This study focuses on the experiences that educators have of their relationships with adolescents involved in drug use. It has been recognised over time that school communities are becoming more important with regards to the impact they have on learners, in particular the impact that learner-educator relationships have on the wellbeing of learners. A qualitative, phenomenological design was therefore used in order to ascertain the educators’ lived experiences. In total, sixteen educators were purposely selected from a secondary school in the area of Delft in Cape Town. In-depth interviews were conducted with all sixteen participants after which a World Café group session was organised in which the same 16 educators participated. These methods collected rich information. The results of the study are reported in an article. The aim of the article was to explore educators’ lived experiences of their relationships with adolescent learners involved in drug use. The study has shown that educators can have positive relationships with learners involved in drug use despite the challenges they face. It seems that it is most likely to occur when the educator feels motivated to nurture these relationships – possibly experiencing personal well-being – and uses a variety of skills and strengths to attempt to achieve this goal. This has implications for how other cases with learners involved in drug use should be treated and how the educators and school can assist these learners. Recommendations that emerged as a result of this study are to make educators aware of their own personal well-being and the importance of nurturing their wellbeing, in order to enable them to, in turn, nurture positive relationships with learners involved in drug use. Schools themselves can also play a role in creating an organisational culture that places emphasis on the relational and personal well-being of teachers as well as students. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This study focuses on the experiences that educators have of their relationships with adolescents involved in drug use. It has been recognised over time that school communities are becoming more important with regards to the impact they have on learners, in particular the impact that learner-educator relationships have on the wellbeing of learners. A qualitative, phenomenological design was therefore used in order to ascertain the educators’ lived experiences. In total, sixteen educators were purposely selected from a secondary school in the area of Delft in Cape Town. In-depth interviews were conducted with all sixteen participants after which a World Café group session was organised in which the same 16 educators participated. These methods collected rich information. The results of the study are reported in an article. The aim of the article was to explore educators’ lived experiences of their relationships with adolescent learners involved in drug use. The study has shown that educators can have positive relationships with learners involved in drug use despite the challenges they face. It seems that it is most likely to occur when the educator feels motivated to nurture these relationships – possibly experiencing personal well-being – and uses a variety of skills and strengths to attempt to achieve this goal. This has implications for how other cases with learners involved in drug use should be treated and how the educators and school can assist these learners. Recommendations that emerged as a result of this study are to make educators aware of their own personal well-being and the importance of nurturing their wellbeing, in order to enable them to, in turn, nurture positive relationships with learners involved in drug use. Schools themselves can also play a role in creating an organisational culture that places emphasis on the relational and personal well-being of teachers as well as students. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

In 2012, Seminaries and Institutes of Religion (S&I), a division of The Church Educational System of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, introduced a self-directed professional development program that allowed educators to obtain two certification credentials by completing 12 certification projects per credential. This qualitative study used phenomenology to examine the following question: “What are S&I educators’ experiences with self-directed learning in doing certification projects?” Data were obtained through one-on-one, semistructured interviews with seven professionalS&I educators who described their lived experiences with this phenomenon. Self-directed learning theory, as influenced by andragogy, provided the theoretical and conceptual framework for this study and contributed to the analysis and interpretation of the data and findings. Findings indicate that personal and contextual factors influence how self-directed learning for purposes of professional development is experienced; understanding program requirements, expectations, and processes, and possessing sufficient motivation and justification, facilitate involvement in this form of self-directed learning; collaborative learning can be used in self-directed learning and can lead to improved learning and practice-related outcomes; and self-directed learning for purposes of professional development can result in meaningful learning experiences, changes in instructional practice, and perceived professional growth, especially when aligned with compelling professional learning needs and interests. This study concluded by offering recommendations for potentially facilitating S&I educators’ involvement in self-directed learning in doing certification projects and for increasing the impact of such projects on educators’ professional growth.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate educator factors that have an impact on student achievement and overall school performance as indicated in the American College Test (ACT) scores from the district and the individual schools. Educators from a moderate-sized public school district participated in an anonymous online survey. According to the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) Report Card, the district ACT composite is a 20.1 (TDOE, 2018e). Two of the district’s schools’ results are higher than the district composite, while the other five are consistent with or below the district composite. Participants of this study shared their number of years of experience, amount of professional development, and education level obtained, as well as their perceptions of these factors. All data were collected through an online survey distributed to 9th-12th teachers by email from school principals. The analysis of data was based on the responses of 67 teachers from this school district. For this study, non-experimental quantitative research was used with a comparative and correlational design. As indicated in the findings of this study, teacher experience, teacher professional development hours, teacher education level, and teachers’ perceptions of these factors did not play a significant role on student performance on nationally standardized tests, specifically the ACT.

This research focused on how school principals in the Limpopo Province apply induction to the newly appointed teachers. The school principals, SMTs and senior teachers are responsible for inducting and mentoring newly appointed teachers with the purpose of developing them professionally and to help them adjust to the school environment. Principals play a major role in seeing to it that newly appointed educators do not feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the teaching profession and the practice of teaching learners. The study aims at exploring the educator experiences of the induction process as well as to explore the process followed by principals in inducting educators. The research methodology used in this study is a qualitative case study which is explorative and descriptive by nature. Data was collected through one-on-one interviews, which involved principals and newly appointed teachers. The collected data was analysed and categorised into specific themes. The findings from data revealed numerous challenges that principals and newly appointed teachers experience during the induction process. Findings revealed that the induction process was not adequate and that the time allocated for induction was very little. There were neither standardised and continuous induction programmes nor educational support mechanisms to support newly appointed educators. Recommendations were that schools should be provided with the opportunity to review the induction process in line with the systemic changes in education in order to develop educators professionally. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted