Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The main goal of this thesis was to better understand the role and function of the focus schools project in the Western Cape, to explore the reasons for their emergence in 2006, and to locate the policy initiative within historical and policy developments around vocationalism in the province. The study focused in particular on how one focus school experienced the roll-out of this policy decision, what the impressions of the learners and educators at a case study school were, and also how officials attached to the Western Cape Education Department described the emergence and implementation of the policy. Further goals of the study were to contextualize the policy process that led to this form of provision, and to conceptualise how this fitted in with educational development issues in the province. A brief backdrop of historical developments and its role in the education of communities in the Western Cape, particularly the coloured community, was provided to contextualize the policy initiative. The main contribution of the thesis is its description and analysis of policy documents and the viewpoints of a range of people connected to a new provincial initiative, focus schools, with regard to what a focus school is meant to achieve and how it is experienced. Data was collected by studying a range of unpublished policy documents, and to link these to interviews conducted with departmental and district officials, educators, learners, and one principal in relation to one case study school. The study showed that focus schools were regarded mainly as a form of vocational education provision to accommodate the desire of the Western Cape economy for intermediate skills in the mid-2000s. It illustrated how the focus school band has run its own unique course within educational structures since 2006, and highlighted how they have fulfilled their goal of getting more learners from historically disadvantaged communities into further study or into positions that better serve the needs of the local economy. The thesis suggested that the policy focus of getting learners into higher education seemed misguided and contrary to the goals of vocational education provision. This policy confusion was further highlighted by learners interviewed in the study who noted that they would have preferred to follow a more academically-based path. Few believed they could either get to university (as claimed by policy officials) or into a viable employment poisition by following a vocational route at school. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die hoofdoel van die tesis was om ´n beter begrip van die rol en funksie van die fokusskool-projek in die Wes-Kaap te verkry, die redes vir die ontstaan van hierdie skole in die jaar, 2006 te ondersoek, asook om die beleids-inisiatief binne die historiese en beleidsontwikkeling rondom beroepsonderwys (vocationalism) in die provinsie na te speur. Die navorsing konsentreer hoofsaaklik op hoe een fokusskool die implementering van die beleidsbesluit ervaar, en in hoe ´n mate die leerders en die opvoeders verbonde aan die gevallestudie-skool die onderwysvoorsiening beleef. ´n Gedeelte van die ondersoek gee ook die sieninge van sleutelpersone in die Wes-Kaapse Onderwysdepartement weer. Verdere doelwitte van die ondersoek was om die beleidsproses wat gelei het tot hierdie onderwysvoorsiening te kontekstualiseer, en om dit te konseptualiseer in hoe ´n mate dit inpas in die opvoedkundige ontwikkeling binne die provinsie. ´n Kort agtergrond skets van die historiese ontwikkeling en die rol wat onderwys in die gemeenskappe van die Wes-Kaap, spesifiek die van die bruin (kleurling) gemeenskap was aangebied om die beleids-inisiatief te konseptualiseer. Die belangrikste bydrae van die tesis is die beskrywing en analise van beleidsdokumente en die standpunte van 'n verskeidenheid van mense wat betrokke is by die nuwe provinsiale inisiatief, fokusskole, met betrekking tot wat fokusskole beoog om te bereik en hoe dit beleef word. Inligting was versamel deur die bestudering van 'n reeks van ongepubliseerde beleidsdokumente, en dit verbind met onderhoude wat gevoer was met departementele- en distriks-amptenare. Opvoeders, leerders, en 'n skoolhoof verbonde aan een gevallestudie skool was ook ondervra. Die navorsing het getoon dat fokusskole ´n vorm van beroepsonderwys is om die strewe van die Wes-Kaapse ekonomie vir intermediêre vaardigheidsvlakke te verhoog. Die planne was gedurende die middel 2000´s in werking gestel. Die navorsing het ook getoon dat die fokusskool-projek sy eie unieke verloop binne die onderwys strukture sedert 2006 gehad het. Die ondersoek het ook getoon dat die strewe om meer leerders uit die historiese benadeelde gemeenskappe sover te kry om verder te gaan studeer of posisies te vervul om die plaaslike ekonomie te bedien, nie so suksesvol is soos die beleid dit vooruitstel nie. Die tesis stel voor dat die beleidsfokus om leerders na hoër onderwys te lei, misleidend is en teenstrydig is met die doelwitte van beroepsonderwys. Die verwarring wat deur die beleid veroorsaak was, was verder belig deur die leerders wat onderhoude mee gevoer was. Die leerders se mening is dat hulle liefs verkies om die meer akademiese-gebaseerde weg te volg. Min van hulle het geglo dat hul weg oop is na hoër onderwys soos wat amptenare van die Wes-Kaapse Onderwysdepartement beweer of dat beroepsmoontlikhede daar is nadat hy beroepsonderwys in fokusskole gevolg het.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Mentoring as a professional development strategy forms an integral part of the Advanced Certificate: School leadership that was introduced in 2007 by the National Education department as an entry qualification in the school principalship. The Advanced Certificate in Education: School Leadership is aimed at capacitating school leaders to address the challenges experienced by school principals. The primary objective of this study was to investigate whether the mentorship component of the course is experienced as a form of social learning by the candidates. To achieve this goal, open-ended questions were prepared and administered during semi-structured interviews with the school principals who have been mentored within the ACE programme. The interviews were conducted to ten (10) participants including principals, deputy principals and heads of departments (school level) within the Gert Sibande District (Mpumalanga Province). The investigation highlighted that principals do indeed experience mentoring as a form of social learning. This was confirmed by the statements given by the interviewed principals that their learning was based on learning from each other through observation and engagement as well as through their mentors. This learning is confirmed by Bandura’s Social Learning Theory (1977) which suggests that learning takes place through observation and positive behaviour of the mentor. Based on the findings, the main recommendations were that mentorship, as social learning, should be extended to all school leaders and ultimately to school educators, that a mentoring unit should be based at each district office, that the selection of mentors should be carried out carefully so that protégés could benefit maximally and that the period of mentoring should go beyond merely being a component of an academic course. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Mentorskap as ‘n professionele ontwikkelingstrategie vorm ‘n integrale deel van die Gevorderde Onderwyssertifikaat: Skoolleierskap wat in 2007 deur die Nasionale Onderwysdepartement as ‘n toetree-kwalifikasie vir skoolhoofde ingestel is. Die Gevorderde Onderwyssertifikaat: Skooleierskap is gerig op die kapasitering van skoolleiers om die uitdagings wat die posisie van Skoolhoof meebring aan te spreek. Die primêre doelwit van die studie was om vas te stel of die mentorskapkomponent van die kursus deur kandidate as ‘n vorm van sosiale leer ervaar word. Om die doel te bereik is oopvrae voorberei en geadministreer tydens semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude met skoolhoofde wat as deel van die Gevorderde Sertifikaat: Skoolleierskapkursus gementor is. Die onderhoude is gevoer met tien skoolhoofde, adjunkhoofde en departementshoofde van die Gert Sibande distrik (Mpumalanga). Die ondersoek het aan die lig gebring dat skoolhoofde wel die mentorskapproses as ‘n vorm van sosiale leer ervaar. Hierdie aspek is bevestig deur die respons van skoolleiers dat hulle van mekaar geleer het deur observasie en braadslaging asook deur die modelering van mentors. Diè vorm van leer strook met Bandura se Teorie van Sosiale Leer (2007) wat die idée onderskryf dat leer plaasvind deur observasie en modelering van positiewe gedrag van die mentor. Gebaseer op die bevindinge is die hoof aanbevelings wat in die studie gemaak word dat mentorskap, as sosiale leer, uitgebrei behoort te word na alle skoolleiers en uiteindelik na alle onderwysers, dat ‘n mentorskapeenheid by elke distrik gebaseer behoort te word, dat die keuring van mentors omsigtig moet geskied sodat protégés maksimaal voordeel trek en dat mentorskap verder moet strek as bloot ‘n komponent van ‘n akademiese kursus.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa needs to ensure equal opportunity for all to higher education, and given that it also needs to correct the drastic imbalances brought about by apartheid, affirmative action is seen as a strategy to pursue both goals. Affirmative action is comprised of programs and policies that grant favorable treatment on the basis of race or gender to government-defined “disadvantaged” individuals. However, affirmative action is not without its own challenges and difficulties. The main question that this thesis addresses is “what are the tensions between applying affirmative action policies in South African higher education institutions and the demands of a knowledge economy within a globalised world?” I argue that though universities need to be more demographically representative and broaden access to previously disadvantaged individuals by adjusting entry requirements, they cannot compromise on their quality of graduates by adjusting their exit criteria in line with racial representivity. That would undermine the very worth of higher education as a social good, the dignity of the individual graduate, as well as the economic growth of the country. Accusations that affirmative action is merely “reverse discrimination” are refuted by an appeal to Rawls’s Principle of Difference which holds that policies of inequality can be socially just. Drawing on Charles Taylor and Wally Morrow, I posit that within a democracy, affirmative action should be seen as a shared rather than a convergent good for broadening access to quality education. But whereas broadening formal access seems like a legitimate and necessary step to address the inherited inequities, the broadening of epistemological access would undermine the very aims of quality education. Furthermore, I argue that formal access should be driven by the politics of difference, but that epistemological access that ensures educational success should be driven by the politics of equal dignity. In order to see how some of these concepts and policies of affirmative action play out in an actual institution, I look at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Here the main debates relating to its affirmative action policy are whether demographic representivity is the only outcome for evaluating the success of affirmative action, and whether “disadvantaged” individuals should be selected on criteria other than race. It also considers whether its affirmative action policies could compromise its functioning and ability to supply quality qualifications to the required number of disadvantaged individuals. There is no easy and simple answer to whether affirmative action in fact promotes equal opportunity to higher education and equips all South African graduates with the necessary skills for a knowledge economy. It would be therefore important to do further research on what nonrace based affirmative action policies might entail while keeping in mind the shifts in the global economy and the need for academic rigor. Furthermore, more longitudinal research needs to be done on the complex consequences of affirmative action, on both an individual level with issues of identity and career mobility, and on a broader socio-economic level with issues of economic growth and social welfare. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Suid-Afrika moet hom beywer tot die daarstelling van gelyke geleenthede vir almal tot hoëronderwys, en gegewe dat daar ’n behoefte is om drastiese ongelykhede van apartheid reg te stel, word regstellende aksie gesien as a strategie om beide doelstellings na te streef. Regstellende aksie bestaan uit programme en beleide wat daarop gemik is om begunstigde behandeling te dien aan “voorheen benadeelde” individue, soos deur die staat gedefineer, op grond van ras en geslag. Maar regstellende aksie is nie sonder sy eie uitdagings en swaarhede nie. Die hoofvraag wat hierdie tesis addreseer, is: “Watter gespannenhede is daar tussen die uitvoering van regstellende aksie beleide in Suid-Afrikaanse Hoëronderwys instellings en die eise van ’n kennis-ekonomie binne ’n geglobaliseerde wêreld?” Ek argumenteer dat, ofskoon daar ’n behoefte is vir universiteite om meer demografies verteenwoordigend te wees en hul toegang tot voorheen benadeelde individue te verbreed deur toelatingsvereistes te wysig, kan hulle nie kompromeer op hul gehalte van gegradueerdes deur uitgangskriteria in lyn met ras verteenwoordiging nie. Dit sal juis die waarde van hoëronderwys as ’n sosiale goedheid, die waardigheid van die individule gegradueerde asook die ekonomiese groei van die land ondermyn. Aantygings dat regstellende aksie bloot “wedergekeerde diskriminasie” is, word weerlê deur ’n verwysing na Rawls se Beginsel van Verskil wat stel dat beleide van ongelykhede maatskaplike regverdiging kan hê. Gegrond op Charles Taylor en Wally Morrow, postuleer ek dat, binne ’n demokrasie, regstellende aksie beskou moet word as ’n gedeelde eerder as ’n konvergente goedheid om gehalte onderwys verder toeganklik te maak. Maar waar verbrede formele toegang gesien kan word as ’n wettige en nodige stap om geërfde ongelykhede aan te spreek, sal die verbreding van epistemologiese toegang juis die doelstellings van gehalte onderwys ondermyn. Verder voer ek aan dat formele toegang aangedryf moet word deur die politiek van verskil, maar dat epistemologiese toegang wat opvoedkundige sukses verseker, aangedryf moet word deur die politiek van gelyke waardigheid. Ten einde te sien hoe van hierdie konsepte en beleide van regstellende aksie hulself uitspeel in eintlike inrigtings van onderwys, kyk ek na die Universiteit Kaapstad (UK). Hier draai die debat aangaande regstellende aksie beleid om of die demografiese verteenwoordiging die enigste uitkoms is ter evaluering van die sukses van regstellende aksie, en of “benadeelde” individue geselekteer moet word op grond van kriteria anders as ras. Dit (UK) oorweeg ook of sy regstellende beleide sy funksionering en vermoë om gehalte kwalifikasies aan die verlangde getal benadeelde individue kompromiteer. Daar is geen eenvoudige en maklike antwoord betreffende regstellende aksie en of dit gelyke geleenthede tot hoëronderwys promoveer en alle Suid-Afrikaanse gegradueerders toerus met die nodige bevoegdhede vir ’n kennis-ekonomie nie. Dit sal derhalwe belangrik wees om verdere navorsing te doen oor wat nie-rasgebaseerde regstellende aksie kan behels terwyl in gedagte gehou word die skuiwe in die globale ekonomie en die behoefte aan akademiese kwaliteit. Verder moet veel meer longitudinale navorsing gedoen word oor die ingewikkelde gevolge van regstellende aksie op beide die individuele vlak met kwessies van identiteit en beroepsmobiliteit en op breër sosio-ekonomiese vlak met kwessies van ekonomiese groei en maatskaaplike welsyn.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This is an exploratory study of how school leaders can negotiate the various spaces in their schools in order to promote teacher motivation and, by implication, learner achievement. This research focuses on how three principals in the Western Cape Province have produced or re-appropriated spaces to create new, productive learning environments which positively engage the users of these spaces. According to section 4 of the Employment of Educators Act 76 of 1998 (PAM), all school leaders are expected to create a learning space that is conducive to teaching and learning. In order to know what such a leadership responsibility may entail, this study tries to capture the dynamic interplay between physical (perceived) and mental (conceived) spaces as embodied in social (lived) spaces in a school. It uses Lefebvre‟s spatial triad as its theoretical lens. Linked to the study‟s aim to investigate what the interplay is between the various Lefebvrean spaces in schools, is an examination of how school leaders can manage to negotiate the production of these spaces. For lived school spaces to have embodied meaning that is conducive to teaching and learning, they must be co-produced and co-owned by the users of that space. To illuminate the way in which school leaders can achieve this, the study draws on a model of transformational leadership. The qualitative study uses a focus group, individual interviews and observations of three schools that have all achieved recognition as schools with excellent learner achievement: a public primary school, a public high school and an independent high school. The main research findings are that each of the three school leaders instinctively followed a transformational leadership style, and produced spaces that encouraged professional interaction amongst their teachers as well as strong collegial support for their spatial changes. The staffrooms have been modernised and equipped with lush furniture, flat screen TV‟s, appealing decorations and stimulating pictures, all with the purpose of lifting the spirits and energy levels of the staff. In addition, teachers‟ professional meeting rooms and confidential workspaces have been established. Classrooms have been changed into inviting and functional 21st century ICT learning spaces, with flexible use of furniture and stimulating visuals. Outdoor learning spaces and safe “emotional zones” have been constructed At all three schools the entrances and receptions areas have been made into welcoming spaces in which learners can gather for meetings, and the schools‟ symbols and achievements are showcased. Clear signposting makes the visitor feel engaged. Braai areas for teacher and parent functions ensure that the school keeps parents involved. The main findings about the embodied spaces in the school are that the three school leaders have changed the physical spaces at their schools into new mental spaces which influence the perception, mood and motivation of the users of that space. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie verken hoe skoolleiers die verskillende ruimtes in hul skole kan aanwend ten einde onderwysermotivering, en gevolglik ook leerderprestasie, te bevorder. Die navorsing konsentreer op hoe drie skoolhoofde in die Wes-Kaapse provinsie ruimtes geskep of heringerig het om nuwe, produktiewe leeromgewings teweeg te bring wat die gebruikers van hierdie ruimtes op 'n positiewe manier by onderrig betrek. Ingevolge artikel 4 van die Wet op Indiensneming van Opvoeders, Wet 76 van 1998 (PAM), moet alle skoolhoofde 'n bevorderlike ruimte vir onderrig en leer skep. Ten einde vas te stel wat sodanige leierskapsverantwoordelikheid behels, probeer hierdie studie die dinamiese wisselwerking tussen fisiese of waargenome (“perceived space”) en voorgestelde of veronderstelde (“conceived space”) ruimtes beskryf soos dit in die sosiale of belewingsruimtes (“lived spaces”) in 'n skool vergestalt word. Die navorsing gebruik Lefebvre se ruimtelike triade as teoretiese lens. Benewens die studiedoelwit om ondersoek in te stel na watter wisselwerking daar tussen Lefebvre se verskillende ruimtes in skole plaasvind, val die soeklig ook op hoe skoolleiers die skepping van hierdie ruimtes kan hanteer. Belewingsruimtes in skole sal slegs oor die nodige vergestalte betekenis beskik om onderrig en leer te bevorder indien die gebruikers van daardie ruimtes dit help skep en as hul eie aanvaar. Die studie put uit 'n model van transformasionele leierskap om lig te werp op hoe skoolleiers dít kan bereik. Hierdie kwalitatiewe studie gebruik 'n fokusgroep, individuele onderhoude sowel as waarnemings in drie skole wat bekend is vir hul uitnemende leerderprestasie: 'n openbare laerskool, 'n openbare hoërskool en 'n onafhanklike hoërskool. Die hoofbevindinge is dat elk van die drie skoolleiers instinktief 'n transformasionele leierskapstyl volg en ruimtes geskep het wat professionele wisselwerking tussen hul onderwysers sowel as sterk kollegiale steun vir hul ruimtelike veranderinge aanmoedig. Die personeelkamers is modern ingerig met gemaklike meubels, platskermtelevisies, aantreklike versierings en stimulerende prente, wat alles ten doel het om personeel se geesdrif en energievlakke te verhoog. Voorts is professionele vergaderlokale en vertroulike werkruimtes vir onderwysers tot stand gebring. Klaskamers is omskep in aantreklike en funksionele, 21ste-eeuse IKT-leerruimtes, met buigsame gebruik van meubels en stimulerende visuele elemente. Buitelugleerruimtes en veilige "emosionele sones" is ook geskep. By ál drie skole is die ingange en ontvangslokale in aanloklike ruimtes verander waar leerders vir vergaderings kan byeenkom en die skole se simbole en prestasies ten toon gestel word. Duidelike aanwysings betrek besoekers onmiddellik by die skoolomgewing. Braaigeriewe vir onderwyser-en-ouergeleenthede verseker ook voortdurende skakeling tussen die skool en ouers. Die hoofbevinding oor die belewingsruimtes in die skole is dat die drie skoolleiers die fisiese ruimtes by hul skole in nuwe geestesruimtes omskep het, wat die opvattings, gemoed en motivering van die gebruikers van daardie ruimtes beïnvloed.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Bibliography / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die interpretering van beleid en die toepassing daarvan in die werkplek was nog altyd ’n aanvegbare aspek, omdat beleid nie ’n geslote entiteit is nie en dus oop is vir verskillende interpretasies deur die toepassers van beleid. Die aanvegbaarheid van beleid kan duidelik waargeneem word met die toepassing van die Nasionale Assesserings Beleid van 1998 op die Suid-Afrikaanse skoolgemeenskap. In hierdie trant is die hoofdoel van my studie om ondersoek in te stel na die implikasie wat die toepassing van beleid rakende die klassifikasie van primêre skole as onderpresterende skole op die skole se skoolkultuur,het en hoe sommige onderwysers teenoor so ‘n klassifikasie reageer. Met hierdie studie wil ek ’n interpreterende ondersoek loods na die vraag: “Hoe beleef onderwysers hul skoolkultuur nadat hul skole deur die Wes-Kaapse Onderwys Departement as onderpresterende skole klassifiseer is. Ek beskou dit as ’n belangrike vraag vir ondersoek omdat die literatuur rakende skoolkultuur en skool prestasie daarop dui dat hierdie twee aspekte as kritieke elemente beskou word in die skoolopset. Om hierdie rede ondersoek ek hierdie verskynsel in my onmiddelike skool omgewing om begrip te toon vir die wedersydse invloed wat hierdie elemente op mekaar het. Hierdie vraag word beredeneer teen die agtergrond van Suid-Afrika se deelname aan toetse van die ligame van internasionale akademiese prestasies en die onbevredigende uitlae wat tydens die deelname aan hierdie toetse verwerf is. Vanuit nege en dertig deelnemende lande het Suid -Afrika laaste geëindig. Ek loods my studie vanuit ’n kwalitatiewe interpreterende ondersoek aan drie laerskole en nege geselekteerde opvoeders oor die prestasie wat die Intermediëre Fase (graad ses) verwerf het in die aanname en inwerkingstelling van die Sistemiese Evalueringstoetse vanaf 2007 tot 2010 in Geletterdheid en Wiskunde as ’n uitvloeisel van die Nasionale Assesserings Beleid van 1998. Ek doen ’n beleidsanalise voortspruitend uit ’n historiese oorsig en konteks van skool en prestasie verskille wat in die onderwysopset aangetref word. My fokus is egter op die onderwysers se respons as gevolg van die klassifikasie van hul skool as ’n onderpresterende skool. Hierdie ondersoek word ingestel deur gebruik te maak van semi gestruktureerde onderhoudvoering met respondente van drie steekproefskole en ’n vergelyking van sistemiese toets uitslae en interne evaluerings uitslae. Vanuit die verkennende analises en die literatuur is gevind dat skoolkultuur ’n deurslaggewende bepaler in terme van leerderprestasie is. Waar skoolkultuur in presterende skole positief bydra tot die prestasie en werklewering van die skool, is dit ’n negatiewe determinant by die onderpresterende skole. Dit volgens Fleisch dui daarop dat die Suid- Afrikaanse onderwysopset nog steeds in twee afdelings fungeer naamlik die presterende voorheen bevoordeelde skole en aan die anderkant die onderpresterende voorheen benadeelde skole. Die onderwysers het ook gevoel dat hierdie aspek buite rekening is gelaat met die implementering van die sistemiese toetse en die gevolglike klassifikasie van die skole. Tydens die uitvoering van die studie het ek gevind dat die respondente van die deelnemende skole saamgestem dat ’n positiewe skoolkultuur leerderprestasie positief kan beïnvloed. Hulle het erken dat hulle in gebreke gebly het om ‘n positiewe skoolkultuur te ontwikkel en te handhaaf. Ek eksploreer die respondente se uitleef van hul skoolkultuur, magsverhoudinge en konseptualisering van hul identiteit aan die hand van hul gegewe klassifikasie. In die ondersoek het ek bevind dat daar ’n negatiewe skoolkultuur heers by skole wat as onderpresterende skole geklassifiseer is. Hierdie negatiewe skoolkultuur het ook veroorsaak dat onderwysers ’n probleem ondervind het met die magsverhouding wat daar bestaan het tussen hulle en die Onderwys Department. Hulle het dit gesien as ’n “top down” verhouding waarin hulle geen inspraak het nie. ’n Verdere uitspruitsel uit die negatiewe klassifikasie van die skool het daartoe gelei dat die onderwysers ’n negatiewe siening van hul identiteit as onderwysers ontwikkel het. Vanuit die literatuur wat handel oor die herstel van onderpresterende skole, stel ek die moontlikheid van die toepassing van transformasionele leierskap wat geimplementeer kan word in die bestuur van die deelnemenende skole as een van die strategieë om vanuit hul klassifikasie van onderprestering te kom. Hierdie navorsing het ten doel om die onderwysers se belewenis van hul skoolkultuur te weergee nadat hul skole geklassfiseer is as onderpresterend as gevolg van beleidstoepassing deur die Wes – Kaapse Onderwys Departement. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The interpretation and application of policy in the workplace will always be a contentious issue, because policy is not a closed entity but is open to different interpretations by its users. This contentiousness of policy is clearly illustrated with the application of the National Assessment Policy of 1998 on the education community of South – Africa. Along these lines my study will try to address the question: “How do teachers in underperforming schools give meaning to their school culture after their schools have been classified as underperforming schools by the Western Cape Education Department?” I see it as a very important question as it explores the interrelationships between school culture and school performance. These two elements are regarded as critical elements that can either create a positive or a negative school environment. And in that sense I want to have an understanding of its influence in my immediate school environment. This question is being argued against the backdrop of South - Africa’s participation in the tests of international bodies of academic performance where the country performed poorly. From thirty nine participating countries, South Africa achieved the lowest mean test score. My study is piloted in a qualitative interpretive enquiry at three different primary schools and nine pre- selected teachers in connection with the results obtained from the systemic evaluation tests which was administered in the intermediate phase (grade six) from 2007 up to 2010 in the learning areas Literacy and Numeracy. The Systemic Evaluation Tests stems from the National Assessment Policy of 1998 and was conducted as a measure to ensure the success of the learning centers and to improve learning systems. In this study I am conducting an analysis of education policy and also giving a historical overview of educational differences of schooling in South Africa. The focus however is on the teachers’ response as a result of their schools’’ being classified as underperforming schools. I am employing semi - structured interviews and do a comparison of the systemic results and the results obtained from the continuous assessment of the different schools. From the analyses and a study of the literature I found that school culture plays a defining role in learner performance. I also found that school culture can act as a positive enhancer in performing schools and can also act as a deterrent in underperforming schools. The results obtained from the systemic evaluation also shows that the South African education system still comprises of two separate education systems according to Fleisch. He holds the notion that there are the performing previously advantaged schools and the underperforming previously disadvantaged schools. The teachers felt that no consideration was given to the impact that the negative school culture and the impact of the environment could bear on the performances of the learners from the underperforming schools. My respondents acknowledged that a positive school culture could enhance learner performances and also conceded that they neglected to build and maintain a positive school culture. I then explore how my respondents gave meaning to their school culture, conceptualize power relations and identity formation after being classified as underperforming schools. In my study I found that there is a negative culture present in the underperforming schools. And it negatively influences the conceptualization of the teachers of the power relationship between them and the Education Department. They see the power relation as “top down” and something in which they have no say in. Due to the negative relationship between the teachers and the Education Department, the teachers also experiencing difficulties in dealing with their own identity as they view themselves as underperforming teachers as a result of the classification of their schools. Dealing with the literature regarding the rehabilitation of underperforming schools, I explore the possibility of employing Transformational Leadership as a strategy to deconstruct their image of underperformance. This research aims to show how teachers give meaning to their school culture after their schools were classified as underperforming due to policy applications by the Western Cape Education Department.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: With the coming of a new education and training dispensation in 1994 came the idea that equal opportunities for all learners could be created within different learning institutions - via the creation of new institutional and qualifications framework - and in so doing encourage equal opportunities through proper articulation, portability, and mobility within the different phases of the various education bands. As education and training provision and learning is complexly intertwined with its appraisal, assessment was regarded as one of the main processes to find out whether learning had taken place, on the goal and quality of that learning, as well as pointing to the kinds of ways in which teaching and learning could be further improved. In my study I focused on how educators and trainers within the differentiated Further Education and Training (FET) Band spoke about and understood assessment, with the aim of the study being to analyse how assessment is understood in three different sites of provision within the FET band. The main goal was to better understand challenges at the ground level of policy implementation. A further goal was to explore some of the ways in which the role and function of assessment in our contemporary society was understood, and whether, in its present formulation, it served the purposes that much of the policies and reform statements claimed. The study’s main claim is that educators and trainers in the FET Band in South Africa mainly experience assessment processes, criteria, and frameworks as a form of jargon, and that they translate ‘the jargon’ into ‘judgements of value’ about learning and knowledge that lead to quite different approaches being followed at different sites. It is argued that this scenario would be acceptable in terms of different work settings - producing different kinds of skills for the economy- were it not that the education and training infrastructure in South Africa remains perhaps too preoccupied with achieving a principle of similarity across the FET Band.

Thesis (PhD (Education Policy Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The core question that is addressed in this dissertation is: “How can we think differently about education in order to transcend the predicament that outcomes-based assessment poses for teachers and the practice of teaching?” This question is addressed against the background of my own narrative and experience in education in South Africa and in dialogue with the ideas of a number of contemporary philosophers. I assume an internal link between the outcomes-based discourse and its attendant assessment system. I argue that although outcomes-based education is proclaimed to be a progressive pedagogy, an alternative argument can be made that characterises it as an old behaviourist, management theory, overlain by a new policy technology called performativity. Thereafter, I engage critically with outcomes-based assessment as a prime example of performativity. In the next step I explore the ways in which outcomes-based assessment poses a predicament to teachers and to the practice of teaching. I then construct an alternative view of education that, in my opinion, provides a way to transcend the predicament that outcomes-based assessment poses for teachers and the practice of teaching. I also compare my alternative view of education with a new notion of education as therapy and standing in need of therapy, which is also presented as an alternative to instrumental approaches to education. Thereafter I consider the implications of my alternative view of education for teachers and assessment. I consider potential critiques against my argument at various stages in this dissertation. In the final chapter, I anticipate five more potential critiques against the argument developed in this dissertation and give initial responses to these. At the end of this dissertation I extend an invitation to deliberation in the spirit of my alternative view of education. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die kernvraag wat in hierdie proefskrif aan bod kom, is: “Hoe kan ons anders dink oor onderwys sodat die penarie wat uitkomsgebaseerde assessering vir onderwysers en die onderwyspraktyk meebring, oorkom kan word? Die vraag word beredeneer teen die agtergrond van my eie narratief en ervaring in onderwys in Suid-Afrika en in dialoog met die idees van ’n aantal kontemporêre filosowe. Ek veronderstel ’n interne skakel tussen die uitkomsgebaseerde diskoers en die verbandhoudende assesseringstelsel. Ek voer aan dat hoewel uitkomsgebaseerde onderwys as ’n progressiewe pedagogie voorgehou word, ’n alternatiewe argument gemaak kan word wat dit as ’n ou, behavioristiese bestuursteorie beskryf, wat oordek is met ’n nuwe beleidstegnologie genaamd performatiwiteit. Daarna gaan ek krities om met uitkomsgebaseerde assessering as ’n primêre voorbeeld van performatiwiteit. In die volgende stap verken ek die maniere waarop uitkomsgebaseerde assessering ’n penarie vir onderwysers en die onderwyspraktyk voorhou. Ek ontwikkel dan ’n alternatiewe beskouing van opvoeding wat, na my mening, ’n manier verskaf om die penarie wat assessering vir onderwysers en die onderwyspraktyk veroorsaak, te oorkom. Ek vergelyk ook my alternatiewe beskouing van onderwys met ’n nuwe konsep van onderwys as terapie en as behoeftig aan terapie, wat ook as ’n alternatief vir instrumentele benaderings tot onderwys aangebied word. Daarna oorweeg ek die implikasies van my alternatiewe beskouing van onderwys vir onderwysers en assessering. Ek oorweeg op verskillende stadiums in hierdie proefskrif potensiële punte van kritiek teen my argument. In die laaste hoofstuk antisipeer ek vyf bykomende potensiële punte van kritiek teen die argument wat in hierdie proefskrif ontwikkel is en gee aanvanklike reaksies daarop. Teen die einde van hierdie proefskrif rig ek ’n uitnodiging tot beraadslaging in die gees van my alternatiewe beskouing van opvoeding.

Thesis (PhD (Education Policy Studies))--University of Stellenbosch / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation explores the lack of racial integration in public schools in South Africa. The main argument of this study defends a deliberative conception of racial integration that builds on previous, more limited, conceptions such as assimilation, integration, multicultural education and antiracist education. In this work I further narrate my story in relation to encounters with issues of race, thereby contextualising the topic. I argue that philosophy of education can be used as a tool to explore and illuminate the educational dimensions of a major philosophical problem, that is, racial integration. I further offer a historical account of racial integration, mapping three interrelated phases of such integration in South African public schools, namely the colonial/apartheid period, the democratic period and the post-democratic period. The dissertation also offers a conceptual account of the major theoretical understandings that constitute racial integration. It furthermore investigates racial integration as it is currently unfolding in South African public schools and simultaneously points out the limitations of this project. I argue how and why the lack of effective and genuine racial integration results in social injustice. Moreover, I advance an argument for deliberative racial integration in South African public schools; a notion that, it is hoped, could address some of the weaknesses associated with the present form of racial integration in South African public schools. The study also identifies the implications of deliberative racial integration for school governance, management, leadership, and teaching and learning. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie proefskrif behels 'n ondersoek na die gebrek aan rasse-integrasie in openbare skole in Suid-Afrika. Die hoofargument in die studie is 'n verdediging van .n beraadslagende begrip van rasse-integrasie wat op vorige, meer beperkte, begrippe soos assimilasie, integrasie, multikulturalistiese onderwys en anti-rassistiese onderwys voortbou. Ek konseptualiseer die onderwerp aan die hand van 'n narratief van my eie ervaring ten opsigte van aangeleenthede wat met ras verband hou. Ek argumenteer dat filosofie van die onderwys aangewend kan word om die onderwysdimensies van 'n beduidende filosofiese probleem, naamlik rasse-integrasie, te ondersoek en te belig. Ek bied verder 'n historiese oorsig van rasse-integrasie deur te verwys na die koloniale/apartheidstydperk, die demokratiese tydperk en die postdemokratiese tydperk. Die proefskrif bied ook 'n konseptuele verslag van die vernaamste teoretiese beskouinge wat rasse-integrasie uitmaak. Die studie behels voorts 'n ondersoek van rasse-integrasie soos dit tans in Suid-Afrikaanse openbare skole ontvou en dui terselfdertyd op die beperkinge van die projek. Ek argumenteer hoe en waarom die gebrek aan doeltreffende en ware rasse-integrasie sosiale ongeregtigheid in die hand werk. Verder ontwikkel ek 'n argument vir beraadslagende rasse-integrasie in Suid-Afrikaanse openbare skole; 'n idee waarmee, so word gehoop, die gebreke wat met die huidige vorm van rasse-integrasie in Suid-Afrikaanse openbare skole geassosieer word, die hoof gebied kan word. Die studie identifiseer ook die implikasies van beraadslagende rasse-integrasie vir beheer van skole, bestuur, leierskap en onderrig en leer.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Includes bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Impressions and perceptions about Islām, particularly in a world where much of what is known about Islām has emerged from after the tragic devastation of the Twin Towers in New York, are creating huge challenges for Muslims wherever they may find themselves. Women as the more visible believers in Islām are, what I believe, at the forefront of the growing skepticism surrounding Islām. And central to the modern day debates and suspicious regard meted out to Muslim women today is her hijāb (head-scarf). Ironically, it would appear that the same amount of detail and attention that Islamic scholars have devoted to the role of women in Islām and how they are expected to conduct themselves is now at the centre of the modern day debates and suspicious regard. Yet, the debates seldom move beyond what is obviously visible, and so little is known about what has given shape to Muslim women’s being, and how their understanding of Islām has led them to practise their religion in a particular way. This dissertation is premised on the assertion that in order to understand the role of Muslim women in a cosmopolitan society, you need to understand Islām and Islamic education. It sets out to examine and explore as to whether there is commensurability or not between Muslim women and the notion of cosmopolitanism, and what then the implications would be for democratic citizenship education and Islamic education. One of the main findings of the dissertation is that the intent to understand Muslim women’s education and the rationales of their educational contexts and practices opens itself to a plurality of interpretations that reflects the pluralism of understanding constitutive of the practices of Islam both within and outside of cosmopolitanism. Another is that inasmusch as Muslim women have been influenced by living and interacting in a cosmopolitan society, cosmopolitanism has been shaped and shifted by Muslim women. By examining the concepts of knowledge and education in Islām, and exploring the gaps between interpretations of Islam and Qur’anic exegesis, I hope to demystify many of the (mis)perceptions associated with Muslim women, and ultimately with Islām. And finally, by examining how Islamic education can inform a renewed cosmopolitanism, and by looking at how democratic citizenship education can shape a renewed Islamic education, the eventual purpose of this dissertation is to find a way towards peaceful co-existence.

Thesis (PhD (Education))--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / 241 leaves printed on single pages, preliminary pages i-xii and numbered pages 1-230. Includes bibliography. / Digitized at 600 dpi grayscale to pdf format (OCR), using a Bizhub 250 Konica Minolta Scanner. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Educators at schools are expected to implement education policy changes promulgated through policy frameworks by the Department of Education in South Africa. However, whether these teachers are equipped to implement education policy or whether they have interacted sufficiently with policy issues remains a contentious issue. My contention is that pre-service and in-service teachers are expected to perform certain roles and demonstrate certain competences, as required or implied by changing education policy frameworks, like the Norms and Standards for Educators (Department of Education, 2000), but might not necessarily be equipped to do so. This dissertation utilised conceptual analysis and a literature review, as research methods, to explore constitutive meanings of the concept 'education policy' in relation to teacher education transformation in post-apartheid South Africa, with reference to the Norms and Standards for Educators (Department of Education, 2000). Constitutive meanings (Fay, 1975) of post-apartheid teacher education refer to all those shared assumptions, definitions, and conceptions, which structure teacher education transformation and post-apartheid teacher education in certain definite ways. Without these constitutive meanings, according to Fay (1975: 76), social practices, like teacher education, could not exist. By revealing these constitutive meanings, in terms of the interpretive paradigm (Fay, 1975: 78), I have given a possible explanation of post-apartheid teacher education, by articulating the conceptual scheme that frames post-apartheid teacher education. These constitutive meanings, which were extracted from a literature review, were explored in relation to the main question of this dissertation: Can the new teacher education policy framework, as set out in the Norms and Standards for Educators of 2000, improve teaching and learning in South African schools? I argue that the latter process will not materialise because of question marks over the transformative potential of the Norms and Standards for Educators (Department of Education, 2000). The mentioned policy framework may be an inappropriate framework to structure and guide the transformation of existing teacher education practices because of certain conceptual gaps. These conceptual gaps are stumbling blocks to transform existing teacher education practice and improve teaching and learning in our schools in the post-apartheid era. I argue that these gaps could be bridged if the Norms and Standards for Educators are reconceptualised along the lines of Benhabib's (1994) deliberative democratic model. Deliberation is necessary because policy alone cannot lead to the transformation of post-apartheid teacher education. Deliberation is also necessary because of the limitations on the state's power to enforce its will through promulgated policy. More engagement, via deliberation, is needed between the government, educational leaders, policy-makers and the other policy actors, like teachers, bureaucrats and teacher education institutions. The arguments of Burbules (1997) and Biesta (2004) seem to substantiate my claim that education policy, alone, cannot lead to the improvement of teaching and learning in our schools. Burbules (1997) posits that teaching is a complex human endeavour that is characterised by predicaments or dilemmas, which cannot be permanently solved. I argue against the integration of the seven roles, as advocated by the Norms and Standards for Educators, because of certain dilemmas. We need the tragic perspective on teaching, of Burbules (1997), to approach teaching differently. Biesta (2004) also urges us to approach teaching differently, by advocating a new language for education. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Daar word van Suid-Afrikaanse opvoeders by skole verwag om opvoedingsbeleid veranderinge, wat via beleidsraamwerke gepromulgeer is deur die Departement van Onderwys, te implementeer. Wat egter 'n kontensieuse kwessie bly is of hierdie opvoeders toegerus is om opvoedingsbeleid te implementeer en of hulle genoegsaam omgegegaan het met beleidskwessies. My argument is dat daar van voor-diens- en indiens opvoeders verwag word om sekere rolle te speel en sekere kompetensies of bekwaamhede te demonstreer, soos vereis of geimpliseer deur veranderende opvoedingsbeleid raamwerke, soos die Norme en Standaarde vir Opvoeders (Departement van Onderwys, 2000), maar dat hulle nie noodwendig toegerus is om dit te doen nie. Hierdie proefskrif utiliseer konseptuele analise en 'n literatuur oorsig, as navorsingsmetodes, om konstituerende betekenisse van die konsep 'opvoedingsbeleid', in verhouding tot onderwyseropvoeding transformasie in postapartheid Suid-Afrika, met verwysing na die Norme en Standaarde vir Opvoeders (Departement van Onderwys, 2000), te eksploreer. Konstituerende betekenisse (Fay, 1975) van post-apartheid onderwyseropvoeding verwys na al daardie gedeelde aannames, definisies, en konsepsies, wat onderwyseropvoeding transformasie en post-apartheid onderwyseropvoeding op sekere definitiewe maniere struktureer. Sosiale praktyke soos onderwyseropvoeding kan volgens Fay (1975: 76) nie sonder hierdie konstituerende betekenisse bestaan nie. Ek het hopelik, deur die ontbloting van hierdie konstituerende betekenisse, in terme van die interpretatiewe navorsingsparadigma (Fay, 1975: 78), 'n verduideliking gegee van post-apartheid onderwyseropvoeding, deur my artikulasie van die konseptuele skema wat die realiteit van onderwyseropvoeding op sekere maniere definieer. Hierdie konstituerende betekenisse, wat onttrek is van 'n literatuur oorsig, was geeksploreer in verhouding tot die hoof vraag van hierdie proefskrif: Kan die nuwe onderwyseropvoeding beleidsraamwerk, soos uitgespel in die Norme en Standaarde vir Opvoeders van 2000, onderrig en leer in Suid-Afrikaanse skole verbeter?