Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), an intellectual impairment, generally characterised by inattentiveness and impulsivity has become prevalent in South African schools. ADHD learners require support from within the classroom to accommodate their academic and behavioural needs. A quantitative research was undertaken to determine the impact of an educator's knowledge of ADHD on teaching support strategies. An educator's ADHD knowledge is based on their understanding of the diagnosis, causes, symptoms and management of ADHD as well as the effect that ADHD has on a learner's classroom skills. Data was obtained from responses to questionnaires from randomly selected respondents within randomly selected government secondary schools in the Umlazi District of Kwa-Zulu Natal. The data was descriptively analysed to conclude that the level of ADHD knowledge possessed by educators impact on the appropriateness of their teaching strategies. There is a need to impart knowledge regarding learning barriers to educators, to ensure the efficacy of teaching strategies. / Inclusive Education / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

The purpose of this study was to explore solution strategies that can enhance the achievement of low-performing Grade 12 learners in the following mathematical aspects: finding the general term of a quadratic sequence, factorising third degree polynomials, determining the centre and radius of a circle, and calculating the angle between two lines. A convenience sample of twenty-five low-performing Grade 12 learners from a secondary school in Capricorn District of Limpopo Province participated in the study which adopted a repeated-measures research design. Learners were exposed to multiple solution strategies and data were collected using achievement tests. Findings indicated significant differences in learners‟ average scores due to the solution strategies used. In determining the general term of a quadratic sequence, learners‟ scores were significantly higher when they used formula and the table method than with the method of residues and solving simultaneous equations. Synthetic division made learners to achieve better scores than long division and equating coefficients in factorising third degree polynomials. The use of formulae to find the centre and radius of a circle made learners to have better achievement scores than completing the square. In calculating the angle between two lines learners‟ scores were better using formula and the cosine rule than using theorems. It was concluded that exposing low-performing Grade 12 learners to multiple solution strategies would enhance their achievement in the mathematical aspects explored in the study. Some of the solution strategies that made learners to achieve better results were not in the prescribed mathematics textbooks. The study therefore recommends that mathematics teaching should not be textbook-driven and that low-performing Grade 12 learners should not be regarded as beyond redemption. / Mathematics Education / M.Sc. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

Juvenile delinquency amongst school-going adolescents is a growing concern in South Africa. Initiatives by policy-makers, educationists and school authorities, amongst others, have not yielded the desired changes in learner behaviour. This dissertation focuses on adolescent delinquency amongst learners in Gauteng secondary schools, with the precise aim of making recommendations to address the problem. An extensive literature review was conducted. An interpretive-constructivist paradigm with a mainly qualitative design was followed. A questionnaire and focus group interviews were administered to teachers. The findings confirmed the researcher’s view that juvenile delinquency in schools is escalating and warrants attention and intervention from all stakeholders. The main conclusion drawn from this research was that current policies and interventions on learner behaviour had no impact because policy-makers lacked the necessary will to ensure that interventions were implemented, reviewed and monitored. This study argues for a multi-pronged approach to address the problem. The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) should review its policies and approach to the problem, and support teachers to ensure that teaching and learning remain the main priority of schooling. Future research could explore the role of social ills in the South African context on the development of learners’ antisocial behaviour. / Educational Foundations / M. Ed. (Socio-Education)

This study focused on improving the learners behaviour through classroom management and the implementation of human rights awareness as an intervention strategy. The purpose of the research was to prevent learners from misbehaving through the implementation of different teaching strategies. Learners transgression will not stop completely and a second objective was to use the implementation of human rights awareness as an intervention strategy if the learners behaviour become unacceptable. The strategies the educators has to instigate were primarily considered to be those associated with classroom management.

(D. Ed. (Didactics))

Educational Foundations / M. Ed. (Socio Education)

Thesis (Ph. D. (Education)) -- University of the Limpopo, 2001 / Refer to document

This study focused on improving the learners behaviour through classroom management and the implementation of human rights awareness as an intervention strategy. The purpose of the research was to prevent learners from misbehaving through the implementation of different teaching strategies. Learners transgression will not stop completely and a second objective was to use the implementation of human rights awareness as an intervention strategy if the learners behaviour become unacceptable. The strategies the educators has to instigate were primarily considered to be those associated with classroom management.

Text in Afrikaans / A labour market-oriented curriculum component for grade 7 - 9 learners in the existing education curriculum for South Africa could be achieved on the basis of an analysis and synthesis of various curricula by using curriculum components. The aim of the study is to reveal the essence of curriculation in order to bring the outcomes in the curriculum in line with the labour market needs of South Africa. An appropriate educational curriculum should not only address the high unemployment rate in South Africa, but should also bring about improvements in teaching practice as well as set standards that will be comparable both nationally and internationally. An analysis of different curricula shows clearly that various relevant theories can lead to the development of a curriculum component. These theories are not necessarily contradictory, but rather attempt to reveal the essentials for teaching and training. An analysis of the definitions of curricula gives an indication of the teaching possibilities of an appropriate labour market-oriented educational curriculum, whereby such a curriculum can be integrated in a sensible way with teaching practice by using the curriculum components. This theoretical consideration of different theories, curriculum components and teaching models has found a practical expression in a teaching labour market-oriented curriculum component that could possibly address current teaching and unemployment labour problems in South Africa. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

After the 1994 elections education reform has been characterized by the introduction of laws and policies, including IQMS, that seek to reconcile post‐apartheid traditions to practices that would address deficiencies borne by the era in the education field. The IQMS is a clear reaction to the autocratic mode of evaluation that operated during the apartheid era and is a major shift from the old paradigm of external evaluators. It was designed to review performance and identify strengths and weaknesses, encouraging personal and professional development, drawing on peer and collegial feedback rather than official Department of Education surveillance. However, recent studies have shown that the IQMS has failed and is failing to achieve what it was intended to achieve. This study examines the reasons for this failure in a secondary school in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. This research is an interpretive case study that uses observation, document analysis and interviews utilising theories of learning organizations, management and leadership. The study reveals that the policy is not applied in the way it was intended and is failing in this regard. The policy process has been bureaucratised and suffers from superficial compliance. The developmental thrust of the policy seems to have been lost. It was also discovered that the involvement of teacher unions has both positively and negatively affected the implementation process and that the support schools receive from the department is not enough to keep the policy alive in schools. This research is likely to benefit school principals, policy makers and implementers, and IQMS coordinators, as it provides clarity on the issues restraining IQMS implementation in schools. The study also demonstrates the need for school principals to consider adopting transformational leadership as a strategy to lead teachers against political influence and expose them to professional development opportunities.