There have been some fundamental changes to the education system within post apartheid South Africa. Firstly, in the primary school there are some teachers who were trained as specialist teachers before 1994, and some teachers were trained to teach in the new approach called Outcomes Based Education. A new school curriculum within an outcomes based approach was introduced systematically over a decade. This new curriculum required new ways of teaching and organization. One of the significant changes to the schooling structure was the introduction of a phase-based structure, divided into foundation phase, intermediate phase, senior phase and further education phase. Within this new structure of schooling, curriculum policies guided the teaching and learning in each of these phases of schooling. In the primary school, teaching across the subject curriculum was introduced, where teachers were now expected to teach up to as many as 9 subjects to learners in a class. Of concern is that these teachers had specialized in three subjects during their initial training as teachers, and were now expected to teach subjects that they may not have specialized in. When teaching across the curriculum, the mismatch between training and teaching is increased and results in more curriculum and teaching demands being placed on teachers. This mismatch makes it very difficult for experienced teachers to cope with subjects that they are not familiar with. There are no specific qualifications that develop teachers to teach across the curriculum. Qualifications, at most, develop competence in teaching across three school subjects, but the practice of teaching across the curriculum often requires teachers to teach more than three school subjects to a grade. Teachers have specialized in subjects that are different from what they are currently teaching. My study is a focus on narratives of teachers’ experiences teaching across the curriculum in the primary school. I used a qualitative research methodology within the interpretivist paradigm. I used purposeful sampling, where the participants were handpicked. Data was generated through intensive interviews and document analysis. Audio tapes were used to record the participants’ voices, and later retrieved. Data was reconstructed by me, and retained for analysis. The recorded data was analyzed, using codes, themes and categories. v Member checks were used to ensure rigour and trustworthiness. It is evident from this study that teaching across the curriculum requires professional training, ongoing professional development and correct placement in schools to alleviate all the stress and anxiety teachers face in the primary school Teacher training institutions must look at the curriculum and see how best they can assist trainee primary school teachers to fit into a generalist curriculum. This mean that teachers who teach across the curriculum were burdened with more administrative and accountability regimes than other specialist teachers because of the larger number of school subjects that they were responsible for. This administrative overburden is coupled with the greater teaching demands and, therefore, makes it very difficult for these teachers to cope with the workload. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2011.

The promulgation into law of the South African Schools Act (SASA) in 1996 ushered a new era in South African school management and governance. Informed by a number of values such as accountability, transparency and participation that permeate the new South African Constitution, the SASA has decentralised certain powers to the local stakeholders at school level. It meant that teachers, principals, parents and learners (in high schools) can work together towards a common vision for the school. The School Governing Body was installed as the powerful legal structure. Teachers, as one of the important stakeholders, are represented in the SGB and can participate in school decision making processes. Teachers are important stakeholder because they are the ones who are at the critical level since they deal directly with the learners. Their participation inside and outside the SGB is important. Given the above background, a case study of two primary schools was conducted. The two schools were sampled using the convenience and purposive sampling methods. Semi-structured interviews and document analysis were used to gather data. Four teachers, two from each school were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were deemed appropriate for this study because they give the researcher an opportunity to ask follow-up questions. This study documented teachers narratives about their experiences regarding their participation in the decision-making processes that relate to school financial management. Through teachers’ narratives, the factors that hindered or promoted their participation were also explored. The findings indicated that teacher participation in school financial decision making did exist in the case study schools but was minimal. Teacher participation seemed to be more confined to the operational decision such as making a list of classroom needs that should be part of the school budget. However, teachers were found not to be involved in strategic decisions where decisions on issues such as setting financial goals of the school were made. It was also found that, despite their minimal involvement, teachers were satisfied with the role that they were playing in the school financial decision making processes. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2011.

The purpose of this study was to compare the opinions of kindergarten teachers, transitional grade teachers, and first grade teachers regarding the importance of selected goals, content, learning activities, and evaluation procedures for a transitional grade between kindergarten and first grade. Effects of teaching experience and educational background were examined.The Transitional Curriculum Questionnaire for Teachers was developed by the researcher and mailed to 189 elementary schools with transitional classrooms. Respondents included 156 kindergarten teachers, 104 transitional grade teachers, and 263 first grade teachers. The majority of the teachers reported educational backgrounds in elementary education. Teaching experience ranged from 1 to 44 years.Through the use of a checklist, responding teachers identified goals, content, learning activities, and evaluation procedures which they considered "important" for a transitional program. A chi-square test at the .05 level of significance was used to analyze the data.Results1. Kindergarten teachers, transitional grade teachers, and first grade teachers agreed on the importance of 10 of the 16 goals, 6 of the 16 content areas, 6 of the 16 learning activities, and 11 of the 16 evaluation procedures for a transitional program.2. Teachers with backgrounds in early childhood education and teachers with backgrounds in elementary education agreed on the importance of all 16 goals, 14 of the 16 content areas, 13 of the 16 learning activities, and all 16 evaluation procedures for a transitional program.3. Teachers with varying years of teaching experience agreed on the importance of 15 of the 16 goals, 14 of the 16 content areas, all of the 16 learning activities, and 13 of the 16 evaluation procedures for a transitional program. / Department of Elementary Education

The purpose of this study is to investigate primary education teachers&#039 / perceptions about Total Quality Management (TQM) and the implementation degree of the principles of TQM in their schools / and to investigate whether there are significant differences between these perceptions of teachers in Curriculum Laboratory Schools (MLO) in which TQM principles are applied and teachers in non-MLO schools. For this reason, 16 primary education schools eight of which are MLO schools in different provinces of Ankara were randomly selected, for the sample of the study. Teachers in these schools were asked to fill out the questionnaire consisting of the proposala based on the principles of TQM. A total of 406 teachers completed and returned the questionnaires. Descriptives statistics were used to evaluate the data obtained. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to analyse whether there is a significant difference between MLO and non-MLO school teachers&#039 / perceptions related to TQM principles. The results indicated that there was no significant difference between the perceptions of teachers in MLO and non-MLo schools. Moreover, Chi-square test was used in order to analyse if there are significant differences in MLO and non-MLO school teachers&#039 / perceptions about the degree of the implementation of TQM principles. The results showed that there was a significant difference only in one TQM proposal related to TQM principles. It is implemented in MLo schools more than non-MLO schools.

Bibliography: leaves 369-391. / xiv, 391 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / This thesis seeks to elucidate the origins, nature and impact of age standards in the organisation of state-provided elementary schooling in South Australia from 1875 to 1990. The study traces the shift which occurred from ungraded schools to the classification and promotion of scholars according to attainment and then increasingly on the basis of chronological age. It also examines the introduction of specialist departments, teachers and pedagogy to better manage the youngest pupils. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Education, 1997?

The thesis investigated the notion of ego depletion in children, on classroom-based, 'academic' type tasks. Two major studies conducted with primary school students, aged between 10 and 14 years explored how an act of effortful self-control can impact adversely on performance and volition on a second, seemingly unrelated task. A third study investigated teacher perceptions of ego depletion effects.

This teacher as researcher inquiry set out to negotiate a critical literacy curriculum in a grade 3 classroom in Nova Scotia, Canada. It suggests that the inclusion of texts with multiple perspectives alongside popular culture, media, and digital texts are key to enacting a critical literacy curriculum.

Thesis (D.Ed.)--University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 1997. / Vol. 1: The function of leadership teams in the facilitation of organizational change in primary schools - journal articles, conference papers and reports. Bibliography.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2003. / "A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy" Bibliography : leaves 198-218.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2004. / "A thesis submitted to the University of Western Sydney, in the total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy" Bibliography : p. 251-268.