M.Comm. / The South African education and training system has for many years been fragmented and unfair towards underprivileged population groups. Since 1994, many changes have been initiated via legislation to ensure a unified and equal national system of education and training. Higher education has not been excluded from this and is undergoing major changes. These changes are mainly driven by current higher education legislation together with the regulations of the South African Qualifications Authority towards establishing a National Qualifications Framework (NQF). Higher education transformation is built around three central features, namely increased participation, greater responsiveness, and increased cooperation and partnerships. One of the ways in which participation and responsiveness can be achieved is through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). Formal RPL has not yet been implemented in higher education institutions, although informal forms of RPL have taken place. In an attempt to understand RPL, the approaches to prior learning recognition in various countries are analysed. Aspects such as the forms of RPL, sources, objectives and uses, benefits and advantages are extrapolated from current sources. A table with a summary per country is provided as a future reference guide. A Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process model is synthesised after analysis of prior learning recognition process models in different countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada and Australia. This model serves as suggested process model for Recognition of Prior Learning in higher education institutions in South Africa. The model consists of ten stages, namely pre-entry, initial contact, learning identification, preparation for assessment, assessment, verification, accreditation and certification, appeals, recording and post-RPL counselling. Research is based on an analytical and descriptive literature study. The process model requires further empirical testing.

Accountancy education in South Africa has been very controversial during the last few years and this controversy has led to objective self-examination by academics. It is acknowledged that there has been a substantial growth in the body of knowledge generally and that the accountancy profession has also been faced not only with a certain growth in the body of knowledge but also with a growth in society's expectations of the profession. These expectations could possibly include the expression of opinions on the fairness of profit forecasts and projected financial statements, including the underlying assumptions and opinions on management effectiveness. Possibly in order to accept greater responsibilities for the detection of fraud and the anticipated growth of society's expectations and greater utilisation of the computer, the future chartered accountant will be expected to be more proficient. This leads to the premise that a broader and less technique-oriented education is required for the future chartered accountant in South Africa. Developments overseas indicate that the profession in certain countries, plays a very active role in the final year of the accountancy education of its trainee accountants. In Australia the "Professional Year" is organised by The Australian Institute of Chartered Accountants. The candidates are evaluated on their performance during the "Professional Year" in assignments as well as their participation in classes, their attendance at the sessions and their successful completion of the final examination which is not regarded as a hurdle. In countries such as Canada and Scotland the institutes play an active role in promoting their own block-release courses. In Scotland the institute has its own lecturing staff, whereas in Canada in the province of Ontario, the Ontario Institute uses staff of the larger firms. In certain countries the final qualifying examination is intended to be difficult and case studies are used in the examination. In certain countries where the universities playa greater role in the educational process, the accountancy institutes are phasing out their own examinations. In other countries multiple-choice questions are set as a matter of expediency, where very large numbers of candidates are involved. In other countries, where the number of candidates is not too large, candidates do oral examinations and write theses as well. Complaints have been made about the length of the courses in South Africa, but in some countries accountants qualify between the age of 30 and 35 years. It is submitted that accountancy education in South Africa has been too technique-oriented and a happy medium between a conceptual and technique-oriented approach is required. University academics should play a more active role in research, and it is suggested that the Public Accountants' and Auditors' Board should give serious consideration to the possibility of reducing the number of contracting universities that are entitled to educate students for a Certificate in the Theory of Accountancy. The ultimate requirement for the profession is graduate entry, but in the interim entry standards must be improved and it is suggested that the profession create a trust fund utilising the Accounting Development Foundation, which could make bursaries available and thus make the profession more attractive to bright scholars. It is not envisaged that a detailed common body of knowledge should be prescribed, but more stringent conditions for the approval of contracting universities, should lead them to define the details themselves. This should not be stultifying, but should encourage research, which in the long run is in the interests of the profession. Communication between members of the profession and academics is essential to promote research and ensure the cross-fertilisation of ideas. It is also submitted that the final qualifying examination has had an undesirable effect on the teaching. This is because the proficiency of lecturers is generally measured by the success of the candidates in the final qualifying examination. A change in the format of the final qualifying examination is therefore imperative. A more case-study oriented examination is proposed. The value of the practical-experience requirement (articles) is questioned. It is submitted that for the practical ¬experience requirement to be meaningful, greater and more effective control of the quality of experience, to which the trainee accountant is exposed, is required. It is recommended that articles of clerkship or service contracts be dispensed with and that the training quotas of firms be more flexible, depending on circumstances. For the trainee accountant's experience to be meaningful it is necessary that his principal be kept up to date continuously with the latest developments which will result in greater emphasis being placed on required continuing education. The introduction of a quality review programme by the profession to improve the performance standards of its members is recommended. The abovementioned requirements, namely more effective control of practical-experience requirements, the introduction of a quality review programme and required continuing education as well as the fact that the decision making process in the accountancy profession is cumbersome and time-consuming necessitates a rationalisation of the controlling bodies in the profession. A questionnaire was designed to test the opinion of the respondents with regard to various controversial issues surrounding accountancy education. It appears that the profession does not want to accept greater responsibility for the possible extensions of the attest function and it can be stated that it favours the retention of the audits of private companies. It is thus obvious that certain changes are urgently required and the profession as well as academics will have to define its priorities very carefully. In the final analysis it must be borne in mind, that the profession must not overlook the public interest. / Thesis (DCom)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Accounting / DCom / Unrestricted

According to the Council on Higher Education (CHE, 2011:78) the term Work Integrated Learning (WIL) refers to an educational approach that aligns academic and workplace practices for the mutual benefit of students and workplaces. The CHE (2011:4) further describes WIL as an approach to career-focussed education that includes classroom-based and workplace-based forms of learning that are appropriate for the professional qualifications. WIL forms part of many training programmes for professions across the globe and is considered an important aspect of preparing the trainee or student to integrate theoretical learning into the clinical environment in which he or she will be building his or her career. WIL is considered crucial for the development of professional attributes and competencies needed to perform duties within the chosen profession once the trainee is qualified. Health care professions across the world employ WIL in clinical areas as an integral part of their curricula and nursing specifically is one of the health care professions that utilise a large component of WIL for clinical development of the student nurses. In South Africa, student nurses are currently placed in a variety of clinical settings in order to obtain the required and regulated clinical experience that work integrated learning should offer them. However, anecdotal evidence indicated that student nurses from the various Nursing Education Institutions in Nelson Mandela Bay experienced difficulty in finding adequate opportunities to develop their newly acquired skills when in the clinical areas and reported great difficulties in achieving their WIL outcomes. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the student nurses’ experiences of work integrated learning in various clinical areas in the Nelson Mandela Bay. This study followed a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design with two phases. Thirty-five student nurses in their third and fourth-year were purposely sampled. In phase one data was collected using two steps, where the first step comprised using naïve sketches. During the second step interviews were done by means of focus groups using semi-structured questions and responsive interviewing. Data was transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically using Tesch’s method of analysis. In phase two recommendations for nurse educators to optimise WIL were formulated. The following three themes and related sub-themes emerged from the analysis: 1) Student nurses experienced a multitude of challenges in the clinical placement areas (CPA) and at the nursing education institution (NEI) that negatively impact on their morale and hinder WIL, namely lack of resources, unsupportive learning environments, a lack of belonging and workplace violence. 2) Positive experiences resulted in motivated and enthusiastic students, namely being inspired by role models, enhanced learning when support was offered and personal growth. 3) Students offered recommendations for enabling their WIL, namely adequate mentoring and clinical support, adequate financial support related to WIL and adjusting the nursing programmes to better incorporate the students’ needs. Relevant literature and recommendations offered by the student nurses were used to formulate recommendations with action steps for nurse educators to optimise work integrated learning of student nurses.

The aim of this dissertation is to ‘problematize’ the ‘flexible generalist’ - the form of subjectivity allegedly produced by the basic education system of South Africa. According to the South African Qualifications Authority, ‘flexible generalists’ are individuals who possess the necessary skills, knowledge and flexibility to successfully participate in new working environments, thereby sustaining an adaptable workforce and contributing to the national economy. The dissertation will illustrate that this economic viability comes at the cost of critical and relative autonomous thinking, and is therefore not as ‘beneficent’ as the South African Qualifications Authority suggests. Initially, Louis Althusser’s theory regarding the repressive state apparatus and ideological state apparatuses will be employed in order to indicate how the education institution is underpinned by consumer-capitalist ideology. Subsequently, in order to ensure docility, efficiency and obedience within the workforce, the formal education system subjects the learner to various disciplinary discursive practices. By applying Michel Foucault’s theory regarding disciplinary power, this dissertation will illustrate that, through the regimentation of the subject’s time and space, docility is, for the most part, ensured. However, the flexible generalist is not solely produced through disciplinary power, but also through Foucault’s conception of bio-power, which is disseminated through the deployment of sexuality. Disciplinary power and bio-power are both appropriations of pastoral power, since the learner is led to believe that the well-being and care of the ‘self’ is always in the hands of another: specialists in numerous fields who ‘guide’ the individual regarding the ‘correct’ and ‘normal’ conduct in relation to the self and society, thereby stripping the subject of critical and relative autonomous thinking. The dissertation will conclude by suggesting a possible offset to the discursive practices that produce the flexible generalist in the form of ‘philosophy as a way of life’, or philosophia – the love of wisdom. Unlike the current educational discursive practices in South Africa that are underpinned by an ‘ethos of skills’ (resulting in mere economic empowerment), philosophia is based on an ‘ethos of wisdom’ - a comprehension of oneself, others and existence, based on the mastery of the self, and resulting in the ability to apply perceptions, judgements and actions on a contextual basis.

Music education is an essential aspect of education. The South African school curriculum for the Creative Arts combines dance, drama, music and the visual arts. The curriculum uses a combination of the theories of Carl Orff, Emile Jaques-Dalcroze and Zoltán Kodály. Each of these music theorists and educationists have their own distinctive approach to teaching music. This study explores the theories of music education of Carl Orff, Emile Jaques-Dalcroze and Zoltán Kodály. These theories are applied in a critical analysis of both the South African curriculum and the curriculum of New South Wales. The researcher developed music activities to address the shortcomings of both the South African curriculum and the music texts.

This study investigates the assessment criteria of Unit Standard 115789: Communication Studies and Language. In general unit standards are registered, standardised statements of expected education and training outcomes including assessment criteria and other regulatory information required by training providers and assessors to train and assess learners under the Skills Development Act of 1998. However, it was found that many training providers and assessors share the view that in the case of Unit Standard 115789, among others, the assessment criteria and their descriptors are generic, vague and non-context specific to the extent that trainers and assessors have difficulty in developing appropriate and reliable assessment tools and instruments that allow them to adhere to the basic principles of assessment, namely transparency, validity, reliability, consistency, practicability, fairness, flexibility and usability. The main concern of the study is that learners will be declared communicatively competent individuals in a variety of professional and industrial environments when in fact they are not. The study traces the origins and development processes of Unit Standard 115789 in order to gain a clearer understanding of the problems experienced by training providers and assessors in the implementation of the assessment criteria. It then proposes a set of guidelines that will assist training providers and assessors to make the assessment criteria more accessible and the assessment processes more reliable, valid and consistent. Finally, it makes a number of recommendations to ensure that the problems of implementation of Unit Standard 115789 currently experienced by training providers and assessors are alleviated.

The purpose of the study was to assess the implementation of peer academic support programmes which are Language and Writing Advancement and Supplemental Instruction programmes in one University in South Africa. The study adopted a qualitative approach that used face-to-face interviews, focus group interviews and document analysis to collect data. Purposive sampling was used to select those who participated in the study. The participants were two coordinators of the programmes, ten facilitators working in the programmes for in-depth interviews and ten students who have been receiving services from the programmes for two focus group discussions. The study revealed that there was a general trend whereby peer facilitators of the programmes were recruited and trained. However, it was found that some facilitators abandoned the position immediately after the training which made it difficult for coordinators and Human Resource Staff (HR) to start the process of recruitment and retraining. In this regard, Teaching and Learning Centre, (TLC) and HR simply appointed other untrained facilitators to replace those who had deserted the positions. Also, some facilitators were unable to attend some of the regular trainings because of clashes with their classes. All these have a negative impact on the implementation of the programmes. The results also reveal that some of the facilitators were frustrated with students’ poor attendance in the sessions, and even those who attended their sessions, did not participate much in the discussions. It was found that most lecturers and students did not know the differences between supplemental instruction (SI) and tutorials. Neither did lecturers encourage their students to seek help from the TLC services. Reviewing of assignments from different disciplines by TLC facilitators was another burning issue that came up. Some facilitators reviewed assignments from different disciplines, because the disciplines were not represented and this is because they want to claim for more hours, which affects the quality of the programmes. The findings also show that some students did not like to take their assignment to the TLC for review because facilitators make unnecessary and harsh comments. On the contrary, some students acknowledged that they were fine with the way facilitators review assignments because it involves one-on-one consultation, and they always pass the assignments reviewed by PASS facilitators. The study also revealed that the coordinators monitored and evaluated facilitators through observation and the checking of attendance registers. Coordinators ware also monitored by senior colleagues of the department such as the manager of the TLC. Furthermore TLC has instituted a mentorship programme whereby senior facilitators mentor newly recruited facilitators. However not every facilitator had a mentor. The study also exposed the fact that the TLC venue was usually closed during examination periods to allow facilitators to prepare for their examinations. The findings show that some departments were not represented by facilitators and to remedy this situation, it is recommended that all departments be represented and lecturers encourage the students to get help from TLC. Most facilitators were undergraduate students, but they needed to be replaced by post graduates who did not have course work that will clash with PASS activities. The strategies used by facilitators were fairly good but more should be done to encourage students to participate in sessions. Finally, the monitoring and support mechanisms put in place were very functional but the TLC should make sure every facilitator is being monitored especially concerning the review of assignments. The significance of the findings of this study cannot be overemphasised. The strengths and challenges regarding the implementation of these programmes at this particular university have been revealed. Through the recommendations, it is hoped that the institution and the TLC would effect some changes in the implementation of these peer academic support programmes in order to better serve the students so as to achieve satisfactory throughput and retention rates.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (PhD (Education Management))--University of Pretoria, 2001. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

Department of Psychology / MA (Psychology) / See the attached abstract below

Thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Education by combination of coursework and research to the Faculty of Humanities, School of Education at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017 / Higher education in South Africa in the 21st century faces the complex challenge of balancing the demands of the neo-liberal global agenda with meeting national goals and addressing individual student needs. Research reveals the current South African higher education system to be inefficient, characterised by high attrition and low success rates. This is despite major restructuring, new legislation and a committed focus on access and equality. Lack of government funding, inadequate capacity and public demonstrations of student frustration are indicative of a crisis. This study used the capability approach to investigate student experiences in a private higher education institution. Using a sequential explanatory mixed methods design within an interpretive paradigm, a broad survey was followed by in-depth individual interviews to understand the factors that enable and constrain first-year student opportunities and achievements. The study found that student access to and participation in higher education is strongly driven by aspiration, and supported by affiliations as well as students’ ability to reflect on their experiences. These capabilities foster identity, learning and agency. There are many personal, social and institutional factors that restrict student functioning. While these might constrain achievement and have the potential to foreshorten a student’s higher education career, students who are able to adapt and develop resilience to the particular challenges they face within their daily experience have further opportunities for realising their higher education aspirations. KEYWORDS: Capability Approach; Higher Education; Inclusion; Diversity; Capabilities / GR2018