This research investigated students‘ views on the inclusion of multicultural perspectives into the psychology curriculum at two South African universities.54 students from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and a university in the Gauteng province participated in the research. The age of the participants ranged from 20-40 years. Purposive sampling was used to collect the data. Using a competency scale adjusted to suit a South African context participants were asked their views on a) the practice and supervision of psychology b) diversity in student representation c) students were also asked to rate how competent they were in multicultural issues d) research considerations e) if the physical environment reflected diversity. The students were of the view that South African universities have not adequately incorporated multicultural issues, African perspectives in particular, into the curriculum. The recommendations for future research, including curriculum transformation, are highlighted. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

Thesis (MEdPsych)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Since 1994, and the dissolution of the apartheid era, South African curricula have seen many revisions and adaptations to subject statements, learning programmes, and assessment guidelines. The most recent occurred in 2009, when the previously revised curricula statements (RNCS, 2005) were to be replaced with the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) for all approved subjects listed (including the subject of Life Orientation), taking effect in January 2012. These revisions have influenced curriculum implementation across contexts throughout the country – contexts that vary in culture, politics, and socio-economic status due to the inequalities of the past. It is these varied contexts, and the implementation of the current CAPS curriculum therein, that led to the formulation of this research study. The implementation of the subject of Life Orientation was of particular interest to the researcher as it is this subject that has been designed, throughout the many curricular revisions, to prepare learners for life and work in the outside world (i.e. in their specific contexts external to the primary education system). This research study attempts to explore the experiences of Life Orientation teachers, focusing specifically on the role that context plays in their implementation of the curriculum. Teachers working in the FET phase (grades 10-12), within two different contexts, were selected to participate. Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological model (Bronfenbrenner, 2005) was used as the theoretical framework for this study because of the overlapping and interrelated systems that influence the development of the child and the context in which learning takes place. This is informed by Vygotsky’s theory of social constructivism, which emphasises the social aspect of development and the influence that specific social contexts have on learning. For this research, the learners were placed in the centre of Bronfenbrenner’s model; while the school, family, and broader social community were placed in the outer systems. This study made use of a basic qualitative design and a qualitative methodology which is rooted within an interpretive paradigm. Purposeful sampling was used to select participants from the two respective school contexts in the Western Cape province, and three measures were used to collect data: (1) a self-administered questionnaire, which teachers were asked to complete in their own time; (2) semi-structured individual interviews with the principals and heads of Life Orientation from the two respective schools; and (3) focus group interviews with the teachers in their respective contexts. Qualitative content and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data generated by means of these three data collection methods. The findings of this research paper suggest that the delivery of the current Life Orientation curriculum within particular contexts was a challenging experience for the teachers who participated in the study. However, with appropriate and professional teacher training and/or a more flexible and adaptable curriculum design, the participants felt that these challenges could be overcome. While the findings of the study cannot be generalised to all schools in South Africa, recommendations can be made, based on this study, for the relevant schools as well as the Department of Education to assist in ensuring that appropriate measures are taken in order to improve curriculum implementation – whether through professional teacher training and development, curriculum design, or both. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sedert 1994, en die ontbinding van die apartheidsera, was daar verskeie wysigings en weergawes van die Suid-Afrikaanse kurrikulum ten opsigte van beleidsverklarings leerprogramme en assesseringsriglyne. Die mees onlangse wysiging het in 2009 plaasgevind, toe die voorheen Hersiene Nasionale Kurrikulum Beleidsverklaring (HNKV, 2005) vervang is met die Kurrikulum en Assesseringsbeleidsverklaring (KABV) vir alle goedgekeurde vakke (insluitende die vak Lewensoriëntering) – wat in Januarie 2012 in werking getree het. Hierdie wysigings het die implementering van die kurrikulum oor kontekste heen dwarsdeur die land beïnvloed – kontekste wat wissel in kultuur, politiek en sosio-ekonomiese status as gevolg van die ongelykhede van die verlede. Dit is die implementering van die huidige KAVB kurrikulum binne hierdie verskillende kontekste wat gelei het tot die formulering van hierdie navorsingstudie. Die implementering van die vak Lewensoriëntering was van besondere belang vir die navorser, aangesien dit hierdie vak is wat ontwerp is deur al die kurrikulumhersienings heen om leerders vir die lewe en in die wêreld daarbuite voor te berei ( in hul spesifieke konteks). Hierdie navorsingstudie poog om die ervarings van Lewensoriëntering-onderwysers te verken, met spesifieke fokus op die rol wat konteks speel in hul implementering van die kurrikulum. Onderwysers wat werk in die VOO (Verdere Onderwys en Opleidng)-fase (grade 10-12) binne twee verskillende kontekste is gekies om deel te neem aan hierdie studie. Bronfenbrenner se bio-ekologiese model (Bronfenbrenner, 2005) is gebruik as die teoretiese raamwerk vir hierdie studie weens die oorvleueling van en onderlinge verhoudings tussen sisteme wat die ontwikkeling van die kind en die konteks waarin leer plaasvind, beïnvloed. Dit word toegelig deur Vygotsky se teorie van sosiale konstruktivisme, wat die sosiale aspek van ontwikkeling en die invloed wat spesifieke sosiale kontekste op leer het, beklemtoon. Vir hierdie navorsingstudie is die leerders in die middel van Bronfenbrenner se model geplaas; terwyl die skool, gesin en die breër sosiale gemeenskap in die perifêre sisteme geplaas is. Hierdie studie het gebruik gemaak van 'n basiese kwalitatiewe ontwerp en ‘n kwalitatiewe metode wat gewortel is in 'n interpretatiewe paradigma. Doelbewuste steekproefneming is gebruik om deelnemers uit die twee onderskeie skoolkontekste in die Wes-Kaap te kies. Die studie het gebruik gemaak van drie metodes om data in te samel: (1) ‘n self-geadministreerde vraelys wat die onderwysers gevra is om te voltooi in hul eie tyd; (2) semi-gestruktureerde individuele onderhoude met die skoolhoofde en hoofde van Lewensoriëntering uit die twee onderskeie skole; en (3) fokusgroeponderhoude met die onderwysers uit die onderskeie kontekste. Kwalitatiewe inhouds- en tematiese analise is gebruik om die data wat gegenereer is deur middel van hierdie drie data-insamelingsmetodes te ontleed. Die bevindinge van hierdie navorsingstudie het aan die lig gebring dat die lewering van die huidige Lewensoriëntering kurrikulum binne hulle bepaalde kontekste 'n uitdagende ervaring vir die onderwysers was wat aan die studie deelgeneem het. Die deelnemers was egter van mening dat hierdie uitdagings oorkom kan word met toepaslike en professionele opleiding van onderwysers, en/of ‘n meer buigsame en aanpasbare kurrikulumontwerp. Hoewel die bevindinge van hierdie studie nie veralgemeen kan word tot alle skole in Suid-Afrika nie, kan aanbevelings tog gemaak word aan die betrokke skole, sowel as die Departement van Onderwys om te help verseker dat die nodige maatreëls in plek gesit word om implementering van die kurrikulum te verbeter– hetsy deur professionele opleiding en ontwikkeling van onderwysers, of deur kurrikulumontwerp, of albei.

This research project examines a case of environmental training for workers in the Expanded Public Works Programme, a poverty relief programme operating in South Africa (EPWP). It is constituted as an interpretive case study, and explores what workers learn and how they learn in an environmental skills programme. The study also examines the context of learning. In accordance with education and training policy, what learners are meant to learn is articulated in unit standards registered on the South African Qualifications Authority website. The unit standards are used to design curricula and learning programmes which are registered as environmental skills programmes by Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs). For the conservation sector the SETA is the Tourism and Hospitality Education and Training Authority (THETA). To develop an understanding of what learners learn, I considered the content, concepts, skills, values and attitudes contained in the unit standards, and then considered the actual learning taking place during the training programme focusing on three unit standards. Data was generated from semi-structured interviews with facilitators, focus group interviews with learners, observations of teaching and learning interventions and document analysis of EPWP, training and skills development policy documents, registered unit standards for the skills programme, and learning support materials produced by the provider implementing the training. The study notes that there is learning taking place within the training implemented through environmental skills programmes. The training is influenced by a number of diverse contextual factors namely policy factors, historical contextual factors, the economic context and diverse literacy levels. Learning interactions involve a variety of social interactions, activities and practices between learners and learners, and learners and facilitators. The main finding of the study is that the training programme’s major emphasis is on concepts and content, and social and learning skills, and values and attitudes. The prominence of social skills masks a neglect of practical workplace related skills which make up a strong focus of the unit standards. This, the study shows, is related to a lack of engagement with workplace learning, which in turn is linked to a disjuncture between policy and practice, where workers working in the EPWP programme are meant to benefit from training, but in this case it was found that community members, who were not working in the programme were being offered training. It was therefore not possible for them to develop the applied workplace skills, which were also meant to facilitate increased employability, as this is one of the key objectives of the EPWP programme. Based on the insights raised by the research findings the study made recommendations that the programme consider the following to recover the situation: to develop strategies that allow for longer term training frameworks so that learners can be trained on full qualifications so that they may qualify and benefit more substantively from the training in terms of employability skills. Facilitators in the programme need to be trained so that they can develop materials that address practical skills, values, attitudes, critical reflections and actions. Monitoring of training needs to be given preference both at materials development level and implementation level.

Educational transformation and curriculum reform within the new South African Outcomes Based Education (OBE) system has introduced new roles for teachers, and a focus on environmental learning within each learning area. In an OBE system, teachers are required to mediate learning, develop learning programmes, and use a range of different learning support materials. This study aimed to explore how one teacher in an Eastern Cape school used environmental learning support materials to mediate learning within an OBE curriculum framework. Over the past ten years a number of environmental educators and researchers have been participating in curriculum policy development and curriculum implementation research. This has led to the incorporation of an environmental focus within different learning areas in Curriculum 2005. The focus on environment in the curriculum was strengthened by the introduction of the National Environmental Education Project in the General Education and Training (NEEP-GET) band in 2001. I am employed as a provincial co-coordinator within this project (for the Eastern Cape province), and one of my tasks is to work with service providers (who provide learning support materials) and teachers (who use these materials) to ensure improved environmental learning within the OBE curriculum. A qualitative and empirical case study was conducted in which I observed one teacher in a multi-grade class (with grade 6 and 7 learners) using learning support materials to achieve learning outcomes in three different lessons. The study employed a range of data collection methods such as questionnaires, interviews, field notes, video recording, and document analysis, photographs and journal entries. I compiled a contextual profile of the school and classroom and undertook two 'layers' of data analysis to report the findings of the study. This research indicates that theories of learning and associated teaching methods influence learning interactions, and the use of learning support material in the class. The study also highlighted emerging issues in the use of environmental learning support materials, which relate to planning; access to materials; over-use of materials; and the relationship between learning support materials and teaching methods.

The African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme (ACEP) was established in 2002 after the discovery of a colony of coelacanths off the Maputaland coast at Sodwana Bay, KwaZulu Natal. The environmental education and awareness sub-programme developed learning support materials (LSM's) for use in schools and the materials were disseminated annually through teacher education workshops. This study aimed to uncover the use of these LSM's in the rural schools of Maputaland. The active learning framework was used to analyse the materials. Collectively, the ACEP materials cover a range of active learning aspects; however alignment with the curriculum has resulted in an increased focus on experiments, accompanied by a loss of environmental content and a narrowing scope for active environmental learning. Workshop questionnaires and four school case studies revealed the patterns of practice of use of materials in schools. The stated use of materials by teachers is not fully realized in the actual classroom practice which centres on learning content and concept definitions. There is no culture of use of materials in the schools following the annual introduction of ACEP materials. It was also found that the marine and coastal knowledge holding power is outside the realm of the teachers' practice and control. The findings of this study come at a time when there is uncertainty over the future of South African education and the curriculum. This research may inform the environmental education and coastal and marine education field as to their role in education and more specifically the development of learning support materials.

This study was conducted to investigate perceptions of Environmental Education among senior Ciskeian educationists, and to explore the possibility of implementing Environmental Education in school and college curricula in the Ciskei region. Data was collected from interviews with a sample of senior Ciskeian educationists, then analysed and assessed. Corroborating information was obtained from attendance at several regional workshops organised by the Environmental Education Policy Initiative. The data indicated a sound general awareness of environmental problems in Ciskei and a belief in Environmental Education as a means toward their solution. Although the interviewees' understanding of Environmental Education was imperfect, there was broad support for its aims and principles. Since the study was motivated by concern about the implementation of Environmental Education in Ciskei, the results obtained were encouraging.

This study explores the potential role of an environmental education approach towards the conservation of the Swartkops Estuary and Swartkops Nature Reserve. More specifically it examines the opinions, feelings and perceptions of a sample of twenty seven people, who have a vested interest, in the possible conservation of the area. These stakeholders were comprised of people representing all the various groups and communities that use either or both the estuary and reserve. Opinions were examined by means of a qualitative data analysis from semi-structured interviews. The conservation opinions of respondents were obtained on both general topics and more detailed areas. Due to the small sample and exploratory nature of the project, these results should be viewed as tentative. Proposals are made for increasing the impact of Environmental Education programmes in this and similar environments, and recommendations are put forward to help facilitate related studies in the future.

The purpose of this study was to establish whether educators of Grade 10 integrate environmental awareness issues in the teaching of the Life Sciences learning area as prescribed by the National Curriculum Statement (NCS). Related literature was reviewed on the changing curriculum in South Africa (NCS) as well as Environmental education to place in context the problem of the study, namely to figure out whether educators do integrate environmental awareness in the teaching of Life-Sciences learning area. A qualitative methodology research was used. School principals and educators were selected to participate in the research. The findings of the research showed that educators did not integrate environmental awareness in the teaching of Life sciences learning area. Respondents suggested that educators need to be retrained so that they could implement the principles of NCS effectively. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Specialization in Curriculum Studies)

This research is concerned with the development of entrepreneurship at higher education institutions (HEI). Entrepreneurship is very important in every country as there is a direct correlation between entrepreneurship development and economic growth (Hegarty, 2006). Entrepreneurship education is essential as it assists students who want to start up their own businesses by giving them the relevant skills and knowledge to have a successful business. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the Postgraduate Diploma in Enterprise Management (PDEM) within the Management Department at Rhodes University, Grahamstown. A qualitative approach was implemented which used an adapted version of the Context, Input, Process and Product Model (Stuffelbean, Mckee and Mckee, 2003). Data was collected in the form of interviews and focus group interviews. There were six lecturer interviews, one course coordinator interview and five past student interviews. There were two focus group interviews that took place; this was done so to gather data from seven current PDEM students. The data collected was then analysed through the use of qualitative data analysis techniques. These were sensing themes, constant comparison, recursiveness, inductive and deductive thinking and interpretation to generate meaning (Ruona 2005, cited in Swanson and Holton, 2005). The Management Department aims to equip students to think realistically in terms of starting their own business and to enhance the students’ knowledge and skills so that they are better able to find employment in the corporate and government sectors. The PDEM aims to be an action-learning course and to create an entrepreneurial environment which will encourage students to start up their own businesses. The role of the lecturers and the course coordinator is important as they need to ensure that there is a continuous transfer of knowledge to the students. Students are not expected to be specialists within each subject; however they need to have a basic grounding in order to run a business. Students felt that the Alpha Project was important and useful as it improved their confidence about starting a new business. An issue that was raised about the Alpha Project was that the separation of students into the Alpha Project groups was not executed well. The course was perceived to be disorganised however the students tended to enjoy it and felt that the Management Department was supportive of their businesses.

This study was motivated by the need to improve curriculum relevance in poor rural schools through contextualised teaching and learning based on the management of local natural resources. It involved four schools which are located in the Ngqunshwa Local Municipality of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The study's aim was to provide insight into and better understanding of the curriculum implementation process regarding natural resource management (NRM) education in a poor rural education context. This was done by analysing the extent of NRM integration in pedagogic texts, activities and practices in the different fields which constitute the structure of the pedagogic system in this education sector. The study adopted an interpretivist approach to the analysis, which was based on indicators of the extent of NRM integration, and was informed by Bernstein's concepts of classification and curriculum recontextualisation, and his model of the structure of the pedagogic system. The items which were analysed included national and provincial Grade 10 Life Sciences curriculum documents, Grade 10 Life Sciences textbooks, in-service training workshops for Life Sciences teachers, and various school documents, activities and practices. The analysis also involved interviews with educators, and classroom observations of Grade 10 Life Sciences lessons. The results revealed a very high overall level of NRM integration in the Grade 10 Life Sciences curriculum documents produced at national and provincial levels. The overall level of NRM integration was also found to be very high in the Grade 10 Life Science textbooks that were analysed, but very low in the in-service teacher training workshops, and in the schools' documents, activities and practices, especially in the Grade 10 Life Sciences lessons, and in schools' end-of-year Grade 10 Life Sciences examination papers. The study makes a number of recommendations towards effective integration of NRM into the curriculum of Eastern Cape's rural poor schools which include more specific and explicit reference to NRM in the official Grade 10 Life Sciences curriculum documents, the provision of environmental education courses to district education staff and Grade 10 Life Sciences teachers, the training of teachers in the classroom use of textbooks and other educational materials, and regular monitoring of teachers' work. The study also exposes important knowledge gaps which need urgent research attention in order to enhance NRM education in the poor rural schools of the Eastern Cape. These include analysing power and control relationships between the various agencies and agents that are involved with curriculum implementation in this education sector, and conducting investigation into the creation of specialist NRM knowledge and into the quality of NRM knowledge that is transmitted as pedagogic discourse in schools. This study contributes to the fields of rural education and environmental education in South Africa, and to the growing interest in the study of curriculum from a sociology of education perspective in the context of the country’s post-apartheid curriculum reforms.