The purpose of this research was to determine what library facilities, resources and services were available to students and lecturers at colleges of education in the former Republic of Bophuthatswana and to determine how they compare to those available in some colleges of education libraries elsewhere. Also to determine students' and lecturers' use of the facilities, resources and services provided and whether they regard them as adequate. This investigation comprised a survey of the literature and an empirical survey which entailed giving questionnaires to a sample of students and lecturers at colleges of education. It was tound that students and lecturers use the libraries, but that facilities, equipment and collections are inadequate in many respects which contributes to the fact that most of the students and lecturers deemed the services offered by library staff to be inadequate. Several recommendations are made to improve services. / Information Science / M. (Library Science)

The majority of South African learners attend public schools, all of which are encouraged to supplement government funding with private funds - namely through fees charged of learners' parents. A review of the literature suggests that school fees can impede the right to education and the achievement of other national development goals by restricting access for poor learners, or by diminishing the quality of education. While the issue of school fees has been hotly debated in South Africa, there is little information about what is actually happening in schools. This research, conducted in a peri-urban area outside of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, is designed to explore the perspectives and experiences of principals with regards to the school fee policy. Eleven principals were interviewed: nine from relatively poor schools and two from a wealthier area, and their experiences with regards to the implementation of the school fee policy were compared and analysed. The findings suggest the implementation of the policy tends to be similar across schools of similar financial standing, but that there are considerable differences between the experiences of principals from poor and wealthy schools. The wealthier schools implemented the policy 'to-the-letter' and had hired staff and created systems to ensure all rules were properly followed. All of the poorer schools found parts of the policy impossible to implement in their schools and had adapted the policy in similar ways to better fit their situation. For example, amongst other adaptations, they allowed parents to apply for an exemption by simply discussing their circumstances with the principal, or obtaining an affidavit from the police, instead of making everyone fill out an official application form. Part of the problem is that the policy is based on assumptions which are not consistent with the reality of the South African context in that there are many different 'realities' faced by schools, yet there is only one rigid policy. Many schools find parts of the policy's processes to be impractical or irrelevant at best, and actually decreasing the quality of education they are able to provide at worst. Areas within which policy assumptions and reality did not match include: the implications of the distribution of income in South Africa on school financing; the power and access to information of parents and SGBs, and the ability or desire of parents to pay fees and/or be involved in the oversight of their children's education; and, the ability of provincial Departments of Education to properly support poor and/or Nonsection 21 schools. Additionally, Non-section 21 schools were found to be at an economic disadvantage compared with Section 21 schools. Another issue is that there are currently adverse incentives built into the policy. Amongst other effects these incentives encourage principals to minimise the number of exemptions approved, and for parents to either not pay at all, or to provide information to principals that underestimates their annual income. The significant contrasts in experiences between experiences of poor and wealthy schools and the adverse incentives built into the policy suggest the right question to ask may not be whether or not schools are implementing the policy correctly, but whether the policy is correctly designed to achieve the goals of the South African education system within the current context. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

M.Ed. / The marked drop in the achievement-level of learners at the beginning of standard six has motivated this study. Whether standard six learners have a sufficient command of pre-high school knowledge and learning experience to cope with the standard six curriculum, is being investigated ...

A thesis submitted to the Wits School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education Johannesburg, 2016 / Homework has become an integral part of the school curriculum and policy, yet the evidence base for its inclusion is contestable and inconclusive. In South Africa homework is a statutory requirement for all schools (DoE, 1998) and nearly all schools have included it in the standard process of learning. The main argument of this research is that despite its adoption and application in schools, the justification for its use is barely understood. Its application in schools seemed to be based on anecdotal evidence. Considering there is very little empirical data that demonstrates the extent of the utilisation of evidence around homework-based decisions in South African schools, this study intends to establish what sources of evidence are available to schools to support decision-making around the key policy matters, perceptions, implementation, benefits and challenges associated with the applications of homework in school. Forty educators and two HoDs were recruited for the questionnaires and interviews respectively. The selected educators represented certain types of characteristics and had comparative teaching styles. This was done because some teachers give assignments that combine learning and ecstasy while others give homework that upset the whole process, therefore the administration of homework is different. Random sampling was used in selecting the educators and purposive sampling was used only in selecting the HoDs and this was done by selecting participants with certain characteristics to provide the best information to address the purpose of the research. The researcher concludes that most educators claimed they receive very little support from the education department in terms of homework issues. The study suggests there is a correlation between homework and achievement, but is not adequate to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that it is indeed the case. However, the study can argue there are some benefits beyond academic acquisition of knowledge. By contrast, the study also highlights that homework marginalises economically disadvantaged students who find it difficult to complete homework tasks due to environmental issues. In concluding; the study suggests that for homework to be effective, homework implementers need to undertake critical research in order to understand the short comings of homework incompletion.

D.Tech. Organisational Leadership. Business School. / The research problem for this thesis reads as follows: Educational technology within Universities of Technology is not strategically governed and managed, resulting in the underutilisation of resources impacting on the achievement of strategic goals and objectives. The primary research question therefor follows: Can a strategic approach be formulated to mitigate the research problem to benefit Universities of Technology? Questions explored in the thesis are: What business principles and managerial strategies can be applied in the formulation of a governance scenario for effective educational technology governance? What are the key national and international strategic driving forces that influence institutional governance? What are the key strategic driving forces that influence governance at the Tshwane University of Technology?

The education reform of the South African democratically elected government ushered in the further education and training (FET) curriculum policy guided by strategic principles and values. This study identified and analysed the principles and values guiding the FET curriculum policy in relation to the factors leading to their selection and the effect of such choices on the FET curriculum design. A tri-dimensional method of Critical Discourse Analysis as developed by Fairclough (1995) was employed and supplemented with a method of curriculum analysis as developed by Jansen and Reddy (1994) for the analysis of the principles and values. Investigation into the National Curriculum Statement for FET (General) (2003) revealed that the principles and values fall into two categories: Economic based and social-related principles, both aiming to achieve social transformation. This dissertation positions education and training curriculum design within an emancipatory praxis approach as developed by Grundy (1987), and argued that since the gain in learning principles and values is that which leads to the development and refinement of the individual, the social-related principles and values should be taught holistically as a subject. I contend that the ‘discrete’ integration and application of socialrelated principles and values in subject statements will not provide an effective way of assessing the competences of such learning. This is because ‘discrete’ means subtle and subtle is elusive – ungraspable. I therefore argue that if the leaders of tomorrow who are the learners of today are expected to project and defend the principles values that the South African society is built on, it is imperative that these learners learn them holistically. Finally, an individual is assessed by what he /she thinks says, and does and the hands are one of the vehicles that carries out the command of the head, if the hands fail to respond to the ‘will’ of the head, that ‘will’ becomes of no effect. In the light of this argument, I contend that practical work without cognitive knowledge is no knowledge just as cognitive knowledge without practical application is absolutely no knowledge. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

The purpose of this research was to determine what library facilities, resources and services were available to students and lecturers at colleges of education in the former Republic of Bophuthatswana and to determine how they compare to those available in some colleges of education libraries elsewhere. Also to determine students' and lecturers' use of the facilities, resources and services provided and whether they regard them as adequate. This investigation comprised a survey of the literature and an empirical survey which entailed giving questionnaires to a sample of students and lecturers at colleges of education. It was tound that students and lecturers use the libraries, but that facilities, equipment and collections are inadequate in many respects which contributes to the fact that most of the students and lecturers deemed the services offered by library staff to be inadequate. Several recommendations are made to improve services. / Information Science / M. (Library Science)

Thesis (Masters Diploma (Post -School Education)) -- Cape Technikon, Cape Town, 1990 / The main hypothesis underlining this study is the belief that the great emphasis on "transfer" and "articulation" in tertiary education in California contains lessons for the tertiary sector in the RSA. Such lessons can fruitfully be examined with a view to intelligent, selective adaptation. In California an extremely flexible pattern of mobility exists between the four systems of tertiary education, namely the University of California (UC) (9 campuses), the California State University (CSU) (19 campuses), the Community Colleges (CCs) (106 campuses), and the Private/Independent sector (377 campuses). This pattern contrasts strikingly with the relatively inflexible approach in the RSA where transfer and articulation between the universities, technikons and colleges of education are not generally encouraged and do not occur too frequently. The creation of a model in the RSA which incorporates the most constructive elements of the systems in California is one of the primary objectives of this study. In the creation of this model cognisance has been taken of the many similarities and also the considerable differences in the economic, social, historical and physical conditions which exist in the RSA and in California. Every attempt has been made to avoid errors of "transplantation" which could easily take place. The key word in this study is "adaptation" and not the direct "transfer" of ideas since an eclectic approach, if applied too literally, can easily lead to an imposition of alien concepts. This study is therefore aimed primarily at focusing attention on the need for greater ''mobility'' among the tertiary education sectors in the RSA and in stimulating constructive moves in this direction. A secondary hypothesis underlying this study is the assumption that the 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education in California has proved successful and worthy of emulation in certain respects. This assumption has led to an examination of the California Plan with a view to the possible adaptation of some of its successful principles - other than "transfer" and "articulation" - in order to formulate the basis for a much needed Master Plan for Tertiary Education in the RSA. Implicit in this secondary hypothesis is a brief analysis of those aspects of the California Master Plan such as budgeting, funding, examining, control of standards, and so on, which have contributed to the success which has been achieved in California during the last three decades. This analysis is inevitably followed by a consideration of these points in the South African context in order that any constructive ideas may be incorporated or adapted to the conditions prevailing in the RSA. The universality of certain educational principles emerges clearly from this study as do the undeniable virtues of careful, logical studies of other educational systems in order that one may be in a stronger position to assess and improve one's own system.

A research project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA in Psychology in the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 20 June 2018 / This study explores the relationship between multilingualism and working memory. Multilingual advantages in various executive functions have been established, but little is known about whether multilingual advantages extend to working memory capacity and functioning, or about the effect of speaking more than two languages. In a sample of 189 multilingual young adults in South Africa, this study used a multiple regression design in which numerous aspects of multilingualism - balance in proficiency across and within languages, the age of acquisition of additional languages, and speaking a third language - could be compared with one another while controlling for socio-economic status. Four aspects of working memory (verbal storage, verbal processing, visuospatial storage and visuospatial processing), measured using the Automated Working Memory Assessment (Alloway, 2007), acted as the dependent variables in respective regressions while independent variables measuring multilingualism, including the continuous measures of balance in reading, speaking and understanding proficiency across languages, were based on self-report information from the Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAPQ; Marian, Blumenfeld, & Kaushanskaya, 2007). Balance in proficiency emerged as a strong predictor of the verbal processing component of working memory, while no aspect of multilingualism significantly predicted visuospatial working memory. Combined with other results, this finding suggested that the effect of multilingualism on working memory may not follow the pattern observed in other tasks where multilinguals are advantaged in domaingeneral executive functions (like inhibitory control) but disadvantaged in linguistic tasks. Multilinguals’ experience in storing and processing linguistic information may lead to advantages (possibly through managing attention) that are specific to this kind of information. Keywords: bilingual advantage, executive function, multilingual advantage, trilingualism, working memory ! / GR2019

Thesis (MTech. Degree. Knowledge management ) / Organisational performance is a manifestation of knowledge sharing, which has an effect on the overall competitiveness of an organisation. Knowledge shapes individual actions and behaviours, which sometimes conflict with the norms, structures and systems of the organisation. A knowledge gap was identified amongst employees at higher institutions of learning in South Africa. It enables some employees to perform their jobs more effectively than others. Knowledgeable employees are expected to share their knowledge with others to increase productivity and efficiency within their environment. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Generally, employees may behave differently within an organisation due to their diverse background or according to their skills and stock of knowledge. Two case studies were conducted to investigate the impact of knowledge sharing on organisational performance. Factors affecting knowledge sharing were identified from the findings of both case studies. A framework was developed to encourage the flow of knowledge sharing that will enhance overall performance in organisations, particularly at higher institutions of learning. Contingency theory was employed in the analysis of the data.