This research investigated the role of teacher evaluation in enhancing quality teaching and learning and the extent to which teacher evaluation in Bushbuckridge schools enhances the quality of teaching and learning. It also set out to investigate how the teachers (CS1, HODs, deputy principals and principals) perceived the evaluation system to which they were subjected. The researcher used a qualitative research approach and data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews from a convenient, comprehensive and purposive sample. The sample consisted of twenty-six teachers from three schools in the Dwarsloop Circuit. These schools were chosen purposely on the grounds that all the teachers in these schools had been evaluated successfully. In addition, these schools were within easy reach of the researcher and she also knew most of the respondents. All the interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis was carried out simultaneously with the data collection process. Each interview was transcribed and labelled as soon as it was finished. The researcher used a process called coding during data analysis. By means of this process, data was compiled, labelled, separated and organised into categories and sub-categories. Subsequently, these categories formed the basis upon which the findings were made. Among several other findings, it emerged that teacher evaluation enables the educator to create a climate that supports quality teaching and learning, leads to better lesson preparation and presentation in addition to enabling better learner assessment. Respondents also held the view that evaluation encourages teachers’ professional development. Despite these findings, the respondents indicated that in their specific cases, evaluation did not lead to the desired results due to a number of reasons that included incompetent evaluators and an inflexible and unfair evaluation system. Based on the aforementioned findings, a number of recommendations were made. / Education Management / Thesis (M. Ed. (Eucaton Management))

D.Ed. / The new millennium is considered to be a period of empowered social change, having profound implications for schooling. The transformation of education in present-day South Africa emphasises the need for quality education for all. This is necessary in order to be able to meet the challenges of the new millennium. Thus even the most competent educational institutions are forced to improve and change in order to keep up with worldwide innovations. As the poor matric results of the last decade indicate, it seems that schools' performance is not up to standard. It became increasingly clear that certain factors precipitated the pathological situation in schools and that assistance and interventions are required. The main focus of this study is to establish what schools can do in order to improve and become more effective. It is well known that schools in South Africa are facing a crisis. South Africa's education system is therefore compelled to find solutions against the idiosyncratic backdrop of the country's unique socio-economic and socio-political problems. In order to develop a world-class education system suitable of meeting the challenges of the 21' century, school improvement seems necessary. The problem investigated by this study was: How can schools improve with the help, advice and expertise of external agents, namely school consultants. In order to improve schools there must be various agents or participants who must be actively involved and play a part in any reform process. These role players have been identified as: the school principal, teachers, parents and learners. However, it became clear that the subjective involvement of these protagonists is not sufficient to contribute towards a significant educational improvement endeavour. The aim of this study is to analyse and describe how schools can improve through the expert advice and contribution of external school consultants. This aim was realised by: undertaking a theoretical investigation in the form of a literature study; undertaking an empirical, qualitative investigation in order to establish in what way the assistance of an objective advisor in the form of a consultant, can contribute to improving the intricate problems currently facing schools. During this qualitative investigation it was established that: South Africa has problems endemic to this country which precipitate pathology at school level; The main role players in schools are not sufficiently equipped to initiate change; External consultants as change and improvement agents are a solution suggested by international literature; If consultation is done in a professional, ethically correct manner it can indeed lead to school improvement.

This paper reports the findings of a mixed methods research study which sought to explore the impact of teaching and learning cultures on the performance of fourth year Accountancy students. The collection of data was done through questionnaires as well as interviews with lecturers. Learning culture was explored by measuring and comparing the cultural dimensions of fourth year Accountancy students at two South African universities in order to understand the differences and similarities between the two institutions’ student bodies. There were statistically significant differences between the students of the two universities only along the cultural dimensions of long-term orientation and indulgence versus restraint. It was found that uncertainty avoidance, monumentalism and the age of students significantly impact their performance in Accountancy. Cultural dimensions of students which could hinder their performance in Accountancy are identified and some recommendations are made with regards to addressing areas of weakness in learning culture.

Pupils acquire skills, knowledge, values and attitudes through the important institution of education. An essential tool used in the transmission of these socially approved attitudes and values is the textbook. Because teacher content knowledge is an ongoing challenge in South Africa, school textbooks are being viewed as an important source of content knowledge. Textbooks used in the apartheid era in South Africa were subjects of numerous studies which found that textbooks were capable of transmitting the dominant ideology of the then apartheid government. Given the important role that textbooks are expected to play in postapartheid South African classroom, it becomes crucial to examine the ideologies being reflected and transmitted through this medium of instruction in the post-apartheid era. This study therefore set out to explore the ideologies that are manifest in Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) textbooks. This study adopted a qualitative research approach and engaged the tenets of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as its methodological framework. The use of CDA revealed how the content of the selected EMS textbooks represent particular ideologically orientations. The dominant discourses that emerged from the analysis were the stereotypical positioning of gender roles (a subjugation of women; contingency of women‟s success on male support); entrepreneurship leads to wealth creation; the advocacy of a free-market system; reinforcement of the hegemonic positioning of business; deficient service provisioning as a normality; business and production‟s precedence over the environment and finally that globalisation is natural and unproblematic. These discourses disclose that the textbooks under study have profound strains of neoliberal ideology. The content of the textbooks legitimates the values of the free market system and neoliberalism as it reinforces and reifies the normality of personal wealth accumulation and individual endeavour. EMS textbooks were thus found to have potential as hegemonic tools capable of influencing pupils toward assimilating and accepting the ideology of neo-liberalism as being natural, ethical, moral and acceptable. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

This research investigated the role of teacher evaluation in enhancing quality teaching and learning and the extent to which teacher evaluation in Bushbuckridge schools enhances the quality of teaching and learning. It also set out to investigate how the teachers (CS1, HODs, deputy principals and principals) perceived the evaluation system to which they were subjected. The researcher used a qualitative research approach and data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews from a convenient, comprehensive and purposive sample. The sample consisted of twenty-six teachers from three schools in the Dwarsloop Circuit. These schools were chosen purposely on the grounds that all the teachers in these schools had been evaluated successfully. In addition, these schools were within easy reach of the researcher and she also knew most of the respondents. All the interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis was carried out simultaneously with the data collection process. Each interview was transcribed and labelled as soon as it was finished. The researcher used a process called coding during data analysis. By means of this process, data was compiled, labelled, separated and organised into categories and sub-categories. Subsequently, these categories formed the basis upon which the findings were made. Among several other findings, it emerged that teacher evaluation enables the educator to create a climate that supports quality teaching and learning, leads to better lesson preparation and presentation in addition to enabling better learner assessment. Respondents also held the view that evaluation encourages teachers’ professional development. Despite these findings, the respondents indicated that in their specific cases, evaluation did not lead to the desired results due to a number of reasons that included incompetent evaluators and an inflexible and unfair evaluation system. Based on the aforementioned findings, a number of recommendations were made. / Education Management / Thesis (M. Ed. (Eucaton Management))

It is important to find strategies to assist learners who are taught in English especially as learners show different levels of English proficiency. English is taught as an Additional Language in many South African schools. Code switching is a well documented and researched strategy that teachers use in multilingual classrooms where the language of teaching and learning is not the learners’ home language. The study is concerned with and seeks to investigate the teaching strategies that Life Science teachers use in multilingual classes in addition to code switching. A case study of two Grade 11 Life Science teachers was conducted. The study adopts classroom observations and face-to-face interviews as qualitative data – gathering methods. The findings of this study, among other issues, reveal that in addition to code switching teachers use a variety of teaching strategies that include the use of textbooks, preparing notes for students, etc. Evidence available further suggests that the choice of teaching strategies is examination oriented rather than based on an understanding of current thinking on the ways of learning Life Sciences.

D.Ed. / Die doel met die navorsing was om te bepaal wat konstitueer produktiwiteit in Suid -Afrikaanse skole en in watter mate distriks - amptenare produktiwiteit in skole kan verbeter. Die historiese agtergrond en veranderinge in Suid-Afrika gekoppel aan die tekort van resente navorsing in die veld, het verdere navorsing genoodsaak, ten einde huidige tendense gekoppel aan produktiwiteit binne die Suid-Afrikaanse skool konteks sowel as die distrik te kon identifiseer. `n Literatuurstudie was onderneem ten einde agtergrond te verkry rakende produktiwiteit in skole en distrik se rol daarin. Die ontrafeling van verskeie aspekte rakende produktiwiteit in skoolverband en hoe distriksamptenare produktiwiteitsvlakke in skole kan verhoog was ook nagevors. Die literatuurstudie het die belangrikheid van die skoolbestuurder in sy/haar rol beklemtoon asook die rol van opvoeders in die verbetering van produktiwiteits vlakke in skole. Die literatuurstudie het ook verder die belangrikheid van distriks amptenare en hul ondersteunning in skole beklemtoon, wat aanleiding kan gee tot produktiwiteits verbetering in skole.

D.Ed. / Schools have to provide quality education and maintain appropriate educational standards. Over and above that, schools have to deliver acceptable results. That will be the hallmark of schools being effective. Again, modem day schools can no longer be managed on an old fashioned way like in the past. School conditions have changed and keep on altering. Effectiveness and ineffectiveness could result from the changed teaching and learning environment. The main focus of this study is to investigate how public secondary schools in the Northern Province could be assisted to overcome ineffectiveness through the employment of vision and mission statements. Attention is placed on how clearly formulated vision and mission statements could be utilized to create effective schools. The main research question which has been driving the entire study is: What is the role and importance of clearly formulated vision and mission statements in developing and promoting school effectiveness in schools in the Northern Province? What are the perceptions of educators (principals and teachers) and parents with regard to the development and implementation of vision and mission statement in their schools? As already stated, the principal focus of the research is to address the problem of ineffectiveness as witnessed by some public secondary schools. The problem of ineffectiveness by schools is investigated from the point of view of vision and mission statements. This therefore, suggests that vision and mission statement have to be comprehended as interventionist strategy to assist ineffective schools to replace ineffectiveness with effectiveness. Vision and mission statements are located within a school as a learning organization. The reason for this is that in a learning organization every member feels an urge and drive to contribute his or her talent to the development of school as an organization. Again, in a school setting, these statements need to be approached as part of the school's comprehensive strategic plan. It is in that way that vision and mission statements could impact the school's organization structure, management process, management strategy, innovative ideas, values and culture. This will enable these statements to facilitate the occurrence of quality teaching and learning in schools.

This research study has emerged as a result of my concern regarding the apparent low self-efficacy amongst initial teacher education students in my mathematics education classes. It also reflects a reported renewed interest in values, and the promotion of excellence in education. The effects of a values-based approach to mathematics education towards improving students’ self-efficacy and promoting excellence have been investigated, grounded within my ontology of excellence in mathematics education, which incorporates the values of respect, fairness, accountability, honesty and compassion. An inquiry-based teaching and learning approach formed the framework within which the study took place. Notions of ‘new scholarship’, premised on the view that teaching is about engagement in participatory learning, and the development of communities of creative students, provided the theoretical framework. Both quantitative and qualitative data gathering methods were used. Data-collection tools included affective-disposition statements, interviews, journal entries, as well as a video recording of a mathematics education lesson. The quantitative and qualitative data generated suggest improved levels of self-efficacy amongst the students who participated in the study. The data also suggest that a valuesbased approach to teaching can be used as an effective approach by mathematics teachers – and mathematics teacher educators – for the purpose of promoting the pursuit of excellence. As teacher education worldwide is currently characterised by a lack of vitality in teacher preparation (Grossman, 2008), the findings of this study should provide insights for teacher educators, teachers and policy makers who wish to promote mathematics self-efficacy, excellence and facilitate enhanced vitality within the teaching profession.

MEd / Department of Curriculum Studies and Educational Management