M.Ed. / Originally the aim of the study was to detemine the role of the African educator at home as well as at school. It was felt that this person has an extremely difficult task to accomplish, especially in view of the violence and the problems just before the 1994-elections. However, as the study progressed, the African concept, Ubuntu, proved to be an interesting topic and it was thought to be a possible solution to a country riddled with unique problems in education and the violence in particular. The term Philosophy of Life was briefly discussed, as it is always embedded in the way one educates one's child. Education as a concept was studied, in particular in the way it teaches a child to become more human. The Philosophy of Life that seemed of great importance is Humanism. Universal educational principles that seemed relevant, were identified to be used as criteria for the rest of the study. The term, human, and all the others related to it were analysed. Western Humanism, both Traditional and Neo-humanism, were studied. The educational implications of Western humanism were discussed, using the identified criteria for education as guidelines. In chapter four the African humanism, Ubuntu, was, via a literature study, analysed in great depth. There are as many versions of this term as there are people, but the most common characteristics of Ubuntu were identified. After a general discussion, the connotations usually given to the charateristics were listed. Afterwards the educational implications of Ubuntu were discussed. In chapter five an educational evaluation of the implications of African Humanism was undertaken. This study does not claim to be complete. It was merely an attempt to get a better grasp on reality. A literature study proved sufficient for this purpose, as very little was actually written about the concept Ubuntu, when the research was started. However, much has been said and written since.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

This thesis explored the relationship between community adult education and social action. The study investigated how LEAD (Leadership Education for Action and Development), a non-governmental organisation based in the Western Cape, has empowered women to assume leadership and take social action in their communities.

Thesis (MPA) --University of Limpopo, 2006 / The study conducted was based on the political and administrative interface in the Department of Education in Limpopo. This provincial Department has experienced challenges that originated from the offices of both the Executive Authority and the Accounting officer. This grey area in the Department had almost paralysed the whole system and it became imperative that it be studied in an attempt to find possible solutions. An extensive scientific body of knowledge from different scholars and their findings contributed to a new direction recommended for consideration. The findings presented have the capacity to hamstring any organisation. The findings reveal, among others, that: the complementary bureaucratic model is threatened by time, and its challenges are enormous; there is little knowledge among politicians and administrators regarding interface matters; administrators do not have a global picture regarding the result of unethical conduct; more research on interface matters needs to be done and results published for the public to be educated while politicians and administrators should be continuously trained; the fluidity of the interface needs continuous focus to avoid plunging the department into an untenable situation.

M. Tech. Business Administration / The aim of this study is to determine whether there is a higher performance in the academic results of those pupils who had been assisted by the educational corporate social responsibility intervention and the academic results of those pupils who had not participated in the educational intervention.

In general, a particularly complicated and difficult relationship has existed between parents and educators, due in part, to the fact that educators have always been seen as the experts and proverbial holders of knowledge in the educational process while parents have been seen to be peripheral to this process. This inequality is seen to be problematic as a child's significant learning is increasingly understood to occur in both the home and school contexts. This study explored the perceptions of a selection of parents and educators across the three levels of the educational process with the aim of facilitating a dialogue amongst all the participants in order to establish partnerships that would assist in the integration of the formal and informal learning processes. Using the Dialogue Game as a research tool, the participants in this study revealed many of the dilemmas that inhibit the establishment of partnerships between the two contexts. While the educators appeared resistant to the idea of a partnership as they perceived themselves to be 'experts' in the area of education, parents were aware that significant learning occurs in many contexts, but felt unconfident in their abilities to educate children. Some of the findings from the current study mirror those of two earlier studies (Van der Riet, 1997 and Danckwerts, 2002) conducted in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, respectively. Although all three samples were drawn from different socio-economic and cultural groups, the findings would suggest that the parents and educators of South Africa have essentially similar perceptions regarding formal and informal education. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

This thesis explored the relationship between community adult education and social action. The study investigated how LEAD (Leadership Education for Action and Development), a non-governmental organisation based in the Western Cape, has empowered women to assume leadership and take social action in their communities.

This study served to highlight the aggressive nature of learners in the Foundation Phase, namely of those who are between the ages of 5 to 6 years. The project is based on qualitative research, and the data were collected from three primary schools in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. Interviews were conducted with two principals, three educators and three parents. Four learners were used in order to gather further information on the causes of the aggressive behaviour of learners. Their input assisted the researcher to understand the various discipline structures within the school and also, how parents and educators manage the aggressive behaviour of learners. The study sought to identify whether primary and secondary socialisation, and the influence of the media are related to learners behaving aggressively. The information collected confirmed that children model the behaviour of adults and of their peers. The principals and the educators were of the opinion that positive primary socialisation is of the utmost importance, as it lays the foundation for future socialisation. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Socio-Education)

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In a post apartheid South African educational environment, learners’ academic achievement is generally seen as a barometer of the quality of education in schools. The low academic performance of black learners has contributed to an overall, but narrow and decontextualised view, that these learners generally produce poor results because of something inherently wrong with their abilities to learn. Educational research has hitherto focused on unproblematized pedagogical approaches that result in narrow and decontextualized, functionalist views that working class learners’ learning is problematic. What is less known are the challenges that working class learners have to face on a daily basis as they try to navigate deeply constraint lived spaces of their homes, communities and schools in their quest to realise their educational goals. The study explores selected working class high school learners’ navigation and mediation practices as they engage with their schooling over different spaces of their rural town. I assert that these learners have the ability to shift their habitus just enough to enable them to stay on course in their quest for educational achievement and a better future. I argue that, through the optimal utilisation of available resources in their lived spaces and the strategic deployment of embodied adaptive practices, these youth develop a ‘self-schooled’ habitus that enable them to re-imagine their daily realities and aspire to better futures despite their adverse living conditions. In order to study these learners’ habitus adaptations, I utilise Bourdieu’s theoretical lenses of field, capital and habitus to argue that the youth in this study are not mere passive recipients of global influences and changing environments, but active agents in the shaping of their local realities. Through ethnographic study I explore the self- schooled navigation practices that these youth employ to help them mediate between the structural reproductive influences of their educational environments and their educational aspirations. The thesis is motivated by the position that qualitative research can offer a view of the intersections of fast changing macro-community processes and young people’s micro-lived educational dimensionalities. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In ´n post-apartheid Suid-Afrikaanse onderwysopset word leerders se akademiese prestasies oor die algemeen beskou as die maatstaaf van kwaliteit in skole. Die lae akademiese prestasie van veral werkersklas- leerders in die land dra by tot ´n hegemoniese, maar nou en gedekontektualiseerde siening dat werkersklas-leerders oor die algemeen swak uitslae oplewer omdat daar iets inherent verkeerd is met hul leervermoeëns. Opvoedkundige navorsing in Suid-Afrika sentreer hoofsaaklik rondom onuitgedaagde pedagogiese benaderings wat werkersklas-leerders se leervermoëns as problematies sien. Wat minder bekend is, is die uitdagings wat werkersklas-leerders op ´n daaglikse basis moet trotseer soos hulle probeer om deur die verskillende leefruimtes van hul ouerhuise, gemeenskappe en skole te navigeer in die nastrewing van hul opvoedkundige aspirasies. Hierdie studie eksploreer geselekteerde werkersklas-hoërskoolleerders se navigering en mediëringspraktyke soos hulle omgaan met hul skoling oor die verskillende ruimtes van hul landelike dorp. Ek asserteer dat hierdie leerders hul aspirasies lewend hou deur hul habitus sodanig te verskuif dat dit hulle aan koers hou deur die skool. Ek argumenteer dat hierdie jeugdiges, deur die maksimalisering van hul leefruimtes en die strategiese ontplooiing van beliggaamde aanpassingspraktyke, ´n selfgeskoolde habitus ontwikkel wat hulle in staat stel om ´n beter toekoms te ‘sien’ en struktureel-reproduktiewe ruimtes te transendeer. Om hierdie studente se habitusaanpassing te verken, maak ek in hierdie studie gebruik van Bourdieu se teoretiese lense van veld, kapitaal en habitus om te argumenteer dat die jeugdiges in hierdie studie nie net passiewe ontvangers is van globale invloede en snel-veranderende omgewings nie, maar aktiewe meemakers in die vorming van hul plaaslike realiteite. Gebaseer op ´n etnografiese studie, eksploreer ek die selfgeskoolde navigeringspraktyke wat hierdie jeugdiges ontplooi om hulle te help om tussen die strukturele reproduktiewe invloede van hul opvoedingsomgewings en hul eie opvoedkundige aspirasies te medieer. Hierdie tesis is gemotiveer deur die posisie dat kwalitatiewe navorsing ´n siening kan bied van die interseksies van snel-veranderende makro-prosesse en jongmense se mikro-beleefde opvoedkundige dimensionaliteite.

The South African context gives rise to a number of significant adversities that challenge the stability of the individual child and the survival of their families. The repercussions of these adversities are profound. Once risk begins to accumulate, the probability of a negative developmental trajectory increases. A group of South African children that are a particularly vulnerable, at risk, and marginalized group are those youth who are excluded from school. Access to the schooling system represents an important node of care and support with the potential of linking vulnerable children to key services. Eight youth from a town in a former homeland in rural KwaZulu Natal, who are excluded from the schooling system, participated in this research. The research aimed to map their experiences of school exclusion through a participatory photo interview technique. Using Bronfenbrenner's (1979) socio-ecological systems theory, this study has indicated that exclusion from school relates to risk factors present in the five contextual systems that a child functions within. From this research one can see how each risk factor adds to the web of exclusion that makes these youth hard to identify, access and help. The findings indicate that there is a need to further investigate the South African child care grant system and the impact it has on access to schooling, as well as to develop macrosystemic interventions to alleviate poverty. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritburg, 2007.