearly in the policy for education and training. * There is a need for research that will assess the needs of people at any given place so that there is no waste of resources on the provision of adult education. * There is a dire need for all stakeholders in education and in particular non-formal education to work collaboratively for the enhancement of adult education schemes. These include the government, members of the community and non-government organisations (NGOs). The researcher felt that the private sector could support adult education projects by way of sponsorships and loans. Though the researcher recommended the involvement of industry and commerce in the education of Blacks he, however, emphasized that what was urgently needed amonc Blacks was education for self-reliance ant self-development- The study revealed that there is a dire need to empowe: Blacks with skills for life and that education should h viewed as a life-long process. The researcher also recommended the setting up of mor adult education centres, consultancy units and researc units for the promotion of adult education. The researcher recommended that a needs assessment shoul be conducted to set up adult education programmes on short-, medium- and long-term basis. Adult education should become a serious and urgent subjec of curriculum planners. However, the research* recommended that there was a dire need for educatit planners in adult education to consult the people, exper' in this field, the private sector and all other interest parties before curricular options are designed. * Black people themselves should form clubs, societies, associations and organisations that will develop programmes for adult education. * Ordinary day schools should be used at night and on weekends for adult education. * There is an urgent need to train adult educators who should be awarded diplomas and certificates after completing their studies. * Colleges of education, technikons and universities should have departments of adult education. In addition to this, all universities need to establish adult education centres. Another important dimension of the study emerged when the researcher made use of the philosophical method to evaluate the trend of emphasis in the theory and practice of adult education. The researcher mentioned that there is also a philosophy that guides the activity of adult education. Links were also forged between a philosophical method and an empirical-analytical method. Substantive reasons for the employment of the philosophical and the empirical method were given. A noteworthy revelation was that the perceptions of Blacks with regard to the significant role of adult education embody some elements of the radical philosophy. Most of these people felt that adult education could help solve some of the social, economic, political and cultural problems. These are some of the immediate problems of these people. This urgent reformist and revolutionary reference to the task of adult education is typical of the radical approach. The radical approach only ignores and undermines the fact that there is always a need for planning and foresight that should precede any implementation of a programme. It is, however, important to mention that a diagnosis of the perceptions of Blacks as observed in the empirical research showed that adult education among these people will have to adopt more of a progressive dimension which is associated with progress and development of the people. It has to do with continuing education which enables the lives of the people to change continously.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies at the University of Zululand, 2017 / This study focuses on the critical evaluation of how the Integrated Quality Management System as an appraisal tool is implemented in a few selected schools in the ILembe District. In recent times, the system of education in South Africa has required teachers who are highly skilled to impart knowledge of high quality to learners. The introduction of Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) was meant to enhance the quality of teaching and learning by addressing the matter of developmental appraisal in order to enhance teachers’ professional development. This approach has been facing serious challenges and attracted unjustified criticism for quite some time. Since teachers’ performance has been under the spotlight as measured by learners’ results, it is important to evaluate their performance using a highly reliable instrument which can produce learners who can compete globally. This research was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies that were based on a case study approach of 10 schools that were purposefully selected from rural, semi-rural, urban and semi-urban areas. Data from district officials, principals, deputy principals and Heads of Department were collected through interviews, and questionnaires were used to collect data from six teachers at each school. The findings indicate that most teachers are finding it difficult to implement the IQMS policy effectively. The major concern was that managers are reluctant to participate in the process, and do not comply with the requirement of the IQMS, namely the advocacy and training of teachers before they embark on the process of the IQMS. The researcher recommends the use of IQMS for effective teachers’ through professional development and keeping politics out of this process.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in partial fulfilment of the Degree of Masters of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Needs at the University of Zululand, 2017 / This study is a descriptive survey designed to investigate challenges teachers encounter in teaching English reading and writing in the uThungulu District schools. This study comprised 44 teachers who were purposely sampled on grounds of availability. Views were sampled through the use of a self-made questionnaire. This study addressed three research questions, namely: (i) what are the challenges teachers encounter in teaching reading in the Intermediate Phase? (ii) what are challenges teachers encounter in teaching writing in the Intermediate Phase? (iii) what factors contribute to difficulties in teaching English reading and writing in the Intermediate Phase? The study used a qualitative and quantitative questionnaire and the survey design. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) resulting in descriptive data. The findings of the study revealed that teachers were faced with numerous challenges which included, among others, learners who are unable to read and construct complete sentences, their inability to write as characterised by errors in spelling and poor punctuation. In addition to these challenges, mother tongue interference, teaching methods used by teachers, and overloading of the curriculum were also experiences of the teachers. Another salient finding was the lack of support for teachers from both the department and parents. Recommendations made from the study were that teachers need to be trained in efficient methods of teaching reading and writing. Teachers also need to be trained in identifying learners with special needs as early as possible and refer them accordingly. Workshops and campaigns designed by the department of education need to be planned and conducted early in the year and need to be implemented in manageable packages. Teachers need to be equipped on how to encourage their learners to read for pleasure and provide reading material that is interesting to their learners.

A research report submitted to the Wits School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, University of Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education by combination of coursework and research. Johannesburg 2018 / Differentiation, as a strategy within inclusive education, seeks to respond to the challenges and opportunities of diversity within classrooms. This is done by adapting and modifying the methods of instruction, curriculum and activities to address effectively the needs and the potential of diverse learners. In the light of this, many teachers believe streaming is a form of differentiation, and a way to respond to the diversity faced in the classroom. To investigate this situation, this study explored the extent to which the attitudes of teachers sustained the practice of streaming in secondary schools. It also assessed whether the practice of streaming was congruent with the principles of inclusive education. Streaming is the practice of separating learners based on their respective cognitive abilities and their placement in similar ability groups. By using a qualitative research approach, this study found that teachers believed that streaming enabled differentiation and effective classroom management strategies. The various attitudes of teachers showed that they assumed streaming helped to deal with the distinguishable differences in learners’ ability, their conduct and their perceived ability to cope with the curriculum demands. However, there was a misalignment between how streaming was practised and the principles of inclusive education. A fundamental issue was that those learners who were placed in the lower-ability groups were labelled negatively, and there was no differentiation that occurred within similar ability classes. In effect, streaming became a selffulfilling prophecy for those in the lower-ability groups. / XL2019

Text in Afrikaans / Die probleem wat in hierdie studie aangespreek word, is die gebrek aan 'n didakties gefundeerde mediabenuttingstrategie vir afstandsonderwys. So 'n mediabenuttingstrategie behoort op 'n wetenskaplike ondersoek wat bestaande kennis en navorsing met 'n didaktiese besinning oor die moontlikhede en beperkinge van mediabenutting integreer, gebaseer te wees. Om hierdie probleem te oorkom word daar gepoog om 'n didakties verantwoorde grondslag vir die mediakundige ontwerp van mediabenutting in afstandsonderwys daar te stel waaruit 'n mediabenuttingstrategie vir afstandsonderwys saamgestel kan word wat ook binne die konteks van die Universiteit van Suid-Afrika toegepas kan word. Daar word dus vanuit 'n didaktiese perspektief na mediabenutting in afstandsonderwys gekyk. Daar word gepoog om aan te dui dat mediabenutting (van die mees eenvoudige tot die mees ingewikkelde) voorafgegaan behoort te word deur didakties gefundeerde mediakundige ontwerp. Eerstens word 'n aantal basiese uitgangspunte ten opsigte van didaktiese fundering en mediabenutting geformuleer. Die belangrikste aspekte wat aangespreek word, is die didaktiese situasie en mediabenutting, enkele grondliggende didaktiese riglyne, leerervarings, leergeleenthede en leerstofverwerking. Hierdie aspekte word as die onderbou beskou waarop doeltreffende mediakundige ontwerp in afstandsonderwys gefundeer behoort te word. Daarna word daar teen die agtergrond van didaktiese ontwerpmodelle, kommunikatiewe beeldeienskappe en media-eienskappe aangetoon dat mediakundige ontwerp 'n integrale deel van didaktiese ontwerp behoort te wees. 'n Uitgebreide model vir die beplanning van doeltreffende mediabenutting word daargestel om benut te kan word as 'n kontrole-instrument vir die mediakundige ontwerp van doeltreffende didaktiese gesprekke. In hierdie verband word daar klem gelê daarop dat 'n verskeidenheid van kundighede (vakinhoudelik, didaktiese fundering, afstandsonderwys, mediakundige antwerp, praktiese en tegniese mediakundige aspekte, en so meer) nodig is om op 'n doeltreffende wyse sinvolle mediabenutting tydens didaktiese gesprekke te verseker. Enkele aspekte rakende afstandsonderwys in die algemeen word daarna vanuit 'n mediakundige perspektief ondersoek met verwysing na die kernaspekte wat in definisies en beskrywings van afstandsonderwys voorkom. Enkele aspekte, spesifiek ten opsigte van mediabenutting in afstandsonderwys, word bespreek en 'n aantal tendense uit die literatuur word geidentifiseer. 'n Moontlike scenario ten opsigte van mediabenutting in afstandsonderwys word voorgestel met spesiale verwysing na die Universiteit van Suid-Afrika. Die tersiere afstandsonderwyssituasie en mediabenuttingsmoontlikhede in afstandsonderwys word ook binne die konteks van die Universiteit van Suid-Afrika verbesonder. Hieruit word 'n didakties verantwoorde strategiese plan vir mediabenutting aan die Universiteit van Suid-Afrika gesintetiseer. Laastens word aandag geskenk aan 'n aantal verbandhoudende bevindings, gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings wat uit die studie voortvloei. Hierdie aspekte gee dan ook aanleiding tot aanbevelings vir toekomstige navorsing binne die veld van mediabenutting in afstandsonderwys. / The problem addressed in this study is the lack of a didactically based strategy for media utilisation in distance education. A strategy such as this should be based on a scientific investigation integrating existing knowledge and research with didactic reflection on the prospects for and limitations of media utilisation. To surmount this problem, an attempt is made to create a didactically responsible basis for media design for media utilisation in distance education. It is pointed out that media utilisation should be preceded by didactically based media design. First, a number of basic points of departure are formulated with regard to didactic grounding and media utilisation. The most important aspects that are addressed are basic didactic guidelines, learning experiences, opportunities for learning and the processing of the learning material. These aspects are regarded as the substructure on which effective media utilisation in distance education should be based. Next, against the background of didactic design models, communicative image characteristics and media characteristics, it is demonstrated that media design should be an integral part of didactic design. An expanded model for planning effective media utilisation is proposed. In this connection emphasis is placed on the need for a variety of skills in order to ensure effective and significant media utilisation during didactic discourse. Some aspects of distance education in general are then investigated from a media-related perspective, with reference to the central aspects that appear in definitions and descriptions of distance education. Some aspects that specifically relate to media utilisation in distance education are discussed and a number of trends in the literature are identified. A proposal is made regarding a possible scenario regarding media utilisation in distance education, with special reference to the University of South Africa. Tertiary distance education and the prospects for media utilisation in distance education are also highlighted within the context of the University of South Africa. Finally, attention is given to a number of related findings, conclusions and recommendations that emanate from the study. These aspects also lead to recommendations for future research within the field of media utilisation in distance education. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didaktiek)