published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Education

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M.A. (Public Management and Governance) / The Department of Education has been faced with challenges regarding the improvement of quality teaching and learning in South African schools. This led to the Department of Education’s endeavors to ensure that the goals and objectives set for improving the quality of teaching and learning were achieved by putting the Developmental Appraisal and Whole School Evaluation Systems in place to address the challenges in education. The Developmental Appraisal System and Whole School Evaluation System were, however, not successfully implemented, hence the Department of Education’s agreement with unions in the Education Labour Relations Council to integrate all the systems into an Integrated Quality Management System. The perception of the effectiveness of the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) as a tool for monitoring teacher performance is the focus of the study. Documentary sources on the evaluation of the purpose, objectives and performance of the IQMS and the role-players in the implementation process have been assessed. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with members of the School Development Teams and the School Governing Bodies of the four selected secondary schools. It was found that the teachers were not totally against the IQMS as a tool for evaluating performance and providing for development which could lead to high levels of learner achievement and broader school improvement. However, the way in which the IQMS was implemented posed a challenge to its authenticity. The fact that even ineffective teachers benefitted from the rewards received and that learners’ achievements were not considered, was cause for concern. The School Governing Body members who were interviewed were also concerned about their partial involvement in conducting Internal Whole Evaluations, as data was not used efficiently and effectively to influence decision making and planning towards school improvement. The minimal training provided by the Department of Education hampered the process of assisting the School Governing Body members to realize the goals of achieving quality education. There was also concern that the Department of Education should provide resources that would assist in the realization of quality education especially in no-fee paying schools. It is clear that accountability for poor or underperformance in schools cannot be one-sided as all stakeholders must ensure that the development of teachers is effective and will maximise the potential for better learner achievement and school improvement. All the stakeholders interviewed viewed the IQMS as a step in the right direction but believed that intense advocacy should be undertaken and rigorous training provided for all stakeholders to understand the drive towards achieving quality education. The recommendations made to the Department of Education by scholars and educators who are interested in achieving quality education for all should be welcomed and implemented and efforts towards the upliftment of education should not be a futile exercise. Engagements with all stakeholders, even at grassroots level, are vital to give those in the leadership have direction as to what the real needs are.

School boards are interested in school effectiveness and see a correlation between the quality of classroom teachers and school effectiveness. Superintendents, eager to please the school board, seek to show increased school effectiveness year after year. This necessitates dealing with areas which impact on student achievement with perhaps the most critical area being that of teacher effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to identify those factors which assisted marginal high school teachers in improving their classroom performance. Knowing to what or whom these teachers who showed improvement attributed this improvement may assist in modifying existing practices to increase the likelihood that such improvement will occur for a greater number of teachers. A survey was used to initially identify the teachers. A follow-up interview was conducted with fourteen teachers with the analysis of the transcribed interviews focusing on the following questions: 1. Did intervention/assistance efforts influence improvement? In what context were the intervention/ assistance efforts made? Who were the primary actors in the intervention/assistance efforts? What activities were influential in the intervention/assistance efforts? 2. Did external personal factors influence improvement? 3. Are there overarching characteristics, beliefs, and/or motives in the group of teachers who made substantial improvement in teaching performance? 4. What actor(s) provided to the teachers: (a) an awareness of the need for change and (b) support for change? 5. What were the teachers' perceived gains and losses in this improvement effort? Major findings revealed that teachers actively seek their peers' advice and desire to see one another in practice through peer observations. Sharing of ideas is important to teachers; yet, little opportunity exists within the school day for such sharing. Most staff development activities were seen as a waste of time and teachers resented activities which purported to "teach teachers how to teach." The most valuable activities to teachers were those things which they could take back and use in their classroom. As research has indicated, professional growth and development was primarily motivated by the teacher seeing results in the classroom and the resulting increase in teacher efficacy. / Ed. D.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This study is an evaluation of the effectiveness of the current teacher appraisal system as practised in Botswana secondary schools. The study sought to establish inter alia the relationship between the current teacher appraisal and the day to day duties of teachers, the extent to which it leads to improvements in the teaching and students' learning process, how it addresses the staff development needs of the teachers, and whether the mechanisms and procedures for the management and implementation of the appraisal system in the schools is adequate. Teacher appraisal was defined as a process of staff development aimed at the professional development of the teacher through collegial interaction in order to enhance the quality of teaching and students' learning. Other strategies to achieve the effectiveness were also discussed in the thesis. Chapter One of the thesis provided the orientation of the study, while Chapter Two looked at the international literature on appraisal, including two case studies on the introduction of teacher appraisal in Great Britain and the United States of America. Chapter Three provided the contextual literature for the study. Chapter Four provided the research design of the study. Chapter Five discussed and analysed the research findings and Chapter Six presented the summary, conclusions and recommendations of the study. A survey questionnaire based on a five items Likert Scale and a semi-structured interview were used to collect data. The study was carried out in the Southern Region of Botswana in the Lobatse and Kanye Clusters of secondary schools. From both the literature reviews and the empirical research findings, it became clear that:  Teacher appraisal is a process and not an event;  The clarity of the purpose of the appraisal process is fundamental to its effectiveness;  The training of both the appraisees and appraisers on the appraisal process is crucial to its effectiveness;  Feedback is a sine qua non for the appraisal process to be effective. / Teacher Education / D.Ed. (Education Management)

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education