This thesis examines the impact of neo-liberal economic restructuring on teachers, specifically teachers in technical and further education. Historically, there has been limited research undertaken on teachers as workers, and even less on TAFE teachers. During the period covered by the study, TAFE was buffeted by the massive changes, social, political, cultural and economic, that were occurring on a global scale. As a result, TAFE has been a system in crisis. The consequences are addressed by an empirical study that examines NSW TAFE teachers' experience of the great changes that have occurred to their work since the late 1980s. Forty-one teachers were interviewed in tape recorded sessions lasting around one hour each. The respondents were drawn from twenty-seven teaching sections across all the major industry areas represented in TAFE. Twenty of the teachers were from metropolitan locations, twenty-one were regional. Nine managers were also interviewed, from Head of Studies to senior management levels, covering those with local as well as state-wide responsibilities. The changes to TAFE have been driven by a pervasive neo-liberal ideology adopted by both major parties in Australia. This study documents the experience of TAFE teachers as that ideology led to a corporatised vocational education and training system strongly oriented to the market. It also records their responses to the narrowing of curriculum that resulted from the "industry-driven" vocational education and training policies of governments. The study gives voice to their grief, frustration and anger as their working conditions deteriorated and their commitment to quality education was undermined. The study documents the teachers' resistance to the processes of organisational fragmentation, the increasing incidence of cost-driven, rather than educational, decision-making, and the commodification of curriculum driven by a series of policy decisions taken at both national and state level. The study compares these experiences with those of the TAFE managers, whose response to the crisis, while differing from that of the teachers, supports the teachers' commitment to public education as a social good. The study concludes that the NSW TAFE teachers' resistance has continued to act as a brake on the excesses of neo-liberalism. Some possibilities for an alternative vision of technical and further education thus remain.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

<p><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt / line-height:150% / font-family:&quot / Times New Roman&quot / ,&quot / serif&quot / ">The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) both in the General Education and Training (GET) and Further Education and Training (FET) bands is viewed as an innovative tool in enhancing a learner-centered approach to teaching and learning.&nbsp / As a result, a number of schools in rural and urban environments in South Africa have been provided with computers and other digital resources to facilitate teaching and learning. This study investigated the use of ICT in the teaching and learning of English First Additional Language (FAL) at Grade 10 level. It set out to discover digital resources and literacies to which teachers and learners were exposed in the English (FAL) classroom, and how these resources were used to enhance learners&rsquo / reading and writing skills. Following a qualitative research design, this study made use of classroom observations and interviews to collect data from teachers and Grade 10 learners. The collected evidence was from a single school which uses Khanya Project ICT materials.&nbsp / The school is located in one of the disadvantaged black townships in Cape Town. The study made use of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theory and the constructivist theoretical framework to make sense of classroom interaction and the extent to which ICT and other teaching strategies were used to facilitate acquisition of English language skills, particularly reading and writing. The findings of the study show that there are a number of factors influencing ICT integration in Grade 10 English (FAL).&nbsp / These factors include teachers&rsquo / and learners&rsquo / limited access to ICT and digital literacy.&nbsp / Other factors relate to pedagogy and support in the use of ICT in teaching and learning.&nbsp / All the identified factors indicate that there are a number of barriers to ICT integration in English teaching and learning.&nbsp / The study concludes that ICT use has great potential in providing creativity and innovativeness to facilitate language teaching and learning. Given the lack of adequate ICT resources and under-utilization of ICT resources in disadvantaged schools, there is a need to improve teacher and learner access to ICT, especially in disadvantaged schools.&nbsp / This could be done through monitored support and adequate teacher training and active involvement of higher education institutions through teacher training programmes which should prioritize ICT integration in their curricula.&nbsp / <br type="_moz" /> </span></p>

<p>This study investigated the reasons why FET part-time students enrolled at a FET college by examining their learning orientations. Guided by the literature, the focus was on the vocational orientation to learning and orientations to learning were further investigated within the vocational orientation based on orientations developed for part-time students found in the literature. In addition, it was investigated whether students&rsquo / expectations have been met and if they were satisfied with the college experience. Lastly, the study examined the relevance of college learning to the world of work and the contribution it made to the career development of learners in a globalising world. </p> <p>The research shows that part-time students enrol at FET colleges predominantly for vocational reasons and the majority of the students were enrolled in order to advance their careers and associated with a vocational orientation to learning. However, it emerged that reasons for learning within the vocational orientation to learning are often multi-faceted and complex. The most important findings are 3 new learning orientations for part-time students that were identified: &lsquo / education for a qualification&rsquo / , &lsquo / education for adults who previously made the wrong choice&rsquo / and &lsquo / education for adults as a model for their children&rsquo / . Furthermore, the findings indicate that learners were satisfied with the programme they were enrolled in because they believed that the qualification would enable them to achieve their vocational aims which were primarily to find a new job, to be promoted and to increase their income. The findings suggest that the programme that was examined was relevant to the world of work, promoted employability and that it made a significant and important contribution to students&rsquo / career development in a globalising world.</p>

Die Dissertation hat drei Teilziele: - eine Auseinandersetzung mit den theoretischen Ansätzen, - eine Kriterien- und Modellanalyse hinsichtlich der Praktikabilität und Tauglichkeit der Qualitätssicherung und -entwicklung für Weiterbildungseinrichtungen, - Erarbeitung eines auf die Selbstevaluation orientierten Qualitätsrahmens für berufliche Weiterbildungseinrichtungen, in dem das erfolgreiche Lernen und die dafür zu schaffenden Rahmenbedingungen einen großen Stellenwert einnehmen. Dabei wird die Qualitätsentwicklung und nicht die Qualitätssicherung im Mittelpunkt stehen.

<p>This study investigated the reasons why FET part-time students enrolled at a FET college by examining their learning orientations. Guided by the literature, the focus was on the vocational orientation to learning and orientations to learning were further investigated within the vocational orientation based on orientations developed for part-time students found in the literature. In addition, it was investigated whether students&rsquo / expectations have been met and if they were satisfied with the college experience. Lastly, the study examined the relevance of college learning to the world of work and the contribution it made to the career development of learners in a globalising world. </p> <p>The research shows that part-time students enrol at FET colleges predominantly for vocational reasons and the majority of the students were enrolled in order to advance their careers and associated with a vocational orientation to learning. However, it emerged that reasons for learning within the vocational orientation to learning are often multi-faceted and complex. The most important findings are 3 new learning orientations for part-time students that were identified: &lsquo / education for a qualification&rsquo / , &lsquo / education for adults who previously made the wrong choice&rsquo / and &lsquo / education for adults as a model for their children&rsquo / . Furthermore, the findings indicate that learners were satisfied with the programme they were enrolled in because they believed that the qualification would enable them to achieve their vocational aims which were primarily to find a new job, to be promoted and to increase their income. The findings suggest that the programme that was examined was relevant to the world of work, promoted employability and that it made a significant and important contribution to students&rsquo / career development in a globalising world.</p>

<p><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt / line-height:150% / font-family:&quot / Times New Roman&quot / ,&quot / serif&quot / ">The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) both in the General Education and Training (GET) and Further Education and Training (FET) bands is viewed as an innovative tool in enhancing a learner-centered approach to teaching and learning.&nbsp / As a result, a number of schools in rural and urban environments in South Africa have been provided with computers and other digital resources to facilitate teaching and learning. This study investigated the use of ICT in the teaching and learning of English First Additional Language (FAL) at Grade 10 level. It set out to discover digital resources and literacies to which teachers and learners were exposed in the English (FAL) classroom, and how these resources were used to enhance learners&rsquo / reading and writing skills. Following a qualitative research design, this study made use of classroom observations and interviews to collect data from teachers and Grade 10 learners. The collected evidence was from a single school which uses Khanya Project ICT materials.&nbsp / The school is located in one of the disadvantaged black townships in Cape Town. The study made use of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theory and the constructivist theoretical framework to make sense of classroom interaction and the extent to which ICT and other teaching strategies were used to facilitate acquisition of English language skills, particularly reading and writing. The findings of the study show that there are a number of factors influencing ICT integration in Grade 10 English (FAL).&nbsp / These factors include teachers&rsquo / and learners&rsquo / limited access to ICT and digital literacy.&nbsp / Other factors relate to pedagogy and support in the use of ICT in teaching and learning.&nbsp / All the identified factors indicate that there are a number of barriers to ICT integration in English teaching and learning.&nbsp / The study concludes that ICT use has great potential in providing creativity and innovativeness to facilitate language teaching and learning. Given the lack of adequate ICT resources and under-utilization of ICT resources in disadvantaged schools, there is a need to improve teacher and learner access to ICT, especially in disadvantaged schools.&nbsp / This could be done through monitored support and adequate teacher training and active involvement of higher education institutions through teacher training programmes which should prioritize ICT integration in their curricula.&nbsp / <br type="_moz" /> </span></p>

Since it assumed power in 1994, the government of South Africa had to meet the challenges of changing an education system that was established along racial lines. OBE and Curriculum 2005 were adopted into the school system. In the Further Education and Training Band Report 550 which was a 'cleansed' curriculum was introduced. The Framework for the Transformation of Further Education and Training in South Africa was published and promoted equality, economic competitiveness, redress, productivity and quality learning. On 28 October 2002 the draft National Curriculum Statements were published. The purpose of this study was to examine some of the policy intentions, influences and dominant ideologies in the FET policy documents. The study also examines the policy process and the recontextualization of policy discourses. A qualitative approach was used. Data was collected from questionnaires and interviews. The data obtained from the completed questionnaires and interviews was processed. The dominant ideology in the policy documents for English, Life Sciences, Mathematics and Physical Science were identified. The findings of the study shows that policy makers, designers and trainers adopted particular discourses that were at times aligned to the official policy discourse and at times they drew on new discourses based on their own histories, biographies and experiences of teaching in South African schools. Finally recommendations were made concerning the policy process in the form of three propositions: (i)Timing determined what was possible for the NCS: the policy development process was driven by a political need to deliver on a new curriculum; (ii) In a system that is not currently functioning efficiently, new policy initiatives exacerbate rather than reform the conditions on the ground; (iii) Government rationality was driven by a transformative agenda yet constrained by technicist management theories. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

The study examined the role of non-formal skills programmes at Further Education and Training (FET) colleges in assisting marginalized learners in their livelihoods. The high rate of unemployment and poverty in South Africa, and in Kwazulu-Natal in particular, highlights the need for non-formal programmes to be more responsive to the developmental needs of marginalized learners, and to the economy. There is a need to move away from programmes that are run in isolation, towards programmes that are more responsive, creative and holistic. A case-study of three different non-formal skills programmes from each of the FET colleges in the Durban area were used in the study. These included Coastal, Sivananda and Thekwini FETI's. The reason for choosing different programmes, was to get a broader picture of skills programmes offered at FET colleges. One of the programmes was a Welding one offered at the Swinton Road Campus of Coastal College. The second programme was the Organic Farming one offered at the Mpumalanga campus of Sivananda College, and the third programme was the Cooperatives one offered at the Asherville campus of Thekwini College. Interviews with learners comprised the primary data, while documents, observation and interviews with personnel comprised secondary data. The three different programmes provided an interesting contrast. While the Organic Farming programme and the Cooperatives were fairly new, the Welding programme had been in operation for some time. There were also differences in the design and implementation which impacted on the learners' ability to improve their livelihoods. Learners in the Organic Farming programmes for example, were technically unemployed. Yet they were producing organically grown vegetables to sustain themselves and their families. In contrast, learner in the welding programme were unable to find employment on completion of the programme. Using the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach used by international Aid agencies in developing countries as a bench mark, the programmes were examined to establish whether they were assisting their learners in developing sustainable livelihoods. What emerged was that there was a strong correlation between the design and implementation of the programme and the learners' ability to transfer skills to improve their lives. Programmes that provided support to learners aside from the actual training content tended to be more successful than programmes that focused only on training. The more a programmes incorporated the principles of SLA (responsive and participatory; learner-centred; conducted in partnerships; linking micro and macro-level activities, holistic and sustainable), the more they were able to assist learners in developing their livelihoods. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

No description available.