In education women outnumber men as teachers, but the top positions are almost entirely dominated by men. Shakeshaft (1987:20), using data collected for education systems in the United States of America noted that in 1984-5, only 3,0 percent of the district superintendents were women, although 50,1 percent of all secondary school teachers and 83,5 percent of all elementary school teachers were women. According to Blampied (1989), the data obtained from the 1987 statistical returns from government schools under the Natal Education Department indicated that the number of women in education administration was disproportionately lower than the number of men in congruent positions. It was decided that the situation deserved to be tested in schools administered by the KwaZulu Department of Education and Culture. According to the survey of secondary schools administered by the KwaZulu Department of Education and Culture, in respect of the 230 Junior Secondary schools in the sample, 86,5 percent of the school principals were male and the incidence of male principals was even greater in high schools (Thurlow 1993:32). The study of selected literature led to the finding of possible barriers to the career advancement of women educators. The barriers were classified into two broad categories - internal barriers, relating to psychological factors; and external barriers, which related to institutional, societal and organizational structures. A questionnaire was designed to attempt to ascertain if any congruency could be identified between the barriers perceived by other researchers and those which according to the respondents existed in schools administered by the KwaZulu Department of Education and Culture. The most commonly cited obstacle to the upward mobility of women was discrimination against them. There were suggestions that women were generally valued less than men. Women were treated as inferior in law, politics, religion and education as well as in society generally. Other barriers to promotion which were frequently alluded to related to the perception that some women were not interested in vertical career mobility but preferred to remain in the classroom rather than seek a position which would distance them from teaching. The evidence also suggested that although the larger proportion of the respondents were keen to receive a promotion, they thought they would not be promoted because they considered the allocation of promotions to be unfair. It was however noted that women educators who have made some progress on the promotional ladder perceived fewer obstacles to their advancement than unpromoted respondents. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, 1994.

This account of Native Education in Natal has been written to make available for the first time a mass of valuable information, which will, it is hoped, prove useful to Government Officials and leading Missionaries. For this purpose, details have been entered into where they would otherwise have been unnecessary, and schemes which have borne no fruit have often been discussed as thoroughly as those which have been adopted. Especially is this so in the first four chapters. The earliest reports, at present terra incognita to the Natal Education officials, are in manuscript, are bound with Miscellaneous Reports of the Secretary for Native Affairs, and are now filed for preservation in the Natal Archives. Concerning even the Zwaart Kop Government Native Industrial School (1886 - 1891) very little information has been found available in the records kept by the Natal Education Department. The writer's chief object has been to give the history of "formal" education. For those interested in "informal" education, many excellent books on the customs and kraal-life of the Natives of South Africa are available. Questions of policy have been dealt with from the stand-point of the historian, rather than from that of a political or an educational administrator. Consequently no attempt has been made to advocate any one method of solving the problems of Native Education. Information concerning Zululand before its annexation to Natal in 1897 is unobtainable, because the documents collected in the Office of the Governor of Zululand are of too recent a date to be consulted by the public. Such material as is available points to the presence of only a few missionaries in Zululand before l898, owing to the attitude of the Zulu Kings towards them. The absence of accurate records has made it impossible to deal with such interesting subjects as The largest Mission Societies and The oldest Mission Stations. The inclusion of any account of unaided missionary effort has also been impossible; but it is quite safe to assume that all missionary effort which has produced good educational results has received either Government comment or Government grant. When the spelling of any Zulu name differs from the normal modern form of such a name, the variation is due to the fact that the documents consulted make various spellings possible. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-Natal University College, Pietermaritzburg, 1927.

From the 1970s onwards Applied Theatre (AT) has become an ever more popular tool for communication in fields as varied as education, development, therapy, social action, business and others (see for example Blatner (ed.), 2007; Prentki & Preston (eds.), 2009). Over the same time period there has been a continuous questioning amongst academics not only of the most effective research methods but increasingly also of the philosophy underlying research efforts (Narayan & Srinivasan, 1994; Parks et al, 2005; Wilkins, 2000). There are therefore more and more researchers who, in their attempts to 'democratise‘ the research process, are beginning to use arts-based inquiry methods (Sanders, 2006). These generally allow a more inclusive, creative and in-depth approach to research, allowing the participants (the researched‘) more control over the process and the issues discussed and often benefiting them by imparting skills through the process (Belliveau, 2006; Peseta, 2007). Applied Theatre based research is part of this relatively new development (Conrad, 2004; Nelson, 2009) and it is at this junction of academic inquiry and AT where this research is situated. The major objective of this dissertation is to investigate the possible usage and value of Applied Theatre techniques as a tool for qualitative research, specifically when working with participants not familiar with drama and theatre exercises over a short period of time (a few hours). In partnership with the student society Students Against Rape And Hate (S.A.R.A.H.), a once-off Applied Theatre workshop was conducted in a UKZN residence in September 2009. The aim of this workshop was to establish some answers to the questions provided by S.A.R.A.H. about students‘ views of relationships in general and in residences specifically and the society‘s possible work there. To be able to compare the outcome of the workshop with the outcome of a more common research tool, a questionnaire asking the same questions was given out among other students in the same residence. Research subjects from both groups as well as S.A.R.A.H. members were later interviewed about their experiences and impressions. Comparing the data obtained through the different research methods described above, this dissertation not only evaluates whether the data collected with AT was useful and whether the process was practical for the researchers, but it also looks at the benefits the process itself had for all stakeholders involved. Indeed, it is this comparison of the 'product outcomes‘ and the 'process outcomes‘ that forms the backbone of the conclusions drawn. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

This study provides an overview of an environmental education programme being implemented in an organization (Umgeni Water), in Pietermaritzburg. In recent years assessment of this education programme’s performance has lost its focus to the detriment of the programme. This has then led to the aim of this study which is to develop a framework to assess the programme. The aim of the study was to develop a framework to assess Umgeni Water’s environmental education programme. Four sub-objectives were identified. These are; to review three learning models and select one best suited to Umgeni Water’s School Environmental Education Programme, to assess which components of the selected learning model are being practiced naturally by teachers, to assess Umgeni Water’s schools environmental education programme against the selected learning model and to develop an outline of a plan for the future of Umgeni Water’s environmental education programme based on the selected learning model. A qualitative research design was used and data collection was through semi-structured interviews and a focus group. One sample of teachers was drawn from schools that had used Umgeni Water’s programme of water treatment plant visits. A second sample was drawn from schools that had no exposure to this programme. The findings revealed that, to some degree, teachers in both instances were naturally applying the components of learning from the selected learning model although they were not aware of the model as such. The study recommends that Umgeni Water’s environmental education programme needs to focus on working with schools that are naturally applying the learning components since the findings revealed that the teachers in these schools could be key in teaching teachers from other schools. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

In 1880 a group of 31 Trappist monks arrived in South Africa for the first time. Two years later they founded the now famous Mariannhill mission in the vicinity of Pinetown, west of Durban. The purpose of this thesis is to trace the history of the Mariannhill mission, with particular reference to its contribution to African education. The thesis examines the policies of education at Mariannhill schools, and aims to illustrate the fact that despite the invaluable contribution that missionaries made to African education, their achievements were often marred by their usual practice of subordinating education to religious concerns. The study covers the period between 1882, when Mariannhill mission was established, and 1915, when St. Francis College came into being. The intended aims and goals of the missionaries at Mariannhill will be outlined, their obstacles investigated and their overall success and failure assessed. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1993.

No abstract available. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

This thesis investigates the development of the Department of Information Studies, with the aim of assessing the role it has played in education for librarianship in South Africa from 1973 to 1994, a period of change and transformation in the country. Historical sources, both written and oral, have been traced, analysed, and where possible, verified against other sources, thus using historical method. The study, the first in-depth research into a library and information studies department in a South African university, was seen as necessary in order that the future development of the Department in question be placed upon as sound a socio-historical basis as possible. A literature review provides the context for the study and the thesis contextualizes education for librarianship within national and international library and information services (LIS) and again within the broader context of the South African socio-political and economic situation of this period. The Department's contribution within the University context is also assessed. The findings indicate that, in spite of its uneven development during the 1970s and 1980s, the Department has played an important role in LIS in KwaZulu-Natal, in South Africa and, to some extent, in the southern African region as a whole. This role revolves around training LIS practitioners from school library diploma to doctoral levels; producing and publishing research; participating in wider LIS initiatives and contributing nationally to leading education for librarianship. / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998.

Currently, in school leadership a distributed perspective is supported by scholars in this field. Teacher leadership is seen as a means of operationalising distributed leadership. Drawing on this, the aim of this study is to explore the experiences of teacher leadership in a special education needs school. The study seeks to answer the following key questions: What does it mean to be a teacher leader in an ELSEN (Education for Learners with Special Educational Needs School)? How do teachers enact teacher leadership in an ELSEN school? How does the SMT (School Management Team) promote/not promote teacher leadership in an ELSEN school? Distributed leadership and teacher leadership are used as theories underpinning the study. The study is located within the interpretive paradigm and employs a qualitative case study approach. One of the strategies that qualitative research encompasses is case studies. One of the advantages of case study research is that you can use various kinds of methods to collect data. Case study research is flexible in regard to data selection, methods of data collection and analysis. In this study the context was an ELSEN school in KwaZulu-Natal and the informative participants used were five teachers, two heads of departments and the deputy principal. They were purposively selected. Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions were used to generate data. The findings revealed that teachers play a meaningful role inside their classrooms, but beyond the classroom, leadership roles are lacking. Teachers do not understand the term teacher leadership and teachers should have a vision for their school. / M. Ed. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.

Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes are important in the promotion of intellectual development and school readiness in children. Equally important is the opportunity to learn in one‟s mother tongue. This study aimed to determine the value of using the multilingual television series Takalani Sesame as a Life Skills educational resource in specific South African schools, amongst Grade One learners. The focus lay on researching a possible mechanism for allowing children who had not attended quality ECD programmes to „catch up‟ in terms of knowledge they may be lacking, as well as providing a form of mother tongue instruction to African learners in schools where the language of instruction is English. A field experiment and a reception study were carried out at a primary school in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Two groups of twelve Grade One learners (from two different Grade One classes at the same school) were included in this research, which spanned a period of 6 months. The children in the test group watched a television series of Takalani Sesame (with guided viewing) and completed related activities including post viewing and homework activities. The children in the control group were not shown the series at school. Both groups were administered the same questionnaire both pre- and post-test in order to determine changes in Life Skills related learnt data. Other research methods included participant observation, focus group discussions, interviews with parents/caregivers and interviews with educators. These used Social Cognitive Theory as their basis, taking constructs that impact on behaviour change, such as modelling, outcome expectancies and behavioural capabilities into account. The research included a large focus on interpersonal communication between researcher and learner, and caregiver and learner, plus a concentration on the children‟s knowledge of and attitudes surrounding HIV/AIDS. Results showed satisfactory levels of attention to the series, as well as high levels of engagement with and enjoyment of the series. Levels of identification with characters were also noted to be high, increasing the possibilities of learning and behaviour change taking place. Decoding of messages was, for the most part, in line with the intentions of the producers, although oppositional readings, erroneous and creative decoding were also noted in some instances. The guided viewing component did well to increase levels of attention to the episode as well as allow for erroneously decoded messages to be corrected almost immediately. Positive changes in learnt data in the Life Skills areas of HIV/AIDS, Nutrition and Safety and Security were identified and these were noted to be impacted on by the homework activities which were included in the intervention to promote parent/caregiver-child communication. The research intervention was deemed to be a success in the selected school, and could possibly be recommended for use in similar South African primary schools where learners are taught in a language which is not their mother tongue. Possible areas for future related research were outlined. This research study contributes to the body of Entertainment Education (EE) research by identifying a new and valuable application for an EE intervention in the South African setting. This highlights the important aspects of localisation, in the South African context, promoting mother tongue learning and ECD. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

This study explored the lived experiences of a selected group of women principals in Umgungundlovu district. In South Africa women constitute the majority of the teaching force and yet school principals are predominantly men. Literature showed a number of barriers that prevent women from being in leadership positions. These barriers included social-cultural factors, societal expectations as well as women’s perceptions of themselves potentially being in positions of leadership. An attempt was made to investigate how women principals’ lived experiences could shed light on the reasons for their under-representation in positions of educational leadership. A qualitative phenomenological study was used to generate data guided by two research questions. The data was collected from three women school principals in the Umgungundlovu district and they were interviewed in their natural settings in this case, their schools. The findings of the study revealed that women principals encounter many challenges as they begin their careers as principals as a consequence of resistance from the staff, as well as in their efforts to balance their home and work lives. In order to cope with these demands, the women had to network to make sure they have a support system; collaborating with both staff and learners also assisted in meeting the requirements of their positions. In leading their schools they utilised a caring approach to the staff and the needs of the learners. Their major achievement was being able to work as team. In understanding the lived experiences of these women primary school principals of the UMgungundlovu District, six themes emerged. These themes are: first experiences as initially challenging; work and home conflicting demands; networking as a way of dealing with challenges; the need for spirituality as a way of coping with these challenges; mothering and collaboration as a way of leading. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.