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Bibliography: pages 113-117. / The domains of policy and policy implementation have been researched to a far greater extent than the link and interface between these two domains. It is this area that the current study attempts to explore. Education Support Services (ESS) and particularly psychological service delivery as part of this service within the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), has seen several new policy proposals and documents during the period of 1994-1995 and the practitioners in this field are currently in the process of implementing (some of) these new policies. This study explores the interface between new policies (policy domain) on the one hand, and the practice of psychological service delivery to schools (implementation domain) on the other hand. Discourse analysis and specifically the technique of discourse analysis proposed by Ian Parker (1992) provides a framework to analyse and understand the issues involved in these two domains, and as such, the relationship between them. In this regard, the following trends in the data are interesting : the positive patterns regarding the interface between policy and practice obtained from the data include a team worker, democratic discourse and new world. The above-mentioned person-position, discourse and world represent the values of the new policies and therefore facilitate the implementation process. There are, however, also certain negative signals contained in the data, namely: a victim, an us-them discourse and a cruel world. These patterns pose a threat for the implementation process. The study therefore provides a working document for those involved in policy making in ESS to ensure a smooth implementation process. It will also help the practitioners (school psychologists) and departmental officials in ESS to understand the issues involved in transformation and the need for different actors on the policy-practice continuum to talk.

A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Education School of Education Faculty of Humanities University of Witwatersrand / Arguing for the understanding of policy and its implementation as a multi-dimensional process, this study explores how provincial officials interpret and implement policy. It uses the context of the National Norms and Standards for School Funding (NNSSF) aimed at KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) independent schools to study what happens on the ground in relation to policy implementation. The aim is to explore knowledge and experience residing within local implementation contexts. It presents policy implementation from an interpretive perspective highlighting how provincial officials receive, interpret and transmit policy meanings. This research was conducted using a qualitative methodology. It is based on a case study of three KZN provincial officials in head office and one in the district office, sampled on a purposive basis. The interviews were administered to elicit responses from participants. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse data collected through interviews in order to discover among other things patterns, concepts, themes, and meanings. Premised on the theory of sense-making in policy; the study concludes that how policy is interpreted or understood depends largely on the repertoire of skills, knowledge, and experience of its implementers (Spillane, 2002). The research makes three key recommendations for policy, implementation, and research: 1. Allow local knowledge to flourish by engaging more with local implementers of policy as intelligent individual sense-makers and contributors. 2. Decentralise the system by delegating some decision-making powers to district and circuit levels. For example, allow them to have the power to advertise posts; make appointments; and perform other related duties that will contribute towards efficient implementation. 3. Capacitate district directorates through constant training and support. Chapter 1 introduces the study’s historical foundations and explains the underlying factors that influenced its composition; chapter 2 presents a literature review; chapter 3 outlines the research methodology; chapter 4 describes the data collection; and chapter 5 offers a summary, discussion, conclusions and implications. / MT2017

A Master’s degree research report presented in partial fulfilment for the award of Master of Management in Public Policy At University of the Witwatersrand, Wits School of Governance / Preschool education is arguably one of the most important phases of education throughout the entire education system. This research report was aimed at exploring broad implications of dissemination of public funds (or lack thereof) in the earliest years of learning, what is generally known as Early Childhood Development Education. It found that whilst current public funding modalities have played a tremendous role in helping ECD practitioners reach more children, the magnitude of these funds and overall investments on the sector have been very little. Of the three sub-categories of ECD centres (registered, unregistered, and Grade R) sampled in this study, the latter was found to have gained the most from the recent increases (albeit small) in funding of ECDs. The study found that a large majority (80%) of preschool practitioners know about funding support offered by the state, however, they were not sure how it was allocated, and how they could access it. Central to the findings of this research report is the turbulent policy environment that the ECD sector has been facing due to uncoordinated interventions which only culminated into a single overarching draft national policy of 2015, which is still under scrutiny. Second to this, are the structural and operational challenges such as inadequate monitoring and evaluation of preschools by government, poor management of financial records by preschools, lack of adequate infrastructure and learning materials, and widespread red tape in registration and application of funds processes. / MT2017

What happens to the implementation trajectory of a specific policy as it is shaped by multiple stakeholder understandings and competing policy influences in the school environment? The specific case in focus is the new government policy in South Africa on Whole School Evaluation (WSE). This policy requires that schools conduct internal self-evaluations, which will be followed by external evaluations and the implementation of school development plans for the purpose of bringing about school improvement. The purpose of this study is to explain how different stakeholders (education planners, teachers, and principals) understand and enact WSE policy within the school environment given the competing policy demands in the South African context. My study is unique for three reasons. First, I wish to cancel out explanations for possible policy failure that can be attributed to a lack of commitment to the new WSE. I will be seeking to understand how policy is implemented in contexts where there is a readiness to receive and manage change. Second, I will compare rival stakeholder understandings and trace the influence of these competing understandings on the implementation process and outcomes within the South African school context and, third, investigate how one policy is understood and acted-on, given the competing demands of related policies on schools and the practitioners working in the sampled schools. The specific research questions that guided this investigation are the following: 1. How do various stakeholders in the school environment understand WSE policy? 2. How do schools implement WSE policy given the presence of other evaluation related policies in the same school environment? Data was collected over a period of one year using a multi-method approach. Multiple methods of data collection included using in-depth, semi-structured interviews (both individual and focused group sessions) with stakeholders, observations of critical incidents in the policy implementation process, document analysis, photographs, teacher diaries, field notes, free writing schedules and structured questionnaires. The main findings from the study are the following: -- that when implementers are faced with multiple competing policies their implementation stance is determined by what is considered to be practical, immediate and known -- that for policies to have the desired impact there has to be a high degree of “coherence” among the different policies as well as “coherence” within individual policy frameworks. Furthermore, a combined and well-co-ordinated approach to multiple policy implementation is necessary for the policies to have the desired impact -- that for policies have the desired impact there has to be a high degree of “coherence” within the minds/understanding of practitioners -- that stakeholders who have negative experiences of a particular policy issue remain skeptical about the value of similar policies. Stakeholders draw on these experiences to guide their future actions -- that school-site conceptions of evaluations are constantly developed and changed as a result of multitudinous “forces of influence” -- that homogenous culture, bureaucratic responsiveness and hierarchical organization together compose a positive response to official policy -- that the course of policy implementation is influenced both negatively and positively by variables operating within and outside the school context. Finally the insights gained from this study hold practical as well as theoretical significance. Not only does it offer planning insights for the North West province in relation to WSE implementation, but is also serves to unpack the “black box” of policy implementation. It deepens our understanding of the problems faced with implementing planned change in transforming contexts even in cases where there is a receptiveness to change. / Thesis (PhD (Education Policy Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

South Africa has been in a process of far-reaching restructuring and currently is still experiencing a bombardment of many educational change policies. Education policy for educational change only becomes reality once it is implemented at the micro (classroom) level. Teachers indeed are the key role-players in this implementation phase and are unfortunately, more often than not, the silent voices in this process, ignored and discounted in this stage of educational change. How they experience and understand the policy change, or how the human side of policy change is contextualized, remains a mystery to be explored and explained. Furthermore, despite the growing literature on educational change and policy change, relatively little has been done on the experiences of primary school teachers and policy change in the context of developing countries such as South Africa. Available international literature on teachers’ experiences of policy change relates mostly to educational practices that are well-resourced, where teachers are highly qualified, and teacher-student ratios are low. It appears reasonable to assume that teachers’ experiences of education policy change in developing South African circumstances would be influenced and constructed by the contexts in which they work. The broad purpose of this inquiry is to describe and explain primary school teachers’ experiences of education policy change in South Africa. The immediate objective is to obtain new, deeper and more complex understandings of the less obvious issues that influence teachers’ roles as implementers of education policy change. This study was conducted in an interpretive or qualitative mode. The following key question guided this investigation. How do primary school teachers experience education policy change? Semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and open-ended questionnaires were utilized in this study. This data was transcribed, and analysed using computer-aided qualitative data software, Atlas.ti. The data was analysed inductively, using open coding and a grounded theory approach. This approach facilitated the coding process of the data. The data was interpreted on the basis of the literature, and presented in the last two chapters of this report. The findings from this inquiry revealed four significant and interdependent themes, with a variety of sub-themes, which appear meaningful in understanding education policy change from the perspectives of teachers. These include the affective domain, emotional responses and contestations, issues relating to discipline and control, outcomes-based education, and lastly matters of values, teacher roles and their view of professionalism. While the contributions of this inquiry are not original in the sense of a prototype, the findings could add to the knowledge base of the complexities of education policy change. Some further questions are raised, which emerged during the inquiry and which might contribute to additional investigations on a wider spectrum and launch some critical debates on education policy change. The inquiry yields some concluding thoughts, which may inform policy change and its implementation. / Thesis (PhD (Education Management))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

Bibliography: pages 203-211. / This study focuses special attention on some crucial aspects of 'Native Education' policy during the period 1939-48. It is contended that 'Native Education' cannot be analysed outside its political and economic context. It was an essential aspect of the broader 'Native' policy followed by successive white governments (Provincial and Union) in S.A. before 1948. The study is divided into two parts. Part one provides the economic, political and educational (Native) background of the period 1939-48. Chapter one assesses the political and economic context of 'Native Education' prior to 1939. Chapter two provides an historical analysis of 'Native Education' prior to 1939 and highlights the following crucial issues: (i) the role of the missionary as educator; (ii) the State's interest in industrial education for Africans; (iii) the State's financial provision for 'Native Education'. Part two attempts to uncover aspects of the political orientation of the U.P. Government's 'Native Education' policy (1939-48) and investigates the following issues: (i) why the State provided insufficient financial backing for 'Native Education' when compared with that given to White Education (Chapter five); (ii) the reasons for the introduction of the 1943 School Feeding Scheme for African children; (Chapter six). (iii) the reasons for the State's provision of insufficient technical and vocational training for Africans when compared with that given to whites (Chapter seven). This section also analyses the political ideologies of the U.P. Government and the N.P. Opposition with regard to 'Native Education' (Chapters three and four) as well as the Smuts Government's 'Native' policy and the reaction to this policy (Chapter eight). The study also focuses attention on the House of Assembly Debates (1939-48) relating to the issues examined in Chapters five, six and seven. It is contended that these debates are of paramount importance for an understanding of subsequent policies as they touch on a particularly sensitive area in the field of race relations in South Africa in specific ways.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand in the fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Educational Planning and Administration, 1992. / The purpose of this study was to investigate how the educational policies formulated by the Department of Education and Training as well as the Departments cf Education and Culture, influence the functioning of the colleges of education in the National States in South Africa. It was also to determine the extent to which policies, evolved within the colleges themselves, are-af-feeted—by—interventions from the various Departments and political movements. Methods of research included, among others, interviews of college rectors, lecturers and students, serving teachers and some educators attached to the Departments of Education and Culture. This researcher intended to establish how these people perceive the influence and impact of these policies on the selected sample of Colleges of Education in the National States. The literature review revealed that policy serves as a guide and a source of reference in any given venture, involving a choice amongst a wide range of alterntives; and that it provides a reasonable guarantee that there will be consistency and continuity in the decisions that are made. This investigation demonstrated, however, that there is a stigma attached to policies formulated by the Education Departments in the National States. This is due to the negative perception that the National States are illegitimate administrative structures created to perpertuate apartheid policies. The policies which are formulated by the Department of Education and Training are also challenged by the students in particular, and lecturers in general, who argue that these policies are oppressive and therefore unacceptable. The negative perception held by students and lecturers on the current educational policies manifests itself in the emerging college culture of violence which is characterised by the rejection of current authority structures. Students seem to rely on coercion and intimidation as means of problem solving instead of the use of negotiation tactics. College policies therefore do not always serve as guides and thus cannot guarantee any consistency and continuity in the decisions that are made. In this way education policies do not empower the college authorities to be fully in charge of their institutions. Emerging from these findings are the following recommendations: * that education policy makers should consider various options which will encourage a wider spectrum of consultation and involvement of interest groups, including Thompson's model of policy development and redefinition cycle (in Monahan, 1982), Muschkat1 s (1986) morphological model and those of Saran and Kogan. that policy makers formulate policies which are based en the rule of law and on the principles of justice and fairness. It is hoped that this research will be a source of reference for further research in policy studies undertaken -especially— for postgraduate studies. It will also serve as a useful source material for educational policies in South Africa, especially with regard to colleges of education.

Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment ofthe requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION in the Department of Philosophy of Education at the University of Zululand, 1998. / The researcher sought to investigate the antiracist approach in education which has been adopted by the Government of National Unity (GNU). The changes that have taken place in education since 1994 inform this research. The study therefore purports to reveal some of these changes as they relate to anti-racism. In the early 1990s the open school system was incepted. Historical White schools were open to other racial groups particularly Africans. That was an antiracist approach which confronted institutional racism. The researcher established a view that African education was fraught with crisis as emanating from unequal educational opportunities between Africans and Whites in particular. In this. study the researcher has tried to document various aspects of inequality in education. These aspects resulted to the movement of African learners to traditional White schools. White learners were not attracted into traditional African schools. This study attempted to emphasise the importance of anti-racist education in creating equal educational opportunities between Africans and their White counterparts. The researcher decided to state her problem in a question form like this: Does anti-racist education in South Africa have any role to play in eliminating inequalities that characterise the South African education system? The aims of the study included investigating: strategies employed by the GNU in implementing equal education. The role of educators in restoring the culture of learning in African schools. These aims necessitated the utilisation of literature review, interview and empirical survey as research tools. This study revealed that African schools are underdeveloped as compared to historical White schools. The findings also pointed out that some Whites still adhere to the idea of White superiority and African inferiority. This master-servant attitude also became the major focal point of the discussion of anti-racist education. Among some recommendations that the researcher made, the following can be cited: The provision of African schools with additional resources in order to bring equity which would yield equal educational opportunities. The compensatory programme should be launched to change personal views of inferiority held by culturally deprived, disadvantaged learners to enable them to compete in the new cultural and socio-economic demands. There should be racial awareness programmes in order to inculcate common values of respect, tolerance and acceptance across racial groups.

The context of this study is the introduction of a new national quality assurance system for South African higher education by an agency of the Department of Education. The purpose of the study is to conduct a critical policy analysis of the Council of Higher Education’s Higher Education Quality Committee’s policy formulation process. In doing so, the study seeks to understand how the quality of teaching and learning practice might be enhanced through quality assurance. In order to answer this question the study examines the literature on quality assurance in higher education and proposes a simple conceptual framework for mapping different approaches to quality assurance. The framework is based on a normative judgment that communicative action is more likely to result in the improvement of teaching and learning practice than instrumental action. Approaches to policy analysis and evaluation research are explored and it is argued that policymaking is a complex multi-faceted process requiring a pluralist research design. This is attempted in the study where a range of research methods are employed from within a critical social science paradigm. The study analyses data gathered at each of the policy stages: setting the policy agenda, policy formulation, policy adoption and policy reformulation, but stops short of researching policy implementation in any depth. The study is therefore classified as a formative, clarificatory evaluation. It seeks to evaluate the conceptualization and design of instruments for quality assurance, stakeholder contribution to policy development and stakeholder response to policy proposals. In particular the study seeks to uncover the different values, discourses and ideologies that stakeholders subscribe to in the policymaking process. The findings of the study show that the HEQC did attempt to work communicatively and consultatively with the higher education community and that it was, in part, due to its consultative efforts, that the final policy instruments were greatly improved. But the study also shows that the consultative process was only partially successful, with serious differences still existing between the HEQC and some stakeholder groups. Different stakeholder approaches to quality assurance are traced to deeper historical, cultural and ideological differences. The study suggests that these factors are likely to hinder the smooth implementation of the HEQC’s policies. The findings of the study also suggest that the challenge of designing a model of quality assurance that caters adequately for both the improvement and accountability purposes of quality assurance was not entirely met in this policymaking process. Furthermore, the study suggests that because the HEQC’s policies were, from the outset, conceived of as a means of furthering the state’s transformation agenda, its idea of quality and its quality assurance procedures are beginning to work ideologically. This has the effect of politicizing the implementation process and undermining the HEQC’s efforts to improve the quality of teaching and learning practice in South African higher education.