This thesis examined the 2004 SA higher education merger processes in order to determine the extent to which these mergers have achieved in the context of the broader transformation goals of the post-1994 government’s policy objectives. Mergers have become part of the South African higher education landscape and system since their implementation in 2004. The merger process induced the reduction of higher education institutions from 36 to 23 (at least until 2012 at the time of writing this report). The merger implementation process itself was not voluntary. Some South African universities did not just willingly opt for the transformation process. It took the government a range of strategies, elaborate consultations and ‘carrot and stick’ approaches to convince some of the targeted institutions. The merger was not only limited to physical reconfiguration, but also to the systemic aspects motivated by the need to open the doors of learning and culture to all South Africans without barriers of ethnicity, race and other forms of discrimination. The ‘ivory tower’ universities had to be reigned into the national transformation project as well. Curriculum which was mainly crafted from an epistemological-ideological premise of the supremacy of Afrikaans as a language of the government of the day and the employer of choice had to be reviewed. Admission criteria, advanced access restrictions to the majority of black students to urban and more advanced universities, also warranted scrutiny / Public Administration / Ph. D. (Public Administration)

In the 21st century, there is a growing realisation that providing principals with the necessary opportunities of training in leadership and management skills has become increasingly important as a way to increase school effectiveness and achieve quality performance. Central to this argument is the fact that principals are merely accorded a status and role without the necessary training. The purpose of this study was therefore to explore the effectiveness of state-funded professional development programmes of school principals with specific reference to Soshanguve secondary schools and also to ascertain the extent to which principals’ training meets the schools’ and principals’ needs given the changed conditions that exist in the country. The study employed a quantitative research methods approach to collect data from 100 educators and 20 Head of Departments (HoDs). This was done through administration of questionnaires. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), which was used to generate the frequencies and descriptive statistics that were used to answer research questions. While it is expected that principals should effectively and rigorously be developed to enable them to improve teaching and learning at their schools, the study, however, found that training of school principals in Soshanguve was elusive and ineffective, and as result, the majority of these principals lack basic management training prior to and after their entry into principalship. The study has shown that apart from being faced with various challenges and being promoted to principalship without the necessary leadership experience, principals rely on trial-and-error experience and common sense in leading and managing schools. The study also showed that a majority of principals are in great need of being professionally developed in some specific areas. Furthermore, the study discovered that the Department of Basic Education does not seem to be making efforts in ensuring that principals are professionally developed. Consequently, principals develop on their own through informal professional development strategies. In conclusion, the study recommended, amongst others, that principals should be encouraged to take personal responsibility and initiative in preparing and developing school leadership through self-study, reading literature, attending seminars and workshops out of their own personal volition. That Department of Basic Education (DoBE) needs to look into ways of subsidising the training of school principals. DoBE should also find ways of formally incorporating more of the private sector and non-governmental organisations to help in the preparation and development of principals for school leadership by allowing them to offer in-service courses for potential principals and serving principals. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)

Since the dismantling of Apartheid in South Africa in 1994, the South African socio-political and economic landscape has been characterised by rapid change. In the ten years since the 'new' democratic South Africa emerged, transformation has become a dominant discourse that has driven much action and practice in a variety of public areas. One of the areas of focus for transformation has been Higher Education whereby the Department of Education aimed to do away with disparity caused by Apartheid segregation by reducing the number of Higher Education institutions from 36 to 21. This research draws on Foucauldian theory and post-colonial theories (in particular Edward Said and Frantz Fanon), and the concept of racialisation in an analysis of the incorporation of Rhodes University's East London campus into the University of Fort Hare. Ian Parker's discourse analytic approach which suggests that discourses support institutions, reproduce power relations and have ideological effects, was utilised to analyse the talk of students and staff at the three sites affected by the incorporation (viz. Rhodes, Grahamstown, Rhodes, East London and Fort Hare) as well as newspaper articles and public statements made by the two institutions. What emerged was that in post-Apartheid South Africa, institutional and geographic space is still racialised with virtually no reference to the historical and contextual foundations from which this emerged being made. In positioning space and institutions in this racialised manner a discourse of 'white' excellence and 'black' failure emerges with the notion of competence gaining legitimacy through an appeal to academic standards. In addition to this, transformation emerges as a signifier of shifting boundaries in a post-Apartheid society where racialised institutional, spatial and social boundaries evidently still exist discursively.

The general aim of this thesis is to illuminate the process of learning as it occurs in formal and informal contexts. The study focuses on South African scholars attending school in rural areas where the contrast between learning in formal and informal learning contexts is more pronounced than that in urban areas. The research draws on rural scholars' local knowledge of formal and informal learning contexts in order to gain a rich insight into how cognition is situated in different learning contexts. This is accomplished through investigating the structure of the respective learning tasks, the mediators involved, the task objectives and the means for achieving these objectives in the different learning contexts. The thesis draws on a socio-cultural approach to the study of cognitive development to probe the activity of learning in a formal and informal learning context. Through the use of a context sensitive methodological methods especially Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools and techniques, it was possible to illuminate tacit local knowledge structures and to get participants to actively explicate their understandings related to learning in different contexts The research results illustrate the assertion that the activity of learning is fundamentally situated in the learning context from which it arises. Learning is framed by the community of practice which structures affordances for situated learning, through mediation, within zones of proximal development. Learning in a formal context such as the school is often abstract, rule-based, standardised and theory related. Learners also find it difficult to reflect on the learning tasks and the mediational means used in a formal learning context. In contrast, the learning which takes place in an informal setting is often practical, individualised, flexible and environment based. This learning is structured around everyday activities and is dynamically defined and supported. In a situation where a learner is exposed to dislocated learning contexts, the essential goal of educational initiatives is to bridge the gap between the two. This can be achieved through mediators creating effective zones of proximal development which facilitate the individuals adaptation between learning contexts. Exposing rural scholars' local knowledge of learning in formal and informal contexts allows for a fuller understanding of the cognitive development structured within formal and informal communities of practice. It is this understanding that is necessary to address the situation where learning contexts, drawing on different knowledge bases find ways of thinking, prove challenging and/or conflicting to the scholar.

The post-apartheid government of South Africa has committed itself to achieving fundamental transformation of the education system. The government has adopted policies and measures that aimed to bring about the goals of equity and redress, and to enhance democracy and participation of all groups in development and decision making processes at all levels. It is acknowledged that the democratic government has accomplished a lot in education within this short period and has made numerous strides in enhancing equity, redress and social justice; providing high quality education for all the people of South Africa; bringing about democratisation and development; and enhancing effectiveness and efficiency. However, despite these apparent achievements, this study shows that there have been a number of setbacks and contradictions in the policies which have affected the process of bringing about fundamental changes and transformation in the education sector. The setbacks and contradictions resulted from factors which have affected the type of policies developed to transform the education sector. They also affected the formulation and implementation of the policies, thereby limiting the achievements of the goals of transformation agenda in education. Hence, this study examined the politics of transformation and change in the education sector by examining the type of policies that have been put in place; their formulation, implementation and outcome. The main research questions are: • What kind or type of policies have been put in place to transform the education sector? • How and by whom were the policies formulated? • How are these policies being implemented and what have been the outcomes of the process? Transformation and in particular the policy process is beset with continuous debate, contestation and struggle for the success of ideas and interests which are pursued by individual actors, groups and policy networks through the institutions. During these different stages policies are modified, constituted and reconstituted. As a result, they give rise to intended and unintended outcomes which are likely to support or contradict the objectives of those policies. Hence, the process cannot be explained using only one approach or theory. Therefore, this study has been situated in ideas, group and network and institutional approaches or theories to examine the factors that have affected education policies, their formulation and implementation and the overall transformation of education in South Africa. It contends that policy change and variation result from interaction of ideas and interests within patterns of group and policy networks and preset institutions. The study adopts qualitative interpretive methodology in order to question, understand and explain institutions; interests groups and ideas; socio economic and power relations involved in the process. It also appraises the framework for action. In addition to conducting literature review, unstructured interviews were held with officials from provincial and national Departments of Education, members of national and provincial legislatures, principals, teachers, members of school governing bodies, learners, Non-governmental organisations, Community based organisations, Faith based organisations, teachers’ and workers’ unions. Observations were made during meetings of school governing bodies. The study draws reference from the Eastern Cape Province between 1994 and 2002 and looks at the school level (Basic and Further Education levels). Reference is also made to selective policy instruments namely, the South African Schools Act (SASA) (1996), Curriculum 2005 and Norms and Standards for School Funding (1999). Overall, the findings of the study have shown that various factors have led to setbacks and contradictions in the policies that were adopted in education. They have also affected the formulation and implementation of the policies, hence exerting certain limitations on the achievements of the goals of transformation in education. The factors identified in the findings are the outcome of the negotiated settlement and subsequent changes made by the apartheid government in education before the 1994 elections; constraints and unequal participation of different groups in education policy development in various established structures and avenues; drawbacks in the implementation of education policies by decentralised structures and agents at various levels. This was exacerbated by lack of capacity, lack of adequate resources, lack of commitment and will among some of the civil servants coupled with corruption and mismanagement. The legacy of apartheid and the homeland governments, together with existing backlogs added another layer. Consequently, there were challenges in the economic policy which led to inadequate funding for education. The findings of this study show that competing ideas and interests advanced by groups and networks have impact on decision making, policy content and implementation. Therefore, some policies will reflect and maintain the interests of those individual actors, groups and policy networks that exerted most influence. The findings also reveal that institutional norms and rules, inadequate resources, lack of capacity and skilled human resources and economic environment, constrain decision making, policy content and implementation.

Sustainable development and projects are relatively new terms In the South African context. This study explores these concepts as they relate to a school that is piloting a project in the Eastern Cape. A number of projects have been introduced in disadvantaged schools to redress imbalances of the past. Funders invest a lot of money, but when they leave, schools struggle to sustain these initiatives. This study aims to investigate whether the Imbewu Project, an educational development pilot project meant to improve schools in the Eastern Cape, made provision for long-term sustainability and whether the school sustained the project. Very little research seems to have been conducted on sustainability, especially in South Africa (SA). The study is conducted in the interpretive paradigm. A single case study involving a number of stakeholders at Phiwe Primary School (PPS) was conducted through observations, interviews, focus groups and document analysis. The study found that the action research strategy intended for the project was constrained by the limited time allowed. In addition, the approach did not address processes which are important for sustainability. Also, the cascade approach to learning is not successful in organisations that have not reached the status of being learning organisations. PPS is still struggling to change its culture and therefore one can say that they cannot sustain the changes that are brought by the project. Firstly, they did not involve the parents in most modules as the project suggested. Secondly, some facilitators did not understand the project. Thirdly, although the project provided for monitoring and support, the study found that there was inadequate support from the project team and district officials. There was a shortage of district officials because the Eastern Cape Department of Education did not invest in appointing people that could sustain the project. However, there are areas where the school is doing an outstanding job despite the fact that there was very little support. The school performed well in implementing and sustaining the project in the following areas: learner welfare, community involvement and involvement of staff members in committees.

The private and social returns to education literature share the same conclusion: that education is beneficial for both the individual and society. However, the theoretical underpinnings are flawed as the literature does not account for the main feature that leads to the acquisition of education: the private demand for education. An understanding of the factors that motivate the individual to invest in education would lead to a deeper insight as to why both private and social returns to education exist, and would provide a clearer framework on which to base the government funding of education. This thesis provides a first attempt at filling this gap by introducing a method of estimating the returns to government investment in education, which is labelled the ‘labour market drop-out rate approach’. The approach focuses on the social return to education, not in terms of graduate earnings, but in terms of the interaction of the graduate with the economy. The approach introduces a measure of expertise utilisation, based on the premise that there is no social return to an individual acquiring education if he or she does not utilise the acquired knowledge base on entering the labour market. The approach is tested using the labour market for marine scientists in South Africa as a case study. In this case the private demand for education is found to be heavily influenced by the provision of student bursaries from the National Research Foundation, with a resulting estimate of the social return to a degree in marine science being a mere 20% to 25%. Owing to this, a new approach to government investment in marine science is introduced, that of graduate contribution schemes. Of broader significance is the ease of application of this approach, it may be adopted to analyse any funding programme in which a government may decide to invest. As such, the labour market drop-out rate provides an extension to the returns to education literature through its theoretical dealings of the private demand for education, as well as a practical tool which government agencies can use to evaluate the efficacy of any government funding of education.

The aim of this study was to explore how peer education is enhancing social-emotional learning in four secondary schools in Fort Beaufort Education District. An empirical investigation using the qualitative approach examined the situation of the peer education clubs at the four schools. Data was gathered using interviews, focus groups, observations and document analysis. The purpose of the study was to examine the role of peer education programmes in enhancing social and emotional learning in schools. In this research study specifically the qualitative research approach was used. The study also adopted a purposive sampling procedure which is acceptable for special sampling situations where the researcher applied her own experience to select cases which form part of the participants. Four schools were selected, four principals, four teachers who work with peer education clubs, four focus groups, one HIV/AIDS district coordinator, and one peer group trainer. It emerged from the analysis of the collected data that peer education clubs in Fort Beaufort have a number of challenges facing them, resulting in them making insignificant contributions towards the enhancing of social-emotional learning. The clubs’ efforts have resulted in little positive behavioural change among the youth. Among the challenges revealed are: lack of proper structures and support from school administrators, poor selection of peer educators, lack of time and facilities in which to carry out their work, lack of adequate training for both teachers and peer educators. Teacher interference was also cited regularly at all four schools, thereby defeating the whole idea of peer education. The study also revealed that peer educators in Fort Beaufort are not receiving adequate support from other stakeholders like, the police, the justice department and social welfare. Another critical observation made during the study was that peer education clubs are lacking clear standards of practice, rigour and sustainability, all which should be addressed in order to enhance social-emotional learning in schools. Data was analysed using a thematic content analysis. The analysis was carried out in a manner that related to the research questions and objectives in the study. A transcript was made from the respondents’ answers. Reflection and coding was done and data was categorised as an important learning tool in schools, and to recognise its contribution to social emotional learning. The study concluded that peer education clubs in schools, despite their huge potential to improve both behaviour and academic results, are not being given a conducive environment to operate in or the necessary support. This effectively means that learners with some behavioural problems and who have the potential to reform are also being denied the opportunity to lead better lives. The Department is advised to increase the number of both peer education trainers and trained peer educators. Furthermore the training period of peer educators should be increased from the current five days. There is need for the Department of Education to formalise peer education clubs in schools and craft laws that makes it mandatory for schools to provide the clubs with decent facilities like confidential rooms to conduct their activities. More so the study recommends that there is need to train all teachers in schools in social skills and not only LO teachers to ease supervisory burden on the LO teachers.

The Department of Basic Education introduced the Integrated Quality Management system in 2003. This was an integration of the three systems, Developmental Appraisal System, Whole School Evaluation System and Performance Measurement System. The system was seen as to be the one that would allow teachers to play a vital role in assessing their own progress, and would integrate this with the necessary evaluation strategy for the professional development of teachers and monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning in schools. The purpose of this study was to research an evaluation of the Integrated Quality Management System impact in schools of the Mdantsane Area. The objective of the study was to establish whether the IQMS has addressed the concerns and needs of the educators and also establish their views on IQMS. The literature was reviewed to get more information on the key concepts of the IQMS and get to understand how the system should be implemented. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods have been used to get to probe the views of the educators and how the system impacts in schools. The data collected was analyzed by means of frequency tables and charts using statistical methods. It was concluded that educators still do not understand the policy document of IQMS and more training on the implementation of IQMS was recommended. The support and monitoring from the District Office needs to be strengthened.

Within the South African context, because of political and social changes and the influence caused by these changes on educational structures, the new and high demands are required from school principals. Principals now find it necessary to make choices and take decisions .Unfortunately they are not equipped sufficiently to make careful decisions in meeting constitutional demands (Niehaus & Myburgh, 1999). According to Evans (1997:20) (as cited by Schoeman, 2006) the establishment of suitable institutions is sufficient in keeping a free and democratic society, world events (fascism in Japan, Italy, Germany,1920s-1930s;cold war in Europe, 1940s-1980s are there to remind us that even the best –designed institutions are not sufficient. A free and democratic society is dependent on knowledge, skills and virtues of its citizens (IDASA 1999:2). Brown and Duku, 2008 contend that when SASA was introduced, it was of the idea that it would create a new school governance landscape (Naidoo, 2005). Criticisms are blaming the SASA for the tensions that exist in school governance. SASA is viewed as steeply middle- class in identity and is accused of normalising parental participation in school governance in middle-class terms. Another criticism is on the assumption that parents should have the resources and time to spend on school activities (Dyer &Rose, 2005; Fakir, 2003; Sayed & Soudien, 2005). When criticisms against this Act were taken stock of in the context of socio-economic realities of many communities in rural locations in SA, it is difficult to disagree. The report of the Ministerial Review Committee cited socio-economic related difficulties as paralysing how parents participate in school governance in rural communities (Ministerial Review Study, 2004).