Thesis (MPA.) --University of Limpopo, 2011 / The advent of democratic governance in South Africa necessitated changes in all sectors of the country; the education sector also required urgent reform. The policy framework for education reform was passed nationally and implementation strategies were cascaded to provinces and districts nation-wide. The outcome of national policies manifests itself at district levels where implementation takes place in schools. This study assesses the manner in which public high schools in Ekurhuleni South District of the Gauteng Department of Education, implement educational reforms. The research was conducted as a qualitative study to determine the role and experiences of key stakeholders in the implementation of educational reform in the district. The investigation focused on what I termed the „basic drivers of reform‟ in education, namely: school governance (SGBs); performance management (IQMS); Outcomes Based Education (OBE); and redeployment of teachers. Other aspects that influence change in education were not excluded from the discussions, but were treated as complements of these basic drivers. An in-depth literature review was conducted to assess the views of other researchers on the topic. The study found that there has been lot improvement in the education system, especially in public high schools, since 1994. However, there are serious challenges related to policy directives and implementation strategies, which need to be addressed in order to reap the full benefits of a reformed education system. Some of these challenges are the results of policies formulated out of excitement for the newly created democratic order after 1994 while others are associated with shortage of skills and resources. Underestimation and exaggeration of education-related challenges also seem to prevail in public discourse, hence the reality is sometimes distorted. The results of the fieldwork and literature review were used to formulate recommendations to improve implementation of the reform process. Building the confidence of teachers in the education system by involving them in all reform initiatives seems to be a realistic solution.

This is a study of educational change that was carried out at the School of Education (SOE) of the University of Cape Town's (UCT) in July 1998. It is about institutional and human transformation in South African higher education in 1998. The context of this inquiry is situated in South African society and polity from the start of the Apartheid era in the late nineteenth century colonization by the Britain, through the 1948 period of minority Afrikaner nationalist government, and to the time of the historic democratic election in 1994. It deals with postapartheid policies aimed at eliminating apartheid in all areas of society and education. The thesis examines new educational policies and practices that resulted from postapartheid transformational initiatives that addressed past inequities and injustices committed against the African and black majority population. / South African universities were charged with the responsibility of increasing access to formerly excluded students and staff, in circumstances of declining economic fortunes. My central research question was concerned with the changes that had been brought about in the educational system to enable the process of transformation to come about. More specifically, I inquired whether changes had occurred at UCT and if they did, to what extent could they be indicative of a transition from apartheid to a democratic ideal. The research targets the respondents' (students, teachers, administrators) views of transformational experiences, whether positive or negative. The research adopts a case study approach to gain insights into transformation in South African universities' reform process. / UCT was chosen as the focus of this study because as the country's first university established in 1829, it has distinguished itself in many fields and yet has remained largely a historically all white university, up to 1994. The University was also the first to be led by an African female academic leader, the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, to transformation. This study found that the University had been greatly transformed at an intellectual and administrative level. Notably, access for disadvantaged South African students has been improved; teaching and learning encouraged critical thinking and participation, and administrators demonstrated dedication to democratic change. However, the study also reveals that there is still a gap between the expectations of a top-notch research university and preparation of students; financial restraints still limit students' learning opportunities. Race, gender, and class issues still constrain efforts to fully democratise the University. Also, the constructs and content of knowledge require changes that reflect a democratic ethos. / The significance of this study lies in its attempts to form a part of the growing body of research concerned with conflict resolution, peace, and the maintenance of stability in South Africa and indirectly, in the world. This study furthermore exposes a view of what open education means within the South African context. / In highlighting the example of UCT's SOE, the most outstanding feature of this work is that it formulates questions about the actual nature and process of educational, pedagogical, and administrative transformation taking place in contemporary South African universities.

This thesis traces and analyses the dynamics of policy formulation and implementation in South Africa over the past two decades and attempts to identify the possibilities for democratic processes to change an unequal and multi-tiered education system. The study suggests that what has been missing from most analysis of transitional policymaking in South Africa is a careful examination of social class, and particularly how and why social movements and social actors on the ground, who were initially central to policy formulation and critique, became largely marginalised once policies were institutionalised. The trajectory of the latter trend, related to the class nature of the post–apartheid state and the political economy of the transition from apartheid to democracy is explored in detail in several of the chapters that comprise this thesis. The thesis builds an argument around class, political economy and community participation situated in critical education policy analysis as the theoretical approach. Critical policy analysis views the terrain of the state and therefore policy formulation processes as spaces of contestation and negotiation. It also allows insight beyond the symptoms of educational inequality and dysfunctionality and shows connectivity between education policy and social relations of power. The major characteristics of an ‘evaluative’ case study which combines description, explanation and judgement is employed in the study of the Education Rights Project. Such a methodological approach allows for reflection on the generation of extant post-apartheid education policy and its implementation. Various chapters provide an account of how communities can use research to document violations of education rights and claim their rights which in turn also provide insights into the complex nature of democratisation of education and formal policy making arrangements. The thesis also demonstrates how experiences of transformational education and activism actively seek to disrupt the dichotomies between formal and informal educational arrangements, the public and private spheres, and cultural and political spaces. The role of local education activism in South Africa has been relatively under researched and largely ignored by mainstream education policy theorists; this thesis attempts to rectify this gap in South African education scholarship. One of the questions explored is whether the elision of social class analysis and meaningful community participation in education policy deliberations has contributed to the failure in addressing and overcoming the profound inequalities and social cleavages that characterise the South African education system. Relatedly, this thesis examines the critical role of community, civil society and social movements in policy critique and development. The study also focuses on issues impacting on the implementation of the right to basic education through formal policy and legislative frameworks and whether these fall short of the needs of people living in South Africa as well as the constitutional imprimatur around the fulfilment of their potential. The thesis suggests that educational reforms should be accompanied by a wider range of redistributive strategies, democratic participation, political will and clear choices about the social ends policy interventions seek to achieve. These issues are prompted by other framing questions such as does the right to education impact on the development of democracy and social transformation in South Africa, what are the obstacles and impediments to the fulfilment of educational rights and what is the relationship between the state and civil society in educational policymaking and the meaning of this relationship for the establishment of democracy in education? / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

In this dissertation I provide the results of research on this topic. The struggles of African learners over the years are traced from apartheid to the post-apartheid era by establishing the gap between policy formulation and implementation. The study contrasts the challenges faced by African learners under apartheid education and those faced by learners in the new educational dispensation due to difficulties associated with non mother tongue education and those due to the monocultural schools that have little or no experience with diverse cultures. The findings are that learners who are not taught in the medium of their mother tongue do experience several forms of discrimination, racism and can lead to learners not maximize their academic potential. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2005.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Ed)-Universtiy of Natal, Durban, 1998.

This study attempts to investigate teachers' opinions on technical and vocational education curriculum in the light of political changes and educational policies which are emerging in South Africa. This report starts with a discussion of the methodological considerations, followed by the theoretical framework. The analysis and interpretation are presented as follows: 1. Profile of the sample, 2. Technical and vocational education and economic growth, 3. Technical and vocational education curriculum, 4. Teachers' opinions on curriculum transformation of technical and vocational education at secondary school level. Each chapter is rounded off with concluding remarks. The general conclusion and recommendations are given at the end of the report. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, 1997.

This study attempts to explore, through a qualitative approach, teachers' attitudes towards curriculum change in general and OBE in particular as a curriculum innovation. Teachers' perceptions, understandings of and readiness to implement OBE are assessed. The research attempted to explore their problems and fears concerning their role in this process of curriculum change. Curriculum change as a process and outcomes-based education as a new innovation is explored in relation to the peculiarities or two schools in particular and the South African context in general. The argument centres around the past curriculum and the post (1994) curriculum in relation to outcomes based education and briefly considers what lies ahead for the future curriculum. The practicality of implementation in the present, in schools, like and similar to those in this study and the views of several scholars, especially those of Fullan (1982), Bishop (1986) and Jansen (1997) on the process of curriculum change is examined. The impact of politics on educational transformations in general and in the South African context in particular is debated. The role of curriculum change in such a milieu and the impact it has on the teacher as implementor is examined through the views of the participants in this case study. Socio-economic criteria also influences what happens within schools, and this study shows that poverty hampers the process of curriculum change. A case study approach was used so that, an in-depth study of the schools could be done. The study focused on how the teachers in two schools in Reservoir Hills are engaged in the actual implementation of OBE including the question of what in-service training they received and how effective and relevant it has been thus far. This study served as an enlightening exercise for myself. A discussion of the participants views and my own observations and recommendations are presented. The constraints I encountered and the limitations of such a study are also outlined. I hope that this study adds to the pool of research data that is rapidly developing, in this particular area of study in our context, and inspires others to further the research. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1998.

The first democratic elections in April 1994 brought about drastic changes in South African education system. One of the changes legislated in the South African Schools Act of 1996 has a profound influence on the management of state schools. The South African Schools Act of 1996 created a need for change from an autocratic to a democratic style of school governance and management. This research project sought to investigate how School Management Teams function in primary schools in Vulindlela West Circuit, Pietermaritzburg Region in the context of educational change. The research approach was the qualitative case study. The study involved sixteen (16) primary schools in Vulindlela West Circuit. A questionnaire and interviews were used to collect data. In this study fifty-five (55) questionnaires were administered to all SMT members. Interviews were conducted in three primary schools, which yielded seven respondents. The questionnaire data was analysed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Data of descriptive nature was organized in terms of response types and general trends, and constructed in a manner that enabled the researcher to address the research questions for this study. The findings of this study revealed that most of the roles and responsibilities performed by the School Management Teams (SMTs) were both curriculum and administrative duties. It was found that hierarchical management structure was still evident in schools. It was also found that the principal involved the members of the SMT in decision-making but did not make use of their input. It is evident that there was an element of fear and mistrust on the side of the principal relating to the delegation of powers to other members of the School Management Teams. The results revealed that most of the SMT members had induction guidelines and had undergone management training. Lastly, it was found that the most important skill the SMT required in order to be effective was stress management. The conclusions that were drawn from the findings indicated that the School Management Teams need extensive training in the following areas: time management, understanding of roles and responsibilities as prescribed in the Employment of Educators Act of 1998; management of change; continuing induction; training in decision-making and delegation of power, and, finally, stress management. It was concluded that without specific attention to the effective management development programmes for School Management Teams (SMTs) attempts at improving quality of education in South Africa are likely to be ineffective. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

The apartheid Education System in South African schools which was in existence prior to the introduction of democracy was based on a top-down management and leadership. The system of management and leadership was extremely non-consultative and non-participatory. Many challenges in education were brought into existence by the advent of the South African democratic constitution in 1994. The task team on education management development (1996) made some recommendations regarding the management and leadership of the schools. Transformational leadership has been identified by the task team as the best form of leadership through which school effectiveness and improvement can be created. (see Bans & Avolio, 1996) In this study, bench marked against the characteristics of transformational leadership, derived from the literature, an attempt was made to determine the principal's perceptions of his leadership style and to determine the educators perceptions of the same. Thereafter the research attempted to compare the actual against the ideal, based upon the findings and further reference to the literature. The use of questionnaire and interview was made to gather information from the staff and the principal. A discrepancy was identified between the perceptions of the staff and those of the principal with regard to the style of leadership of the principal. Although the principal identified himself as being a friendly, approachable and a transformational leader, the staff perceived him as a more transactional and autocratic leader. interview was to gather from between the perceptions of the staff and those of prinCipal with of the principal. Although principal himself as being a friendly, a transformational leader, the perceived him as a more transactional and to ii Education schools existence based and management challenges South management development 1996) made regarding leadership of the schools. Transformational identified school created. (see 1996) derived literature, determine principal's his and determine perceptions the reference literature. questionnaire and made information the staff and the principal. A discrepancy was identified the principal regard of leadership the identified / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

1994 heralded in a new dispensation for South Africa. The change from an apartheid system to one of democracy brought with it much hope and excitement for the future. In terms of education there was need to transform the system so as to enable it to prepare the nation to embrace this democracy. So from 1994 the national dept of education has refocused the vision and direction of the South African Education system through policies, initiatives and innovations (Thurlow; 2003). However, 10 years later and education is still struggling to come to terms with and cope with our changing society. In respect of these changes in our education, the task team on education management development for schools suggests that schools move to becoming learning organisations. This study focuses on Bechet, a high school in the Durban Central Region of the Kwa Zulu Natal department of Education. This school is a co educational urban school (previously under the control of the House of Representatives). It is a school in South Africa which has a past shaped by our countries past. They too have been exposed to these recent innovations in education. In this study an attempt was made to ascertain the principal's perception as well as the perceptions of the educators of their school in respect of it being considered a learning organisation. It then proceeds to compare the two perceptions, to hopefully identify areas of strength as well as challenges to improve the school. The research revealed that the school does display some of the characteristics of learning organisations. However a discrepancy was identified between the perceptions of the staff and those of the principal with regard to how effective the school was in embracing the changes. In this regard the characteristic of leadership spewed out the greatest discrepancy as the principal believed himself to be a good leader with an open door policy, whilst the staff's perception was that of him not being available. They perceived the leadership style to be autocratic. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.