By 1994 education in South Africa had collapsed (TRC, 1998; CCOLT, 1996). In response, South Africa's first non-racial government initiated a wide ranging School Reform (SR) program. However, almost a decade after the reforms commenced there have been very few substantial changes in the majority of South African schools: The Education Rights Project (2003a) and the South African Human Rights Commission argue that SR is failing the majority of South Africans. This thesis explores an alternative, School-Community Development (SCD), that integrates school reforms with programs that draw members of the school's neighbouring community (the "school-community") into the process of changing schools. I argue that SR is an inadequate response to the problems that confront schools. Using the case study method I show that SR is enhanced when integrated with locally developed social, cultural, economic, and school development programs. The thesis makes two contributions to the literature. First, the thesis challenges the "simplistic solutions to educational problems" (Anyon, 1997, p. 12) that constitute SR. Second, the thesis presents a materially grounded critique of SR in South Africa that evokes the "multiple voices" (Sayed, 2002, p. 32) from the four case study schools. Accordingly, our understanding of "making change work at the micro level", a neglected area of South African educational research (Sayed and Jansen, 2001, p. 7), is enhanced.

Educational change – a multiplex phenomenon, what impacts on the achievements of children, is hoped only then it encompas a whole chain of events: from education politics through the local context and its interpretation to the activity in the classroom. The radical social alternations caused the educational change in Lithuania. The purpose of the survey: to analyze the standpoints of Utena region pedagogues from different types of schools to the educational change. Smmarizing the results of survey it can be maintained, that the leaders and teachers of Utena region educational institutions, first in the country joint the establishment of educational system in independent Lithuania and are open to the changes.

Amid the dearth of implementation of South Africa’s post-apartheid Language-in-education policy which encourages multilingualism and recognizes the value of instruction in the home language of learners, internal change agents initiating language change in their schools were identified in a Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) project on multilingual education. With limited policy support these change agents had sought ways of transforming language policy and practices at their schools to address the linguistic diversity of their learners. The initiative taken by these change agents to transform language policy and practice in their schools was the point of departure for the study. While the HSRC project focused broadly on the factors enabling and disabling multilingual education with a view to exploring strategies to encourage greater implementation of multilingual education, the study interrogated the work of the change agents with particular focus on the sustainability of their language change initiatives. The change agents were two school principals, a Level 1 educator (classroom practitioner) and a School Governing Body chairperson, operating in four public primary schools (one in each school) in KwaZulu-Natal. The experiences of sustaining school language change of these change agents were interrogated to elicit how and why they were able to sustain or not sustain the school language change that they had initiated in their schools. The insights drawn from this interrogation were used to deepen understanding of the process of school language change that encourages multilingual education. The data used in this study was gathered from in-depth interviews with the change agents and significant others (educators/school managers) in their schools, documentation (school language policies and notices to parents) and a Focus Group Discussion in which the change agents engaged in reflecting on their experiences of driving school language change and commenting on the process of sustaining school language change. The findings from the study revealed that all but two of the change agents were marginally successful in sustaining language change in their schools. The study revealed that school language change was a complex process involving the interplay of various factors and the existence of such factors enabled but did not guarantee the sustainability of school language change. The non-existence of some or any of the factors necessary for school language change thwarted the attempts of the change agents to sustain language change in their schools. Using the experiences of each of the change agents and the collective experience of all four change agents contextualized in qualitatively-oriented case study research and using features of grounded theory research to develop theory from case studies, the study developed a theoretical framework explicating the process of school language change led by internal agents of language change. It is suggested that the framework which seeks to deepen understanding of the complexities of the school language change process can be used as a guide to planning language change but cautions against using it as a blue print for school language change. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

The study investigated the effects of rationalisation and re-deployment amongst a statistically sound sample of educators in the Province of KwaZulu Natal. It examined primarily the social and psychological effects of such phenomena in the lives and careers of educators, in a province that has gone through political , historical and ideological turbulence, violence and intimidation that had direct and indirect negative effects on educational patterns and processes. The literature review examined the various dynamics associated with these key phenomena in the educational system, including the legal frameworks and policies that shape the educational landscape, such the South African Schools Act. It needs to be said that such social and educational phenomena both shape and are shaped by the social and public policies of the democratic government that was elected from 1994 until today. These phenomena are an integral part of a series of processes that have been shaped by the various educational authorities in the new democratic dispensation, such as the various audits, new plans and strategies as well aspects of quality assurance and the like. These are inextricably linked with the dynamics unfolding in the educational terrain, especially in relation to rationalisation and re-deployment. These are situations that can be faced by all teachers, throughout the country, and it has been hoped that the internationally accepted scientific selection of the sample will permit the researcher to make inferences to similar or other populations. The study basically used two sets of data collection instruments, a structured questionnaire, and a Likert-scale type questionnaire .The questionnaires were administered to the groups of educators who were selected scientifically from the official lists of the KwaZulu Natal Department of Education. One hundred questionnaires were utilised, distributed collected and analyzed. The sample consisted of 45 males and 55 females. Amongst the sample there were educators who were both rationalised and re-deployed. The findings could be summarised as follows: • The majority of teachers felt strongly that rationalization and redeployment led to stress. • Stress created social and psychological problems for the educator, his/her immediate environment. • Redeployment and rationalisation had serious negative consequences on learners. • Most teachers reported that they were not coping with the stress associated with rationalization and redeployment as they created serious psychological and social problems. • There was no gender difference in the teachers' abilities to cope with stress associated with rationalization and redeployment. Most teachers expressed a negative attitude towards the policy of rationalization and redeployment. They felt it was a policy that created serious problems within the education system both at macro and micro level. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2004.

The research sets out to investigate the effect of the policy of Rationalization and Redeployment on the culture of teaching and learning in three primary schools in the Pinetown District in Kwa-Zulu Natal. Rationalization and Redeployment was a policy adopted by the new government of South Africa to address the inequalities in education created by apartheid. There was an excess of educators in historically advantaged schools and a shortage of teachers in historically disadvantaged schools. The average teacher: pupil ratio in historically advantaged schools in 1991 was 1: 18 while the average teacher: pupil ratio in historically disadvantaged schools in the same year was 1: 43. Due to budgetary constraints the new government was unable to employ more educators to fill vacancies in historically disadvantaged schools. Therefore redeployment of human resources became imperative. While this may have been a simple solution for the new government, it proved to be a daunting experience for educators, which resulted in a negative influence on the culture of teaching and learning in schools. Two critical questions were posed: 1. What impact did the contents, claims, objectives, assumptions and silences of the policy of rationalization and redeployment have on the culture of teaching and learning? 2. How did the implementation of the policy of rationalization and redeployment affect the culture of teaching and learning? The two research questions were addressed by analysing the Kwa-Zulu Natal Education Departmental Circulars, from 1996 to 2004 pertaining to the rationalization and redeployment policy and by analysing questionnaires administered to educators and the school management team in three schools chosen for this study. 62 questionnaires were administered of which 56 were returned. The responses were analysed and conclusions were drawn. From the research it is quite evident that the policy of rationalization and redeployment had a negative effect on the culture of teaching and learning. It became evident that this policy was politically motivated rather than an attempt to improve the education in the country. In addition several conclusions and recommendations are presented in the concluding chapter. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

The purpose of this research is to try to understand why educational restructuring since 1994 appears to have failed to achieve the government's stated objectives of development, equity, participation and redress for large sections of South African society. As the educational inequalities of the past appear to prevail beyond the arrival of the first democratic government, the hypothesis that little has fundamentally changed is explored. Although the study is firmly focussed on the period between 1994 and 1999, the legacy of the apartheid years is also examined to ensure that the research is firmly rooted in its historical context. The key area for analysis within a qualitative paradigm is the dynamic which exists between central government and its key role in planning educational reform and in policy formulation, and the provincial administrations, in whom the major responsibility for policy implementation and for effecting change on the ground, is vested. Local realities, dynamics, and constraints on the ground are explored in some depth in one of South Africa's nine provinces: the Eastern Cape. Access to the Eastern Cape's Department of Education and Culture was successfully negotiated in October 1997. As a consequence a total of 40 interviews were held with a mix of previous Ministers of Education and Culture, retired and serving Senior Civil Servants, ex members of two transitional provincial bodies, senior representatives of the main teacher unions and non-governmental organisations, school principals and school teachers. The data collected as part of this study was analysed using the grounded theory approach. The analysis indicates that educational change in the Eastern Cape will not come quickly, and that for many who were previously disadvantaged under the apartheid system little has fundamentally changed in the first five years of the new democratic South Africa.

This study was based on the assumption that globalization is behind the initiative for higher education reform in Jordan. The changes stemming from globalization are of such magnitude that they are impacting higher education systems almost everywhere, in varying degrees of intensity. The conceptual framework of this study is shaped by qualitative methodology, and guided by a social constructivist paradigm, using a case study strategy. My aim is to choreograph this inquiry based on the post-modern notion that there is no single correct interpretation that captures reality. In this study, I identify the forces responsible for the restructuring of higher education in Jordan, to help gauge the scope and dimensions of the changes advanced under the banner of reform. My aim in this study is to expand the ongoing debate on higher education in the context of globalization. And most importantly for Jordan, I aim to help develop a more coherent, multi-linear view of the dynamics underlying the reforms advanced, and the various impacts of globalization. By providing insight into the relationship between globalization and the needs advanced for higher education policy reforms, this study aims to help work with globalization rather than against it, and invest every effort to benefit from its opportunities. / Cette etude se base sur la supposition que la globalisation est une des forces majeures qui influencent la reforme de l'enseignement superieur en Jordanie. Les changements dus a la globalisation sont d'une telle magnitude qu'ils ont un impact a travers presque tous les niveaux du systeme d'enseignement superieur. Le cadre conceptuel de cette recherche se base sur une approche methodologique qualitative guidee par le paradigme socio-contructivist en utilisant une etude de cas. Le but est d'articuler une methode d'enquete basee sur les notions post-modernes qui pronent qu'il existe plus d'une seule interpretation juste de la realite. Cette etude tente d'identifier les forces directrices de la restructuration du systeme d'education superieure en Jordanie afin de jauger de l'ampleur et les dimensions des changements proposes par la reforme. Le but de cette etude est de contribuer et d'elaborer le debat en cours sur l'enseignement superieur dans le contexte de la globalisation. Plus precisement, cette etude vise a developper une vision plus coherente de la situation. Cette elaboration integre les multiples perspectives et forces sous-jacentes de la reforme proposee ainsi que divers impacts de la globalisation. En articulant les relations entre la globalisation et l'etude des besoins proposes par les politiques de reforme de l'enseignement superieur, cette etude suggere qu'il serait plus benefique de capitaliser sur certains aspects de la globalisation et non de la combattre aveuglement. fr

The culture of teaching in most South African schools is one of isolation and independence. Once individuals have qualified as teachers, there is a strong sense of getting on with the job of teaching, rather than beginning a journey of critical reflection and change. This study aims to address and contribute towards shifting this ethos and establishing a joint reflective school culture.

Centrally, Thai HE needs to expand, yet government is gradually reducing its financial input. Competition amongst institutions is being introduced as a policy strategy. HE institutions and universities must now seek to draw more of their funds by attracting greater student numbers. Those who succeed in increasing their numbers of student recruits will receive proportionately more favourable government financial support. They will have proven their competitive efficiency. Likely, they will survive, and foreseeably, others will not. In this situation, HE managements need to borrow and develop some marketing skills and methodologies from commerce, a novelty for most. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2006.

Thesis (MEd) -- University of South Australia, 1993