Thesis (MEd)-- University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Migration has been described as “the quintessential experience” of the contemporary period (Berger, 1984). Across the world this global phenomenon has been chiefly driven by conflict, persecution and poverty resulting from destabilisation in the various home countries of millions of individuals. Within the process of worldwide migration, South Africa receives perhaps the largest number of asylum seekers in the world and according to the UNHCR (2010) the majority of migrants entering South Africa are children or youth. Crucially, this increased migration into South Africa is occurring at a time when the majority of South Africa's general populace is still struggling with the aftermath of apartheid and increased levels of poverty and unemployment. In this qualitative, interpretative study I focus on how a group of 20 African migrant youth that live in Cape Town and attend one local school engage with the migratory experience and navigate their way through local receiving spaces. I assert that these spaces, which include both home and school, mark the youth in very particular ways and bring into focus key aspects of identity, culture, social worlds, imagination and aspiration. The main conceptual contribution of the thesis is the idea that we are all migrants in the current world, whether we physically move or whether our lives are moved by the impact of increasing global flows. Consequently, we need to develop, it is argued, a frame of thinking that makes the migrant central, not ancillary, to historical process. For that purpose I utilise the theoretical lenses of Pierre Bourdieu, Arjun Appadurai, and Tara Yosso to argue that the African migrant youth in the study are not passive recipients bombarded by the forces of globalization and migration, but are active agents in the shaping of their local realities. By linking individual biographies to the questions they raise about larger global, social and historical forces I attempt to offer a temporalized account of late-modern life that incorporates the contemporary conditions that the African migrant youth face as they navigate urban social arrangements, and the daily educational challenges of their local school. A further contribution of the thesis is the documenting of the particular internal and external resources that the 20 African migrant youth drew on to motivate and assist them to navigate their schooling and social lives, as they faced up to the growing uncertainties of their new "foreign‟ spaces. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Migrasie is al beskryf as “die wesenservaring” van die moderne tyd (Berger, 1984). Oral ter wêreld word hierdie globale verskynsel hoofsaaklik aangedryf deur konflik, vervolging en armoede wat die gevolg is van destabilisasie in die onderskeie lande van herkoms van miljoene mense. Binne die wêreldwye migrasieproses is Suid-Afrika die land wat waarskynlik die grootste getal asielsoekers ter wêreld ontvang, en volgens die Verenigde Nasies se hoëkommissaris vir vlugtelinge (UNHCR, 2010) vorm kinders of jeugdiges die grootste groep migrante wat Suid-Afrika binnekom. Wat van kardinale belang is, is dat hierdie toenemende migrasie na Suid-Afrika plaasvind op ʼn tydstip waarop die meerderheid van Suid-Afrika se breë bevolking steeds worstel met die nalatenskap van apartheid en verhoogde vlakke van armoede en werkloosheid. Hierdie kwalitatiewe, kwasi-interpretatiewe studie fokus op die wyse waarop ʼn groep van 20 jeugdige Afrika-migrante, wat in Kaapstad woon en dieselfde plaaslike skool bywoon, migrasie-ervarings hanteer en hulle weg deur die plaaslike ontvangsruimtes baan. Ek voer aan dat hierdie ruimtes, wat sowel die huis as die skool insluit, 'n baie duidelike stempel op jeugdiges laat en die aandag op sleutelaspekte van identiteit, kultuur, maatskaplike wêrelde, voorstellings en strewes vestig. Die hoof- konseptuele bydrae van die tesis is die gedagte dat ons almal in vandag se wêreld migrante (van welke aard ook al) is, of ons nou fisiek verskuif en of die impak van toenemende wêreldwye strominge verskuiwings in ons lewe veroorsaak. Daarom, word daar geredeneer, moet ons ʼn denkraamwerk ontwikkel wat die idee van die “migrant” sentraal tot die historiese proses stel, eerder as ondergeskik daaraan. Vir dié doel gebruik ek die teoretiese lense van Pierre Bourdieu, Arjun Appadurai en Tara Yosso om aan te voer dat die jeugdige Afrika-migrante in die studie nie passiewe ontvangers is wat deur die kragte van globalisering en migrasie rondgeslinger word nie, maar dat hulle aktiewe agente is wat hulle plaaslike werklikhede self kan vorm. Deur individuele lewensverhale te koppel aan die vrae wat dit oor groter globale, maatskaplike en historiese kragte laat ontstaan, bied ek ʼn getemporaliseerde weergawe van die laat-moderne lewe, met inbegrip van die eietydse omstandighede wat jeugdige Afrika-migrante in die gesig staar namate hulle hul weg deur die stedelik-maatskaplike organisasie moet vind, asook van die daaglikse opvoedkundige uitdagings van hulle plaaslike skool. Verder lewer hierdie tesis ʼn bydrae deur die interne en eksterne hulpbronne te dokumenteer wat hierdie 20 jeugdige Afrika-migrante gebruik het om hulle te motiveer en te help om hulle skool- en maatskaplike lewe te rig namate hulle die toenemende onsekerhede van hulle nuwe, “uitlandse” ruimtes moes aandurf.

Thesis (MEd)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis analyses some of the major education policies in Namibia since the introduction of a democratic government in 1990. The analysis reveals that democratic participation through stakeholder representatives is an ideal framework to promote democracy in education discourses, that is, in policy formation, school governance and teaching and learning. However, there is a dilemma of a lack of inclusion, which is incommensurable with modern democratic theorists’ conceptions of democratic citizenship (both Western deliberation and African ubuntu). The thesis asserts that Namibia’s historical and cultural background has to be taken into consideration if a defensible democratic citizenship education is to be engendered and advanced. An examination and interpretation of the three phases of Namibia’s historical background, its pre-colonial, colonial/apartheid and post-apartheid education systems, were carried out in order to understand the current state of education and the type of citizens the country is developing through its education system. Central to this investigation were different conceptions of democratic citizenship, which indicate that deliberation, inclusion, equality, reasonableness, publicity, belligerence, hospitality, compassion and African humanness (ubuntu) are the features of a defensible democratic citizenship education. The exploration of the distinction between deliberation and ubuntu shows that Namibia’s context requires a minimal democratic citizenship framework with ubuntu if a lack of inclusion is to be eliminated. The discussion on democratic conceptions also draws on a minimalist and maximalist continuum of democratic citizenship education. The thesis argues that a minimalist form of democratic citizenship education, in conjunction with African ubuntu – which constitutes less deliberation and non-belligerence with more compassion, careful listening, respect and dignity – engenders conditions for an inclusive policy framework, school governance, and the cultivation of democratic citizenry through teaching and learning in Namibian public schools, and may eventually promote a defensible democratic citizenship education. This framework may create a favourable environment and potential for all participants to co-exist, and for the marginalised groups to also contribute to conversations. This framework is also considered plausible because it takes into account the local people’s historical background and cultural practices. Complementing the argument of this thesis is the exploration of the link between Namibia’s education system, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Moreover, an appeal is made for the Namibian citizenship education system to consolidate the idea of cosmopolitanism, that is; hospitality and forgiveness, if the NEPAD initiative is to be successful and if certain Millennium Development Goals were to be achieved by 2015. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ontleed sommige van die hoof onderwysbeleide in Namibia sedert die instelling van ‘n demokratiese regering in 1990. Die ontleding onthul dat demokratiese deelname deur rolspelerverteenwoordigers is ‘n ideale raamwerk om demokrasie in onderwysdiskoerse te bevorder, dit is, in beleidmaking, skoolbeheer asook onderrig en leer. Nietemin, daar is ʼn dilemma van ‘n gebrek aan inklusiwiteit, wat nie vergelykbaar is met moderne demokratiese teoretici se konsepsies van demokratiese burgerskap (beide Westerse beraadslaging en Afrika ubuntu) nie. Die tesis voer aan dat Namibië se historiese en kulturele agtergrond verreken moes wees, indien ʼn verdedigbare demokratiese burgerskap voortgebring en ondersteun sou word. ʼn Ondersoek en interpretasie van die drie fases van Namibië se historiese agtergrond, haar pre-koloniale, koloniale/apartheid en post-apartheid onderwysstelsels, was uitgevoer om te verstaan wat die huidige stand van onderwys en die soort burgers is wat die land daardeur voorberei. Sentraal tot hierdie ondersoek was verskillende konsepsies van demokratiese burgerskap, wat aandui dat beraadslaging, inklusiwiteit, gelykheid, redelikheid, openbaarheid, strydlustige interaksie, gasvryheid, meelewing en Afrika-menslikheid (ubuntu) die eienskappe van ‘n verdedigbare demokratiese burgerskaponderwys is. Die ondersoek van die onderskeid tussen beraadslaging en ubuntu toon dat die Namibiese konteks, indien ‘n gebrek aan inklusiwiteit geëlimineer moet word, ‘n minimale demokratiese burgerskapsraamwerk met ubuntu benodig. Die bespreking van demokratiese konsepsies is ook gebed in ʼn minimalistiese en maksimalistiese kontinuum van demokratiese burgerskaponderwys. Die tesis argumenteer dat ‘n minimalistiese vorm van demokratiese burgerskaponderwys in samehang met Afrika ubuntu – wat minder beraadslaging en nie-strydlustige interaksie met meer meelewing, versigtige luister, respek en waardigheid veronderstel – toestande vir ‘n inklusiewe beleidsraamwerk, skoolbeheer en die kweek van demokratiese burgerskap deur onderrig en leer in Namibiese publieke skole bevorder en mag so uiteindelik ‘n verdedigbare demokratiese burgerskaponderwys bevorder. Hierdie raamwerk mag ‘n gunstige omgewing en die potensiaal vir alle deelnemers om met mekaar saam te leef asook vir gemarginaliseerse groepe om tot gesprekke by te dra, skep. Hierdie raamwerk kan ook as aanneemlik beskou word, omdat dit die plaaslike mense se historiese agtergrond en kulturele praktyke verreken. Die argument van hierdie tesis word ondersteun deur die ondersoek van die verband tussen die Namibiese onderwysstelsel, die ‘New Partnership for Africa’s Development’ (NEPAD) en die Millennium Ontwikkelingsdoelwitte. Meer nog, ‘n beroep word gemaak vir die Namibiese burgerskap onderwysstelsel om die idee van wêreldburgerskap, dit is, gasvryheid en vergifnis te konsolideer, indien die NEPAD-inisiatief suksesvol en sekere Millenium Ontwikkelingsdoelstellings teen 2015 bereik wil word.

Thesis (MEd) -- Stellenbosch University, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The new Technology curriculum was included in the National Curriculum Statement (Department of Education, 2005) as part of the broader intention of serving as the vehicle for reconstructing our society and our orientation towards education for the 21st century. In this narrative I will start by exploring the congruence between the technology curriculum, globalisation and the knowledge economy, the related discourses and the expectations these create for technology education in the Further Education and Training and General Education and Training bands in secondary education in South African schools. I will continue by critically engaging with the discourses and school-based patterns of engagement that shape the technology curriculum as well as teaching and learning practices in a secondary school. By locating my arguments within Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of habitus, field and strategies, as elaborated on by Lingard and Christie (2003), as well as Foucault’s theory of power, this narrative will engage with the perceived gap in the policy implementation process. This gap consists of a myriad of contextually interrelated factors that interact with the achievement of the prescribed outcomes and ultimately the intention of shaping learners for meaningful participation in the knowledge economy.

Thesis (MEd)-- Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The research is about my story as a learning-support teacher and includes the identity growth that I experienced between the period from January 2001 until December 2012. My approach of acceptance and compassion, within the atmosphere of performativity, leads to my writing process and becomes my auto-ethnographic journey. The writing process brings about change, to experience the performative as an action of ‘doing’ (in Giroux 2000:135) and a way of being within day-to-day situations (in Denzin 2004:273). By recording my experiences within changing spaces, I hope to make a contribution to academic literature, by drawing the reader into my experiences of the forming of my identity and the explication of the writing process as a journey. Writing my introduction to this research at the end of this process, I realise that this research has not only changed my story, but also myself as a person. I struggled to bring the story to a close. This is because I have realised that my story is still changing every day. I am becoming a performative ethonographer (Denzin 2004:262) and I see concrete situations and engage in a conversation with them. And through this writing experience I have registered an enrichment in my experience. My research does not make use of questionnaires or interviews. It is action-research, experienced in everyday things. My story with remembrances was already there before the research, though never told. Ball (1996) refers to this process as identification. This is the process through which I have gone to be seen, as well as the process through which one goes to see oneself, to a specific identity (quoted by Thompson 2004:45). My story begins with questions and reflections about my being different as a white woman, within my context of the two so-called ‘Coloured Schools’. Am I carrying a white scar? (Cixous 1998). I have experienced the writing process as a way of coming into knowledge. My research leads to questions, though not necessarily to answers. The writing process leads to my looking through a different lens of gaining a better understanding. Peace. And hope. I am learning – have learnt – that hope is an ontological necessity. There is a necessity to dream, to change, and to better the lives of others (Freire 1998:8 in Denzin 2003:263). My research develops rhizomatically (Honan: 2006; Richardson & Pierre 2005, quoted in Richards 2012:3). It is written in fragments of daily action. It is written in the knowledge of the impossibility of relaying experience as it is or was. As a teller of a story, I emphasise that I do not posit my characters as objects. Rather, they are presented in this research in a relationship of trust, existing between myself and them for a period stretching beyond twelve years. Meaning cannot always be relayed in words. Suggestions of meaning can lie in the relationship between texts (Parsons 2002:32 in Le Roux 2012:xi4). / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die navorsing behels my storie as leerondersteuner-onderwyser en omvat my identiteitswording vanaf Januarie 2001 tot Desember 2012. My benadering van aanvaarding en meelewing binne die atmosfeer van performatiwiteit, lei tot my skryfproses en word my outo-etnografiese reis. Die skryfproses bring verandering, om die performatiewe te beleef as ‘n aksie van doen (Giroux 2000a:135) en ‘n manier van wees, binne dag-tot-dag-situasies (in Denzin 2004:273). Deur die opteken van my ervaring binne wisselende ruimtes hoop ek om ‘n akademiese bydrae te lewer, wat die leser intrek binne belewing van my identiteitsvorming en ontvouing van die skryfproses as reis. Ek skryf my inleiding aan die einde en besef die navorsing het my storie sowel as myself verander. Ek sukkel om die slot te skryf. En besef: dis oor my storie elke dag aangaan. Ek word ‘n performatiewe etnograaf (Denzin 2004:262) en sien konkrete situasies en tree toe tot gesprek. Ek beleef verdieping van my bewussyn deur die skryfproses. My navorsing behels nie vraelyste en onderhoude nie en is aksie-navorsing, geleef in elke dag se dinge. My storie met herinnerings was daar voor die navorsing maar dis nooit vertel nie. Ball (1996) verwys na hierdie proses as identifikasie. Die proses waardeur ek gaan om gesien te word, sowel as die proses om myself te sien, lei tot ‘n spesifieke identiteit (aangehaal deur Thompson 2004:45). My storie begin oor my wonder en peins oor anderswees as wit vrou binne my konteks van twee bruin skole. Dra ek die wit scar ?(Cixous 1998). Ek ervaar die skryfproses as manier om tot kennis te kom. My navorsing lei tot vrae. En nie noodwendig tot antwoorde nie. Die skryfproses lei tot ‘n kyk deur ‘n ander lens, ‘n beter verstaan. Vrede. En Hoop. En ek leer hoop is ‘n ontologiese behoefte. Die begeerte om te droom, te verander en menselewens te verbeter (Freire 1999:8 in Denzin 2003:263). My navorsing ontwikkel rhizomaties (Honan 2006; Richardson & St. Pierre 2005 aangehaal deur Richards 2012:3), geskryf in fragmente van daaglikse aksie, vertel binne die besef hoe onmoontlik dit is om ervaring weer te gee (Pretorius 2008:73). As verteller beklemtoon ek dat ek nie my karakters as objekte voorstel nie, maar dat ek skryf binne ‘n etiese vertrouensverhouding wat oor twaalf jaar strek. Betekenis kan nie altyd in woorde weergegee word nie. Suggestie van betekenis kan lȇ in verhoudings tussen tekste (Parsons 2002:32 in Le Roux 2010:xi4).

Thesis (MEd)-- Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The political dispensation in South Africa after 1994 experienced a complete change in different spheres of life. Not only was the country greeted with a new democratic government system, but also with widespread educational reform, of which curriculum reform in schools was one of its main drivers. This study focuses on implementation dynamics related to the latest iteration of curriculum reform namely the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) that was introduced in all public schools in 2005. Educators were sent for in service training in order to implement the new curriculum in their classrooms. Continuous assessment (CASS) became the operative on everybody’s lips, though learners would be assessed according to continuous assessment activities. These assessment marks or codes, obtained by the learners, would determine progression to the next grade. This resulted in a new educator practice, namely an assessment practice. Their initial encounter was somehow problematic because they found it difficult in marrying this new practice with their teaching and learning practices due to various reasons. One of the main reasons was that the NCS was never part of their tertiary education. The study’s main point of departure is that the assessment practices of primary school educators are diverse and divergent in response to the expectations of the NCS. The study uses the analytical lenses of forward and backward mapping as well as the ambiguity-conflict model in order to investigate and ascertain the underlying relationship between educator’s assessment practices and the assessment policy. The study belongs within the qualitative interpretative paradigm, as I attempt to form an understanding of the nature and range of their assessment practices. It emphasises the manifestation of the assessment practices of educators. Qualitative research instruments, which include individual interviews, were used to answer the research question and achieve the research objectives of the thesis. The research shows how these educators experience, interpret and implement the assessment policy in unique ways. It indicates how they, in striving to adhere to the expectations of the NCS, respond by tackling their respective assessment practices in a diverse and divergent way and at times deviate from what is expected of them as set out in the NCS. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die politieke bestel in Suid-Afrika het na 1994 ‘n ommeswaai op vele terreine beleef. Die land was nie net begroet met ‘n nuwe demokratiese regeringstelsel nie, maar ook met grootskaalse onderwyshervorming, met spesifieke verwysing na kurrikulum- hervorming, wat een van die vernaamste dryfvere sou wees. Hierdie studie fokus op die implementeringsdinamieke van die Nasionale Kurrikulumverklarin (NKV) wat in 2005 ingefaseer was en wat eintlik ‘n heromskrywing of herhaling van bestaande kurrikulumhervorming is. Opvoeders was bekend gestel en van nuuts af opgelei om ‘n nuwe kurrikulum in hul klaskamers te implementeer. Deurlopende assessering (DASS) was die nuwe wagwoord op almal se lippe, want leerders sal voortaan aan die hand van deurlopende assesseringsaktiwiteite geassesseer word. Hierdie assesseringspunte of kodes sal bepaal of leerders na ‘n volgende graad vorder. Dit het ‘n nuwe opvoederpraktyk, naamlik ‘n assesseringspraktyk, genoop en opvoeders het dit problematies gevind om hierdie nuwe praktyk met die onderrig- en leerpraktyk te laat trou. Die hoofuitgangspunt is dat hierdie laerskoolopvoeders se assesseringspraktyke divers en uiteenlopend tot die verwagtinge van die NKV is. Die studie gebruik die analitiese lense van voorwaartse en terugwaartse kartering asook die dubbelsinnige konflikmodel ten einde ondersoek in te stel na die onderliggende verwantskap tussen opvoeders se assesseringspraktyke en die assesseringsbeleid. Die studie hoort tuis binne ‘n kwalitatief-interpretivistiese paradigma, aangesien ek ‘n verstaan rondom die aard en omvang van hul assesseringspraktyke probeer vorm en verstaan. Die klem val op hoe hierdie assesseringspraktyke sigself in die klaskamerpraktyke van opvoeders manifesteer. Kwalitatiewe navorsingsinstrumente, wat individuele onderhoude van laerskoolopvoeders insluit, is gebruik om die navorsingsvraag te beantwoord en die navorsingsdoelwitte van die tesis te bereik. Die navorsing toon hoe hierdie opvoeders die assesseringsbeleid op unieke maniere ervaar, beleef, interpreteer en gevolglik in hul klaskamers implementeer. Dit lewer verder bewys hoe elkeen, in hul strewe om aan die verwagtinge van die NKV te voldoen, hul assesseringspraktyke divers en uiteenlopend aanpak en tot volvoering probeer bring en by geleenthede daarvan afwyk.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In South Africa no formal training in school leadership or school management is currently required to procure a position as school principal. The sole condition is that a candidate should possess a professional teaching qualification, with some years’ experience in the teaching profession. School principals cannot be blamed if they comply with no more than these basic requirements, as no formal qualification for school principals had existed prior to 2007. The Department of Education answered to the need for formal training to equip principals for meeting their responsibilities by introducing the Advanced Certificate in Education: School Leadership and Management (ACE). This study explores to what extent school principals experienced an improvement in their managerial skills after obtaining the ACE qualification. To offer a better understanding of the background of South African school principals, the history of the available training over the past forty years is outlined. This is supplemented by an overview of various countries’ approach to preparing principals for 21st century schools. The responsibilities of present day principals differ dramatically from those of twenty years ago, as policy documents such as the South African Schools Act has since 1996 required that the principal, together with the school governing body, take responsibility for the management of the school. Accordingly, this study includes an enquiry into the ACE qualification with regard to the curriculum content, the purpose of the course and how assessment takes place at higher education institutions where this course is offered. Interviews were conducted with two principals who had obtained the ACE qualification to gain insight into their experiences relating to the qualification. By means of comparison, two principals who had not completed the qualification were also interviewed to establish to what extent this qualification does in fact equip principals for their daily responsibilities. The possible effects of the qualification were highlighted by comparing the two pairs of principals who function in similar communities with corresponding problems. By presenting this research as a case study, it was possible to obtain in-depth information and varied opinions about principal training, where principals had acquired the most useful skills and what could be added to enhance the value of the ACE qualification. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In Suid-Afrika is daar tans geen verpligting om oor formele opleiding in skoolleierskap of skoolbestuur te beskik om as skoolhoof aangestel te word nie. Daar word slegs verwag dat ’n kandidaat oor ’n professionele onderwyskwalifikasie en ’n aantal jare se ondervinding in die onderwys moet beskik. Skoolhoofde kan ook nie kwalik geneem word indien hulle slegs aan hierdie basiese vereistes voldoen nie, aangesien daar tot 2007 geen formele kwalifikasie vir skoolhoofde bestaan het nie. Die leemte aan formele opleiding vir die verantwoordelikhede van ’n hoof is erken deur die Departement van Onderwys wat die Gevorderde Onderwyssertifikaat-kwalifikasie: Skool Leierskap en Bestuur (GOS) ingestel het. Met hierdie studie word ondersoek ingestel tot welke die mate skoolhoofde ervaar dat hierdie GOS-kwalifikasie ’n verskil maak aan hul bestuursvermoëns. Om die agtergrond van Suid-Afrikaanse skoolhoofde beter te verstaan, word die geskiedenis van skoolhoofde se opleiding oor die afgelope veertig jaar uiteengesit. Daar word ook ’n oorsig gegee van verskillende lande se benadering tot die voorbereiding wat benodig word vir hoofskap van ’n skool in die 21ste eeu. Die verpligtinge van die hedendaagse hoof verskil drasties van dié van twintig jaar gelede, waar beleidsdokumente soos die Suid-Afrikaanse Skolewet sedert 1996 vereis dat die hoof, tesame met die beheerliggaam, verantwoordelikheid moet neem vir die bestuur van die skool. Om hierdie rede word die GOS-kwalifikasie ondersoek om vas te stel wat die inhoud van die kurrikulum behels, wat die doel van die kwalifikasie is en op watter wyse assessering plaasvind by die hoëronderriginstellings waar dit aangebied word. Onderhoude is gevoer met twee hoofde wat die GOS-kwalifikasie voltooi het aangaande hul ervaring van die kwalifikasie. Om vas te stel tot welke mate die kwalifikasie hulle beter toerus vir hul daaglikse verantwoordelikhede word die ervaring van twee ander hoofde, wat nie die kwalifikasie voltooi het nie, ter vergelyking gebruik. Die verskil wat die GOS-opleiding moontlik mag maak, word uitgelig deur die vergelyking van die twee pare hoofde in soortgelyke gemeenskappe met ooreenstemmende probleme. Deur hierdie navorsing as ’n gevallestudie aan te bied, word indiepte-inligting verskaf oor hul opinies aangaande hoofde-opleiding, waar hulle die mees bruikbare vaardighede opgedoen het en wat na hulle mening bygevoeg kan word vir die verwerwing van die GOS-kwalifikasie.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research explored the influence of the rural multi-grade context on the nature of the work of the principal of a rural multi-grade school. I specifically looked at the job description of the school principal as set out in the South African Schools Act (84 of 1996) and how the rural multi-grade context affects the nature of the work of four principals in the Western Cape. The relationship between the interpretation of policy and its implementation has always been complex because policies are open to different interpretations by the implementers thereof. This complex relationship can be observed with the implementation of the South African Schools Act of 1996, with specific reference to articles 16(1), 16A(2) and 16(3), in the South African school community. This disjunction between the policy as formulated by policy makers and the implementation thereof by implementers is often traced to the fact that policy makers do not consider the context of the implementers of the policy properly (Bell & Stevenson, 2006:14-15). In my attempt for a better understanding of this disjunction (and the factors that contribute to it), I found the interpretive qualitative investigation the most suited methodology for this study. In this case, I used the case study as a qualitative research method. According to Patton en Cochan (2002:2), qualitative research is characterised by the goals of the research question, which relates to the understanding of certain aspects of social life and methodologies; therefore, words are generated instead of numbers for data analysis. Merriam (1998:21) defines a qualitative case study in terms of the end product as an intensive, holistic description and analysis of a single case, phenomenon or social unit. By defining and conceptualising rural multi-grade schools, I found that these schools are characterised by (a) remote areas with a sparse population and (b) poverty. Joubert (2009:4) defines rural teaching (read rural multi-grade schools) as teaching in remote areas with a sparse population, such as on farms, far from towns and cities, where learners are not exposed to the luxuries of shopping malls or industries. These environments are characterised by inaccessibility, poor or inadequate infrastructure, poverty and a lack of skills, resources, knowledge and community involvement. I conducted interviews with four principals of rural multi-grade schools. Based on results of the research study, I found that the rural multi-grade context indeed has an effect on the nature of the work of the principal. To assist principals of rural multi-grade schools, I recommend that the national education department review the staff establishments of rural multi-grade schools with regard to teachers and non-teaching staff. Furthermore, the provincial department needs to increase the monetary allocation for rural multi-grade schools by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED). In order to address the lack of support to the principals of rural multi-grade schools, specialists on multi-grade teaching should be appointed to support these schools in terms of curriculum delivery and school management. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie het die invloed van die landelike multigraad-agtergrond op die aard van die werk van die hoof van ’n landelike multigraadskool verken. Ek het spesifiek gekyk na die posbeskrywing van die skoolhoof soos verwoord in die Suid-Afrikaanse Skolewet (84 van 1996) en hoe die landelike multigraad-agtergrond die aard van die werk van vier skoolhoofde in die Wes-Kaap beïnvloed. Die verband tussen interpretasie van beleid en die toepassing daarvan was nog altyd ʼn komplekse verhouding omdat beleid oop is vir uiteenlopende interpretasies deur die toepassers daarvan. Hierdie komplekse verhouding kom aan die lig wanneer daar byvoorbeeld gekyk word na die toepassing van die Suid-Afrikaanse Skolewet van 1996 (met spesifieke verwysing na artikels 16(1), 16A(2) en 16(3)) op die Suid-Afrikaanse skoolgemeenskap. Die disjunksie tussen die beleid soos deur ‘beleidmakers’ geformuleer en die toepassing daarvan deur beleidstoepassers of implementeerders van beleid kan dikwels herlei word tot die feit dat beleidmakers nie die agtergrond van beleidstoepassers of implementeerders van die beleid na behore in ag neem nie (Bell & Stevenson, 2006:14-15). In my poging om dié disjunksie (en die faktore wat daartoe aanleiding gee) beter te verstaan, het ek bevind dat die interpretatiewe kwalitatiewe ondersoek die geskikste metodologie vir hierdie studie sou wees. In hierdie geval het ek gebruik gemaak van die gevallestudie as kwalitatiewe navorsingsmetode. Kwalitatiewe navorsing word gekenmerk deur die doelstellings van die navorsingsvraag, wat verband hou met die begrip van sekere aspekte van die maatskaplike lewe en die metodes, wat woorde in plaas van getalle genereer vir data-analise (Patton & Cochan, 2002:2). Merriam (1998:21) definieer ʼn kwalitatiewe gevallestudie met betrekking tot die eindproduk as ʼn intensiewe, holistiese beskrywing en analise van ʼn enkele geval, fenomeen of maatskaplike eenheid. Met die definiëring en konseptualisering van landelike multigraadskole het ek tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat hierdie skole gekenmerk word deur twee pertinente kenmerke: (a) dit is afgeleë met ylbevolkte omgewings en (b) armoede. Joubert (2009:4) omskryf landelike onderrig (lees landelike multigraadskole) as onderrig wat meestal in afgeleë en ylbevolkte omgewings soos op plase, gewoonlik ver van hoofroetes, dorpe en stede plaasvind, waar leerders nie aan luukshede soos inkopiesentrums of nywerhede blootgestel word nie. Hierdie omgewings word gekenmerk deur ontoeganklikheid, swak infrastruktuur, armoede en gebrekkige vaardighede, bronne, kennis en gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid. Onderhoude is met hoofde van vier landelike multigraadskole gevoer. Op grond van die navorsingresultate het ek bevind dat die landelike multigraad-agtergrond wel die aard van die skoolhoof se werk beïnvloed. Ek beveel dus onder andere aan dat die provinsiale onderwysdepartement die diensstate van landelike multigraadskole hersien wat betref onderwysers en niedoserende personeel asook dat die monetêre toekenning van landelike multigraadskole deur die Wes-Kaapse Onderwysdepartement (WKOD) verhoog word. Verder bevel ek aan dat bekwame distriksamptenare aangestel word om die skoolhoof van ʼn landelike multigraadskool ten opsigte van die bestuur van die skool en die onderwysers ten opsigte van kurrikulumlewering te ondersteun.

Contemporary federal education policy discourse from A Nation at Risk to the Race to the Top program has promoted and extended neoliberal discourse from the national level to the level of the school and its personnel. This study highlights the persistence of neoliberal discourse within federal education policy and the consequences this persistence holds for critiques of current policies and practices. Analyzing reports published by the United States Department of Education and contemporary United States education policy starting from A Nation at Risk, moving through America 2000, Goals 2000, and No Child Left Behind, and ending with the Race to the Top program, I use rhetorical tropes to provide a method of analysis for education policy. Due to the novelty of this project for the field of education policy studies, I bring in concepts from rhetorical studies and discourse analysis to produce an interdisciplinary approach to policy analysis that fills a particular gap in existing analyses. At present, there exists no framework within the traditional analyses of education policy that offers a theoretical account of how a discourse maintains and propagates itself through policy. This dissertation offers a new method of policy analysis that examines how a discourse stabilizes and perpetuates itself through education policy. Specifically, an analysis of these policies and reports demonstrates how neoliberal discourse uses the tropes of metaphor, where two objects are identified with one another, and synecdoche, where the part is made to represent the whole and vice-versa, to ground and naturalize its growing presence in education policy and practice. Through the tropological analysis of the above cited texts, the co-operation of metaphor and synecdoche, what I term “organic identification,” accounts for the persistence of neoliberal discourse through its identification and integration with federal education policy discourse specifically through the constitution of places, e.g., the nation and the school. The conclusion suggests the critical potential for considering the role of tropes in the discursive constitution of place by mapping the persistence of a discourse and providing a critical distance from which contradictions and alternative trajectories can be forwarded.

Thesis (PhD (Education)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / 334 leaves single sided printed, preliminary pages i-xiv and numbered pages 1-322. Includes bibliography, abbreviations and list of figures. / Scanned using a Hp Scanjet 8250 Scanner to pdf format (OCR). / ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The world is at a rapid pace being confronted with the need to shift national education policies that reflect basic human rights, with equity and fairness to the forefront. Along side of this herald are demonstrations of active mobilizations on the part of institutions of higher learning to "internationalize" their policies and programs to help to produce global citizens that effectively interact in international settings. As South Africa experiences changing scenes in educational reform government officials, practitioners, and educators face a number of challenges. Particularly, those related to cultural interactions when engaging in activities across the diaspora of school environments. Often these challenges serve as impediments to open communication, understanding and sensitivity amongst diverse cultural groups. As these impediments are faced in classrooms teachers increasingly find themselves at a deficit to adequately host learning environments conducive to its participants. Institutions of higher learning have a responsibility to provide the kind of intercultural dialog that entrenches policies and program curricula that speak to the needs of diverse communities, in particular those preparing future teachers. The research introduces the concept of global education communities to contribute towards shaping the kind of institutions that provide opportunities for students to practice, and become skilled in intercultural understanding. The research also raises serious discussion through the proposal of the elements of intercultural education towards contributive measures to address intercultural education, communication, and training. A case study of a four year pre-service general education training program (BEd GET) at the University Stellenbosch was conducted to trace and examine the presence of intercultural education. Data was collected by means of triangulated document analysis, interviews, and questionnaires. The research looked to a metaphoric analogy using Appreciative Inquiry, power with, and elements of intercultural education. The data was analyzed using qualitative strategies including classification and category construction, with imaginative variation and heuristic inquiry. The findings revealed that themes from intercultural education found expression or appearance in some aspects of the program outcomes, various module offerings, and teacher practice and approaches of the BEd GET curriculum. While the research also revealed that intercultural education does not appear to be a wholly attended pedagogy and practice in the GET program, the findings and interpretations revealed that intercultural education has numerous opportunities for expression and appearance to lay foundations for intercultural practice in theory. Another dimension of the research also revealed that students and lecturers collectively were not familiar with the concept of intercultural education, nor could a distinction between multicultural, and intercultural education be made. Furthermore, students' understandings and feelings reveal some resistance to themes in cultural diversity. The findings seem to reveal a need to incorporate strategies that raise intercultural consciousness. In view of the University of Stellenbosch's plan to internationalize, the findings present critical implications and recommendations toward incorporating intercultural pedagogy and practice into the methodological framework of the BEd General Education program. It finally poses future program and module development with respects to intercultural education and practice through the suggested use of the Hammer and Bennett's (1998, 2002) Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die wereld word teen 'n versnelde tempo gekonfronteer met die noodsaaklikheid om nasionale onderwysbeleid wat menseregte, veral billikheid en regverdigheid, op die voorgrond stel. Saam met hierdie oproep is daar aanduidings van die mobilisering van institusies van hoer opvoeding om hu1le beleid en programme te "internasionaliseer" om burgers te vorm wat effektief met 'n globale wereld kan omgaan. Soos wat Suid-Afiika veranderende situasies ervaar in onderwyshervorming, word amptenare, praktisyns, opvoeders en ander betrokke in onderwysgemeenskappe gekonfronteer met 'n verskeidenheid uitdagings. Veral die verbonde aan kulturele interaksies betrokke by 'n diaspora van skoolomgewings. Die uitdagings dien dikwels as hindernisse vir oop kommunikasie, begrip en sensitiwiteit tussen verskillende kulturele groepe. In besonder wanneer hierdie hindernisse in klaskamers aangedurf word deur onderwysers wat meesal self 'n tekort aan voldoende leerervaring het om leeromgewings in belang van die deelnemers te fasiliteer. Hoeronderwys institusies het 'n verantwoordelikheid om beleid en programkurrikula te voorsien wat interkulturele dialoog verskans wat spreek tot die behoeftes van diverse gemeenskappe, veral die wat voornemende onderwysers voorberei. Die navorsing stel die konsep globale onderwysgemeenskappe voor om by te dra tot die vorming van institusies wat geleenthede skep vir studente om interkulturele begrip te oefen en vaardig daarin te word. Die navorsing stel elemente van interkulturele onderwys voor wat kan dien tot die bevordering van dialogiese betrokkenheid in interkulturele onderwys, kommunikasie en opleiding. 'n Gevallestudie van 'n vierjaar voordiens algemene onderwysprogram (BEd Algemeen) by die Universiteit van Stellenbosch was ondemeem vir spore van en om die voorkoms van interkulturele onderwys in oenskou te neem. Data is versamel deur middel van 'n getrianguleerde dokument analise, onderhoude en vraelyste. Die navorsing kyk na 'n metaforiese analogie waarin waarderende ondersoek, mag-met, en elemente van interkulturele onderwys gebruik is. Vir die analise van die data is kwalitatiewe strategiee gebruik, wat klassifikasie en kategorie konstruksie in kombinasie met verbeeldingsryke variasie en heuristiese ondersoek insluit. Die bevindings toon dat temas van interkulturele onderwys uitdrukking vind of verskyn in aspekte van die programuitkomste, verskillende module aanbiedings, en onderwys praktyke en benaderings van die BEd Algemeen kurrikulum. Terwyl ook bevind is dat interkulturele onderwys nie werklik in die pedagogie en praktyk van die program figureer nie, toon die interpretasie talle geleenthede om interkulturele praktyk te vestig en tot uitdrukking te bring. 'n Ander faset van die navorsing het getoon dat studente en lektore kollektief nie bekend is met die konsep van interkulturele onderwys nie, en dat dit nie onderskei kon word van multikulturele nie. Boonop, het studente se begrip en gevoelens 'n neiging tot verset teenoor temas van kulturele diversiteit getoon. Die bevindinge suggereer 'n behoefte aan die insluiting van strategiee om interkulturele bewussyn te verhoog. In die lig van die Universiteit van Stellenbosch se planne om te internasionaliseer, hou die bevindinge kritiese implikasies en aanbevelings in vir die inkorporasie van interkulturele pedagogie en praktyk in die metodologiese raamwerk van die BEd Algemeen-program. Dit stel die ontwikkeling van modules in interkulturele onderwys en praktyk voor deur die gebruik van Hammer en Bennett se (1998,2002) Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI).

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In a post apartheid South African educational environment, learners’ academic achievement is generally seen as a barometer of the quality of education in schools. The low academic performance of black learners has contributed to an overall, but narrow and decontextualised view, that these learners generally produce poor results because of something inherently wrong with their abilities to learn. Educational research has hitherto focused on unproblematized pedagogical approaches that result in narrow and decontextualized, functionalist views that working class learners’ learning is problematic. What is less known are the challenges that working class learners have to face on a daily basis as they try to navigate deeply constraint lived spaces of their homes, communities and schools in their quest to realise their educational goals. The study explores selected working class high school learners’ navigation and mediation practices as they engage with their schooling over different spaces of their rural town. I assert that these learners have the ability to shift their habitus just enough to enable them to stay on course in their quest for educational achievement and a better future. I argue that, through the optimal utilisation of available resources in their lived spaces and the strategic deployment of embodied adaptive practices, these youth develop a ‘self-schooled’ habitus that enable them to re-imagine their daily realities and aspire to better futures despite their adverse living conditions. In order to study these learners’ habitus adaptations, I utilise Bourdieu’s theoretical lenses of field, capital and habitus to argue that the youth in this study are not mere passive recipients of global influences and changing environments, but active agents in the shaping of their local realities. Through ethnographic study I explore the self- schooled navigation practices that these youth employ to help them mediate between the structural reproductive influences of their educational environments and their educational aspirations. The thesis is motivated by the position that qualitative research can offer a view of the intersections of fast changing macro-community processes and young people’s micro-lived educational dimensionalities. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In ´n post-apartheid Suid-Afrikaanse onderwysopset word leerders se akademiese prestasies oor die algemeen beskou as die maatstaaf van kwaliteit in skole. Die lae akademiese prestasie van veral werkersklas- leerders in die land dra by tot ´n hegemoniese, maar nou en gedekontektualiseerde siening dat werkersklas-leerders oor die algemeen swak uitslae oplewer omdat daar iets inherent verkeerd is met hul leervermoeëns. Opvoedkundige navorsing in Suid-Afrika sentreer hoofsaaklik rondom onuitgedaagde pedagogiese benaderings wat werkersklas-leerders se leervermoëns as problematies sien. Wat minder bekend is, is die uitdagings wat werkersklas-leerders op ´n daaglikse basis moet trotseer soos hulle probeer om deur die verskillende leefruimtes van hul ouerhuise, gemeenskappe en skole te navigeer in die nastrewing van hul opvoedkundige aspirasies. Hierdie studie eksploreer geselekteerde werkersklas-hoërskoolleerders se navigering en mediëringspraktyke soos hulle omgaan met hul skoling oor die verskillende ruimtes van hul landelike dorp. Ek asserteer dat hierdie leerders hul aspirasies lewend hou deur hul habitus sodanig te verskuif dat dit hulle aan koers hou deur die skool. Ek argumenteer dat hierdie jeugdiges, deur die maksimalisering van hul leefruimtes en die strategiese ontplooiing van beliggaamde aanpassingspraktyke, ´n selfgeskoolde habitus ontwikkel wat hulle in staat stel om ´n beter toekoms te ‘sien’ en struktureel-reproduktiewe ruimtes te transendeer. Om hierdie studente se habitusaanpassing te verken, maak ek in hierdie studie gebruik van Bourdieu se teoretiese lense van veld, kapitaal en habitus om te argumenteer dat die jeugdiges in hierdie studie nie net passiewe ontvangers is van globale invloede en snel-veranderende omgewings nie, maar aktiewe meemakers in die vorming van hul plaaslike realiteite. Gebaseer op ´n etnografiese studie, eksploreer ek die selfgeskoolde navigeringspraktyke wat hierdie jeugdiges ontplooi om hulle te help om tussen die strukturele reproduktiewe invloede van hul opvoedingsomgewings en hul eie opvoedkundige aspirasies te medieer. Hierdie tesis is gemotiveer deur die posisie dat kwalitatiewe navorsing ´n siening kan bied van die interseksies van snel-veranderende makro-prosesse en jongmense se mikro-beleefde opvoedkundige dimensionaliteite.